2020 Classes
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Fun and Learning for Every Age
Classes are free but registration is required.
Please note that some of the classes are limited in number of attendees.
You may sign up for two of these classes.
Click any “Register Free for All Classes” button on our website to register for Weston U classes. “Register for Free” buttons above each class description provide a direct link to sign up for that class.
Class location details and maps are confirmed at registration. If you need help please contact us at westonpopupuniversity@gmail.com or drop by the Wilder Memorial Library for assistance. For more information click here.
The Perfect Pie Crust
Hands on demonstration of how to make the perfect pie crust. Each person will actually make a pie crust. Attendees are required to bring a rolling pin and an 8″ or 9″ pie plate and their appetite for pie. Doris will bring a finished pie for tasting.
Instructor: Doris Ingram
Wednesday, March 4th: 10:30AM – 12:30PM
Location: Weston Playhouse
Doris Ingram comes from a family of artists and pie makers and is a long-time resident of Weston.
Limit 8. Pre-registration required.
Introduction to Writing Memoirs
Ever thought about writing a memoir? Here’s a chance to learn a bit about how memoirs are created and to take the first steps in writing yours. You’ll learn writing tips – what to include and what to leave out, how to get started and have a chance to do some writing. Bring a pen or pencil.
Instructors: Linda Saarnijoki & Nicki Pfister
Thursday March 5th: 4 – 5:30PM
Location: Wilder Memorial Library
Nicki Pfister and Linda Saarnijoki are former middle school and high school English teachers. Both live in Weston.
Limit 10. Pre-registration required.
Introduction to Indian Cuisine
Instructor: Sunita Dholakia
Friday, March 6th: 5:30 – 7PM
Location: Details to be provided.
Sunita grew up in Mumbai and moved to Vermont six years ago. She and her husband own the Weston Marketplace and are passionate about Indian food.
Limit 8. Pre-registration required.
Taking Better Pictures
This workshop will focus on the process of creative image making. While not a technical workshop, interesting and artistic photography will be discussed, including composition, framing, cropping, color and light. The group will shoot in and around the Village Green including Cold Spring Park, the Mill, local shops and museums. Bring your camera or cell phone. Dress for the weather and come have some fun!
Instructor: Mark Martins
Saturday, March 7th: 9 – 11AM
Mark Martins is a professional freelance photographer, illustrator and graphic designer living in Weston.
Limit 10. Pre-registration required.
Snow or No Snow Games at the Rec Center
Snow or No Snow – Games for Families and Friends. Come enjoy a day of fun games and events for the whole family at the Rec Club. We will have a scavenger hunt, relay race, snow maze, snow painting, up-cycled bird feeder making, snowshoeing for kids and more. Join us, have fun and enjoy snacks and hot cocoa. Hope for snow and good weather.
This event is weather dependent and will be cancelled in case of inclement weather. So check our website for information.
Instructor: Organized and led by Lisa Yrsha and friends of the Weston Recreation Club
Sunday, March 8th: 12 – 4PM (weather permitting)
No limit. Minors must be accompanied by an adult to participate.
Pre-registration is NOT required.
Beginning Elements of Drawing: Three Sessions
Three successive 2-hour classes will concentrate on three beginning elements of drawing. Pleasure: a person can easily lose themselves in the process of drawing. Technique: a simple pencil can create differing effects. Expression: art is open to portray everything from recognizable realism to such diverse topics as texture, space, rage, or despair. Sketch pads, pencils, and erasers will be provided, but if you have your own, bring them. You must plan to attend all 3 sessions.
Instructor: Martha Bartsch
Three Sessions:
March 9th, 16th & 23rd: 2 – 4PM
Location details provided at registration
Martha Bartsch taught studio art full time at Pace University until she retired to Vermont. She continues to work in various mediums in her Weston studio.
Limit 8. Pre-registration required.
Everyone Can Play Music - if you try!
