In This Issue: Special Guest at February's Casual Coffee Social | Travel With Osher! | Osher Member Spotlight: Melanie Bannister | Share the Love on Valentine's Day | Serve on the Osher Advisory Board | Osher Programs in the Spotlight | SIGS in the News | Upcoming Partnership and Community Events | Campus Food Pantry Donations | Osher Office Holiday Closure

Please join us at the first Casual Coffee Social of the spring semester on Tuesday, February 13, to meet Steve Thaxton, Executive Director of the Osher Institute National Resource Center (NRC). This is the NRC's very first site visit to our Institute, and we are thrilled to host Steve. Learn about the national network of Osher Institutes and the support we receive from the NRC. Members will have a chance to ask questions about how we compare and relate to other Institutes. Let's show Steve how invested our members are in our Boise State Osher Institute!

Doors will open at 11:30 a.m., and Steve will speak to the group at noon. Refreshments are provided by the Osher Baker's Dozen.

The Osher Institute is traveling again! In 2024 and 2025, we are partnering with Travel Fever Tours and Collette Travel.

We are traveling with Travel Fever Tours to Costa Rica on January 30-February 8, 2025. Join us for a free livestream Travel Information Session on Thursday, February 15, from 11:00 a.m. to noon.



To register for this information session, visit the Log In/Register Online page, or call Customer Services at (208) 426-1709.

With Collette Travel, we are featuring the following trips:

• Countryside of the Emerald Isle (October 13-22, 2024)
• European Christmas Markets featuring Prague, Vienna and Budapest (December 12-20, 2024)
• Kingdoms of Southeast Asia (January 16-February 3, 2025)
• Majestic Cities of Central and Eastern Europe (May 18-31, 2025) 

To learn more about each trip, view the Collette Travel Information Session recording hosted by Andy Boone from Collette Travel. Flyers and registration sheets are also available in the lobby of the Osher office. We hope to see you on a trip soon!

This month, our Osher Member Spotlight shines on Melanie Bannister.



Melanie is in her second year of Osher membership, but she had visited a few times prior to joining. She is the Senior Director of Development at Boise State University, so her schedule is still busy during the day. However, of the Osher programs she's been able to attend, her favorites have been from Greg Kaltenecker and Heidi Ware Carlisle of the Intermountain Bird Observatory; Dr. Lisa Brady on war and the environment; Gabriela Curtiz from Gorongosa National Park; and the Stein Luminary tour. Melanie's favorite part of Osher is meeting other members and bringing guests to introduce them to the organization.

In her free time, Melanie enjoys hiking, traveling, and hiking while she travels. She can be found at many Boise State arts, science, and athletics events. It's meaningful to her to live near her two grandsons, age six and eight, to be a regular part of their lives. She currently serves on the Osher Track One Curriculum Committee and is impressed by her fellow committee members, as well as by Osher leadership. "They are truly committed to providing the best experience for members, and they are fully immersed in philosophy, arts, and the humanities in ways that I wasn't expecting," she says.

Here are some ways you can support the Osher Institute while sharing the love of learning with others on Valentine's Day and during the year:

• Refer a new member to Osher and receive a $25 credit good toward an Osher program! Send the name of the referred person to osher@boisestate.edu. (Please note: Osher instructor referrals are not eligible for this credit.)

• Give a gift membership of lifelong learning at a special discounted rate! This semester only, for just $45, an Osher membership provides access to 80 spring presentations, access to many Osher recorded lectures, and much more! Call Customer Services at (208) 426-1709 to give your gift.

• Share an Osher guest pass with an intellectually curious friend or relative to attend an Osher livestream lecture of their choice. Send the name and email address of your guest to osher@boisestate.edu, as well as the program your guest wishes to attend. Since many of our programs are livestreamed, your guest can participate from anywhere!

• Donate to the Osher Excellence Fund in honor or memoriam of a loved one. Your gift supports high-quality programming all year long. As an added bonus, donations are tax deductible!

We are accepting applications from active members who have an interest in serving on the Osher Advisory Board. Members serve as ambassadors in the Institute and within the community, provide advice to the Director, and advocate the mission of the Osher Institute. Please visit the Osher Advisory Board page to view the criteria for this important service role. If you are interested in applying to serve on the Advisory Board, please fill out and submit the Advisory Board Application Form by March 1, 2024.

Have questions for current Advisory Board members? Send your questions to osher@boisestate.edu, and we will connect you to a currently serving member.

Rembrandt: His Life and Work (Livestream/Recorded Only)

Presenter: Dr. Russell Walker, Teaching Professor Emeritus, Carnegie Mellon University

Dates and times: Wed., Feb. 7, 14, and 21, 10:00 a.m.-noon

Cost: $35

American Photography

(Livestream Only)

Presenter: Dr. James Schaefer, retired Associate Dean, Graduate School, Georgetown University

Date and time: Thu., Feb. 22,

1:30-3:30 p.m.

