May 11, 2018

• Alerts & Notices
• Annual Membership Meeting Summary
• Kudos to OLLI's Program Planning Chairs
• Summer-term Registration Made Simple: Step-by-step Instructions
• A Trip to The National Sporting Museum & Library
• Scammers Beware! OLLI Players Are On To You!
• The Tom Swift Club Needs You
• Computer Club
• Poet's Corner
• Arts & Music at George Mason
• Meetings & Clubs
• About OLLI E-News

Alerts & Notices

• You should have received the summer-term catalog, which is also online. Priority registration for summer term will be May 15–23. Summer term is June 18–July 27.
• The next issue of OLLI E-News will be published May 18; regular deadline for submission of items is Tuesday, May 15, at 6:00.
• Election for Board of Directors positions is under way and continues until noon on May 18. To view candidate profiles and statements, visit the OLLI-Mason website here.
• Due to major maintenance and tree trimming, the Tallwood facility is closed to staff and members from May 21–25. Make-up classes will be held as scheduled at other venues in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Reston. Please mail your summer-term registrations to OLLI, and do not come to the campus.
• The new edition of our literary journal, OLLI Ink, is now available. You may pick up a copy in classrooms at Tallwood or the social area of any OLLI location.
• If you are looking for either the Tallwood or Reston Theater Lovers' Groups in our Meetings and Clubs listing below, please note that both groups' meetings will resume in September. Watch E-News or the OLLI calendar for details.

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Annual Membership Meeting Summary

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Kudos to OLLI's Program Planning Chairs

By Kathryn Russell, Program Committee Co-Chair

Right now, we’re browsing through the beautiful summer catalog that offers too many enticing choices to count. At the same time we’re still enjoying the spring term that features 200 courses and events. How, you may ask, does this incredible smorgasbord come to be?

Amazingly, serendipity occasionally plays a role. Recently, Angie Talaber, one of the Art and Music program planning chairs, chatted with a stranger in a crosswalk as they headed toward the National Gallery of Art. Learning that this lady is a gallery docent, Angie invited her to teach at OLLI. The result: A fabulous “Virtual Gallery Tour” last week and a possible future course.

This kind of luck, however, doesn’t come along every day. More typically, program is the product of the endless efforts of our dedicated OLLI volunteers. Have a look in your catalog for the box at the beginning of each subject area category. These are the OLLI program-planning group chairs. Along with other volunteers, they meet several times each year to brainstorm and select course ideas to develop. Then they coordinate courses via phone calls and e-mails. Recruiting prospective instructors is a delicate procedure, since all our teachers volunteer their time without pay. Now multiply this procedure by four terms every year.

Our program-planning leaders labor unceasingly to produce the stunning array of courses, special events and ongoing activities that enrich our lives. So please thank these OLLI heroes when you see them. We also invite you to take part in the exciting process of program-making. Contact a program chair and offer a course suggestion. Or watch for an upcoming planning meeting and join the fun. You’ll enjoy the camaraderie and get a real sense of how program is created.

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Summer-term Registration Made Simple: Step-by-step Instructions

Looking forward to summer term registration but intimidated by the process? Here are easy instructions to help you navigate the OLLI member portal.

Priority registration begins May 15, at 9:00, and ends May 23, at noon. Requesting classes during this period offers your best chance at successful enrollment. Follow these steps when you register:

Request a Class
1) Log into the member portal: olligmu.augusoft.net.
2) Enter your course into the search bar (upper right of your screen).
3) Click “Request Class” to add each class to your selections.
4) Click “Continue” each time you wish to add another class.
5) After entering your last class, click “Prioritize” to view your list of classes and special events.
6) Prioritize your selections by ranking them in order of their importance to you. Courses and special events are prioritized separately.
7) Once you’ve prioritized your selections, click “Confirm Priorities.” You will get a congratulatory message.
8) You will receive a confirmation of enrollment once classes are assigned on May 31.

Add to Cart
Some special events and socials are designated as “Add to Cart.” These are registered on a first-come/first-served basis. When you’ve finished selecting add-to-cart items, please click “Check Out” and make payment as needed. You are now enrolled in these selections.

Space Available Registration Period
Space-available registration begins after the priority period ends. You may still request classes and special events, but you will only be placed into selections that still have space available.

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A Trip to The National Sporting Museum & Library

In mid-April a group of OLLI members was treated to a docent-led tour of Middleburg’s National Sporting Museum (NSM) and Library (nationalsporting.org). The NSM is currently hosting an exhibit of paintings from the private collection of Paul Mellon, which were originally donated to Richmond’s Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA). This collection rarely travels but was sent to the NSM for display while the VMFA remodels those galleries. Mr. Mellon had a special interest in paintings featuring horses, riders, foxhunting, hounds, and barnyard animals. The exhibit is at the NSM until July, when it returns to Richmond.

The associated Sporting Library is also worth a visit. Its rare book collection contains volumes dating to the early 16th century, and it showcases weathervanes from Mellon’s personal collection. The OLLI tour group ended our event by indulging in lunch at a delightful Middleburg restaurant. (Picture photo taken by Tom Urman.)

