Special to Wesson News
Painter Dawn Marks started the learning experiences for Institute for Leaning in Retirement (ILR) members this month (October 8) in a fall semester packed with two other workshops on cooking and Christmas wreath-making, ongoing chair yoga classes, monthly luncheons that started September 10, travel opportunities, and a game day last month for ILR bingo players.
A membership organization for persons aged fifty and older who are retired or semi-retired, ILR seeks to provide learning opportunities that are both fun and serious for senior adults, who define and pursue their own informal educational goals at their own pace, according to their own choices and talents. Members, who come from wide-ranging backgrounds and bring varied experiences to the organization, design its program. Co-Lin, as the ILR sponsor, provides staff and management for the organization, which is fully funded by member dues.
At the initial workshop, Marks brought paints and planks from cypress timbers with the border lines of an autumn scene and helped participants create a painting they could be proud to hang in their homes.
Marks offers her classes through Original Cypress, a small home-based company she operates with her husband, Mike. Original Cypress began almost twenty years ago, selling Marks’ cypress works with Louisiana motifs, such as pelicans and swamp scenes, to gifts and crafts stores. While Marks continues to paint her own works to sell, teaching others to paint has become the main thrust of Original Cypress. She teaches, on average, five classes a week.
Michael Tristan Peavey, Jr., the Lincoln County Agricultural Extension Service (AES) Agent, spoke about the work of AES at the September ILR luncheon. At the second luncheon on October 3, ILR members enjoyed a meal at the Anderson Building on the Co-Lin campus, prepared and served by the college’s culinary students, and heard special presentations made by several ILR members in a “Get to Know You” program.
The ILR travel season started October 16 with a day trip to Mary Landrum Pyron’s Hatmaker workshop at Crystal Springs. The owner of ML Provisions discussed and demonstrated the hat-making skills she learned over five years in Wyoming and hosted a light lunch.
Other workshops, luncheons and travel experiences in the weeks ahead include:
October 29. Cooking workshop. Co-Lin’s executive chef will show participants how to prepare a luncheon that they will enjoy eating as part of the experience. $25. 11 a.m. Co-Lin Thames Center on Co-Lin campus.
November 7. Day trip to Angels on the Bluff at Natchez, Mississippi. Trip includes meal at Old Country Store, Lorman, Mississippi; guided tour of historic Windsor and ghost town (Rodney), tour of Angels on the Bluff Cemetery. $163.
November 12. Luncheon. Veteran’s Day program with keynote speaker Andrew Adcock, LTC, LG, MSARNG, Commander, Recruiting and Retention Battalion, and guest speaker Craig Weaver, COL JROTC Senior Army Instructor, Lawrence County. Lawrence County JROTC Presentation of the Colors. Patriotic music by members of the Co-Lin Choir. $14. Thames Center on Co-Lin campus.
November 19. Wreath-Making workshop. Conducted by Heather Bonds of Hetty Bug’s Flowers. $25. Thames Center on Co-Lin campus. 11 a.m.
December 3-6. Jingle Jangle Christmas in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Three nights’ accommodation at Pigeon Forge with daily breakfast and three dinners, including Dolly Parton’s Stampede Christmas Dinner Show and Hatfield & McCoy Christmas Dinner Feud; Hometown Guided Tour; Smith Morning Variety Show; Skyland Ranch Festival of Lights; and visits at The Island and Old Mill Square. $890 triple, $980 double and $1,220 single.
December 10. Christmas luncheon. Traditional Christmas luncheon with Steve Russell playing Christmas carols on the piano for sing-along. Thames Center on the Co-Lin campus. $14.
Throughout the semester, every Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Cheryl Myers will continue to coach a chair yoga class for ILR members.
For information, contact ILR Coordinator Erin Johnson at erin.johnson@colin.edu or 601-643-8702. Visit the ILR Facebook page at Facebook@ILRCoLin.
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