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NEWS
Course Registration Monday, July 20, 10:00 A.M.
Notes from the Board
SPECIAL EVENTS
Save Your Tuesdays! A New Format for Summersession
Let's Go: Castle Island, Boston: July 26
Let's Go: Charles River Museum of Industry, August 14
Dinner Theater: "Rhinoceros", American Repertory Theater, Sept. 9
AFFINITY GROUPS
Current Events: Wednesday, 7/22
French Conversation Group: Monday, 7/27
On summer vacation: La Tertulia, LLAIC Lit-Lovers, Movie Mavens
To join LLAIC: click here
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Schedule-at-a-Glance
COURSE REGISTRATION
MONDAY, JULY 20
10:00 A.M.
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COURSE REGISTRATION OPENS TOMORROW!
Registration for fall courses begins on Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. sharp! Make sure you are a current LLAIC member before then. Also make sure you have your username and password to log in.
Click here to go directly to the course registration page.
Click here for a short guide to help you with registering.
It's a good idea to select the courses you want to take as well as alternatives in case your first choice is one of the few that might fill up quickly. If your first-choice course is full, put your name on the waitlist. If you run into difficulty, call one of our helpers listed below. And if their line is busy or there's no answer, call another one!
- Phyllis Cohen 508 651 9630
- Carole Levy 781 929 9710
- Richard Mansfield 978 443 4404
- Bill Miniscalco 978 394 1870
- Peter Schmidt 339 223 3973
If you would prefer to register for membership and/or courses by mail, contact Richard Mansfield at 978-443-4404 or richardscottmansfield@gmail.com and he will send you the forms.
Our course schedule and full course descriptions are available on our website. Each course is listed by day, by period, and by course leader. If you click on the course name, you will get a full description, including the dates, times, location (Zoom or in person), amount of preparation, etc. If you click on the course leader’s name, you will find their bio. Click here for the class dates, and click here for the Schedule-at-a-Glance.
As part of our ongoing collaboration with LLARC (Lifelong Learning at Regis College), LLARC courses listed on their website here will be open to LLAIC members for registration starting 12:01 A.M. on Tuesday, July 21. Some LLARC courses will be on Zoom and some in person at Regis College in Weston. A word to the wise: our courses will also open up to members of LLARC on July 27. So if you are thinking of taking more than one LLAIC fall course, don’t wait too long to register!
Lots to think about and prepare for!
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NOTES FROM THE BOARD
These may be the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, but the LLAIC Board has been busy paying attention to the present and preparing for the future.
The “present” includes lively in-person summer session programs every Tuesday through August 11 at the air-conditioned Temple Shalom in Newton. In addition to a very interesting presentation every week, there is time for everyone to socialize and enjoy each other's company during lunch.
There will be Current Events discussions on Zoom every other Wednesday morning. These discussions will be led by a different person each time, so there will be a sense of different perspectives. Different perspectives are part of what makes being a member of LLAIC so interesting and enjoyable. In addition, there is a picnic on August 6, and the Let’s Go Group is offering a trip to Castle Island on July 26th and to the Charles River Museum on August 14th.
Make sure your membership is renewed so you can participate in all of these activities. They are all included with your membership (except for the museum charge).
The “future” begins tomorrow, as registration for fall semester courses opens at 10 AM. There are 22 courses on many varied topics to choose from, including art, history, films, essays, short stories, politics, science, and medicine. You can take one, or you can take many, but you can’t take them all because some occur at the same time. Choose quickly and carefully before they fill up.
There is much more to look forward to than just the courses. The LUNCH@ LLAIC programs will resume in the fall, the special interest groups will be up and running, and some surprising, fun events will keep you amazed and happy.
In closing, I want to give a shout-out to Barbara Mende, who is recovering from an illness. She usually put out the Quill, and also did so many other tasks for LLAIC so quietly and efficiently that we had to struggle to keep things together in her absence. We hope she recovers quickly and returns to us.
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SPECIAL EVENTS
Free to LLAIC Members
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TUESDAY, JULY 21, 2026
SUMMER SESSION CONTINUES
Summersession continues this week in person at Temple Shalom with two very interesting topics: The Energy Crisis with Jim Bright (10:30-12:00) and The State of Affairs in Cuba with Carole Levy (1:00-2:30)
At 10:30 am Jim Bright will present a topic that is in the news every week, and it affects each one of us: our electric supply. We have all seen our electric bills go up! Despite the investment of billions of dollars on wind and solar energy, blackouts are becoming more frequent. Massachusetts is committed to wind, while the Trump administration opposes it. Last year the U.S. announced plans to triple nuclear energy production, yet many people abhor this approach. What is the right solution?
At 1:00 pm Carole Levy will share “How Cuba Got to Where It Is Today.” What has led up to the dire straits Cuba finds itself in today? Following a short video, Carole will lead a discussion including your thoughts about the critical condition Cuba is presently enduring. Have you ever been to Cuba and would you like to share what you have seen personally?
All Summersession programs are simply drop-in, no advance registration necessary. Come for the morning or afternoon or both, and of course no charge. Bring your lunch (or can email Jen here to order pizza) and join us for the day in our lovely air-conditioned “Schmooze Room.” Why not even bring a few friends and introduce them to LLAIC?
Looking Ahead to Future Summersession Programs:
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July 28
August 4
August 11
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Period 1 (10:30-12:00)
Recent Discoveries in Science with Bill Miniscalco
The Physics of Baseball with Peter Schmidt
Ethics with Richard Mansfield
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Period 2 (1:00-2:30)
Ancient Languages with Patti Lutsky
LLAIC Focus Group led by Pat Cole
The Famous Liberty Ship with David Rabinowitz
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CASTLE ISLAND
SUNDAY, JULY 26 at 11 A.M.
