What Can I Do?
"What You Can Do About Coronavirus Right Now"
Eat Local
United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County
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Staying Informed
AVLToday
Where Can I Go to Enjoy the Spring
We know that this is a beautiful time of the year here in Western North Carolina. Many of us may feel drawn out of our regular schedules and "cooped up." As we seek to find ways to stay active, we may have wanted to get out to our favorite trails and parks, with the reminder to keep appropriate social distance. Some parks have had to close, however, as people crowd outside,and it has been hard to allow people to maintain physical distance. A
ll Asheville City
dog parks, playgrounds and outdoor courts have closed;
greenways and walking trails will remain open. Check the following websites before you head out to hit the trail. Be aware that even if parks are open that facilities may not be.
See other blocks in this newsletter for information about restaurants that still offer takeout and shopping hours for older adults at some local markets.
Also see information in this newsletter about how to join OLLIChat. Members of that group have been actively sharing their experiences trying to find the most sought-after items.
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Sierra Club Online Program
"Nantahala/Pisgah Forest Revision Plan"
Thursday, April 2,
7 p.m.
The discussion will feature Sam Evans of Southern Environmental Law Center, Josh Kelly of Mountain True, and David Reid from Western North Carolina Sierra Club (Wenoca). This webinar will provide background about the Nantahala/Pisgah revision plan that will be critical in helping you submit informed comments to the U.S. Forest Service.
The meeting will be conducted in an online format so that you can join us safely from your
home, and
write comments to the US Forest Service (USFS).
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The Meditation SIG - Virtual Edition!
Zoom Meditation from Your Safe Space
Monday, April 13th at 4:30 - 5:15 pm
Dream Yoga Meditation: A Shaman Guided Journey Practice with Linda Go
This period of social distancing is a great opportunity to get quiet and meditate. However, group meditations are even more powerful than individual ones. So let's stay connected via ZOOM. Zoom is an easy-to-use meeting platform you can access via your phone or laptop and allows you to participate in video or audio.
Linda Go will be sharing a sampling from her "Night School" Dream Yoga Meditation Practice with a few fun and possibly challenging lucid dreaming practices that may help you to:
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improve memory and brain function
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stimulate creativity
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achieve power of intent and problem solving
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dispel hidden fears and traumas
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attain forgiveness
Remember, to access this conference call one has to pre-register with Zoom.
All OLLI members are welcome at our meditation programs.
Meditation SIG contact: Sally Ekaireb
skekaireb@gmail.com
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The Odyssey Project:
The Journey Home
"Beyond the Seduction of
Violence as Virtue"
Gareth Higgins, Thomas Griggs, and Avery Sosebee
Thursday, April 23, 7-9 p.m.
It was originally to be a face-to-face event, taking place on March 19th, but due to the pandemic, we are holding it as a webinar instead. Everything else remains the same: the topic - "Beyond the Seduction of Violence as Virtue" and the speakers Gareth Higgins, Thomas Griggs and Avery Sosebee, although the group plans to include some reflections on our current health crisis. The webinar will be held on the Zoom platform, and participants will receive an invitation to join the webinar nearer to April 23rd. Please contact Sophie Mills directly (smills@unca.edu) if you have more questions.
"The Odyssey Project" is a series of interactive community dialogues using Homer's
Odyssey as the context for exploring some of the most fundamental
societal challenges we face. The series is sponsored by the
NC Humanities Council, National Endowment for the Humanities, UNC Asheville, The Mankind Project, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNC Asheville, and Odyssey Community School.
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From Getty Images, via NPR |
Learning More about Coronavirus
Many online newspapers are making all information on the coronavirus available, even to those without a subscription.
OLLI member, College for Seniors instructor, chair of OLLI's Life Transitions Committee and active member of the Aging in Place Special Interest Group, Meridith Miller sent along a link to
TED Connects: Community and Hope. As the authors of the website explain, this service
features experts whose ideas can help us "reflect and work through this time with a sense of responsibility, compassion and wisdom." If you missed these conversations last week, you can still hear them and sign up for updates with recommendations for talks from the vast TED library.
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POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
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Lottie Erickson and Jay Jacoby
Thursday, April 2, 5:15 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center
Room 206
OLLI Authors is a quarterly program designed to showcase and recognize talented OLLI poetry and prose writers. Each program features reading by two authors.
See in this edition of the newsletter the work of some of our OLLI poets.
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Astronomy Club of Asheville
Thursday, April 2, 7 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center
Manheimer Room
"What is a Planet?
Defining the Undefineable!"
Mark (Indy) Kochte, NASA Science Operations Specialist, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
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Watch for details about an online meeting
OLLI Celebration of Community
We have traditionally held a Town Hall Meeting in the spring term
to review the highlights of our committees and programs, to review
our finances, to discuss our member survey, and to present our slate
of officers for the coming year. This year we will shift the title and
the tone of this meeting to celebrate and engage as many people
as possible in planning for the future of our organization. Come to
share ideas, ask questions, learn how OLLI works, and celebrate our
community. We will share our meeting agenda and questions soon.
We will move this meeting online, so stay tuned!