Not so musical? Not so fast! If four middle-aged people can figure out how to write music for and play the steel drums, you can surely “give it a go.” You will have a chance to pick up some mallets and make music with them as well. Consider bringing your own instrument(s) because the entire student body will learn and play a piece – after creating a fabulous arrangement.
Bring an instrument or two, both of your ears, beverages to help dull your open mind… and a good sense of humor.
Instructors: The Blue Flames: Jim & Vicky Linville and Bob & Barbara Wells
Wednesday, March 11th: 7 – 9PM
Location details provided at registration.
Bob and Barbara Wells (Londonderry) and Jim and Vicky Linville (Weston) comprise the Blue Flames Band, which is not your ordinary musical group. Read more about the Blue Flames.
Limit 15. Pre-registration required.
A Look into the Future of Weston
This group will discuss the past, present and especially the future of our town, looking at data and trends. The class will focus on the basic questions: What kind of town do we want? What are the issues facing Weston? Recommendations for action?
Instructor: Wayne Granquist
Thursday, March 12th:
7 – 8:30PM
Location: Walker Farm
Wayne Granquist has lived in Weston for thirty years and has been the Weston Town moderator for 12 years. He has had a varied career in business and public service, including running Stratton Mountain, and stints as a US Senate staffer and 4 years at the Carter White House. He is currently working on economic development issues in southern Vermont.
No limit on class size.
Pre-registration required.
Quilting, Spinning and Knitting
Spend some time with master quilter Kim Seymour. Learn hand quilting and appliqué techniques. Bring your work for troubleshooting and be ready for some fun and learning. Carrie Chalmers will be talking about and demonstrating how yarn is created and the basics of knitting. Bring some knitting needles if you have some at home. Choose to brush up on quilting or learn about knitting — or spend some time doing both.
Instructors: Carrie Chalmers & Kim Seymour
Friday, March 13th: 3-5PM
Location: Colonial House, 287 Route 100
Kim Seymour, in addition to being our Town Clerk, is a lifelong quilter and hosts many quilting workshops at the Colonial House, the inn she owns with husband Jeff.
Carrie Chalmers has lived in Weston most of her life. She has a landscape design firm and in her spare time grows vegetables, raises sheep and spins and knits at Quoyburray Farm in Weston.
Limit 15. Pre-registration required.
All You Should Know About Fire Safety & the Weston Volunteer Fire Department
1-1:45pm Jump into the history of the US fire service and learn how the Weston Fire Department fits in. We will take you back in time to learn our history.
2-3:30pm Explore our trucks and learn about the tools we use. Fire Department members will teach you how to use fire extinguishers with some live fire demos and discuss the importance of fire safety.
Instructor: Ryan Hart, Fire Chief
Saturday, March 14: 1 – 3:30PM
Location: Weston Playhouse and Old Mill Yard
Ryan Hart, the new Weston Fire Chief grew up in town and has been a member of the fire department for 13 years. Members of the fire department will assist the Chief in the live portion of the afternoon.
No limit. Pre-registration is NOT required. Minors must be accompanied by an adult to participate.
Fun 'n Games
Do you love Candyland, Clue, Charades, Pictionary, card games, Twister but never have enough people to play with? Here is your opportunity to learn a new game and/or play a favorite game. Come join your friends and neighbors for an afternoon of fun and laughter.
For all Ages. Refreshments at 3PM courtesy of The Hub@ Weston.
Sunday, March 15th: 1 – 3:30PM
Location: Weston Playhouse
Join game hosts Marisa Bolognese, Barbara Lloyd, Nicki Pfister and Linda Saarnijoki, all of whom love playing games with their friends and families.
Limit 40. Pre-registration required. Minors must be accompanied by an adult to participate.
Introduction to Fly Fishing & Casting
Vicky and Jim Linville, life-long fly fishers, can teach you the basics of fly casting at Walker Farm, indoors. Learn how it works and try it out, both with small fly rod simulators and full-sized rods. Included in the casting lessons will be a bit about entomology: the things trout like to eat, the purpose of the flies we use and why and how to use them.
