Lifelong Learning at the Mayborn Museum

LLL President Bill Dube

Message from the LLL President Bill Dube

Thanks to our LLL Volunteers!

Dear Members,

Baylor Lifelong Learning got off to a great start this fall, and planning for the spring and next year is well underway. After I became a Lifelong Learning member and began taking classes, I was amazed and continued to be amazed at the diligence, the commitment, and the competence of the LLL volunteers; they make LLL such a success. It was this success and enjoyment that I experienced as a member that encouraged me to volunteer and eventually became a member of the Leadership Board. If you are not already doing so, I would encourage you to consider volunteering. Special thanks to all the Committee leaders and members of the Committees for your excellent work and commitment.

We have enjoyed two excellent Coffee Talks this fall. The first was “What Lifelong Learners Need to Know About Memory: How We Remember and Why We Forget,” and the second, “Undertaking a Mammoth Project.” You will not want to miss our November 15th Coffee with Josh Tetens, McLennan County District Attorney speaking on “Law & Order - the Real DA’s Office” or our annual Christmas luncheon on December 6th - Why We Kiss Under the Mistletoe: Christmas Traditions Explained" by Dr. Michael Foley. Registration is now open.

In October, the Special Events Committee planned an outstanding day trip to Schulenburg, TX, where we toured three of the famous Painted Churches of Texas. We were awed by the dazzling décor with works of art painted by the European immigrants who settled the Hill Country in the 1800s.

The Curriculum Team has completed plans for the courses for the Spring 2025 semester and has a great start for the Fall of 2025. The Special Events Committee has lined up some terrific speakers and events for us as well; see elsewhere in this newsletter for the dates and times so you can mark your calendar. You should receive the LLL Spring brochure in December.

In closing, we had 543 members as of September 20th and have added members since. We’d love to have more members, so reach out to your friends. Look forward to seeing you in LLL classes and at special events.

Bill Dube, LLL President

Featured Member Article and photos by Preston Kirk

LLL V.P. CANDIDATE SHERRY CRAGEN IS A ‘SPECIAL’ EDUCATOR

If Sherry Cragen were a suitcase instead of a human, she would be festooned with so many travel stickers you could not find a handle or a zipper. She is as well-educated as she is well-traveled, but let’s not get ahead of her story.

The father of this Little Rock, AR native was a sheet metal worker during World War II in North Africa, patching the returning shot-up airplanes. He admired a piece of “nose art” – the image of a lass named “Sherry” painted on the fuselage – and chose the name for his daughter. “My sisters got the names of our grandmothers,” she said, chuckling.

Her next stops were Kansas, Oklahoma and then Missouri, where Sherry schooled in Farmington from grade two through high school. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in special education from the University of Missouri before beginning her career in Ladue, an affluent St. Louis suburb. That is where she met Bob and said, “I do” in 1976. He went to work for the Owens-Illinois Glass manufacturing firm. “Pack your bags!” soon became a mantra of sorts.

“We moved immediately to Ohio . . . then another eight times: NY, GA, OR, NC, CA, TX,” Sherry recounted. Their final stop was Waco 20 years ago. Bob retired from the local O-I operation a few years ago, and the couple resides along the Hwy. 84 corridor between Woodway and McGregor.

Fortunately, “special education teachers were always in demand,” Sherry recalled. “Sometimes high school, sometimes elementary and sometimes my own self-contained classroom.” She was drawn to the profession because “everywhere we lived was a child with disabilities, and Mom always allowed us to play with them regardless of their age.” For the final nine years of her career she was in the Region 12 Education Service Center’s Special Education and Dyslexia department which served 78 school districts in 12 counties. “We trained and provided support through workshops and on-site training. Technical assistance was through best practices … helping them (comply) with federal and state initiatives and laws,” she explained.

The Cragens have two daughters, Kelly and Andrea (“Andi”) and four grandchildren. Kelly is an area physical therapist “and is known to many of our Lifelong Learning members.” Andi, a Baylor grad, is a bio-mechanical engineer in Austin where she works on artificial knees and other medical devices.

LLL Connections

Sherry has been approved by the LLL Leadership Board as a candidate for the vacant Vice President’s position. Member voting will be at the Christmas luncheon. The Cragens have been involved for about nine years beginning with book review classes, and Sherry serving as a course host for several years. “I am excited, but if someone wants to start a smear campaign and run against me. . . . .” She also has served as a Member-at-Large; helped with publicity and is now the History chairperson.



