OLLILife
A community of learners over 50
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April 2021 | Vol 1, No. 6 |
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“Are you vaccinated yet?” As we breeze into April, this is one of the biggest topics of discussion in OLLI classes! The promising beginning of mass vaccination for all gives an extra boost to this traditional seasonal time of rebirth. I sense a bit more hope and joy than usual as we celebrate the return of birds and warmth and flowers and the Easter holiday (one of my favorite things is the April blooming of Confederate Jasmine with its lovely fragrant scent!). I hope this happens in some way for each of you this April.
The OLLI staff all are vaccinated now. If you haven’t found a way to get your vaccine yet, there many new places to get it. I turned a corner on a walk downtown last weekend and was surprised to find an official vaccination station set up under tents in the park near my apartment building! A good place to start looking is the Hillsborough county website -- see the links just below.
As always, if you find something you think would be interesting to your fellow OLLI members, please share it by sending an email to me, Mary Ettinger (ettinger@usf.edu).
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Important OLLI Summer Dates
We have a number of events coming up as we transition into summer. There's lots more on our Master Calendar.
April 16 (Fri) – Reveal Day! Summer catalog, classes appear on our website
April 26 (Mon) – Summer registration opens
May 5 (Wed) – Summer Open House / Annual Meeting. See info below.
May 7 (Fri) - Donor Recognition event
May 10 (Mon) - OLLI's Summer begins – 75 virtual courses, 12 pre-recorded courses, 6 free Friday lectures
May 25 (Tue) - Volunteer Recognition event
Survey SAYS!
Every two years we survey OLLI members, and the 2021 Member Survey will be distributed later this month. It only takes a few minutes to complete and provides us with valuable information about your interests and preferences. Always important to our planning, this survey is particularly critical for our post-pandemic planning. Watch for it!
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Don't Miss Your Shot!
Have you gotten a vaccine yet? More vaccination sites are opening all around.
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SIG-nificant Events
For more info on OLLI SIGs, see the full list here. Most SIGs are meeting on Zoom; a couple are starting to organize small group outings. To visit a SIG email the contact(s) below.
Community of Readers and Writers
We work together to perfect the craft of prose writing and give supportive feedback. If you have literature study and book club experience, we offer a one-session Zoom training to get you started – How Writers Welcome Supportive Feedback. By April 23 please email your interest to communityofwriters@aol.com.
Food, Glorious Food!
Mon, April 26 at 10am. Tea 101 with Abigail StClair, owner of TeBella Tea Company. For an invitation, contact Jane Applegate.
Games
Thur, Mar 11 at 3:30pm. Play Scattergories with us! Email Kathy Palmer for the link.
German Conversation
Ici on parle français! NOW FORMING
Organizational meeting to be held Monday, April 5 at 1pm.
OLLI Outdoors
Thur, Apr 8 at 9:40am. Hike of various lengths at Circle B Bar Reserve, Lakeland
Thur, Apr 15 at 10am. Migration bird spotting at Ft De Soto, St Petersburg
Fri, April 23 from 3-4p. Virtual program, Backpacking 101, guest speaker TBA.
Operatunity
Mon, April 26 at 2pm. Anne Haywood presents From Show Boat to Hamilton, Opera’s Influence on the American Musical, and Tita De la Cruz discusses The Genetics of Opera Singers. For information and a guest invitation, contact Derrie Perez.
P-SIG
Will meet April 14 at 1pm. Email Bill Sapper for more information.
Talking Movies
Fri, April 16 at 2pm. Watch the movie on your own and then get together to talk about it. April’s movie will be The Beautiful Fantastic. For more information, and to find out where to watch this movie for free, contact Kathy Palmer.
Write Time for Poets
Thurs, Apr 8 & 22 at 2pm. Poetry writers, email Cath Mason for more information.
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OPEN HOUSE / ANNUAL MEETING |
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Our Summer Open House keynoter is Special Agent Michael Horn, with the U.S. Secret Service, specializing in cybercrime. Michael led several popular classes for OLLI-USF and we're delighted to welcome him back for this event.
This Open House is also our Annual Member Meeting. Vote to elect two members to the OLLI Board, and weigh in on our plans moving forward post-pandemic.
Watch for a special message later this month where we will introduce you to the Nominating Committee's slate of candidates for those positions.
Watch for Open House signup opportunities later this month.
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OLLI at FIU offers One-Day U Freebie
OLLI at Florida International University invites all OLLI members to join in their free, One-Day University program, Learning From the Roman Empire: Are We Repeating Their Rise and Decline? to be held Tuesday, April 20 from 1-2:30pm. The lecturer is historian Caroline Winterer, the William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies at Stanford University.
As you attend these programs, do let us know what you think about these shared programs as several Florida OLLIs test out the viability of making our programs available to one another's members.
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When it comes to TV screens, we all know that bigger is better. Bigger screens make OLLI Zoom classes better, too. And if you have a humungous monitor for your desktop PC, you may be fine. But what if you’re using a 15- or 17-inch laptop? That’s not even a cubit!
So, how do you make your laptop Zoom class “bigger”? I’m glad you asked.
If you have a recent model or smart TV, you can put your class up on that big screen TV you got when you heard Tom Brady would be playing for the Bucs. Depending on the type of TV and laptop you have, this might be as easy as ordering a cable from…, well, you know. Or it could be a bit more complicated. To find out how to make it work with your stuff, give this article a read. Don’t be intimidated. Remember that Zoom, itself, was once a mystery to you.
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Please join us in extending condolences and healing wishes to OLLI member June James-Egbor, who cancelled her scheduled spring Friday Lecture on African culture due to a series of family tragedies.
Send your OLLI People News to our Goodwill Ambassador, Carolyn Clark. Thanks to your efforts, we are learning more about the challenges (or joys) we are facing, so we can reach out to them. Email Carolyn here or call her at 813-545-7477.
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