NEWS

LET'S TALK:

RELATIONSHIPS WITH ADULT CHILDREN FACILITATED BY ALICE FREEDMAN AND RHODA GREENSPAN

WEDNESDAYS: 5/7, 5/14, 5/21, 5/28 and 6/4

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM ON ZOOM

Do you sometimes wonder about how best to communicate with your adult child? How will he/she react to your words? Are you hesitant to give your opinions and/or advice? In our meetings we will seek out your questions about relating to your adult children and share strategies that can maintain positive relationships. As with LLAIC classes, group members are encouraged to attend as many group sessions as possible

Alice Freedman: As a mother of two children ages 56 and 51, I have worked hard to sustain a healthy relationship with them and their spouses. I have developed and facilitated many workshops for employees and coached managers, supervisors, and physicians. I have run parenting courses for low-income women.

Rhoda Greenspan: I have two children, ages 43 and 39, and find our relationships are a constant work in progress. As a social worker, many of my clients' issues concerned relationships with adult children.

LLAIC members can register for this group now. Registration will be open until the group is filled. The size of the group is limited (five minimum and ten maximum), so please write to Alice Freedman or Rhoda Greenspan early if you want to be included.

WE NEED YOUR IDEAS FOR FALL COURSES

Although it’s still spring, LLAIC is looking for course proposals for Fall 2025.

Teaching a course is a wonderful opportunity to share a topic that interests you with other like-minded people! Courses can range from more traditional topics such as history, math, science, and literature to music and film. The Curriculum Committee can help with developing your idea into a course—generally running from five to ten weeks. 

We offer classes in person at Temple Shalom in Newton. It’s a lovely facility with plenty of space. We understand that some course leaders and members might prefer to teach or take classes on Zoom, but nothing can compare to the warmth of in-person class discussions and the opportunity to reconnect with our fellow LLAIC members. The social aspect of LLAIC has always been one of our biggest features, and we’d love to see it back! 

So if it’s possible, please do consider offering a course in person—but if that doesn’t work for you, Zoom will continue as an alternative. There’s full tech support for all virtual courses, with a dedicated person managing Zoom so the course leader can focus on teaching. There’s also training as needed on A/V equipment for in-person classes and on Zoom for virtual ones. 

While course leaders teach on a volunteer basis, they receive a free annual membership and may register early, tuition-free, for up to two courses in the semester they are teaching and/or in the following semester. So think about what you’d like to explore, and download a course proposal form here! And if you know anyone else who might be interested in teaching, let them know about us!

SPECIAL EVENTS

Available to members at no additional charge

LUNCH@LLAIC

TUESDAY, MAY 6 @ 1 P.M.

TEMPLE SHALOM

175 TEMPLE STREET, WEST NEWTON

MARTIN LUTHER KING: A LEGACY REVISITED

FACILITATED BY JANE BERMONT

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is the most important civil rights leader in American history. His commitment to Black citizenship helped to inaugurate a new birth of freedom, both domestically and internationally. In the years before his 1968 assassination, King became a national symbol for racial justice, a Nobel Prize-winning global political mobilizer, and a statesman who dined with presidents and royalty. And at the same time, he organized alongside the racially and economically oppressed. He is extolled as a contemporary founding father who made racial justice central to the American postwar political scene. We commemorate his legacy annually as one of the few remaining symbols of bipartisanship, racial unity, and political progress. 

Drop in before class, after class, or just for the program. You may bring your own lunch (we provide water and hot beverages) and you can email Jennifer Young if you want to order pizza ($3 for one slice or $5 for two).

Save May 13 for our own LILAC Players' rollicking radio play The Big Snooze. See below for details.



If you have any questions or are interested in facilitating future discussions, contact Alice Freedman.

THE LILAC PLAYERS PRESENT

THE BIG SNOOZE

TUESDAY, MAY 13 @ 1:30 P.M.

TEMPLE SHALOM

DIRECTED BY ROSELI WEISS AND MARYANN WYNER

Come join the LLAIC community for the LILAC Players presentation of the radio play The Big Snooze, as Dick Shamus, F.B.I. solves the murder of an old acquaintance.

Bring your lunch (1:00) or order pizza (see LUNCH@LLAIC)! And bring your friends!

PLEASE JOIN LLAIC LOVES ART AND THE PHOENIX ART MUSEUM

ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 14 AT 1:30 VIA ZOOM

FOR THE GLOBAL INFLUENCE OF CHINESE PORCELAIN

Join us to learn about the history and influence of Chinese blue and white porcelain across time and cultures:

• How and where blue and white porcelain was first produced.
• The difference between the porcelain process and other ceramics.
• Europe’s love affair with blue and white porcelain.
• The struggle to reproduce the secret Chinese recipe.
• The ongoing influence of blue and white porcelain on contemporary artists. 

