Local seniors invited to make friends, learn new skills through community classes

IDAHO FALLS – Royce Lee wants to help seniors be active and have fun in their retirement years.

The 78-year-old Idaho Falls man is the president of Friends for Learning, a nonprofit that provides about 80 classes and activities for its members. Classes on a variety of topics are available to people 50 and older through a partnership with Idaho State University in Idaho Falls. Topics include health, travel, finances, arts and crafts, cooking, training for digital devices, local government and business interests, tours of local museums and businesses, and many more.

The organization hosts a variety of activities as well, including hiking, biking, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, walking on the greenbelt, hunting bears in Yellowstone National Park with a camera, ATV trips and more.

“We try to provide interesting subjects or activities,” Lee tells EastIdahoNews.com. “It gets them out of the house, meeting people and doing fun things.”

A new semester gets underway on Jan. 22 and will last through mid-May. Participants can sign up for any course that interests them. They are one-time classes taught weekly.

“We’ll find somebody with expertise on a subject and invite them to teach anybody in our group who’s interested,” Lee says.

Friends for Learning was formed in 2004 by a group of retirees from what is now the Idaho National Laboratory. They heard about a similar group in Pocatello and decided to start their own version of the program.

There were six initial members of the group and 10 classes were offered that first year. As the membership grew, so did the number of classes. Today, there are more than 350 members.

Lee joined the club in 2016 and he says he’s made friends with people he never would’ve met otherwise. He highly recommends it for others who are interested.

“Out of those 80 classes, I usually take 25 of them just because they’re interesting. I’ve learned a lot over the years,” he says. “I love going hiking with a bunch of 70 year olds. We go out and do a day hike and come back home. We have a great time.”

As a new semester approaches, Lee says there may be others who don’t know about Friends for Learning who want to participate.

Registration begins Tuesday. There is a $25 fee per semester, which allows participants to take as many classes as they want.

To sign up or learn more, click here.

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