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News From CALL Summer 2024
Photo by Beth A. Hetherington from the CALL Digital Photography Interest Group.
President’s Message
- Barbara Decker Pierce, CALL President
Summer is here and CALL is celebrating the completion of another great year for CALL Café and our three Speaker Series.
CALL Café was back in full swing with monthly events for learning and connecting with other CALL members. The Café committee and those on the coffee detail have done a great job of providing a wide variety of interesting speakers and offering us the opportunity to meet with other kindred spirits. We look forward to a new season of CALL Cafés in the fall. This year included our learning about the following:
- Mostly Broadway (musical afternoon)
- Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association (CIWA)
- The Calgary Philharmonic
- Seasonal Celebration (music and story telling)
- News Media and Climate Change
- Winston Churchill – Emerald Lake Painting
- Steps to Safety
- Operation Eyesight
- Genealogy
- Scams, Hacks and Frauds
In addition to the CALL Café, we had speaker programs where members with memorable experiences around the world shared with us the pictures and stories of their trips in Treks and Travels presentations.
- Addis Ababa
- Travelling Tuesdays (a teacher’s travels)
- The Galapagos Islands
- Food of Southern India
- Guernsey
- Asia’s Silk Road
- The Basecamp at Everest
- The South Atlantic and Antarctica
The Science & Environment team put together a series of informative topics on timely issues along with talks on fascinating aspects of our natural environment.
- An Update on Dementia
- Alberta’s Electrical System
- Beavers
- Asteroid Bennu
- Weather Forecasting
- Wildlife Management
- Infectious Diseases
- Stormwater Management
- Urban Wildlife
We are particularly pleased that a group of volunteers came forward to revive the Health and Wellness Speakers’ Events which were on hiatus though the time of COVID. We had a great series of speakers in this first year back.
- MAID
- Future of Long-Term Care
- Calgary’s new Cancer Centre
- Osteoarthritis
- Sleep
- Nutrition
- Kidney Health
- Acting our Age (comedy troupe)
I also want to give a heartfelt thanks to all of those who organized and helped deliver these programs during the year. It is obvious members truly appreciate and enjoy this important aspect of CALL programming. We couldn’t do it without you.
My best wishes to all of you as I retire to my cottage deck for a cold beverage and a spot of “forest bathing”. I hope you all have a safe and rejuvenating summer. We will be ready to continue our speaker programming in the fall so … see you in September. Meanwhile take a look at the articles in this newsletter about continuing CALL programs that can keep you busy or entertained this summer.
CALL Membership Renewals – How Can You Help?
A new CALL year starts September 1, and membership renewal emails will be sent out in early August. These will contain a link to start your renewal process, or you can sign into your CALL account, click “View Profile” and start the renewal process from there.
How can you help reduce the volunteer time needed for Membership Renewals?
As you know, CALL is a volunteer run organization, which means not only are all the educational programs provided by volunteers, all the “behind the scenes” functions are also volunteer run. With 950 members this year, we are hoping to reduce the amount of volunteer time the membership renewal process takes.
Did you know that when you renew your membership online, everything happens automatically? But when you renew by mailing the paper form and cheque, many volunteer teams are involved. Some volunteers have to update your electronic record, others need to visit the bank to deposit the cheques, and still others must update our financial system and ensure the form is retained in our records management archives. This is why we are asking that members use the online system if at all possible.
How to pay online using a credit card (and why does it say PayPal)?
CALL uses a secure payment processing system to ensure valid credit card information is entered, and funds are directed from your credit card to CALL’s bank account. No credit card information is retained by CALL. PayPal is the payment processing system we use, but you DO NOT need a PayPal account to renew your membership online using a credit card.
We know that paying online can sometimes be a challenge. For 2024 we have created step-by-step documentation on how to pay using your credit card. This information will be included in your August renewal reminder email, and we’ve put a link to this information on the top of the CALL webpage and in the Technical Help column.
Please consider renewing your membership online this year to help reduce our volunteer workload!
Volunteer Request
Do you live near cSPACE Marda Loop, and have an hour a week to volunteer with CALL?
