Issue No. 32
October 2012
The MSCN Newsletter
Welcome to Your October Newsletter!
In This Issue
MSCN has recently staffed
a booth at several senior
expos to promote Maine’s
Senior Colleges. We’ve met
a lot of people who are
members and extoll the
merits of their senior college, many who have heard
of Senior College and are
eager to try it, and those
who were unaware of Senior
College but once informed,
want to know more and experience it for themselves.
Many remark about how
wonderful it is for Maine’s
Senior Colleges to offer so many varied opportunities
for learning and meeting new people with common interests.
MSCN Poet Laureate Contest
With articles from Senior Colleges around the state
about past summer activities and current fall offerings
this month’s newsletter illustrates just how exciting
those learning opportunities are!
The Poet’s Corner
Sincerely,
Kali Lightfoot
Executive Director
L/A’s October Food for Thought
Senior College at Bridgton’s
Fall Variety of Classes
Sunrise SC Explores the Bay of
Fundy
WMSC Celebrates 10th
Anniversary
Living Beyond War With
Winslow Myers at Coastal SC
So You Think You Know
Gilbert & Sullivan Mini-quiz
L/A Planners Meet the
Presenter
How Gold LEAFERs Spent
Their Summer Vacations
Science Cafés at the Portland
Public Library
Remember to go to the
Maine Senior College Network
website to find out what’s
happening around the state!
Maine Senior College Network
Who Will Be MSCN’s Next
Poet Laureate?
Maine Senior Guide
is a comprehensive web
resource about all things senior
that provides “one stop shopping”
for Maine’s seniors at the link
below:
Maine Senior Guide
About Us
Do you write poetry or would you like to give it a try?
Are you a member of a Maine Senior College? If so,
and you are willing to have your work published in the
MSCN e-newsletter, you could become the next MSCN
Poet Laureate! It’s easy to enter — simply email a
poem you have written to Kyle Allen at the MSCN
office. Or mail a printout of your poem to:
Kyle Allen
MSCN
University of Southern Maine
PO Box 9300
Portland, ME 04104
Be sure to include: your name, contact information,
and tell us which Maine Senior College you belong
to. Each Maine Senior College Member may enter one
poem, and the poem must be previously unpublished
with the exception of having been published in the
MSCN e-newsletter.
The deadline for submissions is December 31, 2012.
The winning poem will be published in the MSCN
e-newsletter, and the new MSCN Poet Laureate will
receive an Amazon Kindle e-book reader. We’re
looking forward to reading poetry from members across
the state!
Maine Senior College Network
P.O. Box 9300
Portland, ME 04104-9300
(207) 780-4128
(207) 780-4317 (fax)
Kali Lightfoot
Executive Director
[email protected]
Anne Cardale
Director of Communications
[email protected]
Fran Myers
Director of Conferences
[email protected]
Kyle Allen
Coordinator
[email protected]
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The Forecast is Bright for L/A’s
October Food for Thought
Maine Senior College
Network Links
Acadia Senior College
Augusta Senior College
Coastal Senior College
Downeast Senior College
Gold LEAF Institute
LEARN
Lewiston-Auburn Senior College
The MSCN tabletop display.
Meteorologist Keith Carson
Keith Carson, Meteorologist at WCSH Channel 6, will
be the presenter at the USM Lewiston-Auburn Senior
College "Food for Thought" 11:30 luncheon on Friday,
October 12. He will give a PowerPoint presentation on
weather forecasting, weather models, and why the
weatherman is sometimes wrong.
Keith has a great sense of humor and will take questions from the audience. He plans to address forecasting issues and is willing to suffer the barbs and slings
about weather forecasting! Click here to learn more
about Keith and for details about attending this Food
For Thought presentation.
- submitted by Rachel Morin for Lewiston/Auburn
Senior College
Senior College at Bridgton Offers
Variety for Fall
The new academic year has begun at Senior College
at Bridgton, with fall classes well underway. Courses
started in mid-September and continue through October 26 at the Bridgton Community Center. Read more
about the course line-up!
-submitted by Dee Miller for Senior College at Bridgton
Midcoast Senior College
Osher Lifelong Learning
Institute
Penobscot Valley Senior
College
SAGE at UMPI
Senior College at Belfast
Senior College at Bridgton
St. John Valley Senior College
Western Mountains Senior
College
York County Senior College
The Maine Senior College
Network tabletop display is
available to any Maine Senior
College that would like to
borrow it. For more information,
check out the link below:
MSCN Tabletop Display
Sunrise Senior College Explores the Bay of Fundy
The Ada C. Lore schooner sails out of Eastport, Maine.
September 11th provided a sunny, breezy afternoon as 28 members of Sunrise Senior College assembled on the wharf at Eastport, preparing to board the Ada C. Lore, a historic 1923
Chesapeake Bay Oyster schooner. The schooner has been fully restored, and is now used for
whale watches. Read all about the whale watch and learn more about SSC’s other Summer
Shorts.
- submitted by Joan Miller, Sunrise Senior College
Living Beyond War With Winslow Myers
Bristol resident Winslow Myers, a new instructor for Coastal Senior College (CSC), is offering a course this fall entitled “Living Beyond War.” Myers began volunteering for the organization Beyond
War in 1984, and is now on its board of directors.
