Luke Frazier, Now Founder and Conductor of the American Pops Orchestra, Presenting at OLLI on July 21, 2015, on the Many Sounds of Music (See Article Below)
Facing a Dull Weekend? How About a Champagne Celebration This Sunday?
By Martha Powers, OLLI Board Member
Let’s face it, the dog days of August are upon us. So if you’re looking for something to pep up this coming weekend, I hope you’ll join me (and quite a few other OLLI members) at the Season Opening Celebration of the American Pops Orchestra at Arena Stage. Click here for information.
The opening celebration takes place this Sunday, August 20th (yep, day after tomorrow) at 3:00 at Arena Stage. The Nats are out of town, so parking and traffic will be a cinch.
OLLI presenter extraordinaire, Luke Frazier, is the founder and conductor of the American Pops—and Luke never disappoints. His OLLI classes are among OLLI’s most popular, and he is the living embodiment of The Great American Songbook, a guy who pals around with Chita Rivera and Michael Feinstein, no less.
This celebration features Marilyn Maye, whom Ella Fitzgerald described as one of the greatest singers of all time. See for yourself by giving a click on this video. It’s not every day that a new orchestra pops up in our area, let alone one that features top-notch performers like Marilyn Maye. And unlike most DC musical gala events, this one is quite affordable. Grab this chance to get one of the last tickets (click here), and join us for a delightful afternoon!
Over the last few years, OLLI has featured a bus trip to the Supreme Court. I finally got on the July 21 trip, and I’m here to tell you it is fantastic!
Led by Ben Gold, an OLLI member who has been a docent at the Court for more than 14 years, almost 50 OLLI members were guided through the magnificent Supreme Court building, built in 1935 at a cost of just under $10 million. “The construction of the building includes marble from Georgia, Maine, and Italy and is one of the few government contracts that came in under budget, returning about $10,000 to the U.S. Treasury,” Ben said.
The tour included 30 minutes in the actual Court room where the nine justices sit and hear cases. With his wonderful knowledge of the institution’s history and traditions, Ben explained the complexities of the Court. The purpose of the Supreme Court is to interpret the Constitution and to ensure the laws of the land comply. The Court receives more than 9,000 petitions each year, of which about 80 cases are selected to be heard. The majority of the cases are decided unanimously; about 20 percent result in split opinions.
Ben also pointed out there is space where the public can be present as the judges hear one or two cases three days a week when the Court is in session. “Sometimes,” he pointed out, “if there is a very popular case, people will be lining up at 6 am, or even the day before, for the limited public tickets.”
“I have lived here for almost 30 years and have never been to the Supreme Court,” said one OLLI member. “I’d definitely recommend this tour to anyone who has not been there.”
By Alice Slayton Clark, Communications and Program Associate
The OLLI Photography Club is back at it: generously volunteering services for another great cause. Last year, members of the club provided a “photo call” for Mason students in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and the School of Theater. They took pictures over several months of performances and helped individual students build performance portfolios.
According to Molly Elston, production manager and practicum coordinator for the School of Theater, the Photography Club photos are “wonderful” and of great use to the university. The departments are posting the photos on their websites and other media to better showcase Mason productions to the public. Photo Club shots are also featured on the Mason Players’ Facebook page, and students are using their headshots for stage bills and social media.
Molly described the Photo Club members who participated in the project (George Bradshaw, Dan Feighery, Bob Kelberg, John Nash, Bob Baker, Ed Marion, and Tom Simpson) as not only generous and talented, but “an absolutely charming bunch,” so much so that she plans to partner with them again during the 2017-18 school year.
This effort is the latest in a series of community service projects the Photo Club has undertaken. The club took photos this spring for Fairfax County’s 275thanniversary “Then and Now” exhibit of local historic locations. That display is currently featured in the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton. The club also recently photographed several local Underground Railroad sites as part of the Fairfax Fall for the Book event featuring Colson Whitehead’s new fictional book The Underground Railroad.
To view the Photo Club’s various projects, visit their website at this link.
Do you have some special expertise or knowledge that you’d like to share with others? Dr. James Cooper, professor emeritus at George Washington University, is ready to show OLLI members the in’s and out’s of what he terms “non-fiction sharing.”
