This Week:
Fall Theme Term on Appalachia
Special Programs
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Silas House |
Kentucky Writer
Silas House
Friday, October 25, 7 p.m
.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Manheimer Room
House will talk about
the film "Hillbilly,"and his works, including his latest novel
Southernmost
(and we will have copies of that work for sale and for signing).
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Silas House is the nationally bestselling author of six novels--
Clay's Quilt
, 2001;
A Parchment of Leaves
, 2003;
The Coal Tattoo
, 2005;
Eli the Good
, 2009;
Same Sun Here
(co-authored with Neela Vaswani) 2012, and
Southernmost
(2018)--as well as a book of creative nonfiction--
Something's Rising
, co-authored with Jason Howard, 2009; and three plays:
The Hurting Part
(2005),
This Is My Heart for You
(2012), and
In These Fields
, with Sam Gleaves, 2016.
His work frequently appears in
The New York Times
and
Salon
. He is former commentator for NPR's "All Things Considered". His writing has appeared in
Time
,
Garden and Gun
,
Oxford American
,
Narrative
,
Blackbird
, and
Newsday
, as well as in anthologies such as
Best Food Writing, 2015
and
New Stories From the South, The Year's Best: 2004
. House serves on the fiction faculty at the Spalding MFA in Creative Writing and as the NEH Chair at Berea College.
He is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, the recipient of three honorary doctorates, and is the winner of the Nautilus Award, an EB White Award, the Appalachian Book of the Year, the Jesse Stuart Award, the Lee Smith Award, and many other honors. Southernmost was a long list finalist for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and appeared on several the Best of 2018 lists of
The Advocate
,
Booklist
,
Paste
,
Southern Living
,
Garden and Gun
, and others. The book was also awarded the Weatherford Award as well as the Judy Gaines Young Award.
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Please mark your calendars for the following special events to complement our theme term Appalachia: Tradition and Change. All presentations are scheduled for the Reuter Center Manheimer Room. Events are free and open to everyone, and seating is first-come, first served.
Monday, October 28, 4 p.m.: As part of our Fall Member Social, Rodney Sutton will call a square dance, with live music from the Stoney Creek Boys with Rhiannon Ramsey.
Thursday, November
7, 9-11 a.m. OLLI Community Conversation on the theme term.
Whether you took classes, taught one or participated in other Appalachia programs of OLLI, come and share your experience.
Please mark your calendars to attend these wonderful programs. All programs are free and open to everyone and are funded by our Osher Foundation Endowment.
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STEM Lecture
Dr. Michael Wang, OLLI, "Basic Science and Medicine"
Tuesday, October 22,
5 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center
Manheimer Room
As presented in the first lecture of this fall's STEM series on science vs. science denial, there are many examples of science denial that can have detrimental effects as a result of nonscientific skepticism. On the other hand, scientific skepticism, in which challenges to currently accepted beliefs are based on data obtained from carefully controlled experiments, are essential to scientific progress. During this lecture, we'll discuss several examples showing how scientists who questioned currently accepted views (stress causes ulcers, long-acting viruses cause Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), miasma is the cause of cholera, and doctors don't cause puerperal fever, etc.) have made vital contributions to our understanding of physiology and medicine.
Subsequent lectures will go into more detail on the value and importance of science, climate
change, vaccination, evolution, and ethics.
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OLLI VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
MANNA Food Bank
Working to end hunger and food insecurity in WNC
Veterans Restoration Quarters
Help Restore the Lives of Homeless Vets
Asheville Terrace Apartments Food Pantry
Provide On-Site Food Pantry Support
VOLUNTEER NOW...
Make A Difference!
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The Forum
Special Interest Group (SIG)
Friday, October 25, 1 - 3 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center, Room 205
Topic: "The Impact of Religion on American Politics"
The weekly Forum encourages a free-flowing dialogue designed to enrich and expand participants' thinking on a wide variety of topics; the group frequently focuses on current events. All OLLI members are welcome to attend.
