PRESIDENT'S CORNER - September 30, 2016 | School of Public Health

It’s officially the third day of autumn, our favorite season, except for what to do with all those maple leaves! Just around the corner is Halloween. I grew up in Southern California with lots of Mexican kids, so for us Gringo kids, Dios de los Muertos (the Day of the dead) on November 1-2 was much more interesting. Did you ever wear a necklace of candy skulls and ask your pals to bite off one and chew up the marzipan? There are also so many fascinating art works associated with this tradition. Ah, fall!

The Fall Term is up and running and I see and hear lots of our members having a grand time. It is time to start thinking about the 4-week winter term and we do need more proposals, so, for any of you that have WVU connections, please wrack your brains and figure out who you know that could teach a dandy class and then CALL THEM and don’t take no for an answer. OK? That goes for our Charleston friends, as well. There is no better way to get new people in as members or instructors than the personal contact. WHO do you know that has a fascinating story to tell in a class? Help us with this, please.

Here’s the second batch of comments from and about your Board members:

Did you know TOM ROGERS was a pharmacist first? I only know Tom as our Hallmark card business and for serving together on the WV Public Theater Board, but Tom has served on the Boards of two banks, Mon General and the county building commission.
JUDY MORRIS is a retired medical technologist and data base specialist who loves travel, quilting, gardening, photography and reading, not to mention her hubby Andy, there four kids and 6 grandkids. Can you spell B.U.S.Y?
What doesn’t CONNIE McCLUSKEY do? She’s often in the OLLI office or in classes and committees, she’s a former banker, a proud new grandma, drives for Meals on Wheels, and has served OLLI as secretary, treasurer, chair of office assistants, catalog sub-comm. of the curriculum committee, and saved my bacon as treasurer!
KAREN LONG taught microbiology & immunology at WVU, is an on-call microbiology tech at Mon Gen, volunteers with Animal Friends Thrift Shop, serves on the board of Literacy Volunteers for Mon Co., is a goodwill ambassador for WVU football games, travels, reads, knits…and teaches neat OLLI classes in Microbiology and Travel.
ANN DAVIDSON is a distinguished past-president of OLLI, past-chair of the Membership Comm., chair of the Nominating Comm., and worked in cancer research for over 20 years at WVU’s School of Medicine.
EARL MELBY grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. His education through a Ph.D. prepared him for research in industry for many years. He enjoys studying Medieval History. He and his wife Cecelia have two sons and 5 grandchildren living in the Memphis and Washington. D.C. areas.
STAN COHEN serves on the OLLI Membership/Publicity Committee and the Irving Goodman Annual Lecture Series Committee. In his spare time, he enjoys international travel, nerdy computer interaction, reading about the latest trends in food and nutrition, and hiking/biking around Morgantown. He also manages our Theater groups to WVU, and since I completely forgot to mention this (as promised) in my Wed. class, let this serve as an added reminder that Stan wants you to get your money to Diane in the office for the Oct 4 matinee of “The Clean House.”

Sorry to be a bit more long-winded this week, so let me close with this:

Literature has neglected the old and their emotions. The novelist never told us that in life, as in other matters, the young are just beginners and that the art of loving matures with age and experience. Writer Isaac Bashevis Singer

Jim Held, President