OLLI E-News Newsletter

November 30, 2018

• Alerts & Notices
• Recruitment and Retention of Volunteers
• Board Meeting Highlights, November 16
• History Club to Meet December 5
• Still Seeking E-News Technical Editor
• More about Julie and Mike Mc Namara
• Poet’s Corner
• Obituaries
  
• Arts & Music at George Mason
• Meetings & Clubs
• About OLLI E-News

Alerts & Notices

• Priority registration for 2019 winter term begins Friday, November 30 (today!), at 9:00, and ends on Friday, December 10, at noon. Winter term begins January 22.
• Planning is in the air; join any or all of the following efforts:
  > Literature, Theater, and Writing/Languages Program Planning Group, December 5, 12:30, TA‑1.
  > Loudoun Program Planning Group, December 7, 10:30, Loudoun, Room 208.
  > Strategic Planning Meeting, December 10, 9:30, Tallwood Annex.
• Note: The Computer Club will meet December 15 (3rd Saturday, 1:00) in TA‑1. Jim Anderson, formerly with the CIA, will discuss Technological Advances Stimulated by the Civil War. Click here for details.
• The next issue of OLLI E-News will be published December 14. Submissions for this issue are due Tuesday, December 11 by 6:00 pm.

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By Jennifer Disano, Executive Director

OLLI depends on volunteers who are responsible for many aspects of the organization, including office volunteer staffing, program development, teaching, strategic planning, and everything in between. OLLI members give their time, talents, and hearts to make our OLLI the most enriching and engaging lifelong learning program it can be. Indeed, OLLI enjoys a robust volunteer base of dedicated individuals who repeatedly step up to help. This constant support is critical to the vitality of our organization and to the quality of our program.

As OLLI grows the work also grows, and our volunteers are being asked to do more, more often. To stave off burnout and to share the work, a new committee is being formed specifically concerned with volunteering at OLLI. The committee will investigate the best practices to recruit and retain volunteers, design rewards and recognition programs, and implement training resources to support our volunteers.

If you would like to be a part of the new volunteer committee (official name tbd), please contact the office (olli@gmu.edu) and we will add your name to the listserv. Watch for meeting announcements in the coming year. Thanks!

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Executive Director Jennifer Disano reported total membership, as of November 16, is 1,171 (annual memberships of 1,118 and term memberships of 53). She is working with the Mason design team to evaluate the plan to install a ramp at Tallwood for easy access to the upper level. OLLI will be able to use Church of the Good Shepherd for classes beginning at 2:15 only as of spring term 2019 due to a parking issue related to the church’s day school. Fairfax Lord of Life will still be used for classes.

OLLI President Taylor congratulated everyone on a great fall term and thanked the members for the commitment to OLLI that is essential to our future success. To all OLLI members, he wishes holidays filled with warmth and cheer.

You don’t have to be a registered member of the History Club to attend our meetings. All are invited; bring a guest. If you are missing OLLI classes, this is the perfect opportunity to enjoy a taste of the best.

For the majority of OLLI classes you will choose “request class,” and these are subject to lottery assignment. During registration, you “request” and then must prioritize these classes. You are not enrolled in these classes until the lottery runs a couple of weeks after the priority registration period. You then receive an email confirming your enrollment in these classes. The confirmation email will only list your lottery classes, not classes you already successfully registered for through the “add to cart” process.

Remember, the system never takes your payment and then puts you on a waiting list. Once paid, you’re in. If you are unsure, please contact me at ollireg@gmu.edu or 703-503-3384. I am happy to answer this and any other registration related questions!

Thank you.

• reviewing a draft issue of the E‑News to verify that the embedded URL links work properly;
• sending an email notification to the OLLI website chair to put the E‑News on the website;
• scheduling the E‑News issue for distribution;
• creating the courtesy copy of the issue and scheduling it for delivery; and
• replicating a master draft of E‑News to set up the next issue.

It also requires monthly updating of two URL links to Arts and Music event calendars.
We will provide instruction on how these easy efforts are done. Although it is not an absolute requirement, it will be helpful and considered a plus if you have some familiarity with MailChimp, the software that we use for generating and distributing the E‑News.

The position of technical editor offers a volunteer opportunity to contribute with minimal time and effort to the effective operation of one of OLLI’s key tools for communication to its members. If you are interested in joining the E‑News team, contact me at pevanh@gmail.com. Thanks!

If you are among the many who have long admired this handsome OLLI couple, you’ll enjoy learning more about Julie and Mike Mc Namara from the recent Fairfax Connection coverage of OLLI’s Veterans Day Celebration. (Of particular interest is Mike’s role in President Kennedy’s funeral.)

Please see page 10 at this link: http://www.fairfaxconnection.com/documents/2018/nov/14/fairfax-connection-november-14-2018/

Happy reading!

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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OLLI E-News was created by Rod Zumbro, who served as its editor from 2005 to 2013.

Editorial Staff
Chief Editor: Paul Van Hemel
Associate Editor: David Gundry
Weekly Editor Team: David Gundry, John Nash, Sheri Siesseger, Leslie Vandivere,
Paul Van Hemel 
Proofreaders: Rebecca Jann, Susan Van Hemel, Linda Randall, Tom Appich, Roz Stark
Marian Drohan, Jane Hassell
Backup Chief Editor: Alice Slayton Clark

Submissions: Members are encouraged to submit letters to the editor, letters to Ms. Ollie Ettakit (on etiquette matters), OLLI-related news items, articles, and photos. Submit material to: ollienewseditor@gmail.com.
Deadline: Tuesday, 6:00, for that week’s issue (Monday, 6:00, for letters to the editor); early submissions are greatly appreciated. Please limit articles to about 250 words.
Note: You can view past issues of OLLI E-News on the DocStore. To search the content of issues, use Search Our Site or put your search term in Google followed by “site:olli.gmu.edu/” without the quotes.

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