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EH Notebook #107 August 31, 2002
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Welcome to EH Notebook, the e-zine where e-friends who have
attended Elderhostel programs can compare notes.
There is an independent but cooperatively maintained index to old
issues at http://members.aol.com/ehindex
To subscribe to the e-mail publication and/or to submit reviews of
programs taken send an e-mail to the editor, Bob McAllester, at
EHnotebook$A$earthlink.net
Please keep all correspondence in simple e-mail text format.
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From the Editor's Notebook
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Has anyone tried to reach Diane Tanner for information about
either of her two program reviews in the last issue? Soon after
that issue was distributed, her ISP took away her local access
number so she has had to change her email address. Her new
address is: jdtanner$A$a5.com
Bob McAllester
EHnotebook$A$earthlink.net
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Comments and Queries
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We would be interested to hear from anyone who has gone on an
Elderhostel in Belize or Brazil. Thank you.
Lois Rosenthal
strandlk$A$cpinternet.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our October programs were inadvertently omitted from the catalog
and we have been desperately trying to enlist friends and former
attendees - as the programs are set and we do need registrations!
Boston has listed us now in the on-line catalog (programs 7206
7207) and we are hearing from a few people. We ARE running the
programs even though they may be small - maybe 20 to 25.
Ron and Pat Smeenge - Program Coordinators
Michindoh Elderhostel - Hillsdale, Michigan.
patmar$A$umich.edu
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Program Reviews
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N O T I C E
To use an e-mail address, substitute
the "at symbol" for the 3 characters $A$.
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Lane Community College, Florence, Oregon
St. Charles Community College, Missouri
Malheur Field Station, Burns, Oregon
Geneva Point Center, Center Harbor, New Hampshire
Silver Penny Farm, Petaluma, California
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lane Community College, Florence, Oregon
Courses: Life at the Edge, Estuaries and Tide Pools,
Sea Lions to Starfish
In Pursuit of the Hidden Image: Photography
on the Oregon Coast
June 2 - 7, 2002
The 30 people that attended this Elderhostel were rewarded with a
very well organized week of interesting classes and wonderful
field trips. Our hosts did a great job of keeping everything
running on schedule with a good deal of humor. In addition we had
a marine biologist and a professional photographer for the
lectures. They went along on all the field trips to answer
questions. The fifth person on the field trips is a cartoonist,
writer, historian, and naturalist with a great sense of humor.
Most days had morning lectures and afternoon field trips which fit
in with the lecture. All lectures were held in the large
conference room at the resort.
Field Trips: More than half the time was devoted to field trips in
this very scenic part of Oregon. The places visited were:
Tidepools at Neptune State Park and Cape Perpetua Overlook with a
nature walk.
A saltmarsh and Sitcoos River Estuary.
Oregon Coast Aquarium at Newport.
A two hour whale watching boat trip where we saw many whales.
Sweet Creek Trail with cascading waterfalls and beautiful wooded
scenery along the trail.
Oregon Sand Dunes with an hour ride in 20 person dune buggies.
Accommodations:
Driftwood Shores Resort in Florence. Large rooms and each has an
ocean view. The resort is located on 10 miles of uninterrupted
sand beach.
Food: All meals were buffet style served in the conference room by
the hotel restaurant. All breakfasts had a large plate of fresh
fruit with hot selections, rolls, Cereal Lunches were deli
sandwiches and salads
Dinners had a choice of meat or fish, vegetables, salad, and
dessert with a nice variety during the week.
Summary: We would recommend this Elderhostel to anyone who enjoys
the outdoors in a very scenic state. The accommodations and meals
were very good. All the people involved made this one of the best
Elderhostels we have attended.
Ron Bonnie Reas
rreas$A$Iquest.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
St. Charles Community College, Missouri
Intergenerational
Meramec Caverns
Aug. 4-9
What a great experience we had as we shared the week with our 10
year old grandson. The quality of the program was all we've come
to expect from Elderhostel and then some. The leadership of
Sherrill and Nancy showed an understanding of the energy level of
not only 10 grandchildren (high), but also that of the 14
grandparents (not so high). They were able to anticipate when the
enthusiasm of the mostly boy participants might get out of hand
and skillfully guide them to a place where the enthusiasm was
still high, but the learning curve was still in tact
We were housed in a motel right at Meramec Caverns and ate at a
lodge near-by. Breakfast was buffet style, but the other meals
were served. We were within view of the Meramec River, which
created a scenic background for the week.
