NEW MSCN HEADER (With border)
Issue No. 54
November 2014
The MSCN Newsletter

Welcome to Your November Newsletter!


Welcome to the November issue of the Maine Senior College Network's newsletter! Thank you for sharing your news and photographs with the network. Readers will see they have been invited to two events on Friday, November 14: Midcoast Senior College's musical presentation with the DaPonte String Quartet or Lewiston-Auburn Senior College's amusing seminar entitled "Blue Lights and Funny Cider!"

As invitations are the order of the day I invite anyone who is in Portland this Sunday (November 2nd) to come and say hello to me at the MSCN stand at the Portland Press Herald's Health & Wellness Expo. Just print out this special Free Entry Coupon and show it at the door!

Best wishes,  

Anne Cardale

Program Coordinator

Maine Senior College Network    


 

Midcoast Senior College Presents:
The DaPonte String Quartet -
"The Biology of Music"  

When Franz Joseph Haydn invented a new kind of sonata, he began for the first time to build narrative into his music, with the use of a protagonist, antagonist, conflict, and resolution. His idea caught fire over the next two and a half centuries as composers founds new ways of telling more complex musical "stories." Soon, observers began to notice something strange: these musical forms did not just resemble story structures, they more and more resembled *biological* ones. 

This fascinating development is the subject of a presentation by the DaPonte String Quartet. The musicians will both play from and speak about three important nineteenth-century masterworks by Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms

Friday, November 14 from 12:00 - 1:30 pm,
Curtis Memorial Library, Morrell Room.
Free and Open to the Public.

Submitted by - Bianca Chambers, Midcoast Senior College

 

USM Senior College at Lewiston-Auburn College
Presents:
"Blue Lights and Funny Cider" Seminar 
John Ford & Mark Nickerson with Susie (the rescued racoon).

Retired Maine Game Warden John Ford Sr., (above left) and retired Maine State Trooper Mark Nickerson (above right) are on tour in the great state of Maine in response to repeated requests for their "Blue Lights and Funny Cider" Seminar. John Ford and Mark Nickerson regale audiences in Maine and beyond with their hilarious tales of law enforcement "back in the day" based on stories from their best-selling books. They have taken their show on the road and are on Tour throughout the Great State of Maine and leaving the folks behind rolling in the aisles! 

Details:
Friday, November 14
11:30 "Food for Thought Luncheon"
Location: USM LAC Campus: The Function Room - 170 

The cost (which includes luncheon!)
$7 with advance reservation 
or  $8 at the door. 
Reservations must be made by noon on Thursday, November 13, by calling 753-6510.  Any late callers will be considered "at the door."

The public are cordially invited to join the Lewiston-Auburn 
Senior College at this event.

The cost, which includes lunch, is $7 with advance reservation or $8 at the door. Reservations must be made by noon on Thursday, November

 

Submitted by - Rachel Morin, Lewiston-Auburn Senior College

Good food for both body and spirit at Penobscot Valley Senior College
Penobscot Valley Senior College members display their artwork at the annual meeting 

Penobscot Valley Senior College's annual meeting had good food for both body and spirit. The luncheon buffet, at Jeff's Catering, was heartily enjoyed, but the real focus of the event was creativity. Members' photos and art works, from watercolors to illustrated daybooks, were handsomely displayed. Viewers were overheard expressing awe at the quality of the display. 

 

Following the meal, a lively panel of painters and other creative people, all PVSC members, discussed what inspired them-giving lots of credit to Senior College classes-how they worked, and what their greatest satisfactions were. Most began their artistic lives after retirement, proving once again that lifelong learning is what we're all about. Donna Gormley, a former local television personality, facilitated the discussion with humor and warmth. 

 

Outgoing President Judy Hanscom, who organized the event and saw to the attractive d�cor, presided at a brief business meeting. A new slate of officers was elected: Charles Boothby, President; Peter Anderson, Vice-President; Eloise McLaughlin, Secretary; and Elsa Sanborn, Treasurer.

