Newsletter PRESIDENT S MESSAGE

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1 Newsletter WELCOME! We hope that this e-newsletter will be informative and interesting enough for you to print it out and refer to it often. Upcoming events will be listed as well as reports from Board members to keep you abreast of the news of our organization. Plus it will cut down on the number of s you will receive. We welcome all comments. PRESIDENT S MESSAGE As your new president I am very fortunate to be stepping into this position when The Second Half is thriving. We have members from all around the South Coast, a broad variety of fall classes, many enthusiastic facilitators, and a new campus. The big news is The Second Half s move to its bright and roomy new location in the Fall River Industrial Park at 421 Currant Road. We ll have roomier classrooms, plenty of parking, and no busy street to cross. As a bonus, there s a sitting area where members can visit and socialize before and after classes. We hope you will be as happy with this new location as I am. We start this new academic year with 33 classes offered by 35 talented and generous facilitators. We ll have book clubs and classes on film, politics, board games, history, languages, poetry, bridge, science, philosophy, and genealogy, among others. I hope you will find something that you simply cannot resist. I always open the catalog greedily, finding far more classes than I can possibly take. But there s always next semester, and we already have commitments from several facilitators for the spring. Dates to Remember August 21 Fall Semester Information Mtg. 1:00pm BCC August 21 Fall Registration Begins September 5 Open House 2:00-4:30pm New location September 11 Classes Begin December 14 Holiday Luncheon December 13 Classes End February 5 Spring Semester Information Mtg. 1:00pm BCC With the move to new quarters, we will incur some one-time expenses. The generous contribution of our founder and long-time member will get us started, but we re hoping you will help us with the purchase of furniture, computers, screens, software, and the expert knowledge to get everything up and running. February 5 Spring Registration Begins

2 We want to have a grand opening in September with no glitches and a smooth experience for both facilitators and class members no failed connections allowed. We are always looking for volunteers to enrich our organization. Your volunteer commitment to The Second Half can be minimal, such as volunteering for a special event; or more, such as serving on the Curriculum, Fundraising, or Publicity Committees, or the Board of Directors. Through volunteer activities, you can foster friendships and do valuable work, and volunteering will give you a chance to make an important contribution to our organization. Our plans for the coming year include updating our web site to make it more informative and interactive, and publishing an e-newsletter at least four times a year with articles on trips and classes, and to keep you updated on coming events, the catalog, Board activities, and volunteer opportunities. Writers and photographers, please contact Sheila Koot through The Second Half office if you would like to contribute. We also plan to accept credit card payments for the spring semester. Dive into the catalog, and while you are enjoying the rest of the summer, you can plan for the fall. Eileen Sorrentino MEET YOUR BOARD MEMBERS Photo on left: Rear: Eileen Sorrentino, President; Grace Wyss, Secretary Front: Roberta Melton, Executive Director; John Sorrentino, Asst. Treasurer; Sheila Koot, Member-At- Large & Editor of Newsletter; Beverly Stevens, Treasurer Photo on right: Rear: Janice Chisholm, Chair Special Events; Jennifer Brindidi, Past President; Lorraine Carey, Chair Curriculum Front: Betty Jeanne Nooth, Member-At-Large, Joyce Miller, Chair Membership; Robert Miller, Member- At-Large; Russell Carey, Vice-President

3 A Look at Our New Space. Jen Brindisi, Past President, is credited with discovering our wonderful new quarters. She took photos of the inside last February, before renovations have begun. This is just a sampling of what the space provides us. Space on the second floor is accessible by elevator at the entrance. Second floor open lobby down the hall from the elevator. A series of offices/ class rooms along the hall. Partition walls can be eliminated to make larger spaces. Two Board rooms, 3 stall bathrooms--men s and ladies rooms complete the area.