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Dear OLLI Members,
I hope that all of you are staying safe and well, finding what you need, keeping track of all of the
latest "stay at home" orders and finding time to be grateful for what we do have and to look forward to connecting in new ways. It's important to remember that the thing that sustains us will be our kindness and our ability to think not only of our own needs but of the needs of the people around us.
Please continue to send us content for all of our newsletters. We have all become content creators. There is a great deal of information online, but we want to sustain our community by sharing the stories of people who have been brought together by OLLI at UNC Asheville and by curating the content we offer to you.
We are truly thankful for the wonderful community we create together, even when we are apart. We miss you and are eager to learn how to connect while we are apart and also eager to gather together again.
Catherine Frank
Executive Director
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Food and Shopping Options
Special Shopping Hours and Delivery Options
Who Is Still Offering Takeout?
The
Asheville Independent Restaurant Association
(AIR) has compiled a list of area restaurants offering takeout and delivery services - as well as those offering free meals for kids in need. Check it out here!
Please note that businesses are changing daily so it makes sense to call ahead to make sure that your favorite is still offering takeout (and if you order ahead, many places will bring your food curbside.)
Farmer's Markets
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For COVID-19 updates:
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This Day in Sports History
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Larry Griswold |
I don't know about you, but I am finding it a little hard to keep track of days and dates. It seems like a lifetime ago that we were planning to be together for our spring term, and it seems a lifetime ago since business as usual. Many of you have said that you will miss Larry Griswold's courses on sports and sports history, so Larry has been kind enough to provide us with important milestones on days in sports history. It seems that Larry may be missing March Madness.
March 29, 1950:
City College of New York (CCNY) completed an unprecedented sweep of college basketball's two big post season championships by
defeating #1 ranked Bradley, 71-68, in the NCAA championship game. CCNY had qualified for the NCAA tournament by defeating Bradley,69-61, in the National Invitation Tournament championship game.
March 29, 1976: Rallying from six points behind at halftime, Indiana defeated Big 10 Conference rival Michigan, 86-68, in the NCAA tournament
championship game. With 32 wins and no losses, the Hoosiers became the seventh team to claim the national title with a perfect season.
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Michael Jordan in 1982
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And if Larry (and all of the Anybody But Carolina basketball fans) will forgive me, I will add one important memory for this Tar Heel.
March 29, 1982:
Michael Jordan hit the winning shot that meant UNC Chapel Hill defeated Georgetown to win the 1982 NCAA National Championship Game and to earn legendary UNC coach Dean Smith his first ever NCAA championship.
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Master Teacher Dot Sulock
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What's Next for College for Seniors
College for Seniors instructors and all of the OLLI staff miss all of you. These last weeks have reminded us that we are a group of learners and we are also a community of people who love to come together to exchange ideas.
We are optimists. We are planning the potential for an eight-week summer program that would include many of the instructors who would offer spring courses. If we can move forward we won't have a print catalog but will have an online version of the familiar offering.
We are also realists and understand that we may not be able to offer any programming during the summer months. With that in mind, we are postponing our planned theme term "Seeing Women in 2020" in order to honor those who have already planned courses we may not be able to offer and in order to make sure that we will be able to gather safely to discuss these big and important ideas.
Now that we have caught our breath and adjusted to a pace of working from home, gathering virtually, and making decisions day-by-day rather than planning months ahead, we have begun to plan for how we might roll out some courses online. We have a couple of instructors experimenting with various platforms. We know that it would have been nice to get more content online more quickly. This is a moment when we have to admit that we are five people to server 2500 people and that our volunteer instructors and participants have a wide range of comfort with technology. On the other hand, we are learning every day things that we can share to bring us up to speed and ready to anticipate a "new normal." We had a successful fund raising effort to install equipment here at the Reuter Center for distance learning and have already purchased one good camera. We will gather some of our tech-savvy instructors next week and begin to plan what OLLI online might look like.
Stay tuned. Stay positive. Stay together apart.
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Send us your favorite online resources!
Every Wednesday we will send out emails while our planned activities are suspended and provide links to resources to encourage you to continue learning and satisfying your intellectual curiosity. We can use your help. Send us your favorite podcasts or other fun shareable media.
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Share your online technology expertise
Every Friday during the suspension of planned OLLI activities, beginning March 27, we will send out emails to share tips and insights to using technology in new ways. As a staff we have been learning about these resources ourselves (and have been managing the challenges of shutting down and communicating about the end of our Spring 2020 term). Now we hope to begin to experiment with ways to create and offer content and community to help bring us together while we are apart.
We recognize that we have expertise among our membership in teaching and learning online. We would have challenges moving a complete term online but this is a great time to experiment. And we want to share not only ways to teach and learn online but ways to connect with family and friends. We have seen online happy hours and dinner parties.
If you have expertise in technology and teaching online or if you have found a way to connect with family and friends virtually, please
Click here to share!
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How OLLI Members and Staff Are Spending Their Time as They Maintain Social Distance
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Nelson Sartoris |
OLLI staff members have also been sharing how they are spending their time apart. We have featured Jacqueline Lowe's performances in Michael Ruiz's class in our Wednesday newsletter, hope to have a story from Frankie Keller, and are including a photo from Herb Gunn below. Everyone is meeting virtually with one another and also with our committees to begin to plan what all of our programs might look like moving forward.
