Welcome to our Fall 2025 Semester!
Our amazing line-up of programs and trips for this Fall Semester is now completed and posted! The Fall program catalog has been mailed.
We know you will find the programs intellectually stimulating, sometimes entertaining, and maybe even challenging. Our growing membership attests to our success in enriching the lives of adult learners along the Shoreline. STAY TUNED!
About Us
At SSILL, it’s about enlightenment and community. It’s no surprise that several of our board members are retired educators as are many of our members.
SSILL is especially proud of its programs which we believe are diverse, informative, educational and entertaining. The fall semester programs run from just after Labor Day to mid-December and the spring semester begins the first week in March ending mid-June.
We offer programs that appeal to a wide variety of interests from art and music to history and science. And in a variety of formats: large and small lectures, small discussion groups, films, concerts and trips. We’re guided for the most part by members’ evaluations of existing programs, by their suggestions and by a 15-member program committee. The amazing thing is that we never run out of ideas, topics, or speakers who are all, equally amazingly, volunteers. The speakers are university professors, both active and retired, physicians, authors, scientists, musicians, documentary filmmakers, experts in the fields of economics, history, art, opera, and the natural world. AND many return to us semester after semester, telling us that they really enjoy the interaction with our intellectually curious and engaged audience. Many stay to talk with our members long after their talk is over.
Programs are presented largely at the Guilford Community Center as well as at the Madison Senior Center, St. George Church Hall and the Guilford Library with whom we have a long collaborative history. We offer some joint programs with the library each semester (most recently a zoom art history talks by the art expert, Bob Potter) and we also use their community room for some of our programs during the semester.
The Schiller Shoreline Institute of Lifelong Learning was initiated by the Guilford Foundation and the Madison Foundation. We are affiliated with the Road Scholar Network and sponsored by The Guilford Parks, Recreation & Seniors, and the Madison Senior Services.
We are a volunteer organization that provides two sessions per year. Our Fall schedule runs from early September to December and our Spring schedule begins in March and continues through June.
2025 SSILL Officers
President: Judy Merriam
Secretary: Heather Martin
Treasurer: Gerald Burke
2025 Advisory Board
Pan Asmus
Rosemary Baggish
Gerald Burke
Doris DeWees
Richard Hazall
Bo Huhn
Heather Martin
Judy Merriam
Edward Miller
Susan E. Smith
Susan Smith
Virginia Czaplicki *
Wendy Oberg *
John Petonito *
Robert Raines *
Onik Tahtakran *
Robert Trupin *
*Emeritus
Board Administration
Terry Buckley – GCC
Austin Hall – MSC
Program Committee
Susan E. Smith, Program Chair
Pam Asmus
Rosemary Baggish
Joanna Baymiller
Arlene Cohen
Doris DeWees
Lauren Gaunt
Barb Hazall
Rich Hazall
Mike Meisel
Judy Merriam
Joan Rawlings
Carol VanSteenbergen
Rhona Weiss
Flora White
Would You Like to Volunteer?
GCC (203) 453-8086
MSC (203) 245-5627
Email ssill.ct@gmail.com
VOLUNTEER DISCLAIMER
To Register online, click the Button below.
Where to Get Important Notifications & Information
For immediate assistance, please call the Guilford Community Center (203) 453 – 8086
Your email is also a valuable tool to stay connected to important updates! We will notify you as quickly as possible of program changes and cancellations due to weather or other circumstances.
Can't Attend? Call GCC!
In addition, each presenter donates his or her time and plans a presentation according to the number of people who register for the program. Room size and preparation are all determined by the number of registrants.
Membership
Each person must be a current yearly member to enroll in SSILL programs. Membership is $35 per person and runs from September through June. Please ensure you include your membership fee with your program selections every September.
Gift Certificates
Wait List Information
Programs fill up quickly and you may be wait-listed. If you are wait-listed for a program, chances are that you will be able to attend, so mark your calendars accordingly. Every effort will be made to reduce the wait list, including moving the program to a larger venue. If SSILL cannot find a larger venue, it will consider offering the program to the wait list the next semester.
SSILL Newsletter
Member Responsibilities
We value your participation and input, when appropriate. Please be respectful of others when you are expressing your own thoughts and ideas.
SSILL DISCLAIMER
SSILL Mission
The Schiller Shoreline Institute for Lifelong Learning’s (SSILL) mission is to develop and provide meaningful, intellectual programs to area adults who share a love of learning and a desire to be part of a caring community.
