Published: 8/28/2021 9:29:49 PM
‘Dish out ice cream and they will come.”
When it comes to the members and potential members of OLLI at Granite State College, that formula is a guarantee.
OLLI kicked off its fall term with an ice cream social and mini-preview at Beech Hill Farm. Intended to be a celebration of the new classes starting in August, members first celebrated seeing each other in person for the first time in 17 months. Or, in some cases, for the first time ever.
As nearly 90 exuberant seniors gathered in the big barn with their ice cream, cries could be heard in all corners, “So that’s what you look like in person.” “Do you hug?” “I’m so happy to see you!” “Zoom was great, but there’s nothing like being face to face.”
Coming together from Laconia to Loudon, Warner to Webster, Hooksett to Henniker, Pembroke to Penacook, Exeter, Bow, Concord (of course) and many other surrounding cities and towns, members and their guests, some of whom joined OLLI right on the spot, former members looking to return and presenters all began the process of planning their Fall learning schedule.
Presenters offered a preview of the courses they will instruct through the four-month term, some in classrooms at Granite State College and some on Zoom. As is always the case when presenters speak, many in the audience were attracted to courses they had not even considered before.
“Biophilia, A Survey of Life on Earth,” likely only caught the attention of a handful of science nerds until presenter Eric Simon stood up in his glorious tie-dyed tee shirt and magically transformed the audience into superfans, quite a few of whom checked the box on their list of courses for registration.
David Hess, popular in OLLI as a presenter of courses related to politics, government and history, surprised the audience with a description of his “Mountain Men” course, starting almost immediately, and a second course with unfamiliar terminology in the name, “Rorke’s Drift: A Modern Thermopylae.” Anyone thinking “weather” emanating from “Thermopylae” will be surprised to learn about this Zulu massacre of the British Army in the 19th century.
Dennis Hebert, guaranteed to offer laughs along with information in his classes, broke up the audience with select excerpts from his upcoming course on the amusing aspects of aging. That course title is “When I was Young, the Dead Sea was Only Sick.”
In a unique “show and tell,” presenter Ron Frost, who spoke about his upcoming Zoom class on restoring a 1956 GMC Pickup, actually drove the restored truck to the event and had it parked in the parking lot for all to see.
OLLI will offer 100 courses in the fall term, half on Zoom and half in person. Zoom courses continue to be very popular as members often choose the comfort and convenience of learning from home. Additionally, OLLI has attracted both members and presenters from out of state – as close as Massachusetts and Vermont and as far as Pennsylvania, Arizona and California – so maintaining a Zoom menu is a likely permanent part of OLLI’s curriculum development.
Granite State College (GSC) is known for its high-quality remote learning capability and OLLI, as a program of GSC, has been able to leverage the technology to produce an impressive array of cost-effective, noncredit courses specially designed for active senior learners. Information about courses and membership opportunities for the over-50 population is available on the OLLI website at olli.granite.edu.
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