OLLI Observer
March 18, 2018   
 
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In This Issue
TODAY 
Reuter Center Singers Concert
Sunday, March 18, 3 p.m.,  Manheimer Room 

The Spring 2018 Reuter Center Singers concert will offer "A Blast from the Past ... Our 20th Year Celebration Concert" celebrating 20 years of song and singing!  Come tour with us on our 20 year musical journey with such greats as "When You Wish Upon A Star," "Let's Fall in Love," "We Shall Overcome," "It's a Grand Night for Singing," "I Believe," "I Could Have Danced All Night," and more.  Other selections will also feature the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gershwin, "Wicked," The Beach Boys, Woody Guthrie, The Beatles and John Denver.   Performances of the Spring Concert fill quickly, so arrive early to get a good seat.    
While the concert is free and open to everyone, donations at the door are welcome.  There will be a reception with light refreshments following the concert.
TODAY 
A Patchwork of Stories
Sunday, March 18, 2-4 p.m. 
Folk Art Center, Blue Ridge Parkway
Milepost 382

Presented by Stories on Asheville's Front Porch and sponsored by the Wilma Dykeman Legacy and the Southern Highland Crafts Guild, David Novak, Elena Diana Miller, Donn Marie Todd and Ray Christian will share stories from their own rich storehouses.
Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.

 
Bradley Fuller 
 
"I love volunteering at OLLI because it allows me to fully benefit from all of the educational, cultural and social activities that OLLI has to offer its members; I am as vital to OLLI as OLLI is to me. "        
 
Brad is a member of the Social Sciences Committee, teaches at College for Seniors and has presented in the Fab Friday series.
 
New Member Welcome 
Friday, March 23, 10 a.m.
Reuter Center Manheimer Room 
Welcome Are you new to OLLI at UNC Asheville and the Reuter Center? Are you returning after being gone a while? Come to the New Member Welcome on Friday, March 23, 10 a.m., to learn about all that OLLI has to offer and about ways to get involved. Meet other members and learn what it means to "grow through life."
OLLI VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Veterans Restoration Quarters 
Gardening Opportunities
Restoring the lives of homeless veterans

Homeward Bound's 
Welcome Home Center
The key to ending homelessness
Click here for details

ROOTS Foundation
The garden is the classroom
Click here for details 

 
VOLUNTEER NOW ... You can make a difference!
The Fun Begins Soon!
Monday, March 26, 2018
School starts Spring 2018 College for Seniors classes begin on Monday, March 26, 2018.  There are still open seats in a select number of courses.  Visit olliasheville.com and click on "Register Online" to see what is available.
Remember that you may apply for a full refund for your 2018 Spring term registration fee if you contact the OLLI office (828.251.6140 or olli@unca.edu)
by Friday, March 23, 3 p.m.
Meditation 
Special Interest Group
Monday, March 26, 5 p.m.


The Meditation Special Interest Group will meet at Skinny Beats Drum Studio  for a sound meditation with Billy Zanski.

All OLLI members are welcome to attend.

For more information, contact Sally Ekaireb, beriake@yahoo.com
Special Interest Group 
The Forum
Friday, March 23, 1 p.m., Room 205  
 
Meeting Topic: "Marijuana Policy" 
 
 The Forum offers a free-flowing dialogue designed to enrich and expand participants' thinking on topics ranging from changing demographics of retirees to nuclear disarmament.  All OLLI members are invited and welcome!   
SIG contact: Beth Johnson, johnson1ea@earthlink.com 
Europe/Great Britain Travel Special Interest Group
Friday, March 23, 3 p.m.
Reuter Center Room 120
 
This month's program has been created from  member interests established during the February meeting. Due to vastness of subject and individual interest, meeting topics and format will be evolving based on member feedback.
 
Here is the agenda is sectioned into Eastern Europe, Italy and Travel Buddies

Eastern Europe. Video Highlights of Vienna, Prague & Budapest, Dubrovnik (< 35 mins); brief overview of River Cruise & Land Tours
 
Italy Travel Highlights. Overview Popular Regions (Cinque Terra, Lake District, Amalfi Coast, etc.)
 
