The village of Manlius Senior Centre offers many opportunities for the aging population, including lunches, exercise programs, craft and activity groups. But one of the more unique events offered by the organization for the entire community is the “Informed and Shared Conversations” speaker series.
For the past five years, the Manlius Senior Centre, along with help from the Manlius Library, has presented this event in spring and fall sessions.
Lewis Kuppermann, a lifetime resident of Manlius who has been involved in entrepreneurial ventures like owning a men’s clothing store on Warren Street in Syracuse and running a staffing service, said he got the idea to start a speaker series through the Manlius Senior Centre about five years ago.
“Lewis [Kuppermann] was participating in a driver’s course through the center when he came up to me and said he had a good idea for a speaker series and asked if he could start it,” said Marlene Macfarlane, executive director of the senior center. “So I asked him, ‘What makes you think you can do that?’”
But Kuppermann proved he could do just that — and has grown to produce a series that many people look forward to attending. For each session, which lasts about 10 weeks, Kupperman brings in significant players from the local area to talk about a wide variety of topics ranging from local to international issues.
“There are so many educated and retired people in this community who still want to be actively involved,” said Kuppermann.
On Wednesday, April 22, more than 70 people packed into the community room at the Manlius Library to hear from Ed Riley, CEO and frontrunner of the Hotel Syracuse renovations, to discuss the renovations currently underway at the hotel.
Before each session, Kuppermann looks to local higher education facilities, like Syracuse University, LeMoyne College and Onondaga Community College, as well as to many of the local charities and organizations, to find speakers who can discuss a wide variety of topics,
The use of a computer and the internet is also an important factor in getting the event together, said Kuppermann, who uses the internet to learn more about upcoming topics and read biographies of the speakers.
“There’s a natural propensity for people to be curious,” Kuppermann said. “A natural desire to stay up to date and in-the-know. The purpose of this is to offer that opportunity to people.”
Speakers of the series volunteer their time to come to and participate in these discussions.
“It’s great to see folks like yourself who are so enthusiastic in the project,” said Riley, guest speaker on April 22. “We really couldn’t have made this possible without the support of the Syracuse community.”
Eventually, the Senior Centre hopes to find a bigger venue within the Manlius Village Centre so they can accommodate growing number of people who have a interest in coming to these events. At the April 22 event with Reily, nearly one dozen people had to be turned away because the room was already filled to capacity.
“I’ve had an interest in the hotel [Syracuse] and its restoration,” said Larry Lardy, a Manlius resident who was in attendance at the April 22 event. “Kuppermann does a nice job and brings in topics that are timely.”
The informed and Shared Conversation series continues 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 6, with Melissa Spicer, co-founder of Clear Path for Veterans.
Some upcoming speakers include Robert Murrett, dean of SU Law/Maxwell School, Dirk Sonneborn, executive director of the Gifford Foundation and George Kilpatrick, program director of the Vera House. The events are held at 10:30 a.m. in the Manlius Library’s community room.
A full list of this spring’s remaining speakers can be found at mscinformed.org/?page_id=29.
Hayleigh Gowans is a reporter for the Eagle Bulletin. She can be reached at [email protected].
