Experience the Zoo and learn more about the amazing animals and the Zoo’s conservation efforts. You will watch the gorilla troop receive a snack, meet the giraffes in the African Savanna and see a special feeding of the Open Ocean tank in the Aquarium. Put on your walking shoes and get ready to explore. (Locations may change at the last minute. You will visit three areas. Then you can stay the rest of the afternoon and visit the zoo on your own. Fee is non-refundable, but you get a wrist band that you can use until next April.)

Fee: $16; non-refundable (Members Only; limited enrollment for up to 24 members) (Sunday, September 21 is the last day to register.) Transportation is on your own. 

Did you know that half of all adults aged 50 and older are at risk of breaking a bone and should be concerned about bone health? Bone Health! Steady and Strong™ Boot Camp is a two-week program designed for individuals with bone density concerns based on the principles of Too Fit to Fall or Fracture.

Classes are taught by a licensed Physical Therapist certified in Bone Fit and incorporate strengthening, flexibility, balance and endurance exercises. Participants are also educated in how to safely modify daily activities for spine health. Participants will be given instructions on how to complete this program at home for continued benefits. Wear comfortable clothes and supportive shoes.

NOTE: This event will be held off-campus at the Homewood Community Engagement Center.

Prerequisite: Members who sign up for the Boot Camp should have completed the Better Balance! Steady and Strong™ course. Enrollment is limited, so please only sign up if you meet the prerequisite AND can attend both sessions.

Long-time Pittsburgh area writer, essayist, and columnist, Virginia Montanez, whose debut novel Nothing. Everything. was recently published, will discuss her winding path to becoming a published novelist, including her early anonymous blogging days, how she came to terms with her disability, how and why she wrote her novel, and all the lessons she's learned along the way.

Virginia Montanez made a name for herself by writing humorously about the city of Pittsburgh. She is the history columnist for Pittsburgh Magazine and her essays have appeared in the Post-Gazette. In addition to publishing her own weekly online newsletter, she is a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts, Boston (remote). She is the founder of the Make Room for Kids at the Mario Lemieux Foundation as well as the founder of the mapping project Pittsburgh Remains to be Seen. She has been profoundly hearing impaired since birth.   

About the book: Nothing.Everything. tells the story of trauma-damaged, panic-addled Ellis Sloan, an irreverent YA author who is pretty sure she's broken. She spends her days fooling her teens into thinking she's just fine since their lives fell apart. No, she's not spending hours on the couch staring at the ceiling wondering where it all went wrong. No, she's certainly not pretending to be writing that second novel while actually typing gibberish into a document entitled SFDJKLJF. Nothing. Everything. is a story of humor, a story of heart, a story of hope, and a story of what happens when a woman finally decides to fight for herself.

NOTES:

• OLLI members may register one guest by contacting the office by Email or Phone.
• All others should register via email (osher@pitt.edu) or phone (412-624-4274).
• Registration Required!
• Novel will be sold at the event and Ms. Montanez will sign books after the talk.