Enews6-19

February 22, 2019

• Alerts & Notices
• From the Desk of the Executive Director: Keeping Up with OLLI Staff!
• Board Meeting Highlights
• Spring 2019 Preview
• The Tom Swift Club Needs You!
• Special Events Program Planning Group
• ELVIS is DEAD! Who Done It?
• Music, Music Everywhere!
• Poet's Corner
• Ms. Ollie Ettakit
• Arts & Music at George Mason
• Meetings & Clubs
• About OLLI E-News

Alerts & Notices

• Spring-term priority registration 9:00 February 21 through noon March 1 (spring term begins Monday, March 25). For online catalog, click here.
• Grab ‘n’ Gab coffee klatsch for spring term is Thursday, March 7, 10:00, at Tallwood in the Annex. New members encouraged and all members welcome.
• The next issue of OLLI E-News will be published March 8; regular deadline for submission of items is Tuesday, March 5, at 6:00.

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By Jennifer Disano, Executive Director

I am pleased to announce that our current registrar, Shannon Kim Morrow (at left, photo courtesy of Shannon Morrow), will move into Jennifer’s programming role. Shannon has worked at OLLI since 2015, and many of you know her well. A Canadian by birth, she holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of British Columbia, with minors in language arts and psychology, and she is a former teacher with a master’s degree in international education. As the wife of a US diplomat, Shannon has spent decades traveling the world and serving in myriad volunteer positions. Everyone is delighted that Shannon has stepped up to take Jennifer’s program associate position!

Susan Job (at right, photo by Alice Slayton Clark), current site assistant at Lord of Life Church, will assume the registrar job. Susan worked for 12 years at Western Dental, a dental health maintenance organization in California. In her last position there, as an information technology project manager, she was responsible for the rollout of the patient management and billing system. She has extensive experience in tracking projects, writing training materials, corresponding with internal and external parties, and providing the leadership team with presentations on the status of the project. Susan has a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in health education. She will make a terrific registrar!

We are so fortunate at OLLI to have staff of such excellent caliber, both in skills and experience, as well as individual conscientiousness and the collective ability to communicate well, work together, and support the OLLI membership.

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By Rita Way, Secretary, Board of Directors

The Board of Directors met Friday, February 15, 2019, at Tallwood. President Bill Taylor announced that a committee dedicated to honoring OLLI’s volunteers has been created. Diane Stanley and Marguerite Johnson will lead this committee.

Bill congratulated the OLLI Players for their fine performances at venues around the county where they bring joy to residents in retirement and assisted living facilities. He encourages anyone who has not seen them perform to take advantage of the opportunity to do so. These events are also outreach opportunities where OLLI Players distribute OLLI flyers to the audience.

In accordance with the OLLI Bylaws, the chair of the nominating committee, Evan Douple, received the Board’s approval to appoint the following OLLI members to serve on the nominating committee. They are Marguerite Johnson, David Talaber (from the Board of Directors), Bill Ackerman, Mary Coyne, Nancy Scheeler, Angie Talaber, and Tom Urman (from the general OLLI membership). The Board also approved a resolution to issue a lifetime membership to Sharon Bulova in recognition of her service to Fairfax County. A resolution was passed to approve the establishment of a small ad hoc committee to carry out small focus groups on core issues that affect our members.

Executive Director Jennifer Disano reported that, as of February 7, 2019, OLLI total membership is 1,147 (annual membership is 1,122 and term membership is 25). A draft drawing has been provided to OLLI from Mason design officials for the cost and installation of a ramp from the back lot at Tallwood to the upper level classroom and restrooms. The estimated cost is around $50K. More negotiations are being pursued with Mason to reduce this estimate and find alternatives that may be more economical.

Jennifer McMahon is stepping down from her role as program associate. The current registrar, Shannon Morrow, will move into the program associate job. Shannon has worked at OLLI since 2015 and is well qualified to assume this position. Susan Job (current site assistance at Lord of Life Church) will take on the registrar job. Susan’s last position was working for Western Dental in the position as information technology project manager. She is familiar with Microsoft Office suite and her skills and experience to take over the position of registrar.

Jennifer Disano met with City of Fairfax staff and negotiated a low rent rate for the Sherwood Center. The Center has excellent audiovisual system capability and adequate parking to meet our needs. This venue will compensate for the loss of space for certain times at Church of the Good Shepherd.

Kathryn Russell         Russell Stone          Doris Bloch           Nancy Scheeler                                   Program Committee Co-Chairs

We know it’s too early to plant flowers, but we can “think spring” as we browse through the beautiful new OLLI catalog. The hard part comes now because it’s time to choose among all these enticing courses. Once again, our dedicated program planners have made this a daunting task by giving us so many choices: 111 courses and 63 special events and trips. And don’t forget about the between-term events, social events and clubs. You’ll appreciate the variety of categories in each area. Some challenge the brain, some offer practical life-lessons, others entertain.

Do you have a tried-and-true technique for making selections? If not, consider these: Choose one course from each subject area and then fill in your calendar with one-time events. Or select both multi-instructor and single-instructor classes so that you have a mixture of “mega” courses and some smaller classes. Also think about reaching outside your favorite category of courses to find some that lead to a new area of interest.

