CLASS REGISTRATION IS OPEN! | |
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Fall class registration is open!
You can browse the more than 100 classes we're offering this fall in our Fall 2024 Online Class Catalog. Be sure to check out the Newly Added Classes, which were added to the schedule after the catalog was printed.
You must be signed in and have a current membership to register for classes. When you find a class you want to take, add it to your cart. When you’ve chosen all your classes, check out.
Having trouble registering? Call us at 530-898-6679, email us at olli@csuchico.edu, or visit our office in Aymer J. Hamilton, Monday-Thursday, 9am-2pm.
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MEMBER BENEFIT: ZOOM LINKS AND ZOOM BASICS TRAINING | |
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Almost 40% of OLLI fall classes are online. When you sign up for an online or hybrid class, you'll get the Zoom link in your email a week before the class starts and the morning of each class session. Starting this term, you can also find the Zoom links for your classes on your Class List page on our website. After you sign in, you'll see your list of classes, as pictured. The Zoom link, meeting ID, and passcode are in in the last column on the right.
If you're new to OLLI, or new to online classes, and aren't sure how it all works, we can help! Join one of our fall Zoom Basics Trainings to learn the ABCs of taking online classes in a small group environment. OLLI staff will walk you through the basics, like how to change your display name and how to mute and unmute yourself, so you can feel confident signing in to any online class.
Zoom Basics Trainings
Monday, August 26, 1-2pm
Thursday, August 29, 10-11am
Tuesday, September 3, 1-2pm
Wednesday, September 4, 10-11am
To register for one of the Zoom Basics Trainings, or to schedule a one-on-one Zoom training at another time, contact the OLLI office at 530-898-6679 or olli@csuchico.edu.
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LEAVE A LEGACY FOR LIFELONG LEARNING | |
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In 2023, OLLI received a legacy gift from longtime OLLI member Donna Murrill, pictured. She left $25,000 to help replace equipment, pay expenses, and promote and improve our program offerings. We are so very grateful for her generosity.
We hope you'll consider joining in Donna's spirit and leaving a bequest to support OLLI in your last will and testament. Making OLLI part of your lasting legacy is a meaningful way to invest in the future of this program for generations to come.
To learn more or discuss the ins and outs of including OLLI in your legacy, contact Program Director Andrew Lavin at alavin@csuchico.edu or 530-898-3362.
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The OLLI office will be closed on Monday, September 2 for Labor Day. The holiday grew out of the trade union and labor movements of the 19th century, and became a federal holiday in 1894. The first Labor Day celebration was held in New York on September 5, 1882. An estimated 10,000-20,000 people marched, shown in the illustration, followed by a party that included a picnic, cigars, and beer kegs.
Labor Day is celebrated in the US and Canada, while many other countries celebrate International Workers' Day, or May Day, on May 1. The May 1 date originated in the US as a commemoration of a strike that began on May 1, 1886 and ended with the Haymarket Affair. Labor Day became a federal holiday in the wake of the Pullman Strike as an attempt to appease workers while distancing the holiday from May Day.
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TRI COUNTIES BANK EXPERT TEACHES THIS FALL | |
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Tri Counties Bank has been a loyal OLLI sponsor for many years now and Annette Mercer, Reverse Mortgage Specialist (NMLS #844864), has taught many classes for us. Though many hear "reverse mortgage" and instinctively want to run away, reverse mortgages can actually be a useful mechanism for making use of one's home equity without selling one's home and without having to pay monthly installments as you do with a traditional loan. Many retirees have tens and hundreds of thousands of value in the form of home equity that is unusable unless they sell their house and move. A reverse mortgage is one among many ways one can access that home equity.
Annette will be presenting her class Reverse Mortgage Myth vs Reality on September 17 both in-person and online. We hope you'll consider joining her for an informative discussion of the various ways that reverse mortgages can help people access their home equity. Bring your questions!