Upcoming Topics:
November 1: Debt, Private and Public
November 8: Financial Support for American Education
November 15: Current Events and Selection of Future Topics
SIG Contact: Beth Johnson johnson1ea@earthlink.net
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Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society
Tuesday, October 22, 7 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Manheimer Room
Travels with Migratory Birds by Dr. Bruce M. Beehler
Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society (EMAS), in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, will host renowned ornithologist Dr. Bruce M. Beehler in a special presentation on migratory songbirds. Dr. Beehler will recount his amazing journey following the spring songbird migration from the coast of southeastern Texas north through the Mississippi River watershed to the boreal forests of northern Ontario. During his hundred-day trip, he visited scores of local, state, and national parks and wildlife refuges critical to bird migration. His presentation will touch on wildlife, nature conservation, migration research, American history, and rural culture. Dr. Beehler will share stories and photos from his travels and will discuss the importance of conserving habitat throughout the Western Hemisphere to ensure the well-being of migratory songbirds.
Dr. Beehler is an ornithologist and naturalist who has spent his scientific career studying and working to conserve birds and their habitats. He is a research associate in the Bird Division of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. Dr. Beehler has published twelve books and authored more than a hundred articles about birds and nature. He received his doctorate at Princeton working on the behavioral ecology of birds-of-paradise and is an authority on New Guinea birds. He is co-author of the Princeton Field Guide Birds of New Guinea.
Signed copies of Dr. Beehler's book,
North on the Wing: Travels with the Songbird Migration of Spring, will be available for purchase at the lecture.
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 Aging and Brain Health:
Tips from the Latest Research
Thursday, October 24, 9-11 a.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Room 206
Sponsored by
The Alzheimer's Association of WNC
, this series of lectures will be offered by
Denise Young, regional manager of the Alzheimer's
Association of Western Carolina chapter, along with
area experts.
This first presentation in a three-part series is titled "
Understanding Alzheimer's and Dementia." If your loved
one has been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's
disease or is simply showing symptoms, then this
program may be for you! We will explore the relationship
between dementia and Alzheimer's disease and take a
look at the changes occurring in the brain. We will also
cover risk factors, current treatments, and what's on the
horizon for research.
This event is free and open to everyone.
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Aging in Place
Thursday, October 24, 5 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Room 206
Members will be discussing aspects of Aging in Place versus moving to assisted living or a CCRC.
How do I make a choice?
How do I plan for it?
We also will discuss the preferred times for future meetings.
This group hopes to provide information and resources for members interested in creating the support needed within their homes and neighborhoods so they can "age in place" and thrive in the second half of life.
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Meditation
Special Interest Group
Monday, October 28, 4:15 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center,
Room 120
Meditation with Universal Life Energy to Transform our Conscious Awareness led by Peggy Moore
 Join us for a guided meditation focusing on increasing your flow of energy. Meditation can help calm and center your physical, mental, and emotional systems and help us have a more positive outlook on life.
Peggy Moore has been a student of meditation for over 30 years and is associated with the Institute for the Study of Universal Life Energy. Her meditation techniques incorporate chakra awareness, breathing techniques, and energy work. She periodically teaches meditation and other courses at OLLI.
All OLLI members are welcome at the gatherings of the Meditation SIG. No meditation experience is required to enjoy and benefit from our programs.
Meditation SIG coordinator: Sally Ekaireb
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Performing Stand-Up Comedy 101 Class Show
Sunday, November 3,
7-9 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Manheimer Room
The College for Seniors
Performing Stand-Up Comedy 101 presents
its annual original show. Come join instructor Randy Robins
and his class at its premier performance, designed to have you
laughing, crying and rolling in the aisles. The show will include
adult language and situations.
This event is free and open to everyone.
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Plugged-In Buncombe
Local advocacy nonprofits are offering an opportunity to join their staff in attending various City of Asheville and Buncombe County advisory board meetings. These meetings have an impact on important policy decisions made by elected officials, and participation at this level of the governance process is a great way to make needed changes in our community. For details and to sign up,
click here.
