Please note that you will be receiving the OLLI Communicator via email on Sunday evenings. This will replace the announcements that have previously been made by class liaisons. Announcements for each week will also be displayed on the screen in each classroom prior to the beginning of the class.
A list of cancelled and changed courses for the spring term is available on the OLLI website at this link.
The Board met on Friday, March 17, 2017 at Tallwood. In his president’s report, Ray Beery announced that the liaison committee has been disbanded and weekly announcements will now just be shown electronically before classes start. The Communicator, which contains these announcements, will also be emailed to all members on Sundays.
This month’s President’s Recognition certificates are going to the instructors and facilitators for the winter term. Michelle Blandburg, Emmett Fenlon, Martha Powers, Nancy Scheeler and Stan Schretter were honored at the meeting for teaching.
The holiday party will be held at the International Country Club again this year. Entertainment will be provided by members of Mason’s music department rather than the Recorder Consort, OLLI Players and Tallwood Trio.
The teacher appreciation event will be held on April 28 at the Fairfax Country Club and this year will feature breakfast.
Executive Director Jennifer Disano announced that membership is down from last spring but this year’s budget will still be adequate.A replacement A/C unit has been installed in TA-1, and the room is now quiet.
Ken Wade has resigned as Reston site assistant and one of our work study students, Nihad Hedrishi, is taking over the position.
A resolution passed giving introductory memberships to OLLI at no charge to Bud and Susan Burwell, owners of the Reston Used Bookshop, who have sponsored the literary roundtable since 1999.
OLLI-Mason will soon be electing new members to our Board of Directors. The Board meets once a month, 10 times per year, generally on the third Friday. Its work covers a variety of tasks—financial, educational, social, and organizational. The Board’s work is key to serving our members' needs today and well into the future.
Please contact me know if you are willing be a candidate for the Board.
Art and Music Program Planning Group Meets Next Week – Come Join Us!
By Marianne Metz, Program Planning Group Co-chair
Are you interested in art, architecture, photography, music, or dance? Is there a certain subject you’re passionate about? Do you have an idea to share with the rest of us? Have you met a speaker or performer somewhere else who’d be ideal for OLLI? One wonderful thing about OLLI is that it allows individuals to teach subjects they love—subjects of their own choice. You can take that step, and share your passion with a class. Whether you teach it yourself or find and coordinate others to teach, you will have the satisfaction that comes from crafting a quality course.
This is what OLLI program planners do. At our meetings we brainstorm ideas for future classes and teachers, and then see who can do what to make them happen.
The Music and Art Program Planning Group meets on Friday, March 31, at Tallwood. The meeting will run from 1:00 to 2:30 in TA-1. Program planners are now focused on Fall 2017 and Winter 2018.
[Editor's Note: The writer requested that his letter to the OLLI Board of Directors also be published in E-News as a letter to the editor.]Dear OLLI Board,
With your last tuition increase, I don’t believe I can continue as a member.
Here’s the story. I now spend half the year, November through April, in Florida. This means the only full term I can attend with you in Fairfax is the short summer one.
I’ve been a member for over twenty years, and when a full-year resident in Fairfax, truly treasured the courses offered. Here in Tampa Bay OLLI programs are offered through the University of South Florida, Eckerd College, and St. Petersburg University. All have a modest membership fee (which they’ve even halved for me given my partial year presence) and charge by the courses selected, typically $30 or $40.
Now, I’m not asking to change your present system, although it would be worth considering, but to ask for some relief for us “snowbirds.” You have a single-semester introductory rate for new enrollees, I believe. Perhaps you would allow the same for me and others in the same situation. I would wager that you would get interest from many.
[Editor's Note: The following is a response from OLLI President Ray Beery to the letter from Dick Bulova:]
Thanks for your letter, Dick. We value you as a member and friend.
Your suggestion strikes a chord with me. Accordingly, I am proposing now to my colleagues on the Board that we should indeed expand the introductory membership fee and provisions to cover "cases like yours."
Specifically, my proposal would rename the special fee "Introductory and Extended Absence." We would designate as absentee any member who is regularly away for two or three OLLI terms in a calendar year, and who requests that status.
Please continue to share with us your experiences from Tampa Bay.
