Statewide OLLI: Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Across Vermont

David Goodman – Journalist

The award-winning journalist will discuss his lifetime in journalism, from covering Nelson Mandela and apartheid in South Africa, to exploring skiing in an era of climate change for the New York Times, to being “the godfather of Eastern backcountry skiing” as the Boston Globe calls him. He will also discuss the challenges facing journalism today. 

Michael Woods-Lewis – Front Porch Forum CEO

Since 2006, Front Porch Forum has helped neighbors connect and build community in Vermont towns. Of the state’s 270,000 households, 235,000 members put FPF to great use in many ways. FPF’s co-founder will share insights from his experience leading a staff of 30 Vermonters who serve every town in the state. 

Michelle Hogle Acciavatti – Natural Deathcare Worker and Vermont Forest Cemetery Founder

Active in the natural burial movement in Vermont since 2016. Acciavatti opened Vermont Forest Cemetery, the first cemetery dedicated to natural burial, in 2023. This presentation will include a video presentation of the first burial there and look in depth at the environmental and emotional benefits of natural burial for individuals and communities.  

Anthony “Jack” Gierzynski – Author and Researcher 

The UVM professor and author will lead a discussion of the upcoming presidential election including what the this year’s election says about the current state of democracy in the US, and what it could mean for the future. 

Jane Shore – Poet

Shore will read poems about Vermont, about memory and motherhood, daughterhood, life and loss. Julia Alvarez notes Shore “is a poet of little ambushes…moments that hold us hostage … of quandries and questions… with no simple answers, but with the soothing, cooling balm of companionable poems like hers.” 

Tim Newcomb – Cartoonist

Newcomb will present a collection of his editorial cartoons that ran in various newspapers between 1984 to 2024. In addition to examining the cartoons themselves, he will share a behind-the-scenes look at the context for these illustrated stories. 

Dr. Lesley-Ann L. Dupigny-Giroux – State Climatologist 

This presentation will explore the latest climate change science coming out of the 2023 National Climate Assessment, as well as the implementation of Vermont’s first ever Climate Action Plan, which was adopted in December 2021. 

Josh Jackson – Carpenter 

After a fire severely damaged the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 2019, the volunteer group Carpenters Without Borders helped convince the French government to rebuild the structure. Vermont timber-framer Josh Jackson will describe his experience working on the cathedral’s roof structure with expert carpenters Remy and Loïc Desmonts. 

This film centers on a 13-year-old substitute teacher ordered not to lose any students. With a cast of non-professional actors, the film addresses education reform in China after the cultural revolution, economic gaps between urban and rural populations, and the prevalence of bureaucracy in everyday life. 

Shot immediately after Not One Less, this film is a love story spanning two generations which demonstrates the power of tradition and ritual in the face of difficult, seemingly impossible obstacles. 

This historical drama set during the harsh years of the Cultural Revolution focuses on a professor whose banishment to a labor camp destroys each member of his family. The film presents the professor’s incredible persistence in the face of impossible odds to reunite and rekindle familial connections. 

Lynn P. Altadonna – Author and Local Historian

Stowe born Ira Dutton is in process for canonization by the Catholic Church for his 44 years of service to the Hawaiian people afflicted with Hansen’s disease (Leprosy). The Stowe Catholic Church’s artwork connects Stowe with Molokai and Dutton’s worthy service. Altadonna will explain how Dutton was led to serve others and how Maria von Trapp had a role in building the church in 1948 that is dedicated to Dutton. Could we have a Vermont born, St. Joseph Dutton? After the illustrated talk, attendees can tour the artwork at Blessed Sacrament Church, a brief distance from the Stowe Cinema. The outside walls have twelve scenes depicting life at the leper colony. (The walk is on a flat, paved surface and accessible to people with walkers or wheelchairs.) 

