Lifelong learning to stay in Healdsburg

OLLI program through SSU ready to launch winter classes Jan. 22
It started out as a one-year trial program for the north county — to bring Sonoma State University’s lifelong learning program to Healdsburg and see what happens.
What happened was success beyond expectation.
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, a program with the School of Extended Education at Sonoma State University, brings university level classes to adults “50 years or better” who want to explore interesting and thought-provoking subjects.
The program’s first north county session was held this fall with classes at the Villa Chanticleer and 350 people showed up to three classes.
“The dean gave us a one-year trial program to determine interest and support,” said local OLLI Advisory Board Member Bob Santos. Well, he said, “he has lifted the trial status and we have a permanent home here in Healdsburg.”
Santos, a retired pediatric dentist, has been involved in the OLLI program through SSU for 11 years, first as a student and now as part of the Curriculum Committee and Advisory Board.
He said when he decided the program needed to be brought to the north county, Healdsburg was a perfect fit.
“We did some focus groups and found that 35 percent of people here are over 60, 35 percent have a Bachelor’s degree or more and the median income is above $80,000,” Santos said. Those factors were the beginnings of a recipe for success within the lifelong learning program.
Another ingredient was the willingness of the city of Healdsburg to become a partner in the program and allow the classes to be taught at the Villa. Along with that, a committee of 18 local residents was put together to help facilitate a successful program.
“We tried to leverage and put everything in place, and it worked,” Santos said.
Each year, there are three six-week sessions, each with a different focus, but all with a local connection.
In the first fall session, classes were taught on FDR, on how the brain works, and on muses throughout history.
Healdsburg resident Jim Walters took the class on FDR with his wife Dottie and said it was the best class he’d ever taken in his life.
“This area has been waiting for something like this for some time,” he said. “People are pretty well educated and are looking to keep their minds active and this is not a major commitment on their time or money.”
The classes are $80 for six sessions and the lessons are priceless, Walters said.
“This is a classroom format as opposed to a lecture,” he said. “The back and forth gives it a different feeling.”
Classes are set for the winter session, beginning Jan. 22. All classes are held from 3 to 5 p.m. and last six weeks.
The Tuesday class, titled “Great Cities: Capitals of Western History” will be taught by Bruce Elliott, Ph.D, who Santos said has been known to “dress in period costume, oftentimes with a glass of wine.”
The Wednesday class, “World Cultures: The Anthropology of Tradition and Custom” will be taught by Dianne Smith, Ph.D., a cultural anthropologist, who is mostly retired from the classroom but still involved in fieldwork and research.
The Thursday class is in conjunction with the Healdsburg Jazz Festival and is called “Exploring Jazz: An American Music,” taught by Len Lyons, Ph.D., an author of several books on Jazz and a Jazz pianist himself.
Anyone interested in learning more about these classes or the program in general, should attend the Open House on Thursday, Jan. 10 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Villa Chanticleer. During the open house, prospective students will have the opportunity to meet, interact and hear the three instructors.
For more information about the program, go to www.sonoma.edu/exed/olli or call 664-2612.