Our docent, Pati Anderson, went to high school and college in Seattle. After moving to Arizona, she worked as a flight instructor and charter pilot during the 1970s and as an air traffic controller in the 80s and 90s. After retiring from the FAA, she went to grad school and worked as a licensed professional counselor for 15 years. In 2016, she retired to do the things she really loves, which include travel, art history, reading, and Docenting!

Click here before noon on Tuesday, May 14, to request a Zoom invitation. You'll receive it that day.

BLITHEWOLD MANOR AND GARDENS

SATURDAY, MAY 17 @ 10:30

Please join us at Blithewold Manor and Gardens, a 33-acre summer estate with views of Narragansett Bay. The 45-room mansion with family heirlooms is surrounded by a lovely gardens. The Mansion is an example of the Country Place Era known for its artistic value in representing the Arts and Crafts movement. The gardens were laid out in the late 1890s. Today you will notice a combination of historic and contemporary gardening.

There will be a 90-minute guided tour of both the mansion and the grounds. In case of light rain, the tour of the gardens will continue.

The mansion is handicap accessible to the entrance and the first floor. We will also tour the second floor, but there is no elevator. There are 23 steps with two landings dividing these steps into 3 groups to reach the second floor.

We will meet at 10:30 at the gift shop next to the parking lot, which has a bathroom. There also is a bathroom on the first floor of the Mansion and another one downstairs.

Following the tour we will have lunch at the Lobster Pot Restaurant,119 Hope St, a waterfront restaurant 0.6 mile from Blithewold. It features both land and sea dishes. The restaurant requires cash only for us to get separate checks. There is a bathroom on the same level as the dining room. Parking is in front and on the side of the restaurant.

The cost is $20 for the guided tour. This tour is limited to 15 people. Please contact Margalit Lai to see whether there is still room. If there is, you'll be asked to register and about a week before the event you will receive a final email with carpool information.

We look forward to sharing this spring day in Rhode Island with you.

DINNER THEATER: THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11 @ 2:00 P.M.

LLAIC is excited to announce the next dinner-theater trip to the Huntington production of The Light in the Piazza, the winner of six Tony Awards.

A lush and soaring romance unfolds as Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco (Prayer for the French Republic) creates a brand-new production of Adam Guettel’s sweeping Tony Award-winning score and Craig Lucas’ profound book in this must-see story of a mother, a daughter, and the many meanings of love.

Florence, summer 1953. American mother Margaret brings her daughter Clara abroad for a glimpse of Italy’s romantic history. But when a real-life attraction sparks between Clara and a local boy, Margaret must ask: can she reconcile her own hopes with her daughter’s future?

Join us on Wednesday June 11 for the 2:00 matinee followed by dinner together (TBD). Fill out this registration form and send it to Joanne Fisher with your $20 for each ticket. Payment details are on the registration form.

This Huntington offer is available to LLAIC members only. And since we have a limited number of tickets reserved, please register as soon as possible.

AFFINITY GROUP MEETINGS

Available to members at no additional charge

SPANISH CONVERSATION GROUP

¡Bienvenidos a La Tertulia!

MONDAY, MAY 5 @ 1:00

Our format consists of reading and discussing articles from various Spanish language media sources of general high interest. There is no homework although everyone is invited to submit articles they might find for our agendas.

The hosts for the group are Miriam Grodberg and Larry Krakauer. Contact Miriam to request an invitation or with any questions.

LLAIC LIT-LOVERS

THE FRIEND BY SIGRID NUNEZ

LED BY DANA KAPLAN

FRIDAY, MAY 9 @ 10:30

When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted Great Dane he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog. The Friend is both a meditation on loss and a celebration of human-canine devotion. It has been made into a just-released movie starring Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, and a soulful, very large dog.

Click here before noon on Thursday, May 8, to request a Zoom invitation that you'll receive that day. If you can, log on a quarter of an hour earlier to socialize.

CURRENT EVENTS

FRIDAY, MAY 16 @ 10:00-11:15



Join our knowledgeable, outspoken group as it expertly dissects the latest news. By that time we may have a new pope, new NBA and NHL champs, and possibly some new government officials.

Click here before noon on Thursday, May 15, to request a Zoom invitation. You'll get it that day. Newcomers are welcome. 

MOVIE MAVENS

VOLVER

FRIDAY, MAY 23 @ 2:00-3:00

 Volver is a film noir directed by Spain’s internationally acclaimed filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. Starring Penelope Cruz, the film was nominated for Academy and BAFTA awards, and Penelope Cruz was nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award. Volver revolves around an eccentric family of women living in a region south of Madrid. It focuses on themes of motherhood, family memory, sexual abuse and the normalcy of death. Ironically, the story has a tone of kindness and compassion and is filled with comedic elements. 

The film is available on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Apple TV, Fandango and Criterion.

Click here for the link to request a Zoom invitation by noon on Thursday, May 22. You'll receive it that day.