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Dear OLLI Members,
We look forward to seeing you for the final lecture in our series on Appalachia: Tradition and Change, when we are honored to have Silas House as our speaker. House has been cited by Wendell Berry as one of the new voices of Appalachian literature; both writers share a love of language and are activists for the protection of the environment and a clearer understanding of the region. House will talk about the film
Hillbilly and about his work. You might want to
listen to House's podcast
to get a taste of his style and wide-ranging interests.
And please plan to join us for the member social on Monday, October 28, beginning at 4 p.m.
Click here to let us know you are coming. This is a chance to hear wonderful music you usually only get to hear from The Stoney Creek Boys, a group that plays a
mixture of "bluegrass, country, western swing, and mountain folk tunes, because people are all different, and we hope to do something that everyone will enjoy." They will be joined by Rhiannon Ramsey, a fiddling prodigy who regularly performs at festivals like the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festival, Shindig on the Green, and the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival. Even if you don't want to join the square dance called by Rodney Sutton, we think you will want to take advantage of this opportunity to hear the region's best music played by some legendary perofrmers and to celebrate the spirit of our region and of the OLLI community. Click here to get a taste of the music of the Stoney Creek Boys.
And don't forget the great series of lectures coming up, including the STEM lecture series focused on "Science and Science Denial" and our Fab Friday Lecture with Roger Helm. And don't forget ways to be involved with College for Seniors, either as an instructor (the deadline for Spring 2020 course proposals is November 1) or serving on one of our 11 curriculum committees (we will hold an informational meeting on November 8).
With gratitude for all that you do to make possible our community of teachers and learners,
Catherine Frank
Executive Director
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Teach a Course in Spring 2020
for College for Seniors
Thinking about teaching?
This could be your year!
Course Proposal Deadline
for the Spring 2020 term
(March 23-May 15)
is Friday, November 1
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Theme Term on Women: Volunteers Wanted
A wide range of courses, events and speakers on the theme of women will be offered in the Fall of 2020. A steering committee is seeking a few members, men and women, to assist with recruiting instructors/courses and arranging for special events and speakers. Please share your ideas and enthusiasm and a bit of
your time to make this theme term a success. Contact Cindy Berryman-Fink at
berrymanfink@gmail.com
or Sylvie Horvath at horvathwms@gmail.com
.
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 Important Dates for OLLI's Winter 2020
- Friday, November 1: OLLI Catalog Available Online
- Wednesday, November 6, 10 a.m.- Wednesday, November 13, noon: Priority Allocation Registration
- Tuesday, November 26, late afternoon: Winter 2020 Schedules Mailed
- Monday, December 2, 10 a.m.: Winter 2020 Add/Drop and Open Registration opens
- Friday, January 10, 2020, 3 p.m.: Last Day Drop CFS Courses for a Full Refund
- Monday, January 13, 9 a.m.: Winter 2020 CFS Courses Begin
- Monday, February 24: Last day of Winter 2020 CFS Courses
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Registration for OLLIChat, the replacement online community for OLLITalk, is now open to new members.
OLLIChat is an online community where OLLI Asheville
members may share information of common interest with each other. It is designed to look and function like the old OLLITalk.
To get started, send an email to OLLIChatAVL@gmail.com, and the OLLIChat volunteers will send you an invitation.
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Need tech help?
Check out The Geek Bar
Tuesdays, Beginning October 22, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Reuter Center Atrium
 Are you having technical problems or questions regarding your smart phone, tablet, or laptop?
OLLI is happy to announce The Geek Bar, offered on Tuesdays, 12:30-1:30 p.m. beginning Tuesday, October 22, in the Reuter Center Atrium.
Bring your device and question, and one of the Geek Bar Experts will try to address your issue.
All platforms are welcome (Android, Apple, Windows, etc.). The Geek Bar is on a first-come, first-served basis. We offer no guarantees, but our Geeks will do our best to be of help. Note
: This is not software instruction and is generally meant for specific, quick-answer issues.
