OLLI Observer
June 30
, 2019    
ATTENTION:  When the newsletter is full of news and is longer, it automatically truncates at the bottom.  To see the entire newsletter, click on the link at the bottom of the newsletter that reads- [Message clipped]   View entire message
In This Issue

  Stitch in Time
Special Interest Group (SIG)
Monday, July 1, 2-4 p.m. 
Reuter Center Lower Atrium

The Stitch in Time Special Interest Group is a fellowship group for stitchers of all types (knitting, crochet, quilting, needlepoint, embroidery, cross stitch, sewing, etc) to help encourage, inspire, and support each other.  All skill levels are welcome!

The group meets the first Monday of the month, 2-4 p.m.  SIG contact: Gay Lambirth, 281.433.1060,  gaylambirth@yahoo.com   

business_conference6.jpg
  The Forum
Special Interest Group (SIG)
Friday, July 5, 1 - 3 p.m.
Reuter Center Room 207

TOPICS:
  • July 5: Are economic rights also human rights?
  • July 12: Is the First Amendment, especially as it relates to the press, under attack?
  • July 19: Is the dominance of human activity in the current geological age (the Anthropocene) going to end life on earth as we know it? 
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.

SIG Contact: Beth Johnson johnson1ea@earthlink.net
UNC Asheville and the Astronomy Club of Asheville Present: 
To the Moon! Reflections on Apollo after  50 Years
A presentation by Dominic Lesnar
 Tuesday, July 9, 7:30 p.m.
Reuter Center Manheimer Room

With the 50th anniversary of the first human steps on the moon just ahead, UNC Asheville's Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Astronomy Club of Asheville will present a special commemoration, and weather permitting, a lunar viewing. 

It was on July 20, 1969 that American astronauts, Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module
pilot Buzz Aldrin, landed the Apollo Lunar Module on the surface of the moon. At roughly 11 p.m. EDT that night, Armstrong took the first human steps on the lunar surface, followed minutes later by Aldrin. It was a truly unforgettable moment for people all over the world who watched on live television, and after the evening's talk, those in attendance will have the opportunity to briefly share their own memories and reflections. Then, skies permitting, telescopes will be set up outside for lunar viewing.

Admission is free and everyone is welcome.


  Meditation SIG at the Asheville Transcendental Meditation (TM) Center  
Thursday, July 11, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Asheville TM Center, 165 East Chestnut Street

The Intro Talk explains how TM is different from other forms of  meditation, how the technique works, and what science says about TM's benefits. 

What is TM? It's a simple, natural, effortless technique practiced 20 minutes twice each day while sitting comfortably with the eyes closed.  Scientists understand TM as an extreme reversal of the stress response; TM reduces cortisol, slows metabolic rate, gives rest to the cardiovascular system, and balances the nervous system, creating the physiological basis of reduced stress and anxiety.

**For more information on TM,  click here

All OLLI members are welcome at our programs.   * Note this is different time and location than usual meetings.

Meditation SIG contact:  Sally Ekaireb

Art Bazaar Registration and Information


OLLI's Art Bazaar (to be held Friday and Saturday, November 8 and 9, 2019) is a way to showcase the talent of OLLI members. If you would like to be a part of the Art Bazaar, but need more information, contact  Sheila Murphy at: murphy.sheila.a@gmail.com 

Already know you want to participate? Great! Please print and fill out the registration form and return it to the OLLI front desk.  Slots are limited.  

Remember to familiarize yourself with a few important reminders about the bazaar. 

MANNA Food Bank Needs Volunteers
Training: Tuesday and Thursday, 
July 23 and 25, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
MANNA Food Bank
627 Swannanoa River Road, 
Asheville, NC 28805

Manna Food Bank
MANNA Food Bank is seeking skilled volunteers for two unique job opportunities within the Community Outreach Department;  Helpline Agents and Rural FNS Outreach Volunteers. Volunteers in both of these positions assist MANNA staff in providing information on food resources in NC. They make referrals to local food pantries, and they assist eligible clients to complete a SNAP/FNS application (formerly known as food stamps).

Helpline Agents are offering over-the-phone assistance from our call center, and FNS Rural Outreach Volunteers are traveling to sites within MANNA's 16-county service area and doing face-to-face assistance at food distribution sites. 
 
Both of these volunteer positions require a 2-day FNS Outreach Training (group), followed by 2-3 half-day shifts of job-shadow training. The job shadowing will be scheduled on an individual basis.  The next FNS Outreach Training is July 23 and 25 (both days required) from 9-4 at MANNA FoodBank.
 
Please email Carrie Wagner if interested in either volunteer position:  cwagner@mannafoodbank.org


OLLI VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

MANNA Food Bank Team
Providing Thousands of Meals a Day to Feed Hungry People

Energy Savers Network
Helping homeowners reduce energy loss

Habitat for Humanity
Changing lives one house at a time

VOLUNTEER NOW...
Make A Difference!


