A Special Section Focusing on Senior Lifestyles
MATURELifestyles Travel
November 2014
U of M’s Lifelong Learning Institute gave Crystal woman a new life BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Marguerite Harbison and her late husband did lots of traveling, and enjoyed it. England and Scotland, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Alaska were a few of their destinations. When Harbison, a retired nurse who lives in Crystal, was widowed, she discovered the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Minnesota, which, she said, “gave me a life after my husband died.” OLLI is a 19-year-old non-profit organization run by volunteers that is affiliated with the university’s College of Continuing Education. It offers courses led by retired professors and other experts that are conducted throughout the metro area, field trips that prove hands-on learning, special interest groups based on activities, and annual social events. And it also has offered travel opportunities based on OLLI courses.
“I joined OLLI the first year it began,” Harbison said. “With OLLI, I have gone to Mexico, Costa Rica, the Canadian Rockies, Nova Scotia and the Baltics. I’ve always enjoyed traveling. I have different likes than some people. I like museums.” She doesn’t have one particular favorite destination, although she particularly enjoyed Barcelona and St. Petersburg, and she says she loved Costa Rica. Her only destinations in Europe were Rome and London. In recent years, Harbison has traveled with her daughter, Carol, to Ireland and also on a train trip across the Canadian Rockies. On their latest trip, the two flew to Las Vegas, enjoyed an airplane ride up the Grand Canyon and a river cruise. “It was wonderful,” Harbison said. She has distinct memories from her travels. “I ate worms in Australia,” she said. “We sat around a campfire and HARBISON - TO PAGE 3
Marguerite Harbison is pictured at the Hill of Crosses on the road to Riga, Latvia from Vilnius, Lithuania. (Submitted photo)