News From CALL Mid‑March 2022

Sketch by Elaine Bouey, a member of the Sketch Club Interest Group

CALL Covid Update: February 28,2022

The CALL Board Of Directors decided at the February 28, 2022 meeting that all CALL programs will continue on ZOOM until April 1, 2022. At that time groups will be given the option to transition to in person meetings based on a process to be developed by the Operations Committee in conjunction with the Program Committee. The decision will be reviewed by the Board on March 21, 2022.

New Horizons Grant Approved!

CALL has entered into a unique partnership with Mount Royal University (MRU) to present an intergenerational speaker series. Through participation in this project CALL will have an opportunity to share our organization with other older adults, as well as younger generations. The funding, which comes from the Federal New Horizons Grant program, is for projects in which ‘seniors will lead or play a vital role in its planning and/or delivery.’ New Horizons grants ‘seek to benefit seniors and communities’. The proposed CALL/MRU series will focus on healthy ageing, lifelong learning and interconnectedness across generations and will be designed to promote the inclusion of diverse groups of seniors and students in planning, implementation and participation.

Opportunities and Benefits for CALL

For CALL members this project will provide opportunities to:

• participate in interesting educational events
• participate in planning, facilitating or attending events.
• meet and share experiences with people from diverse community groups
• interact and form relationships with younger generation
• act as mentors to others
• socialize and meet new people

For CALL this project will:

• allow an increase in programming without using CALL resources
• provide opportunities to advertise CALL to potential new members
• potentially increase the diversity of membership
• promote CALL as a lifelong learning organization

Planning Component

A volunteer planning group recruited from CALL, other community organizations for seniors and MRU student groups will meet from March to August to determine potential topics, speakers and set dates for four or five events to be held from September 2022 to March 2023.

Project Structure

• All the funding for the project will come from the New Horizons grant and will be kept separate from CALL operating funds.
• A part-time coordinator/program assistant will be contracted by CALL to facilitate all organizational details and supervised by MRU.
• Each event will be:
  • educational and interactive providing opportunities to socialize, learn from each other and form relationships
  • free, open to the public and present topics of interest across generations
  • hosted by trained paid facilitators
  • held at MRU with the goal to host at least 100 attendees per event
  • in-person or virtual depending on public health regulations
• Guest speakers will be paid. Presentations will be professionally recorded and uploaded for public viewing. Technological support, if required, will also be paid for from project funds.

More information about this new venture will be provided in the coming weeks. If you have questions or would like to help on the planning committee, you would be most welcome. Contact program@calgarylifelonglearning.ca.

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.

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.

New Interest Groups

Tuesday Walking Group

The Tuesday COVID Walking Interest Group will be discontinued as of March 31, 2022. While this group served the needs of walkers during COVID pandemic times, the need for so many restricts has been lifted. We’d like to thank Blair Pierce who has facilitated this group during these two difficult years while facilitating other CALL groups concurrently.

Thank you to Jim Wood who has stepped up to be the Facilitator for the New Tuesday Walking Group which will commence in April. Watch the website for registration details. New registration by you will be required if you wish to join this new group as the old list will be deleted. Watch for regsitration information to come.

CALL to the Garden

A new interest group based on Horticulture is starting this year. Our hope is to hold meetings in members gardens, public gardens and possibly greenhouses depending on the wishes of the group.  Focus will be on sharing our knowledge to enhance everyone’s gardening experience.

If you are interested in joining this group or would like further information, contact Dave Leslie at david.leslie.calico@gmail.com. He will be arranging an organizing meeting soon.

Vikings Victorious – New Study Program

After two hundred years of invasion, England was finally ruled by Vikings.  From 1013 to 1042, all four monarchs were Danes.  In this study program Dr. Alana Gowdy will examine the impact of these kings, how they came and why they went. As has been said, "In a casually brutal age, Vikings were simply better brutes." (Quote from Priit Vesili). Fear not however, despite their well-deserved reputation, a somewhat lighthearted approach will be taken to the overview of Viking attitudes and actions. Enrollment has been limited to 30. 

