NEWS

A NEW FORMAT FOR SUMMERSESSION

Summersession this year will be entirely in person on Tuesdays at Temple Shalom. We will have two programs, 10:30-12:00 and 1:00-2:30 with lunch in between, the usual bring-your-own or purchase pizza. The dates are listed on the calendar on the LLAIC website. Like our regular LUNCH@LLAIC programs, these will be simply drop-in, no advance registration necessary, come morning or afternoon or both, and of course no charge. In fact, we are hoping you will bring a friend and introduce him or her to LLAIC. Summer Current Events sessions will continue on Zoom.

Watch the Quill for descriptions of the Summersession programs being offered each week. Hope to see you there—with some new faces!

SPECIAL EVENTS

Free to LLAIC Members

SPECIAL PROGRAM!
PRONOUNS! PRONOUNS!

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10 @ 1:00 ON ZOOM

Has someone you love – a grandchild, perhaps – asked you to use a different pronoun from the one you are accustomed to using? Perhaps they ask you to call them “they” or “ze” when you’ve known them as “he” or “she.” Why is the younger generation, in particular, experimenting with a more fluid sense of gender? How are we to honor what seems so important to them? What if we mess up? What is our own experience of gender?

Opus Newton residents Polly Attwood and Wendy Sanford have been helping their new neighbors consider these questions. They invite you to meet with them for 90 minutes via Zoom for a presentation and discussion based on “Pronouns! Pronouns!”, their popular Opus workshop.

Dr. Polly Attwood is a former Brookline High history teacher and teacher of teachers at Northeastern University. Wendy Sanford is a former campus minister and an original co-author of Our Bodies, Ourselves, a classic resource on women’s health and sexuality. Polly and Wendy are members of Friends Meeting in Cambridge (Quaker), under whose care they were married 27 years ago.

Click here to request a Zoom invitation before noon on Tuesday, June 9. You'll receive it that day.

WAITLIST ONLY

GARDEN TOUR HOSTED BY SUZANNE ART

(SUZANNE'S HOME IS IN LINCOLN. EXACT ADDRESS WILL BE SHARED WITH THOSE WHO REGISTER.)

TUESDAY, JUNE 16 @ 2:30

LUNCH AT THE TACK ROOM IN LINCOLN @ 12:30

TOUR LIMITED TO 15 PEOPLE. STREET PARKING AVAILABLE.

COME FOR GARDENING TIPS, BEAUTIFUL VIEWS, AND COMMUNITY

FROM SUZANNE: 

We bought our house for the backyard, which was a large lawn surrounded by honeysuckle, with some woods at the back. It was a great playground for our kids.

When I retired from teaching, I began digging out the honeysuckle (basically a weed) and replacing it with specimen conifers and garden beds. Over the years, the trees have grown and the gardens have expanded. We had a little waterfall built by our terrace for its soothing effects. I do all the work myself – this is no show garden! – because it brings me great pleasure and peace of mind. Since the weather has been unseasonably warm, it’s hard to predict what will be flowering on June 16. Most likely the iris will be in bloom, as will the peonies, violas, and dianthus, with the lilies still in bud and annuals adding spice throughout the gardens. I can promise lots of color, texture, and tonality!

Please contact Margalit Lai at the address on the enclosed registration form to ascertain the status of the waitlist.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17 @ 10:00 ON ZOOM

To All New and Prospective Members:

Still not sure what LLAIC offers?

Come to our Information Session. Join us to learn more about our fall programs and classes

Click here by noon on Tuesday, June 16, to request a Zoom invitation. You'll receive it that day.

LAST LLAIC LOVES ART PROGRAM FOR  ACADEMIC YEAR 2025 - 2026

PLEASE JOIN LLAIC LOVES ART AND NANCY HIRSHBEIN ON 

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2026 AT 11:00 AM

FOR "WHAT’S MY LINE?"

Let’s be honest. Who hasn’t been confused when encountering abstract art, wondering what to make of a canvas depicting seemingly indecipherable squiggles or random marks. Well, Nancy is going to help us decipher some of these artworks. We will look at art from different periods and by different artists. We will look beyond the canvas to better understand what each of the artists was trying to accomplish. All of the artwork will have a common thread and we will work together to untangle that thread. 