If you have questions, or if you are a Geek who would like to work at the Geek Bar, feel free to contact Julia Loughran at: julia@thoughtlink.com
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Featured Art Market Story
Don't Miss the OLLI Art Market November 8 and 9
Meet the Artists (1 of 3): Jim Kransberger
by Judy LaMeè
Jim Kransberger is just one of 30 talented OLLI artists whose work will
be on display, and for sale, at OLLI's Art Market Friday and Saturday, November 8 and 9. Find all the details about the Art Market at the bottom of this story (click below to read). Then mark your calendars! Admission and parking are free.
CLICK HERE to read the full story!
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Fab Friday
Can Oil Spills Have a Silver Lining?
by Roger Helm
Friday, October 25, 11:30 a.m.-1:15 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Manheimer Room
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Roger Helm
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In this talk Roger Helm will discuss how federal, state, and tribal governments worked in unison to hold accountable those companies responsible for the release of oil and toxic chemicals into the environment. Focusing on the period from the 1988 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska to the 2010 British Petroleum oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, Helm will explain how scientists, attorneys, and economists from the government collaborated to secure the needed funding from polluters to restore injured plants, animals, and habitat. This is a good news story describing a period whe governments functioned effectively in ensuring the public was fairly compensated by pollluting companies, and injured public natural resources were restored.
Roger Helm holds a master's degree in biology from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and a doctorate in biological ecology from the University of California Dave and has 30 yeas of experience studying and writing about marine vertebrate ecology and human impacts on these animals.
Coming up:
November 1: "Strategies and Tips on How to Be Your Own Best Advocate in Health Care Situations" with Karen Sanders. This will be the last Fab Friday talk in Fall 2019
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 Behind the Scenes with
NC Stage
A Doll's House, Part 2
Friday, October 25, 1:30 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Manheimer Room
Nora Helmer is returning home 15 years after closing the door on her life with her husband Torvald and their three children. Her unexpected homecoming is met
with recriminations, and the family drama unfolds in this explosively entertaining continuation of Henrik Ibsen's
A Doll's House. Written by Tony Award nominee Lucas Hnath,
A Doll's House, Part 2 explores gender roles and societal expectations through the eyes of a woman living in an era for which she is simply too exceptional.
Go behind the scenes of professional theatre with NC Stage Artistic Director and co-founder Charlie Flynn-McIver. Explore the themes of this season's plays, talk with the actors, directors, and designers about design concepts and the rehearsal process, and experience a scene or two performed live. Join us for an insider's
view of how theatre happens!
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 OLLI Member Social
Monday, October 28, 4 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Atrium
Join your OLLI friends for the Fall Member Social. Take this opportunity to socialize, enjoy delicious food, drinks and a square dance called by Rodney Sutton and live music by the Stoney Creek Boys Get ready for photo booths, music, great food, and some surprises!
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Midday Music with Pan Harmonia
Friday, November 1, 2 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Manheimer Room
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Amy Brucksch and
Kate Steinbbeck |
Flutist Kate Steinbeck and guitarist Amy Brucksch will play music and speak about "Women's Work," featuring music and poetry fusion work, "Rubble Becomes Art
."
Now in its 20th season, Asheville's Pan Harmonia enjoys taking chamber music out of the concert hall and into unlikely spaces all around our community. Learn about the music and meet the musicians in informal conversation. Feel free to bring friends and your lunch. www.panharmonia.org
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World Affairs Council
"Canada-US Trade Relationship: A 21st Century Partnership"
with Nadia Theodore
Tuesday, November 5, 7:30 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Manheimer Room
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Nadia Theodore |
Following October's Canadian national elections, Consul General Nadia Theodore of Canada's south-eastern consulate in Atlanta will visit Asheville to report on Canada's evolving trade relationships with the U.S. Prior to her current appointment in 2017 Ms. Theodore functioned in executive leadership roles in several of Canada's international trade negotiations, notably, with the European Union (EU) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, positions which followed her early civil service career in Canada's Permanent Missions to the World Trade Organization and the United Nations.
