The new Membership Team is doing an outstanding job. Among other things, Diane has contacted nearly all the retirement homes to encourage participation and, along with the Publicity Team, has distributed record numbers of brochures in the area. Course Host Team is getting all classes hosted well and successfully. The History Team is archiving our history for inclusion in the Baylor library archives.

Terry Wright has undertaken the leadership of the new Communications Team that notifies instructors and participants confirming class information when the registration closes (three business days before the course begins). Terry is also working to get us a dedicated baylor.edu email for correspondence.

We made a presentation of LLL courses and activities at The Delaney with good results – six new members signed up (Misty Thornton from the Mayborn Museum graciously volunteered to attend and sign up members).

We had 396, members as of August 17^th and have added members since. We’d love to have more members, so spread the word.

Here is the poem I wrote for the presentation at The Delaney:

We're Here to Stay



We’re on our way

We’re here to stay

Learning, meeting, and trips away.

Join us to grow and fulfill your day.

Lifelong learning

Is our best way

To stretch your mind,

not work, like play.

Members and guests gathered on August 26 at the Lee Lockwood Library and Museum to begin our 2022-23 season. Bob Darden from Baylor’s Gospel Music Restoration Center spoke about the creation and growth of his program and entertained members with selections from the collection. It was an exciting way to kick off this year’s program.

Bob Darden speaking to Baylor Lifelong Learners 

Members enjoying the program

Bob Darden speaking with members after the program

Members discussing the program

Sinai Wood, Associate Professor and Documents Librarian at Baylor

Ken Surry, Tom Purdy, and Phil Sitton

Lynn Allen and Jane Abbott-Kirk

Mary Taylor and Maggie Dickson

Mike and Trudy Woodson

A growing organization needs a strong workforce. And we are growing! Three new teams (Publication, Communications, and Membership) have been added. The Publications Team was formed last spring to take responsibility for Lifelong Learning brochures and newsletters. You’ve already seen the team at work! 

Liz Arend and Karen Holder proofread the work, and Cheryl Foster, Gayle Lintz, Patti Notgrass, Judy Staples, Mary Taylor, Elaine White, and Sam Wilson do the writing.  

Lifelong Learning members look forward to the arrival of the brochure each semester so that we can see what is being offered and decide which classes to take. Publication Team members Patti Notgrass and Judy Staples have checked times, dates, and locations to be sure information is correct, arranged the material by class dates, and sometimes tweaked the course description so that members have a clear idea of what the course will entail.

Our newsletters are produced once a semester and highlight the inner working of our organization with glimpses into how volunteers contribute. This year we developed informational categories that we hope both attract interest and help members navigate the material: A Message from Our President, LLL in the Wild, Volunteers for Life, Connecting With, Lights Around Waco, and a link to upcoming LLL events.

Rebecca Nall makes sure everything is formatted to Baylor standards, and then takes care of disseminating the work.

Of course, there is always room for more volunteers. If you enjoy writing, there is a place for you in the Publications Team. Contact the team chair if you are interested.

Two New Shared Interest Groups Added

By Gayle Lintz, Doug Baldwin, and Sam Wilson

Membership in Shared Interest Groups is one of the benefits of Lifelong Learning. Groups are organized and facilitated by members who submit a proposal to the Leadership Team. Some groups are as small as five members, and others encompass twenty-plus. There is no fee for participating in these groups, but they are only available for LLL members.

This year we have added two new SIGs—Photography and Poetry. To see information about the other groups and to sign up for one or more, go to our homepage, click on About, and scroll down to the section on Shared Interest Groups.  

Photography with Sam Wilson

The technology of photography has changed as much in the last 150 years as almost any other field. Long ago, producing a photograph required a heavy and bulky camera, fragile glass plates, access to a darkroom full of chemicals, and the training to use all of those things. Today, nearly everyone has a camera in their pocket almost all the time. Taking a photograph and publishing it on the internet for anyone to see takes no more than a few taps on the screen of a Smartphone.

However, there are things about photography that have changed very little. What makes a photograph great, or even just good? How do I use available light to the best effect? How do I get people to relax and pose naturally so I can take a good portrait of them? Photographers were asking those questions 100 years ago and are still asking them today.

Another thing that is as true of photography as it is of other disciplines, is that enjoyment and learning are multiplied when done in community with others. The Photography Shared Interest Group will provide a place and time for photographers in the Baylor Lifelong Learning community to share our work, to encourage each other, to trade knowledge, and to improve our skills.

Here are a few of the things the Photography SIG members might do together – have well-known photographers from around central Texas present some of their work to us, go on photowalks across the Baylor campus and around Waco, attend training sessions in topics such as how to increase your understanding of your camera or do better image processing, answer challenges to take and share photos on an assigned theme, and to learn more about different photographic styles and techniques.

It is not necessary to own a fancy camera or to have a lot of experience to be a part of this SIG. Smartphone cameras can take fine pictures provided the photographer understands the strengths and weaknesses of the device. All LLL members are invited and will be welcome.

