Free LifeLong Learning Programs in February
Ruth Shaffer
These special programs are free but registration is required and begins 30 days prior to each event. To register, sign in to your LLL account at www.lifelonglearningatpc.org, click on the Special Programs tab and select the event you want to attend.
Feb. 5: Guitar Group
On Feb. 5 from 5-6 p.m., during Valentine’s Day month, the LifeLong Learning Guitar Group will present one hour of “love songs.” Registration for this free event began on Jan. 5 and continues on the LLL website.
Four members of the Guitar Group will perform acoustic instrument-based love songs for your listening pleasure. Carl Halladay will kick it off on his guitar with songs from his repertoire of upbeat and often original life story songs. Jack Mateer will perform several numbers from his long and storied catalog of songs with back up from multi-instrument player extraordinaire Robert Hover. Howard Brodbeck will perform covers of well-known love songs. The Guitar Group meets regularly the second and fourth Wednesday of each month from 3-5 p.m. in the LLL Center. Residents are welcome and can observe or bring your guitar.
Feb. 6: PC Reads
PC Reads is a free book discussion group that meets in the LLL Center the first Thursday of every month from 5-6:30 p.m. On Feb. 6, The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides will be discussed. It is a tour de force: psychological thriller, mystery, love story, and wild roller coaster adventure. A book you will not want to put down!
Feb. 13: TED Talks: Ideas worth spreading
We hope many of you enjoyed our Winter TED Extravaganza on Jan. 30. Each month this winter we also have TED programs where we view three to five TED Talks on a range of thought-provoking subjects in the Palm Room at Eagle’s Nest. We meet in small groups for 15 minutes following each video to discuss key points and share our thoughts. We use the Perspectives, Opinions, and Viewpoints (POV) method to create a respectful and introspective environment. The next monthly program is Feb. 13, from 2-4 p.m. Registration is limited to room capacity of 36 attendees. The last program of the season will be March 12. We urge you to join the last two events of the season, share your ideas and learn something new.
LLL Trips Visit Universities
Sue Roth
This February and March you have the opportunity to take a trip off our “PebbleCreek Campus” and visit a campus with a younger generation that is being educated in cutting edge methods in high tech facilities. Observe how our future scientists, doctors, and leaders are being trained.
Feb. 20: Dwarf Car Museum and Shamrock Farms Dairy
Who shrunk the car?! Must have been Ernie Adams, who has made a name for himself for half a century, beginning by building dwarf race cars, followed over the years by 5/8-scale replicas of classic automobiles – all in his garage. After lunch it’s on to the Shamrock Dairy, the largest family-owned dairy farm in the Southwest. It bottles fresh milk free of growth hormones, using the latest technology to reduce its energy use and environmental impact. Complete your visit with a complimentary ice-cream treat.
Feb. 26: ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration
While the world eagerly awaits commercial flights into space, you can preview what’s out there on the moon and Mars through the revelations those scientists at NASA and three Arizona State University research centers are uncovering today. Although this trip is full, you can add your name to the wait list.
March 13: UA Labs: Simulation Technology Center and Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab
Imagine medical students “treating” realistic human-patient simulators (high-tech mannequins) that are activated to talk, sweat, breathe, cough and emulate a variety of medical conditions. Those capabilities provide lifelike medical situations for students to practice proper procedures and to be evaluated. Come take a guided tour of this high-tech, experiential learning environment in action at the Arizona Simulation Technology and Education Center on the Tucson campus of the University of Arizona’s Health Sciences. Also, at the Mirror Lab scientists, engineers, and technicians have developed innovations in constructing large lightweight mirrors with unprecedented surface accuracy. These mirrors represent a radical departure from the conventional solid-glass mirrors used in the past, producing a new generation of telescopes now exploring the universe in optical and infrared light.
Other upcoming trips
March 4: Arizona Capitol Museum and Basha Gallery
March 27: St. Vincent de Paul-LLL Volunteers Give Back
For more in depth descriptions of each trip and to register, go to www.lifelonglearningatpc.org or visit the LLL Center and a volunteer will be happy to assist you.
Cutting Your Cable – Third Class
Carole Korzilius
Lifelong Learning, in response to a long wait list, is offering a third class on Cutting Your Cable Feb. 27 in the LLL Center. Keith Burns is a local electronics technician who will present alternatives to standard cable connections. From simple antennas to the latest streaming options, Keith can help us evaluate our needs and capabilities.
Some spaces remain for recent retirees who want advice on Social Security Benefits from returning expert Jack Burns Feb. 20. And for those who have been retired, financial planner Katrina Lessard will discuss Making our Money Last on March 4. She will describe investments and savings plans that take into account the need to stretch our assets over decades of retirement living.
On March 30, David Kampfschulte will discuss the sensitive but significant issue of the End of Life Talk. He will suggest ways to ease the passing of loved ones and also to advise our survivors of our final plans and preferences. His Monday Morning Lecture last year was highly praised and greatly appreciated.
These classes are scheduled from 1-3 p.m. at the LLL Center. Residents may register at the LLL Center Tuesday–Friday, from 9 a.m.-noon or online at www.lifelonglearningatpc.org. There are other classes that are currently full, but you can add your name to the wait list of any class as cancellations do happen.
LLL February events
Ruth Shaffer
Events with an asterisk are free but require registration, which opens 30 days prior to the event. Please check the LLL website, www.lifelonglearningatpc.org, for details about all events as to cost, registration, and time.
