Wise Years is Stephen Wise Temple’s seniors group for members and guests 60 years and better. You are invited to join us for our regular series of learning, lunch, leisure, and community. Mornings feature speakers on a wide range of timely and timeless topics. Following lunch together, afternoons offer a choice of films or games.
Upcoming Programs
Thursday, April 10, 2025
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 9:30 a.m. | Registration & Coffee |
| 10 a.m. | My Journey with Leukemia with Ilana Massi  Ilana Massi is a lifelong resident of Southern California. She graduated from UCLA as a pediatric ICU nurse and went on to work for nearly 40 years in many different areas of nursing. She and her family moved from West LA to Thousand Oaks in 1991.
In October 2014, she developed a cough and fever. She was diagnosed with AML, one of the deadliest types of leukemia. That began a 10-year battle to survive. She has endured a bone marrow transplant, chemo, radiation, severe graft vs host disease (a complication of transplant), infections, sepsis, countless surgeries. She just celebrated her 70th birthday and the 10th anniversary of her transplant. She works to give back by counseling other AML patients and volunteering for blood cancer charities. Ilana’s husband of 45 years passed away suddenly in 2023. Now she is so thankful to be surrounded by her village that keeps her afloat —5 sons, 2 daughters-in-law, 3 grandsons, and many other family and friends. |
| 11 a.m. | My Olympic Story with Mark Spitz  Once considered the greatest Olympic athlete of all-time, the globally renowned Mark Spitz is synonymous with excellence. Voted Athlete of the Century in water sports and one of the six greatest Olympians ever by Sports Illustrated in 2000, he remains one of the most recognized faces in the world today.
Although he won 11 Olympic medals over two Olympic Games, Spitz will always be best remembered for his remarkable seven gold medals at the 1972 Games. It was during the Summer Games in Munich that Spitz set four individual world records: 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle, and 100-meter and 200-meter butterfly. He also had a hand in setting three relay event world records: 4×100 freestyle, 4×200 freestyle, and 4×100 medley. He swam the third leg of the 200 freestyle and 100 medley, and the last leg of the 100 freestyle. Spitz’s final victory came only hours before Palestinian terrorists took hostage and eventually murdered 11 Israeli athletes in the Munich Olympic Village. Between 1965 and 1972, Spitz won nine Olympic gold medals, one silver, and one bronze; five Pan-American gold medals; 31 National US Amateur Athletic Union titles; and eight US National Collegiate Athletic Association Championships. During those years, he set 33 World records. |
| 12 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1 p.m. | Movie: TBD Mahjongg or Bridge |
Previous Programs
May 13, 2021 – Juilliard trained pianist, Beth Sussman, hosted a delightful afternoon of both classical and jazz music by George Gershwin. Selections performed included some of his own amazing arrangements of songs including “S’Wonderful”, “Lady Be Good” and “The Man I Love.” Beth introduced his music with brief remarks that enhanced the appreciation of Gershwin’s genius.
Whether you’re a Bagel or Blintz, join us for a humorous and inspirational multimedia history of the delicatessen across four generations of Jews in America, led by comedian Seth Front, creator of the Jewish Zodiac, a deli food parody of the Chinese zodiac.
February 11, 2021 – Making Babka with Deborah Turobiner, founder of the Holla for Challah community on FaceBook.
You’ll find Deborah’s recipe for babka here.
November 12, 2020 – Legal Journalist Linda Deutsch and Law Professor Laurie Levenson discuss celebrity justice over the decades.