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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine |
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Director’s Message
“Life is short. Don't run so fast you miss it.”
—Raffaella Monne, from "The Blue Zones"
OLLI’s year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30, and this year our membership has grown substantially over this time last year. We value each of our 1,265 members and work to offer everyone a wide variety of opportunities to gather, learn, and socialize. I have been inspired by the Netflix documentary “The Blue Zones, Secrets for Living Longer: Lessons from the Healthiest Places on Earth” by Dan Buettner. He describes findings from many years’ research into why people live longer and thrive. He identified four areas that are seminal for longevity: move naturally, eat wisely, have a positive outlook, and connect with others (I've included his chart below). OLLI is a great tool for developing social connections and having purpose for your life. And here are some ways OLLI can help you to thrive:
- Take a winter class or workshop. Our winter session will run from January 8 to February 15. Registration opens on December 13, and you can choose to add fun, laughter, and intrigue into your life.
- Come with the OLLI group to Gardens Aglow on December 17. Whatever your faith tradition, the beauty of color and light in the darkness of winter will lift your spirit.
- Join a Special Interest Group (SIG). Move naturally by joining the Trail Steppers, create something new in the Arts & Crafts or Let’s Knit SIGs, dive deeper into new ideas for the book clubs, or enjoy wine and company in the Wine Tasting Club. The new game-related SIGs will help you to connect and laugh through long winter nights.
OLLI can be your “right tribe,” where you find many ways of learning, laughing, and making the winter a meaningful and active time.
I hope you take a bit of time to stop, relax, and notice the surprises that life can bring. Happy Holidays,
—Donna Anderson, Director
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In this edition . . .
- Director's Message (above)
- Update from the OLLI Advisory Board Chair (below)
- Winter registration starts on December 13
- Light up your holiday at Gardens Aglow Dec. 17
- Relationship building at OLLI
- Virtual Book Exchange SIG
- December Trivia Questions
- Eating Like a Maine Native workshop
- Science SIG Note
- Megan Marino concert news
- December Trivia Answers
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OLLI Winter Session
Registration opens on
Wednesday, December 13 at midnight.
Click the button here to view the catalog
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Light up your holiday on our
Gardens Aglow day trip
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Get into the holiday spirit by joining OLLI’s day trip to the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden’s “Gardens Aglow” event. On Sunday, Dec. 17, we will take a bus leaving from the Wishcamper Center at 2:o0 PM to Boothbay and arrive at 4PM to enjoy the sight of the shadowy garden shifting from striking silhouettes to magical lights. We will have a few hours in the gardens and will return around 8:30 PM. No need to travel in the dark—let us take care of transport and join friends for a night of joy and delight. The cost of the trip (transport and ticket) is $70 per person. Space is limited, so register early for no-refundable tickets.
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OLLI Class Explores Relationships
This fall, OLLI offered a class titled “All Real Living Is Meeting,” with a focus on building and maintaining relationships and making deeper connections with others to build strong, vibrant communities. Through class discussions and communication, participants found common threads that connected us to one another.
As one of the activities, each participant received two blank puzzle pieces to write personally significant quotes on each piece. The class came together to build the puzzle and share their quotes. No two quotes are the same; however, they carry similar meanings, and everyone agreed the puzzle connected us together.
—Marcia Weston
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Don't Look Now . . .
The SIG Saga Continues . . .
The Virtual Book Exchange is now a Special Interest Group (SIG)!
Take a peek in our Winter Course Catalog for a description of the SIG. If this is your “jam,” register online and join this SIG at no charge as an OLLI member. You will meet the fourth Wednesday of each month from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Zoom. For more information, email Anne Cass at anne.cass@maine.edu.
—Paula Johnson, OLLI Advisory Board SIG Coordinator
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By Faye Gmeiner
We have great news. You can say goodbye to the task of registering online for each Trivia Night! Trivia Night on Zoom has become a Special Interest Group (SIG), and you only have to register once a year for our SIG—Remote—Trivia Game Night.
