This Week at OLLI – October 7

October 7, 2024

Week of October 7

CLASS SPOTLIGHT – Click the class title to register online or call 401-874-4197.

THIS WEEK AT OLLI

Monday

  • 9:15AM-10:15AM Cyber Seniors-Ryan
  • 9:30AM Beginning Italian
  • 9:30AM Mindful Living
  • 11:30AM South Kingstown Land Trust (off-site)
  • 11:30AM Tracking Your Ancestors
  • 1:30PM Native Peoples of Two Coasts
  • 1:30PM Digital Notetaking
  • 3:30PM The Election of 2024
  • 4:00PM Where are We? Intro to Philosophy

Tuesday

  • 9:30 AM Golf 
  • 9:30 Be Ready for Ticks!
  • 10:00AM Tomaquag Museum: Traditional Ecological Knowledge Program
  • 11:30AM Brave New World
  • 12:00PM Explore the Rails 
  • 1:00PM Cyber Seniors-Alex
  • 2:00PM Cognitive Biases and Their Effect on Critical Thinking
  • 3:30PM Ernest Hemingway

Wednesday

  • 9:30AM Free Speech
  • 9:30AM Lillian Hellman and the Children’s Hour
  • 11:00AM Fabulous Fingers
  • 11:30AM DIY Harvest Watercolor Note Cards
  • 11:30AM Intro to Middle East
  • 12:30PM Bowling
  • 1:00PM Hiking
  • 1:30PM Alfred Hitchcock
  • 1:30PM Soul Collage
  • 3:00PM Cynology (Zoom)

Thursday

  • 9:00AM Let’s Skate (@ Boss Arena)
  • 9:30AM Artificial Intelligence
  • 10:30AM Take a Break to Create (See more info below)
  • 10:30AM Rhody Ramblers
  • 11:00AM Current Events
  • 11:30AM OLLI Membership Welcome
  • 11:30AM Cyber Seniors-Alex
  • 12:30PM Cyber Seniors-Ryan
  • 1:00PM Mah Jonng
  • 1:30PM Watercolor Portraits
  • 3:00PM Movie Group

Friday

  • 10:00AM Geocaching
  • 1:00PM Meditation
  • 1:00PM The 1960s: Music that Changed the World

CYBER SENIORS Hours Drop in sessions in the lobby for help with all of your technology questions. No registration needed. 

  • Mondays 9:15AM-10:15AM (Ryan)
  • Tuesdays1:00PM-2:00PM (Alex)
  • Thursdays: 11:30AM-12:30PM (Alex)
  • Thursdays: 12:30PM-1:30PM (Ryan)

MEMBER WELCOME – If you are a new or current member of OLLI, or if you just want to learn more about OLLI, please join us on Thursday, October 10, at 11:30 AM for an information session. We’ll review our current programs and our special interest groups, and we’ll go over our OLLI website and registration software. There will be plenty of time for Q & A, as well as coffee and door prizes! Come and bring a friend!  

TAKE A BREAK TO CREATE: Join other OLLI members in the lobby for Take a Break to Create an informal smorgasbord of fun activities planned especially to encourage creative collaboration and connection. You don’t need to register, just drop in and stay as long as you like! Everyone is Invited!! YOU are the I in OLLI! ALL HANDS JOIN IN Leave your mark! Trace your hand on a large piece of fabric for a colorful collaboratively made piece to hang in the OLLI lobby! Thursday, October 10, 10:30AM -12:30PM in the lobby.

“EXPLORE THE WORLD BY RAIL” with Railbookers & Amtrak Vacations

Join us at OLLI for an exhilarating trip preview meeting on Tuesday, October 8, at 12:00 PM, that unveils the beauty and excitement of rail travel across the globe, presented by Jim Marini (URI Alumnus – class of 97’ and SVP of Amtrak Vacations and Railbookers). Whether you dream of traversing the Swiss Alps onboard the Iconic Glacier Express, experiencing the delicious cuisine and traveling on one of the high-speed trains of Italy, witnessing the magnificent views from the comfort of a Rocky Mountaineer Luxury Train in the Canadian Rockies, meandering through the landscapes of Alaska, or experiencing the breathtaking transcontinental journeys around the world……Railbookers has you covered. Are you looking to visit the U.S. National Parks to breathe in the fresh open air? Amtrak Vacations offers a variety of destinations from the Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Seattle, New Orleans and more! Plus, learn about how any rail journey can be customized just the way you want…..making it the perfect vacation. This trip preview meeting is your passport to a world of rail adventures that will ignite your wanderlust and leave you ready to embark on a global rail journey!!

RESEARCH STUDY PARTICIPANTS NEEDED- Seeking Individuals diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).Are you qualified to take part in our study? Are you 18 years of age or older? Do you have the ability to read and speak English? Is it safe for you to participate in physical activity? Are you able to sit, stand, and walk independently? Are you free of any knee or hip replacements? Are you free of illnesses or lower extremity injuries that affect your gait?  Call (401) 874-2980 or Email: marker_als@etal.uri.edu.

