2018 Seminars
The 3rd Third Seminars are held in Golden, Colorado, although at times they will be held in other parts of Colorado or broadcast from other locations. Come for coffee or tea at 9:45
All seminars will be from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm Free beverages and lunch are provided. Those with dietary restrictions are asked to bring their own lunch.
Thursday
January 18, 2018
Wesley West
Spies, Satellites, and Space
The US Space Program
Wesley West, retired Air Force Colonel and Space industry leader, will guide us through the days of the Cold War when national security relied on satellite-based photo reconnaissance. What steps did the US take to get quality intelligence regarding the Soviet Union once the Iron Curtain went up? How did the 1947 Foreign Affairs article by “Mr. X” (the US Charge d’affaires in Moscow) set the stage for the Truman Doctrine and initiate the Cold War? What gaps did President Eisenhower see in our ability to make intelligence assessments? How did the covert Gary Powers U-2 spy plane incident mandate a space-based solution for our intelligence and protection? We’ll learn more about the CIA/Air Force Corona photo reconnaissance satellite program that was outwardly called Discoverer with the “public mission” of scientific research. And we’ll see recently declassified images from the Gambit and Hexagon satellite reconnaissance programs.
We’ll hear the fascinating history of what went on in our quest for intelligence in the early days of the Space program. We’ll find out about technical challenges encountered in gathering information through space-related devices. And we’ll learn about the evolution of the Space Industry and just how large it is today.
Come join us!
Thursday
February 15, 2018
Nicole Rosmarino
American Serengeti
Reviving the Splendor
of the Great Plains
Huge herds of native grazers with predators hot on their tails on a savannah landscape stretching to the horizon. We’re not talking about Africa, but rather the North American Great Plains, not too long ago. With imagination, Dr. Nicole Rosmarino, director of the Southern Plains Land Trust, will take you on a journey that begins in the 1800s, continues to the present, and holds great promise in the future.
Along the way, you’ll meet wildlife so abundant and spectacular that John James Audubon had to put down his pen because he was just too overwhelmed. Some of these creatures may surprise you – while now associated with western forests, they were once prairie dwellers. There are bright spots and bleak, featuring humans as both antagonists and protagonists. The culmination of this journey is an invitation to re-create the lost world of the American Serengeti.
Among the topics in this seminar are:
• The historic fauna of the Great Plains
• Homesteading on the prairie
• Rough times of the Dust Bowl
• The formation of the National Grasslands
• Attitudes toward nature and wildlife
• Economics and demographics in the Great Plains
• From private lands to national parks
• Prospects for a new American Serengeti
Thursday
March 15, 2018
Nancy Lund
The Creative Switch
Tap into the Creative Part of your Brain
Nancy Lund will take us on a explorative journey to the creative part of our brain. She will introduce us to prompts and functions that will help flip our perception from the analytical to the intuitive. Many have found great productivity and insight in looking at life, and tasks we need to perform, from the intuitive side of our perception. But how can we get there? Some days it seems impossible to make the leap — ask any writer with writer’s block. Is it possible to be able to open the creative gates whenever we need or want to?
Nancy will share some prompts that have been very successful in allowing people to free their minds and cognitive thought from logical baselines that keep us in a rational world. She will introduce ideas using devices from our play as children. And remember how creative we were before someone told us we weren’t good at something? Ah, but the creativity is still there. Let it out again.
Come join us and open up your doorway to the creative part of your mind. Dress comfortably. We will be using glue sticks.
Thursday
April 19, 2018
Cheryl Martin
Diplomacy
Work that Impacts the World
"If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition ultimately. So I think it’s a cost-benefit ratio. The more that we put into the State Department’s diplomacy, hopefully the less we have to put into a military budget as we deal with the outcome of an apparent American withdrawal from the international scene.”
— General James Mattis, March 2013
The U.S. Department of State fields personnel in over 270 embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions throughout the world, as well as in Washington D.C., New York City, and passport agencies throughout the United States. It is staffed by Foreign Service officers, Civil Service employees, and security, information technology and other specialists, as well as political appointees. All share common missions, including to represent, explain and advance the interests of the United States, to promote the peaceful resolution of disputes, and to protect and assist American citizens when abroad.
Joining the Foreign Service is to sign on to a career, not a job: the richness and the variety of the work are sometimes balanced by a degree of sacrifice and even danger — some of the same challenges faced by military personnel.
This is one officer’s story of how Cheryl Martin got into the Foreign Service, how she was trained, the kinds of work she did — and some memorable moments from a career that lasted a quarter century.
Thursday
May 24, 2018
Judy Volc
The 20 Best Children's Books Ever
What Makes a Children's Classic?
Children’s Book expert and former librarian Judy Volc will present what she considers to be the 20 Best Children’s Books Ever. When you read 1,100 to 1,500 children’s books a year, like Judy did for nearly 50 years as a children’s librarian, you can tell if a book will connect with kids.
Sought after as an expert on children’s literature, Judy has taught classes at universities and colleges throughout the country. She was appointed to serve on the Newbery committee—the prestigious award that goes to the very best children’s book authors every year. Judy has spoken annually at the CU Children’s Literature Conference and also at numerous reading and children’s literature conferences around the country including International Reading Assn. (IRA), National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), National Assn. for Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).
Good Night Moon, Treasure Island, Winnie the Pooh, Wind in the Willows, Lord of the Rings, which of the children’s classics on each of our own personal lists will make the top 20? We’ll just have to come and see.
Thursday
June 21, 2018
Jonny Barber
The Colfax Museum
Celebrating the Longest Main Street in America
Jonny Barber, the colorful curator of The Colfax Museum, started a website about America’s Longest Main Street fourteen years ago with his wife Anistacia. It became apparent that they needed a home for their impressive gathering of Colfax history where natives and tourists alike could come and visit a collection dedicated to Colorado characters and citizens that called Colfax home.
