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Georgia College & State University’s (GCSU) School of Continuing and Professional Studies recently became the coordinator for GCSU’s partnership with Linger Longer Living at Reynolds Lake Oconee.
The Linger Longer Living series was created in 2006 by director Marie Garrison.
According to Garrison, the goal of the series is to provide cultural lifestyle experiences for the Reynolds Lake Oconee community.
“I was recruited in 2006 to create a cultural presence and an amenity to residents that is unique to Reynolds. I planned the program for six months, taking inspiration from Chautauqua Institute,” said Garrison.
Garrison’s heartfelt planning led to the creation of the Linger Longer Living series. The series is based on three aspects: social opportunities with fellow members and presenters, interactive programs, and intimate settings. Linger Longer Living hosts programs each week throughout the year.
There have been over 1,500 programs featuring experts from many nationalities and specialties in the cultural arts and humanities, since its beginning.
“We focus on culture, art, and humanities to provide exclusive experiences in intimate settings, between our experts and members,” said Garrison.
“Each program is personalized for attendees and uniquely customized to the presenter’s content and style. This ensures no repetition within the series or any event like it outside of the Reynolds community.”
Specific programming for the series is created from the existence of over 12 ongoing partnerships, and many “one-time experiences.” Partners come from all over to connect residents with people and topics they are not likely to learn and experience nearby.
“Our partners present a one-of-a-kind, intimate, and interactive experience based on their specialty. It’s an artistic venture,” said Garrison.
One partner of the Linger Longer Living series is Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville. The partnership was established 10 years ago and recently, GCSU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies became in charge of working with Garrison to provide their expertise. GCSU is only one contributing partner of many that select leaders, experts, and artists to present to Linger Longer Living at Reynolds Lake Oconee.
“We want to help provide experts who can help to enhance the lives of the residents at Reynolds and we are very grateful and excited to be continuing this partnership,” said Angela Criscoe, executive director of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. “What we try to offer is a high level and stimulating lecture and presentation with interactivity between our experts and the community.”
GCSU provides four programs each year for Linger Longer Living. GCSU experts prepare a lecture and presentation that is about 40 minutes long and plan for a 10-15 minute Q&A session.
According to Criscoe, GCSU has hosted previous presentations at The Rock House and virtually for the series.
“The partnership was passed to the School of Continuing and Professional Studies by Jill Selby, who was previously the coordinator. Selby and I believed that the mission and participation of the series aligned with our mission at the School of Continuing and Professional Studies,” said Criscoe. “We are a division that is a ridge between the university’s resources and the community, so taking our expertise to a very unique, thriving community was a perfect match for us.” Making connections with faculty across GCSU to plan presentations is another benefit of the partnership for the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. According to Criscoe, she connects with experts and discusses what they are currently studying or have a unique perspective on and plans offers for the Linger Longer Living Series based on these conversations.
“Some of our topics are so broad that it takes multiple conversations and lectures to grasp so when I talk to our faculty, I share the mission of the Linger Longer Living Series and I ask them what they could offer to their audience to help them think outside of their community and feel well-informed. Those conversations are truly what determine the type of presentations and topics we offer for the series,” said Criscoe. “And it helps to connect me and the school to faculty across campus.”
The Linger Longer Living series is a specialized program for Reynolds Lake Oconee.
Partners, like Georgia College & State University, help to provide unique experiences that take community members across the world and the state with diverse presentations and topics.