After a recess for the 2010 holiday season, Winchester Academy is open for business once again. The 2011 winter-spring series will offer eight programs beginning on Jan. 31 and ending on April 11.
All programs are free, open to the public and start at 6:30 p.m. Mondays, downstairs at the Waupaca Area Public Library. Coffee and cookies are served between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 31: Michael and Debra Hansen, of Good Earth Farms in Milladore, will present “Farming as if Everything Matters.” They will discuss life on an organic farm raising grass-fed beef and pasture-raised turkeys, chickens and pork.
Feb. 7: Former NASA scientist Robert Benada, will offer “Going to Mars: What to Pack and What You’ll Find There.” Photos from orbiting satellites and a surface rover will help prepare the audience for an imaginary trip.
Feb. 21: Award-winning historian and University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Jeremi Suri will review important “Historical Lessons From the Cold War.”
Feb. 28: Dr. Nancy Homburg, medical director of Affinity Hospice and ThedaCare Hospice, will discuss “Advance Care Planning and Advance Directives.”
March 14: Coloma wine connoisseur Stephen McDiarmid will present “Wine Making and Wisconsin’s Vineyards.”
March 21: Area veterinarian Lance Fox, DVM, will present “Climbing Mount Everest,” based on his own experience in May 2009.
April 4: Richard Wagner, Ph.D., former cheese company president, will present “Saving Wisconsin’s Open Spaces Via Reforestation and Proper Land Use.”
April 11: Scott Christie, chairman of the Waupaca Historic Preservation Commission, will speak on “Historic Waupaca Homes,” in the city’s two designated historic districts, Main Street and Lake Street.
A gala Winchester Academy fundraising event will be held on March 26 at the Ale House in Waupaca. The Lawrence Ensemble Dance Band will be directed by Fred Sturm, renowned jazz composer, and director of jazz and improvisational music at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music. There will be a silent auction and buffet dining, beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are $50 per person.