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TODAY
Asheville Community Theatre's
"Hobson's Choice"
 The Autumn Players is a troupe of seasoned actors dedicated to taking the theatre experience into the community. Readings of great literature by experienced performers can spark deep understanding and kindle lasting interest. As words jump from the page with conviction and emotion, stories come to life.
The Autumn Players will offer the comedy "Hobson's Choice" Sunday, November 17, 2013, 2:30 pm, in the Manheimer Room..
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Registrationfor Winter Term will be held on Tuesday, December 3, 2013 at 8am. Mark your calendar!
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Have you lost a jacket? An umbrella? Pair of glasses?
You may want to check at the OLLI office in Reuter Center Room 208 to see if we have found them! Our lost & found drawer is full, and the contents will soon be headed to the donation box at a local charity. Come see if your lost item is here before it finds a new home. Items will be donated this Friday, November 22.
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Women's Group
Special Interest Group
(SIG)
Seeking New Members  Call or email for meeting times. SIG contact: Bobbie Bowen, 828-693-1523, ravery09@gmail.com or Joannie Alston,
713-302-8453, joanniealston@aol.com Women participate in non-judgmental sharing, for pleasure, friendship, and mutual enrichment. Topics may include such subjects as: grace, humor, guilt, joy, exploring beliefs about aging, how to say "no," health, death of loved ones, retirement, working retirement, parenting adult children, caring for our aging parents, sex in the second fifty years, in-lawing, grand parenting, etc.
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Audubon Society Meeting
Tuesday, November 19,
7 pm
Reuter Center
 The Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society meeting's speaker will be Katie Hicks on the affect of "fracking" in the WNC mountains. This meeting is free and open to the public.
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The World Affairs Council of Western North Carolina
in conjunction with
UNC Asheville's political science department and OLLI
invite you to a lecture by Raymond Gilpin on
"Africa:
A Hopeful Continent?"
Tuesday, December 3, 2013, 7:30 pm
Reuter Center's Manheimer Room
Can Africa's economic improvements in the 2000s, with GDP growth more than any other region other than Asia's, be sustained, and how will it shape the lives of average Africans? Raymond Gilpin is a published author, regular blogger, and currently the academic dean at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, DC. He is a Cambridge University trained economist and has worked at the World Bank as well as with a number of African financial institutions.
This event is the fourth in our 2013-2014 World Affairs Council series. Members who have subscribed to the series but have not received their WAC-WNC card may do so when they enter. For those who have not subscribed, annual memberships may be purchased "at the door." UNC Asheville students are admitted free. Single admission price for this event is $10.
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Astronomy Club of Asheville Meeting
Thursday, December 5, 7 pm
2nd Annual Club Holiday Social and Auction
Click here to see more.
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OLLI Merchandise
Now Available in UNC Asheville Bookstore!
Visit the campus bookstore website to purchase a great OLLI tote or insulated mug. Shop online or in store.
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This poem was sent in by a member with a request to share..
Wisdom is the capacity to be devoted to ideals not wedded to the past.
You are really the only ones who are free to tell the truth.
You have nothing to lose. You are the prophets of society.
Old age is an excellent time for outrage. What ever truth must be said, we are the ones to say it.
Old age is the time to be dangerous, to be honest, alive, to live on the edge with courage, to spend time well.
Tomorrow
is for living, not for ambling around waiting.
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Dear OLLI Members,
We will be posting our Winter 2014 catalog online on Tuesday, November 19, so that you can begin to plan for registration on December 3.
Please take some time to read Carol Gillen's article about Reuter Center Singers director Chuck Taft. Chuck's energy and enthusiasm are critical to the success of this group which has a very active schedule as we enter the holiday season.
Please come by Room 208 to see the new arrangement in our office in the Reuter Center and also take a peek into Room 120 on the lower level of the building, the former computer lab. With both of these "repurposing" efforts we have tried to add more meeting spaces to accommodate the many committees who make our programs so engaging while maintaing our ability to schedule the CFS classes that are at the heart of OLLI. Thanks to Leanna Preston and all the OLLI staff for their creativity and flexibility as we make this change.
While our classes for Fall 2013 have ended and things are quiet, the Reuter Center remains active with planning for future terms. The Diversity Group has met to plan next steps for including more OLLI members and potential members in our efforts. SIG leaders met to talk about ways to foster their membership. The College for Seniors committee held its lively monthly meeting planning and discussing how to make this model program even better. Many committee members strive to continue to improve what we do, while they nurture and maintain the core values and spirit that make our programs compelling, challenging, and fun.
Thank you for the many ways you contribute to our community.
Catherine Frank
Executive Director
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This Week Nov. 17-23, 2013
Sunday, November 17, 2:30 pm, Autumn Players Reader's Theatere ~ "Hobson's Choice"
Tuesday, November 19, 5pm, Winter catalog mails and is available on-line
Tuesday, November 19, 7 pm, Audubon Society Meeting
Wednesday, November 20, 7 pm, Blue Ridge Orchestra Open Rehearsal
Click here to see the OLLI calendar and then click on each event to discover times, event specifics and more.
