NCCCR eNautilus newsletter

VOLUNTEERS TO SWING WITH THE TIMES

A free party will take all Reuter Center volunteers back to the 1940s at a recognition event on the lower level June 9 from 4:30-7 p.m.

The Swing Fling will feature food, music and styles of the decade, an era that will prod Center members to replay their youthful adventures.

Food will feature a picnic that will be typical of the decade. Music will bow to the whim of local disc jockey Vince Rutherford. Surprises for the honored volunteers will include door prizes and unique give-aways by a local artist.

Volunteers should sign up by May 31, and they may bring guests by paying $10 for them.

ANNUAL MEETING LINKS TO NEW CHANCELLOR

The first to know — Center for Creative Retirement members can make that claim if they attend the June 21 annual meeting because they will learn the inside story about Anne Ponder, the new chancellor coming to UNC Asheville this fall, when her parents, Herschel and Eleanor, share their story about the hometown girl rising to the top.

The personal visit will characterize the special events that will happen at the meeting, scheduled for the Chestnut Ridge Room from 2-4 p.m.

As required by operating procedures, members will elect new officers for the 2005-06 term that begins July 1. Members will also hear succinct and candid summaries of goals achieved, along with problem areas encountered, during the past year.

The Nominating Committee has submitted the following names: Larry Haas, chair; Alan Singleton, vice-chair/chair elect; and Fran Myers, secretary; as well as Alice Green, Barb Jaslow and Don Martin for the Nominating Committee.

Afterward, in a town meeting format, Steering Council members and staff, along with newly elected officers, will make themselves available to answer questions and respond to suggestions from Center members. The leaders will take the pulse of the Center’s membership and elicit guidance as the new Steering Council begins its work.

The annual meeting will conclude with an ice cream social, which will take place, weather permitting, on the terrace sporting the new patio furniture.

CHANGES SIMPLIFY COURSE REGISTRATION

Walk-in registration, introduced for summer classes, means that College for Seniors enrollees now know as soon as they register which of the 39 courses they can take June 20-Aug. 15.

On May 9, the first day of real-time registration, 245 individuals successfully enrolled in courses. By the end of the first week, 358 individuals had completed the process for summer classes.

As College for Seniors director Ann Bass explained, enrollees knew instantly the dates, the times and the place for their courses. Gone was the uncertainty during weeks of indecision that students found annoying as they awaited confirmation of their course choices.

Bass elaborated on other policies that the College for Seniors Committee has adopted.
1. Individuals unable to come to Reuter Center may ask friends to bring in a check and the registration form.
2. Four people on staff can complete the computer process for registration to give help quickly any time prospective students stop in the Reuter Center office.
3. The office staff processes mail registrations, which are numbered as they are received, after the first day of walk-in registration.
4. Specialists are studying other possibilities, such as online registration.

Though current students recognize the immediate advantages of the new system, introducing the change will have future advantages for the Center for Creative Retirement. The change places the Center in line to adopt a more efficient and more comprehensive database system that the university is adopting. Rather than waiting until 2008, CCR may be able to make the switch by the latter part of 2006, Bass said.

In addition, the committee has restructured summer fees. Now students may take any one class for $40 and two or more for $75. Individual Chautauqua sessions are available at $8 each.

TURKEY: A DESTINATION TO PREVIEW

Travel-minded members can help weave their itinerary for a 2006 trip to Turkey by participating in a preview meeting, directed by trip coordinator Hal Davis, at a May 24 meeting at 2 p.m. in room 206. On the potential trip, members will be led by College for Seniors instructors Mary Lasher and Tom Sanders.

At the exploratory meeting, individuals will explore the possibilities for this trip after learning about potential destinations. They will consider whether the trip should be two weeks, which would permit visits to Istanbul, to the Gallipoli battlefield and to the Aegean coast, including Ephesus, or three weeks, which would permit travel to central Turkey to see places such as Ankara and Cappadocia, where early Christians lived in caves.

Lasher and Sanders, who have traveled extensively in Asia and the Middle East as well as in Europe and Latin America, are excited about the destination because Turkey is their favorite country to visit. Together they have been there three times, and Sanders, now hiking in Turkey, has been there eight additional times.

They anticipate mid-September to early October, 2006 as the time frame for the trip. After flying to Istanbul, the group will most likely travel by bus and by rail within the country.

SINGERS TO PERFORM ON THE QUAD

Opening for the big band sounds of Rich Willey & Company, the Reuter Center Community Chorus will give its first concert for the general public at the UNC Asheville Concert on the Quad June 6 at 6:30 p.m.

The 15-30 minute warm-up act while people are assembling will include selections from “Les Miserable” and from “My Fair Lady.” Other features will include Dan Snyder soloing on “When I Was a Lad” and the men’s section singing “Stouthearted Men,” a favorite by Sigmund and Romberg.