Tri Counties Bank is also celebrating their 50th year of business and is partnering with the Foundation for California Community Colleges in support of their Student Ambassador Program, which trains students to be on-campus leaders through peer-to-peer outreach. Ambassadors connect fellow students to resources that ease barriers to education, provide hands-on application assistance to students in need, and reduce the stigma around getting help. This partnership will help students access food, housing, and other basic needs resources necessary to continue their education. To learn more, visit TriCountiesBank.com/50. Equal Housing Lender. NMLS #458732. Member FDIC.
"Local banks have a stake in our communities," OLLI Program Director Andrew Lavin said, "and we so value our partnership with Tri Counties Bank and Annette."
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"I was wowed by your OLLI Fall Class Preview event," said longtime member Gay Sterner, "You were prepared, focused, and concise. The presenters did a wonderful job."
We did indeed have a wonderful set of presentations at both our Fall Class Previews. Thank you to all of our instructors who presented in person and online, and a special thank you to Program Manager Ruth Alderson for stepping in and doing a wonderful job at the In-Person Class Preview when Program Director Andrew Lavin had to stay away due to illness.
If you missed both events, you can catch up with the recording of the Live-Online Fall Class Preview.
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FOLK MUSIC IN MID-CENTURY AMERICA | |
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American folk music experienced a commercial revival from the late 1940s through the mid-1960s. Its roots in support of the labor movement, and later embrace of anti-war protest songs, earned many performers the label of "communist pinkos." Other performers, however, cultivated a clean-cut, down-home, all-American image.
This fall, you can explore the history of this dichotomy in Folk Music in Mid-Century America: Revival or Red Scare? Rebecca Herring Reiner has both an MA in American history and a lifelong interest in American traditional music. In her class, you can learn the history behind the folk music revival and have a chance to play and sing the songs known collectively as "folk music." Bring your instruments, your voice, and your curiosity. Leave your inhibitions at home and be prepared to have a good time!
Register now for Folk Music in Mid-Century America: Revival or Red Scare? and join Rebecca in exploring this period of American music history.
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NORTH STATE NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT | |
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OLLI's new North State Nonprofit Spotlight Series is an occasional opportunity to hear from local organizations doing good throughout our region. Join us to learn more and find out how you might support these organizations.
Our series kicks off on Wednesday, September 11 with 530 Food Rescue Coalition (530FRC). Interested in learning about how you can prevent good food from going to waste? 530FRC will join us to talk about the history of their program, their mission to alleviate hunger while reducing food waste, and how you can get involved. They will highlight the importance of reducing food waste, the flexible volunteer opportunity, and what the volunteer experience looks like.
Wednesday, September 11, 1-2pm
Bradley 2 at The Social Chico
Free and open to the public!
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VOLUNTEER WITH OLLI THIS FALL | |
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OLLI is recruiting volunteers for the fall term! Volunteering is a good way to make friends and give back. We're looking for classroom hosts to help our volunteer instructors make sure their classes run smoothly.
Hosting is a great way to get to know the members of your class. When you host a class you already wanted to take, you can easily fit it into your schedule. You can find out more about hosting from our Classroom Host Program Flyer (pdf).
In-person classroom hosting does not require any technical knowledge; we have a separate team of people supporting in-person instructors with their audiovisual needs. If you're experienced with Zoom, we are also looking for online classroom hosts.
Contact the OLLI office at olli@csuchico.edu or 530-898-6679 if you're interested in classroom hosting. We appreciate your time!
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FALL COMMUNITY SPEAKER SERIES | |
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Save the date for our Fall Community Speaker Series on Wednesday, September 25, 3-4pm. Local nonprofit expert Laura Cootsona will join us for a talk entitled Community Nonprofits: The Lifeblood of Our Community.
Nonprofits are the backbone of our community. What constitutes a nonprofit? What makes it unique? Where does the funding come from? How do nonprofits work with the government? With private industry? Where are nonprofit strengths and vulnerabilities? And, how might I get involved? These questions will guide our conversation about the true lifeblood of our local, regional, and national communities. Join us for a conversation about all things nonprofit!
