Week of May 1

CLASS SPOTLIGHT- Don’t miss out on some great classes starting this week!

 Log on to register or call 401-874-4197.

• Cultivating a Fresh Approach to Well-Being- 3 Sessions starting Wednesday, May 3, 5:00PM to 6:30PM with Erin Thorkilsen. Click for more information.

• Saving the Birds-1 Session on Wednesday, May 3, 5:00PM-6:30PM with Charles Clarkson Click to read more. 

• Three Mini-Retreats in an Academic Setting- 3 Sessions starting Thursday, May 4, at 1:00PM to 2:30PM with Christine Phoenix Green. Click for more info

This Week at OLLI

Monday

9:30AM Italian Conversation

10:30AM Basic Horsemanship (off-site)

11:00AM Building More Movement

1:30PM Playing with Classics: Poems

5:00PM Becoming a Better Listener

Tuesday

10:00AM Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (Zoom)

10:00AM How to Make the Best Pictures of Your Life

11:30AM New Member Orientation

1:00PM Creative Writing 

2:00PM Classic Foreign Films

2:00PM Rhody Outpost Orientation

3:00PM Nathaniel Hawthorne

Wednesday

9:30AM Hamlet

11:00AM Exploring Fractals and Chaos

12:30PM Bowling Group

1:00PM Walking Group

1:30PM The Two Elizabeths (make up class)

2:00PM Outreach Committee

5:00PM Fresh Approach to Well-Being

5:00PM Saving the Birds

Thursday

9:00AM Let’s Skate

9:00AM Tech Committee (Zoom)

11:30 Geology of National Parks

1:00 PM Mah jong (lobby)

1:00PM Three Mini Retreats

1:30PM Wrongful Conviction

5:30PM Renaissance Art History (Zoom)

Friday

9:30AM Reading and Writing Poetry

10:00AM Photo Friday (Zoom)

1:00PM Writer’s Group (Zoom)

1:00PM Bring Meditation into Your Daily Life

1:00PM The Life and Legacy of Johnny Cash

REMINDER: The class Building a Resilient Brain that was canceled last week will take place on May 8, at 1pm. If you were enrolled and can’t attend that day, please let us know and we are happy to give you a full refund. Alternatively you may transfer to the May 17, class session at 1pm. Call the office and we’re happy to help! 401-874-4197.

FALL COURSE PROPOSALS ARE DUE TUESDAY, MAY 2– We encourage you to consider the valuable contribution you can make outside of your role as a student. We invite you to share your knowledge, passions, and interests with other OLLI students by teaching a course for us! While some of our instructors are current or retired high school or college faculty, many are people who enjoy the opportunity to share their interests and knowledge. You can fill out a course proposal form on our website.

OLLI MEMBERSHIP WELCOME– Tuesday, May 2, at 11:30AM.  Both current and new members are invited to attend and learn about all OLLI has to offer. We’ll review our current programs, and our special interest groups, all while exploring and becoming more familiar with our OLLI website and registration software. Plenty of time for Q & A. Bring a friend! Non-Members are welcome! Join us! 

SHOW YOUR OLLI SPIRIT! Help showcase OLLI at the Town of South Kingstown 300th Anniversary Parade on Saturday, June 17, sponsored by the University of Rhode Island. Join in the fun and celebrate OLLI as we march in the 1.2-mile parade in Wakefield. We are hoping to have a large representation of OLLI members with full pageantry and pomp and circumstance as we toot our horn about our lifelong learning community.. The Parade kicks off at 10AM and

will conclude with a community wide picnic with food and beverages. Stop by the OLLI office (or call 401-874-4197) if you are interested in learning more and to put your name on the list of participants (this will allow us to order enough OLLI hats for those marching). PLEASE LET US KNOW BY FRIDAY, MAY 5, if you are interested.

RHODY OUTPOST The May collection theme for the Rhody Outpost is mother/child/baby centered items in celebration of Mothers’ Day. Here are some suggested donations but if any of you moms recall a “must have” item please add it to the basket!

• Baby wipes

• Hand soap

• Lotions and sunscreen (for moms and children)

• Tea and coffee

• Chocolate 

• Click here for the complete list of requested items. 

