LLL President Bill Dube

Message from the LLL President Bill Dube

Welcome Back!

Dear Members,

Welcome to a new year of Lifelong Learning at Mayborn. I have enjoyed being a part of the program since my retirement in 2018. My interest was sparked by the goal of the LLL program “to provide lifelong learning experiences for those who want to remain intellectually active.” If you are not already active in the program, I encourage you to “check us out” and become involved.

Courses require no tests, just enthusiastic individuals who want to continue acquiring knowledge. In addition to the courses offered each semester, the program offers special events, a bus trip each semester, and Shared Interest Groups (SIGs). This past year (2023-24), we had 523 Lifelong Learning members with 74 members volunteering with the LLL program. There are several ways you can volunteer and serve which also provides the opportunity for personal connections.

My hope this next year is that we continue to engage more volunteers, maintain/increase current memberships, increase participation in Shared Interest Groups (SIGs), and continue the excellent variety/diversity of courses and special events offered.

Our first special event this fall is a “Coffee Talk” on Friday, August 23, at Lee Lockwood Library, with 9:30 am refreshments; 10:00 am program, Dr. Charles A. Weaver, “How We Remember and Why We Forget.” Lifelong Learning classes begin in September.

Further information can be found on the Lifelong Learning website, including course offerings. (baylor.edu/lifelonglearning)

Special thanks to Nancy Moore and Doug Baldwin for their leadership this past year (2023-24) as president and past president, respectively. Congratulations to Judy Staples who was recognized in May with the LLL Excellence Award for her unwavering dedication and support of the Lifelong Learning Program, a recognition that has been awarded only three times.

As I adjourned my first meeting as LLL president in June, I shared that through my 44 years at Baylor, I learned that “When You’re Smiling, The Whole World Smiles With You.” Try it, it works!

Look forward to seeing you in August.

Bill Dube, LLL President

A Musical Ride Through History

Feature by Judy Staples; Photo by Sam Wilson

History comes alive to us through stories and pictures, but how about through music? Starting October 3rd at 2:00 pm, FM radio host Ross Burns will share his enchanting stories about folk music as it reflects culture and history. “I have a collection of over 1,000 record albums plus an equal number of CDs, tapes, and DVDs ranging from crude field recordings of local singers to slick commercial recordings -- and everything in between,” Burns reflected. “I grew up in Austin where my 3 brothers and I started buying albums of Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Perry Como, and every Kingston Trio album as the Urban Folk Revival took off.”

Adding Peter Paul & Mary and the Clancy Brothers as well as older artists including Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and Burl Ives, Burns began to merge his passion for history with the songs he knew and loved. “I worked in public, corporate, and academic libraries in Austin, Abilene, Waco, Sweetwater, Weslaco, Harlingen and Alpine. I found many music fans among my colleagues, sharing and swapping music with them.” It was when he worked at Sul Ross State University about 20 years ago that a friend asked him to start a weekly radio show on the campus station KRSU. Marfa Public Radio was just getting started and needed music programming as well, so they shared a program for a while. When the campus station closed down, he went full-time to Marfa. After retirement and a move to Waco, he continues to deliver his “I Hear America Singing” program each week on KBWU.

Featured LLL Instructor Ross Burns

As history changed, so did the music and the lyrics. Burns weaves his stories and commentary through songs several hundred years old right through to songs currently being written: “I’ve researched so much history in the process of learning more about the singers and the songwriters of folk music and ballads. They are intertwined in a unique way and I love to tell the stories.” His 4-week course will include some local history as well: “Waco native Carolyn Hester played with and inspired Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Nanci Griffith, and many others. She invited Dylan to play harmonica on her first Columbia album which earned him his own contract with Columbia, and introduced him to session players Bill Lee and Bruce Langhorne who are all on his acoustic albums.” Burns will also review the efforts of John Lomax and his family from Mississippi who have worked for over a century to preserve folk songs for the Library of Congress. Following their passion, the family discovered, encouraged and/or managed many artists including Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Jelly Roll Morton, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, and Bianca DeLeon. In addition, most of the Lomaxes have made their own recordings as well, including John Lomax III who just released his first album for his 80th birthday.