Monday Morning Lectures
Feb. 3: Can We Get Along
Feb. 10: Fake News
Feb. 17: Future Water Security for AZ
Feb. 24: Advances in Cardiac Care
Premier Lectures
Feb. 15: Erma Bombeck, Impersonated
Trips with openings
Feb. 15: AZ Commemorative Air Force Museum and Falcon Field
Feb. 20: Dwarf Car Museum and Shamrock Farms Dairy
Classes with openings
Feb. 18: Pasta from Scratch
Feb. 20: Your Social Security Benefits
Special Programs
*Feb. 5: LLL Guitar Group – Love Songs
*Feb. 6: PC Reads
Feb. 12 and 26: Guitar Group drop-in meetings
*Feb. 13: TED Talks
*Feb. 23: Sunday Series, LLL Guitar Group: Songs You Love to Hear.
Sunday Series presents the LLL Guitar
Dave Hungerford
Enjoy light refreshments, listen to songs you love to hear, and sing along with some of your favorite country, pop, rock, and fun songs and ballads performed by members of LifeLong Learning’s Guitar Group in the Chianti Room Feb. 23, from 2-3:30 p.m. Jim Sykes, the Guitar Group leader, will MC the program featuring familiar faces from our very own PebbleCreek Community. You will hear musical accompaniments featuring the guitar, ukulele, harmonica, and autoharp, and be treated to classic hits with some solos and duets using a variety of instruments and styles. The finale will feature a medley of choruses of crowd favorites with all six musicians participating.
Howard Brodbeck learned to play drums at age 14 and to celebrate his retirement, he bought himself a guitar and started teaching himself to play. Howard is living proof that even engineers can be musicians. Edward DeFord, “The Duke of Uke,” is a life-long musician and performer. Edward enjoys sharing his love of traditional music and great old ukulele tunes. Carl Halladay started playing guitar at age ten. He has played with the PebbleCreek Big Band and appeared in several ShowTime shows. He helped establish the PebbleCreek Guitar Club in 2014 and is currently playing with the Desert Rovers folk group. Tom Healy is a singer/guitarist who performs in the Phoenix area with a mix of classic acoustic rock, country, traditional Celtic, and original compositions. Becky Rodes picked up the autoharp in 2010 and has enjoyed learning all this unique instrument can do. She has performed in many venues and for five years served as a hospice music volunteer.
Jim Sykes grew up around music as his father was the leader of a country band for 30 years, occasionally playing with legends Patsy Cline, George Jones, and Little Jimmy Dickens. Jim now has time to enjoy his musical passions including light rock, folk, country, Christian music, and songs of the heart. He has performed at various venues.
Admission is free but you must register on the LLL website, www.lifelonglearningatpc.org to assure a seat for the performance. Registration began on Jan. 23. We ask that you bring a non-perishable food item to contribute to St. Mary’s Food Bank.
Fredric Klopf, MD
Marvelous Monday Mornings
Lorna Bray
The LifeLong Learning Lecture team is pleased to offer some important Monday Morning Lecture topics in February. All lectures are in the Renaissance Theater at 10 a.m. and are $5 at the door. The theater is equipped with a Hearing Loop and all lectures are presented with closed captioning. LLL and PebbleCreek are sensitive to the needs of people with hearing impairment and want everyone to be able to participate.
Feb. 3: Can We Get Along? Matt Kundert, Ph.D., will discuss talking with people with differing ideological and political points of view.
Feb. 10: Fake News: Gail Rhodes will explain the origins of fake news, how to spot it, and how the term has evolved to mean “negative news” or “news with which I disagree.”
Feb. 17: Future Water Security for Arizona: Sarah Porter will present “Arizona’s Water Haves and Have Nots” – a discussion of which areas of the state have long-term, resilient water supplies and which lack them.
Feb. 24: Advances in Cardiac Care: Fredric A. Klopf, M.D., will discuss new treatments and how you can ensure that the latest, tested, life-saving technologies and treatments can continue to be available.
For further details on these lectures, please visit the LifeLong Learning website at www.lifelonglearningatpc.org or pick up a LLL SCHEDULE available in each clubhouse lobby or at the LLL Center located near the Activities Office at Eagles Nest.
LLL Contact Information
LLL Center located at Eagle’s Nest in Room 107 near the Activities Office.
LLL Center office hours Tuesdays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to noon.
Website: www.lifelonglearningatpc.org.
SCHEDULE available in each clubhouse lobby.
LLL Center: 623-535-8875, 3645 Clubhouse Dr.
Email: [email protected].
Susan M. Frontzak as Erma Bombeck.
Erma Bombeck – At Wits End
Lorna Bray
Erma Bombeck, a popular newspaper columnist and writer for many years, captured with great poignancy and humor the daily life of a new American phenomenon: the suburban housewife. Believing that you had to laugh at life to get through it, she captured the essence of the housewife’s daily struggle in her column, “At Wit’s End.”
The column appeared three days a week, eventually appearing in 900 newspapers across the country and in books such as, If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? In her writing she let American women, who often felt invisible and taken for granted, know they were not alone, for she, too, was an American housewife.
Susan Marie Frontzak, who brought Eleanor Roosevelt to life on the Renaissance Theater stage two years ago, returns to PebbleCreek at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, to portray Bombeck, who lived in Paradise Valley until she died in 1996. Frontzak is a captivating storyteller who brings literature and history to life.
Find out how Erma got started as a humorist and chuckle along as she pokes fun at kids – “When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they’re finished, I climb out,” pets, household appliances, and especially herself – “My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.”
Timely advice from Erma Bombeck: “He who laughs…lasts.” Come and enjoy an evening of fun and laughter!
The Premier Lecture season will finish with a flourish in March with two special lecturers: Gary Marchant discussing “Artificial Intelligence: What are the Challenges?” Friday, March 6 and Mark Randol discussing “Migration Around the Globe” Friday, March 20. Tickets to all Premier Lectures are $15 and can be purchased at the door on the evening of the lecture, at the LLL Center or on the website www.lifelonglearningatpc.org.