News From CALL October 2020

Photo by Ron Beugin, member of the Digital Photography Interest Group

Were you unable to Zoom in to the CALL Kickoff Café on September 21? If so – or if you just want to enjoy the presentations again, you can see it at a time of your own choosing in the comfort of your home by clicking here.

Spurred on by Judy Hamill, former CALL Café Coordinator, a group began in June to plan this year’s Kickoff Café. Judy has moved to the Okanogan Valley, but she graciously shared her experience and joined the planning group through the magic of Zoom to get the Kickoff underway. The committee recognized that putting together a virtual presentation with contributions from many CALL members would require Zoom expertise that went beyond signing in with an ID and Passcode! A Zoom Help team, Richard Farrand, Lorna Jamison, Wayne Marshall and Wayne Murphy established their lifelong learning credentials sorting out some of the behind the scenes intricacies required to put together pre-recorded videos, real time live presenters, Power Point presentations and YouTube segments.

The videos required stitching together individual presentations done in various locations, made to look like they were all in the same location at the same time, no small task. The Improvers Bridge group demonstrated how they play Bridge online (who knew?); the Readers Theatre Group presented a scenario we could all relate to – dealing with relatives who have answers to all the problems of the world; the Uke Group played and sang in unison from various locations. We saw beautiful photos and sketches by CALL members. Current CALL President Ron Foyer and Vice-President Lorraine Smith provided some background of CALL and outlined current and future plans. And Current Affairs Coordinator Adrienne Kertzer read comments about the value of CALL – especially during a time when we are unable to get together in person. Continuity was ably provided by MC Geoff King who had jokes, anecdotes, virtual backgrounds and costumes ready to fill in unexpected gaps.Many thanks to Henri Walhout who contributed his technical expertise and time to edit the Zoom recording and prepare it for viewing on the CALL website.

We may not win any awards – but the hours of production and rehearsal paid off – and who knows – maybe next year at the Emmys? Thanks to all of those who contributed time and expertise over the summer to present an enjoyable and informative Kickoff Café 2020.

The 2020 CALL AGM will the held on Zoom

Monday, October 19, 11:00 am

Plan to attend on-line and participate in decision making for your organization. The agenda and other AGM-related documents will be posted on the website by October 5th for members to read. The Zoom link will be provided to those who register prior the meeting.

Registration information and links to the AGM documents will be sent to all members in a separate email prior to the AGM

Music For October

Check out the Interest Groups tab on the CALL website and scroll down to the Creative Arts section for all CALL's musical offerings!

The Ukulele Jam is alive and well, thriving, even during this pandemic! The in-person jam that took place every Saturday morning at CSPACE was immediately replaced with a Zoom meeting. A new format created a new opportunity for the jams, concentrating on learning new skills and music theory. The Blues Sessions continued along with other offshoots including the "Online Sing-along for Joy" and monthly "Online Open Mics", themed singalongs (open to all singers and other instruments) with a social hour. It has been a great time to meet new people, and to learn new songs and musical skills. By the time this pandemic is over the CALL Uke Jam is going to have many new songs to sing and we will all be better ukulele players!

For more "hands on" involvement get involved with the Program Committee as the Creative Arts Coordinator, more information on the Volunteer page.

CALL Open Mic – on ZOOM!

Join to sing and play along at home! First Thursday of the month - 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Socializing Hour - 6:00-7:00
Open Mic - 7:00-9:00

October 1, Gratitude, Family
November 5, Remembrance Day
December 3, Holiday Songs

Please register online at CALL Open Mic – on ZOOM to receive the Zoom link, the Songbook and the recipe book for Happy Hour Snacks!

ONLINE Blues Ukulele Sessions

Open to all – beginner and up. Drop-ins welcome!
Beginning October 3: Saturdays 9:30 – 11:30 am
For details and registrations, go to the ONLINE Blues Ukulele Sessions website page

Sing-Along for Joy

The sessions that started this spring, are returning this fall.

Tuesday evenings, beginning October 6, from 7:30 – 8:00pm, you are invited to join a CALL group for a sing-along of songs that bring joy to our hearts and chase the stay home and stay indoors Covid-Cobwebs away!

For details and registration, go to the CALL Sing-Along for Joy website page. Zoom link details and the song book will be sent each week to those who have registered.

Volunteers

As CALL is growing we need more people to help maintain the quality of what we offer. Take some time and get involved in CALL… meet new people, develop new friendships while providing valuable help.

There are still openings for volunteers for board positions and others to keep CALL programs going. Please check the Volunteer listings and/or email volunteer@calgarylifelonglearners.ca to see how you can contribute.

Volunteers are the backbone of CALL. We sincerely thank all of our dedicated volunteers who have contributed and who continue to contribute in making CALL such a wonderfully diverse and interesting organization! We are truly lucky to have such a rich range of life experience in our membership. Your time and talent is immeasurable. Simply put… without YOU—our volunteers—CALL WOULD NOT EXIST!

Your CALL Newsletter

The CALL Newsletter is our way to communicate what is going on in our community. Usually we communicate to members about upcoming events, however, since all CALL gatherings are postponed for an undetermined period of time, we decided to use the newsletters as a way to ‘peek behind the curtain of CALL’, 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. Let us know what your Interest Groups are doing and your strategies for coping with this situation in which the whole world finds itself. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity; not every submission will necessarily be published.

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