The Fun Begins Tomorrow!
Monday, March 26, 2018
 Spring 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.
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Hermann Gucinski
"I love volunteering at OLLI because of its stimulating and intellectually challenging environment and the interaction of my colleagues and class participants."
Hermann teaches "Good Science, Bad Science, and Fun Science" and "Seniors Hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain and other Countries." He is also on the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Subcommittee of the Curriculum Committee and helps to organize the STEM Lecture Series.
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OLLI VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
ROOTS Foundation
The garden is the classroom
Veterans Restoration Quarters
Gardening Opportunities
Restoring the lives of homeless veterans
VOLUNTEER NOW ... You can make a difference!
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Meditation Special Interest Group
Monday, March 26, 5 p.m.
Skinny Beats Drum Studio
4 Eagle Street
Downtown Asheville
Billy Zanski will be offering a sound meditation at Skinny Beats Drum Studio. There is no fee for this program. Donations are welcome.
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Billy Zanski
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Billy Zanski, an enthusiastic and inspiring teacher, healer and musician has dedicated his life to sharing the joy and passion for sound meditations. Taking percussion into the realm of sound healing has become the cornerstone of his shop. Crystal bowls, gongs, didgeridoo, kora (West African harp) and many forms of percussion, comprise some of Billy's main instrumentation. Having spent extensive time in West Africa, Brazil and Chile, Billy has developed a fusion of rhythm and deep frequencies, which he has been facilitating for the past 10 years.
All OLLI members are welcome at this event.
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Bridge Buddies
Special Interest Group
Tuesday March 27, 2 p.m.
Reuter Center Atrium
The Bridge Buddies SIG is open for new members. We play at an intermediate level (e.g. stayman, transfers, Blackwood/Gerber, etc).
We pride ourselves on our sense of humor. If interested, contact Connie Mitchell at
[email protected]
or just stop by.
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Special Interest Group
The Forum
Friday, March 30, 1 p.m.
Reuter Center Room 205
Meeting Topic: "Current Events & Selection of Topics for April"
Mark your calendar to attend this 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,
[email protected]
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Astronomy Club of Asheville
Thursday, April 5, 7 p.m.
Reuter Center Manheimer Room
Astronomy Equipment Seminar: Getting to Know Your Telescope
Do you own a telescope but need some experienced help using it? Are you interested in purchasing your own telescope but are overwhelmed by the myriad of options on the market? Are you thinking of buying astronomy equipment as a gift but would like some guidance? We're here to help! We'll have experienced club members available to walk you through the steps and make your transition from sky watcher to amateur astronomer as painless as possible.
If you have equipment and would like assistance, bring your equipment to the event - with all parts (including new batteries) and your user's manual - and we'll help you overcome the operation hurdle.
The event is free and open to all - you do not need to be a club member to attend.
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Sierra Club Meeting
Thursday, April 5, 7 p.m.,
"A Plan for a Clean Energy Future for North Carolina"
Come learn how we can make this transition to save money and meet the state's energy needs by shifting away from coal and natural gas towards clean energy. Note the change to Thursday. Free and open to everyone. Contact Judy Mattox,828.683.2716 [email protected]
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Manheimer Book Talk
Growing Up Existentially
Reuter Center Manheimer Room
Novelists, playwrights and philosophers of the existential tradition continue to attract a worldwide audience, young and old alike. Their creative expressions and ideas have made a major impact on Americans from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Betty Friedan. In his new book, Growing Up Existentially: From Absurdity to Consciousness (Jorvik Press, 2018), Dr. Ron Manheimer explores what continues to make existentialism so intriguing, while he shares some of his own "existential moments." Come hear about his new book and enjoy a cup of coffee and a cookie.
Free and open to everyone.
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Hiking Special Interest Group
Tuesday, April 10, 4:15 p.m.
Reuter Center Manheimer Room
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Buncombe Chautauqua Performance
Rachel Carson's 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.
This performance is appropriate for all ages but especially powerful when families share the experience.
Tickets are $5 at the door.
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Volunteer Opportunity
The Lord's Acre (TLA) is growing and we are looking for new board leaders to help us as we build upon the past 9 successful years. Now in our tenth growing season, TLA continues to inspire new ways of working in
community
and increasing food access.
The Lord's Acre is seeking a Treasurer to join our board. This is a volunteer position. Please send all inquiries to [email protected].
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Dear OLLI Members,
We look forward to our first days of the Spring 2018 term beginning on Monday, March 26. Please remember that the Purple Shuttle leaves every 15 minutes from Parking Lot P1 and P2 and takes only minutes to get to the Reuter Center. The shuttle runs until 4:15 p.m. If you get a spot close to the Reuter Center, consider offering a ride down the hill at the end of class to people who have used the shuttle to get to class. And please remember that you may only park in white-lined spots in non-resident parking lots. You will receive a ticket if you park along curbs or in electric vehicle charging stations (unless you are charging your vehicle). Parking remains a scarce resource on our campus, and we must work with our colleagues to make the most of this resource.
We hope we will see you at OLLI's Town Hall Meeting, Tuesday, March 27, 4:30 p.m. to learn more about OLLI, to hear about plans for the coming year and to ask any questions you might have. If you have questions you would like to have answered, please submit them to [email protected] by 5 p.m., Monday, March 26.
We hope you will take some time to read Carol Gillen's tribute to Nick Jordan and the creation of The Gift of Time program. And note the many ways you can learn about the talented people in our community through the OLLI Authors series, the Volunteer Spotlight, NC Stage Behind the Scenes, The Autumn Players Readers Theatre, Ron Manheimer's talk on his latest book
Growing Up Existentially
and all of the arts programs coming up at the Reuter Center and everywhere on campus. Learn more about the history of our community through the WNC Historical Association and the "More Than a Month" presentation on Rosenwald Schools organized by OLLI's Inclusion Committee. And if you want to know more about science, please note the Astronomy Club of Asheville's upcoming meeting about equipment for star gazing.