Volunteer Opportunity With 
Read 2 Succeed
The Fall 2019 Training Schedule is available on the Read2Succeed website. Click here.
             
Read2Succeed   Asheville/ Buncombe  is a local  non-profit  whose mission is " to inspire and teach children to read."  The group needs caring, supportive individuals who are interested in tutoring an elementary school student one hour, one to two days a week during the school year. Training and ongoing support are provided. 

  Email:  julie.claywell@r2sasheville.org
Phone: 910-619-4313

Creativity Project Workshop
 Friday, July 26, 
10 a.m. to noon
Reuter Center Manheimer Room

Carl Nordgren has helped thousands of entrepreneurs and creative professionals, scientists and engineers, military leaders and college students be and become their most creative and entrepreneurial selves for nearly 20 years now. He wants to help you next.

Recently Nordgren learned of neurological research that discovered changes in an aging brain that invite a creative renewal, and he's writing a book and building programs that will help Boomers and our older friends leverage those biological changes so we can recover our natural born creative genius.

This two- hour event is part workshop, where Nordgren will share with you what he has learned about the 55+ brain, and part focus group for participants to share their thoughts about being creative. 

Your participation is free, and a ll participants will receive a free electronic version of Nordgren's book "Becoming a Creative Genius (again)."



Living Solo

OLLI's Living Solo group has grown to more than 100 members. The group is comprised of OLLI members living independently and seeking connections. This is not a dating group but is made up of individuals who want to do activities and make connections here in Asheville with OLLI members.  This is a self-identifying group. If you have a significant other but feel solo, feel free to join. Please come join us and meet new people!

Join Living Solo for OLLI members through a Meetup app!  We started a group in Meetup called OLLI UNC Asheville Living Solo. It is a private group with only OLLI members included. 

How to join! 
  • Join Meetup using your preferred email address; enter a password (your favorite or one unique to Meetup)! 
  • Search Groups using key word: OLLI or look around; we are there!
  • Click the yellow OLLI UNC Asheville Living Solo image! 
  • Click the red Request to Join button
Any questions? 
Contact Barbara Rapchak

Dear OLLI Members,
Please remember that the OLLI office and the Reuter Center will be closed on Thursday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day. 

Registration is now open for The Gift of Time, a program that explores various elements of end-of-life planning. This program complements OLLI's Advance Care Planning workshops and many College for Seniors courses by encouraging members to explore in depth the various ways to plan and manage practical and other concerns, focusing on key legal, medical and spiritual concerns.

Please note that we have scheduled a meeting for Friday, July 12, 10 a.m.  to share what we know with any members who wish to create a new service to connect OLLI members and replace OLLITalk, that will end on July 31.

Remember that this is your community. If you have questions or suggestions or would like to serve on a committee or volunteer, please let us know by responding to this email,
Catherine Frank
Executive Director


 Check the links here to see OLLI and UNC Asheville current events:
 
calendar


OLLI Office and the Reuter Center Closed in Observance of Independence Day
Thursday, July 4


The Gift of Time
Registration Now Open
Tuesdays, August 6 - September 3, 2019 from 10 a.m. - noon

The Life Transition Committee at OLLI is pleased to offer members an opportunity to explore key end of life issues through the Gift of Time Program. Participants will work in small group settings to plan out their wishes in a way that allows them to feel prepared for the myriad issues that face all of us in times of crises.

The workshop will be an extended conversation with trained facilitators as well as outside speakers who will converse holistically on key legal , medical and spiritual issues. We are pleased to announce that our speakers for the 2019 Gift of Time Program will include Elder Law Attorney, Carolyn Knox, Palliative and Hospice care doctor, John Langlois, MD, and Michael Carter, a former  chaplain from Mission Hospitals and minister for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Swanannoa Valley and consulting minister for The Thermal Belt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Tryon, North Carolina.

Together with facilitators and and speakers, the Gift of Time Program will encourage you to think about how to  plan and communicate your end of life wishes  to spouses, partners, children and parents as well as, how to advocate for yourself through this next transition.

The fee for this course is $30. 

For more information, please contact Life Transition Program Manager, Hannah Furgiuele at 828-250-3871 or hfurgiue@unca.edu.





Brevard Opera at OLLI
Tuesday, July 2, 4 p.m.
Reuter Center Manheimer Room

The College for Seniors Performing Arts Curriculum  Committee collaborates with the Brevard Music Festival to  bring to OLLI this summer a taste of three operas:
Carlisle Floyd's Susannah,  Charles Gounod's Romeo et Juliette and  Johann Strauss Jr.'s Die Fledermaus. 

