Membership allows you to submit your art to the Gold LEAF Art Show coming up in June! (Once you are a member you can submit your work here: https://goldleafinstitute.weebly.com/course-proposal-form.html

The Gold LEAF Institute Senior College at UMF membership runs by semester. The current semester runs from February 26 through June 17 of 2022. Dues are $12 per semester.

Membership in Gold LEAF or another senior college is required to participate in Gold LEAF classes.

Click here to see member benefits.

Dues are tax deductible as charitable contributions to a qualified educational organization if the member uses the itemized deduction method on a tax return. Gold LEAF's educational function is part of a State-supported university which has IRS section 503(c) exempt status.

In-Person Class

Participants will meet about once a month for lunch or dinner at different restaurants in the Farmington area. Reservations will need to be firm one week prior to the date. Participants will order from the standard menu and receive separate checks.

Thursdays:

March 3 at 11:30

April 7 at 11:30

May 5 at 11:30

June 2 at 5:00pm for dinner

Patricia is a member of Gold LEAF who moved to Farmington 2 1/2 years ago to be near her daughter who is a professor at UMF. She came from Albuquerque, NM, where she had lived for 26 years. She is retired from teaching high school math, working in hotel management and other occupations because of moving a lot {including NACA (now NASA) and tending bar}. She has lived in 18 states and obviously enjoys eating out.

Online Discussion Group

This is a discussion group held on the first and third Fridays of each month covering local, national, and world news. The discussion provides an opportunity to share your observations and opinions on the news and to learn from the other participants. Articles of interest are distributed among the group by email in the week prior to each meeting, and topics to discuss are selected by the group at the beginning of each meeting.

Paul Mullin is facilitator for this discussion group.

March 4 & 18

April 1 & 15

May 6 & 20

June 3 & 17

Online Class

The Book Discussion Group continues a long Gold LEAF tradition and will meet four times during the Spring Term to discuss works of fiction and non-fiction.  Our sessions are open and casual, but also stimulating and informative - we learn from each other.

The group meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the month.

March 8:  The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery

April 12:  The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

May 10: Mill Town by Kerri Arsenault

June 14: An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo

Mary Viruleg is a retired educator and an avid and eclectic reader. She has participated in the GLI book group for over fifteen years and thoroughly enjoys the enthusiastic interplay of ideas and opinions.

ONLINE CLASS

Please join us for a monthly zoom get-together for coffee, conversation, and crafts.  Settle in with your favorite craft, bring your coffee, tea or beverage and visit with Gold LEAF friends.  Crafts are not essential, and guys are welcome! The goal is to get together and spend an hour or more talking with friends.

2nd Wednesday of the month

• March 9
• April 13
• May 11
• June 8

Online Class

This will be an overview of spiders; their kinds and behaviors; myths, fallacies, and facts about their bites; and some of the spiders you're likely to see in Maine, the Northeast, and Maritime provinces. The class experience will be greatly enhanced by acquiring a copy of A Backyard Book of Spiders in Maine available from North Country Press as well as local and online book sellers.

Dana Wilde is the author of A Backyard Book of Spiders in Maine; Winter: Notes and Numina from the Maine Woods, and the “Backyard Naturalist” and “Off Radar” columns of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. He earned his PhD, MA Binghamton University; BA University of Southern Maine.

In-Person Class

Learn how to assess the condition of a book, determine when and how to make minor repairs, and care for your books to keep them healthy and happy for many years. We will use damaged books to practice making different kinds of basic repairs.

Laurie is the Head of Reference Services at Mantor Library, University of Maine at Farmington. She does book repair for the library and Spenciner Center. She has studied book arts for more than a decade and regularly teaches book arts to UMF students. She enjoys drawing, lettering, and creating her own books. She also sometimes recycles old books that have been discarded from libraries into coptic journals and other books.

There is a fee of $3 for erasers, book repair tape, book glue (PVA), waxed paper, wooden skewers, and paper towels to be paid to the presenter at the class.

In-Person Class

All of us store memories in objects that have become special to us over the years. Your grandmother’s thimble. Your father’s jackknife. Your aunt’s shawl. That gift from your best friend. The rock you brought home from Scotland. And all of us have stories to tell about these belongings. Come share your stories—and poems! Folklorist Peggy Yocom will help you find even more meaning in your treasured objects of memory—for fun and for your writing and storytelling.

Folklorist, storyteller, and poet Margaret “Peggy” Yocom has taught about objects of memory and personal stories throughout her 36 years at George Mason University, and beyond. A resident of Farmington and Rangeley, she invites you to see her publications and more at http://margaretyocom.com.