By Debra Minor Wilson
FAIRMONT — One day 10 years ago, Geneva Loboda read an article in the newspaper that caught her eye.
There was going to be a meeting at the senior center to discuss some special classes for her generation.
“I went to see what it was,” she said. “I got interested and stuck with it.”
“It” was Lifelong Learners, a program at Fairmont State that offers a smorgasbord of classes to those 55 and over.
“A lot of times there are things you’d like to know more about, but you don’t want to go back to school,” she said.
LLL is designed to provide educational, recreational, volunteer and social opportunities for older adults, and to strengthen the link between
Fairmont State and the community.
The primary purpose is to provide educational opportunities for individuals at least 55 years of age, regardless of the individual’s educational background. Emphasis is on offering abbreviated curricula, enhanced through active participation by course registrants.
Courses may be supplemented by planned social activities, lectures, trips and other events of significant membership interest.
Classes are held in the fall (September, October and November) and the spring (February, March and April).
After paying $50 for a year’s membership, LLL students may take as many classes as they want.
“That’s a pretty good bargain,” she said.
Teachers and presenters are volunteer, and they choose the date and time they want to teach. Classes may meet for just one session or several.
LLL “students” have toured the Tygart Lake Dam and the West Virginia State Penitentiary, and studied a wide variety of subjects from keyboarding to the solar system, West Virginia history, safety, retirement accounts, voice lessons, embroidery and more.
Many LLL members support FSU by attending various activities there and received an ID, which entitles them to many activities.
It will celebrate its 10th anniversary with an open house at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 23, at the FS GEAR-Up Building, 214 Merchant St.
“It really hasn’t changed all that much,” Loboda said. “Now we’re taking 50-year-old members.
“We’ve studied everything from creative writing to how to pamper yourself.
“One lady discussed how life used to be, how things have changed over the years, how we’re doing things now that we never did think we would have. Over the years, we’ve seen lot of things happen, probably moreso than any other generation.
“I worked at Westinghouse Factory as a machine attendant. That was quite controversial at the time.”
Personal finances proved to be a practical and useful subject, she said.
“One woman in that class had never written a check until after her husband died.”
A class on coal mining is unexpectedly popular with the ladies, she said.
“You be surprised how many women come to coal mining classes. It takes you into the mine and shows you what goes on. Few women do that. I know some women who work in the mines, but they’re in the minority.”
Sometimes classes are more interesting than useful.
“Like the classes on beekeeping. It’s not that we want to keep bees, but it’s interesting to know how the process works.”
Whether whimsical, practical or just plain intriguing, these classes are appealing for one reason.
“I think older people are just as inquisitive as when they were when they were teen-agers. We may not go out and mine coal or keep bees, but it’s interesting to know how process works.”
Of all the classes she’s taken over the past 10 years, her favorite has been on creative writing, she said.
“We wrote six articles, and the instructor published them into a booklet for us. I still have the book.
“We’ve been trying to get someone to teach another creative writing class since that, but we’ve not found anybody to do it.”
All the instructors are volunteer, “people who like to teach,” she said.
“They’re usually college professors who come in and enjoy the classes because we’re interested in taking them. We don’t have to take them for credit. We’re taking them because we want to.”
“They offer different perspectives on things,” she said.
The FS Lifelong Learners recently held its annual meeting, electing the following officers: Joann Dawson, president; Mary Urso, secretary; Jim DeLong, treasurer; and Juanita Edge, board.
E-mail Debra Minor Wilson at dwilson@timeswv.com.