Photo Credit: Sam Wilson

Poetry with Doug Baldwin

In what I think is typical in American high school literature classes, the study of poetry starts with a lengthy explanation of iambic pentameter and some obscure nonsense about an urn. Well, that kills my interest, if any existed! Students’ eyes glass over, minds drift to revelry and understanding, and any interest in poetry is lost forever. So, it was with me, but I always wondered what all the fuss was about? Why did some think poetry important, useful, even fun? 

 Well, for me the revelation came late. Just last year, Dr. Tom Hanks taught a course in Baylor Lifelong Learning (an extraordinary class) on Poets Laureates and explained – or at least made those of us in the class explain—something about poetry and poets. Then Dr. David Music taught a course on The History of Christian Hymns, in which he discussed, at length, forms of, and the beauty of, poetry in music. Well, maybe there is something there after all!

Curiosity would not let me go, so I determined to start a Shared Interest Group so we could explore together what poetry is about. And so we are off and running. 

All are welcome to join. You only have to have an interest and be a LLL member– we do not profess to be a group of experts, but only a group of seekers. We meet by zoom for an hour on the second Monday of each month, each semester. Join us. 

It seems appropriate to end with a poem.

Shared Interest

By Doug Baldwin

An interest is often better shared

like love of travel, eating, or literature.

If your interest is poetry,

there is a SIG now and here.

You need not know much as of now,

but together we can muddle through,

and learn from other’s active brow.

Engage and test and see it’s true.

Connecting With…

LLL Lecturer Brad Livingstone

By Sam Wilson

Brad Livingstone teaches a popular series of history classes for Lifelong Learning. Most of these classes have centered on some aspect of World War II, such as “The History of WWII: The Pacific Theater” which Brad offered in Fall 2019. In addition to WWII history, Brad has also led LLL members through a couple of studies of the conflict in Vietnam. His current class, which started October 5, is titled “WWII and the Road to V-J Day: 1945.”

Brad is familiar to many folks in the Waco area as Baylor University’s “First Gentleman.” He is the husband of Baylor President Linda Livingstone, and can be frequently seen at Baylor athletic events, in the Homecoming Parade, or helping arriving students and their parents unpack their cars on Move-in Day. 

Both Brad and Linda are graduates of Oklahoma State University (OSU), where they met in 1978 while each of them was playing basketball for the school. Brad was a business major. After graduation, he continued playing basketball with Athletes in Action (associated with Campus Crusade for Christ) and got the opportunity to tour Europe with the AiA basketball team. He worked for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes briefly before returning to OSU for a Master’s degree in Education.

In 1991, when Linda was hired to be the associate dean of Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, Brad joined the staff of Vanguard College Preparatory School. One day, some students approached him and suggested they would like to have him teach an elective course in history. Brad asked them what area of history they were interested in, and they proposed World War II. After the class got going, an article appeared in the Waco newspaper about Al Essig, a man who left high school at age 15, joined the U.S. Army to serve in WWII as a paratrooper, and moved to Waco after the war. Brad contacted Al and persuaded him to come visit with the students in the class for a question-and-answer session. This session was very eye-opening for the students, especially once they realized Al had already been in combat by the time he was as old as the students were then. Following up on that success, Brad ran advertisements in newspapers, asking WWII veterans to get in touch with him. The result is that Brad and his Vanguard students have been able to talk with hundreds of veterans through the years. 

Brad and Linda left Waco in 2002 to take positions in California and then in the Washington, D.C. area. When Linda was called to become the Baylor President in 2017, Brad returned to Vanguard and currently still teaches history there. The couple has one daughter, Shelby, who was recently hired to be an assistant volleyball coach at Liberty University. 

One interesting role Brad fills for Baylor happens when there is a meeting of the Baylor Board of Regents. Brad takes responsibility for organizing activities and entertainment for the spouses of the regents. Of course, at one time, most of the regents were men, so, naturally, the spouses were female. Brad asked what a usual activity for these occasions would be and was told, “tea and shopping.” Today the Board of Regents is equally divided between men and women, so Brad quickly concluded that tea and shopping might not be the best approach. Among other things, he has organized skeet shooting outings for the spouses, which has been very well received. 

Brad’s initial session with Lifelong Learning occurred during the 1990s, and he says about twenty folks attended it. His classes have grown in popularity to the point where there are now over one hundred enrollees each time. Brad says he hopes that each person who takes one of his history classes comes away with a deeper sense of the enormous sacrifices made by those who served in World War II or in Vietnam. 

LLL Member Jin Surovik

By Mary Taylor

One of the benefits of Lifelong Learning is meeting new friends, and one of the best ways to do that is to volunteer as a course host, according to Jin Surovik. A retired nurse, Jin began volunteering as a host chairperson in 2017.

She became acquainted with LLL the year before when a friend invited her to try out “these really cool Baylor classes for seniors.” They really enjoyed taking a class on the Cameron Park Zoo together, and Jin was hooked.