Upon arrival we were greeted by the coordinators and were able to
settle in before our orientation. Our appetite was whetted that
night by a short boat ride on the river, just right considering
many of us had traveled a distance that day.
The next day we started a schedule that took us through 3 caves,
on several nature walks, fishing, swimming, and the highlight, an
all day float trip on the Meramec River. The schedule was
balanced so we had high energy times interspersed with more laid
back relaxing events. The interpreters at various sites were
knowledgeable and able to peak the interest of the group
regardless of the age. Sherrill Nancy were able to adjust the
schedule that was printed when it did not seem to fit either the
time frame or the dynamics of the group.
I highly recommend this program for those who like to discover
what is above and below the surface of Missouri.
Lillian Venner
Burlington, VT
venner$A$webtv.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mount Saint Marie College, Newburgh, N. Y.
July 14-19, 2002
There have been better; there have been worse. If I sound
ambivalent, it is because I wonder if the pluses outnumber the
negatives or vice versa.
Location, Location! The campus is on a tilting hillside with views
of the Hudson River. Newburgh is a weary postindustrial river
port, which saw its best times when Washington and whaling ships
made it their headquarters. Between New York City and Albany, it
is easy to get into, and easy to exit and visit the beautiful
Hudson Valley. The coordinator in charge told us, before he
charged home every night, that the campus itself was safe. But he
warned us we must never ever go out the gate and turn left because
of crime. His mixed message was unsettling.
Accommodations: The hostelers were housed on one floor in a large
student dormitory. The lone security guard was at the entrance day
and night. So far as I could tell, he/she did not carry firearms;
just a telephone. We were alone when the coordinator charged home.
It was a little eerie. There was no telephone in my room in the
event of an emergency. The room had a private bathroom, air
conditioner, refrigerator, microwave, and a dirty floor. It would
have been nice if the trash basket were emptied just once, and
fresh linen made available.
Food: For fare that was shared with students and dozens of public
school children the food was fair to good. There was freshly baked
pizza and fresh vegetables at times for lunch and dinner, served
buffet style. It was nice to have a separate dining room after
going through the line with students and young children. The
cafeteria was in a separate building, which was a good walk from
the dormitory/classroom. The approach was steep 31 steps or a long
downhill gradual path. There was no warning of this beforehand,
and a person who has difficulty walking might have a problem
unless a car was available for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Classes: There was no coffee break between classes, as the
coordinator told us the dormitory/classroom building "had no
facilities" for making coffee. There was a juice break, though. If
it takes two or three cups for you to perk, be forewarned and
bring your own Java. The cafeteria opened exactly at 7:30 AM so
there is no early eye-opener available.
Because of the steep hike to the dining facility, it is unlikely
that an Elderhosteler would want to walk there between classes.
The first class, "Heroes of West Point" was led by Colonel Cole C.
Kingseed, Professor of History at West Point "Just call me Cole"
was his style. Cole was rare. He made of his knowledge a generous
gift, and of his teaching an art. Author of many articles, book
reviews, books, and most recently, Eisenhower and the Suez Crisis
of l956, he was down to earth and everything a teacher should be;
warm, friendly, free with his time and effort. He took us to a
higher level of intellectual understanding. Cole had deep insight
into American and World History. Many handouts and magazines
supplemented his teaching. This was capped by a wonderful tour of
West Point, which was celebrating its bicentennial. I was lucky to
be his student
Mrs. Marianne Taylor or "Marianne" taught us about "The Iroquois:
The People of the Long House." Not only was she trained in
History, but also just as importantly; she held a Master of
Education. Marianne was a very skilled teacher who knew how to
make a complex subject interesting. This important Native American
group was presented to us with many printouts regarding their
sociological and cultural patterns. When we had a fascinating
field trip to the New York State Museum in Albany, Marianne was
with us for the full day, above and beyond classroom work, guiding
us through various exhibits answering a multitude of questions.
Dr. J. F. Cutter lectured on "Shakespeare's World View." He
included ideas of the universal order, law, and "divine
providence" It was interesting except for the fact that the title
of the course implied a study of Shakespeare. I was surprised to
hear more about the Metaphysics of Aristotle and the philosophy of
Neo-Platonism than the good Bard himself. There was a discourse on
"Order and Chaos" which tried to justify hierarchy as a bulwark
against chaos in the universe. There was an abstract analysis of
Shakespeare's Henry V. It would have been much better to have been
briefed about this beforehand. There were no printouts to guide us
through the complexities of Shakespeare's play, which depicted
English history two hundred years earlier. There was no sense of
historical context. Happily, I studied the Renaissance many years
ago at Columbia with Garrett Mattingly, Pulitzer Prize winner for
his study "The Armada." None of us was prepared with a text of
Henry V, as we were not informed it would be needed. The reading
aloud by fellow students or the lecturer without following the
printed word deprived me of the full flavor of the poetry and the
puns.