As you browse through the catalog, notice that we are welcoming many instructors from Mason and NOVA, as well as speakers from the wider community. For example, Mason Faculty Series and the Inova doctors are returning. Professional musicians are featured in several courses, and you’ll find some prominent names from the political and business worlds. In addition, we are delighted to have many OLLI member instructors who generously share their expertise year after year.

Once again, we’re reaping the benefits of the intense labors of OLLI volunteer program planners, and we look forward to a sensational spring season. Continue to enjoy your tour through the catalog, but remember that priority registration ends March 1 at noon. If you’ve already submitted your selections, you can still add more on the website or in the OLLI office during this registration period.

The Tom Swift Club Needs You!

 

By Paul Howard, Audiovisual Support Committee Chair

OLLI’s Audiovisual Support Committee (a.k.a. The Tom Swift Squad) seeks additional volunteers to help ensure the smooth employment of OLLI's audiovisual resources. Our primary mission is to help instructors, liaisons, and staff with any audiovisual issues that might arise during the classes we attend.

We'll be meeting at 1:00 on Wednesday, February 27 in TA‑1. Our activities for this meeting will be training as requested by attendees on Tallwood classrooms and planning for future equipment needs of OLLI.

Please let me know if you're planning to attend or would like to become a "Swiftie" even if you can't attend this meeting. Contact me by email (preferred) or phone (703-860-9246).

For more information on the Audiovisual Support Committee, see its web page.

Special Events Program Planning Group

By Rita Way, Special Events Program Planning Group Co-Chair

Everyone is invited to the next meeting of the OLLI Special Events Programming Planning Group meeting, Wednesday, March 6, from 11‑12:30 in the Tallwood Annex. Help us plan one-session presentations, bus trips, performances, and more!

We welcome all to attend and share their creative ideas. Contact me if you have any questions: [email protected].

The price of your ticket is a mere $25, which includes refreshments. The show will be at the Church of the Good Shepherd and premieres at 10:00, so arrive on time to get all the clues.

To reserve your seat, register and pay with your spring‑term class registration; it is Special Event #1206 in the catalog. Is this your typical murder mystery? Well, not exactly! Come join the fun!

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• 1202 Tricksters, Sages, and Other Colorful Archetypes in Broadway Musicals (March 9)
• R114 First session of Meet the Artists, featuring Beverly Cosham (March 21)

Classes Within Spring Term:

• F409 Putting It Together: The Life and Works of Stephen Sondheim (4 sessions)
• F410 Musicals from Both Sides of the Footlights (8 sessions)
• 955 Golden Age of Radio (March 26)
• 986 Teaching Elementary Space Science with Music (April 26)
• 991 Two Tales of Misia (May 2)
• 996 Russian Music Performance (Balalaika) (May 9)
• 999 The Enigma of Shostakovich (May 13)
• 1003 Music and the Arthurian Legend (May 15)
• F902 Mason Faculty Club Series, Part 2, particularly the May 6 session on “Why Aren’t Jazz and Classical Music Popular?”

After-Term Classes:

• 1205 ETHEL with guest artist Robert Mirabal present “The River” (May 26)
• 1206 The OLLI Players and the Tallwood Trio with Nancy Riley present “Sherlock Bones Solves the Unfortunate Demise of Elvis”

Happy listening!

After a freezing cold winter, what better way to warm up OLLI members than a night in Old Havana?

For OLLI’s annual ice cream social on February 15, almost 60 members filled TA‑1 as it was transformed to the tropical city. First, they feasted on a variety of ice creams, washed down by hot cider provided by John and Toni Acton. The scooper brigade efficiently moved the participants through the line.

Once they had their ice cream, members walked down to OLLI’s version of Havana. They were treated to videos on music and cars, and of course, Cuban Ricky Ricardo blaring out Babaloo! Both Jim Dunphy and the Actons shared memories and pictures of their visits to Cuba, and other members offered theirs also.

Of course, learning is part of OLLI, so, as always, members were treated to a trivia contest testing their knowledge of Cuba—e.g., the date of the Cuban missile crisis, the name of the battleship blown up in Havana harbor, the best friends of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, and other such questions. All left knowing more about Cuba than when they came.

Thanks to the Actons for running the trivia contest and sharing their trip experiences. Credit must also go to the members of the Social Committee for their hard work setting up both TA‑1 and the Annex and providing members with ice cream and hospitality.

Make sure you save the date for the Social Committee’s next event, OLLI’s Got Talent, to be held on July 12. In addition to a pot-luck lunch, we will experience the many talents of OLLI members. Don’t miss it!

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Meetings & Clubs

The following list covering the next two weeks is extracted for your convenience from the master online calendar maintained by the office, with direct web links added when available. The list is accurate as of mid-week but for the most up-to-date information, please view the latest forecast of coming events on our website (News/OLLI Calendar). Note: All OLLI members are welcome at, and encouraged to attend, meetings of the Board of Directors, committees and resource groups, kick-off coffees, etc. (bolded below).

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