March	April
Mar. 15, 12pm: Spring 2017 Kickoff Luncheon in Michel Student Center Ballrooms	Apr. 5, 12, 19, 26: OLLI Spring Classes

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Bradley University (OLLI) is seeking input to select its Road Scholar private charter trip for 2018.  

The OLLI Learning Trip Committee has narrowed the selections to four destinations.  We would like to know which of the following trips you would most likely register for.  Click on the survey link below the options to weigh in!

Costa Rica and Panama

Holland and Belgium by river barge

Peru

Spain and Portugal

Click here to take the survey

The Battle of Britain: How a Few Good Men and Women of the RAF Saved the United Kingdom from Invasion 

Thursdays, April 27 - May 25

10:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Peoria NEXT Innovation Center

Minimum 8 participants, register by April 13

"The Battle of Britain: How a Few Good Men and Women of the RAF Saved the United Kingdom" is a study group in Spring 2017 with two new facilitators who are very qualified to lead participants in a discussion of this momentous struggle in World War II.  OLLI members may have sat next to either or both of them in other groups over the past three years.  Here is a chance to get to know both of them better.

Dave Jackson, a licensed pilot for fifty years and holder of a commercial license, has owned his own aircraft since 1974.  He also operated A and J Aero Service, which provided aerial advertising and aerial photo services.  Since the early 1980s, he has studied the Battle of Britain and made two trips to England to visit many Battle of Britain airfields and memorial sites.  He is a member of the Battle of Britain Historical Society.  His aviation organization memberships include the Experimental Aircraft Association, the Antique Airplane Association, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and the Midwest Antique Airplane Club.

The other facilitator, Dewey Fitch, describes himself as a Cold War product, learning to fly with the US Air Force in 1956.  He flew jet interceptors on his active duty tour, and then returned to Peoria with Caterpillar as an engineer.  He then joined the National Guard where he flew jet fighter and observation spotters.  Using the GI Bill to get his aeronautical rating, he was an instructor at Mount Hawley Airport in Peoria.  An airplane owner for thirty-one years, Dewey managed Caterpillar's flight department for nine years.  Overall, he has logged 11,000 hours of flight time.

Please join with them in their discussion of the Battle of Britain.  Call Bonnie at 309-677-3900 to register.

$45 - facilitated by OLLI members David Jackson, aviator, and Dewey Fitch, retired aviator. 

Back to Contents

• Complete the Google form here to connect to this year's event.   
• View this year's game, FIRST Steamworks on YouTube.
• Visit the Central Illinois FIRST Robotics Competition website.  

The Student Scholarship Exposition at Bradley University is an annual celebration of the research, scholarship, and creative production of Bradley undergraduate and graduate students.  Students showcase and present their work to a judging team comprised of both Bradley faculty members and representatives from the surrounding community in hopes of receiving an EXPO Award for the best presentation of their work to  generalist audience.

In this 25th year, we expect to receive more student submissions than ever before.  Your contributions as an EXPO Judge will include listening to and assessing 3-5 brief student presentations as an informed generalist audience-- someone who has interest and a working knowledge of the students' topics, without necessarily being an expert in the field-- with a focus on the presentation and dissemination skills of the students.  

Your judging period would consist of a two-hour block on April 12th, between 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., in the Renaissance Coliseum at Bradley.

For more information, please check out the following links:

EXPO Home Page

Judge Frequently Asked Questions

Online Judge Registration Form

A public viewing session will be held on April 13th, from 3:30 - 5:30 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony at 5:30 p.m.; all are invited to attend and support our students' work.

If you have any further questions, please email one of the following representatives from the Office of Sponsored Programs:

Sandra Shumaker, Executive Director of Research and Sponsored Programs

Email: [email protected]

Luke Burton, Graduate Assistant, Office of Sponsored Programs

Email: [email protected]

Tribute to John Philip Sousa by Bradley Symphonic Winds

Sunday, February 26

3:00 - 4:30 p.m.

Dingeldine Music Center, 1417 W Barker Avenue, Peoria

It won't be the Sousa Band, but it will look and sound like the Sousa Band!  The Bradley University Symphonic Winds, conducted by Dr. David Vroman, will present a costumed, turn-of-the-century park concert in Dingeldine Music Center at Bradley on Sunday, February 26, at 3:00 p.m.  The concert will be presented in the same style that John Philip Sousa used to entertain large audiences and which made him a household name throughout the United States.  A pre-concert lecture at 2:15 p.m. by Norman Kelly, will set the tone as Mr. Kelly tells us stories about Peoria in the early 1900s.  The concert will be narrated by Lee Ranson.  