On July 2 and 16, 4-5 p.m. come to experience live performances by the young artists of the Janiec Opera  at Brevard performing parts of these three operas as well as other musical selections.  A period of questions and answers with the Janiec performers will follow these  performances.
 
Michael Reno Harrell

Stories on Asheville's Front Porch
Saturdays, July 6, 13, 20 and 27, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Jubilee!, 46 Wall Street, Downtown Asheville

July 6: Michael Reno Harrell
July 13: Ray Christian
July 20: Bob Falls and Lillian Chase Band
July 27: Catherine Yael Serota, Uncle Ted White, and Mike Sena

This event is free and open to everyone.
Click here for an event poster for Stories on Asheville's Front Porch. 

UNC Asheville Concerts on the Quad
Mondays, July 8 and 15, 7 p.m. each night
UNC Asheville Quad
The 2019 season of Concerts on the Quad, UNC Asheville's free, outdoor Monday evening concert series, will  feature  music that spans many genres. Concerts on the Quad are family-friendly and informal, with lawn chairs, blankets and picnics welcome. Free parking is readily available on campus for these concerts; alcoholic beverages and pets are prohibited. For more information, call UNC Asheville's Highsmith Student Union at 828.251.6990.


July 8: Brody Hunt and the Handfulls (honky tonk)
July 15: Che Apalache (Latingrass)

 Next Steps for OLLITalk
Friday, July 12, 10 a.m., Reuter Center Room 206
How we got here
  • OLLITalk started in 2010 as NCCCRTalk, an electronic means for members to exchange information. Members could opt in to participate.
  • When this group started we had about 1600 members and a staff member who managed the technology operations at the Reuter Center. Messages to the group were originally posted directly, without any screening.
  • We began screening messages in 2012 when we began to get more and more messages with malware links.
  The value of OLLITalk
  • OLLITalk is a valued tool for many of our members to exchange information about goods and service providers.
  • It can be a lifeline for people who relocate to our community or who want to age in place as they seek trusted information about resource providers ranging from pet sitters to orthopedic surgeons.
  • Members feel more comfortable selling and buying things on OLLITalk than on comparable lists because they trust the OLLI community.
  • The current list serves about 500 people (although probably about 50 people are active posters on the site).
  The challenges/cost of OLLITalk
  • The Google Group started when we had 1600 rather than 2600 members. We had nine staff members when the group started and now have seven. We did not publish a weekly newsletter or have online registration. This are representative examples of the ways that our membership and the need for staff time have changed.
  • In an average week, staff spends about eight hours screening messages, instructing people on how to post and how to find archives, managing messages not intended for the entire group, and fielding complaints about the service.
  • We have seen that OLLITalk may not be the safe community of users we take for granted when on a couple of occasions there have been scams that began as legitimate posts, resulting in liabilities to OLLI and UNC Asheville.
Where we go next
  • OLLITalk in its current iteration will cease to exist July 31, 2019.
  • Acknowledging that many of our members value OLLITalk, OLLI staff will facilitate a discussion for those interested in exploring a volunteer-managed successor tool. That discussion is scheduled for July 12, 10 a.m. in Reuter Room 206.
  • The volunteers who take the project on may create it on any platform or structure of their choosing. It cannot be housed on a UNC Asheville server, nor rely on staff resources to support it, other than posts in the OLLIObserver or a scheduled time for staff to check the current membership of those who want to opt into the service.
We look forward to seeing the ways that members will transform this community-building tool.
Darcy
  Healing Stories
Thursday, July 11, 6:30-8 p.m.
Jubilee Community, 46 Wall Street, Downtown Asheville

Interested in, drawn to, or curious about  Healing Stories ? Hear European and Asian folktales braided with hope and gratitude and grit. Enjoy  powerful stories expressively   told by  Christine Westfeldt  and  DARCY . Co-create with guided interactive components: Talk. Draw. Write. Open to all ages with longish attention spans. PWIW: Pay What It's Worth.  Click here for an event poster.  

Contact:  Trailwoman@hotmail.com  t reserve your s eat. 


Carolinas' Nature Photographers Association (CNPA) Meeting
Jennifer King: "Image Design"
Photo by Jennifer King
Sunday, July 14, 
5:30 p.m. Meet and Greet
6 p.m. Program 
  Reuter Center Room 207

You know your "rules"; you know composition.  Jennifer King will take you to the next level in teaching how she incorporates these and other techniques to "Design an Image."  This presentation addresses many aspects of photography and design principles geared towards all level of photographers.  So if you are just starting out or an experienced pro, Jennifer's presentation will have something for you.