Travel Buddies Meet-Up.  30 minutes set aside for those who wish to meet potential travel companions with like interests

To receive EURO/BRIT notices, travel information & to be added to EURO Preference Roster   contact: Fitz FitzHugh 208.250.1040 lindaf@eggsamerica.com  
 
Employment Opportunity

Wicked Weed Brewing is looking for drivers with commercial drivers licenses to lead tours of its four facilities.
Dear OLLI Members,

Don't forget that the Reuter Center Singers will perform their Spring Concert, celebrating 20 years of music, today at 3 p.m. The event is free and open to everyone, and donations are welcome.

We are all looking forward to the start of our Spring 2018 courses on Monday, March 26.  Please remember that you may request a full refund for your Spring 2018 term fee if you contact us (olli@unca.edu or 828.251.6140) by Friday, March 23, 3 p.m.

If you have not done so, please take time to complete our Annual Member Survey:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QZNLCLJ

We hope you will be able to attend our Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, ,March 27, 4:30 p.m.  If you have any questions for our staff or OLLI Steering Council members, please send them to olli@unca.edu

If you are new to OLLI or would like a refresher on all that we have to offer, plan to attend the New Member Welcome on Friday, March 23, 10 a.m.

Please take advantage of all that our program and the UNC Asheville campus have to offer!
Catherine Frank
Executive Director


 Check the links here to see OLLI and UNC Asheville current events:
 
Elisha Mitchell Audubon Program 
Tuesday, March 20, 7 p.m., Reuter Center Room 206 
Reuter Center Manheimer Room  
 
Is There Hope for Hemlocks?

A little bug is killing millions of hemlock trees and threatening water quality, wildlife habitat, and forest health across eastern forests. Hemlocks have been in decline for several years, and their loss has an impact on many forest species, including birds. The Hemlock Restoration Initiative, a program sponsored by the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the U.S. Forest Service, is working on solutions to stem the decline of hemlocks. Sara deFosset and Thom Green, both from the Hemlock Restoration Initiative, will highlight the importance of hemlocks in western North Carolina ecosystems. They'll discuss threats from the hemlock woolly adelgid and enumerate current efforts to combat this pest, including getting the public involved in hemlock conservation. 
 
Sara deFosset is the Outreach Associate for the Hemlock Restoration Initiative.  Thom Green is HRI's Stewardship and Volunteer Engagement Associate.   All EMAS programs are free and open to the public.

STEM Lecture  
Wednesday, March 21, 4:30 p.m., Manheimer Room
 
           Women in Forest Science
sunny-tree-boughs.jpg  
with panelists   Dr. Susan Loeb, Dr. Jennifer Knoep, Dr. Dominique Bachelet, Dr. Viniece Jenning, Dr. Michelle Baumflek; and moderator Dr. Hermann Gucinski

Forest science is, in part, the study of the threats forested ecosystems face on both the local and global scales.
 
In this discussion, a 5-person panel of people of various backgrounds and experiences, will describe what they have learned and experienced themselves in forest science, especially as it pertains to the acceptance of women in this field.

Free and open to everyone.  Click here to view an event flier.

The Confident Caregiver Series
Friday, March 23, 2 p.m., Reuter Center Manheimer Room

"Is this Normal Aging? Know the 10 Signs"

  Come learn about the differences between normal and not normal aging, and why you may keep finding things in strange places! We'll separate myth from reality and address commonly-held fears about Alzheimer's in America.
This series of lectures is offered through the Alzheimer's Association Western Carolina Chapter , the Confident Caregiver is a series of three presentations that provide  answers to the questions that arise in the middle stages of the disease. Hear from those directly affected and learn what you need to know, what you need to plan and what you can do at each point along the way to maintain quality of life for both the caregiver and the person with the disease.
Free and open to everyone. 

UNC Asheville's 2018 Spring Greenfest
Keynote Address
Audrey & Frank Peterman
Monday, March 26, 7 p.m.
Humanities Lecture Hall, UNC Asheville Campus
 

Audrey and Frank Peterman are the authors of Legacy on the Land: A Black Couple Discovers Our National Inheritance and Tells Why Every American Should Care, and Our True Nature: Finding a Zest for Life in the National Park System!

