Sign up now for the early Independence Day weekend picnic. This event will be held June 30, 12:00 to 2:00 at Tallwood. OLLI will provide chicken (from Kentucky Fried); you provide a dessert or side dish. Register for special event 1103 at the member portal.
A new course, "What’s in the News, Loudoun Edition," will be offered Wednesdays, June 28 to July 26, at 9:40. Ray Beery will moderate this discussion of daily news stories on topics including culture, design, philosophy and religion, science and technology, psychology, politics, and economics. Register for L710 at the member portal.
OLLI Volunteers Reach Out to Hundreds at Celebrate Fairfax! Festival
By Dave Ryan, Volunteer Outreach Chair
Ten intrepid OLLI volunteers braved intense heat and humidity, nasty insects, and possible sunburn for many hours to extol OLLI’s benefits to hundreds of visitors at the 36th annual Celebrate Fairfax! Festival June 9–11 at the Fairfax County Government Center.
This was first time OLLI fielded an information booth at the Festival, which drew tens of thousands of people and over 300 exhibitors. A staffer told us she thought OLLI was the only lifelong learning organization at the Festival.
OLLI volunteers, who staffed the minimalist booth for all three days of the festival, were generally surprised by the level of interest in our institute, considering that this gathering was obviously more oriented to youth and young adults.
In spreading the word about OLLI and potentially increasing membership, this kind of selfless volunteer activity is where the rubber hits the road, and the following volunteers really gave us traction: Rita Way, Michelle Blandburg, Steve Poppe, Manny Pablo, Toni and John Acton, Peter Ansoff, Marion Brobst, Paul Howard, and yours truly.
By Paul Howard, Audiovisual Support Committee Chair
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, June 21, in TA-1. OLLI has acquired, with help from PATACS donations, a Barco Clickshare wireless presentation system, enabling computers and handheld devices to connect to videoconferencing equipment and display devices. Join us as we experiment with using this equipment. We’d particularly like to have participation by Apple users, since Apple gear has provided connection challenges to OLLI and the computer club meetings over the past several years. The Clickshare device offers Airplay connectivity, as well as the less-encompassing Clickshare app, which Apple's sandbox approach limits.
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.
Inside OLLI-Mason Meet New Director Evan DoupleEvan Douple was born in the Hershey Chocolate Factory Hospital in Hershey, PA. He grew up in California, PA, a small town on the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh where his father chaired the fine arts department at California State College. Evan’s boyhood home was designed by his father with a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright. It was surrounded by his father’s collection of nearly 1,000 species of trees including many rare dwarf conifers. This landscape no doubt influenced Evan’s interest in, and appreciation of, OLLI’s Dirty Knee Club.As a teenager Evan lived in Mandalay, Burma, where his father was an early recipient of a Fulbright Professorship. Evan’s interest in travel continues, and he has visited 79 countries, developing a respect and appreciation for racial, cultural, and religious differences. He returned to Burma (Myanmar) 60 years later with his wife Brenda, and they presented an OLLI Trip Tale to share that visit. On sabbaticals as a professor at the Dartmouth Medical School, Evan lived in a suburb of London, and in Warsaw, Poland. He and Brenda lived for five years in Hiroshima, Japan, where Evan served as associate chief of research at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation on assignment from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).During Evan’s three years in OLLI, he has taught several courses related to his experience as a radiation biophysicist, including the expected radiation effects in humans from the Japanese A-bomb survivors and those exposed to the Chernobyl and Fukushima reactor accidents.Leisure pursuits include hobbies such as travel, photography, bonsai and gardening, creating “nature art” sculptures from dead trees, following Nationals baseball, playing golf, and writing his memoirs. Evan and Brenda each have two children from previous marriages and a total of six grandchildren.Evan has served on several boards including the Scientific Research Society (Sigma Xi), director of the board of the Hiroshima International School, and director of the board on Radiation Effects Research of NAS. A 25-year Reston resident, he currently is president of his Solaridge Cluster Association.
As a member of the OLLI Board, he would like to ensure sustainability by maintaining an optimum membership and budget, continue a high standard of courses and offerings, and improve participation in OLLI, especially in Reston and in Loudoun County.
The June 2017 Photo of the Month theme was People at Work. We selected John Olsen's photo "Teamwork," which may also be viewed at this page. To view other photos by members of the Photography Club, visit the club's photo website.