MEALS ON WHEELS VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT: Join us on Thursday, Oct 10, at 1:00PM at OLLI for a presentation from Meals on Wheels RI. Learn about their programs, special projects and volunteer opportunities. 

Former U.S. Congressman Adam Kinzinger will appear as part of the University of Rhode Island Honors Colloquium series “Democracy in Peril,” Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 5 p.m. in Edwards Hall. The event is co-sponsored by the University’s James R. Langevin Symposium series. Registration is required for event tickets or livestream. Click here for more details and to register. 

REGISTER TODAY FOR OLLI’S 15TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION- November 7, 1:00PM-4:00PM at The Haversham House in Westerly. Log on to register or call 401-874-4197.

DISCOUNTED TICKETS FOR OLLI MEMBERS: Group discount for all URI Football games (except Family Weekend) and Wheel of Fortune. Basketball will be added when those games are set up in late October. https://uritix.evenue.net/promotions/OLLI

URI GUITAR AND MANDOLIN FESTIVAL opens six days of concerts with full-day festival on Oct. 13 The festival may have changed its name but its mission to bring world-renowned musicians to Kingston while providing an innovative education program has never been stronger. This year, the festival — started by URI professor Adam Levin as a one-day festival nine years ago — takes innovation to a new level as it opens six days of concerts with a full-day festival on Oct. 13. Click for more details and to buy tickets.

RHODY OUTPOST- There’s an updated list of needed items. Click here to view. You can also purchase items directly from Amazon on the Rhody Outpost Wish List. 

URI GRADUATE SCHOOL OF OCEANOGRAPHY’S ANNUAL CHARLES AND MARIE FISH LECTURE – October 21, 6:00PM. This year’s speaker is Susan Solomon from MIT, who will give a talk titled “Solvable: How We Healed the Earth, and How We Can Do It Again.” The lecture will take place on the Bay Campus in Corless Auditorium. Details and registration are available online.

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP SPEAKER SERIES- Live Webinar, Tuesday, October 22, 12-1PM- Trevor Kelly-Bissonnette ’82, M.B.A.’94, Director, International Cooperation, Naval Surface and Undersea Warfare Centers. After landing—somewhat accidentally—at the Naval Undersea Systems Center in Newport, RI upon graduating from URI, Trevor Kelly-Bissonnette ’82, M.B.A.’94 has worked for the Naval Surface and Undersea Warfare Centers for 40+ years in various roles and was recognized with their 2023 Leadership Award. Join us as she shares her career story and the leadership lessons she has learned along the way. Registration Deadline: Tuesday, October 22. Click for more information and to register.

OLLI AT WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY, in collaboration with the WVU Committee of Retired Faculty, invites you to the following Zoom lecture. Free and open to the public. October 9, 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. What is Ranked Choice Voting? With Erik Herron

Register at https://olliatwvu.wufoo.com/forms/what-is-ranked-choice-voting

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is one of several terms used for a method of election that allows voters to rank-order the candidates on the ballot. In RCV, voter rankings are a critical part of the process to determine election winners. A form of ranked choice voting has been used for over a century in Ireland, and it is also used elsewhere in the world. Most recently, it has gained attention in the United States because it was adopted by Maine and Alaska. The presentation will cover the basics of ranked choice voting, talk about the pros and cons, and discuss efforts in some states (including West Virginia) to ban it.

HELP YELLOW HORSE CELEBRATE 10 YEARS! – Yellow Horse Equine Therapeutic Program is celebrating 10 years with a benefit dinner, live music and auction. The event will be held on Sunday, Oct 20, at The Haversham in Westerly. To purchase tickets, please call Joye (401-249-1520) or Danielle (401-477-0465). OLLI has a connection with Yellow Horse as many of our members participated in horseback riding lessons over the years. If you would like to find out more about sponsorship, please call the numbers above. To make a monetary donation, please venmo: Emily-Rice22 or send a check to Yellow Horse, PO Box 134, Wood River Jct, RI 020894.

2024 AMANPOUR LECTURE: OUR INFORMATION EMERGENCY– You are invited to the 2024 Christiane Amanpour Lecture featuring Nancy Gibbs on Thursday, October 10, at 5 p.m. – As we face a fateful election, there is no map, no guidebook for navigating our information landscape. Journalists, public leaders, and citizens themselves face an unprecedented challenge in deciding what to believe and who to trust. Gibbs asks, what will it take to build an information environment that best serves the interests of individuals and society? The first female editor-in-chief of TIME, Nancy Gibbs directed news and feature coverage for more than 65 million readers across all U.S., European and Asian editions. Gibbs is the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice and Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Click to register.