Dear OLLI Members,

 

First, I would like to thank all of the volunteers who made the OLLI Art Bazaar happen:  Art Brandl,  Linda Bushar,  Tom Bushar,  Flo Byron,  Linda Cardina,  Jacob Cohen,  George Dambach,  Kathy Dambach,  Jan Duwelius,  Fran Fedor,  Nancy Gordon,  Gayle Hofmann,  Tom Hofmann,  Manju Jindal,  Dennis Murphy,  Patti Oppenheim,  Donna Schramek,  Greg Schramek,  Kim Speer,  Kathy Tempelaar-Leitz, and  James Weil. Special thanks to the organizing committee of Sharon Kopstein, Sheila Murphy, Donna Schramek and Leanna Preston. This work takes a full year of planning and organization and is a testament to the talent and generosity of our members. We salute the generosity of Sheila and Dennis Murphy for donating the ingredients for all of those delicious cookies and the generosity of our OLLI artists who donated door prizes.  Best of all, the event raised almost $2100 for College for Seniors scholarships. Thanks to everyone who attended and supported the talents of our members.

You can enjoy the talents of OLLI members today as the Reuter Center Singers are part of a program of music that celebrates aging.

We hope you will take some time to read Judy LaMee's profile of OLLI's business manager Ann Cadle. Ann does an amazing job keeping track of all of our financial details and being able to present information to our membership with clarity. Most important, Ann is committed to our membership and is inspired by people who are making so much of their second half. Thanks to the communications committee for continuing to shine a light on all of the extraordinary people who make up our community and thanks to Ann for her dedication to OLLI.

Although we have much to celebrate, we have to share some bad news.  We announced earlier that Laurel Jernigan will be leaving her position as program manager for life transitions and civic engagement to focus on her family.  Click here to see the job posting on the UNC Asheville website and pass the posting along if you know someone who might be interested. Caitlin Han has also let us know that she will be leaving us at the end of the year to go back to school full time. She has asked that we not have a formal farewell for her, but we will have a card after the Thanksgiving break for all of you to let Caitlin know how much she means to us and how much we will miss her. Change is always hard to manage, and this fall is a season of change for us at OLLI. We applaud Laurel and Caitlin for making changes that will enhance their lives and know that they will both enrich the world in whatever they undertake. We are grateful that they chose to share their talents with OLLI.

Finally, we wish all of you a restful Thanksgiving. Please note that the OLLI office will be closing Tuesday, November 21, 5 p.m. and re-open on Monday, November 27, 8 a.m. We will be taking some time over the next week to reflect on our gratitude for all of the talented and experienced people who teach our College for Seniors courses, plan our curriculum, organize our Fab Friday lectures, host our socials and art bazaars, provide opportunities for us to volunteer in the broader community through Civic Engagement Committee Calls to Action, plan and facilitate Leadership Asheville Seniors, Paths, CREW, Exploring CCRCs and The Gift of Time  and Workshops . We give thanks for all of the Special Interest Groups that allow us to pursue learning and fellowship outside our traditional courses and all of the community partners who supplement our programming to offer insight into the arts, science and politics. We sometimes focus on the things that we can improve here, and we are committed to continuous improvement. It is helpful every once in a while, however, to step back and recognize the many ways that our community of teachers and learners fulfills so many of its goals and enriches so many aspects of our lives.

With respect for all that you do to model creative retirement,

Catherine Frank

Executive Director

Click here for the UNC Asheville Calendar