A new year of Serendipity opens September 25 with the Harper Lee novel, Go Set a Watchman. A reading and discussion group sponsored by BRTC, Serendipity is beginning its 12th year. Membership is open to the public. The monthly luncheon discussions are coordinated by Patti Blaxton and staff of the Office of Corporate and Community Education, and facilitated by Jessica Bailey of the Office of Institutional Advancement and Dr. Jan Ziegler, faculty emerita at BRTC. Programs typically include the use of text, video, and music.
“I am really excited about our new year in Serendipity, and honored to have the opportunity once more to get together each month with returning and new members,” Ziegler said. “Some of this year’s titles are favorites of Serendipity members, and I appreciate their suggestions. I really have made a special effort to include more humor when making the reading selections, and I think we will not only think deeply but laugh long as we meet to talk about such book as The Rosie Project and Let Me Be Frank With You.” Not all the books are funny, she pointed out, but said that “all promote BRTC’s commitment to lifelong learning, and all have a special hook to keep us thinking and talking, regardless of whether we have all read all the books.”
She noted that in keeping with the Serendipity tradition, the books will take reader on a global journey, “exploring people and places and situations we do not typically encounter here in our rather isolated and insulated part of the world. In fact,” she added, “it is the ability of literature to allow us to walk in the shoes of another that makes books such an important part of life.”
This year’s Serendipity theme, “In Another Man’s Shoes,” she said, reflects that subject matter.
“Through the years,” Ziegler said, “we have read many amazing stories and met incredible characters, many of them inspirational and unforgettable, some of them real people. But I think it is more than just the books. The opportunity to be with people we know and hear their thoughts and perhaps see them in a new light, and to meet new people we might have otherwise missed—that, too, is what this organization is designed to be.”
Meetings are a luncheon held once a month, 11:30-1:00, in the conference room of the Business Technology Center and cost $75 for the year. For more information or to sign up contact the Office of Corporate and Community education at (870)248-4180.
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