Last luncheon of the semester on Monday

Maybe Monday isn't the best day for our get-togethers because attendance was light.  Nevertheless, Karen Eckert, John Seeley, Benson Simon and myself never seemed to lack for conversation. One topic that came up was frustration with the difficulty of retaining what we are learning in our classes which, I think, is a function of age. Next semester, I think I'll try reviewing my notes soon after each class and pull out what I think is most important because thinking I'll retain all that detail isn't realistic.

A newcomer who takes a course rare among Golden ID students

Louise Lovell is new to the program, and today's luncheon was her first. She's taking music theory which I don't remember any other Golden ID student mentioning before, and her descriptions of the material caused a lot of interest. Nice to meet you, Louise.

Among others attending today, Michael Carliner and Liz Follin are taking film courses. David Miley is taking an art history class while I'm taking classes in architectural history and in English literature. Benson Simon and Jerry Devlin have taken a variety of courses over the 15+ years they've been in the program, but Benson's concentration has been in foreign language and film although this semester he's taking an English history class. I believe Jerry has said he's taken a lot of history and government and politics courses among others, and this semester his class is in Roman history.

Lots of discussion about astronomy today

Although many topics come up during our luncheons, often one particular one stays with me afterward, and today that topic would be astronomy. Both Benson Simon and Jay Miller have long been active in a local astronomy club, and today Jay talked about upcoming astronomical events and good places to view them. He found a lot of interest and many questions among those present.

Although he has been in the Golden ID Program for 15 years, today's was the first luncheon that Jerry Devlin has attended.  You added much to the discussions, Jerry. It was also nice to see Becky Tidman who, because of an operation, hasn't been able to attend this semester until today.

Attendees:

Karen Eckert
Jerry Devlin
Jay Miller
Nancy Bazar
Becky Tidman
Doug Jones
Benson Simon
Fran Steiner.

Yesterday's Luncheon

Nice to see Rich Zipper again.  I'm also happy that three people who are new to the program this semester have become regulars. Here's the full list of those who attended:

Michael Carliner
Benson Simon
Doug Jones
Connie Hoge.
John Seeley
Rich Zipper
Nancy Loy
Ed Coover
Michael Bahreini

Forgot about posting attendees of last luncheon...

Until now anyway.  Last Wednesday seven of us made it in on a rainy day:

Benson Simon
Jay Miller
Nancy Bazar
Fran Steiner
Michael Bahreini
Karen Eckert
Doug Jones

Got the reminder e-mail out late.  I prefer to send it a couple of days ahead but realized the night before the luncheon that there had been a problem with the message I thought I had sent.  Even though it showed as being sent, it didn't go out.  With my wife's help, we traced the problem to the inclusion of the link to this site.  Odd.

Three more newcomers on Tuesday

Nice to meet Itzhak, Connie, and Nancy. Here are all the attendees beginning with the newcomers:

Itzhak Goldberg
Connie Hoge
Nancy Loy
Benson Simon
Michael Carliner
Ed Coover
Michael Bahreini
Helene Stein
Michael Stein
Doug Jones

Good turn-out for today's luncheon

Welcome to newcomers Ava, Michael, Lynn, and Buffy. David Schneider, also new to the Golden ID program, stopped by to introduce himself but couldn't stay. Fran Steiner, a familiar presence at our luncheons, also stopped by to say hi.  I'll list everyone at the luncheon starting with the four new people:

Lynn Brooks
Ava Ramey
Michael Bahreini
Buffy Kirby
Jay Miller
Liz Follin
Benson Simon
Ed Pulik
Nancy Bazar
Karen Eckert
Doug Jones
Rick Marshall

First Luncheon of the Fall Semester

We got together Tuesday, September 22, and shared what courses we were taking this semester as well as what we did over the summer.  It was good to see everyone. Present were Nancy Herin, Nahid Mohamadi, John Seeley, Ed Coover, Michael Carliner, Benson Simon, and Doug Jones.

Kudos to the staff at Adele's.  During the luncheon, an employee brought out a message that a Golden ID student, Gerry Tomlin, had left. When I called Gerry I found out that it had actually been a couple of weeks since he had called the restaurant and left the message, so the staff at Adele's had patiently kept it until we had our first luncheon and they could finally deliver it. They've also been very responsive about making place settings and getting chairs for new arrivals.

