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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine |
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Director's Message--
OLLI as a Caring Community
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Welcoming. Hospitable. Supportive. Thoughtful. Compassionate.
We talk a lot about community here at OLLI, and as we look ahead we’re aspiring to become an even more connected and supportive group of learners.
The University of Southern Maine is now exploring the creation of a caring community for students (expanding services such as mental health and learning/living support), plans that will improve student success. Here at OLLI, we are thinking about how we can expand on these values in our own support of instructors and learners. This is especially important when we consider how we can support those who need additional help in teaching at OLLI. We are hoping to create more openness and feedback from members so we can better identify and support teachers who may be needing help in their courses (from technical help to co-teachers, and so on). We want all OLLI members—teachers and learners alike—to succeed. And our future efforts to create a more welcoming, hospitable, and responsive culture will be part of OLLI’s continued evolution as a caring community.
Our OLLI is blessed by having an engaged advisory board with very active committees—this is a reflection of our connective and supportive community! We are starting a new strategic planning process, and at the center of that work is our aspiration for OLLI to become its own unique member-centered caring community.
Happy Holidays!
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—Donna Anderson
Director
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In this edition . . .
- Director's Message (above)
- Update from the Advisory Board (below)
- Winter Session Registration
- OLLI's New Website
- The Reflections Launch
- "My Body, My Story" Writing Seminar
- Welcome Kali Pawless, OLLI's Administrative Assistant
- Trivia Questions
- OLLI Singers
- Trivia Answers
- Passages: John Serrage
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Winter Session Registration Opens December 14
The course catalog for OLLI’s winter session has been posted to the OLLI website. You can visit the catalog here:
https://usm.maine.edu/olli/olli-courses-and-lectures
Here are some important dates to remember:
December 14—Online registration for OLLI winter courses begins. The registration system will automatically turn on between 12:01 and 12:15 a.m. (Tuesday night into Wednesday morning).
NOTE: Students with scholarships, gift certificates, free memberships, or other waivers must contact us at olliatusm@maine.edu before December 12, so staff can process them promptly. We cannot guarantee your first-choice class, but you will be our top priority the morning after registration goes “live.” Scholarships, gift certificates, free memberships, or other waivers will be accepted after December 12, but some classes and workshops may be full, so please turn them in as soon as possible.
December 21—Course and workshop offerings open to the Maine Senior College Network. Please contact us at olliatusm@maine.edu and leave your name and phone number plus the course you are interested in. We will contact you to enroll.
December 26 – Staff Holiday
January 2 – Staff Holiday
January 10 – OLLI Winter Term classes start
January 16 – Staff Holiday
January 20 – Deadline to receive a refund on dropped classes
February 16 – OLLI Winter Term ends
February 20 – Staff Holiday
February 21–23 – OLLI Winter Term makeup week
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OLLI Will Have a New Website in
Early December
As part of the University of Southern Maine’s website re-design, OLLI’s website will have a new look. We will be simplifying the navigation categories, strengthening links, and adding more photos and our new promotional video. The site is scheduled to launch on December 4, and in the meantime our current website is still up and the winter catalog is viewable. Thanks to Anne Cardale for her extraordinary work in re-engineering the website architecture and making the information we share with members as accessible as possible.
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The Power of Expressive Writing
On Friday, Nov. 18, OLLI held a special program for writers entitled “My Body, My Story: Writing Illuminated Memoir.” The goal of the session was to give OLLI members another opportunity to write, exploring how keeping a personal journal or crafting a public piece may help in coping with health challenges. Our keynote speaker was Professor Misty Krueger, English professor from the University of Maine in Farmington, who shared her own experience in writing through her breast cancer treatment and its aftermath.
Here are her thoughts about the seminar: https://mistykrueger.com/2022/11/19/my-body-my-story-illuminated-memoir/
The afternoon session included a guided writing session with University of Southern Maine English Professor Lisa Hibl. A recording of the day’s presentation can be found here:
https://video.maine.edu/media/donna.anderson%40maine.edu%27s+Personal+Meeting+Room/1_ok3wlmom
If you wish to receive a copy of the inspirational readings for the day, please contact olliatusm@maine.edu and we will send a copy of the PDF to you.
The program was a collaboration with the Maine Digital Collaborative (https://www.mainedc.org/). It was co-sponsored by the Digital Humanities Initiative at USM, The Division of Humanities at the University of Maine-Farmington, the Graduate program in Intermedia at the University of Maine, and the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Southern Maine. Our special thanks to English Professor John Muthyala, who co-organized the event; we look forward to continued conversation and a programmatic partnership with the Maine Digital Collaborative!
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We are pleased to welcome Kalianna Pawless, who goes by Kali (sounds like Kaylee), to OLLI.
Kali is our new full-time CL2 Administrative Specialist and will be taking over for our former CL3, Megan Saul.
Kali came all the way from bright and sunny Orlando, Florida, where she had begun working on her bachelor’s degree in studio art with a concentration in environmental sciences at the University of Central Florida; she hopes to continue her studies at the University of Southern Maine. Kali will be in the office five days a week and looks forward to meeting and getting to know everyone in and around the OLLI department.
Kali has a huge passion for all things related to art, people, and the environment and has two cats (Milo & Yoko) that she absolutely adores. She is also extremely upbeat, energetic, and friendly, so don’t hesitate to stop by the OLLI offices to say hello and introduce yourself to our newest team-member Kali.
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By Faye Gmeiner
OLLI members will have an advantage over their younger family and friends on our first three favorite Trivia questions from November. They are a blast from our past! It might be fun to see if your children or grandchildren can answer any of them correctly.
