A formal farewell to Wiesława Olczyk, the initiator and longtime head of our University of the Third Age, took place on Friday, May 19, in the conference room of the Bolesławiec Cultural Centre – International Ceramics Centre.
The meeting was attended, among others, by Mayor Piotr Roman, professor Artur Zaborski, the rector’s representative for the University of the Third Age in Bolesławiec at the Wrocław University of Economics, Beata Sulska, Secretary of Bolesławiec County Sylwia Chruszcz, and Bożena Kuchmacz from the University of the Third Age in Gromadka.
The meeting was opened by BOK–MCC director Kornel Filipowicz, who stressed:
It is not often that we say farewell to someone so important to our city.
In his speech, Piotr Roman referred to these words:
We are not saying goodbye at all. We simply want to thank one another.
He added:
I remember the time when Ms Wiesława came to me. In this position, I have received 20,000 people. Among them were many people with great ideas. But usually, when the implementation stage begins, only a handful remain.
The head of Bolesławiec City Hall noted that no official had ever brought him such a detailed outline of a project as Wiesława Olczyk had. He also said: – I would like to congratulate you. This is one of the greatest educational successes of recent years in Bolesławiec—a success that inspired various other organisations.
He also stated: – For us, this is an incredible help in getting people out of their homes and showing them that life can be different, that one can live actively. I feel proud to be the mayor of a city where people can organise themselves so wonderfully.
He recalled a meeting at a bank in Jelenia Góra with the daughter of one of the Bolesławiec University of the Third Age students. She told P. Roman that she was proud that her mother had learned to swim during the classes. – These are beautiful encounters – the mayor concluded.
There were wishes and gifts as well. The head of the University of the Third Age herself also spoke:
Together, we learned to live a little differently in retirement: to take care of our health, our friendships and our warm relationships with one another.
She added:
I wish you many, many good things. May the sun always shine into your windows and your hearts.
The ceremony was also an opportunity to review the University of the Third Age’s activities to date and present awards to its most active and committed students. Later in the ceremony, Prof. A. Zaborski read out messages of thanks to Ms Wiesława from the rector and dean of the Wrocław University of Economics, while Maria Wolańska thanked her on behalf of the entire university community.
Kornel Filipowicz also recalled that when the Bolesławiec University of the Third Age was launched, he was the principal of Primary School No. 1 in Bolesławiec. (From the very beginning, this is where the university has been based.) – I realised something extremely important – stressed the current head of BOK–MCC. – This will create an opportunity for my school and its children to engage in a wonderful, creative exchange between generations. And I thank you for that as well.
Beata Sulska:
I would like to thank you very warmly. To me, you embody a very high level of personal culture, something of a vanishing species of good, honest, truthful, decisive and consistent relationships.
Sylwia Chruszcz thanked Wiesława Olczyk on behalf of the county officials and read a letter from County Head Tomasz Gabrysiak. The head of the County Board wrote, among other things:
Your leadership enabled many people to continue their intellectual development and acquire new skills. Thanks to your pioneering work (...), senior citizens can actively participate in social life.
The meeting was enhanced by performances from the University of the Third Age Choir, conducted by Dorota Straburzyńska, and from participants in the oriental dance classes, taught by Joanna Bartuś.
Of course, the University of the Third Age is not ending its activities. As Maria Wolańska reported, 155 people have already enrolled for the next academic year.