August 13, 2009

Learning in Retirement fall programs planned

by Ashley McRaven

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois Learning in Retirement Program from the Division of Continuing Education at Southern Illinois University Carbondale offers older learners the opportunity to participate in a variety of day trips and classes this fall.

The Southern Illinois Learning in Retirement (SILIR) program will travel to Golconda, Cave-In-Rock and Elizabethtown Oct. 1 for a “Boating, Fish, Fluorite and Chocolate River Trip.” The all-day trip costs $40 and registrations are due by Sept. 25.

A tour of the Bison Bluff Farm in Cobden followed by lunch at Rustle Hill Winery is set for Oct. 23. The $25 registration fee includes the tour, lunch and transportation. The registration deadline is Oct. 19.

There are two five-week sessions of fall courses for SILIR too. The sessions begin Sept. 14 and Oct. 19. Course listings for the first session include: “Play Reading with Chris Moe,” “Treasures of the Louvre,” “Memoirs I,” “Churchill” and “Afternoon at the Movies.” The second session features “”Crossing the Great Plains: Past and Present,” “Ancient and Colonial Peru,” “Law Enforcement,” Memoirs II” and “Watercolor Painting Class.” Classes meet on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays and registration fees range from $10 to $30 per class.

Monthly meetings of SILIR are set for Aug. 19, Sept. 16, Oct. 21 and Nov. 18. All meetings are the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center at 150 E. Pleasant Hill Road in Carbondale. Each begins with coffee and social hour at 9:30 a.m. followed by the meeting and program at 10:30 a.m. The monthly meetings are open to the public.

The $25 annual SILIR membership fee allows members to enroll in SILIR-sponsored courses and participate in a variety of other special events and social activities as well as attending monthly meetings that are pen to the public.

For more information or to register, contact the Division of Continuing Education at 618/536-7751 or write to: Learning in Retirement, Division of Continuing Education, Mail Code 6705, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901.