“I have whole-heartedly enjoyed the diverse learning opportunities, along with making many new friends,” Jin said. The next year, she became the Course Host chairperson, recruiting hosts for each class, advising and supporting them in their duties as meeters and greeters.

“I served for ten semesters, and along the way Sherry Cragen joined me as co-chair,” Jin stated. “Each semester we have needed to adapt with changes like joining the Mayborn, adjusting to Zoom classes, and coping with a global pandemic.”

Jin called leadership in the program “a rich and rewarding experience” and encouraged those who are interested in volunteering, but not sure where to start, to consider becoming a course host. She noted that while some duties have changed over the years, volunteers still man the welcome table set up for each class. They make sure each course runs smoothly and stops on time and help with transition to Zoom classes.

“It’s important to have a ‘go to’ person for each class who can answer questions for newcomers,” she said. “Now our hosts have a pin on their lanyards that says, ‘Ask me a question.’”

Having moved around much in her life, Jin has a heart for new people. I want them to feel welcome and to get them involved as much as possible,” she said.

“Just volunteering is a great way to meet new friends.” she added. “If you like people and you want to help and be involved, you can dip your toe into being a Course Host and test the waters. It’s not just for outgoing types; there are some shy people who have been hosts and have done an excellent job. So, we encourage everyone to check it out.”

At home, Jin loves spending time with her large family that includes 18 grandchildren. She and her husband enjoy eating out with friends, walking in nature, traveling, and doing jigsaw puzzles. She has just stepped down from a position as secretary for the volunteer fire department of Mertens, the community where she lives north of Waco.  It’s about an hour away, but she still plans to sign up for LLL classes each semester.

“I choose the course I’m going to take and then I build my day around it,” she noted.

Thank you, Jin, for developing one of Lifelong Learners’ key leadership entry programs.

Lights Around Waco

By Judith P. Staples

In this Fall’s newsletter section, “Lights Around Waco,” we’re featuring Union Hall at 720 Franklin. Grasping onto a new concept for the Waco area, this “food court” is a great business model to meet the needs of dwellers, shoppers, workers, and travelers who want to eat at a place where everyone in the group can get just what they want while offering food entrepreneurs a unique setting. In a location that formerly served as a real Union Hall, the name reflects not only the original use of the building but the fact that over 20 eateries are united in providing excellent food, whether customers eat in or take it out. Each restaurant is open for two meals per day, either breakfast and lunch (opening at 7:30 A.M.) or lunch and dinner (opening at 11:00 A.M.) with a final closing each day at 10:00 P.M.  

Here’s a quick list of the current vendors at Union Hall: Whizzbang’s Hamburgers, Tiny Pies, Roni’s Mac Bar, The Blasian Asian, Zuke’s Tea Bar, King’s Chicken Wings, Save Point Sandwich Shop, Sam’s Bar, Waco Melt, Wacool Tacos and Tamales, Be Kind Coffee, UnShakeable, Curry Up & Wok This Way, The Village Pizzaria Slice House and Gelato Bar, Dough Re Mi Edible Cookie Dough, The Salad Stand, LolliPop’s Sweet Treats, Huaco Eatery, and Koko Ramen.

Unlike fast-food restaurants, these businesses offer unique dining choices, including chefs and innovative culinary menus. In addition to providing access to great food, they also bring in special events, including live music. The partakers of this unique collection of dining opportunities are as diverse as the various foods served in a rather historic setting. The building itself was at one time the home of the last labor temple in the state of Texas. Understated on the outside, the inside has been uniquely designed to accommodate tastes of every kind with plenty of open seating.

Owners of the business are Shane and Cody Turner, better known as Turner Brothers Real Estate. Specific to the operation of Union Hall is Wil Campos, Manager. All three men graduated from Baylor University and have focused their energies on making Waco a better place for everyone. Campos still shows his excitement about the uniqueness of this business: “We have developed what we call UnionBrands because we anticipate expanding the concept of these eateries around Texas,” he said. “We are pleased to announce that we will open another business model like Union Hall along Highway 84 in Woodway next June called “Union Grove.”

The popular eatery serves those who come from afar, but it is definitely a favorite stop for those in the vicinity. Jeffrey Manske, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the courthouse across the street was asked his opinion. “Working across the street from Union Hall has been a true culinary blessing for our courthouse: from allowing jurors and litigants a quick, satisfying, cost-effective food option to being a near everyday visit by courthouse employees, be it breakfast, lunch, dessert, or take home for dinner,” he reflected. “I love that I can eat there several times a week and have a different choice for lunch through the month. If you haven’t tried it, you are missing out on American and international options from around the world.”

Marketing Director, Nick Humes, is also pleased with the numbers of repeat customers who have become loyal participants and promoters of Union Hall. “We have almost 11,000 followers on Facebook with 10,668 who have checked in at Union Hall on Facebook for their friends to see.”

The Lifelong Learning Newsletter is created by the Publications Team. Thanks to Liz Arend, Cheryl Foster, Karen Holder, Gayle Lintz, Patti Nottgrass, Judy Staples, Mary Taylor, Sam Wilson, and Elaine White.