We are in a time of change of leadership at the university and of personnel at OLLI. We have not changed the wealth of programming we offer and the warmth and intelligence of the community we create together. Thank you for contributing to our shared experiences.
Catherine Frank
Executive Director
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Check the links here to see OLLI and UNC Asheville current events:
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Upcoming UNC Asheville Athletic Events
March - April 2018 
Monday, March 25, 2 p.m., Men's Tennis UNC Asheville vs. Delaware,
Asheville Racquet Club Downtown
Thursday, March 29, 6 p.m., Baseball UNC Asheville vs. Campbell, Greenwood Baseball Field
Friday, March 30, 6 p.m., Baseball UNC Asheville vs. Campbell, Greenwood Baseball Field
Saturday, March 31, 11 a.m., Men's Tennis UNC Asheville vs. Longwood,
Asheville Racquet Club Downtown
Saturday, March 31, 1 p.m., Baseball UNC Asheville vs. Campbell,Greenwood Baseball Field
Wednesday, April 4, 2 p.m., Women's Tennis UNC Asheville vs. Presbyterian
Asheville Racquet Club Downtown
Wednesday, April 4, 6 p.m., Baseball UNC Asheville vs. Western Carolina University, McCormick Field
Thursday, April 5, 3 p.m., Men's Tennis UNC Asheville vs. Gardner-Webb,
Asheville Racquet Club Downtown
Friday, April 6, 6 p.m., Basball UNC Asheville vs. Presbyterian,Greenwood Baseball Field
Saturday, April 7, 10 a.m., Men's Tennis UNC Asheville vs. Campbell,
Asheville Racquet Club Downtown
Saturday, April 7, 1 p.m., Women's Tennis UNC Asheville vs. Campbell,
Asheville Racquet Club Downtowns
Saturday, April 7, 6 p.m., Baseball UNC Asheville vs. Presbyterian,
Greenwood Baseball Field
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UNC Asheville's 2018 Spring Greenfest
Keynote Address
Audrey and 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.
828.232.5024
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OLLI Town Hall Meeting
Tuesday, March 27, 4:30 p.m., Reuter Center 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 2017-2018 slate of candidates. Our focus, however, will be on your questions for our staff and Steering Council members. Watch the OLLI Observer for your opportunity to submit questions.
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Fab Friday
Friday, March 30, 11:30 a.m., Reuter Center Manheimer Room
"Perioperative risks of surgery and how to modify these risks"
by Dr. Glen Gettinger
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Dr. Glen Gettinger
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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.
(Please note that this is a change in the program described in the OLLI Spring 20128 catalog)
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.
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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.
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Medicare Choices Made Easy
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.
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The Autumn Players Readers Theatre Performance
Sunday, April 1, 2:30 p.m., Reuter Center 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.
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OLLI's Gift of Time Workshop: Thoughtful Planning for Life's End
by Carol Gillen
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Nick Jordan
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Nick Jordan, OLLI's Gift of Time workshop creator, stated it this way, "It was not the news I wanted to hear. My cancer cannot be cured, and I have between two and five years remaining." Nick got this unwelcome prognosis in 2012. This pragmatic, thoughtful man got to work right away and communicated with his family all the things they would need to deal with at his death: financial, legal, personal. Nick felt that he was giving himself and his family a "gift" by thinking of all the details before a crisis. As he did this, he realized others could benefit from the same type of planning and communication. Under his leadership, OLLI's Gift of Time program was born.
Working with a committee of OLLI members, Nick developed a template to help others put their affairs in order. The first workshop was held in 2013. It has been presented annually ever since. Nick personally participated in the workshops through 2016. He died in 2017.
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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.
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Donation Drive for Homeless Students in the Asheville City School System
OLLI members get a big THANKS for their response to the donation drive held in February. A barrel was located near the main Reuter Center entrance throughout the month inviting OLLI members to contribute items needed by homeless students in the city's school system. The school's homeless liaison staff person had listed the need for socks, underwear, nutritious snacks, deodorants and zipper binders as the items OLLI members could most help contribute.
OLLI members responded with more than 350 donations of individual items, including more than 200 pairs of socks and underwear and over 80 food items. A more detailed list of items is posted on the bulletin board near room 205. The complete inventory is being transferred to the city school system to assist the more than 120 students experiencing homelessness.
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"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.
This program is free and open to everyone.
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WNC Historical Association Event
Saturday, April 14, 2 p.m.
Reuter Center
Manheimer Room
The Role of African-Americans in the History of WNC:
Building the 1870s Swannanoa Train Tunnel and
The South Asheville Cemetery Project
Presented by Jeff Keith
and Kevin Kehrberg of Warren Wilson College
Join Warren Wilson College professors Jeff Keith and Kevin Kehrberg as they present public memories about slavery and the Jim Crow South
through the story of the Swannanoa Tunnel and efforts to maintain the South Asheville Cemetery. While often associated with southern Appalachia, the "myth of racial innocence" is lost in the exclusive use of African American convict labor to build the Swannanoa Train Tunnel that connected the mountains of Western North Carolina to the NC Piedmont
in the late 1870s. This tragic construction story is highlighted through the conversations as well as the music of the laborers. In addition, an overview of the current community work to cultivate and protect the oldest public African American cemetery in WNC, the South Asheville Cemetery, will be developed. The South Asheville Cemetery is the final resting place for nearly two thousand people-many of them slaves.
Tickets sold at the door: $5 donation, WNCHA members
Program sponsored by the Western North Carolina Historical Association.
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