Vocalist and Bradley graduate Kristin Lelm will perform as Sousa's "Lady in White," and saxophonist Matthew Zahner will be the featured instrumental soloist.  The concert will feature novelty numbers and music of great composers fulfilling Sousa's dual function of entertaining the audience and bringing the best music available to the public.  There will, of course, but marches performed which will stir the patriotic blood, and, according to Sousa, "will make a man with a wooden leg want to get up an march."  

Admission is $20.00.  Purchase tickets at the Hartmann Center Box Office or by calling 309-677-2650.

"No Longer Broken: Discovering Truth within the Pieces"

Presented by Troy Roness

Monday, February 27

7:00 p.m.

Neumiller Lecture Hall, Bradley Hall, Bradley University

Cost: FREE!

February 27 begins National Eating Disorders Awareness week.  The Body Project at Bradley University will host Troy Roness, a public speaker who has recovered from an exercise addiction and eating disorder, to speak on the topic of body positivity and the harmful effects of neglecting to take care of your physical and mental well-being.  

To read more about Troy on his website, click here.  All are invited to attend this free event.

As a part of NEA Big Read: Peoria Reads 2017, Tayari Jones, author of Silver Sparrow,will give two keynote presentations at Peoria Public Library this week.  She will read excerpts from her book, talk about the story and her writing process, and answer questions.  Both presentations are free and open to the public.

Tayari Jones Keynote Presentation

Thursday, February 23

5:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Peoria Public Library Lincoln Branch, 1312 W Lincoln Avenue, Peoria

A performance of Live soft jazz music will precede the author's presentation.

Tayari Jones Keynote Presentation

Saturday, February 25

1:00 - 2:30 p.m.

Peoria Public Library North Branch, 3001 W Grand Parkway, Peoria

The Journey to Mollie's War: The Women's  Army Corps and World War II

Saturday, March 11

1:00 p.m.

Chillicothe Public Library, 430 N Bradley Avenue, Chillicothe

Cost: FREE!

Members of the Women's Army Corps - WACs -

 were the first women other than nurses to serve overseas in World War II.  Cyndee Schaffer's mother, Mollie Weinstein Schaffer, was one of them.  Drawing upon excerpts from Mollie's letters written home during the war, Cyndee presents a vivid glimpse into the life of a woman in uniform during this crucial time in history and invites contemplation of the vital and varied roles that women have fulfilled in the American military.

This presentation details Mollie's experiences from basic training in Florida in October 1943 to the dramatic moment when the Statue of Liberty came into view upon her return in November 1945.  It traces the footsteps of the women who served in Europe, following Mollie and her fellow WACs stations in London before D-Day and during the post-D-Day German buzz bomb attacks.  The WACs were transferred to Normandy two months after D-Day and then to Paris after its liberation by the Allies.  Finally, they traveled to Frankfurt as a part of the Army of Occupation, and witness first-hand the devastation of that country before returning to the United States. 

This event is being produced in part by Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speakers Bureau, a program that provides organizations statewide with affordable, entertaining, and thought-provoking humanities events for their communities.

Dollar-a-Day Boys: A Tribute to the Civilian Conservation Corps

Wednesday, March 15

2:00 p.m.

Chillicothe Public Library, 430 N Bradley Avenue, Chillicothe

Cost: FREE!

Bill Jamerson presents a multi-media program about the Cilivian Consevation Corps.  Dressed in uniform, he tells stories, sings songs with his guitar, reads from his book, and shows a video clip from the PBS film he made.  The program is nostalgic, with humorous and heartfelt stories picked up from former CCC boys.  

In Illinois, over 165,000 men enlisted in the Civilian Conservation Corps, FDR's work program during the Great Depression.  They built a dozen state parks, worked on farms, built roads, and much more.  Camps in Elmwood, Galva, Ottawa, and Henry housed men who came into towns on weekends to patronize stores, bowling alleys, and billiard halls, go to the movies, and attend church.

Refreshments will be served, and Jamerson will sign books after his talk.  Attendees are encouraged to bring photo albums and CCC memorabilia.

This program is made possible by the generous support of Evergreen Senior Living.

Back to Contents