OLLI Fab Friday: Showing the Blue Ridge Parkway Some Love

OLLI – the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNC Asheville – presents its first virtual Fab Friday of 2021, featuring Carolyn Ward, CEO of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, from 11:30 a.m.-1:15 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 15. This online event is free and open to all with pre-registration required at this link.

Event Description from OLLI

Showing the Blue Ridge Parkway Some Love – Learn about an organization that supports the National Park Service (NPS) in protecting and preserving the Parkway in this era of tight funding constraints.  Carolyn Ward is CEO of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, headquartered here in Asheville, and will share her passion for the Parkway and her vision for its future. The Foundation is a close nonprofit ally of the NPS enabling numerous projects such as the operation of the Blue Ridge Music Center in Virginia; the renovation of the Moses Cone house; and clearing overgrown scenic overlooks.  A Foundation program to engage children to enjoy our parks, fostering the next generation of advocates for the park system, has become a national model. A native of the Blue Ridge, Ward began her career at Hungry Mother State Park.  She has been a professor and an award-winning researcher and author.  She was recognized by the White House as a Champion of Change for her collaborations with the Park Service, state parks, and other nonprofits and foundations. Registration Link  – Once you have registered, you will receive a link to join.

Upcoming Fab Fridays

• Jan. 22: Dr. Thomas Large – Avoiding Hip Fractures
• Jan. 29: Bryan Tompkins – The Crucial Role of Pollinators – Amazing facts
• Feb. 5: TBA
• Feb. 12: Erik Vedeler — Early Electricity in Asheville – an Unlikely Trend Setter in the Gilded Age?
• Feb. 19: Dr. Tasha Woodall – Do you feel like you take too many medications?