OLLI Logo
 Calendar & Announcements
Upcoming Schedule of Events
Dec 9-15, 2012
In this issue:
This Week
Next Week
And Beyond

Dear OLLI members,    

We hope that all of you who signed up for Winter 2013 College for Seniors courses received your schedules on Friday afternoon.  Add/Drop begins tomorrow morning at 8 am. We do ask that you wait until 8 am to begin to make calls or stop by the Center so that we don't have a long list of calls to return. Please remember that you may add as many courses as you can schedule without added cost, other than the $20 fee for some wellness and recreation courses. 

 

This is our last newsletter of the calendar year. Leanna Preston has done an excellent job of capturing some of the most important events of the past year. We also hope that you will find time to read John Hammond's story about College for Seniors instructor Carl Peterson and to join us for the Reuter Center Singers performance tomorrow, Monday, December 10.  The Reuter Center will be closed for our winter holidays from 5 pm on Friday, December 14 until 8 am on Wednesday, January 2.  

 

We are excited to announce that on Tuesday, January 2, we will have a new administrative support person manning the front desk.  Jessika Carney is a UNC Asheville graduate who has been an Americorps/Vista intern for the New York City Coalition Against Hunger and the Bronx and Manhattan Land Trust, creating programming and implementing community gardens. Here in Asheville she worked at the HealthAdventure as a weekend manager while she was in school.  All of Jessika's references spoke of her as "wise beyond her years," energetic and enthusiastic, qualities we saw in her during the interview process.  Many thanks to our search committee, Cindy Berryman-Fink, Debra Liles, Charlotte Moore, and Sheila Murphy, for their persistence in going through two searches and the applications of 139 candidates to find someone who combines the many skills we need to keep our office functioning smoothly. 

 

Many thanks to our staff, Ann Cadle, Laurel Jernigan, Anne Mock, Susan Poole, and Leanna Preston, all of whom have learned to work effectively, both independently and as a team, to allow us to accomplish so much over the course of the past year.  They have all taken on new and different work and as a result we have all learned a great deal about our hopes and priorities. 

 

Most important, thanks to you, the volunteers who have worked on the board, managed projects, created the curriculum, written and responded to the surveys, organized presentations, hosted events, manned the front desk, taught and facilitated courses, workshops, and special interest groups, planned big and worked hard.  We continue to grow and evolve. Our programs continue to set a high standard for lifelong learning institutes and to provide exciting opportunities to thrive in life's second half. 

 

Here's hoping that 2013 continues to see us evolve and improve. 

 

Catherine Frank       

Executive Director  

      

 

TODAY
Music, Mirth & Good Cheer - A Family Holiday Concert by the Blue Ridge Orchestra
Sunday, Dec. 9, 4 pm
Folk Art Center, Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville, NC

Join the Blue Ridge Orchestra for this joyful celebration of the holiday season, including:
Bugler's Holiday Sleigh Ride
Selections from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite
Good Tidings of Great Joy
A Christmas Narrative for Orchestra, Miguel Cooper, Narrator   
Selections from Hansel & Gretel 
Pizzicato Polka by Johann Strauss

Click here for ticket information
Festive Carolers  
Fa La La La La!

The Reuter Center Singers Holiday Concert

Monday, December 10, 2012, 7:30 p.m.

Come enjoy the beautiful music.
Free and open to the public.
In Memoriam

Charlotte Stark

October 25, 2011
Charles Lilien
December 12, 2011
William 'Bill' Brittain
December 16, 2011
Carol Lee DiCesare
January 3, 2012
Ralph Morris
January 17, 2012
Larry Golden
February14, 2012
Peggy Brazell
March 17, 2012
Rikki Tannen
March 21, 2012
Kirk Symmes

March 23, 2012
S.T. Taylor
April 11, 2012
Opal Vaugh Jones
June 21, 2012
James Roush
June18, 2012
Jules Resnick
September 23, 2012
Richard Page Hudson
September 30, 2012
Mary H. Sprague
October 15, 2012
Ruth Anderson
November 26, 2012
Gayle Childress
December 3, 2012
Winter Holidays
Center Closed for
Winter Break

Dec 17, 2012-Jan 1, 2013
Astronomy Club of Asheville 

January 3, 2013, 7 pm 

Yerkes Observatory
Gayle Riggsbee,
Astronomy Historian

 

"Building Yerkes Observatory: Then and Now"

Reuter Center, Manheimer Room  

Class Schedule
Winter 2013 class schedules were emailed Friday, 
December 7.
Everyone who has registered for courses for Winter 2013 will receive in email an updated schedule on on January 7, 2013 that should reflect any changes.

This Week   

Dec 9-15, 2012     

Monday, Dec 10, 8 am, Add/Drop for Winter 2013 courses begins
Monday, Dec 10, 7:30 pm, Reuter Center Singers Holiday Concert
Saturday, Dec 15, 9 am, UNC Asheville Commencement
 
 
  
                
  
   
Click here to see the OLLI calendar and then click on each event to discover times, event specifics and more.   

Next Week

Dec 16-22, 2012 


Dec 17-Jan 1, Center closed for Winter break 
  
 
  
                  
Click here to see the OLLI calendar and then click on each event to discover times, event specifics and more.  

