The OLLI Office is open 8:30-5 Monday-Thursday, and 8:30-4 on Fridays. Our number is 864-294-2998.
Kick off the Spring Term at OLLI by attending the Back to OLLI event on Thursday, March 23, 3-4:30 in Manly Lobby (Herring Center). Enjoy a sweet treat and cool (or warm if we need it) drink and visit with OLLI friends old and new. The New Member Orientation is the same day at 2:30 p.m. in HC110. Come get the answers to all of your OLLI questions, and then stay for the Back to OLLI reception immediately following.
Deadline Monday, March 20! Course evaluation time is here. You have the opportunity to provide us with feedback on each of your course experiences. This online evaluation will take 5 minutes and provide great input to your instructors. Following are the links to complete your evaluations online:
To complete the general course evaluation, click here.
For the exercise and fitness course evaluation, click here.
For the hobbies, art and music course evaluation, click link.
COURSE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Stretch & Tone will have a make-up class on Monday, March 20 at 10 a.m., HC110.
There’s room for YOU in an upcoming Bonus Event: Learn why and how Greenville’s seniors are not immune from the national epidemic of prescription drug/opioid use and abuse. At Seniors and Opioids: Unexpected Origins of a Greenville Epidemic, Fri., March 31, 1 p.m., you’ll hear from a certified addictions counselor and an emergency medicine physician. Call or come by the office to register.
OLLI HAPPENINGS
Enjoy a production of the Royal Shakespeare Company captured live in HC from Stratford-upon-Avon. The Tempest, Wednesday, March 29, 4 p.m., Burgiss Theater, Trone Student Center. Tickets available in the OLLI office and at the door–$16 for OLLI members, $18 for general public. Prepare for the presentation at a Tempest Lunch and Learn led by Dennis Tavernetti Monday, March 27, 12:30-1:20, HC111.
Do you want to downsize or remodel so that you can safely age in place? Do you want to live near Furman with other OLLI members nearby? If so, join members of the Living in Community SIG Thur., March 23, 1:30-3 p.m., HC004. A realtor/contractor will discuss his ideas for a small subdivision based on our input and answer questions related to home features for aging in place.
The Bowling SIG starts its eight-week league Mon., March 27, 1 p.m. Contact Mike Halloran if interested.
FREE OLD AND UNUSED DRUG DISPOSAL! On March 31 noon-2 p.m., OLLI will host a special one-time-only FREE service to dispose of all old or unused drugs. Spring clean your medicine cabinet and drop off your pill bottles, tubes, vials, syringes, etc. with the law enforcement official who will be at the Herring Center front door. No need to remove labels. And, don’t forget to sign up for the special Bonus Event noted above!
All OLLI spinning enthusiasts are invited to enjoy spinning and conversation with other spinners through the OLLI Spinning SIG. The first meeting is Fri., April 7, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. in the Herring Center Lobby. Contact Barry Gilmer if you are interested or with questions.
TRAVEL WITH OLLI
There is Room for You! Day Trip to Social Circle, the Blue Willow Inn & Madison Georgia – Friday, April 7 – Journey south to two of the most charming small towns in the U.S. Travel by motorcoach to Social Circle and Madison, the town General Sherman refused to burn. Your leader and historian Scott Withrow will share his knowledge of this historic district. Visit Social Circle for an early southern-style lunch at the antebellum Blue Willow Inn before a brief ride to Madison. There, a local guide will accompany the group. Visit Heritage Hall, an 1811 Greek Revival mansion for a guided tour. Then tour the Plantation Plain-style Rogers House and Rose Cottage, home of former slave Adeline Rose. Enjoy time on your own to shop the treasures of Main Street, explore other historic attractions or enjoy an old-fashioned milk shake. $100 includes transportation, admission fees, lunch and guides. Call the OLLI office to sign up!
What’s GOING ON at Furman University?
The English Department is hosting a Writer’s Symposium Thur., March 23 and Fri., March 24. Free and open to the public; sponsored by the Crabtree-Stewart Lectureship. Learn more here.