Cost: Included with membership

Chinese Spring Couplets

(In Person Only)

Presenter: En-hsun (Vanessa) Lai, Visiting Professor of Chinese, Department of World Languages, Boise State University

Date and time: Thu., Feb. 8,

1:30-3:30 p.m.

Cost: $25

The Trial of Margaret Macomber

(In Person Only)

Presenter: Dr. Stacey Guill, author

Date and time: Wed., Feb. 28,

1:30-3:30 p.m.

Cost: Included with membership

Boise Depot: Approaching 100 Years (In Person Only)

Presenter: Thad Webster, retired, Hewlett Packard

Dates and times: Wed., Feb. 14 and 21,

1:30-3:30 p.m.

Cost: $25

The History and Highlights of Young Adult Literature

Presenter: Gregory Taylor, former teacher-librarian and English teacher, Boise Public Schools

Date and time: Thu., Feb. 29,

10:00 a.m.-noon

Cost: Included with membership

To register for these programs, visit the Log In/Register online page, or call Customer Services at (208) 426-1709.

AVAILABLE NOW! If you missed January's Spring Semester Welcome,

no worries! You can now enjoy the program's recording anytime.

It is also posted on the homepage of our Osher website under

"Spring 2024 Semester Updates."

The Personal Writing SIG welcomes the opportunity to share selected works of its members. This month's featured writing is from SIG member Jan Mills.

After a 32-year career as a professor at the University of Oklahoma and Boise State University, Jan retired, took her first memoir writing class at Osher, and opened an account at Ancestry.com. She's been writing memoirs and researching family history ever since. On any given day, her head is lodged in some decade or century-long past, unless she's running around Lake Heron Lane tending to the landscape. In 2021, she published Breaking the Shackles of Time: Three Generations of the Wheeler-Faircloth Family.

You can read Janet's memoirs Campfires and The Dance Hall and the Possum on Osher on Demand.

First Friday Astronomy Lecture

Finding the Next Doomed Worlds

Dr. Elizabeth Adams, Senior Research Scientist, Planetary Science Institute

Friday, February 2, 7:30 p.m.

Boise State University Education Building, Room 112, and via Zoom

To join the livestream, visit First Friday Astronomy.

Idaho Center for the Book Community Read

Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown

Wednesday, February 7, 6:00 p.m.

Boise State Albertsons Library

For more information and to register, visit Albertsons Library.

Constitutional Conversations

Dr. David Adler, President, Alturas Institute

Thursday, February 8, 4:00 p.m.

Yanke Research Park, Room 207

Hosted by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

PLEASE NOTE: This is NOT an Osher program. This event is free and open to the public; no registration is required. Doors will open at 3:50 p.m.

Idea of Nature Lecture Series

Nature's Best Hope

Douglas Tallamy, T.A. Baker Professor of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware

Friday, February 9, 6:00 p.m.

Boise State Student Union Jordan Ballroom and via Zoom

Sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

For more information and to register, visit The Idea of Nature.

City Club of Boise Forum

Amending the Constitution

Thursday, February 15, 11:45 a.m.

Idaho State Museum, 610 Julia Davis Dr., Boise

For more information and to register, visit City Club of Boise.

We appreciate your generosity in helping Boise State students by donating to the Campus Food Pantry! You may drop off your non-perishable donations in the bin in the Yanke building lobby.

The theme for February is "Beat the Winter Chill."

Here are some donation suggestions:

Instant oatmeal or steel-cut oats | Canned soups and stews | Canned chili

Coffee, tea, or hot cocoa | Instant potatoes | Ramen noodles

The Pantry is in need of volunteers on Tuesday through Friday to assist them with smaller deliveries, restocking, and completing routine tasks. If you are interested, you may fill out the Campus Food Pantry Volunteer Form.

For more information, visit the Campus Food Pantry website.

The Osher Institute will be closed for the Presidents Day holiday

on Monday, February 19.

Our thanks for the continued support from our Community Sponsors and Partners:

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Boise State University

Phone: (208) 426-OLLI (6554)

Email: osher@boisestate.edu

Website: boisestate.edu/osher

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Boise State University operates within the Division of Extended Studies. It is a membership-based, lifelong learning program offering non-credit, college-level programs designed for intellectually curious adults age 50 and over.



Support the Osher Institute here.

Osher Institute Advisory Board

Chair: Cindy Anson | Chair Elect: Bae Emilson | Tom Baerwald | Michael Bixby

Chuck Folkner | Bob Fontaine | Dennis Hall | Rod McLean | Sharon Moses

Rainey Pieters | Dr. Chuck Robertson | Diane Ronayne

Osher Institute Staff

Director: Dana Thorp-Patterson | Assistant Director: Laura Mehlhaff

Senior Communications Specialist: Jill Chmelko

Administrative Assistant II: Cherie Ellingson

Student Office Assistant: Priscilla Gallardo