Phyllis Rubenstein – Adventurer and Amateur Naturalist

An avid outdoorsperson and amateur naturalist, Phyllis Rubenstein will guide us along her “flip-flop” thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. Beginning on April 15 on Springer Mountain, Georgia, she followed spring and then summer wildflowers to central Pennsylvania. In mid-July, she flipped north, summited Mount Katahdin, Maine, and then followed summer wildflowers and fall foliage south to central Pennsylvania, completing her hike of 2,198 miles on November 7. Throughout the trip, she posted blogs on www.thetrek.co under her trail name “GMG” (Green Mountain Girl). Rubenstein will share photographs and stories about flora and fauna, trail life, gear and food, the hiking community, and the joys and challenges she encountered on her epic journey.

Dr. Elizabeth Sherman – Emerita Professor of Biology

How is it that there are giraffes and mushrooms and sunflowers and E. coli and humans? Evolution is the mechanism that explains the diversity of life on earth. It enables us to understand the history of our planet and the history of ourselves. It also helps us predict the consequences of ongoing environmental degradation. Evolution is a simple idea, yet it is poorly understood by many. Misconceptions abound: “It’s only a theory,” “Evolution says that humans evolved from chimpanzees,” “Evolution goes against the Bible,” “Evolution goes against the second law of thermodynamics.” These misconceptions are so prevalent that 40-50% of Americans don’t accept it. The assault against evolution began in this country with the Scopes trial of 1925, (immortalized by the play “Inherit the Wind,” which is being presented by the Lamoille County Players this December) and continues to this day. In this presentation we will discuss what evolution is and the consequences of ignoring it. 

Ryna Ferlatte – Forensic Accountant

Howard Dean – International Legal Consultant

How do foreign fraud and corruption help fuel global crises and undermine institutions, and what can international organizations do about it? Foreign fraud and corruption may not feel relevant to our day-to-day lives, but they can have far reaching effects. Taxpayer dollars being lost and supply chains being impacted are just a couple of the effects. So, what is being done about it? In this session, we’ll discuss our experience investigating fraud and corruption in international development, the impact international organizations’ investigations have on global corruption, and why the fight against corruption is worth fighting. 

Robert Wyatt – American Music Specialist

Robert Wyatt will travel through Porter’s life on Broadway and in Hollywood—40 years that produced 33 stage works and the music for 23 films. Rare archival film clips and recordings of original cast members, including Ethel Merman, Fred Astaire, Louis Armstrong, and Bing Crosby are featured, along with Porter himself singing and playing “You’re the Top”—which he was. 

Karen Akins – Local Independent Filmmaker

What has happened historically, technologically, and politically to create such a noisy world? Akins will talk about how she became interested in answering this question and will share clips from her latest film, The Quietest Year.  She will also address some of the challenges faced while producing and directing the feature-length documentary, which premiered at the Global Health Film Festival in London in December 2023 and is currently on a community screening tour throughout Vermont. 

Dr. Carrie Brown – History Curator

Carrie Brown explores the technological triumph that helped save the Union and then transformed the nation. During the Civil War, northern industry produced 10.5 million rifles, along with tens of thousands of pistols and carbines. How did the North produce all those weapons? The answer lies in new machinery and methods for producing guns with interchangeable parts. Once the system of mass production had been tested and perfected, what happened after the war? In the period from 1870 to 1910 new factory technology and new print media fueled the development of mass consumerism. While this program tells a broad, national story, it focuses on the critical and somewhat surprising role of Vermont and New Hampshire in producing industrial technology that won the war and changed American life. 

Dr. Ali Kosiba – Forest Ecophysiologist

Learn all about forests and the carbon they sequester and store. Kosiba will showcase the complex forest carbon cycle, from living trees down to the soil. She will also provide insights into the role that Vermont’s forests play in helping us mitigate impacts of climate change. However, because forests themselves face many challenges, she will offer options we can use to help forests sustain this critical benefit. 

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Anita Rafael – Author, For the Love of Vermont: The Lyman Orton Collection

We’ll hear the story of the magnificent art collection of Lyman Orton, proprietor of The Vermont Country Store, and how he went about collecting this artwork for nearly half a century to ensure that these treasures stayed in their home state of Vermont. We’ll view photographs of many of the pieces and hear how Rafael helped to collect and tell the stories behind the scenes and the artists that depict a true love of Vermont in the landscape and the lives of Vermont’s people. Included will be pieces by Rockwell Kent, Luigi Luciani, Dean Fausett, Henry Shokler, and Stuart Eldredge – all from a time that Lyman Orton calls the ‘Golden Era’ of the painters in Vermont, from 1910 to 1970.

