By Alice Slayton Clark, Communications Associate/Registrar
Goodbye sandbags, slopes, and potholes! Construction crews are coming to Tallwood at the end of July to upgrade the OLLI parking lot.
Mason engineers have developed a plan to rescue OLLI’s challenging front parking area. Using French drains, graduated walkways, and retaining walls, Mason will level and repave the front lot so water no longer funnels into TA-1. While the size of the parking area will remain the same, the ground will be flat, spaces clearly demarcated, and safety enhanced with fencing and designated crosswalks—a welcome improvement to the Tallwood facility.
Take note that Tallwood will be closed July 23-September 9, the six weeks it takes to complete construction. Staff will work remotely during this time to avoid the heavy equipment, noise, and turmoil on campus. If you need to reach staff, you can email them directly or call and leave a message on the office answering machine, which will be checked daily.
We ask that members either mail fall-term class requests or register online. It may not be safe for members to drop off registrations at Tallwood. In addition, staff will not be on hand to receive them or check the drop-box. Plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time to get your selections completed and submitted on time. The registration window runs August 16-25.
While this may create some inconvenience over the short term, in the end the result will be a much safer and more user-friendly campus.
A fantabulous day is coming soon with lots of events, goodies galore, and an auction of gorgeous art! Enjoy a great day with friends at Christmas in July, Friday, July 15, 11:00 to 3:00, at Tallwood. Proceeds go to OLLI’s 25th anniversary gift to Mason's Office of Military Services to help veterans bridge financial gaps. Below is a listing of pertinent times and locations.
A silent auction, featuring 15 lovely photos and a gift certificate for portrait services by Jack Underhill, opens for viewing in the Annex at 10:30. Bids will be accepted from 11:00 to 12:45. Click here to preview art donated by our amazing, talented, and generous Photography Club colleagues. Winners will be announced in TA-1, beginning at 1:00.
A bake sale including homemade treats, beverages, and door prizes will begin at 11:00 in the Social Room.
Raffle tickets for a free OLLI annual registration (a $375 value) will be on sale in the Social Room and Annex from 11:00 to 12:45. The drawing of the winner’s name will be in TA-1 after 1:00.
I joined OLLI in 2004 after meeting a member at an investment club. So, I started with the Investment Forum. Since I own 100 acres of land next to the home farm in central Illinois, I became the Forum’s farm expert. Each week I inform the members of the price of corn in central Illinois. If you see me in the social room, I will be happy to tell you, too.
At OLLI, I am one of those members who “has been there and done that.” I believe that the best way to get the most from an organization is to contribute in leadership positions. This is my second time on the Board. Previously I was involved in task force groups reviewing the executive director (ED) job description and recruiting the new ED. I was elected president of the Board because having been a university administrator, I knew "university speak,” and Mason was installing a new president. I spent more than four months as volunteer acting ED, where my main task was to support our wonderful professional staff and maintain constant contact with Mason senior administrators and Osher Foundation staff.
I grew up on a farm in central Illinois which my brother farms. I received a BS in agricultural communications, MS in broadcasting/advertising, and PhD in adult and continuing education from the University of Illinois. I joined the university’s faculty in 1960 as the agricultural TV producer and, in 1965, went to Jordan with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). I returned to the university five times between working in 55 countries on USAID projects and for the United Nations Development Programme. It was certainly an interesting career working with wonderful people in these countries with many successes and some failures.
My wife Peggy is also an OLLI member. We live near Annandale and have a condo in Rehoboth Beach which is great—especially off-season. I have five grandkids in Leesburg and Seattle, and Peggy has six grandkids in Fredericksburg and San Francisco.
OLLI has been a wonderful experience, thanks to the great staff and interesting, talented members. I want us to focus on recruiting new members and to better serve the senior community in Northern Virginia.
