Land records are treasure troves for family historians. Whenever a country claims new territory, it must decide how to divide and distribute that land—creating a detailed paper trail that often stretches back centuries. Because land ownership is so vital, these records are among the first to be re-recorded after disasters like fires, floods, or earthquakes. Yet, the unfamiliar language—terms such as dower, escheatment, and warrant—can make these documents seem intimidating. As a result, many researchers either overlook them or miss the rich clues they contain. Learning to interpret land records correctly can open powerful new pathways for solving family-history puzzles.

This class will cover what the nonprofit, federally-funded Senior Medicare Patrol program is and how attendees can help us fight the estimated $65 billion dollars plus that occurs in Medicare fraud each year. This one-hour class will discuss common scams in Medicare, and how you can prevent, detect, and report this fraud.

Many cookbooks and recipes still exist from Georgia’s early years, yet most have been forgotten. They sit quietly in archives, waiting to be rediscovered. These sources not only preserve traces of delicious foods that are new again to current generations, but also hold many clues about what home life was like for Georgians in the past. In this presentation, archivist and writer Valerie J. Frey, author of Georgia’s Historical Recipes: Seeking Our State’s Oldest Written Foodways and the Stories Behind Them (UGA Press, 2025), will lead an exploration of recipes from 1733 through 1945 with a historian’s eye. Learn about yesteryear’s cooks and taste of the history of Georgia, the South, and the U.S. through historic foodways. Athens area foodways will also be covered. (Please note that the speaker welcomes program participants to bring knitting or other quiet handiwork to do as they listen.)

Income inequality in America and many other advanced countries has risen sharply since the 1970s. We will look at what several respected economists and other thinkers write about inequality. Why is inequality increasing? Are higher levels of inequality damaging our social fabric, or are they no big deal? Are there effective ways to reduce inequality without placing too much burden on American taxpayers?