And Beyond


Dec17-Jan 1, Center closed for Winter break
Wednesday, Jan 2, 2013 Center reopens
Thursday, Jan 3, 7pm, Astronomy Club of Asheville 

Click here to visit the OLLI calendar where you will find details on the above listed events and more.
 
A Look Back at Significant OLLI 2012 Special Events 
Time flies
~  Osher Foundation grants and endowment received so that the NC Center for Creative Retirement becomes the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNC Asheville 
~ Implementation of a new website and new look for our catalog
~ Completion of a new strategic plan, with presentations to membership, the UNC Asheville Board of Trustees and University Planning Council
~ Hiring new staff member Laurel Jernigan
~ Upgrade to audio/visual equipment in the Center, including upgrade to wireless access
~ Redesign of the Creative Retirement Exploration Weekend under the leadership of Fred and Linda Cardina
~ Implementation of a new leadership development event, Y'All Serve
~  Applachian Author series with Charles Frazier, Ron Rash, Tommy Hays, Erica Locklear Abrams 
~  Civil War Lecture series in partnership with the Western North Carolina Historical Association
~  Partnership with Leadership Asheville on two events-"Celebration of   Appalachian Music with Doug Orr" and"Meet Asheville's New Police Chief William Anderson"
~  Strive Not to Drive initiative in partnership with the Land of Sky Area Agency on Aging
~  Catherine Frank featured on UNC TV's NC People with William Friday
~  New Life Transitions program "Exploring Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs)" under the leadership of Chuck Rosenblum
 ~  Bil Lepp storytelling event
~  Lecture by encore.org founder Marc Freedman
~ Asheville Living Treasure recognition ceremony
~  OLLI member teams participated in The Walk to End Alzheimer's charity event
~  Partnered with the Land of Sky Regional Council to offer the TRIAD series, an educational outreach to reduce crime
~  "27 Views of Asheville" book talk
~  Advance Care Planning workshops
 ~  Successful completion of Leadership Asheville Seniors 26
~ Two fully subscribed sessions of Paths to Creative Retirement, addition of new facilitators and new program elements
~Six new SIGs formed and an ad hoc task force on the evolution of SIGs formed 
~Four successful College for Seniors terms
~Increase in Center membership and participation in College for Seniors courses
~And a partridge in a pear tree.   
   A View from the Bench:  Carl Peterson's reflections on judging, teaching and learning 
by John Hammond
Carl Peterson
Back in 2001, Carl Peterson decided to relocate from the fertile fields of Iowa to the rugged mountains of North Carolina. He had just completed an 18 year career as a judge of the Iowa trial court and two years as Senior Judge on special assignment to the Court of Appeals of Iowa. One would think that he and his wife LaDean would be anxious to spend some time relaxing and reflecting on their prior accomplishments and successes.  This turned out to be far from the case! 
Shortly after their arrival in Asheville, both Carl and LaDean began taking and teaching courses at the College for Seniors long before the Reuter Center was constructed. Carl has taught a wide range of subjects including: the law, the courts and American history, along with some dabbling in politics. For Winter Term 2013, Carl will be conducting a course exploring some of our country's founding fathers (Washington, Jefferson, Adams) and their views, intentions and objectives regarding the First Amendment, individual freedom, and individual responsibility. He will also join with others in leading a course in understanding the law.
While Carl was working as trial judge for the State of Iowa, he traveled to courthouses across the state hearing thousands of cases, listening to arguments and passing judgment.  These cases comprised a full spectrum from simple to complex, including a complete array of both civil and criminal proceedings. To say that he has seen it all would be an understatement! Throughout these experiences Carl remains convinced that "America's unique system of jurisprudence, employing juries composed of twelve independent individuals to hear arguments, weigh evidence and arrive at appropriate conclusions, remains the best possible approach to achieving justice."
Prior to his appointment to the bench, Carl spent three years as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Iowa, four years as a prosecutor, and twenty years in the general practice of law which included providing legal services to defendants in criminal matters. Carl says his tenure as a judge was the most rewarding of these varied experiences because it provided him with a sense of closure that he did not derive from his roles as an advocate.
Carl obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Juris Doctor's degree from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and, along with his fulltime career, taught part-time in a university setting. Like other Colleg for Seniors instructors, Carl feels much more energized and challenged teaching older adults as opposed to regular undergraduate and professional students because of their "eagerness to learn and the level of life experiences that they bring to the classroom."
As far as the future goes, Judge Carl Peterson would like to continue teaching, learning and interacting at OLLI's College for Seniors. It is clear that he and LaDean truly enjoy their experiences here at UNC Asheville and have a desire to maintain and extend their relationships at OLLI for as long as possible.
In addition to teaching and taking courses here, Carl enjoys the arts, music, and gardening. He is a member of Men's Garden Club of Asheville and also sings bass with the Asheville Choral Society. He was instrumental with others in the formation and development of the Reuter Center Singers.
We are indeed fortunate that Carl Peterson is so committed to OLLI's endeavors and its missions. I am confident that history will judge his contributions to be very valuable indeed!
Contact Information

 [email protected]   828.251.6140