Instructors: Jim & Vicky Linville
Sunday, March 15th: 3 – 4:30PM
Location: Walker Farm
Wine Tasting
Explore the world of wine in this introductory class to gain a better understanding of your likes & dislikes. Taste a variety of wines alongside snacks with local restaurateur & Weston resident, Abby Lechthaler of The Downtown Grocery.
Instructor: Abby Lechthaler
Tuesday, March 17th: 5 – 6:30 PM
Weston Playhouse
Abby Lechthaler and her husband Rogen are chef/owners of The Downtown Grocery in Ludlow and formerly of Mama’s Handmade Italian and the West Town Eatery at the Weston Playhouse. Abby has curated wine at The Downtown Grocery for ten years, focusing on small producers, unusual grapes & unique regions & varietals.
Limit 12 (adults over 21 only). Pre-registration required.
Get More out of your iPhone
Want to take photos to send to your grandchildren? Want to add contacts? Do you struggle making a call or sending a text? This will be a hands-on introduction to iPhone basics. You will need to bring your iPhone (fully charged!) and paper and pencil to take notes. (iphone only – no android phones)
Instructor: Jennifer Server
Saturday March 21st: 3 – 5PM
Location: Wilder Memorial Library
Jennifer Server, an actor and voice-over artist who has performed in Weston numerous times, lives in Weston and NYC and is a huge iPhone fan.
Limit 10. Pre-registration required.
Landscape 101
Learn basic principles of garden and landscape design with Carrie Chalmers. Using photographs, Carrie will outline some basic design concepts, share favorite plant selections, cover common mistakes and answer questions from the audience.
Instructor: Carrie Chalmers
Wednesday, March 25th: 3 – 5:00PM
Walker Farm
Carrie Chalmers has lived in Weston most of her life. She has a landscape design firm and in her spare time grows vegetables, raises sheep, and spins and knits at Quoyburray Farm in Weston.
No limit. Pre-registration required.
Weston Local History: Images of Old Weston
Images of old Weston consists of 80 35mm photographs (now digitized) taken by Larry Walker in 1988, drawing upon the archives of the Historical Society as well as private collections. The photos are of people, events and places. Most originals were taken in the earliest years of the 20th century. The audience will be encouraged to add commentary on the subjects depicted and help identify photos.
Instructor: Bob Brandt
Thursday, March 26th: 5:30 – 7PM
Location: Walker Farm
Bob Brandt was a history major at Hamilton College and is presently serving his second stint as President of the Weston Historical Society.
No Limit. Pre-registration required.
Physics for Everyone
Is Physics a Deep Mystery to you? Want to learn and understand some of the Fundamental Laws observed by those old guys Galileo and Newton: action/reaction, inertia, and force and acceleration?
Come to this lively discussion and demonstration of some of the principles of physics that govern our lives. Bring your questions!
Instructor: Rusty Davis
Saturday, March 28th: 3 – 4:30PM
Location: Walker Farm
Rusty Davis is a middle school and high school science teacher who lives in Weston.
No Limit; 8th graders and up. Pre-registration required.
Dancing with the Stars!
1st Session: 1-2:30 PM (ages 7-15)
2nd Session: 3-4:30 PM (ages 16+)
Get a taste of what it is really like to be in a Broadway Musical! Broadway veteran Susan Haefner will teach dance warm-ups and a bit of popular Broadway choreography and song. Absolutely no experience required. Just bring a sense of fun and a water bottle. Please wear comfortable clothing and sneakers.
Instructor: Susan Haefner
Sunday, March 29th:
1st Session: 1 – 2:30PM (ages 7-15)
2nd Session: 3 – 4:30PM (ages 16+)
Location: 646 Main Street, Rehearsal Hall
Susan Haefner is an actor, director and teacher who has performed in over 25 shows at Weston Playhouse. See more at: www.susanhaefner.com
Limit 20 per session. Pre-registration required.