In This Issue: Reminder: Recording Links in Your Osher Account | NRC Survey Coming Soon | Casual Coffee Social on October 10 | Osher Programs in the Spotlight | Member Spotlight: Joan Melvin | Travel With Osher! | SIGs in the News | Thank You, Osher Volunteers! | Campus Food Pantry Donations | Presenter Spotlight: Rebecca Ingram | Upcoming Partnership and Community Events | |
Reminder: Recording Links in Your Osher Account | |
As a reminder, we will no longer be sending emails of the recording links for programs. You can now find the links to the recorded programs for which you've registered in your Osher account, making them easier to access.
Once you log in to your account,
go to the top menu bar and choose "My Course Links." All the recording links that you've registered for will be listed here. You can view these recordings as many times as you like before they expire on June 30, 2025.
We encourage you to view the tutorial that gives step-by-step directions on how to use this feature and other handy tips to navigate your account.
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Please watch your email on October 7 to participate in the 2024 survey from the Osher National Resource Center (NRC). Every two years, we are asked to participate in the survey to collect data from members to help us make decisions for future programming. The Osher NRC survey also shows how we compare to other Osher Institutes around the country. Your input is valuable to us! A survey summary will be available in spring 2025.
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Casual Coffee Social on October 10 | |
Join us for the next Casual Coffee Social on Thursday, October 10, at the Yanke building, Room 510! Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. for members to mingle and get acquainted, followed by a brief presentation by Emily Hester, Business Operations Coordinator for the Boise State Campus Food Pantry, starting at noon. Please bring a nonperishable food or personal care item to donate.
Members are welcome to enjoy refreshments provided by the Osher Baker's Dozen and continue their social visits until 1:30 p.m. We hope to see you there!
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Osher Programs in the Spotlight | |
An Ark for the Boise River in a Time of Changing Climate (In Person Only)
Presenter: Dr. Robert Tiedemann
Dates and times: Thu., Oct. 10 & 17
1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
Cost: $25
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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Dilemmas of the Modern World (Hybrid)
Presenter: Dr. Samantha Harvey
Dates and times: Tue., Oct. 22, 29, Nov. 5, & 12, 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
Cost: $45
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Edgar Allan Poe (Hybrid)
Presenter: Dr. Steven Olsen-Smith
Dates and times: Wed., Oct. 16, 23, & 30, 10:00 a.m. to noon
Cost: $35
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988: A Resource for Suicide Prevention and Crisis Support (Hybrid)
Presenter: Lee Flinn
Date and time: Thu., Oct. 24
10:00 a.m.-noon
Cost: Included with membership
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The Pipe Organ as an Artistic Tool
(In Person Only)
Presenter: David Harrison
Date and time: Mon., Oct. 21
1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
Cost: $15
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Satoyama: Balancing Human and Natural Ecosystems (In Person Only)
Presenter: Dr. Pei-Lin Yu
Date and time: Sat., Oct. 26
10:00 a.m.-noon
Cost: Included with membership
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Member Spotlight: Joan Melvin | |
Our Osher Institute thrives because of its outstanding members! This month's Member Spotlight shines on Joan Melvin.
Joan joined Osher in spring 2019. She returned in 2021 but only took a few classes, then came back in earnest in fall 2022. She attended her first Volunteer Committee meeting and became co-chair of the committee this semester. Being on the committee is one of her favorite things about Osher. "I truly enjoy the respect and thoughtful approach of Osher Staff and camaraderie of other members. I'm also part of the Bakers' Dozen - it's fun to have a reason to bake treats. I came to Osher hoping to meet new people and I've found volunteering is the best way to do so," she says.
Joan can't imagine choosing a favorite course, since she is consistently impressed with the depth and variety of classes and how much she's learned. However, she particularly enjoys programs on local and Idaho issues (education, libraries, elections, etc); historical classes with Dr. John Bieter and Dr. Richard Bell; and anything related to the environment, from landscaping to preservation. "It is such a pleasure to find myself again in an academic and welcoming environment at the Osher Institute," Joan says.
Outside of Osher, Joan is an avid gardener and houseplant enthusiast. She took up vegetable gardening during the pandemic and had success this year after removal of a dead tree. She also enjoys daily walks and hiking in the foothills with her husband and her 12-year-old rescue dog. Joan loves reading and is a huge fan of audiobooks. She left her career in her 30s to care for her children full time. She spent roughly twenty years volunteering, fundraising, tutoring (K-6), and assisting teachers in their schools. Joan has a three-year-old grandson who lives in Boston; she is a pro at FaceTime, and visiting family there is the extent of her current travels.
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The Personal Writing SIG welcomes the opportunity to share selected works of its members. This month's featured writing is from Bruce Goslovich.
Bruce is a 35-year Boise resident and has enjoyed Osher Institute classes as a member for about five years. Now mostly retired from a career in accounting and controllership positions, he has more time to pursue interests that don’t involve numbers. He has always enjoyed writing, even dry business memos, and has kept an off-and-on journal since high school. Bruce says, "Osher’s Personal Writing SIG course has been a wonderful, eye-opening experience showing just how much I do not know about writing." He and his wife split their time between Boise and Oro Valley, Arizona, chasing the sunshine. Away from the blank page, Bruce enjoy tennis, cycling, fly fishing, and reading.
You can read Bruce's piece, How Do We Want to Live Out Our Days? in Osher on Demand.
