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We Remember
Dan Pincu
April 28, 2020
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Dream Yoga Meditation Series, Part 3
with Linda Go
Moderated by Sally Ekaireb
Monday, May 4,
4:30-5:30 p.m.
with Open Chat Room starting at 4:15 p.m.
This period of social distancing is a great opportunity to get quiet and meditate.
(Note we have the same Zoom link as last week, so no change there)
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
Linda Go is an initiated shaman in Nahuatl lineage and has been leading guided shamanic journeying for over two decades. Her Dream Yoga workshops help others to find the inner tools to heal from past pain and trauma, restore and strengthen memory and cognitive function, remove creative blocks, just to name a few benefits.
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MemoryCare Education Series:
For Families and Caregivers
Thursdays, May 7, 14,
21, and June 4,
2 - 3:30 p.m.
MemoryCare will hold a four-week online forum designed for caregivers and family members who want to learn more about how to care for themselves and their loved one affected by dementia.
A series of speakers will present information on
MemoryCare is a nationally recognized program for dementia care located at Givens Estates in Asheville.
The community-based, nonprofit, charitable organization is uniquely focused on serving the whole family. In 2018,
MemoryCare
served more than 1,000 people living with dementia and 3,500 of their family caregivers
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Scott Dean
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Just because we can't gather in person doesn't mean we can't enjoy wildflowers. It's time for WILDFLOWERS! and flowering trees! and beautiful mountain flora of our breathtaking Appalachians! Let Scott Dean take you away on a guided tour with lovely photos and charming stories.
Scott Dean, naturalist and photographer, has been a part of both UNC Asheville and the Great Smoky Mountain Spring Pilgrimages for years, as well as a teacher for field classes in the Blue Ridge Naturalist program at the NC Arboretum.
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The Forum SIG - Virtual Edition!
Friday, May 8, 1 p.m.
Online
Topic: Preserving our elections against inappropriate intrusions, foreign and domestic including voter suppression
- May 15: Environmental issues: Are we trashing the planet and what can we do about it? --Solutions to pollution.
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. Contact
Beth Johnson, the Forum SIG coordinator, to get a link for the meeting: johnson1ea@earthlink.net
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How We Are Coping:
OLLI Members Report
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Susan Poole and Herb Gunn
maintaining social distance
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College for Seniors instructor and former director Susan Poole is hand making and delivering face masks. Here she is delivering a mask to current College for Seniors program manager Herb Gunn. It's great to see Susan out and about and to be reminded of her generous spirit.
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The perfect image of being "together apart"
Tom Sanders and Mary Lasher |
Mary Lasher and Tom Sanders are among the most beloved, challenging, and thoughtful of College for Seniors instructors. Mary began teaching at College for Seniors in 1997 and Tom in 1995. Tom has offered 71 courses as an individual and participated in 17 courses with other instructors, and Mary has offered 40 and participated in 16. Both Tom and Mary's courses have covered a wide range of topics in history, politics, and philosophy and religion. They have always made our members think deeply and learn from one another. Tom is one of our intrepid hikers of the Camino de Santiago, and Mary has in recent months convened a group of OLLI members to talk across political difference and find common ground.
We think that Susan, Tom, Mary, and Bill are among our most valued OLLI treasures.
We love the stories of our kind, creative, and resilient members. Let us know what you are doing to stay busy, engaged, and connected at this time. Send us an email at cfrank@unca.edu
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The Gift of Time
Thoughtful Planning for Life's End
May 19, 21, 26, 28 and June 2, 2020
Go beyond "5 Wishes" in this comprehensive five-week workshop.
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. Take control of what you want for yourself, and help others address the myriad issues that face all of us in times of crisis. The workshop will be an extended online conversation with trained facilitators as well as outside speakers who will converse holistically on key legal, medical, and spiritual issues. The objective is to provide participants with compelling reasons to prepare an end of life plan and prepare them to deal with both the rational and emotional elements of such a plan.
For more information, contact Hannah Furgiuele at hfurgiue@unca.edu
or
828-250-3871
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Staying Together Apart
We realize that we would all like things to be "back to normal" as soon as possible, to be back in our "home away from home," especially at this beautiful time of year. We also realize that the best way to stay safe is to stay home except for essential travel. We here at OLLI are trying to make the most of this challenging time by finding ways to use technology like Zoom and social media platforms to stay connected and to understand "creative retirement" in new ways. We encourage you to try all of these new ways to capture a feeling for our OLLI community even while we have to stay apart.
We all look forward to being back together at the Reuter Center, but until then, we want you to feel connected and to continue to look to OLLI for great opportunities to learn "together apart."
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AVL Watchdog Seeks Journalists
and Content Experts
Are you a former journalist or expert in your field and believe in the need for an independent and robust press?
