Center for Continuing Adult Learning, Inc.
Oneonta, Otsego County, New York
The Center for Continuing Adult Learning, Inc. (CCAL), is an affiliate of the Elderhostel Network
2008 WINTER/SPRING CATALOG
Updated as of October 2007
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CCAL Members: Please send information about errors, and/or changes, to me
at:
Hugh
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CO-PRESIDENTS' MESSAGE
ORGANIZATION
WELCOME PAGE
TRIPS
WINTER COURSES
SPRING COURSES
PREVIEW OF FALL/WINTER 2008 COURSES
FACILITATORS BIOGRAPHIES
Dear Friends,
Once again we are pleased to introduce the Winter/Spring 2008 course offerings for CCAL.
Thanks to the energetic efforts of the Curriculum Committee, we continue to find an amazing array of talented people to serve as facilitators. We also continue to offer a wide range of courses, from the sciences and humanities to health care and armchair travel.
We trust you will find some courses that speak to your interests. We hope too that you will consider volunteering to serve as class assistant or, more important, as a member of one of our committees. Like every organization, we are always looking for new leaders.
As always, we look forward to seeing you in class! Enjoy!
George Richards
Jane Ford-Richards
Co-Presidents
The Center for Continuing Adult Learning is a membership organization sponsored by Hartwick College and The State University College at Oneonta (SUCO). “The Center” is one of close to 300 Institutes for Learning in Retirement across the United States; all members of the Elderhostel Institute Network. All of our facilitators are volunteers as are the board members and committee members who are responsible for the operation of “The Center.” It takes a lot of people, giving freely of their time to execute the work necessary to have a well-run organization. If you have an interest in serving in one of the following areas, please get in touch with us.
Board of Directors: (Effective January 1, 2008)
Officers:
President: Mary Simpson – (607) 433-0168
Vice president: Miriam Hathaway - (607) 267-4234
Secretary: Eve Rabbiner – (607) 432-3260
Treasurer: Linda Wilcox – (607) 433-2985
Assistant Treasurer: Sandra Fleisher – (607) 432-3783
Standing Committees:
Curriculum:
Co-chairs: Virginia Miller – (607) 432-0258 and Joan Kollgaard – (607) 433-2431
Erika Baker-Heinegg
Brigitte Beehler
Patricia Desmond
Lillian Dox
Douglas Fielder
Ellen Lee
Hugh MacDougall
Peggy Marcus
George Richards
Heide Seaman-Mahlke
Jean Seroka
Judith Tator
Membership and Promotion:
Chairperson: Kathryn Allen – (607) 547-8030
Rosemary Black
Frances Bliven
Robert Consigli
Jane Ford-Richards
Bill Goertemoeller
Nancy Heldman
Carolyn Hillis
Mary Lee Martin
Kathryn Riso
Sally Tyler
Vivian Walisko
Finance and Administration:
Chairperson:
Richard Burnett
Justine Butler
Kathy Dodd
Sandra Fleisher
Mary Simpson
Linda Wilcox
Nominating:
Chairperson: Shirley Fioravanti – (607) 432-8397
Dorothy Lawson
Virginia Pudelka
Ad Hoc:
Office Manager: Justine Butler – (607) 441-7370
College Liaisons:
Hartwick College: Alicia L. Fish, Dir. Donor Relations (607) 431-4021
SUCO: Dr. Nancy Wolters, Assoc. Provost - (607) 436-2950
2008 will be our 15th year of offering courses to the community through our network with Elderhostel and sponsorship by Hartwick College and SUNY College at Oneonta.
CATALOG:
This is Part I of our 2008 CCAL Catalog of Courses. We have two catalogs each year. The Winter/Spring catalog is published in October and the Summer/Fall catalog is published in March. Our Curriculum Committee has endeavored, successfully, to strike a balance between the humanities, the arts, sciences and social sciences and also includes activities both indoors and out-of-doors.
MEMBERSHIP:
Our membership fee is $100 for the calendar year, January 1 through December 31, and you can join at any time. We offer many interesting courses during each of our four seasons to enable you to “get your money’s worth” no matter when you join. If you “opt” for a payment plan, please plan to pay in full by January 1, 2008 so that you can enroll in winter classes. Your membership must be paid in full before your name is placed on a class roster. The membership enrollment form is the last page in this catalog. We hope you will feel free to share some information about yourself with us and perhaps tell us of your interest to serve as a facilitator and/or serve on the Board of Directors or one of our committees.
COURSE REGISTRATION INFORMATION:
All course registrations must be made by mail, FAX, email, or in person in the office. We cannot take registrations over the telephone. All registration forms will be held until the cut-off dates. November 15 for winter courses, January 15 for spring courses, April 15 for summer courses and July 15 for fall courses. It is very important that you put your courses on the registration form in your personal priority order. After the cut-off date for registrations, all members who have signed up for courses will be assigned to their first choice course in a first round of assignment, the second choice will be assigned in a second round, followed by a third round, etc. If there are more requests for a course than the enrollment maximum, all remaining registrations for that course will be subject to a lottery. Any registrants locked out of their first choice course will then be assigned their second priority course ahead of the other registrants for that course. Any registration received after the cut-off date will be placed on the class rosters, as class size permits, on a “first come, first served” basis, based on the stamped date of receipt, up to the beginning date of any course. Members will be notified of their course placement within two weeks of the cut-off dates for each season. Participants will be notified if courses are cancelled for unforeseen reasons.
SCHOLARSHIPS:
Scholarship funds are available for full or partial CCAL memberships and also to assist in purchasing books and/or supplies needed for CCAL courses. To apply: Call the office and request a Scholarship Request form, complete the form and return it to CCAL Board of Directors, P.O. Box 546, Oneonta, NY 13820. You will receive a response within one week after the next scheduled board meeting.
