Louise Grabell, Punch Howarth, and Linda Griffin
Ken Marich
At this year’s annual reception, the Institute for Learning in Retirement (ILR) celebrated 15 years of providing quality education for the residents of SaddleBrooke. In addition, the reception gave recognition to all of the instructors that have made the ILR a real asset to our community. The ILR was founded in 2005 by Dr. Joel Waldstreicher and the first courses were started in 2006. After Joel’s passing in 2015, Dr. Byron Cotter was elected the president of the ILR. Under Dr. Cotter’s leadership, the ILR has grown significantly from 800 to over 1500 lifetime members and has a voluntary 12-member board of directors.
In 2006, there were 12 courses offered per year. Today, the ILR offers over 34 courses per year to SaddleBrooke residents. The ILR now has over 50 well qualified instructors who are willing to share their knowledge and expertise with our community. At this year’s event, special recognition was given to three instructors, Linda Griffin, Louise Grabell, and Punch Howarth, who have each taught over 15 courses in their tenure with the ILR.
Instructors are the life-blood of the ILR and we are always looking for new folk. We welcome any SaddleBrooke resident to attend or teach an ILR course. It’s easy to get started; email Chairman of the Curriculum Development Committee Mel Durchslag at [email protected]. For more general info on ILR, go to sbilr.org.