News From CALL June 2023

Photo taken at the Calgary Zoo by Tony Campos, member of the CALL Digital Photography Interest Group.

May Events

Not So Common Law: Vexatious Litigation

Monday May 29 1:00–3:00pm on Zoom

Some litigants abuse the legal system, wasting court resources and judicial time, causing delay. How do the courts deal with this situation and determine who is a well intentioned, self represented litigant attempting to deal with a complex legal system, or a vexatious one?

For more information and to contact the facilitator to join this Interest Group go to the Not So Common Law page.

June Events

Science and Environment: Geothermal Energy and Its Role in Alberta’s Energy Future

Tuesday, June 6, 7:30–9:30pm. Online with Zoom.
Speaker: Dr. Edwin Cey, Department of Geoscience and Natural Sciences Program, U of C.

Geothermal energy is often touted as a natural resource that can provide vast amounts of clean, low-carbon energy for heating or electricity generation, yet Canada lags other nations when it comes to geothermal energy resource development.

This talk will explore the scientific and technical fundamentals behind different geothermal systems as well as potential environmental and socioeconomic issues, enabling audience members to better assess the challenges and opportunities for geothermal energy in Alberta.

For more information and to register go to the Science and Environment page

CALL Café: Riopelle and Quebec Modernism

Wednesday June 7, 7:00–8:30pm. Online with Zoom

In February 2022, Ryan Green, President of Masters Gallery, spoke to CALL on Emily Carr: 150 Years. On June 7th, Ryan will return to speak about the rise of mid-century abstraction in Canadian art, the life and work of Jean Paul Riopelle, and the legacy of Modernist painting in Quebec.

Register for Riopelle and Quebec Modernism and learn why 2023, the centenary of Riopelle’s birth, is being celebrated in Canada and internationally, and why the Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation regards the centenary as “A Centenary of Artistic Genius”.

You must be a CALL member to register but the registration process allows you to bring 1 to 4 guests.

To register and for more information, go to the CALL Café page.

Treks and Travels: Road tripping through the South and Southwest U.S.

Wednesday June 21 7:30–9:00pm at Varsity Presbyterian Church
Speakers: Ruth Sturby & John Mauel

A road trip? A good old-fashioned road trip!

Ruth and John have found that the best part of road travel is the “in-between” sites, between major cities and airports.

Listen to Ruth and John tell their stories of some magnificent, surprising, scary, and inspiring encounters as they travelled through every state north of the Rio Grande River and west of Louisiana and Mississippi. See Pancho Villa's trigger finger, the graves of Bonnie and Clyde, blooming cactus, the childhood home of President Bill Clinton and the first store that Walmart founder Sam Walton opened in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Our presenters travel in a 2007 Toyota Tacoma truck with a small pop-up camper on the back which gives them the freedom and maneuverability to drive in downtown Los Angeles, New Orleans and along back-roads that only a 4x4 truck can navigate. Their “prairie clipper” has helped them explore “everything” in‑between.

This is the last presentation before the summer break. We hope you will join us! Registration is not required. Members of the public are welcome to attend (at a cost of $5).

Enthusiastic Volunteers Required!

Since January 2022, the CALL Café Committee has offered monthly speaker events that draw between 60 and close to 200 attendees. Since last September, we have heard 14 expert speakers on a wide range of topics: the hidden history of jazz patronage, economics for a planet in peril, end-of-life care, shoes and stories of immigrant and refugee women, Arctic security, cybersecurity, Alberta Politics, the diversity of smart cities, and the Calgary Atlas Project. On June 7th, we will conclude this spring’s program with a presentation on the painter Jean Paul Riopelle and Quebec Modernism and we will shortly reveal details about our September Kickoff Café.

In order to continue this popular series, the committee needs additional volunteers to join it in the fall. They will work as a team to identify topics and invite speakers. For more information, contact program@calgarylifelonglearners.ca or volunteer@calgarylifelonglearners.ca.

Who doesn’t want to learn more about health and wellness?

CALL is seeking volunteers to help launch a Health and Wellness in-person speaker series in Fall 2023. Committee members will have two tasks: they will identify topics which are relevant to the broad subject of Health and Wellness; they will also help find engaging presenters on these topics. If you are someone who values health and wellness, then this volunteer role is for you. For more information, contact Tom.

Science of Climate Change: Links to information.

During his May 15th CALL presentation Science of Climate Change-Why Net Zero 2050?, David Manz drew our attention to his Guide to the Science of Climate Change. This guide, which was inspired by Manz’s teaching a continuing education course at the U of C, is an introduction to the science of global warming and climate change that can be understood by anyone with an interest. It consists of 27 chapters that are free to download and is frequently updated.

The webpage also includes presentations such as the one that David gave to CALL on May 15.

Should you be interested in CALL offering a Study Program on Climate Change, please contact Adrienne Kertzer.

CALLING ALL READERS!

Come join a community of CALL members and expand your horizons with new books, conversations, and ideas. Whether you are looking for a good mystery, enjoy poetry or non-fiction, there is a group waiting for you! Several of the Written Word book groups have openings for this September.

Featured this month:

We Love a Good Mystery!
Meeting on Zoom the 3rd Tuesday of the month, from 1:00pm to 2:30pm, members take turns choosing and presenting books. If your sleuthing skills are a bit rusty, reach out to facilitator Donna Crawford and she’ll get you ready for September!

Canadian Authors Plus Book Club!
Members meet on the first Thursday of the month from ten o’clock to noon at Varsity Presbyterian Church. The primary focus is on Canadian Authors of fiction and non-fiction, although international authors can be considered. Members vote for the books and volunteer to facilitate the discussion. If you would like to join their avid readers in September, please contact Maureen or Patricia.

Variety!
As the name suggests, members read and discuss a variety of genres, both non-fiction and fiction. Each member suggests titles and the group votes on which books to read. Members take turns leading the discussion. Some of the non-fiction titles read include: The Lonely Century by Noreena Hertz and Rising Out of Hatred by Eli Saslow. Some of the fiction titles include: The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean, and The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. If interested in a variety of choices, contact Annie.

New Interest Group

Beginning in June: Great Big Sing

This group is all about the pure joy of singing with others. No previous singing experience necessary.

The group will meet 10:00–11:30am Wednesdays June 7-28 in Room 310 at cSpace.
For more information and to register, go to the Great Big Sing page.

Making Progress on the Road Ahead

Have you got any thoughts about the future of CALL? Over the past few months, we organized several meetings to gather feedback on the Road Ahead for CALL. We held discussions with the Board, the Program Committee and groups of facilitators collecting some very helpful information and great ideas. Now it’s time to look to you for your ideas and priorities. We will be conducting an online survey in June asking for members’ thoughts on several important issues … the role of ZOOM, our future as a volunteer run organization, what our membership values in the programs we offer and CALL’s role in the broader community. We hope you will take the time to complete this survey. Your responses are critical to our understanding of what members hope for CALL’s future and how the Board can best prepare the organization to respond. Help us achieve our goal of producing a clear and useful assessment of the Road Ahead for CALL by participating in the survey.

Linda Flanagan – President
Leslie Dort – Past President
Barbara Decker Pierce – Vice President

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:

• June 16, 30

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