2 The RAPS Sheet November 2021 CO-PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Expand your social connections through RAPS A FEW WEEKS AGO, Charlie and Dawn White and I had lunch with Bill and Genna Lemman in McMinnville, near their home. It was a delightful meeting of longtime friends. Bill was a student at Vanport and one of the early administrators at Portland State, and Charlie was one of the early faculty members. That visit got me thinking about the many connections PSU employees make with fellow faculty, administrators, and students. We meet each other through committees, Faculty Senate, departments, experiences like ad hoc basketball games, through loose-knit organizations such as the Ferdinand Society, or at social, musical, or athletic events. In my early years at Portland State, faculty and staff often lunched together in the Portland Room on the second floor of Smith Center, where a buffet was served in a casual atmosphere and gathering space. Many faculty and staff wished for an official Faculty Center, but alas, that was not to be, and the Portland Room is long gone. Now we have RAPS, an organization for retired faculty and staff, that fills many of those needs for connection, lifelong learning, and social time together. It’s time for you to think about getting your favorite colleagues involved in RAPS so we can expand the connections. The Membership Committee wants to be sure you know you can invite nonmembers to meetings, to give them a taste of our organization. In other words, bring a friend! Connect! —Pat Squire RAPS fills many of those needs for connection, lifelong learning, and social time. Upcoming RAPS events DECEMBER Thursday, December 9 Annual Holiday Party, Augustana Lutheran Church, NE Portland. JANUARY Thursday, January 20 “What Happened in Afghanistan?” presentation by Grant Farr, professor emeritus of sociology. Room TBA. FEBRUARY Thursday, February 17 “The Inside Story on Who First Planted Pinot Noir in Oregon. It Might Not Be Who You Think,” presentation by Michael Alberty, wine writer for The Oregonian. Room TBA. MARCH Thursday, March 17 Annual March Potluck and spring opera preview with PSU opera program director Harry Baechtel and student performers. After a delay of two years, PSU Opera is mounting the previously planned production of Merry Wives of Windsor, an operetta in three acts by Otto Nicolai.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz