Spring Potpourri I

February 5 – American Sign Language: It’s Not English

American Sign Language (ASL) is a rich and expressive visual language used by Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities in the United States. This Osher Talk delves into the fascinating world of ASL, focusing on its unique syntax and linguistic features. Participants will learn how specific linguistic features of ASL are used to alter the intended meaning of a message, including variations in movement/intensity, facial movement/expression, sign placement and classifiers. Through explanation, demonstration and engaging activities, participants will gain a deeper understanding of ASL’s grammar and features, and how ASL differs from English. Participants will leave with an appreciation for the linguistic complexity and richness of this visual language.

February 12 – That Salsa Lady: People Before Profits

Created by a mom for her youngest daughter and YOU, “That Salsa Lady” (TSL) is not simply a family-owned artisan enterprise. Proudly located In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, it is also the only black-woman owned fresh salsa company in the United States with an on-site micro farm. Dedicated to the elimination of food deserts, TSL works to create verifiable and accessible food networks of single source growers, urban gardens, small farms, non-GMO producers and more. TSL does more than make salsa. We do our best to empower and educate as we engage those on the fringes with our great “flava” (flavor) and flexibility of our salsa. Then, through reconnecting people to healthy affordable nutrition, Salsa becomes the difference in how people relate to food.

February 19 – Milwaukee’s Incomparable Hildegarde: Roaring Twenties

Explore 1920s Milwaukee through the lens of Hildegarde Loretta Sell. The teenager from New Holstein, Wisconsin worked at theaters accompanying silent movies while attending St. John’s Cathedral High School and the Marquette Conservatory of Music. A job at Gimbels led to performing on Milwaukee’s first radio station. A Vaudeville act at the Palace Theater inspired her to audition and led to early success as “a local girl who makes good” headlining a show at the Riverside. Who could have predicted she would become the Incomparable Hildegarde, “the dear who made Milwaukee famous!” Her biography also provides glimpses of family life for middle class residents moving from rural Wisconsin to Milwaukee. The presentation includes live music from the 1920s.