NEW MSCN HEADER (With border)
Issue No. 27
May  2012
The MSCN Newsletter

Welcome to Your May Newsletter! 

Victorian illustration of children dancing around a May poleIn Maine, we can usually count on May to be a beautiful month!  Hopefully this May will be no exception. Many flowers and trees are already blooming, so it's looking good so far.

This month's news from around the Maine Senior College Network brings articles about events at Gold LEAF Institute, Coastal Senior College, Sunrise Senior College, and Lewiston-Auburn Senior College, as well as poetry from Augusta Senior College.
 
Have you entered the MSCN Photo Contest yet? If not, May is your final chance to do so! We are enjoying the photos that have been submitted, and we invite you to send us a photo that you have taken. Full details about how to enter are in the next article, below.

And now you can also keep in touch by "liking" Maine Senior College on Facebook. We're looking forward to seeing you there! 
 

Sincerely, 

 

Kali Lightfoot

Executive Director

Maine Senior College Network    

 

Deadline for MSCN Photo Contest Entries: May 31, 2012!

Illustration of a date circled on a calendarThe deadline for entering the MSCN Photo Contest, May 31, 2012 at 5:30 pm EST is fast approaching. Enter now for the opportunity to have your photo selected as the winner,  a designation that will bring you the prize of an Amazon Kindle e-reader! The theme of the competition is "Portraits: Family, Friends, and Pets," and the winner, who will receive an Amazon Kindle, will be announced in the June 2012 MSCN newsletter. Read about  the contest rules . . .

We have been receiving great photos, and we want to receive one from you!

CSC Annual Spring Luncheon Set for May 3rd 
Coastal Senior College 2010 Annual Spring Luncheon
Attendees are all smiles at a previous
CSC Annual Spring Luncheon.

Coastal Senior College (CSC) will hold its annual spring luncheon on Thursday, May 3, at the Samoset Resort in Rockport. CSC members and the public at large are invited.The featured speaker this year is Bill Nemitz, columnist for the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram.

The cost of tickets will be partially underwritten by CSC and sold at $15 each. For reservations and lunch choice, call 596-6906 or 1-800-286-1594.  Doors will open at 11:30 for the social hour (and cash bar), with lunch served at 12:15. The event will wind up by 2 p.m.    

- submitted by Kay Liss for Coastal Senior College

L/A's May Food For Thought Event Features "Muscial Treats"
Photo of Paul Caron
Paul Caron

Paul G. Caron, Associate Professor of Secondary Education at USM's Lewiston-Auburn College, will be the presenter at the L-A Senior College "Food for Thought" lunch on Friday, May 11, at 11:30. His topic is "Musical Treats," and he will discuss the elements that go into creating a musical comedy. Caron is well known for directing many musicals at local theaters, and his talk for the luncheon is an abridged version of the Musical Theatre class he taught this past year at L/A Senior College.

 

Caron was born to large family of musicians, and he learned to play the piano at a young age and he performed in local churches and theaters, and, of course, for his grandmothers. In April he directed the musical "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" for Auburn's Community Little Theatre, and the production received rave reviews in the local press.

 

Lewiston-Auburn Senior College's monthly 11:30 luncheon program is held in Function Room 170 at USM LAC. The cost, which includes lunch, is $7 with advance reservation or $8 at the door. Reservations must be made by noon on May 10 by calling 753-6510. Any late callers will be considered "at the door."

 

-submitted by Rachel Morin for Lewiston-Auburn Senior College

 

Gold LEAF Stargazers Will Observe Venus Transit
of the Sun

Illustration of a woman looking through a telescope

In May and June, Gold LEAF members will have an opportunity to see and learn about the Venus Transit of the Sun (a very rare celestial event which will not happen again until 2117) in a 3-session course of the same name.