After their last child graduated college, this couple took the ultimate road trip, traveling 12,000 miles across 40 states visiting national parks and forests. They emerged dedicated to breaking invisible color barriers separating people from the great American outdoors, and have led countless tours of national parks.
This talk is free and open to everyone.
Contact for this event:  Center for Diversity Education,  dmiles@unca.edu

828.232.5024


 

OLLI Town Hall Meeting
Tuesday, March 27, 4:30 p.m., Manheimer Room
 
  On Tuesday, March 27, 4:30 p.m., during our annual Town Hall meeting we'll review the highlights of the past year, including member survey results and accomplishments from our OLLI programs and activities. The Nominating Committee will introduce the 2018-2019 slate of candidates. Our focus, however, will be on your questions for our staff and Steering Council members. 
If you have questions you would like us to address, please send them to olli@unca.edu

 

Fab Friday Change
Friday, March 30, 11:30 a.m.
Reuter Center Manheimer Room
Dr. Glen Gettinger

  • "Perioperative risks of surgery 
  • and how to modify these risks" 
  • by Dr. Glen Gettinger
Dr Gettinger went to medical school at Emory University and graduated summa cum laude, did his internship, residency and fellowship in internal medicine at Duke University and did a fellowship in anesthesia at University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville, Va before moving to Asheville where he has practiced as an anesthesiologist for the last 30 years at Mission Health. 

 On  Fridays, 11:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m. during our fall, winter and spring terms, the Fab Friday series of lunch and learn lectures are held in the Manheimer Room and are free and open to everyone. Purchase lunch in our Reuter Café or bring your own brown bag. End your week and start your weekend with Fab Fridays. Don't miss these great programs.

Medicare Choice Made Easy
Friday, March 30, 2 p.m.
Reuter Center Room 206
Medicare  
  Are you new to Medicare? Are you confused by the many choices? Unbiased and accurate information is available from trained volunteers from the North Carolina Seniors' Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP). Representatives from the Council on Aging of Buncombe County will provide important information to assist you in understanding how Medicare works and what you need to do to obtain benefits and save money. Spaces are limited, so register online at www.coabc.org.
 

Behind the Scenes at NC Stage
Friday, March 30, 1:30 p.m., Manheimer Room

Go behind the scenes of professional theatre with NC Stage Artistic Director and co-founder Charlie Flynn-McIver. Explore the themes of this season's plays, talk with the actors, directors and designers about design concepts and the rehearsal process and experience a scene or two performed live.
 Join us for an insider's view of how theatre happens!
On Friday, March 30, 1:30 p.m., the focus is on the upcoming production of
Other Desert Cities . Brooke Wyeth returns home to Palm Springs after a six-year absence to celebrate Christmas with her parents, her brother and her aunt. Brooke announces that she is about to publish a memoir dredging up a pivotal and tragic event in the family's history-a wound they don't want reopened. In effect, she draws a line in the sand and dares them all to cross it.


The Autumn Players Readers Theatre Performance
Sunday, April 1, 2:30 p.m., Manheimer Room
 
The Dresser by Ronald Harwood
Directed by Marianne Lyon 
 
The Dresser is a powerful, funny, bittersweet drama. The setting is January 1942 in a theater in the English provinces. Air raid sirens are going off and bombs are falling all around them. A touring Shakespearean Theatre company is put to the test as Norman, the devoted dresser, struggles to support Sir, the talented but tyrannical aging lead actor. Will they somehow manage to get this performance of King Lear up and running? Don't miss the excitement! 
This performance is open to everyone, and tickets are $7 at the door. 


Thursday, April 5, 5 p.m.
Reuter Center Room 206
    
OLLI Authors is a series of public readings
designed to recognize the many very talented poetry and prose writers among OLLI members.  In April Louis Giron and Sue McAdams will be the featured writers, reading from their works.

This series is free and open to everyone.