CHANGES:
On occasion there are changes in the scheduling of our courses after the catalog has been printed. These changes are announced in our randomly published Office Bulletin or by letter if the changes miss the publication dates of the bulletin. Changes will also be made, and announced, in this web-catalog.
The CCAL office is located in Rowe House, 31 Maple Street, Oneonta, on the second floor.
Mailing address: CCAL, PO Box 546, Oneonta, NY 13820
Phone: (607) 441-7370; FAX (607) 436-9682
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Email:ccaloneonta@stny.rr.com
Website: http://external.oneonta.edu/ccal
Office Manager: Justine S. Butler
Every year Jean Seroka organizes a series of day trips (occasionally overnight trips) to places and events of interest. Usually these are by chartered bus (occasionally by car pool), and there will be a charge to cover transportation and admissions. Non-members of CCAL are usually welcome on these trips, at a slightly higher cost.
Trips will be announced to members well in advance.
PREVIEW OF SOME SUMMER-FALL 2008 COURSES
FACILITATOR’S BIOGRAPHIES
Registration due: November 15, 2007
- Schedule:
- Date: When College is in session only
- Time: See below
- Location: SUCO campus
- Coordinators:
- Course Objective: To provide facilities for recreational activities when SUCO is in session, except when a competition is in progress.
- Course Description:
- 1) Swimming: Pool in Chase Physical Education Building. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 7:30-8:30 a.m.; 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 to 10:00 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Call Chris Schuler for conflicts (436-2505)
- 2) Walking: Track – anytime Field House is open
- 3) Tennis: Courts (outdoor only) anytime
- 4) Racquetball: Courts in Chase Physical Educational Building, lower level, Monday through Friday, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Call Helen Van Houten for conflicts (436-3595)
- You must have a SUCO Guest Pass to engage in these activities. This will be sent to you upon registration. Also, carry your CCAL membership card with you. These cards are not always requested to be shown to identify yourself, but you should be prepared. Please note: a new guest pass is required each semester.
- Cost: None | Enrollment: No max
- Schedule:
- Date: The month of January
- Time: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: Various locations. The facilitator will notify class members of the site.
- Facilitator: Joseph Seroka
- Course Objective: To enjoy the beauty of winter on skis.
- Course Description: Members should have enough experience to control their skiing. We will ski on different trails in our area. We may do some off-trail skiing as well. Because the weather in January is uncertain,
Joe will call the class members whenever skiing conditions are good. It could be any day of
the week.
- Cost: Members need their own ski equipment. Bring a snack and a drink.
- Enrollment: 4 minimum, no maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Tuesday and Thursday, January 8, 10, and Tuesdays January 22, 29, February 5
- Time: 1:30 to 3:00 p.m.
- Location: Room 144, Johnstone Science Center, Hartwick campus
- Facilitator: Charles Hartley
- Course Objective: To present a description of what some of our ancestors discovered and knew about astronomy. The course aims to give the student a better understanding of how ancient astronomy affected the culture of their time, mostly through religion, and the culture of our time.
- Course Description: The course will consist of five lectures covering (1) simple observations that ancient people made which enabled them to determine the length of the year, the lunar cycle and motion of the planets; (2) the astronomy of the Summerians (ancient Babylonians) and Egyptians, and why we have seven days a week named after the seven planets; (3) the astronomy of the Maya of meso-America and their intricate calendars; (4) the astronomy of ancient Hindus and their connection with ancient Greek astronomy; and (5) a brief history of how ancient cultures looked at time and how their influences can be seen in our own view of time.
- Cost: None | Enrollment: 6 minimum; 35 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Tuesday and Thursday, January 15 and 17
- Time: 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
- Location: Room 104, Morris Conference Center, SUCO campus
- Facilitator: Edythe Ann Quinn
- Course Objectives: 1) To appreciate the history of the economic struggles of dairy farmers by studying the 1930s Milk Strikes in Central New York, including this immediate area. 2) To appreciate the presence of Eastern -European immigrant dairy farmers in Upstate New York and their participation in the 1930s milk strikes.
- Course Description: At the first session, the facilitator will present the history of the 1930s milk strike in Central New York, especially the 1933 and 1937 strikes, utilizing newspaper accounts and oral histories. She will also discuss the formation and activism of the Dairy Farmers Union. She will draw on sociological theories to analyze how the history of labor activism elsewhere, e.g., the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania, was carried to the dairy lands of New York. In the second session, she will discuss the presence of Eastern European immigrants in Upstate New York, including the Slovenians of Fly Creek and Worcester, and discuss their participation in the milk strikes. If class members have memories of the milk strikes or of Eastern-European cultural traditions, they will be encouraged to share their stories with the class in the last half of the second session.
- Cost: None. There will be a hand-out sent to each person who signs up for this class-to be read in preparation for the class.
- Enrollment: 8 minimum; 25 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Wednesday, January 16
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: Craven Lounge, Morris Conference Center, SUCO campus
- Facilitators: Douglas and Dorothy Scott Fielder
- Course Objective: To share our experiences of traveling in Ireland
- Course Description: Doug and Scott Fielder invite you to share their experiences of a tour in Ireland. They will relive their trip in stories and pictures as they describe their travels around the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. They stayed overnight in Bunratty, Galway, Ballygally, Belfast, Dublin, Kinsale, and Killarney. In addition to castles and cliffs, they saw such things as the village where the movie, “The Quiet Man” was filmed, St. Patrick’s burial site, and of course, the Guinness Storehouse. (Sorry no samples)
- Cost: None | Enrollment: 5 minimum; 60 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Wednesday, January 30, February 6 and 13
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: Room 104, Morris Conference Center, on the SUCO campus
- Facilitator: Joe Richardson
- Course Objective: We will read and reflect on Daniel Quinn’s novel “Ishmael,” an eloquent historical reflection (with religious and cultural overtones) on our ‘species’ self-centered exploitation of nature. This provocative book provides plenty of food for thought and, perhaps, counterargument.