We learned the secrets of the stars in our “Inside the Actors Studio: Hollywood Icons” class! On June 30, our special guest speaker (via Skype) was Professor Jeremy Kareken, who has been the sole researcher for the popular TV series from 2000 to the present. Our subject of the day was movie icon Clint Eastwood; however, the professor told fascinating tales of many celebrities who have given in-depth interviews on the show. The photo shows OLLI's new vice president and movie lover Martha Powers questioning Professor Kareken about her favorite star.
Professor Kareken, who teaches at New York University, is an accomplished writer and playwright. He was also a major contributor to program host James Lipton’s book “Inside Inside,” which gives a history of the series. OLLI member Stephanie Trachtenberg, who is the professor’s cousin, was instrumental in arranging this special session of our six-part class.
Look forward to a sequel to the class next spring when Professor Kareken has promised to join us again and provide his unique insights on stars of the stage and screen.
In November 1991, LRI's nonprofit 501(c)(3) status for IRS purposes was approved. Currently, OLLI at Mason is one of only five OLLIs with 501(c)(3) status.
OLLI is celebrating its 25th year of classes for seniors in 2016. We'll be publishing fun facts and interesting milestones about the Institute each week that OLLI E-News is published from now until the end of the fall term, 2016.
Whether or not you’re attending Christmas in July on the 15th, you are encouraged to contribute a new, unwrapped toy to Santa’s Toy Box in the Social Room. Donations will be delivered to ECHO (Ecumenical Community Helping Others) in Springfield. This time of year, families in need may be forgotten, so your help is greatly appreciated. Santa’s Toy Box will be available through Wednesday, July 22nd. Please contribute!
Computer Club By Paul Howard, OLLI Computer Club Coordinator
3rd Saturday, July 16th
Make Your Device Work for You: Voice Commands
Android Apps on a PC?
The Computer Club (OLLI Personal Computer User Group, or OPCUG) will meet with its partner, the Potomac Area Technology and Computer Society (PATACS), Saturday, July 16, at Tallwood. Join us at 12:30 for soft drinks and socializing in the social room. Presentations will begin at 1:00.
Make Your iPad, iPhone, or Android Smartphone Work for You: Voice Commands and Using your Camera/Video and Text Features, presented by Cherie Lejeune
Cherie will teach techniques on how to use voice commands and other accessibility features on your devices to take notes, read email, add dates and appointments to your calendar, and more. Using voice commands is especially helpful if you have difficulty seeing the small keyboards or buttons on your devices. Some familiarity with the basic functions on your device is important for this session (like turning your device on and off!). Please bring your device if you have one.
Cherie Lejeune, owner of High Performance Aging, has been a northern Virginia resident for 12 years, and, for the last 25 years, has been a marketing and content and applications technology specialist. She will tell you the common thread to her life’s work has been passionately shaping information and making it work to sell, represent, integrate, and get traction for products, services, for both profit and nonprofit businesses. But her "real passion," says Ms Lejeune, revolves around quality-of-life issues and dedicating much volunteer and professional time to use technology to help cognitively impaired seniors. "Nothing beats that level of satisfaction," she adds.
Learn in 30: Android Apps on a PC? Presented by Stan Schretter
Well maybe? Two companies are looking at installing Android apps on a PC-like device. Google is updating their Chrome infrastructure to allow the running of Android apps. A new Chinese startup, Remix, has created an OS for tablets and PCs that supports Android apps in a framework that provides some of the look and feel of Windows. For this Learn 30, Stan will demonstrate the Remix OS on his inexpensive tablet.
Stan Schretter is an OLLI member and has been avidly exploring technology since attaching ham radio antennas to his parents’ house roof at age 13.
See full details on this meeting by clicking here. For information on the Computer Club, see the OPCUG website. OPCUG dues of $5 for 2016 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, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/892931883.
The OLLI Tallwood Book Club will meet on Monday, July 11, at 10:00 at Tallwood. The book for discussion is A House of My Own: Stories from My Life by Mexican-American author Sandra Cisneros. It is a collection of autobiographical stories written over three decades. At 7:30 on September 30, she will be awarded this year's Fall for the Book Fairfax Prize at the Harris Theatre on the Mason campus.
