Moderator:  Mike Ash
Registration Fee:  $20
Time:  5 weeks, Monday, 10:00 AM to Noon, October 24 to November 21
Location:  Pine Dale Motor Inn
Format:  Presentations and Discussion

Technological innovation is directly tied to science and scientific research. While Canada has a great education system and directly funds research, our ability to turn this effort into “economic or social value”¹ has recently come into question. Let’s find examples of Canadian ingenuity and inventiveness and talk about them to discover the status of science and innovation in Canada. Can we hold our heads high and claim to be savvy in science and technology?

¹ Conference Board of Canada definition of innovation

Possible Topics to Explore

Moderator:  Karen Bowes-Sewell
Registration Fee:  $20
Time:  5 weeks, Monday, 2:00 to 4:00 PM, October 24 to November 21
Location:  Pine Dale Motor Inn
Format:  Brief Information Gathering, Videos

We depend on our science-based medicine to solve our health problems. And it mostly does a good job. But what did our ancestors use before big pharma? How do shamans in eastern cultures work? Which medicinal and edible plants grow right in our own backyards yet are thrown out as weeds? Why do many alternative health practices consider the mind and spirit in healing while modern western medicine focuses more on the physical body? Join us to rediscover healing perspectives and prescriptions that have been long-lost and yet may still offer promising benefits, and have a look at recent research on some old traditions. To your health!

Here are some possible topics …

♥  Ancient Medicine – Prehistoric, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, or Ayurveda
♥  Hippocrates
♥  Galen
♥  The Four Humours
♥  Medieval Islamic Medicine – Al-Razi
♥  Medieval Pharma – Hildegard von Bingen
♥  Renaissance Medicine
♥  Enlightenment Medicine
♥  Scientific Method
♥  Rise of public health
♥  Development of hospitals
♥  Mental Illness
♥  Traditional Chinese Medicine
♥  Alternative medicine
♥  Complementary medicine
♥  Integrative medicine
♥  Folk remedies
♥  Indigenous medicine
♥  First Nations medicine in Canada
♥  Medicine men and women
♥  Shamans
♥  Edible and medicinal plants
♥  Diana Berseford Kroeger – “The Sweetness of a Simple Life”
♥  Mind and spirit in healing
♥  Jo Marchant – “Cure – A Journey into the Science of Mind Over Body”
♥  Placebo effect as treatment
♥  Relationship between the nervous system and the immune system
♥  Meditation and inflammation
♥  Mind-body medicine: meditation, prayer, art therapy, distance healing, hypnotism
♥  Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction – Jon Kabat-Zinn
♥  Manipulative and body-based practices: massage, osteopathy, somatic practices, chiropractic
♥  Energy therapies: qigong, reiki, therapeutic touch, electromagnetic therapy
♥  Naturopathy
♥  Homeopathy
♥  Reflexology
♥  Bio-feedback
♥  Neurofeedback

Moderator:  Nancy Winters
Registration Fee:  $20
Time:  5 weeks, Monday, 10:00 AM to Noon, January 9  to February 6
Location:  Pine Dale Motor Inn
Format:  Videos and Discussion (no presentations)

Spain has produced some of the most startling and original art ever created.” In his documentary series, Andrew Graham Dixon, one of the world’s leading and most personable art critics, looks at the rich culture of Spain and its surprising edge. He takes us from Moorish art and the Islamic legacy on Spain and Europe to the beginnings of Modernism, and then provides a closer look at Picasso, Dali and Miro to illuminate their roots and influence. Spanish Cubism, Surrealism and even Magic Realism all come into play in Dixon’s fascinating presentation.

Moderator:  Don Santor
Registration Fee:  $20
Time:  5 weeks, Monday, 2:00 to 4:00 PM, January 9  to February 6
Location:  Pine Dale Motor Inn
Format:  Videos and Discussion

Most people think the world is in a mess! Controversial current world events become issues that dominate the news. Headlines in the media are designed to attract our attention and irritate us.  Some even raise our blood pressure!  Some of these issues can be dismissed and ignored, but others impinge on our lives and make us anxious.  Not only do they affect each one of us, but they also affect our families and friends.  Consequently we worry about the future. We cannot remain bystanders, but how do we cope?  What should we do? Through videos and discussion this course will examine a number of controversial public issues selected by the participants. The goal is to probe the underlying causes and work out reasonable responses.

Moderator:  Mike Ash
Registration Fee:  $20
Time:  5 weeks, Monday, 10:00 AM to Noon, February 13 to March 20 (excl. Feb. 20th)
Location:  Pine Dale Motor Inn
Format:  Presentation and Discussion

“The post war years were a golden time in the Canadian economy …”¹  What was it about this time period that made Canada the best place to grow up for the boomer generation? As the immediate fall out of the WWII subsided, everything was upbeat and opportunities for jobs and a better standard of living grew. The cold war was warming up but we had a vision of a brighter and prosperous future for all Canadians, particularly the new generation of youth. Let’s explore this decade (+/- a few years) with a little research and by drawing on our own rich experience to discover the events and conditions that shaped us.

¹CanadaHistory.com

Possible Topics to Explore

Moderator:  Molly Russell
Registration Fee:  $20
Time:  5 weeks, Monday, 2:00 to 4:00 PM, February 13 to March 20 (excl. Feb. 20th)
Location:  Pine Dale Motor Inn

Animals, other than ourselves, have been our constant companions from the beginning of time. They love us, feed, protect, and sometimes still hunt us. Facing a challenging world, we have looked to them in their splendour to help make sense of the mysteries of life. And increasingly, we recognize the breadth of their intelligence, emotional lives, and individuality. Take a walk on the wild side to explore some of our feathered, furry, and scaly friends through their natural history, symbolism, and the roles they have played in our culture, science, cooking, and medicine. Using the “Animal Series” books as a resource, each participant investigates one animal and shares highlights with the group.

Potpourri session are $5 each.

Monday,  April 4,  2:00 PM,  Pinedale Motor Inn

WHAT’S NEXT FOR GRAND BEND?

Speakers: Paul Pittao property developer and assistant Kimberley Kennedy
Cate Molito, Executive Director of the Grand Bend Community Health
and Dave Campbell Executive Director of the Grand Bend Community
Foundation
Moderator: Nancy Winters

Join us and four friends of Grand Bend whose eyes are on the future, to hear and discuss what to look forward to in our own home town.

Monday,  April 11,  2:00 PM,  Pinedale Motor Inn

WHY ORGANIC?

Speaker: Gary Eagleson
Moderator: Bob Kennedy

Local organic farmer Gary Eagleson speaks to the benefits of growing and eating organic, how it is done, and what the future bodes for sustainable farming.

Monday,  April 18,  2:00 PM,  Pinedale Motor Inn

WHAT IF COMMUNITY LIVING CLOSES?

Speaker: Bruce Shaw
Moderator: Roberta Walker

When governments make changes, the communities have to cope with the fallout. Bruce Shaw of Community Living will  describe the challenges in the latest rumblings about our local Community Living and its clients.

Monday,  April 25,  2:00 PM,  Pinedale Motor Inn

WHAT’S UP WITH AGING?

Moderators:  Various members of the PIL Curriculum Committee

There is so much chatter about aging, the wellness issues, the  psychological changes, the cultural surprises, and the relationship challenges.   Its our turn to talk.

We will have a  round table discussion with our Curriculum Committee and see if we can find both the reasons to celebrate and  some shared solace. A lighthearted look what  “senior” means.

Monday,  May 2,  9:30 AM, Departure from Sobey’s parking lot

STEPPING BACK IN TIME

A FIELD TRIP TO THE HISTORIC VILLAGE OF SPARTA

Trip Coordinator: Beckey Jackson
Car Pooling: Shared rides will be organized. Please offer to drive. Please contact Beckey if you can drive.

Join us on  a Spring Day Trip to the historical village of Sparta established in 1813 as a Quaker Settlement .  The village has remained a small settlement with many of it’s early buildings still standing and used for  galleries  museums, shops and lovely quaint homes of significant early Ontario architecture.

Upon arrival in Sparta we will be met at The Forge and Anvil Museum by a member of The Sparta Historical Society for a  tour and brief introduction to the village.

We plan lunch at Sparta House Tea Room and Restaurant, a culinary destination with an emphasis on homemade real English fare.

Our next stop, The Peter Robson Art Studio and Gallery offers acclaimed Robson paintings, prints, cards, etc. for viewing and sale.  Not to be missed by art lovers.  If time allows the Sparta Candles shop built in 1883 and the Village Collective Art studio including Fresh Heritage Herbs sale are highly recommended.

Please contact Beckey to indicate your participation. bandbjackson@hay.net or (519)238-5458.