- Course Description: In this book, first published in 1992, Quinn uses a wise gorilla’s conversations with a human disciple to articulate the plight of other species and the responsibility humanity has for the environmental predicament in which we ourselves are enmeshed. Widely popular among high school and college students and their teachers this book should stimulate older students as well!
- Cost: Purchase of the text ($17 new). No cost for any additional photocopies
- Enrollment: 10 minimum; 18 maximum
- Schedule:
- Dates & Times
- Thursday, February 7, 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.
- Thursday, February 14, 21, and 28, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: Room 104, Morris Conference Center, on the SUCO campus
- Facilitator: Paul Scheele
- Course Objective: To study the media (press, TV, radio, internet), learn who controls them, examine their content and critique their performance, especially concerning their impact on the quality of democracy (election and evaluation of officials, understanding and choosing public policies, and the quality of political discourse).
- Course Description:
- Thomas Jefferson: “…were it left to me…whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” James Madison: “A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both.”
- Whether one looks at the war in Iraq, or America’s health care delivery system, or our inaction on global warming, or the widening gap between income and wealth, or our wastrel non-policy regarding energy, or the absence of a sensible transportation system, or the way we finance political campaigns, one is torn whether to declare farce or tragedy or both. We certainly offer only a pale imitation of a democracy. As the country turns away from even considering such issues, we see the prescience of the late Neal Postman’s 1984 warning that we are “Amusing Ourselves to Death.”
- What’s the role of the mass media in all this? That is the question we will address in this course. We will use as our primary resource a current book exploring the subject such as Jeff Chester’s Digital Destiny or John Nichols’ and Robert W. McChesney’s Tragedy and Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, and Destroy Democracy. In order to use the best and most up-to-date publication, we will wait until December to select the book to be used.
- Facilitator’s Method: Class members will be asked to read the selected book and discuss it. The facilitator will offer an introductory lecture and then serve as a discussion leader and resource person in the remainder of the course.
- Cost: $15 to $20 for book | Enrollment: 3 minimum; 15 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Tuesday, February 12 and 19
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: Room 104, Morris Conference Center, on the SUCO campus
- Facilitator: Colleen Blacklock
- Course Objective: This is a hands-on course designed to introduce people to the principles of acupuncture and acupressure for everyday aches and pains.
- Course Description: We will begin the session with a brief presentation of traditional Chinese medicine philosophy and acupuncture principles. A brief acupuncture demonstration will be given. Following this, we will have a hands-on workshop to find acupressure points for each individual to treat specific aches and pains such as low back pain, knee pain, neck pain, etc.
- Cost: None. Please bring a wooden spoon to class for applying pressure and wear loose fitting clothing.
- Enrollment: 12 minimum, 15 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Wednesday, February 20
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: Craven Lounge, Morris Conference Center, on the SUCO campus
- Facilitator: Shirley Ferguson
- Course Objective: To explore and better understand the West African country of Mali and its people, through personal reflections, anecdotes and slides describing my three-week trip in that country.
- Course Description: Mali is a desperately poor, mostly Muslim, country struggling with abject poverty, rampant health issues, and lack of any basic infrastructure. This course will follow my travels throughout Mali as I discover the unbreakable spirit of its people. I will have authentic handicrafts and artifacts on display, and invite discussion and questions following the presentation.
- Cost: None | Enrollment: 5 minimum; No maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Wednesday, February 27, March 5 and 12
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: To be announced
- Facilitator: Sugwon Kang
- Course Objective: This course continues the “Republic” series by picking up where we left off in 2007 with 1918-1945. Among other things, we shall consider the extent to which the east-west conflict during the cold war affected the way we conducted ourselves as an open society.
- Course Description: As we enter the “postwar” era, we are now able to compare notes on the topics we discuss with a measure of personal insight and familiarity. While there’s no attempt to turn this into a serious historical survey, the overall approach will nevertheless be a chronological one. As before, in this ongoing investigation of the American saga, the class will be mindful of the anxious reply of Benjamin Franklin, “A republic if you can keep it.”
- Cost: None | Enrollment: 15 minimum, 30 firm maximum
Registration due: January 15, 2008
- Schedule:
- Date: Thursday, March 6, 13, 20, and 27
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: To be announced
- Facilitator: Tom Heitz
- Course Objectives:
- (1) To tell the creation story of the Cardiff Giant – America’s Paleontological hoax – and how a cigar maker from Binghamton created a firestorm of controversy with a fake fossil and made a fortune.
- (2) Explore the philosophical implications of the Cardiff Giant – biblical and religious creation stories vs. Darwinian evolution theory; science vs. religion and
- (3) To visit the actual Cardiff Giant at The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown.
- Course Description: In 1866, while visiting his sister in Ackley, Iowa, George Hull, a cigar maker from Binghamton encountered Rev. Turk, an itinerant evangelist, who was lodging with Hull’s sister for a few nights. The two men fell into an argument in the parlor about the meaning of Genesis 6:4, which in the King James Bible, alludes to giants walking on the Earth and intermarrying with humankind. Hull, who was familiar with Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859), thought it was nonsense but the Rev. Turk believed every word because it was in the Bible. A few days later, Hull conceived the idea of the Cardiff Giant and in the fall of 1869, Hull’s giant fossil was unearthed on a farm near Cardiff, New York. The ensuing controversy enflamed the growing debate between science and religion, and Hull made a fortune. Today, the Cardiff Giant resides at The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown.
- Optional Field Trip: The last class period will be used for an optional on-site visit to The Farmers’ Museum to view the Cardiff Giant. Students who are not members of the New York State Historical Association will have to pay an admission fee.
- Incentive: Dove dark chocolates distributed at break.
- Cost: None, other than the trip admission fee to The Farmers’ Museum if you are not a member.
- Enrollment: 10 minimum; 20 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Thursday, March 13
- Time: 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.
- Location: Bacon Activity Room, Morris Conference Center, on the SUCO campus
- Facilitator: Rick Lawson, Lifescapes Florist
- Course Objective: To construct your own table centerpiece using step by step hands-on training.
