Donate to OLLI in February and make someone feel special! For each gift of $25 or more, we will mail a one-of-a-kind greeting card made by one of our talented OLLI artists to a person you designate. Look for the option to “make this gift in honor of someone” on the donation form.

Each card will contain a standard message:

Celebrate OLLI friendships the entire month of February and let someone you know you’re thinking about them!

Longtime OLLI instructor Bitz Haley and several members of her popular class "Tuesday Tunes," offered both in person and online, will compete in the 2nd Annual Community Lip-Sync Challenge on Saturday, March 4 at the Elks Lodge. The Treble Makers have been rehearsing twice a week for a month, and they are feeling empowered and confident to be contenders.

"We're really challenging ourselves individually and as a group," Bitz explained. "And we've formed a really strong bond and an unexpected amount of self-confidence in the process." The event is a fundraiser for the Music Therapy Impact Fund, a nonprofit providing services to various groups in Chico, including individuals with Parkinson’s Disease and under hospice care.

Tickets, including food truck and streaming options, are available now. When you purchase a ticket, you may designate which group gets your votes! Doors open at 6:30; competition at 7:30. Says Bitz, "While only one act will go home with a trophy at the end of the evening, everyone will go home feeling happy!"

Pictured: Bitz Haley, front, with members of the Treble Makers.

OLLI is expanding its programming to include more day trips, as well as our first overseas adventure!

A few weeks ago, Collette Representative Jay Fehan visited us to talk about the upcoming fully-guided tour to Ireland in Fall 2023. He provided more details about this OLLI-exclusive adventure, with captivating slides of the areas we'll be visiting.

We know how much OLLI members love socializing – and we love seeing you too! OLLI will be holding a potluck picnic on Wednesday, March 1, 11:30am-1pm at Wildwood Park. This is a chance to get together, share delicious food, and even play a few rounds of bingo – all in the lunch break between classes.

The picnic will be Irish-themed to celebrate OLLI's first overseas trip, the upcoming Shades of Ireland fully guided, in-person tour. We welcome you to join us for the picnic whether you're going on the trip or not.

The picnic area is covered, so the event will happen rain or shine. No alcohol, no glass containers.

Proof of vaccination is required for all in-person events. Click here for instructions.

Several members have asked us to pass on the message that wearing fragrances to class has some unintended consequences. Headaches and asthma attacks can be triggered by perfumes and scented lotions, especially in close quarters.

Please remember that your use of fragrances is voluntary, while another’s reaction is not. We want members to feel welcome and comfortable in every OLLI classroom, and we appreciate your cooperation in doing your part to help us meet this goal.

Len Spesert was a senior at Chico State when he was drafted into the US Army in December of 1966. He was trained as a medical corpsman and served at the 93rd Evacuation Hospital (MASH), Long Binh Post, Vietnam. He was at Long Binh when it was attacked on January 31, 1968, the first night of the Tet Offensive.

This spring, he’s bringing that experience to OLLI with his class Tet 1968: An Eyewitness Account. The purpose of the class is not be to justify a position or action of the Vietnam War, but rather to report and to discuss Len’s research and his personal observations during his 1968 tour of duty. The events of that year are often seen as the fulcrum which turned the tides of the conflict in Southeast Asia and ultimately led to the Paris Peace Agreement and the withdrawal of all Allied Forces in 1973.

Pictured: Aerial view of Long Binh Post on October 13, 1967.

Help support your OLLI program with a bit of your time. And meet some new friends! Paul Coots is recruiting members for the Annex Office. The Annex is located next to the Bradley 2 classroom at The Social Chico, where the majority of our in-person classes are held.

Volunteers help answer members' questions, typically related to class dates, times, and locations, as well as where to park. If you are already attending classes at The Social Chico, please consider extending your day there by another hour or two. We could really use your support. We have many returning volunteers, but we are looking for more.

Three time slots are open:

Please contact Paul at [email protected] with "OLLI Office" in the subject line if you're interested. Include days/times of your availability. Thank you!

This weekend is the 4th Annual Butte County Museum Weekend. This year 18 museums across Butte County are participating with free admission 10am-4pm this Saturday and Sunday. Each museum is also offering something special for the weekend.

The collection of museums includes the Chico Air Museum, all 5 City of Oroville Museums, and the Butte County Historical Society Museum. You can visit a handful of art museums in Chico, listen to demonstrations of the Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ at the Oroville State Theatre, and enjoy local history talks by Dave Nopel at the Chico History Museum. Check out each museum's special offering on the Butte County Museum Weekend website and spend the weekend enjoying what the museums of Butte County have to offer.

Theresa Malkiel, a member of the Woman's National Committee of the Socialist Party of America, came up with the idea for a Woman's Day, which was celebrated primarily in New York at the end of February in 1909 and 1910. In its early days, International Women's Day was primarily celebrated in communist countries and by communists in other part of the world.

International Women's Day was embraced by feminists in the 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s, leftists and labor organizations joined women's groups in calling for equal pay, equal economic opportunity, equal legal rights, reproductive rights, subsidized child care, and the prevention of violence against women. In 1977, the United Nations began commemorating the day each year.

This year, the UN's theme for International Women's Day is DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality. The theme brings awareness to the global gender gap in internet access and technology careers, as well as the issue of digital spaces as a site of violence against women.

Pictured: 1975 Women’s Day march poster from the Women's Liberation Workshop in London.

OLLI at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) invites OLLI members from across the country to attend their weekly Pfaudler Lecture Series.

Zhi Zheng

Dr. Zheng is part of a cross-disciplinary team at RIT’s Intelligent Interaction Research Lab. The team’s project uses artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to help older adults and others stay active and improve their cognitive function, especially those with multiple chronic conditions.

Mary Jo Lanphear

Employees of Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, NY, among others, volunteered to take children of employees from its British subsidiaries during World War II. Mary Jo Lanphear will tell the story of these "KodaKids," who became Britain’s ambassadors.

The lecture series continues weekly through March 23. View the full schedule (pdf) and register for one or more lectures.

OLLI Spring Potluck Picnic

Spring Break (No Classes)

Cesar Chavez Day (OLLI Closed, No Classes)

Community Speaker Series

Last Day of Spring Classes

Memorial Day (OLLI Closed)

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.