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5 REPORT OF THE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE The Curriculum Committee generally meets about eight times per year and at every one of its meetings the topic of conversation primarily revolves around our getting a satisfactory number of facilitators to agree on offering a course which requires a lot of work and no pay, except for our organization s gratitude and the enjoyment of class members. Fall semester 2017 proved to be a success with 34 classes offered, many of which were oversubscribed. Our offerings of spring 2018 reached an all-time high with 39 courses, again with many exceeding the maximum number of students. Our hope is to have the facilitators of these courses agree to return. The Curriculum Committee is pleased to announce a balanced program of thirty-three courses for the coming fall 2018 term, falling a bit short of the past two semesters. Yet, we are confident that the offerings will be of great interest to our members. We have several new courses among which are William Morris: His Life, Work, and Legacy, The Age of Jackson, History of the American Economy, The Past Revisited, A Visit of Florence, Italy, Talk German to Me, Pride and Prejudice, Historic Paris Cafes and many others. Unfortunately, we will not be offering Intermediate or Advanced Bridge classes of consistently high enrollment. Also not among our courses for the fall is Photography or Facebook which were popular. We hope that you will join us in attempting to find qualified people to facilitate similar courses. We hope that our new course, Fun and Games at The Second Half will attract those who enjoy lighter fare. We have several members of the Curriculum Committee whose terms have expired. I am looking for three more members. If you are interested, please let Roberta know. The Curriculum Committee is looking forward to another great year of stimulating courses, increased enrollment, and lifelong learning. Note: Joyce Miller has postponed her class until next Lorraine Carey, Chair semester because of minor surgery. ( Smarter Than You Think ) MEMBERSHIP PERKS SPECIAL EVENTS AND MORE This is a sampling of what your dues of $50 gives you access to. Many activities such as visits to museums, field trips, shows at the Zeiterion, Trinity and Providence Performing Art Center, and two luncheons are open to members. Thanks to Jan Chisholm, Special Events Chair, Salma Jabbour, Theater Organizer, and Paulette Howarth, Day Trip Coordinator, for the hard work in arranging these functions. New Bedford s Whaling Industry Walking Tour, Lecture & Film. & The Underground Railroad Walking Tour. Each took place twice in the Fall of 2017 A "Nature Walk in the Woods of Basket Swamp in Tiverton" with Gary Plunkett Orchid and Wildflower Tour was presented by Richard & Eleanor Phillips Holiday Luncheon and Spring Luncheon both at The Cove in Fall River Visit to the Ames Estate Visit to the Chihuly Exhibit in NY Tour at the Museum of Fine Arts of the M.C. Escher exhibit Visit to Tower Hill Botanical Gardens Tour of the Boston Public Library and Trinity Church Theater tickets to: The Temptations and Four tops, Death of a Salesman, Othello, Ragtime, West Side Story, Moscow Ballet, and the Oak Ridge Boys

6 REPORT FROM MEMBERSHIP Joyce Miler, Membership Chair, spent this past year, often accompanied by Roberta, visiting many nonprofit events to speak about The Second Half. She gave a brief presentation about our group, answered questions and distributed literature. Her efforts were rewarded with several new members signing up. However, Joyce emphasized that the very best means to recruit new members is WORD OF MOUTH! So please talk up Second Half to your friends. And if you are a member of a non-profit group, and would like to have Joyce speak to them, contact the Second Half Office. If you are an Amazon customer please consider naming The Second Half as a charity on smile.amazon.com A percentage of every penny you spend will go to us at no extra cost to you! NEW TRIP CRUISE OF BOSTON HARBOR August 30 $75.00 per person (includes bus) Deadline for Registration: August 10 Contact Paulette pbazel@comcast.net FUTURE PLANS Upcoming newsletters will feature interviews with new members and reports from TSH sponsored overseas trips, local trips and events as well as Committee Reports. Plus Roberta, our Executive Director, will provide information on happenings. This month she is a bit busy with getting out the Fall catalog and directing with the move to our new location. Contact Information Executive Director: Roberta Melton The Second Half: Lifelong Learning Institute 421 Currant St. Fall River, MA office@secondhalflli.org Website:

7 From the Périgord to the Alps Périgord to the Alps By Russ Carey From June 1 through June 13 forty intrepid Second Half travelers toured three regions of France not often frequented by American tourists: the Périgord, Lyon and the French Alps of Haute Savoie --a visit that brought them to France's beautiful third largest city [and gastronomical capital of the country], sandwiched in between visits to two of the most picturesque regions of France. The journey started for us in the Périgord's Sarlat-le-Canéda, a Rennaissance town whose expansive center still retains almost all of its 16th century buildings -- and historic ambience. Famed as the walnut and foie gras center of the region, Sarlat served as the group's base for exploring châteaux [castles], prehistoric cave art, a medieval pilgrimage town carved into the side of a cliff, and the Bouyssou goose farm. First up was a guided tour of Lascaux IV, a replica of the awe-inspiring 17,000 year old cave paintings discovered by a Montignac boy and his dog. From there it was off to the 13th century fortified château at Castelnaud for a gulded tour and demonstration of medieval war weapons. The 16th century Château des Milandes offered a very difference feel than Castelnaud - - built for comfort, rather than defense, by an aging French seigneur for his young wife. Surrounded by magnificent formal gardens, the château was purchased in the 20th century by famous French entertainment star Josepine Baker and now houses a museum of her memorabilia. As an added bonus, after a guided tour of the château everyone got to enjoy a forty-five minute raptor demonstration in the gardens. Words can't do the pilgrimage town of Rocamadour justice. Clinging to the side of a cliff 492 feet above the Alzou River, the town saw upwards of 30,000 pilgrims each year in the 13th-14th centuries, arriving to visit it's famed Black Virgin, miraculous ringing bell, and to do penance by climbing on their knees up the town's 216 step Grand Escalier [Great Stairway], pausing on each step to pray for salvation. Replete with a church, a basilica, several chapels, a bishops palace, a main street lined by medieval houses now occupying shops and restaurants, and capped by a château perched at its very top, Rocamadour is just a visual and touring delight.