One of our hosts (Elizabeth or Star) will email you each month with the dates. We will meet at our usual time (Monday, 7:00–8:15 PM), and you will receive the Zoom link on the day we meet. As always, we invite you to join us for the first time any time during the year (July 1 through June 30). Just register for our SIG online. You can come just once or as often as you like and your schedule allows. The only other requirement is being an OLLI member; there is no cost or fee for Trivia Night.
Here are the steps for registering:
· Go to https://usm.maine.edu/osher-lifelong-learning-institute/
· Scroll down and click on Returning OLLI Customer > Sign In on black banner at the top of the page > Click on Special Interest Groups from the OLLI list on the left > Scroll almost to the bottom and choose SIG-Remote - Trivia Game Night > Add to Cart > Complete Checkout process.
Here are some of the questions that we enjoyed most during October. You’ll find the answers later in this newsletter.
1. Which vegetables were originally carved to create jack o’lanterns?
2. Who was named to a second term as the United Nations Secretary General on September 26, 1957?
3. Which U.S. president participated in boxing at Harvard and later lost his sight in one eye from an injury during a boxing match?
4. Zorro is the Spanish word for what animal?
5. Whose son invented the Lincoln Logs toy?
6. What were the occupations of the Wright Brothers before they worked on their aeronautical experiments at Kitty Hawk?
Answers to the trivia questions can be found below.
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Workshop: Eating Like a
Maine Native
Salmon corn cakes on a bed of wild rice, topped with wild blueberry sauce: that’s the genuine local Maine food Penobscot tribe member Joe Robbins shared with the 30 participants in the “Eating Like a Maine Native” workshop on Saturday, October 21, postponed from a stormy September 16.
As a professional chef, Robbins is passionate about researching and serving what and how his ancestors ate. That wild rice was harvested from Maine marshes in canoes as it has been for thousands of years; the salmon fished in a traditional way from the Penobscot River; the corn ground off its locally grown cobs, and the wild blueberries harvested in Washington County before getting mixed with local sorghum and honey into that colorful sauce. Robbins and his wife Chelsea offered it all in the spirit of tribal sharing.
To the delight of the full house, for two hours Robbins also served up stories of how out of nowhere he became a chef, how he finds and combines traditional local ingredients, and how everything for The Three Rivers brew pub in Milo where he cooks comes from somewhere inside Maine—which is why there is no olive oil in the kitchen. He explained why customers love his succotash: he pan-fries the squash before adding the beans and corn and a bit of chili.
Robbins gets bison meat from a farm in Eustis and explained this has much less fat than beef, so he has to handle it differently from cheeseburger meat. He revealed that he grinds it and cooks it in a sauce he puts on tacos “because people recognize tacos, so they’re not so afraid to try this new filling.” He also reminded everyone that tacos are baked cornmeal, the ancient flat bread of the American continent.
Robbins talked about how the native people smoked local fish and shellfish to preserve them for winter and early spring, leaving them in pits at the water’s edge where salty tides could wash over it, the salt helping to destroy bad bacteria. Asked if it was the natives who taught Europeans to smoke and not just salt fish—a healthier method, Robbins said he’s researching that but he thinks it’s possible. “I think the Vikings saw it here and took it back.”
Enthralled OLLI members asked lots of questions and didn’t just leave with answers and full stomachs. On the way out, everyone was gifted the newest edition of the Portland Food Map.
Participants also heartily thanked the workshop organizers: Sandy Garson, Gael McKibben, and Star Pelsue, who in turn thanked everyone for coming out in the rain to make the grand finale of their food programs so joyful.
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News from the Science
Special Interest Group
From Scientific American November 2023:
“Can We Protect Every Species?” By Robert Kunzig
“It may seem impossible today to imagine the political consensus that prevailed on environmental matters in 1973. The U.S. Senate approved the [Endangered Species Act] unanimously and the House passed it by a vote of 390 to 12.”
