News From CALL December 2021

Holly by Claire Josiak, a member of the Creative Projects Interest Group

Update on CALL Activities

By Carrol Jaques, Chair Operations Committee

I am sure you are wondering when CALL groups will begin meeting in person.

We are working hard behind the scenes to prepare for the time when we will be back at indoor, in-person meetings.

Currently, that means that everyone attending an in-person CALL meeting would show their QR Code to a CALL volunteer with a QR Code Reader on their phone at the door of the meeting room. City of Calgary Guidelines also mandate masks in indoor setting and distancing is recommended.

This may be a fact of life for the foreseeable future, so we may as well accept it. We know that many of you are willing to follow those parameters, so we are developing a system for groups to choose whether to remain on Zoom or attend in-person meetings in the new year. We will let you know when we have everything in place for January. In the meantime, enjoy the camaraderie that continues to enrich our lives as a member of CALL – on Zoom.

Coming Events

Check the CALL website for details of the following events. Registration is required for all these events. You must be a member to register. Join or renew your membership now and watch for email announcements for programs and events.

All In Person, Indoor CALL programs suspended until further notice. Most Programs will continue on Zoom.

For Zoom events, please register at least a couple of hours before an event to ensure the registration confirmation email with the event link arrives in your inbox in time.

December Events

Lessons from a Pandemic: Building Resiliency through Lifelong Learning

Tuesday, December 7, 1:00 – 2:30pm on Zoom
Presenter: Sarah Meilleur

Curious about how other organizations have met the challenges of lifelong learning during a pandemic? Wondering what CALL might learn from their experience? Join Sarah Meilleur, new CEO of the Calgary Public Library, as she reflects on the steps the library has taken and the lessons it has learned about lifelong learning during a pandemic.

For more information and to register for Lessons from a Pandemic: Building Resiliency through Lifelong Learning, go to the Speaker Events page.

Science and Environment
Scenic Geology of Alberta

Tuesday, December 7, 7:30pm on Zoom
Presenter: Dr. Dale Leckie

Dr. Leckie will tell us the intriguing story of Alberta’s landscape evolution from Waterton Lakes National Lakes National Park to Dinosaur Provincial Park, into the Prairies and across the North. He will explain how the landscape of Alberta’s most scenic sites evolved into what they are today. Dr. Leckie’s latest book is The Scenic Geology of Alberta: A Roadside Touring and Hiking Guide.

For more details and registration, go to the Science and Environment page.

Interest Groups Accepting New Members

Our Lives Our Stories 2

We have had a wonderful OLOS 2 group for some time. However, we have recently lost two stalwart members and would like very much to replace them with a couple of new memoir writers.

We meet twice a month, on the second and fourth Thursday of the month, 1 – 3pm; for now, we meet on Zoom. Members write about all kinds of experiences they have had in their lives — sometimes very serious pieces, other times light and humorous recollections. We take turns reading our writing and after each reading the members offer supportive comments and critique. Anyone interested can go to the Our Lives Our Stories 2 page and contact Deborah Alexander, facilitator.

Writing Fiction

Do you have a draft or two of a story in a desk drawer or on your computer? Have you plotted out a mystery or a cliff-hanger novel? What about eavesdropping in a coffee chop and creating stories around the characters? Every writer needs a reader! Would you like to work on your stories in a supportive group? CALL has a Fiction Writing group that is welcoming new members. They meet once a month on Zoom to share ideas, provide tips for self-editing, develop methods of building characters, and converting experiences of observations into engaging story plots.

For more information and to contact facilitator Fern Phillips, go to the Writing Fiction page.

CALL to the Theatre: The Tempest.

Discussion, Saturday, December 18, 4pm on Zoom.

Members of this group will view a film version of The Tempest (2010) featuring Helen Mirren, Felicity Jones, and Djimon Hounsou, free on YouTube. The discussion will be on Zoom.

If you are interested in joining this group, contact the facilitator on the CALL to the Theatre page

The Prairies and Quebec Through Their Literature

Tuesdays, January 18, February 1, March 1, 15, 2022. 10am – 12noon on Zoom

This group, which includes members from CALL and the McGill Community of Lifelong Learning, will provide participants with an opportunity to increase, through literature, their appreciation of two distinctive places – the Canadian prairies and Quebec. The novels which will be discussed are Under the Ribs of Death by John Marlyn; Volkswagon Blues by Jacques Poulin; Chorus of Mushrooms by Hiromi Goto; Wonder: A Novel by Dominique Fortier.

For more information and to contact the facilitators, go to the The Prairies and Quebec Through Their Literature page.

Coming in January

Science and Environment
It’s Time to Save Ourselves from Daylight Saving Time

Tuesday, January 4, 7:30pm by Zoom
Presenter: Dr. Michael Antle, Department of Psychology and Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the U of C.

Our government put up a referendum in the recent election asking if we should go on permanent daylight saving time. This has been a topic of some biannual discussion with different positions taken regarding the economic, health, safety and social issues. The science behind these issues has rarely been discussed but our speaker, Dr. Michael Antle, was extensively consulted in the run up to the latest vote. Dr. Antle is a professor in the Department of Psychology and Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the U of C, and vice-president of the Canadian Society for Chronobiology.

For more details go to the Science and Environment page.
Registration coming soon.

Treks and Travel
Transatlantic Crossing: Go South 'til the Butter Melts

Wednesday, January 19, 7:30pm via Zoom
Presenter: John Cobb.

Sailors have been crossing the Atlantic for hundreds of years, sailing south along the coast of Africa before reaching the trade winds and turning west towards the Americas. In his presentation, “Go South ‘til the Butter Melts”, John Cobb combines photos and video to tell the story of his 21-day 2019 journey as part of a crew on a sailboat from the Canary Islands to St. Lucia.

For more details and to register go to the Treks and Travel page.

NOTE: Treks and Travels has a full contingent of presentations coming your way for 2022 except for the months of October and November. Please contact travel@calgarylifelonglearners.ca if you are interested.

Rage, Rage Against the Taking of the Light

January 26, February 2 – 1:00 – 3:00pm on Zoom
Group limited to 15

A two session conversation about the basic concepts in two books concerning aging and dying with dignity. Being Mortal reveals how medical science can interfere with our having a good life as we approach the end of it. Neglected No More reveals how our Canadian system of eldercare can be improved so we can age (and die) with dignity. On two Wednesday afternoons in the new year, you’re invited to join us in discussing these books. Find more details under the Social Sciences interest group on CALL’s website. 

For more details and to register go to the Being Mortal page.

Your CALL Newsletter

The CALL Newsletter is our way to communicate what is going on in our community. It's a way to highlight events of interest, ‘peek behind the curtain of CALL’ and to give some general information about CALL groups and members.

You are invited to send your ideas and suggestions for future issues to newsletter@calgarylifelonglearners.ca. We reserve the right to edit submissions and to determine when submissions will be published.

CALL Newsletter dates for posting:

• December 17; 30 (NOTE: Dec 30 is Thursday)

Meanwhile, be well, stay well in every sense of the word.