Last luncheon of the semester

Adele's served a buffet.

Golden ID students who attended today:

Fran Steiner
Benson Simon
Michael Carliner
Karen Eckert
Becky Tidman
Doug Jones

I hope everyone stays healthy, has a good summer, and returns for the Fall Semester.

Doug Jones

First of two end-of-semester luncheons...

Eight attendees:

Nancy Herin
John Seeley
David Miley
Jay Miller
Jonathan Fine
Ed Coover
Karen Eckert
Doug Jones

Nice to meet you, Jonathan.

Three Newcomers at last Thursday's Luncheon

Nice to meet you:  Woody, Nancy, and Daniel.  List of all attendees:

Woody Woodruff
Nancy Herin
Daniel Lazaro
Ed Coover
Benson Simon
Jay Miller
John Seeley
Doug Jones

Note that we have two more luncheons scheduled this semester:  May 12th and 13th.

Executive Director of CSCP gives us talk and tour

Clarice Smith Center's Executive Director Martin Wollesen brought us up to date on recent activity at our luncheon today.  To me, one of his most exciting pieces of news is the project to convert a commercial building on route one into a combination wine bar/restaurant/art house.  The building was a bowling alley back in the 1950's and then housed a series of restaurants such as the Italian Gardens and, most recently, The Barking Dog which closed a year or two ago. 

College Park needs more restaurants, and I hope this one with its performing arts venue works out.  They hope to open in 2016, but these things tend to take longer than the original planning.

Martin also gave us a backstage tour of the Center.  Thanks to Golden IDer Benson Simon for setting this up.  Besides Benson and myself, also present were Liz Follen, Karen Eckert, Mike Carliner, and Nancy Bazar.

For those of you who missed today's luncheon and tour, I would recommend attending Maryland Day later this month which has a full day of activities at the Clarice Smith Center.

Golden ID students around the world

Victoria Gorska-Rabuck e-mailed from London and asked me to say hello to all her friends in the Golden ID program.  Becky Tidman recently returned from South America and was able to attend our luncheon last Thursday.  Besides Becky and myself, also present were Benson Simon, Ed Coover, and Jay Miller.

Becky took a lot of pictures on her trip but didn't bring any because she says she hasn't organized them yet.  Below is one of hers of Machu Picchu I grabbed off Facebook:

April 8 Luncheon will be at the Clarice Smith Center

We'll communicate the details when they're set.  This will include a tour of the Center.

Yesterday's luncheon

Good conversation and a very pleasant time.

Attendees:

John Seeley
Michael Stein
Helene Stein
Benson Simon
Doug Jones

A suggested event at Clarice Smith Center...

Golden ID member Benson Simon calls our attention to a panel discussion Thursday on diversity in the arts which features Rita Moreno from West Side Story.  Click on the link to the right for The Clarice Smith Center for the Performing Arts for the details.  Cost is free, but tickets must be obtained in advance.

Two newcomers to our luncheons today:  Liz Follen and Marshall Fritz.

The complete list of today's attendees:

Jay Miller
Liz Follen
Marshall Fritz
Ed Coover
Benson Simon
Doug Jones

Tomorrow's Luncheon Cancelled

Since the University has announced it will be closed because of the approaching snow storm, we are re-scheduling for Tuesday, the 10th.

The scheduled luncheon for Wednesday, the 11th, will have to start at noon rather than 11:30 because Adele's tells me they have a private affair scheduled. 

I'll send out reminder e-mails next week.

Today I brought in this book written by a Golden ID student

Rick Marshall is the co-author.  Having just bought it, I haven't read his book yet, but I'm looking forward to doing so.  Rick tells me he'll only make a few of our luncheons this semester because he's tutoring at the University's writing center which is a worthwhile activity and one he's well-suited for.

Attending our luncheon this frigid day were the following:

Faith Hannon
Karen Eckert
Mike Carliner
Benson Simon
Victoria Gorska-Rabuck
Doug Jones

Spring Semester luncheon schedule is established

See the left hand column of this blog.  In a few days, I'll send out the first e-mail reminder.