SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) is pleased to announce its fall 2023 programs. There will be exciting programs on history and nature. The first program on Tuesday, Sept. 19, will explore the importance of Shelburne Museum’s renowned collection of horse-drawn vehicles.
Sponsored by the University of Vermont, OLLI is run by local volunteer members, and is geared mainly towards seniors who are 50 years of age and over, who enjoy learning for the fun of it. Anyone who would be interested in this type of program, regardless of age, is welcome.
The programs are held Tuesday afternoons at 2 p.m., and last about an hour and a half. The meeting location is the Nolin Murray Center on Pleasant Street, next to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Springfield, Vt.
Following is the listing of programs for the Fall 2023 semester:
Sept. 19 – “Trailblazers: Horse-Drawn Vehicles from Shelburne Museum’s Collection,” with Kory Rogers, the Francie and John Downing senior curator of American art at Shelburne Museum. Explore the importance of Shelburne Museum’s renowned collection of horse-drawn vehicles, and their formative role in the establishment of one of Vermont’s most beloved cultural institutions. From carriages and sleighs to wagons and carts, the collection spans the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and includes a variety of styles and designs. Rogers will highlight key vehicles, their connection to Museum founder Electra H. Webb, and their historical significance.
Oct. 3 – “We Are All Being Used! Media Manipulation in the Digital Age,” with Ben Boyington, educator, writer, and media literacy scholar. Like so many headlines today, this program title is clickbait. It is designed to seize your attention by appealing to your emotions. This kind of rhetoric infests our news as well as our politics and social media posts. This program will explore how the attention economy and consumerism work to influence our buying (and thus our lives), our politics (the life of the country), and our very sense of self (our mental health). Through dissection of examples, sharing of facts, and open discussion, we will engage about advertising techniques, the economics of the digital age, and the impact of social media.
Wednesday, Oct. 18 – Discover Vermont and New Hampshire’s roles in the Underground Railroad with Michelle Arnosky Sherburne, author and Vermont historian. Learn about courageous abolitionists who were part of the network of aiding fugitive enslaved people in the years prior to the Civil War. Misconceptions and hidden histories of Vermont and New Hampshire’s roles in the Underground Railroad are revealed. Highlights include Springfield’s UGRR agents Noah and Nancy Safford, fugitive slave Ephraim Wright who settled in town, as well as southern New Hampshire’s agents and their work for the Abolitionist cause. We’ll explore New Hampshire’s hidden Black heritage, slavery and slave trade, and Vermont’s tumultuous reception of Blacks and Abolitionists in the 19th century.
Oct. 31 – “Werewolves, Vampires & Zombies,” with Bobby Farlice-Rubio, educator and state representative. This special Halloween program will demystify monsters through facts and science. Although there are no supernatural monsters in this lesson, we will explore the ways in which real parasites have taken over their hosts, and how they may have inspired monster myths. Could parasites be responsible for some people’s reckless and dangerous behavior? Could toxins and poisons in nature control people’s minds and make them behave like monsters?
Nov. 14 – “Songs of Vermont,” with “Banjo Dan” Lindner, songwriter and performer. Dan will perform several of his favorite “Songs of Vermont” that he has written, and explain the stories and inspirations behind these songs. His musical career has spanned fifty years, including performing as a member of the Mid-nite Plowboys. “Banjo Dan’’ has specialized in songs drawn from Vermont’s history, legends, places, and personalities.
Nov. 28 – “Trend Setter: The Nature of Weather Patterns,” with Mark Breen, senior meteorologist at Fairbanks Museum, who is returning for his 12th annual presentation to our Springfield OLLI Group. The weather is always up to something, and recent weather extremes, wide-open discussions through social media, as well as local and major news outlets, bring a great deal of attention to trends, patterns, and changes in weather events. We’ll learn information on where the weather gets its energy, and how this creates certain patterns and events that deliver sunshine or monsoons. Breen will guide us through the information, and the misinformation, and weave together the tapestry of weather patterns.
Come join this exciting, educational OLLI group to learn about interesting details on a variety of topics. Thanks go out to our local benefactor, Barbara Sanderson.
You can attend all programs by becoming a member and paying a membership fee. Non-members are welcome and encouraged to attend individual programs for a program fee. Pre-registration is highly recommended. OLLI can no longer take any payments onsite at the door. If you do attend and have not pre-registered, we will welcome you, and provide an easy form for you to take to send in payment or pay online after the program.
Registration can easily be done online with a credit card by going to www.learn.uvm.edu/olli/springfield. You may also register over the phone, using your credit card, by calling 802-656-5817.
If you prefer to register by mail, send your contact information (name, address, phone number, and email address) indicating full series membership, or which specific program or programs you wish to attend. Mail this information and your check made out to “University of Vermont-OLLI” to OLLI at UVM, 23 Mansfield Avenue, Burlington, VT 05401.
If mailing in the registration, please allow 10-14 days from date of mailing check to receipt and processing.
For weather-related changes to the schedule, you may check the above mentioned website or SAPA TV, 802-885-6248 or call 802-885-3094.
For the latest Covid update from the University of Vermont, you can check the above mentioned website. At the moment, the following health and safety guidelines are in effect. UVM sponsored non-credit functions, activities, and offerings, whether held at UVM or at a non-UVM facility or location, are governed by the same health and safety policies. As such, UVM expects event participants, visitors, and guests will be vaccinated. Masks are optional and welcomed.