News & Updates
We are having a party to celebrate our volunteers on May 2nd. If you are a volunteer or a member, you should have received an invitation via email or regular post. We are collecting RSVPs right now so that we can have a number for the caterer. If you haven’t let us know whether you will attend, please do that now. Thanks you so much – JulieEaster/Passover/Spring Holiday OU Schedule
As many of you already know, there was no OU at First Presbyterian today because it’s Maundy Thursday – classes resume next Thursday, April 20. Our other two locations will also have Easter/Passover/Spring Break closures. Monday, April 17, there will be no OU at St. Luke Lutheran. Monday classes will resume April 24. AND we will not have Lunch and Life at St. Mary Catholic next Wednesday, April 19 – the last lecture of that series will be Wednesday, April 26.
We hope everyone enjoys their Spring Break – Julie
Date and Speaker Switch at St. Mary
Two of the Shepherd’s Center’s most popular speakers are Bill Lohmann, columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Ed Slipek, architectural historian and senior contributing editor of Style Weekly . Because of a family emergency on Wednesday, March 29th, Lohmann will be unable to speak on his assigned date. Ed Slipek, who was scheduled for April 5th at St, Mary, has agreed to switch his date with that of Bill Lohmann. We are pleased that we will keep both men on the schedule, although in a different order! Here, then, is the new schedule:
Wednesday, March 29: Ed Slipek on “Richmond Architectural Gems”
Wednesday, April 5: Bill Lohmann on “On the Road Again: More People, Places and Pie Around Virginia”. Lohmann will bring copies of his books to sell and to sign.
The other two great speakers in the Lunch and Life series: Curtis Monk, president and CEO of Commonwealth Public Broadcasting, and Craig Reynolds, director of the Branch Museum of Architecture and Design, keep their original dates of April 12 and April 26, respectively.
All the excitement takes place at St. Mary Catholic Church, 9505 Gayton Road. Bring a bag lunch at noon. The church will provide beverages and desserts The talks begin at 12:30.
PS – Spring Session begins TODAY! Hope to see everyone – Julie
Spring 2017 Gray Matters Newsletter
The Gray Matters for Spring 2017 is now available on our website and at the link right here. Hope you enjoy!
PS – It says that our Annual Volunteer Celebration is in April, but in fact, it will be in May – Tuesday, May 2, 2017, to be exact. Mark your calendars!
Get your 2017 Spring OU Schedule HERE!!
The Open University 2017 Spring schedule is available by clicking HERE.
The first day of school is March 27th. We are looking forward to a fantastic session and hope to see everyone there!
OU Schedule Change
Tony Pelling will present his talk, Another Great Migration – The Irish Famine as a part of the Special Topics course at the Open University on Monday, February 27 at 9:45 a.m. Hope to see everyone there!
Informal Men’s Group Update
Jim Evans, TSCOR member, has indeed successfully started an informal men’s group that has already met a couple of times. Just older guys who want to have a chance to get together with some other older guys, no agenda in particular, just a discussion group, maybe once a month, time and place TBD. It would be a chance to compare notes, opinions, and life experiences. If anyone is interested in joining these meetings, contact Jim Evans at 754-7765.
And with that being said, are there any women out there that would be interested in starting an informal women’s group?? We need a couple of volunteers to coordinate meetings and TSCOR can help with the time and location. Email me at jadams@TSCOR.org with your thoughts. Thanks so much – Julie
The following is a press release from the Brandylane Publicity Department:
Join Weldon Bradshaw, author of My Dance with Grace, at First Presbyterian Church (4602 Cary Street Rd, Richmond, VA, 23226) on Thursday, February 16 from 12:30-1:15 PM for a talk titled “Gifts: Thoughts of a Transplant Survivor.” This event will be hosted by The Shepherd’s Center (TSCOR) as part of their Open University program. Weldon will be a “Lunch Speaker” and attendees are encouraged to bring a sandwich (coffee and desserts to be provided). Copies of Weldon’s book, My Dance with Grace, will be available for purchase following the talk. This event is free and open to the public.
Late in 2009, Weldon Bradshaw was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, an incurable, autoimmune liver condition. Over the next two and a half years, as the disease progressed slowly and his liver and health deteriorated, his prognosis grew bleak. By November of 2012, his doctor informed him that if he didn’t receive a transplant, he’d be dead within the week. Through it all, Weldon remained steadfast to the promise he’d made his family at the outset of his illness: he would be there to dance at his granddaughter’s wedding. A high school cross country coach and lifelong athlete, Weldon was accustomed to tests of endurance, spirit, and drive. But nothing could have prepared him for this – the race of his life. It would be a race against time, chance, and hopelessness in the face of devastating odds. It would be a race for a miracle.
This event is part of The Shepherd’s Center’s larger series, Open University, which hosts educational lectures and events on a variety of topics. A complete list of the Winter Session events, as well as more information about “Gifts: Thoughts of a Transplant Survivor” (third page of PDF) can be found here.
For those who are interested in continuing adult education, The Shepherd’s Center offers three 8-week sessions, from September through May. Membership is $25 annually, with tuition at $40 for each session for members. You can attend any or all of the individual classes within any session for that one price. You can find more information about The Shepherd’s Center’s Open University Program and becoming a member on the TSCOR website.
Lunch and Life Schedule Update
There will be a change of speakers at our Lunch and Life program at St. Mary Catholic Church on Wednesday, February 1 at noon. Bill Obroctha, Manager of Educational Services at the Virginia Historical Society (VHS), will talk about What’s New at the VHS. He will replace Charles Bryan, former CEO of the VHS.
This program is free and open to the public. Bring a sandwich at noon and get some chips, cookies and other goodies provided by the church, and hear a wonderful speaker at 12:30. Hope to see you there!
OU Schedule Changes
Change of Speaker for Thursday, January 26
The announced speaker (Constance Whitney) for the Open University of the Shepherd’s Center of Richmond has had a family emergency and will not speak on Jan. 26 at First Presbyterian Church. We are so honored to have in her place Nancy Wright Beasley, the acclaimed author of Izzy’s Fire: Finding Humanity in the Holocaust. Ms Beasley will speak to us at 12:30 at First Presbyterian and will have a book signing following. (Cash, checks, or IOU’s will be accepted.) Izzy’s Fire was nominated for a People’s Choice Award by the Virginia State Library and the James River Writers . The son of Izzy, the title hero, is Jay Ipson, who founded Richmond’s Holocaust Museum. She will also have on hand for purchase and signing two other books she has written: The Little Lion: A Hero in the Holocaust and Reflections of a Purple Zebra: Essays of a Different Stripe. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Nancy Beasley. Come and bring your friends.
Change of Instructor
Dr. Reingard Nethersole will be continuing Barbara Felton’s course on American writers in Paris starting Thursday, January 26 at 9:45 a.m.
Reingard was born in Germany, studied in the UK, where she met her husband, and followed him to South Africa. She received a Ph.D. there and taught English literature for many years at a South African University. When her husband, an engineer, was transferred by his company to the U.S., she followed and has taught part-time at the University of Richmond since (and where she presently is teaching two courses). We are very lucky to have her and appreciate her fitting the OU into her busy schedule.
The Shepherd's Center Of Richmond 