Laura R. Cootsona holds a Master of Nonprofit Administration (MNA) from University of San Francisco and a BA from UC Berkeley in religious studies. She has worked with nonprofit organizations for 37 years and built a nonprofit consulting practice focused on fundraising, marketing, CEO coaching, strategic planning, and board development. From 2015-2021, she was the executive director of the Jesus Center. As of January 2022, she operates a collaborative consulting firm called, Good|Well Consulting. Laura is a founding board member of the Camp Fire Collaborative and has lived in Chico since 2002 with her husband and now two grown daughters.
Free and open to the public!
A hybrid event – join us in Bradley 2 at The Social Chico or on Zoom. Check the OLLI website the day of the event for the Zoom link.
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BUSINESS AND TOWN HALL MEETING RECORDING | |
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Earlier this month, OLLI shared more about how we operate at the Annual Business and Town Hall Meeting. We shared our achievements from the last year, talked about how we fit into the range of OLLIs across the country, and got valuable feedback from our members.
If you missed it, you can catch up now:
If you have any questions or feedback, you can email olli@csuchico.edu or call 530-898-6679.
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OLLI VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE CORNER | |
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This year, OLLI will reinstate the Advisory Council in a more formal way. As we work toward that goal, we are excited to highlight our current and upcoming committees and invite you to join us as a volunteer.
The Play Festival Committee oversees, plans, and runs the annual OLLI Play Festival in conjunction with OLLI staff. This successful event provides physical, mental, creative, and emotional exercise form members as they write, audition and cast, and perform short plays.
Pam Loyd said "We do it primarily for fun, for the sheer joy of 'playing' in a play," Pam Loyd said. "We also do it for the camaraderie and friendship with other OLLI members. It is one of the best ways to make new friends because we meet several hours at a time two or three times a week for six weeks, with lots of physical interactions and laughter. A third reason we do it is to provide the very rare opportunity for writers to see their own play performed, and, with our play festival our actors don’t have to play the cranky old lady or grumpy old man, but a young-spirited, energetic, romantic, sexy, fun character. Almost nowhere else can our OLLI writers or actors find these opportunities."
Pam also noted that we are one of the only OLLIs nationwide that puts on a play festival of our own OLLI-written plays, and that we strive for excellent writing and acting on par with other community theater groups in town. This is a point of pride for our community! Thank you to committee members and production team Pam Loyd, Debbie Vermette, and Rachel Jablon. And many thanks also to all who write, perform, provide stagehand help, and come out to watch and celebrate with our writers, directors, and performers!
Interested in joining a committee? Want to know more? Contact Andrew Lavin at alavin@csuchico.edu or 530-898-3362.
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OLLI ART GALLERY FALL EXHIBIT | |
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The 13 members of the OLLI Art Gallery Committee have been busy planning and organizing a new exhibit in Bradley 2. The exhibit of art on loan from committee members' private collections will be on display when classes begin on September 9 and will stay up until December 3.
Look for an announcement in mid-September about the next exhibit that will go up on the walls January.
Pictured: Evening Shadows, Carl Sammons.
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BOOK IN COMMON KICKOFF EVENT: HEAR THE PROLOGUE | |
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The Book in Common is a shared, community read, designed to promote discussion and understanding of important issues facing the broader community. The Book in Common is chosen each year by a group of university faculty, staff, students and community members.
The 2024-25 Book in Common is Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of "Latino" by Héctor Tobar. You are invited to the kickoff event, a reading of the book's prologue by Latinx/é faculty, staff, and students with concluding remarks by University President Steve Perez.
