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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine |
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Director's Message--Love It and Share It: The Spirit of OLLI
“Treat knowledge like a hot potato—
pass it along quick!” --Roy Lancaster,
English horticulturalist and educator
These words from a beloved Gardeners’ World presenter capture the generosity of spirit that exemplifies OLLI. What can be more wonderful than being so excited about a subject that someone wants to build a class or workshop and then share it with others? The act of teaching expands their enthusiasm and deepens their appreciation of ideas. I also appreciate the humor in the quote; as an OLLI instructor, a participant in classes, and a gardener who is eager to learn and experiment each spring, I understand the energy and motivation of sharing.
Now that spring registration is underway, I hope you find a class, workshop, or SAGE lecture—or the whole subscription—that makes you eager to sign up. The catalog includes so many new courses that this spring is especially exciting and ready for you to explore.
If online registration is challenging for you, don’t worry—just call our office at 207-780-4406 and one of our very friendly volunteers or helpful staff will step up to assist you. If you have any questions you can also email OLLI at olliatusm@maine.edu and we’ll get back to you with answers and more information.
—Donna Anderson, Director
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In this edition . . .
- Director's Message (above)
- Sign up for the Teacher Forum 2023! (below)
- A Special Appreciation of OLLI instructors
- Update from the OLLI Advisory Board Chair
- Free "Make A Mystery" program on April 1
- SAGE March 2023
- Foodie Pop-Ups
- Your Privacy and Zoom
- Game of the Month
- Ask OLLI
- Trivia Column
- SAVE THE DATE: April 19 Lecture by Professor Lenny Shedletsky
- Submit your creative entry to Reflections 2023
- Mad Gab Answers
- Trivia Column Answers
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Sign up for the Teacher Forum 2023!
Are you one of those special people who teach an OLLI course or are you thinking about a course you’d like to offer? This year’s Teacher Forum is a great opportunity to hone your skills, meet other teachers and have your questions answered. The free course is being offered by a team of OLLI Teacher veterans. Each session presents two different but related topics: What it is to Teach at OLLI: No PhD. Required; Teach the Class You Want to Teach in the Zoom Classroom; Creating Space for Discussion; Using Images and Videos in your Class; Creating a Safe, Comfortable Classroom Atmosphere While Asking Reflective Questions; Teaching in a Non-traditional Classroom: Film Discussions and a final panel called The Arts
and Beyond.
If this interests you, sign up using the OLLI registration site or contact us via olliatusm@maine.edu! It’s as fun to teach an OLLI class as it is to take one.
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A Special Appreciation for OLLI Instructors
We celebrate the joy of learning, but I know that every OLLI instructor spends hours “behind the scenes” working to make their classes well organized, thoughtful, and interesting. The time they spend reviewing texts, sampling video, selecting readings, and preparing for class discussions can be substantial but is so critical for the smooth execution of a course or workshop. The satisfaction they feel when all goes well is important—when discussions take off, when people are moved or laugh with delight, when the “light bulb” goes on in Zoom or classroom settings. But sometimes it’s important to step back and formally express our gratitude….
So, thank you to each instructor/facilitator who brings joy, passion, patience, and commitment to OLLI—we thank you for your hard work and for your inspiration. OLLI would simply not exist without you!
--Donna Anderson
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Don’t Miss a Free OLLI Workshop, on April 1
Make a Mystery Workshop
Using suggestions from the audience, three mystery writers (who write very different types of books) build a mystery novel on the fly, demonstrating some of the ideas and techniques that go into plotting and creating the stories. Audience members suggest character names, weapons, motives, geographic locations, and other pertinent information for the writers to build from. It’s an interactive event and generally results in hilarity, at the same giving readers a view into how writers work. This program will feature three award-winning Maine mystery writers: Julia Spencer-Fleming, Kate Flora, and Richard Cass, all of whom have very different and deeply held opinions on the "right" way to write a mystery.
- April 1
- 1 - 3 PM
- In-Person, Wishcamper Center
The workshop is free and you can sign up by sending us a message at olliatusm@maine.edu
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SAGE in March
Noel Bonam, AARP Maine; Kristen Miale, Good Shepherd Food Bank; Curtis Bohlen, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership
SAGE Webinar, 9:30–11:30 a.m. via your laptop or alternate device, accompanied by your favorite chair and coffee.
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March 14. Noël Bonam will engage us in an introspective way to assess our personal experiences with advocacy and explore pathways to harness that experience. His career in leadership development, stakeholder engagement, diversity, equity and inclusion practice, and civic leadership made him the natural choice to lead AARP as the Maine State Director. Noël was the head of The Global Institute, with operational hubs in Denmark, India, and the US, specializing in social equity, leadership development, and organizational sustainability. He holds a Master’s in Public Personnel Management from Osmania University (India) and a certification in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Human Resources from Cornell University. Noël also is a graduate of the Senior Executive in State and Local Government mid-career program at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Association for World Education, an international NGO specializing in lifelong learning with consultative status at the United Nations.
