Dear OLLI Members,

The university this week has asked most staff members to work from home, so the quickest way to reach any of us is via email. The staff has done an admirable job managing the details and disappointments of canceling our spring term, our Paths to Creative Retirement April Workshop and postponing our Creative Retirement Exploration Weekend.  They are working now to pursue planned and new projects so that we will be a stronger and better organization when we are able to gather again at the Reuter Center.  We have reached out to community partners like the Astronomy Club of Asheville or the Asheville Symphony Orchestra and have cancelled those events, along with our Fab Fridays. We have left in this newsletter information about the cancelled events we had already promoted. "A Patchwork of Stories," planned for today, has been canceled.  It's encouraging to know the Odyssey Project will offer a webinar in April as the last in the series. We suspect other opportunities will continue to emerge in our local community. OLLI's Meditation SIG has also created an online meeting for April 13. 

We are getting questions about summer and fall courses.  We are thinking and planning, a challenge in a time of uncertainty and anxiety.  We know that summer will not reflect the plans that were already far along, and we don't anticipate a conventional print catalog.  We are looking for ways to honor the work of people who had prepared spring courses they are not able to offer as originally intended. We had planned for a fall theme term and are assessing those plans at this time.  Please be patient as we set our priorities, gather our resources, and adjust our efforts, all while we too, as staff, are figuring out how best to work from home, stay healthy, and be kind to one another.

We aim now to put out three newsletters every week.  

Our Sunday newsletter will focus on practical matters like the list below of places offering takeout and delivery options. We will share information about various programs designed to keep us informed and connected when it comes to the virus. We also hope to share your stories on Sunday; tell us how you are spending your time.  We really appreciate photos and will give you a way to share those.

Our Wednesday newsletter, the Cabin Fever Edition, will focus on content so that our love of learning can continue outside the classroom. For now we are primarily offering links to existing online content, but stay tuned.  It is our hope to begin to experiment with original online content. We are all learning! We appreciate the suggestions we have already received and look forward to receiving more.  Click here for a simple form if you have online resources that have helped you keep your mind active in this unprecedented time.

Next Friday, we will launch "Tech Connect" to keep you tuned in to the various tools you can use to stay in touch. We have already sent out surveys to our Special Interest Group (SIG) Coordinators and our OLLI Steering Council committee chairs to determine their interest in connecting online. We held an uplifting Steering Council meeting online on Friday and will accelerate our efforts to facilitate more online meetings and offer some original online content.  Please click here for a short online survey to assess all members' interest in learning online, to give you a chance to express any reservations or concerns, and to let us know if you would like to be part of this "brave new world" of online teaching.

I am grateful for virtual means of connection and learning. I was reminded this week, however, of the power of some older technology. In the midst of managing a wide range of issues last week, my office phone rang. I was anticipating the kind of practical call I had been fielding most of the day.  Instead, it was one of my favorite OLLI members, who took the time to express gratitude and appreciation, in these uncertain times and all the time. I got to reply how much I admire and learn from her grace in trying circumstances. I know that I will remember that phone call far more than my annoyance at stores out of toilet paper or worry about how to adapt to life without a hair stylist, and I have thought of it fondly and often since it happened. I have found myself marveling at the ways that time and priorities and anxieties have shifted so many times every day.  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.

And don't forget that the mail system is still operating.  Write those letters you have been meaning to write or use up some of those postcards sitting in your desk.  Keep a journal so that you can remember how this felt. Many of us are fearful and uncertain.  But we can be certain that expressing care and gratitude are still uplifting for those who give and those who receive and that, especially for members of our generation, a hand-written note can, like the voice over the phone, cut through the clutter and make all the difference to someone who may be feeling hopeless and anxious.

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