Dr. Cooper says he was lured into this project when he listened to a “gentleman in my retired-codger group talk about bats. He enthusiastically described the benefits bats offer. He’d clearly spent a lot of time on the subject and had accumulated a lot of information.” But he hadn’t found an audience.
Another friend had done a case study on the possible use of solar energy for his church, visiting six other churches that had also considered its use. Only one church persisted, and the friend identified characteristics in that group that seemed to lead to success. His findings would likely be of interest to other churches that might consider solar energy.
Dr. Cooper’s goal is to encourage OLLI members to be comfortable in sharing their information and to show them ways to do it. “We’ll discuss blogs, tweets, journals, and local newspapers. We’ll discuss how to find information to bolster or authenticate their findings.”
He hopes OLLI participants will come with a personal project in mind. It may be in any stage, but they should think it is worth sharing.
The course, titled “How To Write A Better Research Paper,” will be offered in four sessions on Mondays, 11:50 to 1:15, from September 18 to October 9 at United Christian Parish Church, Reston.
Do you enjoy playing chess on a real board against a live opponent? Are you up for two or three (maybe four) games a week? If so, you might want to join OLLI's new chess club, which will meet every Friday afternoon in TA-2 at Tallwood from 1:00 to 2:30. The first meeting will be on Friday, September 29. If you haven't played for a while, it's a great way to hone your skills. A won-lost record will be kept, and the more you play, the more you might be able to win.
Register now for the club via the OLLI member portal: olligmu.augusoft.net. For more information about the group, contact coordinator William Lane at 703-565-4478 or lane2125@yahoo.com.
Everyone who is registered for a class or event at Loudoun will need a new FREE parking permit. The new parking permits will be valid for the entire academic year, September 1, 2017 – August 31, 2018. Permits will be available for pick-up on September 11, one week before fall term begins, between 9:00 and 3:00 at the Mason-in-Loudoun office, 21335 Signal Hill Plaza, Suite 130, Sterling, VA 20164. You may also arrive early on your first day of class and pick it up then. You are able to park temporarily in the East lot while obtaining your parking permit.
Please display the permit noticeably in your front windshield. Because George Mason shares the office building with other tenants, it is important that you park in the correct area. Please park in the East lot, which, when facing the building, is the lot on the left side of the building. In the unlikely event there are no spaces available, you may park in the yellow-striped student parking spaces. You can view a map of the parking lot at https://ollidev2.earthcare.com/maps-directions/#loudounparking, or on the back of your permit. Please be aware that towing is enforced.
If you have a Mason G#, but need to have your photo taken for your Mason ID card, you may get that done at the same location. Mason-in-Loudoun staff are not able to look up your G#, so please have that ready when you arrive for your ID.
The simple fish differences
Between Flounders and Flukes are
Not just (a) something flopping around,
Or (b) some stroke of offhand luck.
No. Both are saltwater feeders,
Once settling into their bottom dwellings,
Evolutionarily elected
To rotate their second eye topside:
Flounders to the right,
Flukes to the left:
Performances, August 18 through August 28.By 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 No performances scheduled.
Gallery Exhibit: Marti Patchell, Botanical Fusion
Continues through Aug 26
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.
Buchanan Partners Art Gallery
Admission: Free.
Center for the Arts’ Pied Piper Theatre: Annie Jr.
Fri, Aug 18, 7:00
Sat, Aug 19, 2:00
Tickets: Adults, $10; children (12 and under), $5.
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).
Sat Aug 19
10:30am
1:00pm
Tai Chi Club–TA-3
Computer Club–TA-1
Mon Aug 21
10:00am
10:00am
10:30am
Bridge Club–TA-3
Mah Jongg Club–TA-2
What’s in the Daily News, cont’d.–TA-1
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 Editor Team: Jean Boltz, John Nash, Sheri Siesseger, Leslie Vandivere,
Paul Van Hemel Proofreaders: Rebecca Jann, Susan Van Hemel, Polly Johnsen, Shirley Springfloat
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.
Over the last few years, OLLI has featured a bus trip to the Supreme Court. I finally got on the July 21 trip, and I’m here to tell you it is fantastic!
there is a very popular case, people will be lining up at 6 am, or even the day before, for the limited public tickets.”