For me, the best part of this course was a live performance of
Henry V and a discussion with one of the actresses the next day.
Hint: If you are going to the play at the Boscobel tent theatre,
be sure the coordinator tells you where the facilities are
located, as they are relatively few and the crowd is large. The
play starts exactly on time, and no one is admitted who is late.
Some of the actors emerge from the side aisles. Also, be sure you
know where the school bus is parked for the trip back to the
campus.
Evening activities included two films: The Lawrence Olivier
version of Henry V and Kiss Me Kate, the musical based on The
Taming of the Shrew. Fortuitously, there were two engineers in the
group who were able to extract decent video sound from an
unfamiliar piece of equipment after the coordinator in charge left
us for his home.
Did the positive qualities of this Elderhostel outweigh the
negative ones? What do you think?
Sid Kessler
Your friendly Elderholic
My Elderhostel No. 62
itisalive$A$erols.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Malheur Field Station, Burns, Oregon
Active Outdoor
July 2002
Price:
The cost of this Elderhostel was $100/day each. This is the same
price we recently paid for a 34 day cruise around South American
on the Holland America line (which included air fare to Rio de
Janeiro from San Diego - with 2 nights lodging in the 5 star
Marriott Hotel on Cocacabana Beach)!!!
Room:
We had to furnish sheets and pillow cases (for 2 beds), towels,
wash cloths, soap, waste basket, bottled water, facial tissues.
Our room was quite dirty. There is no "room service," so if a
clean room is required, request a mop and bucket the first day.
No door key was provided to lock the room.
Beds:
Old style, metal hospital type that crank into position. Cranks
were broken. One bed was 3 feet high on wheels; the other was 2
feet high and stationary.
Furniture:
The room was furnished with one broken lounge chair, one very
badly stained straight chair, one wall lamp with a burned out
bulb. We were able to "cannibalize" a vacant room and replaced the
broken chair with a like one; also got a bulb. Rods fell off the
wall when we tried to open the curtains.
Bathrooms:
Bathrooms and showers need a good scrub. Each sink had a plastic
milk jug underneath to catch the leaks. The shower room consisted
of three shower heads on a single wall with no privacy curtains.
Shower "caddies" were not on the wall or nearby. A badly stained
wooden bench was provided in the shower area.
Note:
My husband and I were the only couple. There was one other male.
In order for me to get to the women's bathroom/shower area I had
to pass through the men's bathroom/shower area. I was told by the
Coordinator that if this was not acceptable, I could walk down the
hall, outside and around the building, and pass through the
Community Room to get to the women's bathroom. I ended up using
the men's room during the night. We were able to work this
arrangement out among us.
Relaxation:
Field trips began each day around 7 a.m. and we returned to the
Field Station around 6 p.m. each day. Dinner was scheduled at 6
p.m. There was no time to relax, refresh, socialize before the
meal. No activities were planned after dinner. Except for one
evening when we saw a slide show of birds, geology, flowers. After
10 hours a day on these subjects, I felt we needed a "break." No
radio, music, daily newspaper were provided. The Community Room
was very hot and dirty; furniture legs were broken off - cinder
blocks were used to replace the broken furniture legs. Lighting in
this room was poor and insufficient for reading.
Fans and Blankets:
Provided only on demand. The temperature was over 100 the day we
arrived. We sweltered the first night because the rooms have no
fans. Fans with broken switches were provided only on demand the
second day. This was also the case with blankets. While day time
temps can be 100 plus at Malheur; night time temps can drop to the
low 50s.
RV Space:
Written information from the Field Station before arrival
announced there is an RV "park" on site. On arrival we were told
not to use the first 6 spaces (out of 10) due to a sewage spill
from the laundry (staff use only). Only 50 and 15 amperage is
available. We were not able to use the RV site.
Other:
This Elderhostel is described as "active" in the EH catalog. Daily
activity consisted of climbing into the van and out. Two very
short hikes of approximately less than a mile were scheduled. The
Coordinator was also the registrar, host, bus driver, bird and
geology scientist, and lecturer. I feel it's unreasonable that
the scientist/bus driver was also the hotel manager and host.