“I am kind of an eternal volunteer,” she laughed. And how! She’s been a board member of a soccer association and swim club; a church teacher and leader who now helps with Presbyterian Women and the Sanctuary Guild. “Our (LLL) membership is in a really good place right now. But we still need to reach out, keeping in mind the fabric and vibrancy of our membership,” she said. “There are always things to be defined and redefined.”



Although Sherry is “a voracious reader” and likes to sew clothes for her three granddaughters, look for more travel stickers. And not just for their “love to hike and (street) bike. Bob and I …are really working on our bucket list. COVID pointed out to us the importance of not waiting.” They just returned from “Up North Michigan,” were in Australia and New Zealand this past year and enjoyed a trip to New Hampshire and Maine. They spend about 3½ months a year at their home in Fort Collins, enjoying escapes to trails and canyons but still close to “real restaurants and grocery stores.”

Lifelong Learning Special Events

Coming Events collected by Liz Arend

LLL Special Events – Fall 2024

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

• Friday, December 6^th CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON 11:00 am at Cashion 5^th Floor (Registration required; register now until December 1.) Dr. Michael Foley, “Why We Kiss Under the Mistletoe: Christmas Traditions Explained.” (Check for details at baylor.edu/lifelonglearning) $35 each for LLL members or their guests

• Friday, January 24^th COFFEE 9:30 am at the Mayborn Museum - Free MEMBERS ONLY event. LLL Members should watch for an email with the details. Admission by LLL Member I.D. only.

• Friday, February 21^st COFFEE 9:30 am at the Mayborn Museum - Cindy Hobbs Janecka, “Growing Older with Purpose and Grace.”

• Friday, March 21^st BUS TRIP (All Day) to Corsicana, TX (Registration required) (Check for details at baylor.edu/lifelonglearning)

• Friday, April 11^th COFFEE 9:30 am at the Mayborn Museum - Joe Fulton, “Highlights from the Writings of Mark Twain.”

• Friday, May 2^nd SPRING LUNCHEON 11:00 am at Hurd Welcome Center (Registration required) Brad Livingstone interviews Judge Thomas West and Judge Ryan Luna, “Faith, Family, and The Law.”

Happenings on Baylor Campus

While we are cheering the Baylor Fall Sports Teams on to victory, we are getting ready for Baylor Men and Women’s Basketball. We are also getting ready for the second semester of Lifelong Learning classes – watch for the brochure in December!

A few events to highlight late fall and winter:

• Baylor Symphony Orchestra Concert – November 18 at 7:30 P.M. – Jones Concert Hall
• December 14 and 15, Waco Hall will come alive as children of all ages make memories while enjoying the treasured holiday tradition Nutcracker ballet. It is the only production with live orchestra in Central Texas. Call 254-710-3210 for more information.

• Waco Symphony – Ray Chen joins Maestro Loh and the Waco Symphony to perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concert– January 21 – Waco Hall – Call 254-710-3210 for more information. 

• Baylor Opera Theatre - Hansel & Gretel – February 6 – 8 at 7:30 P.M. and February 9 at 3:00 P.M. 

• Baylor All University Sing – February 20 – 22 and 27 – March 1, 2025 – Waco Hall

• Baylor Theater Production – The Secret in the Wings – February 18 – 22 at 7:30 P.M. and February 23 at 2:00 P.M. – Mabee Theater. Tickets on sale on February 4 at 9:00 A.M. Call 254-710-1865 for more information.

• Baylor Men’s Choir’s 25th Anniversary Concert – March 1- TBA – Jones Concert Hall Call 254-710-1417 for more information.

• On March 22, 2025, the Waco Symphony Orchestra will perform John William’s film score for Jurassic Park while the audience sits back and watches the full-length film projected in HD on a giant screen above the musicians. Waco Hall – Call 254-710-3210 for more information.

• On April 3, 2025, the season finale, we will welcome Principal Clarinet of the New York Philharmonic Anthony McGill performs Richard Danielpour’s Clarinet Concerto “From the Mountaintop” inspired by Martin Luther King Jr., and the orchestra will perform Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 “Organ” featuring the Dallas Symphony’s Resident Organist and Baylor graduate, Bradley Hunter Welch. This symphony has been featured in several television shows and films, most famously in Babe (1995). Conveying a pioneering spirit, the orchestra will also perform Brian Tyler’s theme to Yellowstone from the hit TV series! Waco Hall – Call 254-710-3210 for more information.

• Baylor Theater Production – Describe the Night – April 8 – 12 at 7:30 P.M. and April 13 at 2:00 P.M. – Mabee Theater. Tickets on sale on March 25 at 9:00 A.M. Call 254-710-1865 for more information.

PHOTO GALLERY