World Affairs Council (WAC) lectures and discussions aim to advance international awareness and foster Western North Carolina's global ties. Meetings offer a lively line up of topics and compelling presenters. OLLI members receive a discount on WAC annual membership fee. Lectures are free to WAC members and UNC Asheville undergraduate students. All others are $10 at the door. For more details about programs, consult the WAC website, www.main.nc.us/wac/.
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Dave Smith
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Conversation and Coffee on Legacy Planning
Friday, November 8, 8:30 a.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Room 205
Enjoy a morning conversation on legacy planning options used to help your heirs and the institutions you love. Dave Smith of the Heaton Smith Group, LLC will lead our conversation and provide insights from his 20+ years of working with nonprofit organizations. Space is limited. Coffee and a light breakfast will be served. Click here to let us know of your interest in the information session.
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Florence Mensah |
Building Education for Sustainable Development: A Conceptual View
With Florence Mensah,
Fulbright Visiting Scholar
Friday, November 8, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Room 206
Florence Mensah will discuss how education can be built for sustainable development in the context of Ghana. She has reviewed literature on education for sustainable development, sustainability in education and best practices of sustainable education and has built a conceptual model of sustainable education for Ghana's education system.
This event is free and open to everyone.
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College for Seniors
Curriculum Committees:
What Makes Them Tick?
You Do!
Informational Meeting
Friday, November 8, 9-11 a.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center, Room 206
OLLI members volunteer to serve on one of the 11 Curriculum Committees, which consider course proposals, interview instructors, and develop the curriculum for College for Seniors.
You can learn more about joining one as a way to create the exciting learning opportunities that our members enjoy every term.
Come to an informational meeting on Friday, November 8, 9-11 a.m. in Room 206.
Herb Gunn and Pascale Couturier will be on hand to answer your questions. Call Herb at 828.251.6873 or email hgunn@unca.edu
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Carolinas' Nature Photographers Association Meeting
Member Portfolio Challenge
Sunday, November 11, 5:30 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center, Room 206
This twice per year member's portfolio challenge is designed to showcase member's work by having them present a common themed portfolio. Their collection may be taken from images over the years. If you are interested in sharing, please notify the co-coordinators at coordinator@cnpa-asheville.org.
The Carolinas' Nature Photographers Association (CNPA)-Asheville Region helps members more fully experience the beauty of Western North Carolina through photography. Activities in the Asheville Region include monthly meetings, photo outings, seminars, workshops, exhibits, photo contests, and image critiques. Meetings are held at the Reuter Center the second Sunday of the month, beginning at 5:30 p.m. with a meet and greet; the program begins at 6 p.m. For more
information visit www.cnpa-asheville.org
These meetings are free and open to everyone.
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Greater Asheville Science for All Book Club
Wednesday
, November 13, 6:30 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center, Room 206
This month the club will consider Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death by Bernd Heinrich and our deeper dive selection is All That Remains: A Renowned Forensic Scientist on Death, Mortality, and Solving Crimes by Sue Black.
Both books are now available at Malaprops Bookstore and Cafe, Asheville, with a 10% discount if you identify yourself as a member of the Greater Asheville Science for All Book Club. Questions or comments, please contact Rachel Muir, Acting Coordinator, dr.nature@gmail.com.
These meetings are free and open to everyone.
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Symphony Talk
Friday, November 15, 3 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Manheimer Room
The best way to enjoy Asheville Symphony Orchestra's (ASO)
Masterworks concerts is to come to Symphony Talk.
ASO conductor Darko Butorac will
appear with the soloist for upcoming concerts to talk about
how the orchestra prepares and to offer ways to listen to the
performance. For more information about the ASO or to find out
how to purchase tickets for performances at the Thomas Wolfe
Auditorium, visit ashevillesymphony.org.
