Members of the George Mason University Patriots Fife and Drum Corps (The Green Machine) Perform Before the OLLI Annual Veterans Day Celebration, Tallwood, November 8
Priority registration for winter term is under way and continues through noon on December 10.
Reminder: Bake Sale and showing/discussion of movie Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace, Friday, December 13. (Bake sale 11:00-12:30, Annex; movie/discussion 12:30-3:00, TA-1.) Click here for more information and to register for Event 1214.
Computer Club meeting Saturday December 14 (Note: 2nd Saturday), 1:00, in TA-1 (socializing at 12:30 in the annex). See article below.
The next issue of OLLI E-News will be published Friday, December 20; regular deadline for submission of items is Tuesday, December 17, at 6:00.
2nd Saturday, December 14
Adding USB Peripherals to Portable Devices
Driving an Electric Car from Maryland to California and Back
PC Clinic: In the Annex
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, December 14, at Tallwood. Join us at 12:30 for socializing. Program activities begin at 1:00 in TA- 1.
OTG=On the Go: Adding USB Peripherals to Portable Devices - Presented by John Krout
Those Universal Serial Bus sockets on your computer are called USB A. Would it be useful to have a USB-A socket on your smart phone or tablet? You can do that with an On the Go (OTG) cable. One end plugs into the portable device, and the other provides a socket for connecting and using USB peripheral devices such as a keyboard. This presentation will demonstrate the many USB peripheral devices that the presenter has tested with OTG cables for his Android phone, Android tablet, and iPhone.
John Krout is a frequent contributor to PATACS Posts newsletter, and occasionally provides presentations on tech issues at OPCUG/PATACS meetings.
Learn in 30: Driving an Electric Car from Maryland to California and Back
This presentation will be a short run-through of information and lessons learned gained by Mike Pafford and his wife Kali Collins as they drove her Tesla Model 3 Basic from Maryland to their daughter's home in Central California, then home. Mike's presentation will emphasize the computer-assisted aspects of the car and the trip.
Mike is a long-time PATACS member who can't resist new toys (especially at this time of year).
PC Clinic in the Annex (Club Membership and Registration Required)
Get hands-on help with your computer problems from experts. Bring in your computer, and we'll help you lose the 'blues' – system slowdowns, unwanted programs, viruses, and malware. Be sure to read the Clinic Rules: http://patacs.org/clinicpat.html.
See full details on this meeting by clicking here. For information on the Computer Club, see the OPCUG website. OPCUG dues of $5 for 2020 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/519103813 (meeting ID: 519 103 813).
I began taking classes at OLLI in 2008. For the first several years I was still working part-time and only took classes on one day a week. I did not pay attention to the activities of the Board of Directors or, for that matter, much of anything having to do with management of the organization. I enjoyed the classes and didn’t think much about how the programs were developed and organized.
In the spring of 2015, after I had stopped working, I received a call out of the blue from Martha Scanlon, chair of the nominating committee, asking whether I would be willing to be a candidate for the Board of Directors. After thinking it over, I decided maybe it was time for me to give something back to OLLI and agreed to be a candidate. I was asked to write up a short bio and have my picture taken. In April, the candidates attended the Board meeting (my first) to be introduced. Then in May we had two events at which we gave “campaign” speeches and responded to questions from OLLI members. I wasn’t sure what to say in my speech other than a little about my work experience and interests. I didn’t know a lot about OLLI issues other than what I had observed taking classes.
I was elected and began my service on the Board in June 2015. With that I began to learn more about the governance of OLLI, its budget, and how the programs are developed and delivered. In my first year I was asked to chair the Governance Committee, which meant I needed to learn our bylaws and policies. I found the Board members to be well-informed and dedicated to making OLLI better, and learned from them over the years. All in all, serving OLLI on the Board has been a great opportunity to “give back,” and an enriching learning experience for me.
Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of articles by current Board members to give readers some insight into what is involved in serving on the Board.
Tallwood Book Club: December Meeting By Ceda McGrew, Tallwood Book Club CoordinatorThe Tallwood Book Club will meet on Wednesday, December 11, at Tallwood. The book for discussion is the 2017 Pulitzer Prize winner for general nonfiction, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond. It is the account of eight very poor families struggling to survive in the most impoverished areas of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the financial crisis of 2007-2008. All OLLI members are welcome.The reading selection for January 8 is Sing, Unburied Sing by Jessamyn West.
Going with you to see the Christmas Spectacular is a sure bet
For your daughter who dreamed of becoming a Rockette
Sharing Ooooos and Ahhhs over high-kicks and precision
Is part of a legacy you cast for my Christmas vision
A time for wonder and beauty so bright
And with you by my side, Dad, everything was just right
The Gods of Christmas past and present must have been smiling
At a dad and a daughter sharing a tradition so beguiling.
Thank you for accompanying me then and now for this treat
I can still see us waiting in anticipation so sweet
Then the curtain rises and the organist’s playing,
Rockettes dressed as reindeer and Santa is sleighing
Scenes of NY, the Nutcracker and toy soldiers,
You caught a streamer, but the show wasn’t over
The Nativity and words about a love that astounds
Because it connects us and knows no bounds
At the start and the end we hugged over the joys shared together
Joys and a love that I’ll treasure forever
OLLI member Charles "Charlie" Joyce died on Monday, November 25, 2019. He was an active volunteer in Northern Virginia and the Mason community. He served four years as president of what is now the Friends of the Center for the Arts at Mason, followed by four years as chairman of the Arts at Mason Board, the advisory board to the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Mason. In September 2009 he agreed to take on the task of reconstituting the dormant advisory board to the Dean of the Volgenau School of Engineering at Mason and served for many subsequent years as the chairman of that board.