Performances, Mar 24 through Apr 9By 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
Virginia Opera: Turandot
Sat, Mar 25, 8:00
Sun, Mar 26, 2:00
Pre-performance discussion: Glenn Winters, "Dr. Opera"
Concert Hall
Admission: $110, $90, $54.
Faculty Artist Series: Dr. Amy Horn
Sat, Mar 25, 3:00
Harris Theatre
Admission: Free.Faculty Artist Series: John Kilkenny
Sun, Mar 26, 3:00
Harris Theatre
Admission: Free.Jazz Combos Concert
Wed, Mar 29, 8:00
deLaski 3001
Admission: Free.Gogol's Nose and Other Strange Tales from the City -
Wed, Mar 29, 8:00, preview
Thu, Mar 30, - Sat, Apr 1, 8:00
Sat, Apr 1, 2:00
Thu, Apr 6, - Sat, Apr 8, 8:00
Sat, Apr 8, and Sun, Apr 9, 2:00
TheaterSpace
Admission: Adults, $25; seniors, $15; Mar 29 (preview), pay what you can.Mason School of Dance: Dance Gala Concert
Fri, Mar 31, and Sat, Apr 1, 8:00
Concert Hall
Admission: Adults, $25; seniors, $15.Vocal Pops A Capella Concert
Sun, Apr 2, 4:00
Harris Theatre
Admission: Free.
Jazz Ensembles Concert: Big Band Showdown
Mon, Apr 3, 8:00
Concert Hall
Admission: Adults, $12, seniors, $8.
Gallery Exhibit: Betty Ganley: Petals and Reflections
Continues through Apr 15.
The Gallery is open to the public Tue-Sat, 10:00 - 6:00, Thu, 10:00 - 8:00 and two hours before performances.
Buchanan Partners Art Gallery
Admission: Free.
Prince William Little Theatre: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Fri, Mar 24, and Sat, Mar 25, 8:00
Sun, Mar 26, 2:00
Gregory Family Theater
Admission: Adults, $20; seniors, $17.
The Jason Bishop Show: Magic
Sat, Mar 25, 8:00
Pre-performance discussion: Member of the company
Merchant Hall
Admission: $48, $41, $29.
Piedmont Symphony Orchestra: Beethoven’s 9th
Sun, Mar 26, 3:00
Merchant Hall
Admission: $50, $40, $30.
Matinee Idylls: Linda Apple Monson and Friends The Art of the Piano
Tue, Mar 28, 12:30 lunch, 1:30 concert
Gregory Family Theater
Admission: $45 (lunch and concert); $25 (concert only).
Hylton Performing Arts Center 7th Anniversary Gala
Sat, Apr 1, 6:00
6:00, Reception;
7:00, Dinner;
8:30, After Gala Party
Merchant Hall
Admission: $300 ($145 non-deductible); After Gala Party only: $75 ($50 non-deductible).
Mason School of Dance: Dance Gala Concert
Sun, Apr 2, 4:00
Merchant Hall
Admission: Adults, $25; seniors, $15.
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 Mar 26
10:30am
Tai Chi Club–TA-3
Wed Mar 30
1:45pm
Bridge Club–TA-3
Fri Mar 31
9:15am
9:30am
10:00am10:00am
11:00am
1:00pm
Recorder Consort–TA-3
Craft and Conversation–Annex Reston Program Planning Committee–Hunter Woods Rm. 1
Theater Lovers Club–TA-1
Classic Literature Club–TA-2 Art & Music Program Planning–TA-1
Sat Apr 1
10:30am
Tai Chi Club–TA-3
Wed Apr 5
1:45pm
1:45pm
2:15pm
Bridge Club–TA-3 Special Event Committee–Annex
History Club–TA-1
Fri Apr 7
9:15am
9:30am9:30am
11:00am
11:00am
1:00pm
Recorder Consort–TA-3 Humanities and Social Sciences Program Planning Committee–TA-1
Craft and Conversation Group–Annex
Classic Literature Club–TA-2
Homer, etc.–Annex
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: 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.
instructors and facilitators for the winter term. Michelle Blandburg, Emmett Fenlon, Martha Powers, Nancy Scheeler and Stan Schretter were honored at the meeting for teaching.