For more information and to register, go to the Vikings Victorious page.

March Events

Treks and Travels
Copper Canyon Mexico

Wednesday, March 16, 7:30pm on Zoom
Speaker: Roger Pilkington

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

CALL Café Online
A Guide to COVID-19 Modelling

Monday, March 21, 7:00–8:30pm on Zoom
Speaker: Eric Cytrynbaum

Have you ever wondered how mathematical models are constructed and how they allow us to forecast the rise of COVID-19 variants and other epidemiological phenomena? At the March CALL Café, Eric Cytrynbaum, a UBC Math professor and member of the BC COVID-19 Modelling Group, will demonstrate how to formulate epidemic models, explain how they help us understand the progression of a disease, and answer your questions.

You must be a CALL member to register for A Guide to COVID-19 Modelling, but the registration process allows you to bring 1 to 4 guests. To register and for more information, go to CALL Café Online.

April Events

Science and Environment
Earthquake Early Warning for B.C

Tuesday, April 5, 7:30pm
Speaker: Bob Crosby

Because they operate the world's largest wired undersea observatory, Ocean Networks Canada is in a unique position to detect subduction earthquakes through the operation of sensor networks both on land and on the seafloor.  Learn about the prototype earthquake early warning system already in place, and how it is being expanded and enhanced so that it can be used to provide early warning to the residents of southwestern B.C. Learn about how earthquake early warning will work and what the potential benefits are.

Bob Crosby helped develop the earthquake warning project at Ocean Networks Canada at UVic.  He has a B.A. Sc. Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo.

For more details and to register go to the Science and Environment page.

ZOOM NEWS from the CALL Zoom Help Team

If you have the Zoom app downloaded on your device (computer, laptop, tablet or phone) you should check for version updates on a regular basis – some updates are mandatory, others are optional.  Please refer to the ‘Update to the latest Zoom’ link on the CALL Website located under Technical Help. Although an ‘automatic’ update feature is available, its reliability hasn’t been proven yet therefore a ‘manual’ update is advised at this time.

If you are registered (via CALL Website) for a CALL Event using Zoom, you will receive a ‘reminder’ email/invitation twenty-four hours before the event. That email will include this information stating what to do if you have Zoom technical challenges.

Should you experience any technical difficulties joining the meeting, send an email to zoomhelp@calgarylifelonglearners.ca and include your phone number. This CALL email account is monitored closely prior to the meeting for fast response. If you have any computer issues during the meeting, use Zoom Chat to send a private message to the Chat Monitor (This name will appear near the top of your Participants List).

A Zoom Help Team (ZHT) member is continually monitoring the ZH email address and will attempt to address ‘urgent’ CALL Zoom matters quickly, usually by a return email or by phone, if necessary. A Team member will always respond within twenty-four hours.

Once you have ‘joined’ a Zoom Meeting you should check your speaker and microphone. Please refer to this Zoom link.

Newsletter Submission

CALL member, Elaine Strom, has responded to our requests for submission to the newsletter with a poem.

Oh Women of Norway

by Elaine Strom

CALL for Submissions to CALL Newsletter

The CALL Newsletter group invites members to submit photos, sketches, stories, poems, descriptions of projects etc. for use in CALL newsletters. We know that CALL members are creative. Do you have a photo taken on your daily walk or from your window; a poem written as you reflect on life; a sketch of a scene that catches your eye? Have you turned a memory into a short story or a response to something you have heard or read?

We will keep all submissions on file to use in future newsletters. Send submissions to newsletter@calgarylifelonglearners.ca, include your name and a sentence giving CALL permission to publish in the newsletter.

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:

• March 25
• April 14, 29 – NOTE: April 14 is a Thursday
• May 13, 27
• June 10, 24

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