- Course Description: We provide all materials. Each person will utilize our instruction and materials to build their own table centerpiece.
- Cost: $20 per person | Enrollment: 48 firm maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Friday, March 14, April 25 and May 23
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: To be announced
- Facilitator: Mary S. Miller
- Course Objective: To explore literature through discussion.
- Course Description: The course will highlight three novels that relate to the immigrant experience. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. Additional topics may include the importance of one’s past, generational and gender differences as they impact one’s assimilation
- Cost: The purchase of the three listed novels.
- Enrollment: 5 minimum; 15 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Tuesday, March 18
- Time: 1:30 to 3:00 p.m.
- Location: To be announced
- Facilitator: Joan Kollgaard
- Course Objective: To share with participants the excitement and education of an off-season (beginning of November) week in London, one of the world’s great cities.
- Course Description: Regardless of the season, London is a vibrant and exciting city with much to see and do. The first week of November offers Guy Fawkes Day celebrations, the annual Harrod’s Christmas Parade, and the London to Brighton Veteran Automobile Run in addition to the usual attractions. Add a day trip to Leed’s Castle, Canterbury Cathedral and the White Cliffs of Dover, and participants can vicariously experience a wonderful week in England through pictures and commentary.
- Cost: None | Enrollment: 10 minimum; 40 maximum
- Date: Wednesday, March 19
- Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Location: To be announced
Facilitator: Dan Ayres
Course Description:
- (1) Discussion of rural healthcare delivery systems
- (2) Challenges and opportunities for the delivery of quality healthcare in a rural setting
- (3) The effect of current policy debate on local healthcare systems
Cost: None | Enrollment: To the capacity of room assigned
- Schedule:
- Date: Tuesday, March 25
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: Room 127, Human Ecology Building, SUCO campus
- Facilitator: Paul V. Koehn
- Course Objective: To describe what carbohydrates are chemically and secondly to show how they are metabolized in humans.
- Course Description: After reviewing several elementary concepts of chemistry, the names and structures of simple and complex carbohydrates will be shown. Metabolic pathways involved in the formation and degradation of carbohydrates will be explained. Questions during and after the lecture are very much welcomed.
- Cost: None | Enrollment: 5 minimum; 25 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Wednesday, March 26
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: FoxCare Center, Oneonta
- Facilitator: Arthur E. “Gene” Klamm
- Course Objective: Students will be able to recognize life-threatening emergencies and respond appropriately.
- Course Description: Two hour course including Heimlich maneuver and Adult CPR. This may be the easiest course you ever take; and the most rewarding. Physical exertion will be required. Wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing.
- Cost: None unless students desire to purchase the book. Books are approximately $2.50 each.
- Enrollment: 4 minimum; 6 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Tuesday, April 1, 8, 15, and 22
Time: 9:30 to 11:45 a.m.
- Location: Craven Lounge, Morris Conference Center, SUCO campus
- Facilitators: Joe Fioravanti and Joe Campbell
- Course Description:
- Great American Broadcast II continues our survey of the golden age of radio broadcasting, focusing on the decade of the Forties, commencing with the New York World’s Fair of 1939-40 (The World of Tomorrow) to the suburban blight of Levittowns and postage stamp lawns in prefabricated cheese boxes from the late Forties when television antennas on rooftops became a permanent fixture.
- We’ll examine the role of radio in sustaining a beleaguered nation’s morale on the home front during the turbulent years of WW II. We’ll note how radio adapted itself to shifting social and cultural changes as merchandising and mass communication were wedded to each other, from selling lip gloss and razor blades to feeding into America’s postwar appetite for diversity, producing quality fare for radio listeners of mixed age groups with popular shows that combined clever scripts with brilliant showmanship while serving the core commercial interests of individual sponsors. Lectures will be supplemented with visual aids, video footage, cd’s and tapes of authentic voices and shows precisely as they were recorded when aired from radio stations and remotes from coast-to-coast and from overseas mobile units.
- Sample topics to be explored: 1941: The Greatest Year in Sports; The Recorded Popular Songs That Kept Us Singing And Dreaming In the Darkest Days of WW II; Turncoats of Freedom: Lord Haw Haw, Axis Sally, and Tokyo Rose; the Bitch of Buchenwald; The Bobby Sox Cult & Sinatra Fever; Lindbergh Vs. FDR: Isolationism (America First rallies) and FDR’s Calculated Strategy of Helping the Allied Powers While Wearing the Cloak of Neutrality; Pink Flamingoes On the Patio.
- Cost: None | Enrollment: 15 minimum; 40 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Tuesday, April 1 and 8
- Time: 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.
- Location: To be announced
- Facilitator: Charles J. Hudson, MD, CM
- Course Description: This course will review the history of mental illness and its treatment from ancient times to the present, with personal experiences.
- Cost: None unless you care to make a donation to the National Association for Mental Illness, ‘NAMI’.
- Enrollment: 20 minimum; 30 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Wednesday, April 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30
- Time: 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
- Location: Room 104, Morris Conference Center, on the SUCO campus
- Facilitator: Patricia Gourlay
- Course Objective: Enjoying the plays comes first, but we can also expect new insights about not only these works, but also about the human condition.
- Course Description: A Shakespeare comedy and a tragedy starting from similar situations: a villain falsely convinces a fiancé / husband that his lady is unfaithful. In both plays, honor, love, truth (“seeing”) are called into question. An invitation to lively discussion, new perceptions.
- Cost: Copy of each play is needed.
- Enrollment: 8 minimum; 20 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Friday, April 4, 11 and 18
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Location: Susquehanna Room, Hunt Union, on the SUCO campus
- Facilitator: Chris Boken
- Course Objective: Simple drawing showing shading and texture and learning how to add color with pastels
.
- Course Description: We will do simple drawing and then add color. Last class we will pick a photo and draw from it and use pastels to color it.
