FARMINGTON – The Gold LEAF Institute (GLI), the University of Maine Farmington’s senior college, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
On June 14 at the UMF North Dining Hall, GLI members gathered to reminisce on the past decades of lifelong learning. “LEAF” stands for Lifelong Education at Farmington; this is what GLI continues to represent at UMF. GLI puts on several courses each term, including fall/winter, spring, and summer each year for anyone over 50 to enjoy. To take a course, one must be a member which costs only $34 per year or $12 per semester.
“There are no tests, there is no pressure. The programs are usually small classes or small groups so it’s easy to get to know people,” Barbara Fredericks, GLI’s first president, explained during a presentation at the celebration event. “To be part of the program means to be part of the community as well.”
“There are no prerequisites because number one, you don’t have to have a degree, you don’t have to have anything but passion to learn,” said Frank Chin, GLI’s office manager, in a recent presentation to the Farmington Rotary Club. “This is geared for people that are 50 and older and that are retired,” Chin said, explaining that the classes are not generally attainable for those with 9 to 5 jobs; classes often run during the day.
At the celebration, artifacts of GLI were on display, including listings of courses from years past. People involved with GLI in various ways presented at the celebration, recalling the history of the organization. Eileen Kreutz recalled an arboretum that GLI made on the UMF campus several years ago and Claudia Bell shared about the past decade of GLI courses, noting the wide range of offerings. She listed nature themed courses, like nature walks, kayaking and canoeing, birdwatching, and geology; arts and writing classes; music courses on opera and composers; current events, social issues and history courses; theater classes; and tours of nearby towns, mills, museums, crime labs, and much more.
UMF interim President Joe McDonnell spoke at the event and expressed his admiration of the program. “You’ve created this culture of inquiry and I think that’s what Gold LEAF is; it is what universities should be.”
GLI had roots as a paper organization when it began in 1998, before computers became mainstream. According to Fredericks, it was 10 years before computers came into it. Each semester, GLI sent out 400 paper catalogs of the offered courses and operated out of a custodian’s closet of an office on the UMF campus.
“Members communicated by phone, snail mail, or they visited the office,” Fredericks explained. After her retirement in the 90s, she found herself helping to begin GLI. On top of being president, she has volunteered over the years as office manager and her husband, Peter Fredericks, served as president as well. “It gave me an opportunity to meet more people in the community than I had known before,” she said.
Chin explained GLI’s triumphant experience through the COVID-19 pandemic: “We took a big hit. We could not offer in person classes, and so we embraced technology and the Gold LEAF members still remain strong and vibrant.”
“May Gold LEAF continue to function for many years to come,” Fredericks said.
Visit goldleafinstitute.com or call (207) 778-7063 for more information on membership and volunteer opportunities.