Andrew Buchanan – Senior Lecturer, Global, Environmental, Military History, University of Vermont 

We’ll hear about the long–term global effect that World War II had upon the world order, and how what happened more than 80 years ago is still crucially important in the politics and current events of today. 

Michelle Arnosky Sherburne – Author, Vermont Historian, Newspaper Publisher

Building upon last year’s tremendous interest in Vermont’s role in the Underground Railroad, Sherburne will return for a closer look at its local history.  We’ll zoom in on networking examples from four compass points in Vermont: Burlington, Springfield, Thetford and Ferrisburg.  In Burlington and Thetford, locals had a system in place to aid freedom seekers from one household to another discreetly, due to dangers of exposure, capture, and ruined reputations.  Underground Railroad agents worked together to move people through their town northward to full freedom in Canada. Another form of networking will be shared about the Robinsons in Ferrisburg who used their Quaker ties and family connections to receive and pass along freedom seekers.  We’ll meet Vergennes native Delia Webster whose mission to help freedom seekers in Kentucky and Indiana made her notorious, for which she was in and out of jail and the news constantly.  We’ll hear more about Springfield’s own Noah Safford and his association with New England abolitionists and his local Springfield efforts of moving freedom seekers along the Underground Railroad. 

Please note: This program takes place on Wednesday.

Joseph A. Citro – Writer, Folklorist, Native Vermonter

Join us for a Special Halloween Program with Vermont’s expert in all things strange and consider the evidence!  Ghosts? Are they real? Are the routines of our lives occasionally disrupted by inexplicable happenings? Coincidences? Visions? Messages from beyond? Can we filet fact from fiction in the realm of the supernatural?  Through a series of books, fiction and nonfiction, and via twenty-two years as a public radio commentator, Joe Citro is the first writer in the history of our state to collect Vermont’s strangest tales – historic and folkloric. Join him for a sampling of our rich local lore and an overview of his efforts to preserve it.  We’ll hear excerpts from his work and the stories of how he collects and validates claims. His books will be available for purchase and signing. 

Sydney Lea – Author, Vermont’s Poet Laureate (2011-15) 

Mark Breen – Senior Meteorologist and Planetarium Director, Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium

**Returning for his 13th Annual Presentation to our Springfield OLLI Group** 

Of all the astronomical events that we can witness, none has brought the range of fear and excitement, superstition and science, hysteria and history, as that of eclipses. Breen will illuminate the shadowy nature of eclipses, from lunar eclipses and their curious transformation of the Moon to a bizarre red disc, to the extremely rare total solar eclipse, like the one seen in northern Vermont this past April.  Through the centuries, humans worked tirelessly at unraveling the mysteries of the heavens, and eventually came to understand the role of the Moon, orbiting the Earth, yet only very rarely passing so precisely between the Sun and Earth, or through the Earth’s shadow, in order to create an eclipse.  Breen will weave elements of science, history, and imagery to change the mysterious to the marvelous! 

Will Gusakov

Clifford Coy

Clifford will be reviewing the origins of the Franklin County airport from a grassy landing strip to the paved runway to the significant improvements of the last two years. He will be discussing the facilities available for maintenance and repairs, for ultralights and the “learn to fly” opportunities with single engine planes with experienced instructors, ready now to get you airborne and loving it.

Christopher McBride

The trials of being a Natural History Photographer in 2024. Christopher participates in six competitive juried art shows a year and sells 40 – 50 large finished pieces to collectors around the country. This talk will discuss the decisions that he must make from the moment of image capture to wrapping a beautiful framed finished piece for an excited customer ready to take home. In the day when everyone captures casual images on their phone, we will discuss what can be done to differentiate your work and get encouragement to complete a photographic journey with a finished piece that you can share and be proud of. If for nothing else come to be inspired by a large sample of Christopher’s images and learn the stories behind each one.

Richard Ross, Division Chief

A Day in the Life of a Border Patrol Agent/Northern Border Operations, its challenges and rewards.

John Newton

One week on a small two masted sailboat with an American Captain, his Ecuadorian wife (and licensed guide), a first mate/cook and five paying passengers. Come join John as he and friend Marty share an amazing week sailing island to island discovering what Darwin saw which led him to publish “On the Origin of Species” in 1859.

Important Note: This presentation starts at 11:30 a.m.

Professor Luis Vivanco, Ph.D.

In this lecture, UVM professor Luis Vivanco explores the fascinating early history of the bicycle in Vermont, a new invention that generated widespread curiosity when it arrived here in the 1880s. During the 1890s, enthusiasm exploded statewide as bicycles became safer, women took to the wheel, roads improved, and retailers developed novel advertising techniques to draw in buyers. By 1920, popular interest in bicycles had waned, but it had not just been a fad: the bicycle was tied to important changes in industrial production, consumerism, new road policies and regulations, gender relations, and new cultural ideas about auto-mobility and effortless speed.

David Kelley, Katherine Falwell & Charlie Hosford

The origin and evolution of people to people exchanges between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union and former Soviet Republics.

Jason Barney

Local history has direct ties to a lot of national events. From the Revolutionary War, steamboat activity on Lake Champlain, the growth of railroads, and the Cold War, Franklin County has a unique history. Local Historian Jason Barney exposes all of these interesting connections.

Dr. Elizabeth Dow – Teacher, Librarian, Archivist

When you de-clutter your office or clean out your attic, basement, garage, or old aunt’s apartment, you always find stuff you do not want. Next time that happens, before you throw it out, consider whether it has historical value. This program will explain how to tell.

Patricia Anderson – Tai Chi Enthusiast and Former Yoga Teacher

Golden Ball Tai Chi, based on ancient Tai Chi and QiGong systems, is designed for aging adults. It promotes better balance, stimulates circulation, and helps relieve arthritis symptoms. Participants report improved quality of life, increased relaxation, and greater confidence in outdoor activities like walking. Enjoy a sampling of movements and explore these beneficial practices.

Michelle Acciavatti – Natural Deathcare Worker and Founder of Vermont Forest Cemetery

Michelle Hogle Acciavatti has been a part of the natural burial movement in Vermont since 2016. In 2023, she opened Vermont Forest Cemetery, which is the first cemetery dedicated to natural burial and the first conservation burial ground, as well as the first and only forest cemetery in Vermont. The unique approach of Vermont Forest Cemetery integrates burial, conservation, art, learning, and community to inspire a sense of reciprocity with the earth, give back to the land that nurtures us during our lifetime, and connects us to our mourning needs. In this presentation we will view a documentary that features the first burial at Vermont Forest Cemetery and look in depth at the environmental and emotional benefits of natural burial for individuals and communities.

Miss Lucy Neel Nulhegan – Education Director

Henekis Stoddard – Associate Director at Umbrella Inc.

In this workshop strengthen your understanding of what Healing Accountability is and how this is an approach used for intimate partner violence prevention. Explore the nuances on this topic that can cultivate compassion and engage in thoughtful conversation that will expand your thinking on how we can all play a role in creating safer communities.

Belinda Emmons – Nature and Wildlife Photographer

Belinda will showcase my photography of Birds that she captured with my her in the New England area. This presentation will open your eyes to always look and listen and become more open to the Nature around us.

Susan Kuecker

The Battle of Cedar Creek fought in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in October, 1864 was regarded at the time as an important battle assisting in the re-election of President Abraham Lincoln. There were more Vermont troops at this battle than any other battle in the Civil War. All Vermont Regiments played important parts in the battle. Attend and find out what Vermont soldiers did at this almost forgotten battle.

Frances Hersey – Former Librarian

The program will attempt to define and explain what restorative justice is in our community, as it addresses the human needs of revenge on the part of victims of crimes, and forgiveness and apology on the part of the perpetrators.