“These songs were sung by prisoners, working cowboys, coal miners, nannies, and housewives, as well as professional singers. I will share the growth of song collectors including Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns.” Join this radio personality for his take on how some of these people have had a lasting influence on our American song bag.

To register, go to baylor.edu/lifelonglearning (click on “courses”) or register through the Mayborn Museum’s front desk. The course begins on October 3rd.

It’s a good bet Doug Baldwin could give The Energizer Bunny™ a run for his money despite having recovered from hip surgery 14 months ago. However, he is neither pink nor fuzzy and the only drum he beats is for Lifelong Learning. This outgoing octogenarian is a former course host, member-at-large, V.P. and President of Baylor Lifelong Learning. He also helped start two Shared Interest Groups (SIG) – Poetry and Theater.

The native of the Florida Panhandle says, “I don’t feel that old!” His hometown was where “there were cattle in the unpaved streets and my father owned a general store, selling everything from chicken feed, salt pork and caskets.” After ninth grade his family moved to Winter Haven, Florida, for two years then on to Coral Gables, jumping from a school of about 50 students to 2000. Doug is not really complaining, though, because in the Coral Gables band “was where I met my future wife Johanna,” a union that would last 62 years.

Major Career Jump:

After earning a chemical engineering degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Baldwin went to work in a Shell Oil Refining research lab in Deer Park, Texas, as a Research Engineer. "Wonderful job. Really enjoyed it. But I looked around and there were guys 60 years old doing exactly what I was doing. My neighbor had started law school, so I entered the University of Houston and earned a law degree by 1969.” After graduation, Doug joined Shell’s Patent Group in San Francisco as an attorney. Baldwin stayed with Shell, later starting his own private practice. By 2018, he had been retired for a decade and was living in College Station when his wife passed away.

Doug, who has a son and three daughters, came to Lorena to visit Sara (his middle daughter) and her husband Dennis. “I wound up buying a house in her neighborhood on a lark! The ‘fixer-upper’ was overpriced, needed a lot of work, but had good bones. I made a really lowball offer, but the Realtor called and said, ‘You just bought a house!’” Before Doug could move, congestive heart failure required bypass surgery, so his family moved him in. “My family is very supportive and helpful.”

LLL Casts Its Spell:

"My daughter Sara told me about Baylor Lifelong Learning and I was immediately intrigued,” he reflected. After serving as a course host and a Member-at-Large, the 2019-20 President of Lifelong Learning, Elaine White, asked him to accept the nomination as Vice President. “No! I’m too old,” he replied, but Sara prevailed: “Do it, Dad! Go do it!” And he did. “The programs are great but most rewarding are the people I’ve met . . . fascinating people. I love them. And Waco is a fascinating town.”

His Lifelong Learning courses with Dr. Elaine White, Baylor English Prof. Tom Hanks, and Dr. David Music, BU professor of Church Music, all sparked Doug’s interest in poetry so “that encouraged me to start writing a poem to go with all my speeches as LLL President.”

If you see the non-stop Baldwin zipping around town in his Mini-Cooper, the dedicated Christian is likely headed to church, LLL lectures or attending luncheons at various Waco organizations. When asked to sum up his philosophy for life, he replied with little hesitation and his typical smile: “Where is the next adventure?”

