Sara Swanson

Adult Learners Institute announces another October 2025 class and a reminder about Bob Hope

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page

submitted by Mary Spaan, Adult Learners Institute, ALI Publicity; and Joan Gaughan

ALI Michigan continues its Fall 2025 term with adult learners’ classes in the 5HealthyTowns area of Chelsea, Dexter, Grass Lake, Manchester, and Stockbridge. We now have a schedule and location change for a class originally scheduled for November.

Do you want to beautify your yard and protect our water resources at the same time? Come to Design Your Own Rain Garden — Step by Step, presented by Master Gardener Susan Bryan. You will take a photo tour of rain gardens and learn about their benefits and how to build and plant one, using only a yard, a spade, compost, and some plants. This In-Person class will be held in two Wednesday sessions, on October 15 and 22, at the Chelsea State Bank (Downtown Office). Note: This is a both a schedule and location change from November. 

Online registration is available through ALI Michigan’s website, www.alimichigan.org. There you will find complete class information and can register and make payment for classes. For further information, email info@alimichigan.org or write to ALI Michigan, PO Box 134, Chelsea, MI 48118.

In addition, here is a reminder of the upcoming ALI class in Manchester. …

In his ALI class at the Manchester District Library on Monday, October 20, John Hauger will delight us with stories from Bob Hope’s amazing 70 years as an entertainer. If you have taken Mr. Hauger’s other classes, such as those centered on the Chicago and St. Louis World Fairs, you are aware that he is as entertaining as the entertainers he talks about. And wonderfully informative.

Hauger states, “Bob Hope could dance … but not very well. And he could act … but only if he acted himself. He could golf … but he was no Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus. What he could do very well, however, is poke gentle fun at the world around us.

“A bank, he said, was a place that will lend you money if you can prove you don’t need it. And he reminded those of us who are getting a bit seasoned that ‘You know you’re getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.’ A friend of several presidents, he observed that he liked a president who told jokes instead of one who appointed them. And he was pretty sure that ‘if you haven’t got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.’

“But that gentle humor was not all there was to Hope. We do remember the many trips he took to entertain troops overseas, but many of us may not know that he was also a successful vaudeville and Broadway figure.”

Registering for ALI classes is as easy as buying something on Amazon. You simply go to the ALI website, “alimichigan.org,” and there it is! The fee is $20. Or you can simply show up at the Village Room a little before 1pm that Monday, looking mournful and in need of cheer, and a helpful class assistant will take your $20 and invite you to take a seat.

For as little as $1 a month, you can keep Manchester-focused news coverage alive.
Become a patron at Patreon!

Become a Monthly Patron!

You must be logged in to post a comment Login