“This is our first opportunity to sing to the general public,” said bass Hal Davis, who views the outdoor performance as a great opportunity.

Previously the group, now 40 voices, has sung at Deerfield and Biltmore Estate in addition to the May 7 concert in Reuter Center. Directed by Chuck Taft and accompanied by Nora Vetro on the electric keyboard, the group is a merger of two former groups, the College for Seniors Chorus and the Asheville Community Chorus.

KEOWEE CELEBRATES FIFTH SEASON

Concluding its fifth season in the Chestnut Ridge Room June 26 at 3 p.m., Keowee Chamber Music Festival will present a concert featuring “music handcrafted in the Carolina Mountains.”

Fred Bretschger, bassist for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, will be the guest artist playing with the five-member group, which combines flute, violin, guitar, cello and percussion sounds. The $10 fee for members, $12 for non-members, includes a reception following the performance.

Two additional opportunities to hear Keowee play music ranging from the 16th-20th centuries in the Chestnut Ridge Room are a free open rehearsal June 14 at 2 p.m. and a children’s concert June 18 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $2 per child, $5 per adult and a maximum of $10 per family for that event.

Listeners will have the opportunity to mirror beauty inspired by the timeless music of JS Bach, by operatic melodies of Rossini and by a lively Czech furiant as well as works inspired by the poetry of Pablo Neruda, Argentine tangos, English landscapes, Greek tragedy and the rain forest.

Additional information is available at the Keowee Web site: www.keoweechambermusic.org

PARTICIPANTS HOST CREW EVENTS

From participants to planners — that’s the move that new members Mike and Cindy Krimmelbein made in six months, a shift that has them working on the Steering Committee for the May 27-29 Creative Retirement Exploration Weekend, which they attended last year.

After first visiting Asheville as a possible place for retirement in April 2004, their satisfying CREW experience added to their interest in this area. Soon they found themselves speeding up their retirement process in Annapolis and purchasing a home here in June.

Soon after moving here in November, they immersed themselves in College for Seniors classes and CREW planning, an effort that has resulted in 155 registrants (54 couples and 47 singles), a waiting list and a record number of 31 states represented this year.

As part of their duties on the Steering Committee, Cindy is cochairing the Program Committee with Rick Ricordati and Mike is cochairing the Bus Tour Committee with Ed Argue.

“Both of us very much wanted to do this to give back and to say, ‘Thank you’ to all of the previous people who had done so much to inspire us,” Cindy said.

Both Cindy, as a teacher/librarian who has helped open new computer-oriented schools, and Mike, as a federal employee who headed technical services for the U. S. Postal Service corporate library, have found the involvement beneficial.

STAFF TARGETS SAFETY UPGRADE

Member Luther Barnhardt, a retired physician and a member of the university Board of Trustees, is spearheading an effort to upgrade safety measures at the Reuter Center and throughout the university.

Responding to his suggestion, assistant director Denise Snodgrass, former building manager Ann Hubbard and Barnhardt attended and passed an all-day Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation/CPR and Automated External Defibrillator/AED training course April 13 to meet certification requirements.

Their participation was an initial step to fulfill Barnhardt’s goal of having more people on campus with First Aid and CPR training so the university can better serve the public.

“I began to think about it at the Center for Creative Retirement because we have so many elderly people and a number of people who have had cardio bypass surgery,” Barnhardt said. “We might prevent a death there if we knew how to do CPR.”

Barnhardt’s vision also includes ways Reuter Center can help the university upgrade its services to all students and staff. He suggested that the Center could schedule a Saturday training course in the building to certify university staff, including all resident assistants, in basic safety measures such as CPR, AED usage and the Heimlich Maneuver, used to help someone who is choking.

As for the purchase of the defibrillator, NCCCR is working with the campus Safety Office to explore associated issues, such as responsibility and upkeep.

CENTER SEEKS BUILDING MANAGER

Seeking to provide efficient service for members, the Center for Creative Retirement welcomes applications for a full-time position as facilities manager and administrative assistant, a job that requires some evenings and weekend duties though most work days are normal business hours.

Duties involve scheduling building use and monitoring facility and equipment needs as well as providing program support.

The applicant will replace Ann Hubbard, who resigned in April. Additional information is available on the university Web site:
http://www.unca.edu/hr/newweb/employment/jobpostings/12520.htm

UPCOMING EVENTS

*SUMMER COLLEGE FOR SENIORS: June 20-Aug. 15 — class dates vary

MAY
24 Preview: trip to Turkey
27-29 CREW — Creative Retirement Exploration Weekend

JUNE
6 Reuter Center Community Chorus performs on Quad
9 Volunteer Recognition
14 Keowee Concert — open rehearsal
17-24 Reuter Roamers — Southern Ontario trip
18 Keowee Concert — children's concert
20 CFS summer term begins
21 NCCCR annual meeting
26 Keowee Concert