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FELS membership surpassed 200 during this, our third year. The study groups had over 400 participants. Feedback was universally positive and attendance remained strong throughout the six sessions. The Board is working with the Stockton Foundation to select this year’s scholarship winners. The awards are determined by the Stockton Presidential appointed Scholarship Committee. They will be students working in the field of education. All candidates must have good grades, do community service, demonstrate leadership qualities and have a desire to work to encourage a love of life-long learning in their future endeavors. We hope to announce the winners’ names at our Spring Luncheon in June. In addition, FELS will be adding to its endowment scholarship. We are proud of the contributions of our membership to the students of Stockton. 

Our Study Groups continued to shine. New groups this year included Genealogy, Music in Our Lives, Comparative Belief Systems, Law & Morality, Thematic Approach to Literature, Modern Israeli Literature and the Playreaders’ Theater.We had sixteen groups that encompassed a wide range of interests and fostered lively discussions. 

Our sponsorship of programming continued to attract an audience. The Sunday afternoon concert featuring the Doug Murdock Meistersingers at the JCC had over 140 in attendance. The 90-minute program featured Italian opera and Italian songs with solos, duets and ensemble pieces. The singers were an enthusiastic group whose beautiful music filled the auditorium and enthralled the listeners. A good time was had by all.

Coming Attractions, 2011-2012

FELS 2011 Spring Luncheon will be held on Wednesday June 8 at 11:45a.m. at the Linwood Country Club. Our guest speaker will be Dr. Herman Saatkamp, President Richard Stockton College. Dr. Saatkamp’s topic will be “Stockton: From the Mayflower to the Seaview.” Presently, he is overseeing 60 building projects at Stockton. He will share details of these exciting projects and what they will mean to the community.

Dr. Saatkamp completed his undergraduate work at Carson-Newman College in 1964 and the Southern Theological Seminary in 1967 and received his M.A. from Vanderbilt University in 1970. He became president of Stockton College of New Jersey in 2003 following five years as Dean of Liberal Arts at Indiana University. He has held professorships in Philosophy, Medical, and Molecular Genetics, American Studies, and Philanthropic Studies. Look for your flyer invitation to this exciting event.

Our programming team has put together an amazing theater package that includes transportation in comfort, an early 3-course dinner at Estia Restaurant and a 6:30 p.m. showing of “Next To Normal” at the Academy of Music. This musical won three Tony Awards in 2009 including Best Score. It was selected as one of the year’s ten best shows by major critics across the country. Tickets are $120/person for the entire package.

We hope that you will take advantage of this deal and join us for a wonderful afternoon and evening in Philadelphia. Call Esther Steele (609-348-8722) to check for package availability.

We are currently in discussion with the Margate Library and the Bloom Pavillion Senior Programs to sponsor joint programming for this summer. We will keep you posted on our progress.

FELS will be mailing out our 2011-12 membership applications in late June. Annual membership is still $35. Membership dues must be paid before you are eligible to enroll in our Study Groups. All are welcome to join. We would appreciate your sharing your email address with us so that we can continue to keep in touch and keep you updated with all of our activities.

Study Groups are being finalized. The 2011-12 schedule includes some new offerings. This year we will have more new groups including: Wine Education in the Linwood Library, Shakespeare, Great Books is back and the group will read the Seven Deadly Sins, Law & the Church, American History (Fact & Fiction), and the Art group will focus on the Metropolitan Museum. We will alsoexperiment with 2-3 day workshops for those who go awayduring the winter. Our first workshop will be in MemoirWriting with Bethanie Gorny. Sign up early and often.
We want to remind our members that we have a FELSwebsite that includes all current information and registrationforms. Look for your picture or for study group informationat www.felstockton.com. We are also on Facebook underFelstockton.