Lunch at Sullivan's
Castle Island is located at 2010 Day Boulevard, Boston. We will meet for lunch at 11:00 AM at Castle Island’s famous Sullivans Seafood Shack. This takeout restaurant (affectionately called Sullys by locals) was awarded the James Beard America’s Classics in 2025 and has been in business for 75 years. It is especially known for its seafood, hot dogs, signature raspberry lime rickey and reasonable pTrices.
The centerpiece of this 22-acre park is Fort Independence. It is a pentagonal five-bastioned structure built between 1834 and 1851. This site was used by other forts since 1623. It was under federal control during WWI and WWII. The fort has tours from noon to 3:00 PM, which we plan to join following lunch at Sullivan’s.
The park has lots of parking places and a beach on Pleasure Bay, which has a beautiful walking trail with plenty of rest areas for sitting and enjoying the scenery following the tour of the fort. Please wear comfortable clothes and walking shoes. We will most likely be sitting outside at picnic tables or benches to eat.
There is no cost for the tour, but if you plan to come, please fill out the attached registration form and mail or email it to Ileen Conn. Any questions, please email Ileen at: 123ileen@gmail.com
Registration for Castle Island
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Charles River Museum of Industry
Friday, August 14th at 11 A.M.
Brewers Tap and Table, 256 Moody St., Waltham
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Located in the Francis Cabot Lowell Mill, 154 Moody Street, Waltham, an icon of the American Industrial Revolution, the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation brings together intriguing artifacts, cultural insights, and inspiring stories to delight people of all ages.
We will meet at the museum at 11:00 for a one-hour tour. If coming from Moody St., the museum is set back from the street. There is a tall smokestack above the museum. There is no parking at the museum, but there is parking at the Embassy Theater parking lot, which is on the opposite side of the Charles River. There is an easy footbridge for visitors to walk from the parking lot over the river to the museum. A detailed description of parking options is available on the museum website. Note: there are stairs to the 2nd floor, but the majority of the exhibits are on the 1st floor.
After the tour we will walk up to Moody Street, where we’ll meet for lunch at the Brewer’s Tap and Table, on the corner of Moody Street and Pine Street. We’ll meet there at 12:30. They serve a nice variety of American pub food. A 20% gratuity will be automatically added to the bill so we can have individual checks.
Please fill out the registration form attached here and send it in if you plan to join us. Note, we will limit the number of registrations to 20 for this tour.
Registration for Charles River Museum trip.
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DINNER THEATER GROUP
"RHINOCEROS"
AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER
SEPTEMBER 9, 2026 at 2:00 P.M.
We are excited to have a limited number of tickets to the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) production of “Rhinoceros” on Wednesday, September 9th at 2:00 p.m. Tickets cost $30.00 each.
The story: Everything seems normal one Sunday morning…until it’s not. One by one, friends and colleagues transform into rhinoceroses, and Berenger is forced to decide: will he follow the crowd or stand his ground?
If you would like a ticket to join this fall dinner-theater event, please fill out the attached form and email to Andrea Teacher at dreajjkk@gmail.com or mail to her at the address on the form. Payment can be made by check to Andrea or Venmo to Shelly Levine (@Shelly-Levine-2). Payment is due by August 14th, and no refunds will be issued after that date.
Registration form for "Rhinoceros"
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AFFINITY GROUP MEETINGS
Free to LLAIC Members
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CURRENT EVENTS
Wednesday, July 22 @ 10:00 A.M.
Led by Janet Holmes-Porter
This week, there was so much news, including the fabulous World Cup in which our American cities shone. What is happening with the war in Iran? Will there be another memorandum of understanding? Will the Strait of Hormuz be opened soon? If not, where will prices go? What's happening in Gaza? What about the wildfires and smoke? What is the impact of the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham? Seven UK prime ministers in a decade?
Newcomers are always welcome to this erudite and forceful group. Click here before noon on Tuesday, July 21, to request a Zoom invitation. You'll receive it that day.
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FRENCH CONVERSATION
GROUP
Next Meeting, Monday, July 27 @ 1:30 p.m.
On April 13, we started reading short stories from the book French Stories/Contes Francais: A Dual-Language Book, edited by Wallace Fowlie. We’ve started with the first story, Micromégas, by Voltaire.
You can see a link to the Kindle version of the book on Amazon here. Once there, you can click a box on the right to order it in paperback. CAUTION: There are other similar DUAL LANGUAGE books edited by Wallace Fowlie. Be sure to buy the edition with “Ten Short Stories by Voltaire, Balzac, Gide, Camus …” et. al., available from Amazon for Kindle or in paperback.
The complete list of stories is included in the description. You can see the actual table of contents by clicking on the “Read sample” link just below the picture of the book’s cover. It seems to take you to the FORWARD; if so, you must click the < arrow on the left side to move back through the table. You can also scan to the right and read almost all of the first story,
We meet for an hour and a half by ZOOM every other Monday at 1:30 p.m. We are intermediate to advanced French readers who read the French text out loud and discuss the stories in French. Please email Betty Salzberg if you would like to join us.
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Learn more about LLAIC at www.llaic.org
Call us: (508) 453-1205
Write us: info@llaic.org
Editor: Barbara Mende
Contributing Editor: Shelly Levine
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