This Masterworks performance is titled "From Russia with Love" and feature
Glinka's overture from Ruslan and Lyudmila, Lalo's Cello
Concerto, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, with cello
soloist Zlatomir Fung.
Symphony Talks are free and open to everyone.
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Food Donation Drive to Benefit the Rathbun House
 The
Rathbun House, a hospitality house located in
Asheville and operated by MountainCare, provides lodging and a supportive environment in a home-like atmosphere for patients and their families coming to the city for medical treatment. The facility opened to guests in 1994.
Rathbun House operates solely on donations of money, food and supplies.
Currently, the pantry is critically low in most, if not all, areas. Help those that are in need by bringing non-perishable foods including such items as
coffee, sugar, creamer, granola bars, crackers and assorted "grab and go" snacks. Canned food items such as soups, chili, stew, fruit, vegetables, and pasta would also be appreciated.
The food drive will last until the end of October. Please help! Your generous donation will be tremendously appreciated. Look for the food drive bin upstairs in the Reuter Center lobby.
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Thomas Wolfe Literary Award Ceremony
Saturday, November 16, 4 p.m.
Asheville Renaissance Hotel
31 Woodfin Street
The Western North Carolina Historical Association has announced the five finalists for this year's Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, an annual recognition of distinction for qualifying works of fiction, nonfiction, drama or poetry.
The five finalists, chosen from 21 nominations, are
- Robert Beatty, "Willa of the Wood," a Serafina series thriller about an orphan in the Great Smoky Mountains set in 1900
- George Ellison and Janet McCure, "Back of Beyond: A Horace Kephart Biography," about an early national park advocate
- David Joy, "The Line That Held Us," a novel about a Blue Ridge Mountains murder cover-up
- Meredith McCarroll, "Unwhite: Appalachia, Race and Film," an examination of the region and depiction of residents in movies
- Terry Roberts, "The Holy Ghost Speakeasy and Revival," a novel about a traveling preacher in the mountains during Prohibition
During the
awards ceremony finalists will offer readings.
The first award in 1955 was given to Wilma Dykeman for her landmark "The French Broad." Last year's winner was bestselling author Charles Frazier for his historical novel "Varina" about the Confederate first lady. Others who have received the award over the years include such notables as Robert Morgan, John Parris, Gail Godwin, John Ehle, Robert Brunk, Michael McFee, Lee Smith, Ron Rash, Wiley Cash, Wayne Caldwell, Fiona Ritchie and Doug Orr.
The WNC Historical Association is a nonprofit organization with a mission to promote and preserve regional history, recognize significant contributors and broaden cultural awareness. For more information, call WNCHA at 828-253-9231 or visit
www.wnchistory.org
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Storytelling Performance:
OLLI Members Tell All
Wednesday, November 20, 7 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center
Manheimer Room
College for Seniors instructor Chuck Fink hosts the evening with performances by graduates of the class Moth Storytelling: Telling Personal Stories, coaches, and guest tellers from the class sessions. Come and enjoy listening to your fellow OLLI members tell stories about what makes life special for them and now for you.
This event is free and open to everyone.
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The Autumn Players
The Last Night of Ballyhoo
by Alfred Uhry, Directed by Wendy Strauss
Sunday, November 24, 2:30 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center
Manheimer Room
Join us for this performance of the Tony Award for Best Play by the author of Driving Miss Daisy. Nazis have just started rounding up Jews in Europe, while the elitist German Jews in 1939 Atlanta are busily focused on the social event of the season, affording marriageable daughters a golden opportunity to find proper husbands for themselves. When a decent young man of Eastern European background enters the picture, romantic plans get humorously tangled up, and personal beliefs are put to the test.
The Autumn Players (affiliated with Asheville Community Theatre) is a troupe of seasoned actors dedicated to taking the theatre experience into the community. Their words jump from the page with conviction and emotion, and stories come to life. Tickets are $8 at the door. See ashevilletheatre.org/shows-events/reader-theatre-showcase/
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