- Cost: $5 for instructor provided pastel kit. Pay the class assistant at the first class session.
- Enrollment: 5 minimum; 14 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Wednesday, April 16
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: Leather Stocking Theater, Hunt Union, SUCO campus
- Facilitator: J. Taylor Hollist
- Course Objective: Learn where Escher got many of his ideas for his impossible objects and how he made periodic patterns of animal figures to get illustrations of translation, rotation and reflection symmetry.
- Course Description: A slide presentation showing many of Escher’s woodcuts. Learn why people in the physical sciences (mathematicians, chemists, physicists, crystallographers) were the first admirers of Escher’s work.
- Cost: None | Enrollment: 5 minimum; 40 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Thursday, April 17, 24, May 1 and 8
- Time: 2:30 to 4:00 p.m.
- Location: Room 104, Morris Conference Center, on the SUCO campus
- Facilitator: Harlene Allen
- Course Objective: To maintain a flexible spine and to release the natural flow of energy for good health and longevity.
- Course Description: This course is open to those who are active and in reasonably good health. It will include proper breathing, relaxation, simple asanas (yoga postures), meditation, and eye exercises.
- Cost: None. Students are asked to bring a sheet or mat to lie on and to wear pants that will not be restricting.
- Enrollment: 8 minimum; 15 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Monday, April 21
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: To be announced
- Facilitator: Lois S. Herrick
- Course Objective: To explore the history of the Oneonta dairy industry with examples of milk bottles and dairy related items.
- Course Description: The format will be part lecture and part discussion. Participants may bring items relating to the dairy industry and share experiences and remembrances.
- Cost: None | Enrollment: 10 minimum; 20 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Tuesday, April 22 and 29
- Time: 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.
- Location: To be announced
- Facilitators: Emery C. Herman and Charles J. Hudson
- Course Objective: This course will feature stories and reminiscences from the lives of people who lived in Germany in the cataclysmic decade of 1935-1945 and their subsequent coming to America.
- Course Description: Members of the “Deutsch Leser Verein” will present this course. This group meets weekly to speak and to read German and to savor other aspects of German culture. Members will discuss both rural and urban life in Germany as well as their experiences after coming to America.
- Cost: None | Enrollment: 15 minimum; 40 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Thursday, April 24, May 1 and 8
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: Room 104, Morris Conference Center, on the SUCO campus
- Facilitator: Hugh C. MacDougall
- Course Objective: To explore the history and culture of our part of New York from Indian times until the great inrush of settlers that ended about 1810.
- Course Description: Three talks about life and events in what would become Otsego County and its vicinity, from the time of the Indians through the Revolutionary War and on to the wave of post-war settlement that peaked about 1810.
- We will meet colorful characters like George Croghan, Jacob Morris, John Christian Hartwick, the Edmeston brothers, Joachim van Valkenberg, and William Cooper.
- We will explore early fur trading and the departure of the Indians; the establishment in 1768 of the Unadilla River as the western limit of white settlement; the impact of the Revolution, including the destruction of Cherry Valley, Springfield, Andrustown, and the multi-racial community of Oghwaga (Oquaga); the Clinton-Sullivan Expedition of 1779; and the post-war rush of settlers that peaked about 1810.
- We will examine the development, before and after the Revolution, of communities like Cherry Valley, Butternuts, Newtown Martin (Middlefield), Cooperstown, Hartwick, Unadilla, Milford, and Springfield; and consider the cultural, ethnic, ecological, economic, and other changes that accompanied their creation.
- The course will be illustrated by occasional slides, and there will be one or two handouts.
- Cost: None | Enrollment: 10 minimum; no maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Monday, April 28, May 5, 12 and 19
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: To be announced
- Facilitator: Anneliese Smith
- Course Objective: To savor – content and style – of a number of Cather’s short stories with special focus on the early and late “Nebraska stories” and the Kuenstlerleben stories.
- Course Description: 2 to 4 stories to be read before and then discussed in each class meeting. A detailed schedule will be sent to participants several weeks before the first class. (Let me know, please, if you have favorites you’d like to see on the reading list.) Generally, the facilitator will begin each class with background “to set” the day’s stories in Cather’s life, her reading, in relation to her other works, perhaps in the framework of the time of the stories and of their composition.
- Cost: Vintage Classics paperback Willa Cather: Collected Stories $15 is a good buy. #57 in the Library of America Series, available in most libraries, also presents all the stories in one volume: Willa Cather-Stories, Poems, and Other Writings. Consider also the individual volumes-The Troll Garden (1905), Youth and the Bright Medusa (1920), Obscure Destinies (1932), The Old Beauty and Others(1948), and Five Stories (1956).
- Enrollment: 12 minimum; 25 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Monday, April 28 and May 5
- Time: 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.
- Location: To be announced
- Facilitator: Steve Berman
- Course Objective: To present and discuss the quintessential American play.
- Course Description:
- Since its Broadway opening on February 10, 1949, Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” has come to be regarded as one of the twentieth century’s most notable American plays. Its gripping depiction of the illusory nature of the American dream and the tragic effects it has on an ordinary man and his family moved many in the first-night audience to tears. Miller’s innovative use of flash backs coupled with a creative set design enables the protagonist to step through time and space and enter into the realm of his memory and imagination seamlessly. Although the play has been extensively reviewed, discussed, and critiqued, there is little agreement as to its ultimate meaning.
- We will view a televised version of the play performed in 1966 with the two leading cast members (Lee J. Cobb and Mildred Dunnock) reprising their stage roles. I will review Arthur Miller’s life, read some of the theater notices, and discuss the play's central issues.