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Scammers Beware! OLLI Players Are On To You!

Fairfax County cares about its senior citizens in many ways. The county’s Division of Adult and Aging Services (www.fairfaxcounty.gov/OlderAdults) offers information and services to help older adults enjoy productive and fulfilling lives, especially in retirement. In honor of these goals, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution designating May 2018 as “Older-American/Adult-Abuse-Prevention Month.” The proclamation cited the enormous volunteer service provided by older adults in the county. On May 1 the OLLI Players, along with other seniors-focused groups like AARP, were invited to the Government Center for presentation of the resolution.

The OLLI Players had worked with the Division to create podcast skits alerting senior citizens about scamming schemes directed to them. At the presentation, we gave live performances of anti-scamming skits before the Board of Supervisors and members of other community organizations. The featured OLLI Players were the group’s director Kathie West and members Michelle Blandburg, John Henkel, Sandy Lisiewski, Joan Lunsford, Manny Pablo, and Steve Quick. The skits can be viewed on Channel 16’s "Mature Living" program at http://www.ebmcdn.net/fairfax/fairfax-cable-viewer-cc.php?w=768&h=432&viewnode=mature_living_may_18.

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The Tom Swift Club Needs You

OLLI’s Audiovisual Support Committee (a.k.a. The Tom Swift Squad) seeks additional volunteers to help ensure the smooth employment of OLLI's audiovisual resources. Our primary mission is to help instructors, liaisons, and staff with any audiovisual issues that might arise during the classes we attend.

We'll be meeting at 2:00 on Wednesday, May 16th, in TA‑1. Our activities for this meeting will include training on OLLI's AV equipment used in classrooms and remote locations. We'll be discussing future equipment arrangements and reviewing our materials for volunteer and staff training.

Please let me know if you're planning to attend or would like to become a "Swiftie," even if you can't attend this meeting. Contact me by email (preferred) or phone (703-860-9246).

For more information on the Audiovisual Support Committee, see its web page.

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Computer Club

The Computer Club (OLLI Personal Computer User Group, or OPCUG) will meet with its partner, the Potomac Area Technology and Computer Society (PATACS),on Saturday, May 18, at Tallwood. The 40th anniversary celebration of PATACS' founding in 1978 will kick off with a light lunch at 12:30 in the Annex and continue at 1:00 in TA-1 with PATACS history and remembrances. Our speaker's presentation will begin there at 2:00.

The End of Privacy? Presented by B.J. Mendelson
B.J. Mendelson examines the ways your data is collected, often without your permission, and used against you by the big tech companies. He highlights the offline steps you can take to protect yourself while outlining a solution to today's privacy woes . . . and maybe even a way for you to make money in the process.

Mendelson is the author of the cult-classic Social Media Is Bull***** (St. Martin's Press). When not writing comic books, he has debated the ambassador to Pakistan at the United Nations about social media, traveled around the world to talk about data collection and marketing, and consulted with successful brands such as Subaru North America. His new book, Privacy: And How To Get It Back is now available on Audible and Amazon. The book is now on sale; come check it out: http://amzn.to/2DyvXbR.

See full details on this meeting by clicking here. For information on the Computer Club, see the OPCUG website. OPCUG dues of $5 for 2018 will be collected at this meeting.

Can't make the meeting in person? Dues-paid club members may attend via Zoom's cloud meeting service, beginning at 12:45. Send a message to webinarhosts@patacs.org if you plan to attend in this way. Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/2080042114. Meeting ID: 208 004 2114.

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Meetings & Clubs

The following list covering the next two weeks is extracted for your convenience from the master online calendar maintained by the office, with direct web links added when available. The list is accurate as of mid-week but to check any time for the latest information, please view the latest forecast of upcoming events on our website (News/OLLI Calendar). Note: All OLLI members are welcome at, and encouraged to attend, meetings of the Board of Directors, committees and resource groups, kickoff coffees, etc. (bolded below).

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OLLI E-News was created by Rod Zumbro, who served as its editor from 2005 to 2013.

Editorial Staff
Chief Editor: Paul Van Hemel
Technical Editor: Irene Osterman
Associate Editor: David Gundry
Weekly Editor Team: Jean Boltz, John Nash, Sheri Siesseger, Leslie Vandivere,
Paul Van Hemel
Proofreaders: Rebecca Jann, Susan Van Hemel, Shirley Springfloat, Linda Randall,
Gerry Ann Strube
Backup Chief Editor: Alice Slayton Clark

Submissions. Members are encouraged to submit letters to the editor, letters to Ms. Ollie Ettakit (on etiquette matters), OLLI-related news items, articles, and photos. Submit material to: ollienewseditor@gmail.com.
Deadline – 6:00 Tuesday for that week's issue (6:00 Monday for letters to the editor); early submissions are greatly appreciated. Please limit articles to about 250 words.
Note: You can view past issues of OLLI E-News on the DocStore. To search the content of issues, use Search Our Site or put your search term in Google followed by "site:ollidev2.earthcare.com/" without the quotes.

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