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The Craft Beer Buds SIG has enjoyed September outings to Barbarian Brewing and Clairvoyant Brewing Company in Boise, as well as tours of the Jackson Hop Farm in Wilder and the Mill 95 hop processing plant in Parma. (A stop at White Dog Brewing in Caldwell followed the tours.) Future excursions include Bert's Brewing in Garden City, Dusty Rose Reserve in Meridian, and Mother Earth Taproom in Boise.
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Thank You, Osher Volunteers! | |
Our first Osher Tech Training Sessions were held in September, and we are grateful to Steve Villachica for assisting with facilitation and Ron Kaz, Gail Kirkpatrick, Rick Ogle, and Rainey Pieters for volunteering as tech coaches.
Congratulations to Steve Fields for winning the September volunteer drawing! A new winner will be drawn at the end of each month. If you are a current volunteer, you can fill out the entry form located at the Volunteer Corner in the Osher office.
If you would like to become a volunteer, please fill out the Volunteer Interest Form.
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Campus Food Pantry Donations | |
Thanks to our members for your generous donations to the Boise State Campus Food Pantry last month! You may drop off your nonperishable items in the Yanke building lobby anytime during office hours. (Be sure to stop by our Casual Coffee Social Hour on October 10 to hear from Emily Hester, the Pantry's Business Operations Coordinator!)
The Pantry is in need of volunteers on Tuesday through Friday to assist them with smaller deliveries, restocking, and completing routine tasks. If you are interested, you may fill out the Campus Food Pantry Volunteer Form.
For more information, visit the Campus Food Pantry website.
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Presenter Spotlight: Rebecca Ingram | |
The Osher Institute is fortunate to have a wealth of talented presenters from all across the country. This month, we spotlight Rebecca Ingram.
Rebecca began Irish dancing at the relatively late age of 12 and fell in love with it. Her teachers were trained by the late Ann Richens of Dublin, Ireland, and the late Ann Mctaggart-Hall, both of whom were legends in the Irish dancing community and helped spread the artform in the U.S. In 2001, Rebecca began choreographing steps and performance pieces, and she choreographed for two different Irish dance schools before starting Irish Dance Idaho in 2005 with her parents and siblings. She is a proud aunt to her nieces and nephews, and as a third-generation Idahoan, she loves introducing family and friends to the many outdoor activities available in Idaho, such as camping, hiking, and paddleboarding.
Since Irish dance is an evolving artform, Rebecca loves that there is always something new to learn. She says, "I love teaching both hard shoe and soft shoe dances, but I really love teaching the old Irish set dances. Set dances and Irish Set Dancing are two different things, and that’s one of the quirks of Irish dance vocabulary that keeps Irish dance entertaining!" Rebecca believes that Irish dancing and Irish music are inextricably linked. She says, "Even with all the modern innovations, you’ll still see most Irish dancers performing to old tunes played with new instruments and new tunes played with old instruments, with dancing rooted in old traditions and performed with a modern flair."
Rebecca presented her Osher lecture, A Brief History of Irish Dance, on September 30. "It's always a pleasure to teach a group of people who are there to learn because they’ve chosen to be there. I’m excited to share my love of music and Irish dancing. Irish dancing was mostly handed down through oral tradition, so talking about it and participating in the dancing and music is the most authentic experience you can have!" she says.
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Upcoming Partnership and Community Events | |
First Friday Astronomy Lecture
Thrifted Causes: Satellite Constellations and the Public That Sees Them
Dr. Lindsay DeMarchi, Astrophysicist and Policy Fellow
Friday, October 4, 7:30 p.m.
Boise State Liberal Arts Building, Room 106 and via livestream
To view the livestream, visit Astronomy at Boise State Physics.
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Idaho Senior Lifestyle Expo
Saturday, October 5, 10:00 a.m.
Expo Idaho, 5610 N. Glenwood Ave., Boise
Stop by the Osher Institute's booth and say hello!
For more information and to register, visit Idaho Senior Lifestyle Expo.
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Boise International Short Film Festival
Thursday, October 17, 7:00 p.m.
Boise State Student Union Building, Special Events Center
For more information, visit Boise State College of Arts and Sciences.
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Lit for Lunch
The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
Friday, October 25, 12:00 p.m.
Yanke Research Park, 220 E. Parkcenter Blvd., Room 510
Parking passes are available at the Osher office for $10, or you may use the parking kiosk
For more information, email Dr. Ann Campbell at anncampbell@boisestate.edu.
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Our thanks for the continued support from our Community Sponsors and Partners: | |
The Osher Institute is a proud underwriter of
Boise State Public Radio.
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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Boise State University
Phone: (208) 426-OLLI (6554)
Email: osher@boisestate.edu
Website: boisestate.edu/osher
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Boise State University operates within the Division of Extended Studies. It is a membership-based, lifelong learning program offering non-credit, college-level programs designed for intellectually curious adults age 50 and over.
Support the Osher Institute here.
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Osher Institute Advisory Council
Chair: Bae Emilson | Tom Baerwald | Linda Butler
Bob Fontaine | Ron Kaz | Sharon Moses | Rick Ogle
Rainey Pieters | Diane Ronayne | Debra Silva | Steve Villachica
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Osher Institute Staff
Director: Dana Thorp-Patterson | Assistant Director: Laura Mehlhaff
Senior Communications Specialist: Jill Chmelko
Administrative Assistant II: Cherie Ellingson
Administrative Assistant I: Jamie Frederick
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