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Next Week Nov 24-30, 2013
November 27-30, OLLI closed for Thanksgiving
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And Beyond
Tuesday, December 3, 8 am, Winter Registration
Tuesday, December 3, 7:30 pm, World Affairs Council
Wednesday, December 4, 7 pm, Blue Ridge Orchestra Open Rehearsal
Thursday, December 5, 7 pm, Astronomy Club of Asheville
Monday, December 9, 7 pm, Reuter Center Singers Holiday Concert
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UNC ASHEVILLE CAMPUS EVENT HIGHLIGHTSWeek of November 17 11/18, 21 Film Series: We Shall Remain film screenings. 90-minute documentaries spanning 300 years tell the story of pivotal moments in US history from the Native American perspective. 7 pm in UNC Asheville's Highsmith University Union, Grotto. Free and open to the public. Info: msp.unca.edu or 828.232.2417 11/18 Lecture: "Can we know them by their songs and dances? Performing mirrors: reflections of war, turmoil, and the human spirit," Melodie Galloway, associate professor of music, and Connie Schrader, health and wellness lecturer. 11:25 am in UNC Asheville's Lipinsky Auditorium. Free and open to the public. Info: humanities.unca.edu or 828/251-6808. 11/21 Theater:- Theatre UNC Asheville presents Columbinus performed by UNC Asheville's student theater company, written by Stephen Karam and PJ Paparelli, directed by Rob Bowen, associate professor of drama. The play examines the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999. A discussion will follow each performance. 7:30 pm Thursday - Saturday; 2 pm Sunday, November 21-24 in UNC Asheville's Carol Belk Theatre. $10 admission. Info: http://drama.unca.edu/theatre-uncaor 828/232-6610. 11/22 Music: -- A Cappella Concert: The Fortissimamas and Undertones perform contemporary a capella music arranged and sung by UNC Asheville students. Free and open to the public. 7 pm in UNC Asheville's Humanities Lecture Hall. Info: music.unca.edu or 828.251.6432
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Chuck Taft and the
Reuter Center Singers:
Harmony of energy, passion, and creativity
by Carol GillenChuck Taft wants to let everyone know how much his daughter, Ceili, has changed his life over the past eight years. He explained, "For the past twenty years, my career and my leadership role in music was a meteoric rise. Now the shift is from concentrating on me alone to thinking of what the two of us can do together. In fact I have recently featured Ceili at my last few Reuter Center Singers' concerts. In this way I strive to 'do what I do' and work to be a role model for her and contribute to her life."
Chuck has had an unusual path that brings him to where he is today. He first started college in 1986 at UNC Asheville and then transferred to UNC Greensboro. He admits that he didn't transition well and ended up dropping out of school. He came back to Asheville and started working part-time as a choir director at his church; after a short time this led to a full-time position. Then, in the mid 1990s he became musical director of the University Singers at UNC Asheville. A year after that he took over the Community Chorus. He says, "In getting all of these jobs, nobody asked if I had finished college; the only defining factor was that there was a need for my talents."
The College for Seniors (CFS) choir came into being in the late 1990s when Cissie Stevens was the CFS director. When Ron Manheimer started as North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement's (NCCCR) executive director, choir singers were a combination of CFS members and UNC Asheville student members.
In 2002 the Community Chorus was dropped from the curriculum at UNC Asheville due mainly to budget cuts. Subsequently, the Community Chorus merged with the CFS choir and officially became the Reuter Center Singers. This transition helped to bring together a critical mass of people. Without auditions, singers perform significant musical pieces which open them up to a broad range of music, including classical and popular, with a good eclectic blend of voices.
Professionally, in addition to being the Reuter Center Singers musical director and driving force, Chuck has been musical director of many musical theater productions in Western North Carolina, with groups including the Hayward Arts Regional Theater (HART), the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre (SART), and the Asheville Lyric Opera.
Chuck explains, "I am so lucky. My vocation is to do sacred church music, but I also have been able to work in musical theater, which has taught me about secular music and a broad spectrum of other genres."
All of Chuck's prior experiences make his work here at OLLI colorful and meaningful to him, OLLI members, and those who attend his concerts. "Working at OLLI has kept me on my toes; working with people who have had lots of training and knowledge over many years. There is no pretending; they don't have to be here; they are here because they want to be. They want to learn, and I love to teach - a synergy of terrific creative energy." He goes on to explain, "We stand by our mission that everyone has a seat in our chorus. Every member of the Reuter Center Singers is an integral part of the group: they need us and we need them. And we make sure that everyone's needs are accommodated. This is what makes it rewarding for everyone."
For the last five years, performances that combine the talents of the UNC Asheville Singers and Reuter Center Singers have brought both groups closer together. "We hope to continue going forward with lots of challenges and lots of satisfaction."
OLLI is glad to have an exciting and enthusiastic instructor like Chuck Taft, and we hope he continues making beautiful music for many years to come! We want to congratulate Chuck on getting his bachelor's degree from Western Carolina University in Fall 2013 - great job, Chuck -- you are certainly a terrific role model to your daughter!
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ADVANCING DIVERSITY AT OLLI - NEXT STEPS 
The Diversity Group met this past week and approved a proposal that would expand the core group to include fellow members who are eager to support diversity initiatives at OLLI. So far at least twenty members have expressed interest, and there is good reason to believe that others would like to be included.
The immediate next step is to have an organizational meeting for this larger group in early January, likely to be Thursday or Friday, January 9th or 10th. At that meeting discussion will center on an agenda for a subsequent day-long workshop facilitated by a diversity expert. The aims of the workshop are to increase consciousness of the issues surrounding diversity, identify doable projects that group members would undertake, identify allies in the community with whom we might partner to build our capacity, and most important develop a sense of common purpose and mutual commitment.
If you wish to be included in this expanded effort please e-mail Steve Kaagan, Skaagan@msu.edu
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