When she retired from the South Pike School District in 1995, former middle school librarian Geneva Patterson was not content to retreat to her rocking chair.
Among the organizations Patterson became involved with included the Institute for Learning in Retirement (ILR) at Southwest Mississippi Community College. Patterson is a charter member of the organization, which started in 1997. Her late husband, Eugene Patterson, also was a charter member. Eugene Patterson died in 2004 and was an administrative assistant to the superintendent at South Pike.
The ILR is a center for educational and social activities meant to provide continuing education and social opportunities for retirees 50 or older.
The ILR offers non-credit courses, workshops, seminars and local travel programs determined by members.
Annual membership fee is $60. The average cost of a class is $15. Short-term workshops are sometimes available without a fee. Three luncheons and a year-end banquet in May are included with membership.
Benefits include athletic ticket discounts, SMCC library privileges, newsletters and membership rates on activities.
“Some people go home when they retire and sit on the porch. We try and get them to join us because it gives them something worthwhile to do,” Patterson said after the April 3 luncheon at the Student Union, which featured Andrew Dale’s steel drum ensemble as entertainment. “I think it plays a great role in my life. I enjoy the organization and what it has to offer.”
Courses offered by the ILR include aspects of computers, gardening, nutrition, photography, backyard birding, and couponing, to name a few.
The ILR also offers day trips to significant places of interest. Trips to the World War II Museum in New Orleans and a Cajun-themed excursion to Lafayette, La., were recent adventures. The group also took a overnight trip to Memphis, Tenn.
Current ILR membership is 126. There were 300 members at one time.
The ILR is part of the school’s Continuing Education Program. Four other community colleges in the state offer similar programs, along with the University of Southern Mississippi.
“We started this at the college to be part of the education component for retirees as part of the application process to allow McComb to be a Certified Retirement Community,” said Jerry Malone, SMCC’s Workforce Development Center Director and liaison for the ILR. “We went to workshops before we started the program.”
Malone said late SMCC president Horace Holmes helped establish the program in 1996.
He said the lackluster economy has hurt membership. “We had a growth period, but with the tighter economy, individuals with fixed incomes have reevaluated what they’re doing. For our size in the community college district, 126 is a good number. We don’t advertise.”
Tylertown’s James O’Quin is ILR president, serving a one-year term. He is a retired auto mechanic.
“We usually have one or two trips per year and try and make it a historical trip,” O’Quin said. “There’s a lot of fellowship that goes along with being a member. You get to meet a lot of people representing the organization.”
Charles Womack is a retired machinist. He and his wife, Glenda, joined the ILR in 2006.
“This organization keeps from getting totally stagnant. It keeps you moving,” Charles Womack said. “We have entertainment at every meeting and get some real interesting characters at that. Even today, I couldn’t believe they made that interesting music out of those drums.”
“We always look forward to these meetings,” Geneva Patterson said. “I imagine (the ILR) is going to add a number of years to our lives, and not just here, but for all the people all over the United States in similar programs.”
