Celebration Lifelong Speaker Series – Spring-Summer 2024

Tuesday, February 13, 3:00 – 4:15 p.m.

Join us for a humorous, musical, and inspiring look at aging well. Karen has performed this show multiple times and gets laughs and tears and is always invited back!

Lecturer: Karen McGreer
Karen McGreer has been a Marriage and Family Therapist since 1986 and an RN since 1968. After 30 years of voice lessons, she was inspired to combine her love of singing with her professional experience to create entertaining presentations blending the two.

Tuesday, February 20, 3:00 – 4:15 p.m.

This presentation is designed to empower individuals with disabilities to make the most of their iPhones. We’ll explore a range of features and assistive technologies that can enhance the iPhone experience, including VoiceOver and Screen Readers for hands-free navigation, Braille support and Magnification and Display enhancements, and communicating using Dictation, Type to Siri, and Voice Control. We’ll discuss how to tailor your iPhone experience to specific needs and conclude with Q&A and Troubleshooting. By the end, participants will have the knowledge and skills to leverage their iPhones for communication, navigation, and daily tasks, regardless of their physical or sensory abilities.

Lecturer:  Dennis Kaszynski
Dennis Kaszynski has been a cyber specialist most of his adult life. He has maintained network systems for large organizations, protected them against cyber threats, and programmed financial systems and communications for companies including fidelity investments, state institutions, and military radar and communication systems. His recent qualifications and training include Cisco CCNA certification, military cyber operational specialty, and teaching defensive cyber operations for Eastern Europe countries including Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Macedonia, Croatia, and others.

Tuesday, February 27, 3:00 – 4:15 p.m.

The tax code is an ever-changing body of work. We’ll cover what you should expect this tax season, including any recent changes by Congress. Learn more about common mistakes, overlooked deductions, and strategies. Whether you self-prepare your taxes or seek help from a tax professional, you’ll be ready when tax time comes.

Lecturers: Tom Williams & Iris Palma
Tom Williams, a federally licensed tax practitioner, holds an undergraduate degree in accounting and an Enrolled Agent license, an elite status reflecting the highest designation awarded to individuals for taxes by the IRS. Fewer than five hundred people in the country, including Tom, are non-attorneys admitted to the United States Tax Court.

Iris Palma and Tom Williams co-author a series of tax books and guides for small business owners and individual taxpayers, notably the award-nominated book Deducting The Right Way: Untangling Small Business Accounting & Taxes. With a Juris Doctor and a background in entrepreneurship, Iris brings a unique perspective to their discussions.

Tuesday, March 12, 3:00 – 4:15 p.m.

Nick White will discuss a range of topics including: advantages of riding a recumbent trike; different designs of recumbent trikes; features to understand and notice; assistive options for those with physical limitations; riding safety; and getting started.

Lecturer: Nick White
Nick White, a professional educator, is a lifelong cyclist and non-professional bike mechanic. He’s ridden recumbent bicycles and tricycles for over 20 years. During the pandemic, Nick refurbished and flipped about 75 used recumbent cycles — during the period when there were no supplies in the bike shops.

Tuesday, March 19, 3:00 – 4:15 p.m.

Let’s explore the history of the Edsel automobile — from its promise of glamor, to nearly ruining the Ford Motor Corporation, to becoming a punchline, and eventually to turning into a beloved classic. We’ll also have a tour around a 1958 Edsel Pacer Convertible in Ember Red and Frost White – complete with REAL Chrome! (Mmmmm Chrome!!) It’s a fascinating business story of how things went right, wrong, and had some bad luck thrown in for good measure.

Lecturer: Paul Dunlap
Paul Dunlap has an MA in Film & TV. He’s worked as a Producer, Director, Cameraman, and Editor for PBS, ABC, CBS and as a BBC Corporate Communications Trainer. Paul’s been playing with cars since he was a kid. He owns a 1958 Edsel Pacer Convertible and is a member of The Edsel Owners Club, International Edsel Club, Florida Edsel Club and is currently the VP of the Central Florida Edsel Club.

Tuesday, March 26, 3:00 – 4:15 p.m.

This presentation delves in-depth into that most important relationship–being a parent. How have our ideas about childrearing changed over the centuries? What are the goals of being a parent today? In this wide-ranging provocative talk, Dr. Belsky critically examines the myths we have about parenthood and gives you the real scientific facts. Often surprising, always enlightening, this lecture is designed to give you a whole new perspective on that mysterious human activity that is at the center of adult life.

Lecturer: Janet Belsky
Janet Belsky has a PhD in Psychology from the University of Chicago and has been teaching courses and writing textbooks in human development for the past 40 years. She is the author of Experiencing the Lifespan, now in its sixth edition, a market-leading undergraduate text in the field. She has also written textbooks in child development, aging and adult development and a popular book in gerontology. Dr. Belsky is thrilled to finally share the captivating science of development with such a knowledgeable group – her fellow travelers in life!

Tuesday, April 9, 3:00 – 4:15 p.m.

Hello Dali! as in Salvador Dali! Learn all about the Spanish surrealist artist and his bizarre but technically-skilled artwork, furniture and more! Perhaps it will inspire you to visit his museum in St Petersburg, FL – strange and impressive at the same time! While Audrey tells you all about him, Meryl will paint one of his creations!

Lecturers: Audrey Byllott and Meryl Rachlin

After working for Citibank for 20 years, Audrey Byllott became a Director for MasterCard USA for six years, then joined MasterCard Europe as a consultant for five more years. Her banking career may have nothing to do with American Icons but her love of history and interesting people does! As a Lifelong instructor, Audrey has lectured on 18 American Icons. All of them have museums and/or homes right here in Florida and are worth a visit.

Meryl Rachlin has been an artist for as long as she can remember. Meryl studied Graphic Design at Massachusetts College of Art. She worked on creative technology as part of her corporate career until starting her own mural/decorative painting business in 1995. Meryl also creates unique 3D dog portraits upon commission, managed the Celebration Art & Wine Strolls, and is a member of Celebration Lifelong Steering Committee. Meryl continues to learn new arts and craft mediums to teach at Lifelong.

Tuesday, April 16, 3:00 – 4:15 p.m.

Arlene is delighted to share with you the masterpieces hiding in the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont. Last summer while visiting the museum, Arlene was surprised and delighted to discover a painting which she happens to love — Mary Cassatt’s beautiful pastel painting of Lousine Havemeyer and her daughter, Electra. She was in an Impressionist shock, having discussed in previous courses the relationship between the Havemeyer Family and Mary Cassatt. In the fine arts building, Arlene encountered not only Mary Cassatt but Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet. Join Arlene as we admire and analyze the impressionist paintings that make up this extraordinarily unique collection.

Lecturer: Arlene Sanchez-Busse
Arlene Sánchez-Busse has a BA in Anthropology from the University of Puerto Rico and a JD from the University of Puerto Rico, School of Law. Arlene spent twenty-five years as a practicing attorney in the Courts of Puerto Rico, specializing in family law and children’s rights. She spent ten years teaching English. She studied painting with Andres Bueso, one of the Caribbean’s foremost painters. Arlene has studied the Impressionist Movement for many years and has traveled to museums all over the world to view the masterpieces of Monet, Renoir, Morisot, Degas, Pissarro and Manet. She has also visited many of the sites and towns in France and Europe that inspired their paintings.