Featured LLL Member Doug Baldwin

COMING UP

Coming Events collected by Liz Arend

LLL Special Events – Fall 2024

Friday, August 23rd COFFEE 9:30 am at the Lee Lockwood Library - Dr. Charles A. Weaver, “What Lifelong Learners Need to Know About Memory: How We Remember and Why We Forget”

Friday, September 20th COFFEE 9:30 am at the Mayborn Museum - Dr. Trey Crumpton, “Undertaking a Mammoth Project”

Friday, October 11th BUS TRIP (All Day) to the Painted Churches of Schulenburg, TX (Registration required) (Check for details at baylor.edu/lifelonglearning)

Friday, November 15th COFFEE 9:30 am at the Mayborn Museum - Josh Tetens, McLennan County DA, “Law and Order - The Real DA’s Office”

Friday, December 6th CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON 11:00 am at Cashion 5th Floor (Registration required) Dr. Michael Foley, “Why We Kiss Under the Mistletoe: Christmas Traditions Explained.”

Happenings on Baylor Campus

On August 26th, Baylor students start classes! September will mark kickoff of the 2024 Baylor sports season with the first volleyball match vs. Texas A & M on August 24th and the first of six home football games vs. Tarleton State on August 31st. Then, there are women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis matches, cross country meets, and equestrian events. Lifelong Learning classes begin on September 3rd. The Baylor campus will hum!

A few events to highlight this fall:

• David Brooks, author, columnist, and commentator will be at Baylor for a lecture the evening of Tuesday, September 10.
• The Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, “Renewing and Reimagining Institutions for the Common Good,” will be held in the Bill Daniel Student Center at Baylor October 17 – 19. 254-710-4805 or e-mail at IFL@baylor.edu
• Baylor Theater Production - The Grown-Ups – September 18 – 22 in Theatre 11. Tickets on sale September 4th. 254-710-1865
• Waco Symphony welcomes its new music director/conductor, Lawrence Loh – Rhapsody in Blue – October 3 – Waco Hall. 254-710-3210
• Baylor Theater Production – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – October 2-5, 6, 16-19, and 20 – Jones Theater. Tickets on sale on September 16. 254-710-1865
• Baylor Homecoming Festivities include the electric performances during the Pigskin Review at Waco Hall October 24 – 26, and the Homecoming Parade downtown at 5th Street, and the football game vs. Oklahoma State on Saturday, October 26.
• Tickets for the famous Baylor Christmas Concert go on sale in November. (Date not yet announced.) 254-710-1417
• Waco Symphony – Jon Nakamatsu plays Rachmaninoff – November 7 – Waco Hall – 254-710-3210

Go With Us to the Painted Churches of Schulenburg, Texas on October 11th!

Register now for the amazing bus trip to Schulenburg, Texas, on October 11th where we will see three historic Painted Churches. Although they resemble many typical country churches across our country, once you step inside, you’ll understand the significance of the extraordinary artwork created by the Czech and German immigrants.

The bus will leave from Richland Mall (near JCPenney’s) at 7:45 am and return about 6:00 pm. Registration includes the bus trip, the admission and tour guide for the 3 churches, and a buffet lunch. Open to members and their guests. $65 per person. Register online or at the front desk of the Mayborn Museum.

Register Today

Shared Interest Groups (SIGs)

Theater SIG at the Plaza Theater

Shared Interest Groups (SIGs) are a free benefit of membership in Baylor Lifelong Learning. Members connect with each other through SIGs that are member-led and are centered around the interests of the group. Each group sets its own schedule and meeting locations, participants help lead discussions and a facilitator manages communication. SIGs are free, but LLL membership is required for participation. If you would like to join a SIG, please email the corresponding name beside the SIG group name.

Memoir Writing - Elaine White elainewhite2013@gmail.com

Eager Eaters - Ann Johnston

tipnann@gmail.com

Poetry - Doug Baldwin

dxbaldwin@gmail.com

Theater - Doug Baldwin

dxbaldwin@gmail.com

Fun at the Spring Luncheon,

May 2024

2023-24 LLL President Nancy Moore presided over the Spring Luncheon with speaker T. Lindsay Baker on “Texas Robbery by Six Gun and Fountain Pen.” Nancy presented the LLL Excellence Award to Judy Staples for her volunteer leadership in recent years. Over 100 members of Lifelong Learning enjoyed the food, fellowship and fun as the final special event for the year.