SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – Joe Citro will present the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) program “Vermont’s Supernatural Side: Chronicling Our State’s Ghost Stories and Unexplained Phenomena” on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 2 p.m., at the Nolin Murray Center, next to St. Mary’s Church on Pleasant Street, in Springfield.
Citro, a writer, folklorist, and native Vermonter who grew up in Chester, will present a special Halloween program. He is considered Vermont’s expert in all things strange and mysterious. Ghosts? Are they real? Are the routines of our lives occasionally disrupted by inexplicable happenings? Coincidences? Visions? Messages from beyond? Can we filet fact from fiction in the realm of the supernatural?
Through a series of books, both fiction and nonfiction, and via 22 years as a public radio commentator, Citro is the first writer in the history of our state to collect Vermont’s strangest tales, historic and folkloric. Join him for a sampling of our rich local lore and an overview of his efforts to preserve it. We’ll hear excerpts from his work, and the stories of how he collects and validates claims. His books will be available for purchase and signing.
He has probably done more than anyone to keep Vermont’s weird tales, historic and folkloric, alive in the popular culture. Four of his five Vermont-centric novels have been movie-optioned, but sadly, every adaptation died on its way to the screen.
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 their age, is welcome. The programs are held Tuesday afternoons, at 2 p.m., and last about an hour and a half.
You may view the entire semester programs by going to the website www.learn.uvm.edu/olli/springfield. Preregistration can be done online at this website with a credit card. You may also register over the phone, using your credit card, by calling 802-656-8407 during regular office hours, Monday-Friday, from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. There is a membership series fee, or nonmembers are welcome and encouraged to attend individual programs for a single program fee.
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(s) you wish the attend. Mail this information and your check made out to “University of Vermont – OLLI” to UVM Non-Credit Registration Office, 85 South Prospect Street, Box 34, Burlington, VT 05405.
If mailing in the registration, please allow 10-14 days from the date of mailing check to receipt and processing.
If there are weather-related changes to the schedule, you can check the above website on the morning of the program.
The following program, on Tuesday, Nov. 12, will be “Poetry of Vermont Landscape” with Sydney Lea, Vermont’s poet laureate from 2011-2015.