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March 21. Kristen Miale, President of Good Shepherd Food Bank, started her career in private equity and business consulting with the Black Point Group and the Fannon Valuation Group. How does this lead one to becoming the president of the largest food bank in Maine? While she was consulting, she was also a volunteer for hunger relief organizations. This is where her path takes a turn. Kristen realized she had a passion for ending hunger. She also founded and ran the Cooking Matters Maine program for low-income families, which provided a cooking and nutrition education program that was implemented through Good Shepherd Food Bank. Two years later the Good Shepherd Food Bank announced that Kristen had accepted the president’s position. How fortunate for Maine that she volunteered so many years ago and realized her passion for ending hunger! She loves to read, run, cook, and feed those in need in Maine. She lives in Southern Maine with her family and two cats, one of which is named Mango—how appropriate.
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March 28. Curtis Bohlen, Executive Director of the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (CBEP) at the University of Southern Maine, will speak to SAGE on March 28. CBEP is one of 28 National Estuary Programs nationwide. Curtis is an aquatic and wetland biologist with an interdisciplinary background in ecology, economics, and public policy. He currently leads the work of CBEP: seeking creative solutions to environmental challenges and working with local communities from the coast to Bridgeton in improving the management of Casco Bay. He and his partners are particularly excited about the resources coming their way from recent federal legislation, including the Infrastructure and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which provide significant funding for clean water, habitat restoration and climate resilience. Who better could describe the work being done and the challenges to protecting the health of Casco Bay! Come and learn of CBEP’s most recent findings and its efforts through deep community engagement to prepare us for our future along Maine’s precious coast.
OLLI members can subscribe to the entire spring series for $50 through the end of March, though the earlier the better because subscribers get the series of eight programs for the price of five single programs. The SAGE series can be purchased on the OLLI website in the same manner as an OLLI class. Single SAGE lectures cost $10 each and are open to the general public. That means that you can invite a non-OLLI member to join you for a single program. When purchasing a single lecture, please contact the OLLI office at 207-767-4406 no later than the Thursday prior to the lecture. You can register by using this link:
https://usm.maine.edu/osher-lifelong-learning-institute/registration/
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Foodie Popups: We’re Putting Our Best Food Forward!
After two very popular and inspiring February pop-up chats about food—Grandmother’s Feed the Love with Petite Jacqueline owner Michele Corry, and Chocolate Every Which Way with cookbook author Vanessa Seder (Eat Cool, Rizzoli books)—we are moving into an in-person workshop Saturday morning March 25 on campus. We’re going to the culinary center of the world, geographically and historically: Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, where wine, wheat, bread, dried pasta, pilaf, and so much fabulous food comes from. This cornucopia of fruits (figs, dates, quince, pomegranates, grapes, many plums and apricots) and flavors (rose water, saffron, orange blossom water, sumac) was the original Garden of Eden and is still a garden of eating today. We’re offering a taste of it all here in Maine because we’ve found four cooks from the region who live in Maine and are thrilled to share their thousands-year-old cooking heritage.
We’re proud to include in this quartet of presenters Stephanie Dila (pronounced Deela) Maloney, who is half Turkish and now operates Dila’s Turkish Kitchen in the Public Market building on Monument Square. Dila’s family lives in the Mediterranean coastal city of Izmir, although they are originally from Kars in eastern Turkey on the Armenian border. Her cooking reflects that. She’s going to demonstrate a recipe from her grandmother, tell us how her family respected the animals they killed for supper, and give us a taste of a Turkish treat she’s making just for this occasion. We will wash it down with a special regional drink known as “white coffee” that is NOT coffee.
Meanwhile to whet your appetite, Dila is graciously sharing a simple, traditional recipe for what we call meatballs and all the folks from the lands of Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent call kofta or kofte.
Very simple kofte recipe from Dila Maloney
1lb ground beef or lamb
1 tomato
1 onion
½ bunch of parsley leaves (no stems)
Pinch of salt
Chop/mince the tomato, onion, and parsley.
Add these to the ground meat and mix/smash until all ingredients are evenly distributed through the meat. Add a pinch of salt and blend.
Take golf ball size pieces of this meat mixture from the bowl and form them one at a time into meatballs or small torpedo shaped meatballs or small flat patties. Be sure they are firm.
Bake, grill, or cook on a skillet with butter until meat is cooked to your preference.
Serve over buttery rice or on flat bread or in a pita with tahini or tzatziki (cacik in Turkey).