“But the loss of faith began five years later with the Snail Darter case. Congresspeople who had been thinking of eagles, bears and Whooping Cranes when they passed the ESA, and had not fully appreciated the reach of the sweeping language they had approved, were disabused by the Supreme Court.
It found that the legislation had created, ‘wisely or not…an absolute duty to preserve all endangered species,’ Chief Justice Warren E. Burger said after the Snail Darter case concluded. Even a recently discovered tiny fish had to be saved, ‘whatever the cost,’ he wrote in the decision.”
The Science Special Interest Group meets the third Wednesday of each month to discuss the current issue of Scientific American.
—Elizabeth Housewright
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Megan Marino and Anastasia Antonacos treat OLLI members to a very special concert on Nov.14
Over 70 OLLI members and friends attended a special concert at the Wishcamper Center. It was a moving afternoon of music, with the opportunity to see a skillful collaboration between Megan Marino, vocalist, and Annie Antonacos, pianist. Both performers are USM alumna, and they promise more music at OLLI in the future.
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1. Which vegetables were originally carved to create jack o’lanterns?
Answer: Turnips. According to Mirriam Webster, jack o’lanterns likely evolved from the Celtic pagan practice of hollowing out turnips or other root vegetables and carving grotesque faces to ward off the evil spirits on All Hallows’ Eve. When they emigrated to the U.S., turnips were scarcer, and it is likely that pumpkins were more available.
2. Who was named to a second term as the United Nations Secretary General on September 26, 1957?
Answer: Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961). Hammarskjöld remains, to date, the youngest person to hold the office of Secretary General. He served from April 1953 (age 47) until his death in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia in September 1961 while on a peacekeeping mission. He was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961. We were surprised to learn that Hammarskjöld had four “first” names: Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl.
3. Which U.S. president participated in boxing at Harvard and later lost his sight in one eye from an injury during a boxing match?
Answer: Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt participated in boxing while at Harvard and was once runner-up in an intramural meet. He boxed for exercise as an adult. When he was president of the U.S., he set up boxing matches at the White House as a way to exercise. He was seriously injured in a match with one of his military aides, Colonel Daniel T. Moore, and lost sight in his left eye. Moore reported that Roosevelt never told him about the injury. Did you know that TR remains the youngest person to become president of the U.S.?
4. Zorro is the Spanish word for what animal?
Answer: Fox.
5. Whose son invented the Lincoln Logs toy?
Answer: John Lloyd Wright, son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. John Lloyd Wright was his father’s apprentice and chief assistant for his father’s earthquake-resistant design for the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. The model for the Lincoln Logs was based on the architecture of the Imperial Hotel and was awarded a patent in 1920. John Lloyd Wright died in 1972, 27 years before Lincoln Logs were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame (1999).
6. What were the occupations of the Wright Brothers before they worked on their aeronautical experiments at Kitty Hawk?
Answer: Print shop owners; bicycle sales and repairs. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Orville Wright learned the printing trade and persuaded his brother to establish a print shop with him. They became known locally for the quality of the printing presses they designed, built, and sold—an early indication of their “extraordinary technical ability” and approaches to solving problems in mechanical design. In 1892 they opened a bicycle shop, where they developed self-oiling wheel hubs. They used their business profits to fund their aeronautical experiments from 1899 to 1905. Their experiments and process are impressive. Learn more here:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wright-brothers
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Are you considering submitting an article to the OLLI Newsletter? Get in contact with us! | |
Email ollinews@maine.edu
to submit your piece.
Phone:207-780-4406
Tim Baehr, Editor
Don King, Editor Emeritus
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Deadline for the next issue is December 15. |
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Maine Senior College Network | | |
OLLI National Resource Center | | |
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Non-discrimination Notice
The University of Maine, including USM, is an EEO/AA employer and does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information, or veteran’s status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director of Equal Opportunity, 101 North Stevens Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5754, 207.581.1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System).
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