NCCCR eNautilus newsletter

GRANT SUPPORTS NATURALIST PROGRAM

A new $6,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina will help plant a Blue Ridge Naturalist program at Reuter Center next fall.

The grant enables the Center for Creative Retirement to develop curriculum for the program. At a Jan. 27 meeting in Reuter Center, local organizations and naturalists interested in environmental education and protection will provide input for the implementation process.

Those included in the planning, being coordinated by staff member Jeanie Martin, are representatives from the Environmental Studies and Biology Departments at UNCA, UNC Arboretum, WNC Nature Center, the Botanical Gardens at Asheville, Venture Birding Tours and Longbranch Environmental Center as well as naturalists.

MEMBERS DONATE THOUSANDS TO ANNUAL FUND

To date, the Center for Creative Retirement has received in more than $36,000 from 122 members and friends in response to the first Annual fund letter sent in November.

Development Committee chair Jim Hegglund said that the funds will allow the Center to work on three goals:
1. Augment and update classroom technology, office technology and support.
2. Achieve significant progress on the landscaping plan.
3. Add additional kitchen equipment and a large capacity dishwasher.

Gramer Yarbrough, a 90-year-old member who took College for Senior classes in 1988, the first year of the program, donated $15,000, a gift that matched his 2003 donation to the furnishing campaign, A Place To Sit Down. Yarborough also completed the Leadership Asheville Seniors seminar during the second year of the program and continued taking CFS courses till 1992.

“The Development Committee, the Center Steering Council, and Center staff greatly appreciate the generosity again demonstrated by our members and friends,” Hegglund said. “The success of the Center is largely the product of the ongoing support of our loyal membership.”

VOLUNTEERS SERVE AS RECEPTIONISTS

As a way to free office assistant Tina Schwartz for other duties, volunteers have signed up to serve as Reuter Center receptionists on three-hour blocks for three to four months at a time.

Seven volunteers have signed up as pioneers in the program. After training by Schwartz, they will greet people as in-person and telephone receptionists. In addition, the volunteers are trained to use office machinery and to help with other tasks, from name tags to mail sorting.

Schwartz, who also functions as program assistant, will move into an adjacent workstation so that she can concentrate on other duties.

“We are hoping that the receptionist position will be completely staffed by volunteers and that it will an ongoing service,” Schwartz said. “Eventually it will be a self-perpetuating as volunteers train new individuals for the job.”

The volunteer staff needs additional people to sign up for other openings, which involve three-hour segments for a designated number of weeks or months.

SENIORS LEARN WITH UNDERGRADS

The university offers courses that allow UNCA undergrads and seniors — members over age 50 — to study and to learn in an intergenerational setting. A recent example of this kind of course is “The Meaning of a Year,” led by Ron Manheimer, NCCCR executive director and research associate professor of philosophy.

Nine UNCA undergraduates and 10 NCCCR members, dubbed “resource associates,” studied the events of 1954. Senior members of the class shared that year’s real-life experiences and perspectives with young people for whom 1954 was merely history, thus helping make historical events come to life.

How does the younger group react to this learning method?

“I found that the ‘resource associates,’ as they were called in our class, were everything I hope to be when I get older. They were all very sharp and were very up to date on current events,” undergraduate student Amanda Pritchard said.

“They were as kind as the grandmother who brings you warm cookies and cold milk, but they were as smart and informed as any school teacher. I felt I had so much to learn from them that on some occasions the class schedule hindered the ability to just have a discussion with them. It was a great experience, and I sincerely enjoyed it.”

Intergenerational learning opportunities for the 16-week spring semester (Jan, 12-May 2) are described in the Winter 2005 Center catalog. Contact NCCCR secretary Tina Schwartz at 251-6140 for more information or to register for an upcoming course.

Fall semester 2005 features another Manheimer-led colloquium: “Philosophers under the Covers,” which focuses on famous philosophical couples.

LUNCHES FEED MIND AND BODY

January and February TGIF lunches offer two completely different but equally stimulating topics. At the free lectures, which are held at noontime in the Chestnut Ridge room, members may purchase food in the Reuter Café or bring a brown bag version.

January 28— Arts for Life: Anna Vogler, who has founded Arts for Life, will describe how the non-profit organization uses art to engage critically ill children through drawing, painting, poetry, photography and music. She will also explain how the program could become an exciting volunteer opportunity for NCCCR members as the organization grows.
February 11 — China, the Sleeping Giant: Ed Williams, president of TraveLearn, has witnessed firsthand the spectacular economic growth since the inception of a “free-market” economy and has traveled extensively in China. He will discuss the modern China and answer questions about the country and about travel there.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS APPEAL TO MEMBERS

Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are available to all Center for Creative Retirement members who share a particular interest. As their names indicate, SIGs cover a wide range of topics, as evident by the operating groups:

Digital Photography
Mah Jongg
Creative Singles
Fiber Arts
Music Lovers
Stock Market Study Investment Group
Bridge
Creative Studio for Arts & Crafts

In addition, all it takes to start a new group is 12 or more people with the same interest. Currently, members are actively developing three new groups: Senior Forum Discussion Group, Book Club and Performance — music, dance, theater.

Complete information about SIGs — descriptions of the groups, meeting times, locations and schedules, contact names and numbers as well instructions on organizing and operating groups — is available at http://www.unca.edu/ncccr/SIGs/default.htm

ACTIVITIES CALENDAR

JANUARY
18   CFS Winter Term begins
28   TGIF Lunch — Arts for Life

FEBRUARY
4    CFS Winter Faculty Appreciation Event
7    World Affairs Council — Great Decisions: China*
11   TGIF Lunch — China: The Sleeping Giant Awakes
14   CFS Winter: Term Ends
14   World Affairs Council — Great Decisions: Genocide, Sudan’s crisis in Darfur*
17   Catamount Concerts — Music for Clarinet and Piano
19   Asheville Kindness Campaign — Playback Theater*
21   World Affairs Council — Great Decisions: Global Water Issues*
24   CFS Faculty Workshop: Copyright Issues
26   James Still in Residence
27   James Still, Brunch and Theater
28   World Affairs Council — Great Decisions: Russia*

* - an event at the Reuter Center but not sponsored by NCCCR