We invite you to join us for Trivia in December from a cozy, warm spot at home—no parkas or winter boots required. We laugh a lot and enjoy each others’ company. No points are earned or lost!
Our next Zoom gathering is on December 5. You can sign up on the OLLI website under Special Events.
1. Complete this television show introduction: “The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed ___________________”
2. Another question you may remember from our childhoods: What “takes a licking and keeps on ticking”?
3. Here’s one last blast from the past. (Are you impressed that I could include three rhyming words in one short sentence?) What do these five letters refer to: LS/MFT?
4. Baseball players in two positions wear mitts instead of gloves. What are the two positions?
5. Who was the guerilla fighter from South Carolina known as the Swamp Fox?
6. How many yards does it usually take for a sprinter to reach top speed in a 100‑meter dash?
See the answers below!
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News from the OLLI Singers (SIG) |
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Life Without Song Would B-flat!
The OLLI Singers are glad to be singing together again this fall after sadly losing our belovedly punny director Chuck Hornberger in January 2022 to a long struggle with cancer. Though Chuck could never be replaced, we have forged ahead in our common love of music and in honor of Chuck’s wish that the OLLI Singers continue in joyous song and punnery.
After a months-long but unsuccessful search for a new director, OLLI Singer Bob Swerdlow has graciously stepped forward to be our fearless leader. Though the OLLI Singers will continue the search for a long-term director, for now we are tickled pink to have Bob at the helm with his wife Vicki tickling the ivories at our current practice location in the bright and spacious music room in Wishcamper Center on the University of Southern Maine Portland campus.
A holiday concert is planned for early December at a senior living community in the area, and then practices will resume January 6th on Fridays at 3:00 p.m. We encourage new members to join this informal but dedicated group. There are no auditions, just plenty of fun and friendship!
Please contact Vicki at vicki@maine.rr.com with any questions.
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December Trivia Answers
1. Complete this television show introduction: “The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed ___________________”
Answer: to protect the innocent (Dragnet).
Composer Walter Schumann’s Danger Ahead was the theme song for Dragnet. Its “Dum-de-dum-dum” phrase is still one of the most recognizable musical themes.
2. Another question you may remember from our childhoods: What “takes a licking and keeps on ticking”?
Answer: A Timex Wristwatch. Timex’s roots date back to 1854 and the Waterbury (CT) Clock Company. In 1882, Waterbury Watch Company manufactured the first inexpensive pocket watch. During World War II the company became the U.S. Time Company, and it introduced the Timex wristwatch in 1950. By 1951 they had produced almost two million watches and gained 18 percent of the market! Timex watches were inexpensive ($6.75 to $7.95 in the 1950s) and had lower profit margins than the other watches being sold.
You may remember that their marketing strategies included torture tests of the watches and celebrity endorsements. One example was Mickey Mantle, who taped a Timex watch to his bat that he then used for batting practice. After he hit 50 pitches to all parts of the field, the watch was still ticking and keeping accurate time! The famous line, “It keeps on ticking and takes a licking,” was used from the 1950s to late 1970s and revived from 1989 to 1990.
3. Here’s one last blast from the past. (Are you impressed that I could include three rhyming words in one short sentence?) What do these five letters refer to: LS/MFT?
Answer: Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco
4. Baseball players in two positions wear mitts instead of gloves. What are the two positions?
Answer: Catcher and First Base. Other positions are required to wear gloves with separate fingers. Mitts are wider, longer, and have a deeper pocket. They enhance catching the ball and holding onto it. Mitts do not have separate fingers.
5. Who was the guerilla fighter from South Carolina known as the Swamp Fox?
Answer: Frances Marion. Marion outwitted the British troops during the American Revolution.
In November 1780, Marion earned his nickname. British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, informed of Marion’s whereabouts by an escaped prisoner, chased the American militia for seven hours, covering some 26 miles. Marion escaped into a swamp, and Tarleton gave up, cursing, “As for this damned old fox, the Devil himself could not catch him.” The story got around, and soon the locals—who loathed the British occupation—were cheering the Swamp Fox. (Smithsonian Magazine, June 2007)
6. How many yards does it usually take for a sprinter to reach top speed in a 100‑meter dash?
Answer: 50 meters. Here’s a link to an interesting article about what is happening during each ten meters of the race. It’s impressive to read how much goes on within the less than ten seconds that elite sprinters run the distance:
https://tinyurl.com/100-Meters
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OLLI member John Serrage died on October 21st. He taught OLLI courses on foreign movies and led walking tours of Portland. But his career and interest were far broader. As a young doctor in his 30s, he created the Newborn Intensive Care Center at the Maine Medical Center, which resulted, in the space of one year, in Maine’s having one of the highest neonatal death rates to having the lowest.
In 1988, John changed courses and became an archeologist, working summers in excavations. His other interests included opera and musical theater, in which he volunteered as an event planner and road manager; and collecting a wide variety of memorabilia that eventually filled an entire room in his home.
John’s obituary is online: https://www.hobbsfuneralhome.com/obituary/john-serrage
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Are you considering submitting an article to the OLLI Newsletter? Get in contact with us! | |
Email
ollinews@maine.edu
to submit your piece.
Phone:207-780-4406
Tim Baehr, Editor
Don King, Editor Emeritus
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Deadline for the next issue is December 15. |
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Maine Senior College Network | | |
OLLI National Resource Center | | |
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Non-discrimination Notice
The University of Maine, including USM, is an EEO/AA employer and does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information, or veteran’s status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director of Equal Opportunity, 101 North Stevens Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5754, 207.581.1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System).
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