Instruction:
Absolutely top notch. Information and presentation on plants,
birds, and geology was excellent.
My evaluation of this experience is honest and I hope was written
without emotion. We are experienced hikers, back packers, and
campers. The Malheur site was described as "rustic" in its
literature. Primitive, perhaps. We are astounded that Elderhostel
would buy into such a situation --- and then sell it back to the
unsuspecting at top dollar.
Sandra Cummings
Prescott, AZ
starrockstudio$A$earthlink.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Geneva Point Center, Center Harbor, New Hampshire
The Plays the Thing
June 9, 2002
This EH is located on a peninsula in the northern end of the
largest lake in NH- Lake Winnipesaukee. The Center is a
conference / retreat center. The location is about a 1 1/2 hr
drive from the Manchester airport which we flew in to. You do
need a car for this program or lets say its very helpful ! they do
pick up at airport in the Centers van .
After picking up our car, we headed east to the ocean and Hampton
Beach for the night and then drove the eastern side of the lake (
stopping along way for lobster rolls in Wolfsboro) on our way to
Geneva Point Center.
The Center is located in a remote, wooded section with a nice
beach on the lake. (It was not open when we were there - no life
guard yet!) The lodging was either in a couple of lodges or
duplex cabins.. Was very adequate. There were smaller facilities
on the "campus" but we had the best lodging that they had. You
could walk to everything.
Note: nice hiking, walking - well marked trails BUT lots of ticks.
Found several in cabin after walking in woods. Need to shake off
shoes, brush off clothes outside after being in wooded areas.
Meals were in original house they called the Inn. Food was
plentiful, but plain. Hot breakfast each day with large bowl of
fresh fruit.
Our classes were in a new building called the "Meeting House"--
very nice, modern and had a stage for our performance- lovely
large room, fireplace in one end-stage in the other.
Day 1 --- -Reception and tour or the Center. Usual
orientation and introductions that evening. Coordinator was Jill
Collins , who did a great job and our instructor was from
Wisconsin -Name JIM OLESEN!! (not our JimO, but what a
coincidence !)
Days 2,3,4 were pretty much the same-class in the AM until lunch
time and we were free in the afternoons. We did encounter some
rain and opted to have extra practices in the afternoons on a
couple of days.
Day 5 -Usual class and practice and then we had our performance
that evening.
Day 6- class in AM then lunch and departure.
Monday was a nice day and they offered different tours of the
area. We went to Squam Lake area - toured lake in boat and saw
where "on Golden Pond" was filmed.
There were 21 persons in our class and 24 in the photography
section. (They were our audience!) We all ate together so was a
large group at meal times .
Evening programs were from the instructors of both sections--slide
shows of the animals, scenery etc, poetry reading from Jim and his
wife and of course our Production of "Spoon River Anthology"
Our script in hand production turned out really good. We each had
several parts due to the nature of the play, a very accomplished
pianist in the group along with what Jim called his "chorus"--we
did a musical / drama that was well received by all that saw it!
Was a really fun week if you like to do theater and no memorizing-
-was all script in hand ! Jim was an excellent teacher -class
never got dull and had full attendance at all sessions . Lovely
location--the weather could have been better, but as we were
inside for most of day, really did not matter !
Note: This was motorcycle week in Meredith and we had to share
the road with 600,000 bikers !
Billie A. Hamm
BAHamm$A$webtv.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Penny Farm, Petaluma, California
Early Christian Controversies
August 5-9, 2002
Silver Penny Farm is in a very relaxed rural setting, but its
programs may promote very intense discussions on both intellectual
and very personal levels. This is an Elderhostel that inspires
people to return. There were many returnees at this session. Our
friends who enticed us to attend this one were there for their
fifth time and enjoying every minute of it.
This site has been reviewed in two previous issues of the EH
Notebook, #55 and #64. There is a limit of 23 participants, 10
double rooms with private baths and three single rooms in the main
house that share a bath. There is no extra charge for the
singles. The setup makes for a very congenial group, very much in
the original Elderhostel philosophy.
Our instructors were Judy and Jeff Siker, who were described in
the #55 review. They gave us a broad view of the origins of the
New Testament and the controversies that existed among Christians
of the first three centuries after Christ. How Christianity was
at first just a small group of people who were active Jews and how
it spread into the world of the gentiles.
Some of the controversies are still alive today. For instance,
was Christ human or divine? People have not changed that much in
two thousand years.
Yes, we recommend this Elderhostel.
Grace Bob McAllester
Rmcallester$A$earthlink.net