- Cost: None | Enrollment: 10 minimum; 25 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Tuesday, April 29, May 6 and 13
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
- Location: To be announced
- Facilitator: Denise Dailey
- Course Objective:
- 1) To give a geographical and historic overview of Pakistan
- 2) To speak of my individual experience there in May, 2006
- 3) To discuss current politics, educational and gender initiatives, the arts
- Course Description: This is an opportunity to have an exchange of views concerning different branches of Islam, to connect the emerging nation-states of the 20th century, to review the politics of the giants: Russia, Britain, the USA, China specifically concerning Pakistan. The course also would allow for a return to the Silk Route.
- Cost: None. Bring a pad for taking notes. Also: Mrs. Dailey invites those who wish to enroll to submit 1 – 3 questions in anticipation of the course matter. Send to: daileytd@aol.com
- Enrollment: 5 minimum; 30 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Wednesday, April 30, May 7 and 14
- Time: 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.
- Location: First class will be held at Pine Lake
- Facilitator: Julia Smith
- Course Objective: To help identify birds by sight and sound.
- Course Description: The first session will be an introductory field walk at Pine Lake. The second and third sessions will be field walks at other locations.
- Cost: None. Please bring binoculars (if you have them) to class along with a bird book for the Northeastern U. S.
- Enrollment: 3 minimum; 15 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Friday, May 2, 9 and 16
- Time: 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
- Location: Bacon Activity Room, Morris Conference Center on the SUCO campus
- Facilitator: Ernest D. Mahlke
- Course Objective: To foster appreciation of flags as a specific and unique design entity, and have the opportunity to make your own flag, utilizing some attributes that are specifically from the individual’s background.
- Course Description:(1) Study the various flags of nations, states and other entities as to their tradition and design attributes. (2) To design a flag and then physically produce a fabric or paper replica of this design in any size including, but not limited to, full size.
- Cost: Possible small fee ($2 or under) for supplies.
- Enrollment: 10 minimum; 30 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Monday and Wednesday, May 19 and 21
- Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
- Location: To be announced
- Facilitator: Robert T. Russell
- Course Objective: To understand the biological and psychological dynamics of stress. To foster communication within the group about issues both unique and commonly shared.
- Course Description: The course will explain the dynamics of stress while using specific examples from instructor and class. We will present models used in psychology for stress reduction while emphasizing specific issues raised by the class.
- Cost: None | Enrollment: 10 minimum; 20 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Tuesday and Thursday, May 20, 22, 27 and 29
- Time: 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.
- Location: Room 108, Milne Library, SUCO campus
- Facilitator: Kay Benjamin
- Course Objective: To explore the rich world of online resources. To learn techniques for finding the best information available online using the Milne Library, other free library services, and web search engines.
- Course Description: Discover the extent of material available online at no charge from Milne Library, the New York State Library, and the New York Public Library. Find out how Google is different from the library web sites and learn how to search all successfully. Come away with some simple, clever techniques for finding what you want online. Classes will meet in Milne Library’s electronic classroom, where there will be time for questions, hands-on practice, and play. Included will be a list of some of the most informative and most interesting sites on the Internet.
- Cost: No cost for materials. There is a charge for printing from the computers in the library of 5 cents per page.
- Enrollment: 8 minimum; 19 maximum
- Schedule:
- Date: Thursday, May 29
- Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
- Location: Swart Wilcox House, Wilcox Avenue, Oneonta (off River Street)
- Facilitator: Helen K. Rees
- Course Objective: To acquaint participants with the oldest surviving house in the city of Oneonta and it’s history as a reflection of Oneonta’s past.
- Course Description: Built in 1807 by Lawrence Swart, a Revolutionary War soldier from Schoharie, this house was lived in by just two families in its 201 year history. Now owned by the City of Oneonta and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is operated as a community educational resource by the Friends of Swart-Wilcox. Participants can enjoy a view of the daily life of the families who lived there, as well as the history of the house and how it reflects the history of the surrounding Oneonta community.
- Cost: None | Enrollment: 10 minimum; 20 maximum
- “Middle East-Israel, Jordan, Palestine: Conflict-Holy Places – Hope for Peace – Life in this area. -- Verna Engstrom-Heg
- “My Miniature Mania.” To share with others my love of miniatures through exhibits, DVD, and the tale of how a simple Christmas gift “created a monster.” -- Doris Tyrrell
- Mission trip to Guatemala -- Debra Parisian
- Hatha Yoga -- Harlene Allen
- Reiki -- Joseph Chappelle
- Harlene Allen began studying Yoga at the Sivananda Ashram in Val Morin, Quebec, Canada in the summer of 1972 and remained for more than a year where she took classes with and was secretary to Swami Vishnudevananda. Sometime in the 1980s she returned for a year to the organization and lived on their farm in Woodburne, NY, at the Center in New York City, and for a few months in Val Morin. She also attended a Yoga Festival at the Center on Paradise Island in the Bahamas and lived for a month at the Center in London, England.
- Dan Ayres is the CEO/Administrator for O’Connor Hospital in Delhi, NY. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marshall University, Huntington, WV, and a Master of Science Degree in Administration from St. Michael’s College, Colchester, VT. Former healthcare positions include Chief Operating Officer for Copley Healthcare, Morrisville, VT; an integrated rural healthcare delivery system. Vice President of Facilities and Support Services for Fletcher Allen Healthcare, Burlington, VT; an Academic Medical Center. Vice President of Support Services for Fanny Allen Hospital; a Catholic Community Hospital, Colchester, VT. He is also a retired U. S. Navy Commander.
- Kay Benjamin has been a reference and instruction librarian at Milne Library since 1990. Prior to that she was the Assistant Director at the Huntington Library in Oneonta and the Sidney Public Library in Sidney, New York. She has been enthusiastically teaching the use of the Internet at schools, libraries, workshops, and conferences for many years.
- Steve Berman has been an area resident since 1967 and was coordinator of the Meteorology program at SUNY Oneonta until his retirement in 2003. A long-time opera buff, Steve ushers at Glimmerglass Opera in the summer and is a member of the Wagner Society of New York. He is also an amateur artist who works in various wet and dry media.
