The OLLI Volunteer Board
by David Langdon
There is a new space on the left side of the bulletin board outside of Room 206 at the Reuter Center. The OLLI Volunteer Board is the place to find a number of short and long term opportunities for involvement on our campus. The focus of the Board is to encourage members of OLLI who want to volunteer, but who don't want a commitment of joining a committee, to find a listing of tasks that can be performed in support of OLLI. Keep checking the board as the tasks will change on a monthly basis.
The following are a couple OLLI Volunteer Board samples:
Story Writer
Want to accept occasional writing assignments for the OLLI Observer and website documenting interesting OLLI members, teachers or staff? Duties include interviewing and then composing an engaging story for the newsletter. Time involved is about 4 - 5 hours/month once or twice a year. Contact
judylamee@yahoo.com
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Data Recorder
College For Seniors would appreciate an individual to record faculty vouchers for each CFS session. This task requires only 1 or 2 hours on 1/18/2018, 3/18/2018 and 6/18/2018. Contact spaight@unca.edu.
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World Affairs Council (WAC)
Tuesday, September 19, 7 p.m.
Reuter Center Manheimer Room
"Conflicting Headlines: The Politics of Foreign Policy and Diplomacy in the News"
by Elizabeth Colton, PhD
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Elizabeth Colton
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Colton is an award-winning journalist, diplomat, educator, author, adventurer and anthropologist who grew up in Asheville and later covered diplomacy, politics and conflict worldwide.
A visiting research scholar at UNC-Asheville currently completing several books, she lectures worldwide and serves as a moderator/trainer for diplomacy courses by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). Colton is a retired U.S. Foreign Service officer, United Nations development planner and Peace Corps volunteer.
Come to the Reuter Center for fascinating lectures and discussions presented by the World Affairs Council (WAC) that aim to advance international awareness and foster Western North Carolina's global ties. OLLI members receive a discount on WAC annual membership fee, which includes admission to all WAC lectures. The fee to attend individual lectures is $10.
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Volunteer Opportunity
2017 Americans Who Tell The Truth Exhibit
Call for Volunteer Docents
Volunteer docents are needed for the 2017 Americans Who Tell the Truth exhibit to be on display in Asheville at the YMI Cultural Center, October 1st - November 19, Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sundays, 1-4 p.m., with an opening on September 30th, 4:30-6:30 p.m..
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Special Interest Group:
The Forum
Friday, September 22, 1 p.m.
Reuter Center, Room 205
The Forum offers a free-flowing dialogue designed to enrich and expand participants' thinking on topics ranging from changing demographics of retirees to nuclear disarmament.
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Story and Song with Tom Godleski
Friday, September 22, 3 p.m.
Reuter Center Manheimer Room
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Tom Godleski
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OLLI is delighted to offer a festive event with an Appalachian flair. Tom Godleski, playwright and member of the bluegrass band Buncombe Turnpike, brings together an afternoon of storytelling and song. The event kicks off with storytelling by Tom Godleski that will include talented students from Claxton Elementary School - some of the students will play the fiddle, and some will sing. In the second set the bluegrass band Buncombe Turnpike, will perform many of their original tunes, along with some well-known standards and songs from their latest CD entitled,
They Passed It Down.
Free and open to everyone.
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The Meditation Special Interest Group
Monday, September 25, 4:15 p.m.
Reuter Center Room 120
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Jacquie Wollins
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Jacquie Wollins, our guest speaker, has been teaching self-help classes at OLLI for many years. The SIG's meditation will be focused on using your senses to achieve a state of relaxation and joy. Jacquie uses a technique of functional meditation, based upon the work of Jose Silva. This method empowers the student with the ability to access more of who they want to be . Other classes Jacquie teaches include different approaches to learning and using the Feldenkrais method, a somatic education, that is letting go of habitual movement patterns and freeing yourself for newer ones, both for comfort and action.
We welcome all OLLI members at our meditation programs regardless of previous experience.
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OLLI VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Emma Elementary School
Providing Teacher Support and Lunch Buddies
Homework Diners
Homework Help for the Student & Free Meal for the Family
VOLUNTEER ... It Makes a Difference!
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Seeking Retired Professionals
Wednesday, September 27, 5:30-7p.m.
Reuter Center Manheimer Room
Greetings from UNC Asheville's Retired Faculty and Administrators! RFAA, our new organization, would like to welcome you and get to know you, starting with a reception at OLLI.
Our second goal is to help open doors for you, if you'd like, to closer academic engagement with the university. As you may know, a number of OLLI initiatives are already
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Martha Marshall
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underway-a mentoring program for UNC Asheville's student-athletes, for example. We'd like to assist retired academics and other professionals with individual initiatives. So please come explore with us!
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Special Thanks
OLLI would like to thank
Creative Retirement Exploration Weekend
CREW helps those considering relocation in retirement examine all their options carefully and make an informed decision about this major life transition.
