Our History

NEW: See TLC Honor Roll of Instructors at the end of the History.

Click Here for a long listing of previous courses descriptions from 2006 to 2023

TLC was founded and incorporated as a non-profit organization in the summer of 1989. The founding trio was Jeanne Wagner (first President), Torie Sommers (Vice President), and Robert Steck (one of the two initial program chairs and a HVRHS teacher). Marion Haberle was the first secretary-treasurer.
Prior to 1989 the above trio had arranged with Northwestern Community College (NWCC) for courses offered via satellite at the Lakeville Methodist Church dating back to 1985, and these were few in number.
In 1989, TLC offered seven tuition free, courses at three venues. Local instructors at Noble Horizon taught the American Constitution, Anthropology, and the Modern Man. At the Lakeville Methodist Church NWCC offered Mayan Archaeology and Modern Irish Literature. At HVRHS, NWCC also provided two evening courses on Accounting Principles and the History of Western Civilization. Each class was a three-hour session and met once a week. A voluntary contribution was suggested ranging from $10.00 to $100.00. Eventually, the NWCC connection was lost due to a pull back in state funding. In addition, a membership donation of $50.00 per year was suggested, and with this a member could take an unlimited number of courses. This donation could also be waived for any hardship reasons. Since 2005, donations have risen to $60.00 per year with the hardship policy still in place. Membership donations go towards instructors' expenses, advertising and publicity, donations to our venues, and maintaining and upgrading TLC‘s website.
The venues have changed over the years and recently have been limited to Nobel Horizon and Geer. The website was started around 2006 by Janet Williams. The site was enhanced and managed by Robert Woodward. The current web master is Harding Bancroft. TLC’s course listings together with online registration and are available on this site.
The original Mission Statement was to “provide the opportunity and resources for continuing a life-long education and self-development for residents in the northwest corner of the tri-state area.” Intellectually stimulating courses covering a variety of disciplines would be offered at a number of venues. The main idea was that life needs stimulation and interaction with other people from all different backgrounds and with a variety of experiences. Many friendships and associations have evolved over the years among course instructors and class attendees. TLC has been fortunate in finding knowledgeable volunteer instructors.
After the first few of years, the number of courses rose to eight per semester and presently is closer to 10 to 12 per fall and winter sessions. In 2012, Program Chairman, Larry Rand added a shortened spring session.
By TLC‘s 10th anniversary, the membership increased to over 190 and has maintained this level for the past eight to ten years.
So we celebrate over 30 years of TLC with the motto, you are never too old to learn!


HONOR ROLL OF TLC INSTRUCTORS
On TLC’s 31st anniversary (2020), the TLC Board recognizes those instructors who have taught five or more terms:

Jim Bates (6) History
David Bayersdorfer (13) History
Robert Bumcroft (6) Mathematics
Carol Cates-Milgrim (13) literature, poetry
Bill DeVoti (11) Shakespeare
Duane Este (9) Religion, Sports
Rosemary Farnsworth (18) Play Reading, Literature
Marcia Friedman (15) Play Reading
Tom Gruenewald (20) Literature, Theater
Jack Hamilton (8) Literature
Barbara Hesse (11) History
Jerry Jamin (20) Economics, Finance, Energy
Robert Julien (24+) Opera and Classical Music
Ken Keskinen (9+) Literature & Writing
Thomas Key (18) History
John Leich (57) Foreign Policy, Languages
John Neufeld (7) literature
Edward Nickerson (15) Poetry
Laurance Rand (41) Supreme Court, History, U.S. Presidents
Robert Rumsey (8) History, Literature
Mark Scarbrough (14) Literature
Peter Shiras (16) Literature
Sid Shore (18) Science
Jerry Simonson (6) China, Current Events
Doris Stoecker (9) Literature
Richard Taber (11) Religion
Lynn Whelchel (9) Medicine & health
Phyllis Wojan (16) Biology, Genetics
Maura Wolf (7) Literature