Joyce Madsen

Joyce Madsen has been and done just about everything possible at ELLA.  She has taken classes, taught classes, sat on committees, co-chaired a committee and served as President of ELLA.  Whew!

It all started back in the 2010s when Joyce and her husband, Clair Woodbury, were looking for volunteer positions they could do together. They settled on co-chairing the Implementation Committee.  This role fit their lifestyle: some work in the fall, then the whole winter off until March when they allocated ELLA classes into suitable classrooms at the U of A.  “It was great.  We had a van and could be away for a chunk of the winter.”

Then in 2016 the ELLA board was in turmoil and Joyce suddenly filled the vacant president’s position. But there were bright spots, “Membership was over 900 and 600 members were registering for classes. And there was a close relationship with the university.  They did lots of things we now have to do by ourselves.  We would do the registrations, but the U of A would handle the money.  They also looked after vetting all of our professors. And the university covered all the cost for our office space in a university building. They provided the phone and all the supplies… It was a great relationship with the Faculty of Extension.”

And key members on the Board continued beyond their terms to provide continuity.  “We were building this whole trust thing between those who were competent and trying to get things back into workable order. Things started to come around and we started to look at the future.”

By 2018 ELLA was offering 54 classes and was running at capacity. It was a time when all participants paid for four classes so everyone stayed around all day, making noon hours lively.  “We had a club that went for walks at noon.  And all new members got a red dot on their name tags and a table in the cafeteria was designated for long-timers to take turns to sit and chat with the “red-dots”.

“And that was when art classes were moved to Enterprise Square downtown, and volunteers were given green St. Patrick’s Day hats to be conspicuous guides on the LRT.”

“But not all plans ran so smoothly,” adds Joyce.  “One day we got the bright idea to sell ELLA T-shirts and hoodies.  It was just a zoo! Not everything ran smoothly….” Joyce rolled her eyes, “Someone came up to me the next year and said, “Can we do T-shirts again?”   And I said, “Not until our memory fades!”

Joyce left the president’s position in 2018, but continued as past-president and later stepped in when help was needed on the Administration Committee.

Joyce says five female presidents of ELLA still get together two or three times a year, …. “just because.”

Joyce also has fond memories of the courses she has taken over the years, like great art classes even when the classrooms were grossly overheated.

And the music classes with D.T. Baker. “The year he did ‘60s music there were four or five Board members taking the class so we would sit together. Of course, it was music we had all grown up with so we vigorously sang along!”

Joyce also remembers classes taught by Margaret-Ann Armour, the renowned chemist known for her ground-breaking and successful efforts to encourage girls and women to pursue science education and careers.

Joyce and Clair also taught spirituality courses for ELLA. “We had people from all walks of life taking the course…some of the discussions got to be very interesting!”

[ Interviewed by Kathy Kerr ]