Our Life Transitions program manager Hannah Furgiuele has shared a video and the following story with us.
"This week, I was supposed to be in Georgia, where I have traveled every spring for my entire life to spend time with my grandmother's family. She grew up in South Georgia. We were surrounded by peanut and cotton farms, pine trees--family land as far as the eye can see. It was a time full of adventure and exploration and is ultimately why I decided to move to a farm as an adult. I love the quieter and simpler rural life. As a songwriter, I have always found inspiration in the landscape, the people and the stories, and for years I have made it a point to unplug and write a song on my trips there. Several years ago my brother, who owns a recording studio in Atlanta, helped me record this audition video for NPR's Tiny Desk Concert. Since we are asked to stay home right now, listening to this song takes me back to the days I spent writing it and the many days that it reflects on with family, childhood and that warm Georgia Sun. I hope you enjoy!"
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Georgia sun: Submission for NPR Tiny Desk Contest |
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A yellow Lady's Slipper |
Program manager Herb Gunn has been in self-quarantine (with NO symptoms other than a desire for chardonnay and toilet paper) since he returned from Michigan on March 17 where he had been for the funeral of his mother-in-law. Our sincerest condolences to the family of Joan Dennehy, Herb's wife. Herb reports that he is walking daily in some beautiful property near his home. Herb writes, "
The photo is a yellow
Lady
's
Slipper
, part of a secret patch at Exit 379 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, at peak in mid-April. Wildflower enthusiasts know. ..."
Please keep sharing stories of how you are staying in touch. We want to hear from you.
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Join OLLIChat, the replacement for OLLITalk.
It's free for all 2019-20 OLLI members and easy to use. It's also a great way to stay connected as we are all trying to find ways to manage unprecedented challenges.
OLLIChat is an online community where OLLI at UNC 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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We are postponing making decisions about this program until we know more about the ongoing impact of COVID-19
Visit olliasheville.com/exploring-ccrcs for more information.
"Exploring Continuing Care Retirement Communities" will meet for eight sessions over the course of seven weeks. Three of the meetings will be held at the Reuter Center where we will set a context for better understanding the advantages and challenges of life in a CCRC. For the other meetings, participants will travel to representative communities to hear both from marketing directors and from residents to gain a clearer understanding of quality and character of individual communities.
Click here to register through OLLI's online registration system.
For more information, contact Hannah Furgiuele at hfurgiue@unca.edu
or
828-250-3871
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POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
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Ay Mariposa Documentary Screening
Thursday, March 26,
6 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Manheimer Room
Ay Mariposa tells the true story of two women and a rare community of
butterflies standing on the front lines in a battle against the US-Mexico
border wall where the wall construction is having an impact on wildlife
and human communities. Heather Rayburn of MonarchLover.org will
host the event, with a community discussion following the screening.
This event is sponsored by UNC Asheville's Student Environmental
Center and the Western North Carolina Sierra Club and is free and open to everyone.
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AARP Smart Driver Course
Friday, March 27, 12:15 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Room 206
We hope to find a time to re-schedule this one-time, four-hour course was designed specifically for the
over-50 driver.
If you have questions,
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The Autumn Players Readers Theater
Mary Chase's "Harvey"
Sunday, March 29, 2:30 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Reuter Center Manheimer Room
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.
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POSTPONED UNTIL FALL 2020
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2020 Parsons Math Lecture
Gerrymandering, Mathematics and Fairness
Wednesday, April 1, 7 p.m.
UNC Asheville's Lipinsky Auditorium
The goal of the Parsons Lecture is to provide the greater Asheville community with the ability to attend locally a presentation by a nationally renowned mathematician speaking on a topic accessible to the general audience. Speakers for the lecture series are invited to present a lecture not just because of their renown as mathematicians, but also for their skills as educators and orators. Funds for the series are provided by an endowment, donated in 1998 by an anonymous alumnus, in honor of Joe Parsons, UNC Asheville's first professor and chair of mathematics, who also helped plan the physical layout of the university's campus, including the decision have Ramsey Library face Mt. Pisgah, providing a dramatic view from the library steps.
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OSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
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Bill McKibben:
2020's Brown Visionary Lecturer
Thursday, April 2, 2020,
7 p.m.
UNC Asheville's
Kimmel Arena
Many thanks go to Dave and Lin Brown and The Ecology Wildlife Foundation for providing support to continue to bring such prominent speakers to our community!
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POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
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STEM Lecture
"Ethical Issues in Science and
Technology"
by Melissa Burchard, UNC Asheville Professor and
Chair of the Philosophy Department
Monday, April 6, 4:30 p.m.
The STEM Lecture Series is interdisciplinary with a focus on science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics. The 2019-2020 series
theme is "Science vs. Science Denial." This topic is especially
important in light of the current environment of science denial. It is
important than ever to emphasize the benefits we receive from
science and and to expose the detrimental effects of
denying science.
This lecture is free and open to everyone.
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