There is a good deal of history on the walls and even more resides between the ears of Jonny Barber who is very knowledgable about the history of the street, how it got its name, stories about Denver notables such as actor Douglas Fairbanks, Hattie McDaniel (who won an Oscar for playing Mammy in Gone with the Wind), Jack Kerouac of the Beat Generation, Alan Berg (controversial talk radio host who was murdered at his home just a block south of Colfax), Sid King (the “Sultan of Striptease” and his Crazy Horse Bar), ex-boxer Eddie Bohn and his Pig and Whistle restaurant (that was a popular hang out for prominent athletes, politicians and those who loved a good steak for sixty-five years), and many more.
If you like history and a good story, you will not be disappointed. Come hear Jonny talk about these places and more and you will want to open your own museum.
Thursday
July 19, 2018
Jeff Blumenfeld
Adventures and Voluntourism
Traveling With Purpose
Jeff Blumenfeld, adventure marketer and Fellow of the Explorers Club, will talk about adding adventure to our lives. Yes, even in the 3rd third of our life. Instead of a typical vacation, many travelers want to explore the world and do good at the same time. Voluntourism is a mix of both travel and volunteering. No specialized skills are needed, just plenty of sweat and the desire to see the world and leave it a better place. You don’t have to be wealthy to travel to foreign lands to volunteer; you may not even have to go to foreign lands, as the opportunity may exist within your own state. Jeff will talk about how any of us can do this and will share stories of inspiration from everyday people, both recipients of volunteer work and the volunteers themselves.
We will learn how to raise funds for our own adventures. Through adventure marketing, Jeff has connected explorers and their projects with corporate sponsors looking to demonstrate product performance in extreme conditions.
Jeff will also share about his trip to Nepal with a group of eye doctors helping to end blindness in a remote region in the Himalayas and of his travels to Antarctica. Come join us!
Thursday
August 16, 2018
Meg Froelich
Strong Sisters
Elected Women in Colorado
In 1893 Colorado gave women the right to vote, the first time in history that women’s suffrage was granted through a popular vote. The very next year voters sent three women to the state House of Representatives. They were the first women elected to any state legislative body in the world. And in recent years, Colorado has led the nation in percentage of women serving in the state legislature.
The elected women of Colorado were at the forefront of some of the most important historical events of the Twentieth Century, from serving as a model for the national suffrage movement to advocating, protesting and legislating on workers’ and women’s rights. But Colorado has yet to elect a female Governor, U. S. Senator, or Mayor of Denver.
Meg Froelich will show and discuss the film Strong Sisters: Elected Women in Colorado that she wrote, directed and produced with Laura Hoeppner. The film tells the extraordinary story of elected women in our state through a compilation of oral histories from past and current female elected officials. The film also features journalists, experts on women’s history, western history and gender politics.
Thursday
September 20, 2018
Eileen Sharkey
Personal Finance in the 21st Century
Are We Ready for a Changing World?
Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister in the time of Queen Victoria once said “Change is inevitable. Change is constant.” And change seems to be quite evident in the financial world today with the recent overhaul of the US tax system, talks of tariffs, and daily gains and losses on the US Stock Exchange. One wonders “how will this impact my savings, my investments, my plans for the future?” Add to that the roadblocks that may arise in our personal health as we grow older like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s Disease or others that may require additional care and perhaps a financial trust or other considerations. Having a plan in place before the need arises will serve us well.
Eileen Sharkey will discuss these issues and take the panic out of the conservation. Her presentation will give us many practical tools. She is well versed in the world of finance both in the US and on a global scale. And she has the ability to make complex financial information easy to understand as she is a regular presenter of financial workshops and educational seminars.
Thursday
October 18, 2018
Andrew Romanoff
Mental Health and Homelessness
Is There a Connection?
Andrew Romanoff is President and CEO of Mental Health Colorado, the state’s leading advocate for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health and substance use disorders. For thousands of Coloradans who are impacted by these disorders, a shortage of therapeutic services has resulted in incarceration, homelessness, or suicide.
The first signs of mental illness typically appear during adolescence. By promoting mental wellness and early detection, more serious problems can be prevented later in life.
Mental Health Colorado advocates for the more than one million Coloradans who experience these disorders each year by engaging policy makers, providers, the public, and the press to promote early intervention, expand access to affordable services, and eradicate stigma and discrimination. Their efforts range from the Capitol to the classroom.
Come join us for a very interesting seminar.
Thursday
November 15, 2018
Bob Baron
The Light Shines from the West
American Western History
Much of world history is written east to west – from Greece to Rome to France and England, then across the ocean to New England, and then quickly over the plans and mountains to the Promised Land of Southern California. The lands in between are merely footnotes in this northeastern view of American history. The reason for this eastern perspective is in part because the sliver of America between Massachusetts and Virginia has been home to many historians. Western History, like Women’s History, was viewed by many of those historians to be less important than Colonial History or Civil War History. And publishers located in Manhattan and Boston generally assumed that nothing of importance occurred beyond the Alleghenies.
Bob will discuss how there has been a westward shift of political and economic power in the twentieth century. For the last one hundred years the American West has been the area of growth for the country in ideas, innovation and the American story. Why have women had a greater role in the West in suffrage, in medicine, in education and in leadership? Why have so many political ideas originated in the West? What is special about the history and geography of the West, its people and character?
To register call: direct 303-928-8220, or 303-277-1623, ext 220, or register via email here. You will receive a confirmation.
Missed a seminar? Let us know. If there is enough interest, we will hold the seminar again. Email your request to Seminar Repeat / Ideas.