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News From CALL October 2025
| October Events | Interest Groups | Blog |
Photo of Ralph Klein Park, by Paul Fesko, of the CALL Digital Photography Group
President’s Report
- Adrienne Kertzer
Whenever CALL offers programming that is attentive to issues of democracy, those programs fill quickly. A new offering, Democracy Under Siege, is full as are our three World Events groups. The popularity of the Current Events group has led to the possibility of a second Current Events group. Our members’ interest in democracy is also reflected in the reading lists of several interest groups.
As I prepare for CALL’s Annual General Meeting, I have also been thinking about democracy. Certainly, the threats to democracy are hardly identical to those experienced by volunteer-run organizations. Indeed, in some ways they are striking opposites: I have yet to meet a CALL President who refused to give up her power. But democracies, like volunteer-run organizations, should not be taken for granted, and they both depend on informed and engaged members.
The Annual General Meeting offers CALL members the opportunity to be informed and engaged. The agenda includes election of the new Board; pay careful attention to the slate of nominees. The agenda also includes a Special Resolution to approve Bylaw changes. Unlike ordinary motions, Special Resolutions require approval by 75% of the members who are present at the meeting. That higher percentage signals their significance.
The Annual General Meeting will take place on Zoom Thursday October 16 from 10am to 11:30am and requires registration. If you haven’t paid your membership for 2025-26, you will not be able to register. On the right side of the CALL home page, you will see a link for CALL 2025 Annual General Meeting. When you click on the link, you will be asked to log into your CALL account. Logging in will take you to the Governance page. Scroll down that page and you will find all the AGM documents and the Registration link.
Should you have any questions, you can contact me at info@calgarylifelonglearners.ca.
October Events
Health and Wellness
Neurology of Aging
Monday, October 6, 1:30–3:00pm
Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church, 4612 Varsity Acres Drive NW
Speaker: Dr. Andrea Protzner
Dr. Andrea Protzner is a cognitive neuropsychologist, and a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on how individual differences in the brain relate to individual variation in behaviour, cognition, and disease state. She has examined cognition in healthy individuals across their lifespan, and treatment effectiveness in people with mental health conditions such as depression. Her research is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Members of the public are welcome to attend (at a cost of $5 at the door). Registration is not required.
Science and Environment
Alberta Oil and Gas – “Dine and Dash”
Tuesday, October 7, 7:30–9:00 pm
Online, via Zoom
Speaker: Dr. David Swan
When considering the issues facing Alberta, your mind may not immediately leap to improperly abandoned and inactive oil and gas wells, many of which are referred to as “orphan wells”, where a company has gone bankrupt and there is no owner. That lack of attention would be a mistake.
Currently, there are hundreds of thousands (!!!) of inactive and orphaned wells, pipelines and facilities in Alberta, representing a massive financial liability for future generations in the province. Most have not been safely reclaimed. Even after wells are properly abandoned, they remain the responsibility of the company that owns them, if it is still solvent.
BUT successive Alberta governments have not been diligent in forcing companies to do the necessary cleanup, leading to massive liability- economic, environmental, health, and rural development crises. As if that weren’t bad enough, the current government is proposing that we taxpayers backstop the financing when companies declare bankruptcy before cleaning them up.
Join Dr. David Swann at the October 7 Science and Environment talk as he outlines the issues and solutions. David is the former Medical Officer of Health for southern Alberta and MLA for Calgary-Mountain View (2004-2019), as well as a proud father and grandfather of fourteen grandchildren. In retirement, he has focused on nonprofit board volunteering, including the Coalition for Responsible Energy – C4RE, which investigates these issues.
Registration required. For more information and to register go to the Science and Environment page.
Treks and Travels
The Falkland Islands – Wild by Nature
Wednesday, October 15, 7:30–9:00pm
Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church, 4612 Varsity Acres Drive NW
Speaker: John Bargman
Saunders Island, photo by John Bargman
John Bargman and his wife spent two weeks in February 2025 visiting five of the Falkland Islands to view wildlife. This presentation will cover general information about the islands, birds (including penguins) and marine mammals as well as a little about the 1982 war. The show will end with a series of wildlife photos.
John is a life-long traveler, nature enthusiast and amateur photographer.
No registration required. Members of the public are welcome to attend (at a cost of $5).
CALL Café
An Outsider Within – Fifty Years in Zambia and Zimbabwe
Monday, October 20, 1:00–3:00pm (refreshments from 1:00 to 1:30, then presentation)
Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church, 4612 Varsity Drive NW
Speaker: Mary Ndlovu
Join us for this special presentation by CALL member, Mary Ndlovu. Mary will talk about her fifty years living in Zambia and Zimbabwe through times of great turbulence in Southern Africa. She will touch on life as the wife of a politician engaged in the liberation of his country, managing a multi-racial family while war and political conflict raged, and adapting to very different cultural beliefs and practices.
She has described these experiences and others in her memoir which she wrote as a member of CALL’s interest group Our Lives, Our Stories 1.
The presentation will be held at Varsity Presbyterian Church. Refreshments and socialization from 1:00 to 1:30, with the presentation to follow.
Members are asked to register for planning purposes. Guests and members of the public are welcome at no cost.
New Interest Groups and Programs
Remembering Montreal
We are hoping to start a New CALL Interest Group, Remembering Montreal.
The group will be a forum for members who grew up in Montreal and area, or those who have an interest in postwar Montreal, to learn and share memories of that time.
The kick-off meeting will be on Wednesday, October 1, from 4:00 to 6:00pm at the Girl GuidesBuilding, 2188 Brownsea Dr NW.
We hope you can join us to share memories and research into aspects of the unique culture of Montreal!
Register at Special Programs to join the group.
Interest Groups and Study Programs
Introduction to Zentangle®
We invite you to take a two hour workshop to learn about the Art of Zentangle®, an easy to learn art form. No previous art experience is needed, just persistence and practice. Using minimal materials, such as paper, pencil and a pen you learn to draw patterns from the environment.
Putting these patterns together and shading them creates mini pieces of art. We call the patterns tangles. Many people find that learning and practicing the patterns/tangles helps with their focus, confidence, creativity and problem-solving, and many use Zentangle as a meditative form of drawing. Since Zentangle is nonrepresentational drawing, there’s no right or wrong. Once a solid understanding of the basics is developed, you can take Zentangles into other art forms, such as sewing, pottery, stitching, card making, or journalling to name a few.
Join us October 20 to try it out. Register through Introduction to Zentangle®.
CALL Blog
CALL: More Than Lifelong Learning – A Community of Curious Minds
- Maureen Osis, CALL Communications Team
The word “community” has become a very broad term frequently used for marketing. What does “community” mean for members of CALL? Gail Kingwell, long-time CALL member and volunteer, explores some of the confusion around the term and gives examples of the ways in which CALL (Calgary Association of Lifelong Learners) provides the opportunity for a meaningful sense of community for its members.
The CALL Blog is public so please share with your family and friends. https://calgarylifelonglearners.ca/a-community-of-curious-minds
If you are on Facebook, please follow us at https://www.facebook.com/CalgaryLifelongLearners/
If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us: info@calgarylifelonglearners.ca.
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
- Nov 1
- Nov 28
- Dec 19
- Jan 30
- Feb 27
- Mar 27
- Apr 24
- May 29
- June 26
- Aug 21
Meanwhile, be well, stay well in every sense of the word.