Monday, September 16, 6pm
Arts and Humanities Recital Hall, Chico State (view on the Campus Map)
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LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS FALL COFFEE | |
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The League of Women Voters of Butte County is pleased to invite OLLI members to join them for their Fall Coffee on Saturday, September 14. The speaker will be Nolan Higdon, an author and university lecturer on history and media studies. Higdon will share his research and perspectives on the role of the media in the upcoming election, the implications and applications of fake news, and the role of censorship in our complex political context.
Nolan Higdon is a founding member of the Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas, Project Censored National Judge, author, and lecturer at Merrill College and the Education Department at University of California, Santa Cruz. Higdon's areas of concentration include podcasting, digital culture, news media history, propaganda, and critical media literacy. All of Higdon's work is available at Substack. He is the author of The Anatomy of Fake News: A Critical News Literacy Education; Let’s Agree to Disagree: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy; The Media And Me: A Guide To Critical Media Literacy For Young People; and the forthcoming Surveillance Education: Navigating the Conspicuous Absence of Privacy in Schools. Higdon is a regular source of expertise for CBS, NBC, The New York Times, and The San Francisco Chronicle.
Saturday, September 14, 10:30am-12:30pm
Saint John's Episcopal Church, 2341 Floral Avenue, Chico (map)
League members and their guests are welcome. As always, the League encourage folks to bring morning snacks to share. Coffee and tea will be provided.
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TRAVEL AND LEARN WITH OLLI | |
Exploring Greece and Its Islands, Spring '25 | |
Iceland: Land of Fire & Ice, Summer '25 | |
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An island of dramatic contrasts, uncover Iceland's natural beauty through a land forged by ice and fire. Travel the "Golden Circle," see traditional turf-built homes, walk on a black volcanic sand beach, and see Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon filled with floating icebergs. Your 10 days and 15 meals will be guided by seasoned tour guides from Collette.
View the Iceland: Land of Fire & Ice full itinerary (pdf) and book now for discounted rates.
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Discover Spectacular Scandinavia, Summer '25 | |
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An incredible journey to a land of unparalleled beauty awaits you in Scandinavia, where history and culture intersect with stunning natural wonders. Discover the lands where Vikings reigned, uncover why Copenhagen is dubbed the "gastro capital of Scandinavia," take an intimate tour of Stockholm, and experience Norway's breathtaking fjord region. Your 15 days and 22 meals will be guided by seasoned tour guides from Collette.
View the Discover Spectacular Scandinavia full itinerary (pdf) and book now for discounted rates.
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Discover Croatia, Slovenia and the Adriatic Coast, Fall '25 | |
Tropical Costa Rica, Winter '25 | |
NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION WEEK IS SEPTEMBER 10-16 | |
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National Suicide Prevention Week is observed September 8-14 as a reminder that there is hope. Suicide is preventable, and all of us can play a part. When you learn about common warning signs of suicide, you can be prepared to recognize them and know when to ask for help.
Knowing someone who is going through a hard time can be scary, but you don't have to do it alone. 988 is available to anyone, any time. Dialing or texting 988 will connect you to a compassionate, trained counselor who can talk to you about what you're feeling or how you can help a friend or loved one. 988 is private and confidential, free, and available by phone, text, or chat day and night.
Another option is to call the Butte County Behavioral Health Crisis Line at 800-334-6622, or text LISTEN to 741741. Butte County Behavioral Health offers walk-in services at 560 Cohasset Rd. Chico, CA 95926 Ste. 100, Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm. If you just need to talk to someone, you can call the Friendship Line, a connection specifically for older adults, at 888-670-1360.
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September 2
September 8
September 9
September 11
September 25
October 3
November 11
November 15
November 17
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Labor Day (OLLI Closed)
Summer Social Meetups End
First Day of Fall Classes
North State Nonprofit Spotlight
Fall Community Speaker Series
Rosh Hashanah (No Classes)
Veterans Day (No Classes, OLLI Closed)
Last Day of Fall Classes
Winter Social Meetups Begin
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HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE?
If you have something to say, a photo to share, or a question to pose to the editor, you can submit information using our OLLI Newsletter Submission form.
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