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Dear OLLI Members,
This has been an eventful week. First, we felt the effects of Hurricane Irma here in the mountains, with tens of thousands of people losing power and the university postponing David Brooks' lecture. Leadership Asheville 31 began on Monday with an orientation and on Tuesday with a review of the history of our community from a variety of different points of view. On Wednesday, Chancellor Mary Grant announced that she would be leaving the university at the end of the Fall 2017 term to serve as president of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston, a center designed to engage future generations in the work of citizenship and democracy and to work toward bipartisan and productive conversations in our politics. We wish Chancellor Grant well in this important work and look forward to being included on finding a new leader for our campus who can engage the university and the community with the same passion and energy that Chancellor Grant has displayed in her time here.
We did end the week on a high note when on Friday we welcomed an enthusiastic and engaged group of new members. As we face change and challenges imposed by the growth of our university, I hope we can work together to find solutions to daily problems. Even when we are frustrated, we hope that we can be kind and understanding with staff and with our fellow members. We began our New Member Welcome by asking staff to share what they love about their work and asking volunteer leaders why they give their time and talent. The many answers had a common theme: we all value the opportunity to learn together, and we all get the most of our OLLI experience when we do that with kindness and respect. A glance at this newsletter reminds us of the many learning opportunities we offer through programs like our STEM and Fab Fridays and with our community partners, including the World Affairs Council (with a lecture by Dr. Elizabeth Colton this week) or the Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society (with a lecture by Sue Cameron). We hope you will be able to attend the performance by Tom Godleski, his students and his band Buncombe Turnpike. And remember that we rely on volunteer effort and energy. Take some time to read Larry Hamilton's story about instructor Mike Ross and to check out the OLLI Volunteer Board the next time you are at the Reuter Center.
Later today we will send an email with helpful hints for making the most of your OLLI experience, including an update on parking and shuttle availability. The City of Asheville is doing construction on W.T. Weaver Boulevard, which is causing traffic delays on campus. This is not something that the university or OLLI can control. We suggest that you use entrances to campus from Edgewood or Broadway to avoid these delays.
Click here to learn more.
Please remember that you receive one parking decal with your membership and that to park on campus you must display a valid 2017-18 parking decal. You have to fill out an online form (
click here for access to the form) and to bring your registration and driver's license to the Reuter Center to pick up your decal. We are only allowed to distribute one decal per membership (unless you are purchasing a second decal for $20 if you have more than one car that you plan to bring to campus). Because of the volume of decals we are distributing we are only distributing decals between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. because we have to allow time for data entry and records clean-up. We recognize that some of these "regulations" have caused some frustration for some members; we are working to be consistent and to comply with the regulations of the campus police and transportation offices. Thanks for your understanding.
With respect for all that you do to model creative retirement,
Catherine Frank
Executive Director
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Check
 the links here to see OLLI and UNC Asheville current events:
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Men's Soccer--UNC Asheville vs. Wofford
Tuesday, September 19, 4:30 p.m. ,
Greenwood Soccer Field
Volleyball--UNC Asheville vs. Gardner-Webb
Tuesday, September 19, 7 p.m., Justice Center
Volleyball--UNC Asheville vs. Campbell
Friday, September 22, 7 p.m., ustice Center
Asheville Cross Country Invitational
Saturday, September 23, 8:45 a.m., Asheville Christian Academy
Women's Soccer--UNC Asheville vs. Charleston Southern
Saturday, September 23, 3 p.m., Greenwood Soccer Field
Men's Soccer--UNC Asheville vs. High Point
Saturday, September 23, 6 p.m., Greenwood Soccer Field
Women's Tennis
Sunday, September 24, 11 a.m., Asheville Racquet Club
Women's Swimming Intersquad Meet (Blue vs. White)
Saturday, September 30, 11 a.m., Justice Center Pool
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Mike Ross-Hooked on Poetry
with Larry Hamilton
Mike Ross has his wife Fran to thank for his love of poetry. She encouraged him to attend a poetry therapy conference in Washington in the 1990s. There he was introduced to American poet Edward Hirsch, who did little more than discuss and analyze his favorite poems, and Mike was hooked. When the opportunity arose to teach a poetry writing course at OLLI, Mike jumped at it. And he kept jumping for the last nine years.
Click here to read the rest of the story
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Women in STEM
Monday, September 18, 4:30 p.m., Reuter Center Manheimer Room
Free and open to everyone
 Women in Chemistry:
Past, Present and Future
Speakers: Dr. Sally A Wasileski,
Associate Professor
Dr. Oksana Love, Lecturer
Department of Chemistry,
University of North Carolina Asheville
Women have long been an underrepresented group in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, and chemistry is no exception. This presentation will highlight the scientific achievements and barriers to success for women chemists, the current status of gender parity in chemistry, and how we can make an impact in supporting women pursuing careers in chemistry.