Under the guidance of amateur astronomer and Gold LEAF member Peter Serrada, members will be able to safely observe the planet Venus as it passes between the Earth and the Sun. The course will review the history of 400 years of the observing this event and how we knew that it would happen. One class session will have demonstrations of the safest ways to observe the event. On June 5th, the day of the event, members will be safely using telescopes to see this event with their own eyes. It is important to be properly prepared to view the Transit of Venus, and any observation of the Sun, because eyesight can be lost if one is not using proper safeguards.

 

- submitted by Colleen V. Serrada for Gold LEAF Institute

 

Guitarist Denny Breau to
Perform at L/A Senior College Annual Meeting
photo of musician Denny Breau
Denny Breau


Denny Breau, well known guitarist, and Lewiston-Auburn's favorite son, will entertain following the USM Lewiston-Auburn Senior College Fifth Annual

Meeting being held on Tuesday, May 8, at 2 p.m. at the college on the Westminster St. campus. The Annual Meeting is open to all L/A Senior College members and volunteers. 

 

Breau has been called "a musician's musician" and his rhythmically flawless and dazzlingly clear style allows him to do amazing things with a six-string guitar. The son of well-loved Maine musicians Hal Lone Pine and Betty Cody, Breau was a natural for the guitar and began playing at nine years old and was playing professionally in his early teens. Breau was inducted into the Maine Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004, the youngest inductee in the history of the organization. Read more . . .  

 

- submitted by Rachel Morin for Lewiston-Auburn Senior College

 

SSC Group Walks Their Way
to Health!
Thumbs up illustrationThe Sunrise Senior College (SSC) sponsored walking group at University of Maine at Machias Center for Lifelong Learning (CCL) gymnasium has been going strong for well over a year. The twice weekly sessions include stretching, 30 minutes of paced walking to music, and a cool down period with balance exercises.

In the fall of 2011, the SSC and CLL opened the walking to area seniors at no charge.  Participation swelled to nearly 50 walkers during the winter months as the gym was a safe place to get some exercise and meet your neighbor. A drawing for prizes offered by SSC spurred on some participants, as you could add your name to the pot each time you walked.

On April 3, walkers gathered at the end of class to receive some well-earned kudos for their efforts as well as a few surprises. Walking leader Gretchen Cherry tabulated some impressive statistics.  As each name was called, The Walkers Roll Call of Fame met with much applause as 19 walkers were congratulated for having attended 20 or more walking sessions. Total walking sessions attended by these 19 folks is 476, which translates into a total of 833 miles walked! Top walker Jim Gillen received an SSC tote bag. Good job, all!

The drawing for the SSC prizes followed. And the winners are: Pat Gipson, SSC membership;  Gay Miller, SSC membership;  William Sprague, LL Bean gift certificate ; Linda Smith, table massage.

- Submitted for Sunrise Senior College by Gail Peters

 

To Your Health of WMSC
Holds Program on Eating for Healthy Aging

photo of Pat Watson, RD
Pat Watson, RD
 "Eating for Healthy Aging" was the topic of a program presented by Pat Watson, Registered Dietitian, during National Nutrition Month in March. To Your Health of Western Mountains Senior College  planned this program to respond to nutritional needs of aging, especially for those over age 65 who may be concerned about making healthy meals for one or two people.

Pat said, "Healthy eating and being fit are important to your health no matter how old you are." She discussed how to plan nutritious meals for one or two people, maintain a healthy weight during aging, and how to get more fiber into the diet. Pat also covered the important foods and nutrients the body needs and how much to eat.

The program was sponsored by To Your Health of Western Mountains Senior College as a community service with the collaboration of Bethel Family Health Center, MSAD#44/Continuing Education, and Maine Health Learning Resource Center of Stephens Memorial Hospital. All To Your Health programs are open to the public and admission is free.

-Submitted by Rosabelle Tifft for Western Mountains Senior College

 

CSC Members Enjoyed Art in Bloom in Boston

photo of Art in Bloom event at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Art in Bloom at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (Photo courtesy of the MFA, Boston)
Art in Bloom, a spring celebration of art and flowers, has been a popular event at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston since 1976. Coastal Senior College offered a bus trip to this year's festival on April 29, which featured almost 70 floral arrangements created by local garden clubs and inspired by great works of art.

