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KEEPING OUR CATALOG FAT
By Elizabeth Crawford, Membership Committee member
LOOKING BACK ON A SUCCESSFUL WINTER 2006 TERM, it is easy to see how fortunate we were in our choice of courses. For the 54 courses offered, 19 instructors were drawn from Mason and our local community; the other 35 were taught or coordinated by our members.
     Members teaching courses is not news, but the almost two-to-one ratio of member-taught courses may come as a surprise. Obviously, without members willing to teach and coordinate courses, our pickings would be rather slim. As grateful as we are to the longstanding members who now teach, we need a steady stream of new people with new areas of expertise and contacts to keep our course offerings varied and exciting.
     Without new members Jayne Hart and Bob Lawshe, we would not have had courses on "The Wisdom of the Body" and on "Epictetus." Without new member Kathie West, we would not have enjoyed that unforgettable holiday luncheon skit about Rudolph and his arthritic reindeer. Bob, Kathie, and new member Brenda Cheadle will be teaching during the spring semester, and Jayne will be returning to the podium soon. These are just a few examples of how new members enrich our organization.
    So, chair Debbie Halverson and the Membership Committee would appreciate whatever extra effort you can put forth to help with their latest recruiting plan. If you are part of an alumni association with a Northern Virginia branch, perhaps you can send Debbie a contact name to put OLLI information into a newsletter or arrange for an OLLI presentation at a meeting. Names of fellow alumni would be helpful too. (Your name will not be mentioned in any solicitation without your permission.) Of course, any other suggestions for recruitment are always welcome.
     There are smart people out there who would love to join OLLI and teach us some of what they know. They just need to know that we exist. You may be the person who can make that happen.
(Photo above of typical OLLI classroom by Michael Coyne)

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OLLI POETS SUCCEED IN VIRGINIA COMPETITION

AT AN AWARDS CEREMONY IN RICHMOND ON APR 22, The Poetry Society of Virginia announced the winners in is 2006 Poetry Contest.
OLLI member Mike McNamara took First Place out of 88 competitors in the Ada Sanderson Memorial Competition on the subject of Nature with his "Covey" (printed below).

     Mike (photo at right, by Rod Zumbro) was also awarded a Second Place prize in the Philomene Hood Honorary Competition on the subject of The Prairie (23 competitors) with his "Line Storm, Dakota Country" and a Third Honorable Mention for his "A Villanelle for the Inca Atahualpa: November 1532" encouraging inter-ethnic relations. This was the first time that Mike entered this competition, and he has already generously donated his prize winnings to the "Friends of OLLI."
     Barbara Achilles, who heads up OLLI’s Poetry Workshop, received a First Honorary Mention in the Handy Andy Competition for limericks with her "For Fun and Prophet."
     The Poetry Society of Virginia received more than 1,460 submissions for this annual contest that covered some 28 categories. Contributions and awards were about equally distributed among out-of-state and Virginia residents and included several international contributors. The judges were drawn from nationally known and published poets and members of several academic faculties, including Claudia Emerson of Mary Washington University who has just been selected as the recipient of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

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COMMUNICATIONS AT OLLI
     Second, you are encouraged to communicate with OLLI whenever you have a question, suggestion, complaint or compliment.

Contact any Board member or the responsible OLLI person (committee chair, staff member) personally or via phone or email. Look at our Organization page for job responsibilities and in the Membership Directory for phone number or email address, if needed. Email the entire Board of directors: just send your message to the office, and Tallwood Site Administrator Ann Hartmann will forward it to everyone on the Board (useful for expressing an opinion about an issue to be discussed by the Board). Use the suggestion box online or in the Tallwood Social Room. Get published in OLLI E-News. Write a feature article related to OLLI ... or submit any suggestion, complaint or compliment as a "letter to the editor" (you can use a suggestion box or email your editor; if you include your name and email address or telephone number, we can honor requests to publish your letter anonymously). Submit etiquette questions or comments as a "letter to Ms. Ollie Ettakit" in the same manner. Contact the office by email, telephone or in person.

If you do not have email, we STRONGLY encourage you to get email so you can receive timely communications from OLLI. You do NOT have to own a computer -- just go to your public library, sign up for a free Web email account (we recommend Yahoo Mail) and then check your email at least once a week. If you are afraid of email and computers, read this article. Make sure to send your new email address to the office.

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COMING EVENTS AT THE CENTER FOR THE ARTS
By Jan Bohall, OLLI E-News staff writer
For tickets, call 888-945-2468 or visit the Center for the Arts Box Office, Tue–Sat, 10:00–6:00.