OLLI member Steve Keeble and Bob Gremillion need your help! AVL Watchdog is a new nonprofit news organization dedicated to in-depth reporting on the issues that matter most to Asheville and Buncombe County. They are a group of award-winning journalists and media executives, who like many of you, chose to retire in this idyllic place and want to ensure our community rebounds and prospers, takes care of its residents, and spends its tax money responsibly. We want to engage, enlighten and inform with news that supplements and enhances the existing coverage.
Steve writes, "This is a moment of deep crisis for local news, which was already reeling from layoffs and shuttered newspapers before the coronavirus crippled ad revenues. Just in March, the Mountain Xpress significantly cut its staff and the corporate owner of the Asheville Citizen Times announced furloughs for employees and pay cuts for executives.
"Yet the need for top-notch reporting has never been greater. Journalists around the country are risking their lives to report on this pandemic and hold government accountable for its actions. And this is just the beginning.
"As Asheville and the country emerge from this crisis, the need for strong local journalism will be critical. The AVL Watchdog volunteer board is looking to draw on the incredible wealth of experience in the OLLI community to help them succeed. They want to create a talent pool of retired journalists. They are also looking for people with expertise in a particular area - government, industry, health care, you name it, to help their journalists with background information and questions that need to be asked."
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Dear OLLI Members,
Finally, thanks to all of the people who contribute information for these newsletters and sharing stories and photos to show us how they are finding joy and connection in challenging times. We hope you will enjoy seeing Susan Poole, Mary Lasher, and Tom Sanders (and some Bill LaRocque drawings), reading the poems by OLLI members Wallace Bohanon, Joan Weiner, Nelson Sartoris, and John Ryder, seeing the photographs by Nancy Gordon, and enjoying a virtual toast to College for Seniors instructor Michael Dickson as he practices in hopes of offering his course on wine making. Thanks to Larry Griswold for twice a week offering "This Day in Sports History" for those who miss both live sports and Larry's courses.
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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OLLI Celebration of Community
Friday, May 8, 6 p.m.
Zoom Room opens at 5:30 p.m.
Please join us online to hear about our suggested slate of officers for 2020-21, to celebrate some of our achievements, to hear more about how we are managing in challenging times, and to share ideas for what the future might hold.
We encourage you to come a little early to see how to operate in the Zoom Room (which is the platform we will use for our summer online courses), to show what you are eating or drinking as we convene, and to see the friendly faces of your fellow OLLI members. This is the best possible potluck, since you don't have to prepare extra food and don't have to worry about getting your dish back at the end of the evening!
We plan to hold additional meetings if the response is positive.
We hope to see you and hear from you. We realize more and more that as much as we miss the learning, we miss the connections that form when we are together. We miss being able to gather at the Reuter Center, but we are excited about the possibility to gather virtually and explore the new possibility to be together apart.
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nstructors gather to talk about College for Seniors Summer 2020
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What's Next for College for Seniors
Click on the image below to hear OLLI College for Seniors Summer 2020 instructors tell you in their own words about the courses they will offer this summer.
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| OLLI at UNC Asheville's College For Seniors Summer 2020 Introduction |
We are working closely with university planners and College for Seniors instructors and curriculum committee members to plan a range of scenarios for offering courses in the fall. We are at this time planning for a fall term that might include both online and in-person courses. We are considering how we will have to pay for and charge for new services and who is best equipped to help us navigate a "new normal." We appreciate your patience and understanding!
Our staff has been dedicated to creating a community of people who have had the luxury of gathering in person to learn and connect. We may have taken for granted the advantages of having a space designed and built for our use by staff and members who were able to dream big and achieve their goals. Now we realize that we can still dream big and be part of a community of learners, but that may look different in the future but will always strive to preserve the best of who we are. Thanks so much for your patience and creativity as we enter a new phase of lifelong learning.
Stay tuned. Stay positive. Stay together apart.
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Carl Nordgren |
Convivial Creativity
A Free Webinar Series to Help You Live Happily and Successfully in this New World Of Ours
Mondays, May 4 and
May 11, 10-11:30 a.m.
From your home computer!
The Convivial Creativity free webinar series continues. Mark and Carl are designing each webinar to be
complete in itself, so consider joining them even if you have not attended the first two.
Exactly 100 folks signed on to the most recent webinar and 98 were still on at the 90 minute mark, further evidence that OLLI members are finding this content is meaningful.
Next Monday, May 4, the webinar will be organized around the research findings that reveal the biological changes taking place in a 55+ brain that make you less susceptible to status quo thinking and behaviors; tips and strategies for creating advantage from that new freedom will be shared.
Click here to register to participate in this online webinar.
Each webinar will be fun, fast paced, and as interactive as the technology allows.
