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Martha Metropulos – The Learning Center’s Renaissance Woman

A renaissance man—or woman—is defined as a person who excels in multiple fields. Nothing could describe Martha Metropulos more accurately!

“I was born in Baraboo, Wisconsin,” she said, “home of Ringling Brothers,” she added with a smile in her voice.

“My father was a university professor,” Martha continued. “He taught speech and drama, and my mother was an elementary teacher. We lived in Madison, Wisconsin; Iowa City, Iowa; and Macomb, Illinois,” all college towns. Martha was a youngster then and she benefited intellectually from her family’s travels.

“I went to the Lab school in Macomb” she said, and although she was still a teenager, she had the opportunity to broadcast her sixth grade report on hummingbirds from one building to another—and watch it later on TV.

There was a lot of music and art and theater in Martha’s childhood. “I did a couple of productions for my dad and I played ‘Puck’ in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Martha attended junior high and high school in Illinois. “Then I went to Illinois State University on a teacher’s scholarship. That’s where I met my husband, John.”
John had just returned from Vietnam. Martha was 18. “John was ready to settle down, but that wasn’t what happened. From that moment on, life became very interesting and exciting,” Martha said with a chuckle.
“John and I went into the antique business. We got our start by going to flea markets and farm auctions. We dealt mostly in architectural antiques, buying interiors from buildings that were going to be torn down. We dismantled everything that had value and sold at big auctions—some as far away as California.”

One thing Martha and John bought and sold were stained glass windows and lampshades, and they grew to love stained glass. “The problem was that we couldn’t buy glass to repair them,” she explained. “So in 1976 we started a stained glass factory—Chicago Art Glass.” Chicago Art Glass was essentially a glass factory. They had four furnaces going and made sheets of glass from raw material in all colors. “We sold glass worldwide,” Martha said proudly. “Our glass was used to repair the Tiffany windows at New York’s Metropolitan Museum.”

John and Martha traveled the world, visiting customers and attending trade shows. During this time also, Martha had a stained glass studio and taught stained glass for many years, including conducting a one-week seminar in Germany teaching construction of stained glass lampshades.
“We have two children who were born and raised in the Midwest, and they traveled in Europe with us,” Martha continued. Their daughter, Shana, is a UC Berkeley graduate with a Masters from Stanford and became an English teacher. She’s also a world-class marathon runner; she and her husband are now raising two children (Nick and Sam) in Colfax.

Their son, John, graduated from the California Culinary Academy, was a white water rafting guide for ten years. He and his wife, Gina, opened a restaurant in Lotus, California called Café Mahjaic in one of the oldest buildings in the state, which he and his father restored. (The origin of that name is a great story. When you see Martha you should ask her about it.)

While raising children, doing stained glass, and collecting art and antiques, Martha still found time to volunteer. “I was a cub scout den mother and I was a den leader coach, teaching other mothers how to be den leaders.”

“We sold the glass business in 1990, packed up, and moved to California. My sister, who lives in Berkeley told us that we ought to try Grass Valley/Nevada City. We did and immediately fell in love with the place.” Marsha and John now live on a nine-acre hilltop, replete with a spectacular view and all kinds of wildlife.

Martha was working as an administrative assistant in a local health club where she met Jill Sonnenberg and was later recruited as a Learning Center volunteer by Jill. Martha’s current job with the Learning Center is a big one. She is Chair of the Curriculum Committee, where she works with instructors and other committees to coordinate decisions on the courses to be taught. She also oversees the writing of student manuals and edits them. She teaches the word processing class and wrote the manual for that. A true Renaissance woman, Martha is willing to take on any job and do it well. The Learning Center is indisputably a better place for her good work!

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Announcing Our Inaugural Workshop
   -- File Management

In the January newsletter we announced that we were intending to try a new learning experience that we called a “hands-on workshop.” This workshop would be in addition to the monthly seminars we've been presenting, but the workshop would be hands-on, that is, those attending will sit at the computers and will actually practice the material being presented by the workshop leader. Now we are ready to announce the first workshop.

Wednesday, March 29, (2 to 4 p.m.)

"File Management"

presented by Mitch Bain

Everyone using a personal computer creates or acquires files; be they letters, notes, announcements, pictures, music, videos, and the like. Many of these files, such as pictures downloaded from a digital camera, are irreplaceable.

In this 2-hour hands-on workshop we will review the computer’s file and folder structure, plus how to create, copy, move, rename, sort, delete, backup and find both files and folders.

In addition to eight students who will occupy our computer work stations, we can accommodate a limited number of students bringing their own laptops.

Fee: $10 in advance. Call Joan Gootherts at 273-6955 for registration, or email joan"at"gcclc.org

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Humor…..

Easy Rebate Procedures For the “Thingamajig” You Just Bought
If you’ve ever applied for one of those factory rebates, you’ll love these tongue-in-cheek instructions, thanks to Doug Worthy.

1. Please include a photo of your means of travel to our store. (Car, bus, feet, bicycle, skateboard, etc.)
2. Please include a photo of yourself at least near the entrance to our store, but preferably inside.
3. You must include photo of you removing our product from the shelf. Also, you must record your shopping cart number.
4. When checking out, you must have the cashier’s signature on your sales slip and the manager’s initials on this sales slip (not just his usual “X”).
5. Upon arrival at home with our wonderful $5.00 rebate offer on the thingamajig, do this…
   1. Fill out the required three pages of data on the submittal form. Please include the names of all ancestors (deceased or otherwise) Include birth dates and names of children (married or otherwise).
   2. On the sales receipt, be sure you circle the purchase price (must use green ballpoint). Circle the date (must use red crayon). Note: If not available, return to store for purchase of proper writing instruments. (No photo required.) (We told you it was easy!)
   3. Cut out the UPC Code from exterior (or interior) of box. (Be sure the cutout is exactly 4x4 size.)
   4. Now locate (ha ha) the “secret” product identification code number and cut this out for inclusion with the other documentation. This will be hidden inside the box somewhere. If not found, you may call our toll-free tech number, 1-800-GOOD-LUCK. If you get through, be prepared to answer a few questions, including your driver’s license number, pet’s name, email address, and your great great grandmother’s maiden name.
   5. When ready for mailing (postage must not be more than $5) place all documentation in a large manila folder. Weigh it carefully and be sure your return address is unreadable, since we don’t care to respond unless threatened with a lawsuit. Send all documents to: Hidden Shores, 1374 Lost Hope Drive, Lahore, India.

6. We must receive this documentation within 12 hours of purchase. If there is some emergency (like surgery), we will need your surgeon’s documentation for any procedures performed. Attending nurses will need to sign this also (on each page). Note: If your health insurance covers this surgery, you may not be eligible for a rebate.
7. If you do not receive your rebate within the first three years, it could be that we went bankrupt and no longer are required to give you a rebate. (We might also have most of our personnel busy taking English lessons, so be patient). We sincerely hope you’re still young and healthy when you get your $5.00.

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Photo of the Month

Elinor Sheets submitted this beautiful photo of Flathead Lake. Flathead Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in the western United States. Lying in the Flathead Valley of Northwest Montana, the lake is more then 300 feet deep, extends north and south some 28 miles. and is seven to 15 miles wide. Thank you, Elinor!