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Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society
Tuesday, September 19, 7 p.m.
Reuter Center Room 206
Mountain Bogs National Wildlife Refuge:
Conserving Some of the Mountain's Rarest Places and Species
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Sue Cameron
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One of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's newest refuges lies scattered across the mountains here in North Carolina. Dedicated in April 2015, the Mountain Bogs National Wildlife Refuge was established to protect Southern Appalachian Mountain bogs, which are among the rarest and most imperiled habitats in the U.S. These bogs host endangered species including Bog Turtles and rare Pitcher Plants while providing habitat for salamanders and migratory birds.
Mark your calendar to attend for an inside look at this new refuge with Sue Cameron, wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Sue works on terrestrial species of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Her primary duties entail working with partners to recover federally listed species like the Bog Turtle.
All EMAS programs are free and open to the public.
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Fab Friday Lunch & Learn Lecture
Appalachia Through Memoir and Song
with Jeremy Jones
Friday, September 22, 11:30 a.m.
Reuter Center Manheimer Room
Free and open to everyone.
Jones will explore the culture and history of the Blue Ridge Mountains through song and reading. Performing old-time banjo tunes and reading excerpts from his book
Bearwallow: A Personal History of a Mountain Homeland. He presents the sounds and stories of his native Appalachian mountains in a blending of personal narrative and folklore. Jones is
the author of Bearwallow: A Personal History of a Mountain Homeland, winner of the 2014 Appalachian Book of the Year in nonfiction and a gold medal for memoir in the 2015 Independent Publishers Book Awards. His essays have twice been named Notable in Best American Essays and have appeared in Oxford American, Our State Magazine, Brevity, and elsewhere. An associate professor of English at Western Carolina University, Jeremy teaches creative writing and co-edits the book series In Place, from West Virginia University Press. Fab Fridays are offered every Friday from 11:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m. in the Manheimer Room. Click here for a complete listing of lectures for Fall 2017.
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ReVIEWING Black Mountain College
September 29-October 1, 2017
Reuter Center, Asheville, North Carolina
Mark your calendars now for Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center (BMCM+AC)'s Annual
ReVIEWING Black Mountain College in partnership with
UNC Asheville. ReVIEWING Black Mountain College 9 will feature over 60 interdisciplinary presenters from across the United States as well as Lithuania, Russia, and Canada. Topics addressed will include the artistic practices of BMC artists Josef and Anni Albers, Ruth Asawa, Ray Johnson, Merce Cunningham, and John Cage as well as the poetics of Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Hilda Morley, and John Weiners.
The conference will feature two keynote addresses: one by conceptual artist Mel Chin, on Friday, September 29, and another with the creative team of Black Mountain Songs on Saturday, September 30.
The three-day program includes a full schedule of speakers, panels, workshops, and performances and is open to the public. Most conference activities will take place on the UNC Asheville campus at the Reuter Center.
Advance tickets are $40 for current BMCM+AC and OLLI members, $75 for non-members (BMCM+AC annual membership included). This price will increase to $100 for non-members at the door on September 29, so online pre-registration is highly encouraged (ends at
5 pm
on September 28). Optional discounted tickets to
Black Mountain Songs, with performances September 29 and September 30, are available to conference attendees for $10, along with an optional tour of the BMC Lake Eden Campus on October 1 for $15. Both add-ons can be purchased with conference admission at
reviewing.brownpapertickets.com.
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The Power of Telling Our Stories
Friday, October 13, 4 p.m.
Reuter Center Manheimer Room
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William Finger
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William Finger will talk about the importance of stories, why they need to be told and be heard and how they add understanding to our place on earth. "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you," says Maya Angelou. Mr. Finger draws on the experience in writing his memoir,
The Crane Dance: Taking Flight in Midlife, focusing on the process of reflection and selection of what to include in our story helps us derive meaning. In his talk, Mr. Finger illustrates the power of the "ever-morphing past" with selections from
The Crane Dance. A writer living in Raleigh since 1977, Mr. Finger retired in 2013 from writing for an international public health company for many years. For more on his background and writing, go to:
http://journeycakespirit.com/
. His book will available for sale following his talk. Free and open to everyone.
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UNC Asheville Students "Ideas in Action" Presentation
Monday, October 16, 4:15pm
Reuter Center Manheimer Room
UNC Asheville students want to change the world!... and you can help!
Join Ideas to Action student teams as they share their ideas with you, seek your feedback, and welcome you as team advisers. Their ideas will still be in the early stages, but they have the passion to make them happen... as the song goes, with a little help from their friends.
UNC Asheville professor, Dr. Mary Lynn Manns will introduce you to the student teams who will then pitch their ideas. There will be time for discussion after each pitch, with a short reception afterwards to meet the students.
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