- Colleen Blacklock is a New York State licensed acupuncturist and has had a private practice in Oneonta since 1998. She is board certified in both Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine by the National Certification Commission of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Ms. Blacklock received a Master’s degree in Traditional Oriental Medicine from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in New York City and a BA in Biology from Reed College in Portland, Oregon.
- Chris Boken was graduated from the School of Art and Design and worked in publishing for fifteen years doing book covers for Bantam Books, Signet, and Time Warner. Her freelance work consisted of designs for Mad Magazine, advertising for Bantam Books, posters, bus ads and store displays. Later in life, Chris worked for the defense industry drawing planes, ships and displays for recruiting. Presently she is semi-retired, teaching art at a nursing home and trying to find time to paint landscapes.
- A well-known teacher, sports buff, coach, radio personality, Campbell calls himself “The Grand Old Man of Radio,” harking back to his fifty-two year reign as the voice of WDOS radio, a tour of duty that included Saturday night dance parties, Sunday afternoon poetry readings, sports casts and interviews with local athletes, and his marathon six-hour Saturday morning show, “Sentimental Journey,” a weekly musical revival of the big band era, playing vintage recordings from his massive music library. He’s also hosted several jam sessions with musical friends, including Al Gallodoro, who once played with the original Pal Whiteman Orchestra and with Toscanini on NBC radio. Campbell’s enthusiasm for the music he loves is legendary. Just watching him conducting a phantom orchestra to the tune of Count Basie’s “One O’Clock Jump” is well worth the price of admission.
- Denise B. Dailey has had the advantage of being born in Brazil to French parents, of having lived in Canada for nine years, and of having traveled with her husband and children to all continents, often in tents. She has taught English, ESL, physiology and music at different times in her life, and found great success in marrying all these disciplines in a course “English through Science” she taught in NYC public schools. She and her husband are retired and live on a farm in Walton from May through October.
- Tom is starting his 27th year at SUNY College at Oneonta. Along with serving as the Intramural Director, Tom
teaches beginning swimming and assists with the College Scuba course.
- Shirley spent her working years in a wide variety of jobs, including that of a teacher, a construction inspector, an operator of heavy equipment, and for 22 years as a Sales Representative for Xerox Corp., retiring in 2002. She caught the travel bug on her first international trip in 1989 to Eastern Africa and has been succumbing to its pull ever since. Lately she has been combining her love of travel and adventure with her passion for helping people, and spent a month working in orphanages in Russia in 2006. Early in 2007 she traveled to Kalabankoro, Mali, to meet the families and children of the school that her church sponsors, then spent some time traveling throughout that country.
- Scott had a brief career teaching biology and a much longer one (25 years) in the U. S. Postal Service. She retired in 2003 after 22 years as Schenevus Postmaster. Her many interests include stamp collecting, environmental activism, local history, photography, and travel.
- Doug retired after teaching for 31 years at the State University of New York, College at Oneonta. Now that he is retired he has time to pursue his interests in photography, travel, and volunteering for local groups.
- When only seventeen, he wrote a mock radio script called “Millie Mudstrap: Girl Reporter,” a take-off on popular heroines with working class roots. He never sent the script to NBC, CBS, or ABC, but it was a big hit at teen parties. Encouraged by his friends, he did a broadside on the popular Arthurian legends, calling his opus, “One of King Otter’s Nights.” Until he turned 21, he was much in demand as Romeo in a two-character skit featuring a male companion in drag who played a mincing Juliet. By the time he graduated from college, reality set in. No more radio comedies and party skits. When Fioravanti left the old neighborhood, he left behind his cronies and his prolonged adolescence. From then on until the day he retired, some forty-one years later, he worked five days a week, nine months a year, as a teacher of unmotivated and uncooperative students, with summers free to explore new possibilities.
- Patricia Gourlay is a recently retired Professor of English, specializing in Shakespeare and classical literature. She taught at Temple University and Hunter College, and has been at SUNY Oneonta since 1963. She is a graduate of Wellesley College, with an MA from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from Columbia. She is currently busy writing a biography of three women in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She has found CCAL courses on Shakespeare so much fun that she can’t resist doing another course.
- Charles Hartley has a Ph.D. in physics, taught physics at Hartwick College for thirty years, and is now retired and Professor Emeritus. He has a life-long interest in astronomy and ancient astronomy, and was the Director of the Ernest B. Wright Observatory at Hartwick. (It seems as though as I get older my biography should be getting longer, but in fact it’s getting shorter.)
- Tom Heitz writes local history columns for the Freeman’s Journal, the Richfield Springs Mercury and the Route 20 Pulse. Tom is Otsego Town Historian, an interpreter for the Cardiff Giant at The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown and the official score keeper for the Oneonta Tigers in the summertime. From 1983 to 1995 he was Librarian at the National Baseball Library and Archive, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
- Emery Herman, a retired physician, graduated from Emory University in 1949 and from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1953. He rekindled his interest in the German Language in the 1980s, forty years after taking introductory German in college, by receiving tutelage under Margaret Elkan until her death. Since then he has become a dedicated member of a group of seniors who have formed the Wednesday Afternoon German Group.
- Lois taught music for 31 years and retired from Morris Central School in 1990. For over 40 years she has had an interest in antiques, especially collecting Oneonta ephemera and milk bottles from local area dairies.
- J. Taylor Hollist is a retired mathematics professor. He has published three articles on M. C. Escher and on this subject. Taylor and Suzanne have lived in Oneonta for over 40 years.
- Dr. Charles Hudson is a retired psychiatrist. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, and did his psychiatric training at the University of Vermont Hospitals. He is a Fellow of The American Psychiatric Association and has worked in public psychiatry his entire career. This has included work with the Alaska Native Health Service in Alaska, the State of New York and not for profit organizations.
- Chuck Hudson, a retired physician, studied German as an undergraduate. Upon retirement, he realized that he had paid tuition to learn German but had received no return on his parent’s investment. Joining the Wednesday Afternoon German Group ha given him the fulfillment of having more than recouped his parent’s investment in addition to having the friendship of a remarkable group of people.
