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 Wilma Dykeman 

Join us for this interesting lecture series presented by OLLI and the Wilma Dykeman Legacy. The series examines Wilma Dykeman's life, career, achievements, and values.  All presentations free and open to the public and will take place on Sunday afternoons from 3 to 4:30 pm in the Manheimer Room.

  Are you interested in teaching?  Do you want to help line up great classes?  During the week of September 30-October 3, OLLI's College for Seniors Curriculum Committee representatives will be available at a table in the lower lobby to answer your questions about teaching at OLLI and/or volunteering with Curriculum  Topic Groups.  Please stop by!

Buncombe County TRIAD is a coalition of public and private sector partners united to improve the safety and well-being of older adults.  Buncombe County TRIAD is offering an educational outreach series at OLLI at UNC Asheville.

This series is scheduled in the Reuter Center, Room 102A, Mondays, 2-3 pm and is free and open to the public. 

Upcoming dates and topics are
September 30: "Protect Against Frauds and Scams" by Robyn Michalove, Buncombe County Sheriff's Office  
October 7: "Protect Against Exploitation" by  Roxann Sizemore, Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services and Terry Collins, Land-of-Sky Regional Council
October 14: "Protect Against Medication Diversion" by Ken Razza, Buncombe County Sheriff's Office Anti-Crime Task Force
October 21: "Protect Against Personal Harm" by Helen Hall, Buncombe County Sherriff Office and Kelley Klope, Asheville Fire Department
October 28: "Protect Against False Information" by Rachael Nygaard, Director of 2-1-1, Buncombe County United Way

Supernovae, the explosive deaths of stars, produce heavy elements, blast them into the interstellar medium to form the substance for later generations of stars, and stir and heat the interstellar gases.  The remnants of supernovae persist for hundreds of thousands of years, producing bright radio and X-ray emission, and accelerating cosmic rays, high-energy particles that fill the galaxy, and that rain down on us on Earth constantly.  Thermonuclear supernovae are all so similar to one another that they can be used as cosmic standard beacons across the universe to help us gauge the expansion of the universe.

  This presentation will summarize the state of our knowledge about supernovae and their remnants, and describe the discovery of the remnant of the most recent supernova in our own Milky Way galaxy: only about 100 years old.

Campus Dining Announcement

Stay Connected

Dear OLLI Members,

Executive Director

Instructor: David Keller     Fee: $80/person 
Material Fee:  $50/person estimate. Final fee will be calculated from actual cost of the beers. Payable to the instructor.
For more information,click here for a link to view the workshop description and more information.  Stop by the Center or call 828-251-6140 to register. 

 

By David Langdon

 

When Ken Macfarlane retired 20 years ago, he was CEO of The Scottish Motor Trade Association and Secretary to the Joint Council for wages and conditions in the UK Retail Auto Industry. Returning from London to Scotland, he directed his skills in negotiation, arbitration and public speaking to develop programs to help long-term employees with transition into retirement. "I was amazed at how unprepared people who had worked 30 years for a company were for their retirement." With the help of Edinburgh University he developed and delivered three day workshops designed to expose career employees to the wide variety of retirement choices. It's no wonder Ken is a perfect fit as guide for the Paths program and chairman of the Life Transitions Committee at OLLI at UNC Asheville.

 

Ken's education was disrupted for family reasons. He left school at age 15 to work on his father's farm but quickly decided that farm life was not what he wanted. Over the next three years he tried out over a dozen jobs. "They were so easy to come by in those days," Ken quipped. Eventually, he settled at Uniroyal, the tire company. With their support he completed college earning a diploma in management studies and receiving a Gold Medal, the highest Scottish scholastic award for his finals project: implementing a management program that saved Uniroyal over $30,000 annually.

 

His work philosophy is "work to play." He explains "My approach was twofold: First, find a niche project and the most efficient way to complete it. Second, make friends with the most powerful employees in the company, often the janitor in charge of a building or the CEO's secretary with access to all sorts of information." Ken believes these are great resources to get through the red tape in order to play earlier.

 

Travel to Asheville and OLLI began after Ken met and married his wife Linda. They met during a workshop in Scotland and began their journey by moving to property Linda owned in Todos Santos on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. They built a home and stayed several years, but Ken was never comfortable with the culture. Over the years they made several trips to visit Linda's children in Pennsylvania and Alabama. During one of those trips they passed through Asheville considering it as a new retirement location. They made the move because they loved the city. After four months as residents, they met a neighbor familiar with the Life Transitions workshops at OLLI, who introduced Ken to the program.

 

Ken found his niche at OLLI, by getting involved on the Life Transitions Program and eventually becoming its chairman. During his time as chair, the Paths and Creative Retirement Exploration Weekend(CREW) programs have grown and improved. Both programs are unique in the country as facilitator-led, self discovery workshops that guide people into successful retirement. Ken's hope is the Life Transitions programs will continue to grow by engaging committee members to address other retirement issues in new workshops like Exploring Continuing Care Retirement Communities and The Gift of Time.

 

Macfarlane's "work to play" attitude also applies to the many sports where he excels, including skiing and table tennis (he played for Scotland). Currently he spends many weekends competing in US tournaments and has worked his way up the national rankings for his age group. Also an avid windsurfer, Ken recently enjoyed the waves in Aruba. Both he and Linda are starting to work through their bucket list of travel destinations, always with an eye on the OLLI schedules.

 

Location:  Kimmel Arena

For More Information Contact:

Hannah McNeill, hmcneill@bobcats.com,

704-688-8764