There will be a memorial service followed by a reception on Saturday, December 7, at 10:00 at The Church of the Good Shepherd, 9350 Braddock RD, Burke, VA 22015. Further information is available at this link.
Paul Gonzalez, III
OLLI instructor Paul Gonzalez, III (Pablo) of Vienna, Virginia, died on Monday, December 2, 2019. For several years, he taught classes in history, and historical mysteries, as well as other classes. A graduate of Loyola University in New Orleans, he was an Army combat engineer and subsequently worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a data analyst.
A Funeral Mass to celebrate his life will be held on Saturday, December 7 at 12:00 noon at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, 11900 Lawyers Road, Reston, VA, with interment to follow at Fairfax Memorial Park in Fairfax, VA. Click here for more information.
For tickets for either Center for the Arts Concert Hall (CFA) or Hylton Center, 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 page or the Hylton Centerticket purchase page.
At the Fairfax Campus Venues
Sweet Honey in the Rock
Sat, Dec 7, 4:00
Concert Hall
From 3:15 - 3:45 hear a special performance by the Anointed Vessels of Unity featuring Mason students singing gospel music.
Admission: $50, $43, $30.
Moscow Ballet's Great Russian Nutcracker
Tue, Dec 10, and Wed, Dec 11, 7:00
Concert Hall
Admission: $175 Platinum, $130 Gold Circle, $99, $89, $69, $49, $29.
Vienna Boys Choir
Fri, Dec 13, 8:00
Concert Hall
A pre-performance discussion begins on Monson Grand Tier 45 minutes prior to the performance.
Admission: $55, $47, $33.
American Festival Pops Orchestra: Holiday Pops
Sat, Dec 14, 8:00
Concert Hall
Admission: $55, $47, $33.
Gallery Exhibit: Exploring Identity with Women Veterans
Oct 29 to Dec 7
Buchanan Partners Art Gallery
The Buchanan Partners Art Gallery is open to the public Tue-Sat, 10:00-6:00.
Admission: Free.
Gallery Exhibition: John Grunwell
Dec 10 to Jan 18
Buchanan Partners Art Gallery
The Buchanan Partners Art Gallery is open to the public Tue-Sat, 10:00-6:00.
Admission: Free.
Mason Opera: Offenbach's Mesdames de la Halle
Fri, Dec 6, 8:00
Sat, Dec 7, 2:00 and 8:00
Gregory Family Theater
Admission: $15 Adults; $10 seniors.
Creative & Performing Arts Center: Langston Hughes' Black Nativity
Fri, Dec 6, 7:30
Merchant Hall
Admission: $35, $30, $25.
Manassas Symphony Orchestra: Story Time
Sat, Dec 7, 3:30
Merchant Hall
Admission: $20 Adults; $16 seniors.
Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy: A Celtic Family Christmas
Sun, Dec 8, 4:00
Merchant Hall
A pre-performance discussion begins in Merchant Hall one hour prior to the performance.
Admission: $55, $47, $33.
Swing Machine: 7th Annual Christmas Extravaganza!
Wed, Dec 11, 7:30
Merchant Hall
Admission: $13.
American Festival Pops Orchestra: Holiday Pops
Fri, Dec 13, 8:00
Merchant Hall
A pre-performance discussion begins in Merchant Hall one hour prior to the performance.
Admission: $55, $47, $33.
Prince William Little Theatre: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Fri, Dec 13 and Fri, Dec 20, 8:00
Sat, Dec 14 and Sat, Dec 21, 2:00 and 7:00
Sun, Dec 15 and Sun, Dec 22 2:00
Gregory Family Theater
Admission: $20 Adults; $17 seniors; $13 children.
Manassas Chorale: Resounding Joy
Sat, Dec 14, 7:30
Merchant Hall
Admission: $20, $18.
Asaph Dance Ensemble: Clara's Christmas/Handel's Messiah
Sunday, Dec 15, 3:30 and 7:30
Merchant Hall
Admission: $30 Adults; $20 seniors and children.
Manassas Ballet Theatre: The Nutcracker
Wed, Dec 18 to Sun, Dec 22, 7:30
Sat, Dec 21 to Mon, Dec 23, 3:00
Merchant Hall
Admission: $80, $70, $60, $50, $40.
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 for the most up-to-date information, please view the latest forecast of coming 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, kick-off coffees, etc.
Sat Dec 7
10:30am
Tai Chi Club–TA-3 Canceled
Mon Dec 9
9:30am
What’s in the Daily News?–TA-1
Tue Dec 10
9:30am
11:00am
Annex Art–Annex
Spanish Club–TA-2
Wed Dec 11
10:00am
10:00am
10:30am
Bridge Club–TA-3
Tallwood Book Club–TA-2
Tom Crooker Investment Forum–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
Associate Editor: David Gundry
Weekly Editor Team: David Gundry, John Nash, Sheri Siesseger, Leslie Vandivere,
Paul Van Hemel Proofreaders: Rebecca Jann, Susan Van Hemel, Linda Randall, Tom Appich, Roz Stark,
Jane Hassell
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: Tuesday, 6:00, for that week's issue (Monday, 6:00, 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.
Inside OLLI
Monday, November 25, 2019. He was an active volunteer in Northern Virginia and the Mason community. He served four years as president of what is now the Friends of the Center for the Arts at Mason, followed by four years as chairman of the Arts at Mason Board, the advisory board to the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Mason. In September 2009 he agreed to take on the task of reconstituting the dormant advisory board to the Dean of the Volgenau School of Engineering at Mason and served for many subsequent years as the chairman of that board.