Click here before noon on Wednesday, June 17, to request a Zoom invitation. You'll receive it that day.

LLAIC ANNUAL PICNIC

TUESDAY, JUNE 23 @ 11:30

LYONS PARK, NEWTON

(RAIN DATE JULY 2)

LLAIC’s annual picnic will be held starting at 11:30 on June 23 at Lyons Park (GPS: 104 West Pine St., Newton). Bring something for yourself to eat and something to share.

Directions: From Rte 95, take the Rte 30 East exit, and follow Commonwealth Ave. about ¾ mile. Turn left on Melrose Street, go about ¼ mile, then left on West Pine St. Go to the end and park near sign, “Auburndale Playground. The Cove.” Walk through the opening in the fence and follow the pathway to the left about 250 feet to the Ryan Picnic Area. There are about 30 picnic tables, mostly shaded. 

THE BLUE GARDEN, NEWPORT, RI

THURSDAY, JUNE 25

BRUNCH AT THE BLUE PLATE DINER AT 10:30

Tucked away on Beacon Hill Road in Newport, the Blue Garden is one of New England’s most enchanting hidden treasures. Commissioned in 1908 for the Gilded Age estate of copper and railroad magnate Arthur Curtiss James and his wife Harriet, the garden debuted in 1913 with a grand party called “The Masque of the Blue Garden” — celebrated as the Newport social event of the season. Designed by the legendary Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., the garden was conceived as a secret garden inspired by shades of blue, with flowers in a variety of blue hues reflected by the sky and the nearby ocean. Enclosed by low walls, trellises, and a columned pergola, the garden takes a classical cruciform shape, with a long reflecting pool lined with Persian-inspired blue tiles connected by a tunnel to a square lily pond.

After decades of neglect following the deaths of the Jameses, this jewel of American landscape design has been brought back to full glory. In 2011, Dorrance H. Hamilton purchased the Blue Garden and returned it to its original splendor using original Olmsted plans.

We will meet for brunch at 10:30 at the Blue Plate Diner on the way (20 minutes) to the Blue Gardens. followed by a 12:30 one-hour group tour of the gardens led by a landscape architect who was involved in the restoration.

We have reserved and paid for 15 tickets at $25.00/ticket. Tickets are refundable up to 24 hours before the tour (minus processing fees). The garden does not close for rain. A full refund will be issued only if hazardous weather forces closure.

Accessibility: There is one modern restroom on site. Parking on the grass is available but limited. Walking paths are mostly on the level.

Parking is very limited so please try to carpool. About a week before the trip you will receive an email with more exact trip information and contact information enabling you to form carpools.

Please send this registration form, no later than Sunday, June 21, along with your payment (Venmo or check) of $25.00/person to Ileen Conn. If sending a check please contact Ileen to let her know you are coming. The tickets not spoken for will be returned on Monday. Please contact Ileen Conn or Margalit Lai with any questions.

We look forward to sharing this unique experience with you.

AFFINITY GROUP MEETINGS

Free to LLAIC Members

SPANISH CONVERSATION GROUP

(LA TERTULIA)

MONDAY, JUNE 1 @ 1:00 P.M.

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.

CURRENT EVENTS

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10 @ 10:00 A.M.

Between Iran and the Reflecting Pool and the numerous attempts to redraw the electoral maps, a lot is bound to happen before our next meeting. Our eager and knowledgeable members will be ready to make sense of it all. Newcomers are always welcome.

Click here before noon on Tuesday, June 9, to request a Zoom invitation. You'll receive it that day.

LLAIC LIT-LOVERS:

TABLE FOR TWO

BY AMOR TOWLES

LED BY CAROLE LEVY

FRIDAY, JUNE 12 @ 10:30

Table for Two is a collection of six short stories and a novella by bestselling novelist Amor Towles, author of A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway among other books. It was published n April 2024. The book is divided into two parts, with the six short stories connected to New York City and the novella set in Los Angeles. 

• Please join us any time after 10:15 for socializing on our last meeting before summer vacation. Click here before noon on Thursday, June 11, to request a Zoom invitation. You'll receive it that day.