OLLI Members Learning and Growing 
aboard the Klamath Ferry

                               Photo by Elaine Porter                             

INSIDE OLLI - 
Information about Who Is Who and 
What Is Going On at Our OLLI Program        

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An Interview with Elaine Porter,
Leader of the Adventure Interest Group
for the OLLI at SF State Program;
Conducted by Barbara Applegate
(Photos by Elaine Porter)​

Elaine Porter

Editor’s Note:  Elaine Porter has been a co- leader of the Adventure Interest Group since 2022. Here is an interview with Elaine where she discusses the purpose and typical activities of the Group. The interview was conducted by Barbara Applegate, a member of the OLLI community since 2019.
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​I asked Elaine how the Adventure Group started, and she told me that Peter Tannen was the initial leader of the OLLI Adventure Group. He organized the monthly Adventures for many years. After the Covid hiatus, Elaine and Ana Linder decided to restart the Adventure Group in September 2022. They invited interested OLLI members to step forward as leaders. The group met on Zoom and it was decided that each leader would select an interesting site and plan a visit for OLLI members and guests. The group meets once or twice a year to decide which sites to visit. Each leader organizes the Adventure by contacting the venue which may be a museum, church/synagogue, historical building, City agency or non-profit, new park, or any other interesting venue. Once the contact is established, the leader works on the logistics of the visit and the final description is then publicized through the weekly OLLI newsletter.

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I asked Elaine what she thought the most popular Adventures had been. The Transamerica Pyramid, she said, was one of the most well attended. It was a special treat as there have been few opportunities for the public to enter the Pyramid and see the spectacular views from as high as the 35th floor.

Another very popular Adventure was China Basin Park. A spokesman for the Giants gave a short history of how the Giants bought and developed the park through partnerships with Mission Rock. The park is a lovely place to visit and has amenities geared for all ages. Afterwards the OLLI group walked to Crane Cove Park which is another new park along the Bay Front shoreline. 

China Basin Park - across from Oracle Park

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​Recently, the group visited the SF Embarcadero Fire Station which is a "floating" fire station specially fabricated in China to withstand sea level rise and natural disasters, responding to water-based emergencies. It was amazing to stand inside the station, underneath the Bay Bridge and feel the water rocking the facility gently back and forth.

The Embarcadero Fire Station - San Francisco

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​We also had a recent, very popular trip to the Exploratorium with 35 members. We visited the museum exhibits, talked with scientists and learned about their current research. 

Visit to S.F. Exploratorium

A Scientist explains what he has been doing.

I then asked Elaine how she had first come to OLLI-SFSU and how she became involved in leading adventures. She stated that after retirement in 2015, she learned about OLLI from her longtime friend and OLLI member David Perper. She started taking one or two classes each session and quickly joined the Hiking and Adventure Interest Groups. Her career was in Parks and Recreation where she worked in national, state parks and municipal recreation departments for over 40 years. This included being a Park Ranger and leading tours on Alcatraz Island in 1983. Her background led her to be naturally called upon to become involved in leading OLLI-SFSU Adventure Tours.

​Elaine, along with Ana Linder, invites all OLLI members to enjoy OLLI-SFSU Adventures which are announced in the weekly OLLI-SFSU newsletter each Friday.

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​​Barbara Applegate received a BA at UC Berkeley, with a major in Spanish, and an MS in Education at CSU, East Bay. As an administrator of Early Childhood Education, she developed a program to teach parents in non-English speaking families the value of helping their children retain the home language while learning English. She is the mother of 3 daughters, a traveler and a contemplative. She loves taking writing classes - not only because she learns from them, but because they give her structure for writing.

Other works in this issue:
Poetry:
​The Collage - A Poem
Hide and Seek

Nonfiction:
Choices

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