New will call procedures for Premier Lectures begins
Kayrene Braden
LifeLong Learning (LLL) is starting a new procedure to pick up tickets for the Premier Lectures this year. Whether you purchase your tickets online or at the LLL Center, all tickets will be distributed the week of the lecture. This is a change from previously being able to pick up all the tickets you ordered at one time. We appreciate your cooperation as it will save valuable volunteer time.
Each night’s lecture tickets will be available beginning at 6 p.m. in the will call room, adjacent to the lobby. Look for the signs. To avoid the line, you also may pick up your tickets at the LifeLong Learning Center, Tuesday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to noon during the week of the lecture. Tickets also will be available for purchase at the door, based on availability.
We have an interesting schedule of lectures and want you to allow enough time to pick up your tickets.
We listen to your suggestions
Lorna Bray
Once again, the residents of PebbleCreek stepped up and submitted suggestions for potential lectures for the 2019-20 lecture season. The residents will receive free admission for two to the lectures that they recommended that were subsequently chosen as part of the lecture line-up. Dennis DeFrain, Cathy Lindstrom, Phyllis Minsuk, Susie Nee, and Don Simons were ticket winners this season.
Lecture recommendations are encouraged and can be received at any time throughout the year. If you have a suggestion, please visit www.lifelonglearningatpc.org and click “About Us,” then “Ideas” to submit your recommendation online or to print the speaker form. We’d love to hear from you!
Important LifeLong Learner (LLL) news
* Premier Lecture season ticket package offered until Oct. 12.
* Class registration begins Oct. 1, 8 a.m.
* Trip registration begins Oct. 7, 8 a.m.
* Premier Lecture registration begins Oct. 14, 8 a.m.
* New LLL center hours: Tuesdays through Fridays 9 a.m. to noon.
* LLL center will be closed on Mondays.
* Closed captioning continues for lectures.
* Check your LLL account to make sure it is working.
* Luke lottery winners announced.
Coyote photo by Ruth Bindler.
Upcoming Monday Morning Lectures
Lorna Bray
Four fascinating Monday Morning Lectures will be presented in 2019, beginning with a special lecture by Linda Bolon on Oct. 21, when she will talk about the elusive coyotes and how to live with them. In lieu of the normal $5 admission, LifeLong Learning will give all donations made that morning to the PebbleCreek Pet Companions Club.
Then, an agent from the Phoenix office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) will educate us about the agency on Oct. 28. HSI is the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, which combats international and domestic terrorism and other illegal activities.
Next, on Nov. 4, Professor Emeritus Stephen MacKinnon will discuss the relationship between the U.S. and China in recent decades. He will review the evolving relationship from the 1980s through today’s current trade negotiations.
Finally, on Nov. 11, Jim Turner, a former Arizona historian, will bring powerful photographs of the American Southwest from some of the world’s best photographers from over the past 150 years. He will show images from Barry Goldwater, Ansel Adams, and Dorothea Lange, among others, who made the land and its people come alive.
Tickets to all Monday Morning Lectures are $5 at the door of the Renaissance Theater. All lectures begin at 10 a.m.
Let’s do lunch and dinner too
Sue Roth
Registration for trips begins Oct. 7 at 8 a.m. If you have an account with LifeLong Learning (LLL) and have checked your username and password, you are ready to go! If you don’t have an account, go to www.lifelonglearningatpc.org and create one. If you need help, come to the LifeLong Learning Center Tuesdays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon, and a volunteer will help you.
Lunch
Our previous trips to the Arizona Culinary Institute sold out quickly. This season, you have two dates to choose from for not only a fantastic lunch but also a behind the scenes tour of its kitchens. Your lunch includes an appetizer, your choice of three entrees (beef, fish, or chicken), and iced tea or coffee. Wine and other beverages will be available at your expense. The first trip is Tuesday, Dec. 10, and the second is Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020.
Dinner
For the first time on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, LLL is offering a privately chartered sunset dinner cruise on Lake Pleasant. We anticipate that this will be a popular trip, so get a group together and sign up early to ensure your place. As we set sail, the captain will give us an informative commentary about the wildlife, history, and natural habitat of the area. With a beautiful Arizona sunset as a backdrop, you will have a delicious buffet dinner as we float along on this beautiful lake. A cash bar will be available. With no worries about driving back to PebbleCreek in the dark, sit back and enjoy the ride on our chartered motor coach.
For more details about these trips, go to the LifeLong Learning website at www.lifelonglearningatpc.org, or see the printed schedule available at the clubhouses and other locations throughout PebbleCreek.
Closed captioning at Lifelong Learning lectures available
Lorna Bray
Last season, thanks to the generosity of donors, LifeLong Learning (LLL) offered closed captioning on a trial basis. We asked for your feedback as to its usefulness, and the reviews were almost unanimously in favor of the service, so the LLL board of directors voted to include $6,500 in the budget for this season to continue it.
Closed captioning allows those with hearing loss to enjoy the Monday Morning Lectures as well as the Premier Lectures. We heard from those who do not have hearing issues that they appreciate closed captioning as it enables them to better understand speakers, particularly if they speak quickly, and to follow the Q & A after the lecture.
As one of our audience members who has hearing issues said, “I loved going to PebbleCreek LLL lectures but could no longer fully understand the speakers and had generally stopped attending. Now, with captioning, every word can be understood, and I am back to enjoying the speakers. No more worries about understanding speakers with accents or soft voices, and I can understand the question and answer time.”
LLL is proud to offer this service to PebbleCreek residents.
Use shopper programs to help LLL keep costs down
Ruth Shaffer
There is good news and bad news! The good news is that LifeLong Learning (LLL) has 125 households signed up in Fry’s Community Rewards program. The bad news is that there are only 125 that have signed up.
If you shop at Fry’s, please link your VIP card to LLL. This costs you nothing and every three months, LLL receives a check from Fry’s, the size of which depends on the purchases you make. The money received helps us keep our fees low and contributes to, among many things, the center’s costs, lecturers’ fees, and the free programs offered to PebbleCreek residents.
Another opportunity to support LLL is by shopping at Amazon. Amazon donates 0.5 percent of every purchase made on the AmazonSmile program to non-profit organizations. If you shop at Amazon, go to www.Smile.Amazon.com, sign in, and link your Amazon account to LLL. The shopping experience is identical, and you will be helping LLL.
Sign up directions for both programs are located on the LLL website, www.lifelonglearningatpc.org, under Donate/Fry’s Community Rewards Program or AmazonSmile. You can also come to the LLL center during office hours, Tuesday through Fridays, 9 a.m. to noon, and a volunteer will help you. By taking this step, you will be doing your part to help LLL continue to bring excellent programming to PebbleCreek.