VCU news

Jerry Stern worked for many years as a high school principal. His wife Nancy taught at an elementary school. And now, the longtime Wisconsin educators have become students in their retirement years thanks to Elderhostel, the world’s largest not-for-profit education travel organization for adults 55 and older.

“We’ve been to Atlanta, Albuquerque, Seattle, New Orleans – all over the country really,” said Nancy Stern.

The Sterns’ travels brought them to Richmond last summer to participate in a Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Center on Aging Elderhostel program. “Richmond’s Jewels: Mansions, Monuments and Masterpieces” is one of more than 9,000 Elderhostel programs nationwide.

“Programs like this are really an adventure in learning for older people,” said Jane Stephan, Ed.D., assistant director of education, Elderhostel and Lifelong Learning, Virginia Center on Aging. “And with Elderhostel, you get into places you would never get into and experience history and sites you would never uncover on your own.”

The Sterns admit they could have easily arranged a visit to Richmond on their own but the VCU Elderhostel program allowed them to get much more out of the trip.

“They take care of all of the arrangements from the hotel to restaurants to tours,” Nancy Stern said. “They provided us with an instructor to learn about the area’s history and architecture. We received plenty of inside information and behind-the-scenes opportunities that we never would have gotten trying to do it on out own.”

Nancy Stern remembers Richmond as a wonderful and beautiful city full of history and nice people, none of them nicer than Catherine Dodson, Richmond’s Elderhostel director. Dodson arranged to get a cake for Nancy to celebrate her birthday, which took place during her week in Richmond.

Dodson said older travelers appreciate the special touches of an Elderhostel trip.

“They enjoy the structured experience of Elderhostel, which also offers safety and adds opportunities for socialization and learning,” Dodson said.

VCU’s Elderhostel programs began in 1979. Over the years, programs have been offered in Richmond, the Hampton/Yorktown area and Natural Bridge, attracting thousands of visitors and adding millions of dollars to the state’s economy.

“We recently hit a milestone,” said Edward F. Ansello, Ph.D., director of VCU’s Virginia Center on Aging. “In 2006, we welcomed our 30,000th Elderhosteler to Virginia.”   

A new program being introduced this spring in Staunton is expected to generate additional interest. “The American Shakespeare Center: Blackfriars and the Bard” offers Elderhostel travelers the opportunity to study two Shakespeare plays as well as the language of Shakespeare’s time.  Travelers will attend two performances and meet the actors.

To register for Elderhostel programs, call toll free at 877-426-8056 weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. or visit www.elderhostel.org.  To learn more about VCU’s Virginia Center on Aging, visit www.vcu.edu/vcoa.