If you would like to attend an orientation meeting for OLLI members who would like to volunteer at the pantry on May 2, please call the office at 401-874-4197.

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER SURVEY Are you a community volunteer? If so, please take 2 minutes to fill out this quick survey. This information will then be shared with our OLLI Serves group to identify other volunteer opportunities for our members. Click here to fill out the survey. 

Thank you for your service to our community!

SPRING PLANT SALE: Saturday, May 6, 9:00AM-12:00PM

The URI Master Gardener Spring Plant Sale is back! The event takes place on Saturday, May 6, from 9AM-12PM rain or shine, in the URI Botanical Gardens. The event will feature annuals, perennials, herbs, and vegetable seedlings (including our 2023 Plant of the Year – Berried Treasure®️ Pink Everbearing Strawberry) grown by URI Master Gardener propagation volunteers in the East Farm greenhouses. Proceeds from the annual Spring Plant Sale support URI Master Gardener Program educational services like the Gardening and Environmental Hotline, their soil pH testing service, our public presentation program and our gardening kiosks. 

 

WHAT TO BRING: A soil sample for free pH testing, a wagon for your plant purchases, a bag for free Burpee seed packets, and your gardening questions.

 

WHERE TO PARK: Attendees are encouraged to park behind the URI Fine Arts building off Flagg Road. A pathway down the hill leads directly to the greenhouse fire lane where the plant sale line begins. 

URIMINDFUL OPEN TUESDAY MINDFUL MEDITATION GROUP *Virtual Event – Tuesday, May 02, 2023 at 12:15pm to 12:45pm- Open to all students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends – Free online virtual mediation – Tuesdays, 12:15-12:45pm. No meditation experience necessary.

Sessions typically last 15-20 minutes and are facilitated by rotating volunteer facilitators. Attendees are encouraged to keep cameras on to create community but participant access and comfort are most important! Please do what helps you participate with ease! Click for more info and the Zoom link.

FOCUS GROUP ON MIGRAINE SELF-MANAGMENT Conducted by a URI Clinical Psychology doctoral student. Currently recruiting adults (18+) who experience migraines to participate in a 60-minute online focus group to talk about migraine self-management. Participants will receive a $50 Amazon card for taking part. If you are interested, please complete this google form and they will contact you with further information: https://forms.gle/KPzUYcU5MrHu32vk7

Participants must be 18 years or older, reside in the US, and meet diagnostic criteria for Migraine. If you have any questions, you can contact Hayley Lindsey at migraine-self-management-study-group@uri.edu.  

A CONVERSATION WITH MARY MCALEESE, FORMER PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, Wednesday, May 17, 2:30PM at Salve Regina University. Free event. Click to reserve your spot.

The wide-ranging “fireside chat” will explore McAleese’s longstanding interest in issues such as justice, equality, social inclusion, anti-sectarianism and reconciliation. McAleese was president of Ireland from 1997-2011. Currently chancellor of Trinity College Dublin, she also is professor of children, law and religion at the University of Glasgow. McAleese holds a doctorate and licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University Rome and a master’s degree in canon law from the National University of Ireland. During its 75th anniversary year, Salve Regina has presented a variety of events and programs sharing its history as a transformative, academic community and showcasing how it is fulfilling the mercy promise of its 1947 founders, the Sisters of Mercy.

A COMMUNITY TOGETHER INVITES YOU TO A SPECIAL PRESENTATION BY MICHAEL FINE, M.D. What is Healthcare For? Thursday, May 11, at 1:00PM Free and open to the public.

Narragansett Community Center, 53 Mumford Road. Come for lunch and stay for the presentation. Box lunches and hot lunches are available weekdays at Noon at the Narragansett Community Center (donations accepted). To reserve a lunch, contact the Center at 782-0675 by Monday, May 8th. Otherwise, join them at 1:00 p.m. for the presentation.

According to Dr. Fine, there is no health care system in the U.S., only a health care market. Therefore, we older adults need to make sure we belong to a good primary care practice and have a primary care clinician we can trust. At the same time, we need to work together to build a social movement to make a health care system that is for people, not for profit, and starts by providing primary care to all Americans in every American neighborhood and community. 

Have a great week!