   Boston's Museum of Fine Arts was the first museum in the country to initiate such a festival, which is now an annual event at many other public art institutions across the country. Flowers are the subject of many famous paintings, from the Impressionists to Japanese watercolors, and the MFA, one of the premier museums in the country, has an outstanding collection.

- submitted by Kay Liss for Coastal Senior College

Gold LEAF Members Explore the Town of Madison
Photo at Backyard Beauties greenhouse
Fran Harton and John and Mary Ellen Edgerly don protective clothing before entering
a greenhouse at Backyard Farms.

Members of Gold LEAF Institute enjoyed a field trip to Madison on April 17 as part of their "Our Town" series. Since first being amazed at the greenhouses in Madison in 2007, Gold LEAF members have wanted to tour Backyard Farms, a facility of 25 acres under glass. Read all about what they saw!

- submitted for Gold LEAF Institute by Eileen Kruetz

The Poet's Corner

On the Way to Wonderful

Everything has been said, and we are more than seven thousand years of human thought too late. - Jean de la Bruyere

Who are you to think you can add to what's not lacking?

Everything that needs to be said has been already said.

Wheels are invented with astounding regularity.

And still you keep on, rearranging the old tune
for a different key, to a different rhythm,
perhaps a different instrument, singing
what has been so exactly, wonderfully sung.

It's not wrong to head out for Wonderful.

Why not? Anything can happen,
since everything happens.

But on your way to Wonderful it's likely
you are going to pass through All Right.

Stop! Take a good look around you.

This may be as far as you can go.

The important thing is

to let it be all right,

not be the end,

only the and...

- by Ted Bookey,  Augusta Senior College

Like MSCN on Facebook

Facebook logo Now you can "like" Maine Senior College Network on Facebook. We've created an MSCN page on Facebook, so please visit it to share experiences, ideas, photos, and information about upcoming Maine Senior College happenings. We'll also post links to articles about lifelong learning and other topics relevant to senior college members.

 

In This Issue
Deadline Nears for MSCN Photo Contest Entries
CSC Spring Luncheon Set for May 3rd
L/A's May Food For Thought Features "Musical Treats"
Gold LEAF Stargazers
Guitarist Denny Breau to Perform at L/A Senior College
Sunrise Group Walks Their Way to Health!
WMSC Holds Program on Eating for Healthy Aging
CSC Members Enjoyed Art in Bloom
Gold LEAFers Explore Madison
The Poet's Corner
Like MSCN on Facebook!
Don't forget to go to the Maine Senior College Network website to find out what is happening around the state!

Maine Senior College Network 
Maine Senior College Network
Links
Acadia Senior College

Augusta Senior College
 
Coastal Senior College

Downeast Senior College

Gold LEAF Institute

LEARN

Lewiston-Auburn Senior College

Midcoast Senior College

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

Penobscot Valley Senior College

SAGE at UMPI

Senior College at Belfast


St. John Valley Senior College

Sunrise Senior College 
 
Western Mountains Senior College

York County Senior College
The Maine Senior College Network Display Boards are available to any senior college that would like to borrow them. For more information, check out the link below.

 
 
Maine Senior Guide is a comprehensive web resource about all things senior that provides "one stop shopping" for Maine's seniors at the link below: 

    
About Us
Maine Senior College Network
P.O. Box 9300
Portland, Maine 04104-9300
(207)780-4128
(207)780-4317 (fax)
 
Kali Lightfoot
Executive Director
 
Anne Cardale
Director of Communication 
Director of Conferences
fmyers@usm.maine.edu

Kyle Allen
Coordinator
kallen@usm.maine.edu
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Please submit your articles and photographs to Kyle Allen at kallen@usm.maine.edu




Deadline:  Third week of each month for the following month's edition