The book for discussion in September is Wild Ones by Jon Mooallem, this year's selection for the MasonReads program. This author will also be speaking at Fall for the Book at 4:30, September 29, at the Center for the Arts.
When they brought him home
he stayed in a large wire kennel
at night or when he was alone.
Essential for a half-husky, half-wolf.
Half-wild, he was wildly shy,
wanting, not wanting contact, touch.
Alone in the cabin, I lay on the couch reading,
wondering what he was thinking.
He lay in his kennel, door open.
He edged out, ran a fast circle,
across the room, through the
narrow space between coffee table
and couch, fast back to his kennel,
one, two, three times.
The fourth time he slowed slightly,
made sure he brushed against me.
And that was the most
we ever shared in five years …
He could not be so tame — and I,
I could not be so wild,
so free.Betty Smith
Jonathan Korin, an OLLI member since he and his wife Ellen joined in January 2014, died on June 28, 2016. He was active, facilitating the Drawing and Sketching Workshop three times at Tallwood since becoming a member. An interment service was held on July 1 in Paramus, New Jersey. More details can be found at the Boston Globe or Riverside Chapel.
For 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 No performances scheduled.
Third Annual Juried Exhibition
Through July 10
Buchanan Partners Art Gallery
The Gallery is open to the public Tue-Sat, 10:00 - 6:00; Thu, 10:00 - 8:00; and two hours before performances. Admission: Free.
Prince William Little Theatre: Cabaret
Fri, July 8, 15 and 22, 8:00
Sat, July 9, 16 and 23, 8:00
Sun, July 10, 17, and 24, 2:00
Gregory Family Theater
Adults, $25; seniors, $20.
Courtney Shelton Solo Exhibition, Best in Show, 2015 Hylton Center 2nd Annual Juried Exhibit
July 11 - Aug 28
Buchanan Partners Art Gallery
The Gallery is open to the public Tue-Sat, 10:00 - 6:00; Thu, 10:00 - 8:00; and two hours before performances. Gallery Reception: Thu, July 14, 6:00 to 8:00. RSVP to jconnor8@gmu.edu.
Admission: Free.
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).
Mon Jul 11
10:00am
10:00am
10:00am
Bridge Club–TA-3
Book Club–TA-2
What’s in the Daily News, cont’d–TA-1
Tue Jul 12
9:00am
Annex Art–Annex
Wed Jul 13
1:45pm
Special Events Committee–Annex
Fri Jul 15
9:00am
9:30am
10:00am
11:00am
Recorder Consort–TA-3
Craft and Conversation–Annex Board of Directors Meeting–TA-1
Homer, etc–TA-2
Sat Jul 16
10:30am
1:00pm
Tai Chi Club–TA-3
Computer Club–TA-1
Mon Jul 18
10:00am
10:00am
10:00am
Bridge Club–TA-3
Mah Jongg Club–TA-2
What’s in the Daily News–TA-1
Tue Jul 19
9:00am
Annex Art–Annex
Fri Jul 22
9:00am
9:30am
11:00am
12:00pm
12:00pm
1:00pm
Recorder Consort–TA-3
Craft and Conversation–Annex
Homer, etc–TA-2
Religious Studies Club–TA-2
Photography Club–TA-1
Dr. Who Club–TA-3
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: Nancy Michel, Lorna Moran, Marilyn O'Brien, Susan Van Hemel
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.
We learned the secrets of the stars in our “Inside the Actors Studio: Hollywood Icons” class! On June 30, our special guest speaker (via Skype) was Professor Jeremy Kareken, who has been the sole researcher for the popular TV series from 2000 to the present. Our subject of the day was movie icon Clint Eastwood; however, the professor told fascinating tales of many celebrities who have given in-depth 
Performances, next ten days