PLATO Weekly Update

July 27, 2021

CURRICULUM

We are gearing up for fall!

As the Curriculum Committee coordinates efforts for in-person and virtual offerings to resume this fall, it's a good time to share PLATO’s Covid-19 guidelines, which follow the CDC’s guidelines, including:

– Vaccinated people do not need to wear a mask in a group gathering indoors, but should if they feel more comfortable.

– Unvaccinated people must wear a mask in a group gathering indoors.

– All PLATO members must follow any and all additional Covid-19 protocols that our Host Locations require.

SPECIAL EVENTS 

Walks of Dane County

· There are still spots available - for our next walk on Wednesday, August 4th. Join us as we walk in a newer addition to Cherokee Marsh, one you may not have visited yet. Yahara Heights County Park at Cherokee Marsh consists of over 3,000 feet of water frontage within the upper Yahara basin. We will walk along a 40-acre prairie and a woodland with two effigy mounds, including a 208-ft water spirit.

· Registration will open - for the walk in Pheasant Branch Nature Conservancy in Middleton, Wisconsin, on Sunday, August 1st. The walk and talk will focus on the history of the waterway and how it has been impacted over the last 75 years by major weather events and the impact it has had on the Yahara Chain of Lakes. We will also hear what the City of Middleton and Dane County are planning to do to reduce the impact of future exceptional storms.

For your planning purposes, we have compiled a list of the remaining "Walks in Dane County" on PLATO's Local Tours page. These walks are scheduled through October, occurring twice monthly on various mornings. Simply scroll through the list to find dates and times and click on "Show Details" to find out when registration will open.

PLATO's Lecture series will return this fall. In the meantime, members can access Past Recordings.

THEATER
Take a break from hot summer days by "attending" theater performances from your home through a variety of options on PLATO’s Virtual Theater Trips page, including the newly featured items below.

The Wolves - Left quad. Right quad. Lunge. A girls' indoor soccer team warms up. From the safety of their suburban field, the team navigates big questions and wages tiny battles with the vigor of a pack of adolescent warriors. The Wolves is a portrait of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for nine American girls who just want to score some goals.

Memories of Overdevelopment - This play is a film: a documentary about what people remember about dictatorships where they grew up and how they left and how they survived. An enactment of eight startling, personal interviews, inspired by true stories, performed by two people. Caridad Svich’s newest work is a rebellious look at where we’ve been and where we are right now.

Schmigadoon - A parody of iconic musicals, Schmigadoon! is a new musical comedy series produced by Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live. A couple on a backpacking trip designed to reinvigorate their relationship discovers a magical town in which everyone is living in a studio musical from the 1940s. They then discover that they can’t leave until they find “true love.” If you love musicals, you'll enjoy catching the clever references to Oklahoma, Carousel, The Music Man, and, of course, Brigadoon, among other classics.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL UPDATE

Have you renewed your PLATO membership?

Current PLATO memberships will expire this week on Saturday, July 31. Renew online now to be ready to take advantage of the wide variety of in-person and virtual courses and events PLATO will offer this fall.

Dues have been reinstated, but remain at the pre-pandemic level of $60 per person.

Renew online now or mail a check for $60 to PLATO, 21 N. Park St., 7th Floor, Madison, WI 53715‐1218. If mailing your check, please let us know if your contact information has changed since June of 2019 and email any further questions to Stephanie Steigerwaldt, PLATO's office coordinator, at info@platomadison.org.

Thank you to those members who have already renewed – we look forward to seeing you at our many offerings lined up for the coming year. 

Print verses Electronic Version of the upcoming Agora

Do you wish to receive a print version of Volume 7 of The Agora (2021)? So far, about 200 PLATO members have requested that we not mail a print copy of the upcoming Volume 7 to them. Many PLATO members are concerned about the environmental costs of printing and mailing. IF YOU SHARE THAT CONCERN, please give this option your consideration.  

Remember that an electronic version of Volume 7 will be posted on the PLATO website. If you want your name added to the list of PLATO members who DO NOT WISH to receive a print copy of The Agora in the mail, please send an email to Stephanie (info@platomadison.org) with the Subject: AGORA. 

FEATURED AGORA WORKS

Each week, we offer for your enjoyment, a featured piece from contributors to The Agora, PLATO's journal of arts and ideas. This week’s selection, Creating Otherness by Fay Ferington, is a poem about cultivating self-awareness around how our small, everyday actions impact the people with whom we interact.

SOCIAL GATHERINGS

Social Gatherings will resume this fall with in-person breakfasts. 

SOCIAL JUSTICE EVENTS & READINGS
Suggested readings, films, activities, and podcasts.

Select from a range of topics and formats for your Summer reading, viewing, or listening, curated by PLATO's Diversity Awareness Committee. 

We hope you’re intrigued by DID YOU KNOW? – our new bi-weekly feature spotlighting arts, scientific, cultural, and other notable contributions made by non-mainstream individuals you might not have learned or read about. Suggestions for inclusions are welcome (send to Kathy at: ksmichaelis@gmail.com).

DID YOU KNOW? Mario Jose Molina-Pasquel Henriquez (known as Mario Molina), Mexican chemist, was the first Mexican-born scientist to receive a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995 for his role in discovering the threat to the Earth’s ozone layer from chlorofluorocarbon gases.

Visit the Social Justice Webpage to learn more about Mario Molina!