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News From CALL February 2026
| February Events | Programs | Blog |
Calgary’s Peace Bridge, photo by Grant Banbury, member of the Digital Photography Group
President’s Message
- Judy Hoad
Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you have enjoyed the first month of 2026. It is amazing how quickly it has gone by. The energy of the CALL volunteers has been outstanding recently, facilitating several new offerings in January: Reimagining Aging, Life on the Edge, Public Trust Doctrine in Canada’s Constitutional Democracy, Judaism Then and Now, Conflict is a Participant Sport, Hiking the Cotswolds and Variety Too Bookclub. Thank you to the volunteers who made these events happen.
By now, most of you are familiar with your volunteer facilitators and our trusty catering group at CALL cafes and probably our AV team. However, you may not know the Board of Directors – those who ensure CALL runs smoothly – or their important roles. The Board is responsible for approving the annual budget and financial report, for strategic planning and maintaining the purpose of the organization, for protecting member privacy, for protecting CALL property and records, and for managing our public reputation. In addition to keeping CALL running, we have an obligation to ensure CALL survives into the future, which means we are always mindful of recruiting new Board members.
In furthering that obligation, I want to encourage each of you to think about learning more about CALL, and how you can contribute. You can do this by reading information that is available to members on our website. Alternatively, you can attend a Board meeting to watch us in action, to learn about how CALL functions, who runs it, and how you can contribute to keeping CALL healthy. We meet at 10am on the third Thursday of the month and meetings are an hour and a half. Our next Board meeting is Thursday, February 19.
Before closing, I’d like to introduce your Board of Directors. In accordance with our bylaws, each Director has a role that keeps the organization running. The Directors are: Audrey Habke, Secretary; Andrea Hawkes, Treasurer; Keith Dobson, Governance Coordinator; Mary Oxendale Spensley, Communications; Shauna Romanzin, Information and Technology; Roseanne Allen, Membership; Carrol Jaques, Operations; Janet MacArthur, Programs; Deborah Burke, Volunteers; Judy Hoad, President; Adrienne Kertzer, Past President.
If you happen to know or meet one of these people, please thank them for their contribution. If you would like to attend a meeting, please send an email to president@calgarylifelonglearners.ca. We’d love to see you.The CALL Website – Registration Help
The CALL website is a treasure trove of information about CALL. In addition to the information about events and Interest Groups, there is information about the many moving parts of the CALL organization. The webteam works diligently behind the scenes to organize and update the information on the website. They have recently made some changes to the way we register programs and have put together a Registration Tips page to help us. This helpful guide is linked to the main CALL page under Technical Help.
February Events
Science and Environment
Energy Security: Humanity’s Top Priority
Tuesday, February 3, 7:30–9:00pm
Online, via Zoom
Speaker: Dr. Brad Hayes
We use energy in everything we do – feeding ourselves, building places to live and work, creating all the products we consume, and traveling by land, sea and air. Energy is life. We cannot attain any of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that the United Nations regards as essential for modern life without abundant, affordable and readily available energy. Yet we sometimes lose sight of that principle in striving for other specific goals. Let’s explore how to create energy security for all 8 billion+ people on earth as practically, economically and sustainably as possible.
Brad Hayes, Ph.D. P. Geol., is President and Principal Consultant of Petrel Robertson Consulting Ltd., a geoscience consulting firm working in oil and gas, critical minerals exploration, carbon capture and storage, geothermal energy and water resource management. He holds a PhD in geology from the University of Alberta, is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and past Outreach Director for the Canadian Society for Evolving Energy.
Brad was awarded the Stanley Slipper Gold Medal by the Canadian Energy Geoscience Association (CEGA) in 2022, and the Canadian Professional Geoscientist Award by Geoscientists Canada in 2024.
You must be a CALL member to register. For more information and to register go to the Science and Environment page.
Health and Wellness
Gearing Down Behind the Wheel: When to Park the Keys?
Monday, February 9, 1:30–3:30pm
Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church, 4612 Varsity Drive NW
Speaker: Sharon Grolmus
Image: Pixabay Creative Commons
Sharon Grolmus, AMA Senior Driving Instructor, will be discussing how to stay a safe driver in our later years. She will also address when it may be time to “park the keys” and the requirements for keeping a driving license.