GMU Players Mainstage Trojan Women by Euripides	GMU Music Scholarship Concert	GMU Vocal Jazz Ensemble	United States Marine Band
Fri, Sat, Apr 28-29, at 8:00 Sat, Sun, Apr 29-30, at 2:00 Admission $7 seniors/students, $10 adults TheaterSpace (From Level 2 of Parking Deck take the bridge. Enter first door on left and follow hallway, go through gray doors and downstairs.)	Features the GMU Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Singers and University Chorale ... and OLLI scholarship winner Jorge Martinez Fri, Apr 28, at 8:00 Admission $8 seniors/students, $15 adults Concert Hall	Sun, Apr 30, at 1:00 Admission is Free Johnson Center Bistro	Captain Michelle A. Rakers, conducting Sun, Apr 30, at 2:00 Admission is Free Concert Hall
GMU Dance Company	The Nrityagram Dance Ensemble Sacred Space/Margam – The Path	GMU Opera A Celebration of Mozart, Part II The Marriage of Figaro	Mark O’Connor’s Appalachian Waltz Trio
Thu, Fri, Sat May 4-6, at 8:00 Admission $7 seniors/students, $10 adults Dance Performance Studio For tickets call 703-218-6500	Based on ancient ritual dances from India performed in the innermost sanctum of Hindu temples. Fri, May 5, at 8:00 Admission $42, $34, $21 Family Friendly: Children 12 and under, half price Concert Hall Come early at 7:15 for a pre-performance artistic discussion on the Hall’s Grand Tier.	Fri performance features Adrianna Sgarlata, who sang for OLLI's Music Sampler class, as Susanna. Fri, Sat, May 5-6, at 8:00 Admission $10 seniors/students, $12 adults Harris Theater	Sat, May 6, at 8:00 Admission $40, $32, $20 Family Friendly: Children 12 and under, half price Concert Hall Come early for a pre-performance artistic discussion on the Hall’s Grand Tier.

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COMING ATTRACTIONS

The following list covering the next two weeks is extracted for your convenience from the more complete OLLI Staff Forecast of Non-Class Events.

APR 28    Friday    8:30 AM    Spec Event G: Montpelier Bus Trip    Fair Oaks Mall Lot #44         10:00 AM    Recorder Class/Club    TA-2         11:30 AM    French Club    TA-3         1:00 PM    Informational Program:  Diet for Seniors    TA-1         1:30 PM    Homer Book Club    Annex               MAY                1    Monday    10:00 AM    Handbook Comm Mtg     Annex               2    Tuesday    8:15 AM    Walking Club    Lake Anne Church               3    Wednesday    1:30 PM    Annual Meeting    TA-1             Special Events Comm Mtg to follow Annual Mtg    TA-2               5    Friday    9:30 AM    Drama Club    TA-1         10:00 AM    Recorder Class/Club    TA-2         10:30 AM    Reston Support Committee Mtg, Lake Anne Church         11:30 AM    French Club    TA-3         1:00 PM    Movie-"1776" Intro by Park Ranger Epstein    TA-1         1:30 PM    Homer Book Club    Annex               9    Tuesday    8:15 AM    Walking Club    Lake Anne Church  10    Wednesday    1:30 PM    Bridge    TA-2         1:30 AM    Book Club at Tallwood    Annex         2:00 PM    Spec Event H: Hiking for Health    TA-1         2:00 PM    History Club    TA-3        12    Friday    9:00 AM    Spec Event I: Bus Trip National Arboretum    Fair Oaks Mall Lot #44         9:30 AM    Drama Club    TA-1         10:00 AM    Recorder Class/Club    TA-2         11:30 AM    French Club    TA-3         1:00 PM    Informational Program:  Hearing Loss    TA-1         1:30 PM    Homer Book Club    Annex

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Rod Zumbro Editor Karen Hamilton Deputy Editor View last 12 issues Search for items in OLLI E-News

About OLLI E-News. OLLI E-News is OLLI's weekly newsletter; it is emailed to OLLI members with email addresses on Fridays. When classes are in session, printed copies of this newsletter are distributed in classrooms, primarily for members without email. We encourage OLLI members and staff employees to submit news items and write articles; deadline to the editor is 7:00 PM Wed for that week's issue. Comments, suggestions or complaints? Please contact the OLLI E-News editor or the Publications Committee chair, Gordon Canyock. Note about HTML graphics. If you do NOT see photos and clickable links in this message, you might want to ask a teenaged grandchild or a neighborhood teenager or college student to fix things for you. Or you could change your email settings yourself. Here's how to view html-formatted messages like this newsletter in three popular email systems: Outlook Express. Click Tools; select Options; in the Read tab, uncheck "Read all messages in plain text."  Yahoo Mail. Click Mail Options/General Preferences; under Security, uncheck "Block HTML graphics in email messages from being downloaded."  AOL. Upgrade, if possible, to an AOL version above 5.0.  GMU Webmail. If OLLI E-News is being sent to your gmu.edu email address, we recommend against using GMU Webmail (i.e., iPlanet "Messenger Express") to read the newsletter because we have found that usually you cannot view our newsletter as a single integrated document, with text and accompanying images. It's not necessary to use GMU Webmail since you can easily use other email systems, such as Outlook Express or Yahoo Mail, to retrieve mail sent to external addresses such as your gmu.edu address. An alternative is to read your newsletter online at the OLLI Website after it is posted each Friday. Back to top

OLLI E-News Editorial Staff Assistant Editor, Database Manager Barbara Kyriakakis Assistant Editor Arleen Richman Photo Editor Michael Coyne

Copyright © 2006 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University. Materials in this publication subject to OLLI-GMU copyright may be reproduced for noncommercial educational purposes as long as credit is given to OLLI-GMU.