Georgetown University Professor of Political Theory Joshua Mitchell will speak on “Why the State Grows Ever-Stronger” Wednesday, March 22 at 5 p.m. in Johns Hall 101. The lecture is the second in the three-part Tocqueville series, “Tocqueville and the American Republic,” and is free.
Furman University Lyric Theatre presents Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore Thur., March 23 and Sat., March 25 at 8 p.m. in McAlister Auditorium. General Admission tickets for the event are $15 for seniors and are available through Eventbrite or the Furman Music Office at (864) 294-2086.
How is democracy faring in 21st century America? What about the long accepted standards of civil behavior and ethical conduct? A group of Furman professors will address those issues in March and April in the series Our Republic … For Which It Stands. Upcoming presentations include Is “Civil Discourse” Overrated? Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Deference and Respect for Authority, March 26, 3 p.m. at Greenville First Baptist Church (Fellowship Hall) and When Is It OK to Punch a Nazi? A Panel Discussion on Symbolic Violence and Civil Disobedience, March 30, 7:30 p.m. in Furman Hall 214 (McEachern). Free. Learn more on the website.
Furman Theatre presents Romeo and Juliet March 29-April 1 and 6-8 at 8 p.m., and April 2 and 9 at 3 p.m. Single tickets go on sale March 20 and OLLI members get the student price. Call 294-2125 for more information. **In preparation, attend a pre-show talk on Wed., March 29, 12:30-1:15 with theater historian Dr. Kristen Stultz Pressley in HC111.
Furman’s Riley Institute and Department of Politics and International Affairs, with support from SC ETV, presents Black American Since MLK: A Conversation with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on Thursday, March 30, 5:30-6:45 p.m. at the Younts Conference Center. Free. Seating is limited, so arrive early. Visit the Riley Institute website for more information. Learn more about Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. here, and watch a preview interview with Dr. Gates here.
Furman’s Ancient Greek and Roman Studies welcomes Dr. Benjamin Keim, Professor of Classics at Pomona College, on Thursday, March 30. Dr. Keim will present two seminars, one at 3 p.m. and one at 4 p.m. on the general topic of the classical Athenians’ concept of honor and how they negotiated it in various avenues of their everyday life, and then looking at a text to draw participants into the topic. Furman Hall 108. Free.
What’s GOING ON in and around Greenville?
Celebrate Upstate International Month with Upstate International through an array of events from a Japanese Tea Ceremony to a St. Patrick’s Day Beer Run. Visit their calendar and enjoy! If you’re interested in learning languages like Chinese, German, Japanese or Russian, they offer a multitude of language classes. Learn more here. The Greenville Concert Band celebrates International Month with A World of Music Fri., March 17 at 7:30 p.m. the Greenville Tech Auditorium and Sat., March 25, 3 p.m., Hughes Main Library.
The High Noon lecture series is back, Wednesdays at Noon in the Resource Room on the second floor of the Upcountry History Museum in downtown Greenville. March 22, “Doing Our Bit: Greenville in the Great War (WWI)” with Dr. Courtney Tollison, Assistant Professor of History, Furman University. Free.
Join Chautauqua Saturday, March 18 at 2:00 pm or Tuesday, March 21 at 7 p.m. to discuss Walter Cronkite & International journalism led by Larry Bounds, who will perform as Walter Cronkite in the June Festival. Hughes Main Library, downtown Greenville. Call 244-1499 or visit the website. Free.
The Peace Center presents the Mike Wiley performance of Dar He—The Story of Emmett Till, March 29-30. Tickets are $10 and available for both the 10 am and noon performances each day. Learn more on the website.
The Rotary Club of Greenville has established a satellite club that meets at the Woodlands at Furman at 9 a.m. on the first and third Thursday of the month. OLLI members are invited to attend a meeting to learn more. For information contact OLLI member and Woodland Rotary Chair, Angelo Tartaro.