8 The group's four day stay in Sarlat closed out with a visit to the Bouyssou goose farm, where our hostess gave us a farm tour and explained the process of raising her geese for foie gras production. The visit ended with a wine and foie gras tasting in the sales shop. Then it was on to somewhere completely different -- the city of Lyon, home of writer Antoine de Saint- Exupéry, famed chef Paul Bocuse, and some of the finest food to be found in France. With only three nights and two full days in this expansive, vibrant city, we were challenged to choose but a few of the dozens of sights and activities most interesting to us. Guided two hour tours of the basilica and its quartier one morning, and the Vielle Ville [old city] the next morning were our only planned activities. The remaining time was open for our adventuresome travelers to explore on their own, a real treat in a city with so much to offer and designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

9 The last four days of our voyage were spent in the charming flowered town of Annecy-le-Vieux [Old Annecy]. Nicknamed The Pearl of the Alps, Annecy is nestled in the foothills of the French Alps at the base of a pristine lake of the same name. A river and two canals cut through the town, prompting Savoy residents to often refer to it as The Venice of the Alps. A two hour boat cruise on the lake was one of our first orders of business. With the Alps looming all around and charming villages dotting the ten-and-one-half square mile lake it was a great way to start our Alpen tour. A full day in Chamonix, home of the very first Winter Olympics, was next on our agenda. This small resort city, situated at the foot of Mont Blanc Is a mecca for summer and winter sports enthusiasts. Most of us 'more mature folk' enjoyed walking the pedestrian only streets of Centre-Ville [city center], browsing the shops, and stopping for a bite in one of the many restaurants offering local dishes rich in cheese and cream. The highlight of our day, though, was taking the Montenvers cog railway up Mont Blanc to view its 4.5 mile long Mer de Glace glacier and Chamonix itself, nestled far down in the river valley below. Each year the locals carve an Ice Palace into the frozen wall of the glacier. Reachable only by gondolas, then a 400+ step stairway, many of our group braved the steps to visit the Ice Palace. Others enjoyed the view from the many observation decks and the restaurant perched on the north face of Mont Blanc. To appreciate the flavor of this rural, agricultural region, the group took a day tour up into the Alps, visiting the village of La Clusaz and driving over the winding Col des Aravis [Aravis Mountain Pass]. Here, one views herds of goats and cows brought up by farmers from the valleys into the Alpen summer pastures. Small villages overlooking magnificent mountain vistas dot the landscape. Cheese-making is king in Haute-Savoie, and no tour of the region would be complete without a visit to one of the many cheese co-operatives located there to learn about the fabrication processes of many of the different cheese types manufactured in the region. At the Flumet Co-operative two of our group donned aprons and assisted our tour guide in the production reblochon cheese, followed by a cheese and wine tasting. One of the highlights of our trip.

10 All good things eventually come to an end. On June 12 our happy but weary travelers departed late afternoon for their final night in France at Porte-de-Genève, a few miles from the Geneva Airport and the flight home next morning. Tout le monde était bien amusé [a good time was had by all].

11 What a wonderful group of People!! They must be members of the Second Half!! Jennifer Brindiisi John Brindisi Russ Carey Lorraine Carey Janice Chisolm Nancy Cronan Grace Cutter Janet Campbell Mary Ann Dillon Joan DiPippo Jeanette Doyle Julie Gaye Wallace Gaye Paula Hemingway June Hollis Alex Houtzager Chris Houtzager Salma Jabbour Nancy Jordan Linda Lacroix Liz Lafleur Lee Loranger Jackie Maltais Muffy Marlio Jacquie Marshall Paul Mercier Barbara Pauls Celeste Pelletier Cathy Petitjean Garry Plunkett Ginny Plunkett Nina Rensenhouse Sue Richard Norma Rodriques Margaret Sheahan Narda Snell Nancy Tavares Suz Widdowson Cath Winterhalter Barbara Zanin

12 Group Dinner at the O' Savoyard, our final night in Annecy-le-Vieux