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Your Privacy and Zoom Recording During OLLI Classes
OLLI instructors have the choice of recording their courses, often at the request of participants who must miss a class. We ask that each instructor announce at the beginning of each class that it will be recorded, so members know what to expect.
As a participant, you may choose to protect your privacy by doing two things: by turning off the video camera (at the bottom left of the Zoom toolbar) and by renaming yourself (click on the three dots at the top right of your picture, scroll down, and rename yourself as you choose). By doing these two things, you can still see everyone on-screen, and you can also use raise your hand if you wish to be acknowledged (if you click on reactions just right of center on the toolbar, you can see the raise hand option).
Zoom recordings can be shared only with class participants for a limited time—they are not available to the general public under any circumstance.
We hope that these suggestions make the Zoom experience safe and secure for all participants.
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Game of the Month
Did you miss the game of the month for February, Mad Gab? Not to worry. You have another chance to catch it on March 7th at 7 p.m. Back by popular demand.
The game takes well-known phrases, but completely changes the words in that saying and turns it into a completely nonsensical sentence. Players will need to think outside the box when hearing certain words to figure out what they could possibly mean. The key to understanding Mad Gab is about what you hear as opposed to what the other players are saying.
For example, the host will say, “Heaven Nice Hay” and then you figure out the true phrase. Answer: Have a nice day.
Example: Pretty shack scent.Answer: British accent
Challenge yourself:
1. Hoop side hid dit toe gain
2. Made divorce pea whiff ewe
3. Rome he owe hand jewelry yet
4. Wide hidden chews haze hoe
5. Say fit fray ray need hay
Look for the answers below.
--Star Pelsue
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Ask OLLI
Construction on the USM campus is moving along according to schedule. That means that starting this summer OLLI will resume Monday to Friday in-person classes as well as our online Zoom option. In the meantime, here are a few answers to questions you may have:
Why are in-person classes only on Friday this spring?
Because of campus construction, available parking has been reduced over the past few years (surface lots were eliminated). Because of parking pressure, OLLI has restricted its in-person classes to Fridays. We were able to resume in-person classes one day a week since spring 2022, and we find that there are still plenty of seats open for those classes. We appreciate your patience as the campus completes its improvement projects, including an extension to the parking garage right behind the Wishcamper Center. Starting in summer 2023, we will resume our Monday to Friday in-person class schedule.
Are there minimum numbers for OLLI classes to run?
OLLI’s volunteer instructors work with staff to organize classes of varying sizes, depending on their preference (everything from small discussion groups to larger lectures). If classes have low enrollment on Zoom, we ask the instructor if they are willing to move ahead with the class. Some instructors will say yes, but others may tell us that they’d prefer to defer to another session—we respect their choice as partners in OLLI. OLLI policy for in-person classes has been that we require a certain level of registration (8-12 participants) to justify the use of the space for the class.
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By Faye Gmeiner
Between our last two Trivia Nights, we had three impressive storms that set new records and left many of us without electricity, heat, and/or water. We lost all three at our house. We are very aware of and grateful for our restored utilities and services.
It was a joy and relief to reconnect with our Trivia Pop-Up community on Monday, February 6, and laugh about trivial things. We invite you to give Trivia a try during Mud Season March. You can sign up for Trivia Night pop-ups on the OLLI Special Events page.
Here are the questions we enjoyed the most this past month. You can find the answers later in this newsletter.
1. What were two nicknames of the Model T Ford?
2. How many US states border on the Great Lake
3. Who was the first US President whose parents survived him
4. When Dean Martin introduced the Rolling Stones on his TV show, Hollywood Palace, what was he holding?
5. What is the largest natural breed of domestic felines?
6. Here’s an OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) Trivia question for you: What is Bernard Osher’s connection to Maine?
See the answers below!
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SAVE THE DATE
Professor Lenny Shedletsky Shares His Research with OLLI on April 19, 2023
Four years ago Professor Shedletsky ran a study with OLLI students as participants. Participants were asked to decide as quickly as they could if a statement was “Bullshit” or “Not Bullshit.” In addition, they filled out a survey that measured their belief in four ideologies. This gave us data to determine if people can make the decision to “call bullshit” at high speeds without conscious deliberation and if their decisions are related to their ideologies. The results turned out to suggest that we can make decisions before we are aware of what we think.
Professor Shedletsky’s research was featured in Newsweek; read about it here: https://www.newsweek.com/internal-monologue-controlling-you-1766027
Join us for a special program on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, from 3:00 to 4:30, when Professor Shedletsky updates OLLI members about his research on intrapersonal communication. Professor Jo Temach Gabrielski from NY is the co-author of the publication of the study and will join the presentation. Save the date and we’ll share details in the future.