 

 

Submitted by - Anita Kurth, Penobscot Valley Senior College

 

Online Registration for Senior College at Belfast

Beginning with the "Winterim" term, Senior College at Belfast will begin taking online registration. This comes as a result of requests from members who are truly "young at heart" and view the Internet as a usable tool for everything in their daily lives. Our website was updated with more user-friendly tools (including a + and - at the top of each page so we can increase font size for our older eyes), a photo rotator with current pictures of events and classes and individual pages on the site keep everyone abreast of upcoming trips and classes. 



A year ago, we suspended mailing the catalog and went to an "e-news letter" as the number of people with email grew. We will still mail catalogs and newsletters to those without email, and those not wishing to enroll online are welcome to fill out the registration form and mail or bring it in. With a membership of around 600, and class participants numbering near 400, Belfast hopes to keep everyone happy, or at least get as close to it as we can. 


 

Submitted by - Debbie Mitchell, Belfast Senior College
Gold LEAF Fall Expeditions
Trips and Paddles (and Alpacas) 


 

"Trips and Paddles"
Arriving with gloves on their hands, a brave group of Gold LEAF members met to carpool to Farmington Falls. We assembled at the Sandy River in mid-October, and there was some trepidation among the participants as the temperatures had dipped to near freezing overnight! But good luck held: the river was high enough for paddling from the prior week's rains, and the temperatures rose steadily that morning, with no wind to combat. The sun even popped out. As did the eagles, known to hang out around the river's bends. 

 

The kayak and canoe trip was guided by Ray Stillman, a member of the GLI Curriculum Committee. He is very thorough in his "scoping out" of safe and enjoyable events, including up-to-the-minute reviews of such things as the river water level and hour by hour weather predictions. He even clears the walkways and staircases of fallen leaves so that water craft can be safely carried down to the river's edge. 


Alpacas 101: A Farm Tour 

Gold LEAFers also visited Northern Solstice Alpaca Farm in Unity, Maine to take their "Alpacas 101: A Farm Tour". The presenters gave a full introduction on raising alpacas, their qualities and the products. They also discussed the benefits for Alzheimer's patients who come to visit the animals. In addition, the farm offers opportunities to "invest" in an alpaca and then reap the benefits of your investment as offspring are born and sold. The trip coordinator was Emma Gierczak. 
 

The Curriculum Committee at GLI is very fortunate to have such a great team, with members like Ray and Emma. Our next Gold LEAF Curriculum Committee meeting is to be held on November 12 at 1 p.m. and welcomes ideas for classes and trips. Contact: goldleaf@maine.edu

  

Submitted by - Eileen Kreutz, Gold LEAF Institute
"Wish To Be At Home: Downeast Maine."
Members of Acadia Senior College take a field trip to Frenchboro, Maine

 

Take a moment to visit the blog post "Sunbeam Trip to Frenchboro, Maine" by photographer George Soules. George gives Acadia Senior College a great mention and you can see the beautiful photographs he took on his recent ASC field trip.
 

"The tiny village of Frenchboro is located on Long Island, eight miles southeast of Bass Harbor, Maine. The 2,500 acre island is just two miles long by a mile and a half across at its widest point. Today I traveled to Frenchboro on the Sunbeam V, a 75 foot vessel operated by the Maine Sea Coast Mission. The journey was a field trip for an Acadia Senior College class I have been taking called Wish To Be At Home: Downeast Maine."

 

Submitted by - Jude Lamb, Acadia 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.

 

photo
"Bug Light, South Portland, Maine" photograph by Anne Cardale


In This Issue
"The Biology of Music"
"Blue Lights and Funny Cider"
Good food for both body and spirit
Online Registration for Belfast
"Trips & Paddles & Alpacas"
"Wish To Be At Home: Downeast Maine."
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
Links

Acadia Senior College

Augusta Senior College
 
Coastal Senior College

Downeast Senior College

Gold LEAF Institute

South Coast 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
MSCN Promotional Videos




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: 

    
Contact Information
Maine Senior College Network 
P.O. Box 9300 
Portland, Maine 04104-9300 
(207) 228-4128
(207) 780-4317 (fax)
Email:

The Maine Senior College Network is a program of the University of Southern Maine
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Submissions
Please submit your articles and photographs to
Anne Cardale at  acardale@usm.maine.edu

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