Sharon Grolmus has been a Driving Instructor, Chief Instructor as well as a Senior Instructor in Alberta for 47 years and 35 of those have been with AMA. Her extensive experiences have included: teaching defensive driving, the Alberta Impaired Driver Program (AIDP), training and evaluating drivers for companies in advanced vehicle control techniques for handling vehicles in adverse conditions. She now devotes a lot of time training and monitoring more junior instructors and on helping senior drivers extend their safe driving histories.
Members of the public are welcome to attend (at a cost of $5 at the door). Registration is not required.
CALL Café
Everyone’s Fantasy Job … or is it?
Tuesday, February 17, 1:00–3:00pm
Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church, 4612 Varsity Drive NW
Speaker: Elizabeth Carson
Elizabeth Carson has been in her dream job for the last seven years as the CBC Eyeopener restaurant critic. You can listen to her opine about restaurants; the food, cocktails, service and decor every Friday morning on CBC radio, or catch it later online or on the CBC app.
Members are asked to register for planning purposes. You may add up to four guests. Members of the Public are welcome (no cost).
Treks and Travels
Egypt Offline
Wednesday, February 18, 7:30–9:00pm
Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church, 4612 Varsity Drive NW
Speaker: Frank Spina
Photo: Abu Simble, by Frank Spina
Egypt’s history goes back over 3000 years and some of that history is revealed in the numerous archeological sites around the country. Frank Spina will share stories and slides that tell the history of Egypt. He will also share his experiences travelling “solo”, the pros and the cons, especially in the city of Cairo. For a peek into modern Cairo, follow the link to Getting Behind the Wheel in Crazy Cairo.
No registration required. Members of the public are welcome to attend (at a cost of $5)
Programs
Several programs are accepting new members. Check them out!
Special Program
The Dawn of Competitive Party Politics in Alberta: An End to Solitude
Wednesday, February 25, 6:30–8:00pm
Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church, 4612 Varsity Dr NW
Speakers: Dr. Anthony M. Sayers
In The Dawn of Competitive Party Politics in Alberta: An End to Solitude, Anthony M. Sayers and his co-authors Royce Koop and David K. Stewart make a compelling case for the end of a century in which Albertans regularly gave their vote to just one provincial party and one federal party.
Alberta’s century-long ascension from a peripheral province to a major social and economic force is reshaping Confederation and provincial politics.
Register at the Special Programs page.
CALL members and up to 2 guests each are welcome. Free for Members; Non-Members $5 at the door.
CALL Blog
Aging and Balance
Falls are the leading cause of injury-related hospitalizations among Canadian seniors, affecting 20-30% of this population each year. Winter brings additional risks for falls. Another risk factor relates to aging when the systems in our body that help with balance (like the vestibular system in the inner ear) don’t work as well.
I asked Jordan King to share his current research project at the University of Calgary using very mild electrical stimulation of the vestibular system to try to test whether it can improve balance.
Jordan is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Calgary. CALL members will recognize Jordan from his presentation for Health And Wellness about Aging and Balance in March, 2025.
The CALL Blog is public so please share with your family and friends. It is easy to do. Just copy the URL https://calgarylifelonglearners.ca/Blog and paste into an email or text message.
If you are on Facebook, please follow us. https://www.facebook.com/CalgaryLifelongLearners/
Any questions or feedback, please contact me: blog@calgarylifelonglearners.ca. If you have a topic that you would like to write with me, I would welcome your interest.
The CALL Newsletter
- Newsletter Team
Did you know that we appreciate receiving articles from our members? We are happy to publish articles that celebrate CALL. Your personal experience about how you have benefited would be a valuable contribution to this newsletter. Please send your ideas and suggestions for future issues to info@calgarylifelonglearners.ca. We reserve the right to edit submissions and to determine when submissions will be published.
CALL Newsletter postings 2025-26
- Feb 27
- Mar 27
- Apr 24
- May 29
- June 26
- Aug 21
Meanwhile, be well, stay well in every sense of the word.