Opera Talks

Asheville Lyric Opera (ALO) brings to life the greatest stories and music to Asheville's premiere theatrical stage, the Diana Wortham

On  February 21, 2014, 3 pm, the series continues with "The Voice," a discussion about how the human voice operates.  

On March 21, 2014, 3pm,  ALO provides a presentation with guest artists from their spring opera, Mozart's Don Giovanni.

All lectures in the series are free and open to the public in the Reuter Center's Manheimer Room.  

National Survey on Hearing Loops

  Have you tried OLLI's wireless hearing loop, installed in the Manheimer Room? Are you willing to take a short national survey sharing your experiences and reactions?

Juliette Sterkens, an advocate for hearing loops from the Hearing Loss Association of America, who will speak in Asheville on March 10,  seeks feedback about the success of loops over a wide range of venues.

Click here to complete the short survey before the end of January.

Many thanks from OLLI's Hearing Advocate group; Ann Karson and Melinda Stuart, co-chairs.  

STEM Lecture 

by Dr. Amy Lanou

Monday, February 3, 4:30 pm

Reuter Center

This year's Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) lectures are designed around the theme of the engaged citizen.  An engaged citizen needs to know more and more about science, technology, engineering and mathematics to understand social issues.

The fourth in this year's series of Interdisciplinary STEM lectures will be on Monday, February 3rd, at 4:30 pm in the Reuter Center (room 206).

The speaker is Amy Lanou of UNC Asheville's Health & Wellness Promotion Department.  The title of her lecture is  "Sifting Through the Hype: Miracle Meal or Dietary Disaster."

Consumers are bombarded with information about miracle foods, methods for rapid weight loss, the healthiest dietary regimens for avoiding chronic disease, and ways of escaping the march of time. While most contain an element of truth, many are huge exaggerations, often to sell one or more products, or just plain false as written. Even government messages about food and health are often compromises between what the science illuminates and pressures from one or more industries to promote or not disparage their products. In this session, we'll talk through the science behind some of these claims and brainstorm simple strategies for sifting through the hype.    Many thanks to Howard Jaslow and his committee for organizing the STEM lectures and creating opportunities for OLLI members and UNC Asheville faculty and staff to learn more about STEM issues.

World Affairs Council 

Dr. Debray Sabia on 

"Economic Statecraft & Trade"

 Tuesday, February 4, 7:30 pm

Reuter Center's Manheimer Room

Come to the Reuter Center for these fascinating lectures and panel discussions that aim to advance international awareness and foster Western North Carolina's global ties.

  On February 4, 7:30 pm,  Dr. Debra Sabia, Georgia Southern University, will present on "Economic Statecraft and Trade."  America's foreign policy tools are not limited to sanctions, treaties or military campaigns; they also include the sales pitch. The logic behind this pitch, or "economic statecraft," is simple: promote the benefits of democracy and the free market. In so doing, the U.S. gains valuable and stable partners, both in business and in diplomacy.  Dr. Sabia will focus on these issues as they play out in Mexico and Latin America.    

  New SIG Wine Tasting Two  

Are you interested in learning more about wine?  Do you want to share knowledge you may already have or learn what foods go with which wines?  Join us! Building on the success of the current wine tasting SIG, a new wine tasting SIG is forming. 

Our organizational meeting is scheduled for

Jeanne Smolkin, 

Chair of OLLI's Party Planning Committee, 

loves feeding and nurturing people!

By Carol Gillen

Jeanne Smolkin describes herself as "a Jewish mother" who has always wanted to feed the world. When she was raising her sons, she would always ask their friends, "Are you hungry? Do you want to stay for dinner?" She explains that her mission was to create a loving community at home and beyond through mealtime.

Jeanne's professional life, while living in New Orleans, included working on feasibility studies for real estate development nationwide with her father-in-law. When Katrina hit she and her husband, Stuart, lost their home and, subsequently, closed the family business. Shortly thereafter, they chose to move to Northern California where their son was going to school.

After living in California for a year, they realized that they missed living in the south with its more temperate climate and four seasons. They had some familiarity with Asheville and loved it. In 2007 they rented a house and made the decision to put down their roots here. At this time Jeanne also met Jan Guichard, who told them about Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UNC Asheville (formerly the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement). In 2008, after Jeanne and her husband joined OLLI, Jan also asked Jeanne to be on the OLLI Membership Committee.

She explains, "In the first few years the party planners were doing four or five events per year. There was a lot of effort, but still events had a sparse attendance." One of the first changes Jeanne initiated was a decision to have the Party Planning Subcommittee do only two great parties per year: a Volunteer Appreciation party in February and a July Barbeque before OLLI's yearly August registration. "By having two wonderful events per year, we felt that the membership would begin to understand that these are social events where people could come together, have fun, and enjoy each other. Over the last few years we feel we have succeeded in making these parties something folks look forward to attending."

Jeanne says, "We have a template as to what to do, what we need, and how to go forward. We discuss several possible themes, which can change the food, the décor, and the style. We also work on getting live entertainment for each event. Whatever we decide, the criteria is that it will always be fun for OLLI members."

On Friday, February 14, 2014 the Party Planners will help OLLI celebrate Volunteer Appreciation. They have already started working on the menu. A team of OLLI volunteers make all the food ahead of time, which is then is frozen until they make everything ready for the party. The Summer Barbeque and "Roundup" is planned for July, 2014.

Going forward Jeanne wants to get more people involved with OLLI Membership's Party Planning Subcommittee because new people bring fresh, new input and ideas. "There are lots of people out there with exciting backgrounds; they can keep our mission timely and current, and they give us input as to where the membership is at any given time."

So if you are "hungry" to help and you are a person who enjoys "feeding people as Jeanne likes to do,"contact her by phone: 828-254-4789, or by email: jsmolkin@gmail.com.