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Let Reflections Reflect Your Creativity
Winter doldrums got you down? Looking for a little boost to get yourself over this hump? Look no further than to your own creativity to give you the lift you need to start a new adventure. Begin a tall tale you’ve been imagining for years. Or uncover some treasured memories from the past. Perhaps rediscover the joy of making art that you had found back when you first experimented with oils, acrylics, water, or chalks and pencil. And who doesn’t have photos that are just unique enough to stand out from the ordinary snapshot? Not only will pursuing any one of these artistic mediums bring you a renewed sense of fulfillment, but your work or play may well result in being shared with your OLLI peers for their enjoyment as well.
The 2023 annual edition of Reflections, OLLI’s esteemed journal of art and literature, is once again looking for members’ submissions in various mediums to share with our community and the world. As always, its publication will be in fine glossy magazine pages, but additionally, with the advent of new accessibility features, our journal will be available on the world wide web for access from anywhere. Past experience or publication is not required. You only need to follow the simple procedures outlined at the bottom of the Web page https://usm.maine.edu/osher-lifelong-learning-institute/news-publications/ and send in your offering(s).
All submissions are anonymously reviewed by a Selections Committee of between seven and ten OLLI members. Deadline is April 1st.
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Mad Gab Answers!
Answers: 1. Oops I did it again 2. May the force be with you 3. Romeo and Juliet 4. Why didn’t you say so 5. Save it for a rainy day.
The game of the month for March is Scattergories!
—Star Pelsue
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Reminder: Interested in joining the next Trivia PopUp? You can sign up on the OLLI website under Special Events.
1. What were two nicknames of the Model T Ford?
Answer: Tin Lizzie, flivver, and Leaping Lena are three of the most popular nicknames. The origin of the most popular, Tin Lizzie, is unknown, though there is a theory that it came from a common name for workhorses, Lizzie. The Model T had its own horses—20 of them in horsepower! Did you know that in the Pixar movie Cars, there is a Model T named Liz, in homage to the Tin Lizzie? More than 15 million Tin Lizzies were produced between 1908 and 1927.
2. How many US states border on the Great Lakes?
Answer: Eight: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Lake Superior is the largest and borders on three states: Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Lake Ontario is the smallest and borders on only one state, New York, though it also borders on the Canadian province of Ontario.
3. Who was the first US President whose parents survived him?
Answer: John F. Kennedy (1917–1963). JFK’s father survived him by five years, and his mother survived him by 31 years. He was the second youngest President (43 years, 7 months) at the start of his presidency, just a bit older than Teddy Roosevelt (42 years, 10 months). JFK was also the only President to receive a Purple Heart—for his heroism on PT109. He wore and gave away tie tacks and tie bars with replicas of PT 109 during his administration.
4. When Dean Martin introduced the Rolling Stones on his TV show, Hollywood Palace, what was he holding?
Answer: His nose; he said they stunk. He wasn’t the only TV host uncomfortable with Rock music of the 1960s. You may remember that Ed Sullivan often seemed less than excited about the groups he introduced, even the Beatles.
5. What is the largest natural breed of domestic felines?
Answer: Maine Coon Cat. The Maine Coon Cat is the largest non-hybrid cat and one of the oldest natural breeds in North America. It holds the Guinness World Record for Longest Cat Living (3 feet, 11.2 inches). And, as you may know, it is the Official State Cat of Maine. Did you know that Maine Coon Cats have a relatively high incidence of polydactylism (having one or more extra toes on a paw)? Their extra-large paws are sometimes compared to snowshoes.
6. Here’s an OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) Trivia question for you: What is Bernard Osher’s connection to Maine?
Answer: Bernard Osher was born in Biddeford, Maine, in 1927. His family owned a hardware and plumbing supplies store on Main Street, Biddeford. He graduated from Bowdoin College and started his career in the family business. Osher went on to work at the Oppenheimer Company in NYC and then to California. He was a founding director of World Savings, the second largest banking organization in the US when purchased by Wachovia in 2006. In 1977 he founded the Bernard Osher Foundation, which seeks to improve the quality of life through support for higher education and the arts. Though the Foundation’s headquarters are in Los Angeles, Osher’s philanthropy and spirit continue to be felt strongly in Maine. The Foundation is the source of the initial funding of our OLLI Program and 124 other OLLIs across the country. It also supports performing arts organizations, museums, and educational programs in Maine and California.
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Are you considering submitting an article to the OLLI Newsletter? Get in contact with us! | |
Email ollinews@maine.edu
to submit your piece.
Phone:207-780-4406
Tim Baehr, Editor
Don King, Editor Emeritus
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Deadline for the next issue is March 15. |
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Maine Senior College Network | | |
OLLI National Resource Center | | |
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Non-discrimination Notice
The University of Maine, including USM, is an EEO/AA employer and does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information, or veteran’s status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director of Equal Opportunity, 101 North Stevens Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5754, 207.581.1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System).
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