The CNPA-Asheville Region's goal is to develop a group that will 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. The monthly meetings are held at the Reuter Center on the second Sunday of each month from 5:30-8p.m.   For more information please visit:  www.cnpa-asheville.org


Save the Date! Legacy Planning Lunch and Learn
Donna Bandelloni
Tuesday, July 23, 11:30 a.m. 
  Reuter Center Room 207

Enjoy a casual lunch while learning about legacy planning options that can be used to help your heirs and the institutions you love. Donna Bandelloni will lead the Lunch & Learn. Space is limited, so please use the link below to register.  

Bandelloni is a senior consulting associate for Heaton Smith Group.   Prior to joining Heaton Smith, Donna served as director of gift planning for leading healthcare organizations including the Lucille Packard Foundation for Children's Healthcare and the California Pacific Medical Center Foundation.  In addition, she served as senior director and director of charitable gifts for world-leading financial institutions for more than 25 years, including Merrill Lynch Trust, Wells Fargo Charitable Management, and Mellon Financial, and successfully expanded their charitable services to the nonprofit sector. 
 
Donna serves on the board of the American Council on Gift Annuities and is a former board member of the Northern California Planned Giving Council, San Francisco.  Memberships include the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners, Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, American Council on Gift Annuities, Marin Estate Planning Council, UCONN: Neag School of Education, Dean's Advisory Board, and Women's Philanthropy Forum. 
    




A Weaverville Story Spin
"Anything Could Happen"

Tuesday, July 23, 7 p.m. 
 Weaverville Public Library, 41 N. Main Street, Weaverville

This event features three local tellers, Chuck Fink, Pete Koschnick and Jill Totman. 

The show is free but not recommended for children, since language and references may be "a tad salty."

Greater Asheville Science for All Book Club

Wednesday, July 24, 6:30 p.m. 
  Reuter Center Room 206



The vision of this group is an informal networking group that meets to discuss books and topics regarding current science as well as science that addresses the unique and diverse landscapes of the Southern Appalachians.
Leadership Asheville Buzz Breakfast
"What Are We Doing Now to Connect Community?"
Thursday, July 25, 8 a.m. Breakfast and Networking; 8:30 a.m. program
Crowne Plaza Expo Center, 1 Resort Drive, Asheville


The second of three programs this summer addressing the question "How do we build a connected community?" will include  Erica Anderson, Director of Economic and Community Development for Land of Sky Regional Council,    Dawa Hitch, Communications and Public Engagement Director for the City of Asheville,    Chris Joyell, Asheville Design Center Director for Mountain True,    Vicki Meath, Executive Director of Just Economics,  Catherine Mitchell, Executive Director for River Front Development Group,  Ray Rapp, Western North Carolina Rail Committee Chair, and  Meghan Rogers, Executive Director for Asheville Downtown Association.

Individual tickets are $25 for each event. Consider purchasing an equity seat in addition to your regular purchase. All equity seats sold will be offered to community organizations that would like to join in the discussion. 

Wilma Dykeman Riverway
2019 Summer Series

Paddling the French Broad River with Asheville GreenWorks
Saturday, July 27, 10 a.m.- 1 p.m.
Asheville GreenWorks Riverside O ffice, 318 Riverside Drive
Participants will take a shuttle to Hominy Creek River Park,  220 Hominy Creek Road and board canoes,  kayaks and dories, then paddle down the  river. Asheville GreenWorks will share their  history and current activities. To register contact   Dawn Chávez, GreenWorks Executive Director  or Eric Bradford, Director of Operations,  Asheville GreenWorks, 828-254-1776.  Participation is limited to 20 persons.

The Woodfin Greenway / Blueway and a Creekside Train Ride
Saturday, August 17, 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Craggy Mountain  Line, 11 Woodfin Avenue
or meet at French Broad River Academy for Boys, 1990 Riverside Drive

The afternoon will include a train ride (which starts at 1:30 p.m., with participation limited to 35 people) and illustrated presentations,  followed by a short tour of the French Broad  River Academy's sustainable facility. To register contact  Jason Young, Woodfin  Town Administrator 828-253-4887


The 92nd Mountain Dance & Folk Festival 
is coming to UNC Asheville's campus!
Thursday - Saturday, August 1 - 3, 6:30 p.m. each night
UNC Asheville, Lipinsky Auditorium

The 92nd Annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival comes to Lipinsky Auditorium with three different shows, each at 6:30 p.m., Thursday-Saturday, August 1-3, featuring traditional and old-time musicians, ballad singers, mountain dance groups and cloggers. 

General admission tickets are $25 at the door; $10 for students; $5 for children age 6-12. 
Advance tickets are  available online Here
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute | 828-251-6140 | olli@unca.edu | http://www.olliasheville.com
Reuter Center, CPO #5000
UNC Asheville
One University Heights
Asheville, NC 28804