About his course, Myers says: “This course will rely on participative dialogue to explore the causes and cures for war. Students
will discover they can change the way the think about conflict. For
me the big idea, the biggest potential lever of change, is contained in our growing realization of our interdependence as citizens of Earth, learning to take our humble place among the total
community of beings.” Learn more about Winslow Myers and this
new course.
-submitted by Kay Liss for Coastal Senior College
Western Mountains Celebrates 10th Anniversary
Event Planners for WMSCs 10th anniversary celebration are shown
with special guest, Kali Lightfoot. From left: Jackie Cressy, Kali, Judy
Whitman and Rosabelle Tifft. (Photo by Peter Gailitis)
Western Mountains Senior College (WMSC) opened its 10th anniversary celebration on
September 13 with an elegant evening event attended by 75 members and guests. Miniature
lights strung around the hall and tables decked out with beautiful flower centerpieces added
ambiance to the evening. A big hit with everyone were wall posters depicting members at
many activities over the past ten years as well as recent work produced in WMSC art classes.
The local Good Food Store catered the delicious social hour refreshments and buffet dinner.
Find out more about this gala evening!
- submitted by Rosabelle Tifft for Western Mountains Senior College
So You Think You Know Gilbert & Sullivan?
Peter Rosenberg, an instructor at Augusta Senior College writes, “This fall I am teaching a
course on Gilbert and Sullivan at the UMASC. This prompts me to offer a little quiz. The
question is "What show do the following lyrics come from?" Look for the answer at the end of
this newsletter!
British Admiral;
Her Majesty considers the arrangements to
be tentative
Until we ship a proper diplomatic
representative.
We don't foresee that you will be the least
bit argumentative,
So please ignore the man-of-war that we
brought as a preventative.
Yes, please ignore the man-of-war
That's anchored rather near the shore
It's nothing but a metaphor
That acts as a preventative.
L/A Planners Meet the Presenter
Author John Ford with poses with the Food for
Thought Committee at Lewiston/Auburn Senior
College following the September 14 presentation of
his book Suddenly the Cider Didn't Taste So Good.
Left to right are: Edith Jordan, Karen Bernier, Ford,
Patricia Vampatella, Committee Chair Joanne Sabourin, and Cindy Boyd.
(Photo by Rachel Morin)
How Gold LEAFers Spent
Their Summer Vacations
Gold LEAF members can surely answer the old
question, “what did you do on your summer
vacation?”
A course called “Maine Books and Places” provided the opportunity to visit the middens in
Damariscotta. A midden is a heap of bones,
shells, etc. marking the site of a
prehistoric dwelling, and the Damariscotta middens were featured in one of the books discussed in
this course. The weather for the site visit was, as a class member put it, “just what you'd want for a
trip like this,” warm and sunny.
In September 35 Gold LEAFers got together for an end-of-season picnic at a local park. They
brought food to share, and there were plenty of desserts for everyone, from fruit to cookies to carrot cake. The park was perfect for such a social, with nearby parking, a large barn, a convenient
restroom, and even a refrigerator. These ranged from a “peace dollar” to a costume and demonstration of spiritual healing, to drumming and a sing-along. There were many positive comments
from Gold LEAF members, who certainly appeared to be having good time. Members helped with
cleanup to end the tiring, but fun-filled day. Read the full story.
-submitted by Colleen Serrada for Gold LEAF Institute
Science Cafés in the Atrium at the Portland Public Library
The University of Southern Maine has partnered with Cornerstones of Science to hold a series of
Science Cafés in the Atrium at the Portland Public Library on the last Thursday of each month from
5:30-6:30 p.m. throughout the fall. Sponsoring organizations are USM College of Science,
Technology, and Health; Cornerstones of Science; and Portland Public Library. Click here for more
information about this informative series.
The Poet’s Corner
Nature Interrupted
Dawn stretches across manicured lawn,
green velvet carpet sprinkled white with clover.
The tall grey house holds back the light,
devises darkness with its shadow, holds morning sun
from flowing into the yard.
While, bathed in sunlight,
wild grasses wearing Queen Anne’s lace gloves
wave greetings from an unmown field.
Welcomed by the voice of ocean waves,
I step from the porch.
Soft wind off water washes my face.
Above, I hear the constant cry of a single gull, now in my
view,
white speck against blue sky.
It veers my way, looks down from airy vantage,
Chuckles, cawk, cawk, cawk,
then circles back above the sea and out of sight.
Is this my wake-up call?
I turn away from house and lawn, look skyward,
only clouds and sky and a bird alone, soon lost to sight.
Sea and sky, untouched by human hand,
or so it seems . . .
What of this land
before we came and interrupted
without even excusing ourselves?
- by Nancy Prince, Gold LEAF Institute
Answer to Gilbert & Sullivan quiz:
The answer is "Pacific Overtures" by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman.
The show opened in 1976.
Submissions
Please submit your articles and photographs to Kyle Allen
by the third week of each month for the following month’s edition.