We need one or two CALL members to check the CALL mailbox at cSpace (1721 29th Ave. SW) on a weekly basis to ensure the mail is handled. This involves scanning membership forms, bank deposit slips and other mail and emailing it off to the appropriate teams for processing, depositing cheques in CALL’s bank account (only a few membership forms/cheques are received by mail), or delivering mail to the appropriate Board member. CALL does not receive a lot of mail, so many weeks there would be no additional work to do after checking the mailbox. We have volunteers who can provide backup if you are away.
You will need a scanner and a printer, and be willing to make bank deposits when required. CALL has a TD bank account, if you have a TD profile that is great. If not we can help get one setup. Send us an email at volunteer@calgarylifelonglearners.ca and we can talk further if you feel you can help.
CALL Summer Events
Although many of our CALL activities wrap up for the summer, some continue throughout the summer months. Here is a list for you to pick and choose from. Enjoy!
Bridge
Bridge Intermediate Online and in-person cSPACE Marda Loop
Thursday Bridge Rosedale
Wednesday Morning Bridge Online
Wordfreaks
cSPACE Wordfreaks
Tuesday Wordfreaks Rosedale
Tuesday Walks in the City of Calgary
World Events Discussion Group 1
Summer 2024 Reads: Recommended by the Written Word Book Groups
Who doesn’t like to kick back and read in the sunshine? If you’re looking for a good book to read while enjoying the summer, consider reading one of these titles!
- Beaton, Kate. Ducks, Two Years in the Oil Sands. (Graphic novel, thought-provoking read)
- Diangelo, Robin. White Fragility. (A heavier read)
- Frank, Michael. One Hundred Saturdays. For 100 weeks the author met with a survivor of the Nazi’s regime to chronicle her descriptions of how her Jewish community was torn apart.
- Kadish, Rachel. The Weight of Ink.
- McBride, James. Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. (Historical Fiction)
- Osman, Richard. Thursday Murder Club Series.
- Powning, Beth. The Sea Captain’s Wife.
- Quinn, Spencer. Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge. (Somewhere between a mystery and just fun)
- Sniderman, Andrew Stobo, and Sanderson, Douglas. Valley of the Birdtail, An Indian Reservation, a White Town and the Road to Reconciliation.
- Vanderhaeghe, Guy. August into Winter.
- Woolf, Virginia. Monday or Tuesday. (A collection of eight stories)
June Blog Post
Ageism – Youthism
- Maureen Osis, CALL Communications Team
In a previous blog post I talked about Intergenerational Programs: Antidote to Ageism? In this post I focus on ways that we can reduce the negative effects of ageism and youthism on all generations.
Although ageism can refer to stereotyping of any age group, it has come to be associated with discrimination against older people. Thus, the term “youthism” has been used to refer to a bias against teens and young adults.
In this post I quote Maggie Kuhn, the activist who founded the Grey Panthers, describing what teens and seniors have in common as victims of ageism. Hopefully this post will cause you to reflect on your own attitudes and take the quizzes: Myth or Fact About Older Adults; Myth or Fact about Teens.
The CALL Blog Ageism – Youthism is public so please share with your family and friends. It is easy to do. Just copy the URL https://calgarylifelonglearners.ca/Blog-Ageism-Youthism and paste into an email or text message.
Any questions or feedback, please contact me: blog@calgarylifelonglearners.ca
Save the Date!
CALL Kickoff Café
The first Café is on September 9, 2024 – note that this is the second Monday not the third Monday in September.
Mark your calendars now for the CALL Kickoff Café!
Date: Monday September 9, 2024
Time: 1-1:30- coffee and social time
1:30-2:30-Entertainment/Presentation
2:30-3:30 – coffee and time to talk to interest group leaders
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 communications@calgarylifelonglearners.ca. We reserve the right to edit submissions and to determine when submissions will be published.
CALL Newsletter dates for posting
The newsletter group has decided to return to posting once a month. The posting dates for 2024 are:
- August 23
Meanwhile, be well, stay well in every sense of the word.