- Sugwon Kang, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Hartwick College retired in 2001, concluding a 37-year career as a college teacher. Before joining the Hartwick faculty in 1973, he taught at Brooklyn College from 1964 to 1967 and New York University from 1967 to 1973. He holds a PhD from Columbia University and has been teaching Political Philosophy and Constitutional Law as his principal responsibilities at Hartwick College. He has contributed several articles to academic journals and reference books, most recently, three articles appearing in the Encyclopedia of the U. S. Supreme Court (Salem Press, 2001). Kang’s academic awards include an NEH Fellowship for College Teachers, 1980-81. Dr. Kang was born and raised in Seoul, Korea. He came to the United States in 1956 as a college freshman and was naturalized in 1978. He is married to Diana Staley Kang; they have two children, Jonathan and Caroline.
- Paul Koehn received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Connecticut and then held research positions at Rockefeller University and Yale School of Medicine. In 1967 he joined the faculty of SUNY College at Oneonta and taught biochemistry courses until his retirement in 2006.
- Gene has been a CPR Instructor for 27 years. He was a USAF Medical Technician for 22 years, where he did CPR more times than he’d like to remember. He has been an Education Instructor at A. O. Fox hospital for 16 years, where he teaches healthcare providers CPR.
- Joan Kollgaard is a retired English teacher who has led several student and adult trips to Europe while – and since – teaching at Unatego Jr-Sr High School. She enjoys traveling and sharing those experiences with students, friends, and family.
- Rick started his business, Lifescapes in 2000 after 15 years of experience in the floral trade as well as high-level retail management experiences. He obtained his degree in fine arts from Cazenovia College and has since studied art in life. His travels have taken him around the world where he has learned how many people combine skills and point of view to express themselves and has developed his own skills and views with the advice he took along the way. Lifescapes is, in a way, a bit of everything Rick has been.
- Hugh MacDougall has been a regular facilitator of CCAL courses since its inception, on varied topics many of which were of an historical nature. He is a long-time student of the life, times, and work of James Fenimore Cooper and for the past few years has been the Official Historian of the Village of Cooperstown.
- Ernie Mahlke taught for SUCO Department of Art for thirty-two years. He taught jewelry early on, specializing eventually in Sculpture and 3-dimensional Design. He is interested in a lot of things, but particularly sculpture, hiking, travel, and railroads. Ernie has taught a number of other courses for CCAL of both a visual nature and other interests since retiring.
- Mary Miller is a recently retired 12th grade English teacher after 33-1/3 long playing years. She is now an adjunct instructor at Hartwick College. She is a passionate reader who is looking forward to discussing books with interested readers.
- Edie is an Associate Professor and Chair of the History Department at Hartwick College where she teaches courses in Environmental History, including a seminar entitled “Changes in The Land: Changing Land Uses in Upstate New York, Colonial to Current.” She has spoken on the 1930s Milk Strikes at several local historical societies. She is a member of the Butternut Valley Grange and lives in an old farmhouse in the hills above Unadilla. Edie has facilitated the following courses for CCAL: “Winter and the Environment in History and Folklore;” “Rosie and Her Neighbors, World War II on the Home Front;” “and “African-American Quilts and Their Makers.”
- Helen Konstanty Rees is a native of Otsego County who loves history and enjoys giving tours in historical Oneonta and Cooperstown. She was a librarian for over 35 years before retiring from the Oneonta City School system. Along with three other Greater Plains Elementary School teachers, she became a “mother” to the abandoned Swart-Wilcox House in 1988, making it the focus of the 4th grade local history curriculum and developing the house into a museum of local history and culture. Helen also belongs to the Greater Oneonta Historical Society and to the D.A.R.
- A retired teacher of biology, ecology and environmental studies, Joe Richardson found “Ishmael” to be a very effective teaching vehicle in his environment and man course at Franklin and Marshall College. Students got so engrossed in it that they even read ahead of the assignment! No need to do this in a CCAL course – unless you can’t help yourself! Joe and his wife Alice have lived outside Morris since 2001. Although he has taught two lecture-format courses in CCAL, this will be his first attempt at leading a seminar-type course.
- Bob Russell is an adjunct professor of behavioral sciences in the liberal arts division at SUNY Delhi, specializing in the areas of sociology and psychology. He is a recipient of the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and is published in the NYS Journal of Education. He has done extensive volunteer work with prison inmates and is currently doing research for a history of Delhi College for the 2013 Centennial.
- Paul Scheele is a Professor Emeritus from SUNY Oneonta’s Political Science Department, having taught that subject at the college for 33 years. During that period he taught American Political Thought, U. S. Presidency, U. S. Congress, Political Interest Groups, Public Policy, Governing Russia, Constitutional Law, and Civil Rights and Liberties, as well as the Introductory U. S. Government. He holds BA, MA and PhD degrees from the University of Nebraska and is the editor of “We Get What We Vote For…Or Do We?” – The Impact of Elections on Governing.
- Jean Seroka is a 1964 SUCO graduate who has had careers as a teacher, real estate broker, newspaper proofreader, assistant store manager and volunteer for many organizations. She has lived with her husband Joe in Otego since 1967
- Joe Seroka is a retired teacher who enjoys the outdoors in winter. He has been skiing for many years and would like to share some of the winter fun.
- In my long teaching career at SUNY Cobleskill, I had little opportunity to teach any works by Willa Cather. An Elderhostel summer course on campus in the early 1980s gave me the opportunity to teach several Cather novels to a senior group, a personally stimulating experience I am extending into my CCAL life.
- Julie Smith grew up in Florida and graduated from Florida Southern College, Lakeland. She taught school for a number of years before moving to Oneonta with her husband Bob. She took her first bird course with Dr. Bob Miller at Pine Lake several years ago and has been enjoying birding ever since.