CSB hosts annual summer Elderhostel program

03/20/2007

Find out about Abraham Lincoln, Russia and the women of the Bible and early Benedictine prioresses during the 30^th annual Elderhostel program June 3-8 at the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph.

Elderhostel is an international program for adults ages 55 and older. A younger person may come as a companion to an older person attending the program.

The Elderhostel at CSB program begins with a dinner at 5 p.m. June 3 at O’Connell’s, Haehn Campus Center. Participants have the option of living on campus or commuting, and attend three 70-minute classes each day at Margretta Hall. The event closes with a lunch at 12:30 p.m. June 8.

The classes are:

• “The Genius of Abraham Lincoln,” taught by College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University associate professor of education Art Spring and his wife, Rosamond. The Springs will share things people don’t know about the great American president.
• “Russia: A World of Vastness, Splendor, Greatness and Survival,” taught by Alla Melnichuk Swenson and Mary Alice Keenan. Swenson, a native of the Ukraine, and Keenan will speak on a country made unique by its contrasts in people, physical features, and in the learning and living environments that are signs of hope and peace. Participants will also have the opportunity to learn how to decorate Ukrainian eggs and prepare borsh, a favorite Russian cuisine.
• “Women of the Bible and Early Benedictine Prioresses,” taught by S. Ephrem Hollermann, OSB, former prioress of Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph. Using the insights of recent scholarship, participants will be re-introduced to selected women of the Bible as they illustrate and reflect challenges similar to those faced by the early prioresses of Saint Benedict’s Monastery beginning in 1857.

From June 4-7, evening sessions will be held. They include:

• June 4, a bus excursion to the Clemens Rose Garden and Munsinger Park flower gardens, located next to the Mississippi River in St. Cloud;
• June 5, tour a commercial mushroom farm located near St. Joseph;
• June 6, a talk by Richard Bohr, professor of history and chair of the Asian studies department at CSB/SJU, on “America, China and India: The Mighty Trio of the Asian Century” at Alumnae Hall, HCC.
• June 7, a banquet at O’Connell’s followed by a talk by Rosamond Spring on her grandparents, poet Joyce Kilmer and his wife, Aline.

The fee for the program is $538 per person for a double room; $588 for a single room; or $428 to commute daily.

Registration is made through Elderhostel, Inc. in Boston. The program number is 14881. You can register by mail (Elderhostel, Inc., 11 Ave. de Lafayette, Boston, Mass., 02111-2166), by fax (1-877-426-2166) or by phone (1-877-426-8056).

For questions, please contact S. Lois Wedl, OSB, director of Elderhostel at CSB, by phone at 320-363-5209, or by e-mail at lwedl@csbsju.edu.