Bill Guthrie
Gopa Khandwala
Larry Mansier‘Explorations’ offers continued education for Hopewell seniors When Larry and Madeleine Mansier took a class at the Princeton Senior Resource Center’s Evergreen Forum in 2008 and loved it, they wondered why such classes, intended for seniors like themselves, weren’t available in the Hopewell Valley. They enjoyed it so much, they decided to start a similar program in the Hopewell Valley. They met with other members of their church, Pennington Presbyterian Church, who also liked the idea. And with that, the program called Explorations was born. Princeton’s Evergreen Forum is a volunteer organization with the mission of providing “stimulating daytime study and discussion programs for adults and encouraging active participation for those who enjoy learning for its own sake.” Explorations, which is underwritten by the Hopewell Valley Senior Foundation and sponsored by
Hopewell Valley Senior Services
, has a similar aim. Courses take place one day a week for four to six weeks, depending on the course. They are taught by local instructors who are recognized as experts in their fields, and they are open to residents of the Hopewell Valley and neighboring communities. The spring 2014 semester, set to begin April 14, will feature five classes. Among the classes is Mansier’s “Enjoying Shakespeare,” which the former Princeton High School English teacher has been giving since Explorations’ inception in 2009. Other classes on the schedule will be Bill Guthrie’s “Stories and Theories About the Universe,” Ian Burrow’s “Vikings and Saxons and Celts, Oh My!”, Bill Alford’s “Communal Singing” and Gopa Khandwala’s “Introduction to Indian Cuisine,” which will feature cooking as well as history. Classes this semester will take place at the Pennington Methodist Church, the Pennington Presbyterian Church and the Hopewell Valley Senior Center. Class sizes tend to vary from course to course and semester to semester. In the fall, classes had between 7 and 18 students. Mansier expects this semester will be about the same. The cost is $40 per student for one class (up from $30), plus $20 for each additional class a student attends that semester. Fees go to the Hopewell Valley Senior Foundation to pay for administrative costs, class materials and classroom space. Mansier said many students take one or two courses at a time, though one person last year attended all five. “Word of mouth is very good for us,” Mansier said. “People who’ve taken classes say ‘These are really good, I can’t wait for the next one.’ We’ve got people coming back and looking forward to what’s coming on. They know that if they go to something, it’s going to be good.” The Senior Foundation, which underwrites Explorations, was begun around the same time by a group of seven people who wanted to fix up the senior center “as best we could,” Mansier said. They got grants to fix the place up, putting in a handicapped-accessible toilet, new shades, Wi-fi and new computers. The hope has long been that Hopewell Valley seniors would get a new senior center, and members of the Senior Advisory Board toured a facility on Scotch Road in December 2013 that might at last fit the bill, though the building is in need of renovation. A Mercer County grant of $1.5 million, if it could be secured, might help make the transition a reality. Mansier has lived in Hopewell Township since 1971. The retired Princeton High School English teacher chairs Hopewell Valley’s Senior Advisory Board, and is one of the founders of the Senior Foundation. Mansier has been steady with his Shakespeare offerings, but the other classes available to the community frequently change. Early on there were classes on genealogy, architecture and women’s studies. In fall 2013, classes included Mary Ferri’s class on Homer’s Iliad, Stanley Saperstein’s on the American Civil War, and Jack Abrams’ “Great American Song Program.” Guthrie also taught a class last year on New Jersey’s Lenape Indians. Guthrie is a long-time educator who has lived in Hopewell since 1961. He is married to wife Evelyn. He’s taught high school and college, and says teaching seniors is not really that different from teaching any other age group. “I’ve always found that if you hit on something that interests students, regardless of their age, they will hang in there and get excited about it,” he said. “I’m really excited about teaching people who are older because they bring so many experiences to class. But really, people do regardless of their age.” Though Mansier has taught Shakespeare from the beginning, health issues have occasionally interrupted the flow of his instruction. Shakespeare is credited with having written around 38 plays, and by the end of this spring, Mansier will have taught 24 of them. On the syllabus for the spring are All’s Well That Ends Well, Richard II and Cymbeline. Asked to assess the difference between classes full of seniors and those he taught at Princeton High School, Mansier laughed. “I was very fortunate at Princeton High, most classes were fairly alive,” he said. “These classes are I would say alive in their own way. When the plays really turn us on, we get into long discussions of it — the problems at center of the play, that sort of thing. They bring experience the kids didn’t have. They’re not looking for an exam.” Registration for classes is open through April 7, with classes scheduled to start April 14. “Stories and Theories About the Universe” is set for Pennington United Methodist Church, 60 S. Main St., Mondays at 1 p.m. “Enjoying Shakespeare” is set for the Pennington Presbyterian Church, 13 S. Main St., Tuesdays at 1 p.m. “Communal Singing” classes are expected to take place Thursdays at 1 p.m., also at the Presbyterian Church, while “Vikings and Saxons and Celts, Oh My!” and the Indian cuisine class are both scheduled to take place at the Hopewell Valley Senior Center, 395 Reading St. in Pennington. Burrow’s dark ages class will take place Tuesdays at 4:30 p.m., while Khandwala’s class will take place Thursdays at 4 p.m. Interested parties can register for classes by sending checks payable to the Hopewell Valley Senior Foundation to Rodney Newman, Treasurer, PO Box 132, Pennington NJ, 08534-0132. Applications are all processed on April 7, and if necessary lotteries will determine members of courses that are oversubscribed. (Hopewell Valley seniors are given preference.) For more information call (609) 737-0863.