-- By Angela Talaber, Photography Club Coordinator
Not the classic pitter-patter
but a slow drip-drip
millions upon millions
of celestial faucets
irregular pit-a-pat
echo silence
loud enough to drown
the heat pump’s
ka-thrum ka-thrum
the cat zoom-zooming
through the hall
the pulse in my ear
the beat-beat-beat
of the rain.Carolyn F. Wyatt
A memorial service will be held for Roxanne Cramer on Sunday, June 25, at 2:30, at the Oakton Unitarian Church, 2709 Hunter Mill Road. As you know, Roxanne passed away a few weeks ago. She was an active OLLI member for several years and especially enjoyed participating in Readers' Theater. Her son Paul is coordinating the service and he can be reached at 240-304-4421 for additional information. Members of OLLI are encouraged to contact Paul with memorabilia and photos relating to Roxanne's life. Feel free to contact me, as well: Susanne Zumbro, 703-569-2750.
Performances June 16 through June 26By Shelly Gersten, OLLI E-News Staff WriterFor tickets for either Center for the Arts (CFA) or Hylton, call 1-888-945-2468, buy tickets online through the event calendar (see links below), or visit the venue's box office. For more information, see the CFA ticket pageor the Hyltonticket purchase page.
At the Fairfax Campus Venues South Riding Dance Academy: It's a Party
Sat, Jun 17, 11:00 and 4:00
Concert Hall
Admission: Adults, $25; seniors, $20.The Fairfax Symphony: Mozart In Havana
Sun, Jun 18, 5:00
Simone Dinnerstein with the Havana Lyceum Orchestra
Harris Theatre
Admission: $45, $38, $30.Concurso de Saya-Caporal
Sat, Jun 24, 4:30
Concert Hall
Admission: $20.U.S. Army Blues Jazz Ensemble
Sun, Jun 25, 7:00
Concert Hall
Admission: Free.National Jazz Workshop
Mon, Jun 26 - Fri, Jun 30, 3:30
Concert Hall
Admission: Free.
Gallery Exhibit: Sacred Feminine
Through Jul 15
The Gallery is open to the public Tue-Sat, 10:00 - 6:00, Thu, 10:00 - 8:00 and two hours before performances.
For more information, visit https://cvpa.gmu.edu/gands.
Dance Etc.: Spring Concert
Sat, Jun 17, 1:00 and 7:00
Merchant Hall
Admission: $20.
Virginia Dance Center: Dancing in Neverland
Sun, Jun 18, 12:00 and 4:30
Merchant Hall
Admission: $18.
Showcase Dance Studio’s Game Night
Sat, Jun 24, 2:00 and 6:00
Merchant Hall
Admission: $20.
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 anytime 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).
Sat Jun 17
10:30am
1:00pm
Tai Chi Club–TA-3
Computer Club–TA-1
Mon Jun 19
10:00am
10:00am
10:00am
What’s in the Daily News, cont’d–TA-1
Bridge Club–TA-3
Mah Jongg Club–TA-2
Wed Jun 21
2:00pm
A/V Committee–TA-1
Fri Jun 23
9:15am
9:30am
10:00am
11:00am
12:00pm
1:00pm
Recorder Consort–TA-3
Craft and Conversation–Annex
Classic Literature Club–TA-2
Homer, etc.–Annex
Photography Club–TA-3
Dr. Who Club–TA-1
Sat Jun 24
10:30am
Tai Chi Club–TA-3
Mon Jun 26
10:00am
10:00am
Bridge Club–TA-3
What’s in the Daily News, cont’d–TA-1
Fri Jun 30
9:15am
9:30am
10:00am
11:00am
11:00am
Recorder Consort–TA-3
Craft and Conversation–Annex
Theater Lovers' Club–TA-1
Homer, etc.–Annex
Classic Literature Club–TA-2
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: Sheri Siesseger
Weekly Editorial Team: Jean Boltz, John Nash, Sheri Siesseger, Leslie Vandivere,
Paul Van Hemel Proofreaders: Rebecca Jann, Lorna Moran, Susan Van Hemel, Polly Johnsen
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.
Celebrate Fairfax! Festival June 9–11 at the Fairfax County Government Center.
father’s collection of nearly 1,000 species of trees including many rare dwarf conifers. This landscape no doubt influenced Evan’s interest in, and appreciation of, OLLI’s Dirty Knee Club.
