SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Bill Mares, will present the OLLI-Osher Lifelong Learning Institute program on Tuesday, Nov. 13. ‘I Could Hardly Keep From Laughing: Vermont Humor from Coolidge to Trump’ will be presented at 2 p.m. at the Nolin Murray Center next to St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Pleasant St. in Springfield, Vermont.
Mares, an author, teacher and legislator will give us an inside look at Vermont humor which began in hardscrabble times as farmers made light of heavy and odious work. Visitors and immigrants (‘Flatlanders’) brought new recruits for gentle derision, and politicians were always fair game for the public and each other. He’ll give us a guided tour of Vermont humor from the era of Calvin Coolidge to that of Donald Trump.
Mares, raised in Texas and educated at Harvard, has been a reporter-photographer, state legislator and high school teacher. He has authored or co-authored 17 books on subjects ranging from the Marine Corps to desert travel, from war memorials to Vermont humor.
OLLI-Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, affiliated with the University of Vermont, is a local membership program geared towards seniors 50 years and older who want to engage in meaningful learning, “just for the fun of it!” People of all ages are welcome to attend.
The OLLI series programs are selected with input from the local members and carry varied themes from semester to semester including history, art, music, literature, health, nature, science and current events.
Programs are held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday afternoons and last about an hour and a half.
Membership is $45 for the semester, which includes 9 programs. Non-members are encouraged and welcome to attend individual lectures for a single program fee of $8. Memberships, as well as single program fees, may be paid at the program.
The following OLLI program will be two weeks later on Nov. 27, and will be ‘Classics of Hollywood’s Golden Age.’ We’ll view clips of favorite films from 1935-1963 with film historian Rick Winston.
Brochures have been distributed throughout the area towns at businesses, the local libraries, town halls and Chamber of Commerce offices. The complete Springfield and state-wide program list is available on the internet at www.learn.uvm.edu/olli Choose State-wide programs from the menu, and then scroll to Springfield.
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