The remaining schedule: Mondays, May 4 and 11, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
If you have questions, please contact Carl Nordgren directly at carl@creativepopulist.com
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Join the Zoom Cafe and
Tuesday, May 5,
Between 2 and 4 p.m.
Are you taking a class this summer and want to practice on Zoom before the term begins? Has your book club moved online or has your family created a virtual happy hour and do you want to see what all the fuss is about?
Join us at the Zoom Cafe! This drop-in Zoom meeting is an opportunity for you to casually try out Zoom. Whether you are a first-time participant or a seasoned user, this no-pressure session is your opportunity to get comfortable with the virtual meeting platform. We will show you how to mute yourself, how to chat online with the group, how to ask questions, and how to feel comfortable AND connected in this new environment.
Click here for a guide on how to join the Zoom Cafe!
We plan to offer additional "Zoom Cafe" sessions as we approach our summer term.
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This Day in Sports History
by College for Seniors Instructor Larry Griswold
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Jocky Jacinto Vasquez rides Genuine Risk
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May 3, 1980: At the 106th Kentucky Derby, jockey Jacinto Vasquez brought longshot Genuine Risk from well back in the home stretch
to pass 12 galloping colts and become the first filly to win the Run for the Roses since 1915. Prior to this race a filly had not even been
entered in the event since 1959.
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Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer
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What had become golf's greatest rivalry continued at the Byron Nelson Classic in Dallas when 30-year-old Jack Nicklaus
made a two-foot birdie putt on the first sudden death playoff hole to defeat 40-year-old Arnold Palmer. Golf's most popular player during
his career, Palmer won seven major championships. Nicklaus won 18 and is the all-time leader for majors victories.
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Sharing the Talents of OLLI Members
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Read Joan Weiner's poem to recognize the possibility of finding a Fortune when we slow down and pay attention. |
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| Dawn at Beaver Lake, May 2, 2020 by Nancy Gordon |
Nancy sent with the following quotation from artist Georgia O'Keefe: "Come quickly. You mustn't miss the dawn. It will never be just like this again."
On Friday Nancy sent the image below from her backyard, with some information from The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior, reminding us that hummingbirds, the world's smallest birds, have a "special adaptation made possible by the unique figure-eight motion of their wings. . . .In addition to facilitating hovering flight, this unique wing movement allows hummingbirds to fly forward, backward, sideways, up and down, and even upside down for short distances. . . . Hummingbirds were once considered to be exclusively nectivores, but the importance of invertebrates in their diet is now recognized. . . . Often hummingbirds will make daily rounds in which they visit patches of flowers and artificial feeders in predictable sequence; this behavior is known as 'trap-lining.'" Many thanks to Nancy for capturing this lovely image of an active bird at rest!
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Backyard Hummingbird Feeder, May 1, 2020, Nancy Gordon
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What a beautiful example of the generous and resilient spirit of OLLI members!
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Practice Makes Perfect for College for Seniors Instructor Michael Dickson |
Finally, Michael Dickson was scheduled to teach "Let's Make Wine" in our Spring 2020 term. He writes, "
I look forward to a time when it is possible to teach the "
wine
" course. [Until then] Practice, practice, practice."
Please keep sharing stories of how you are staying in; just send them to me at cfrank@unca.edu. We want to know how you are staying safe and learning. Pictures and even videos are encouraged. We would love to hear from you.
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Wishing They Were Here?
Davidson's research has encompassed people young and old in varying states of mental health, and most famously, involved measuring the brain emissions of Buddhist monks as they meditated. He has gained worldwide recognition in and beyond the scientific community.
We can probably all benefit during this strange and stressful time from the kinds of lessons that Dr. Richardson teaches.
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Food and Shopping Options
Special Shopping Hours and Delivery Options
 Who Is Still Offering Takeout?
Click here for the list of takeout and delivery options provided by the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association. Policies and processes are changng 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.)
We know that the restaurant industry has been part of Asheville's identity as we have made all of the top ten lists for travel destinations. Local businesses really appreciate your support to keep people employed and businesses running in these challenging times.
Farmer's Markets
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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.
Introducing OLLIChat Companion
Several times a week, the volunteers at OLLIChat send entertaining content to our subscribers - humor, old movie clips and games. The service is free. Please email
OLLIChatAVL@gmail.com
and a volunteer will reply and send you an invitation.
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Grow Your Own Food
Free access to Wild Abundance online course
Permaculture + homesteading school
Wild Abundance is sharing a free online course on how to grow food. The roughly 90-minute long course, "Top 10 Vegetables to Plant That Will Really Feed You," features a 24-page detailed course manual and is taught by two instructors who have decades of experience with gardening and offers general growing guidelines, ways to scale it up or down depending on your needs, and tips for preserving your harvest
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For COVID-19 updates:
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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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