In addition to the OLLI Authors series, OLLI Authors has established a compilation of books written by OLLI at UNC Asheville members. It includes only books published while the authors were OLLI members. It includes poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction books.
 
If you have published a book while an OLLI member, please send the following information to nelsonsartoris@charter.net. Your title will be added to the list. Please include the author(s), title, publisher, ISBN, date of publication and where it is available for purchase should others wish to buy a copy.   
More Than a Month Series

"Rosenwald: The Remarkable Story of a Jewish Partnership with African-American Communities": 
Screening and Panel Discussion
Friday, April 6, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Reuter Center Manheimer Room

Between 1912 and 1932, a unique collaboration involving Julius Rosenwald (who made his fortune as president of Sears, Roebuck and Company), Booker T. Washington and thousands of African American communities across the South, produced 4,977 schools, 217 teachers' homes and 163 shop buildings.  There was a total of 813 buildings in North Carolina, more than in any other state.  Unfortunately, many of these buildings have been neglected, abandoned or demolished, although there is a recent resurgence in interest in the history of the program and the preservation of surviving structures. Come to the Reuter Center for a screening of parts of Aviva Kempner's film "Rosenwald: The Remarkable Story of a Jewish Partnership with African-American Communities" and to hear from members of our local community who are working to rehabilitate the Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School to serve as a community cultural center and interpretive museum to promote a fuller understanding of the history of African Americans in Southern Appalachia.  
Panelists will include Willa Wyatt from the Friends of the Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School, Annie McDonald, preservation specialist from the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources Western Office, and Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School alumni: Charity Ray (a local artist), Fatimah Shabazz (broadcaster and musician), Omar McClain (retired from a career in finance) and Oralene Simmons (civil rights activist, organizer of Asheville's annual MLK breakfast and former cultural arts supervisor for the City of Asheville).
This program has been organized by members of OLLI's Inclusion Committee as part of their "More Than a Month" series. The Inclusion Committee builds partnerships to offer programs to provide opportunities to understand and respond to the issues of race that continue to divide us and to define our civic and political discourse.


Buncombe Chautauqua Performance
Rachel Carson Silent Spring
Sunday, April 15, 3 p.m.
Doors open at 2 p.m. 
Reuter Center Manheimer Room
 
Step inside the revolutionary book, Silent Spring as its author Rachel Carson reveals the reckless destruction of our living world. Written more than 55 years ago Silent Spring inspired the environmental movement and has never been out of print. And now you have a chance to ask the author, Rachel Carson, how this came to be. Remember that Chautauqua doesn't offer simple performances but a chance to step into living history - to ask questions and go one on one with a women whose books shaped our country and our world.
 Bring your stories. Share your experiences. Get inspired. Because it's not just history - it's personal. 
Caroline McIntyre will appear as Rachel Carson and speak in Carson's profound, prophetic and poetic words. It is a powerfully uplifting glimpse of a personal struggle, witness for nature and groundbreaking crusade against the pollution of our environment. 
This performance is appropriate for all ages but especially powerful when families share the experience. 
Tickets are $5 at the door. 
For more information call 828.658.1951 or www.greenvillechautauqua.org
Volunteer Opportunity  
The Lord's Acre (TLA) is looking for new board leaders to help them as they build upon the past nine successful years. Now in our tenth growing season, TLA continues to inspire new ways of working in  community  and increasing food access. TLA was founded on a strong value of community and building community, and the Board of Directors play an essential role in our organization.
 
The Lord's Acre is seeking a Treasurer to join our board. This is a volunteer position.  Please send all inquiries to LouiseBijesse@gmail.com.
 
The treasurer shall have supervision over the funds, securities, receipts, and disbursements of the Corporation.  He or she shall, in general, perform all duties and have all authority incident to the office of the Treasurer and shall perform such other duties and have such other authority as from time to time may be assigned or granted by the Board of Directors.  He or she shall prepare reports on the status of funds, prepare the annual budget with the executive director, and keep all financial records.

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute | 828-251-6140 | olli@unca.edu | http://www.olliasheville.com
Reuter Center, CPO #5000
UNC Asheville
One University Heights
Asheville, NC 28804