-information courtesy of Granville County Public Information Officer Terry Hobgood
Russ Barberio has been named the new coordinator of the Creative Lifelong Learning (CLL) program run by Granville County Senior Services. Barberio takes over for Marilyn Howard who is retiring from Granville County at the end of June.
Barberio came to North Carolina in 1982 to be the plant controller at Max Factor Cosmetics in Oxford and stayed in the area after leaving that job to work as a computer software consultant.
In retirement, Barberio had the chance to focus more on his hobbies, including working with the North Carolina Genealogical Society to promote the organization while working to educate genealogists on research techniques. He also enjoys camping, reading, classical music, Shakespeare, and North Carolina history (particularly the Revolutionary War). After experiencing the rich array of classes available through the Granville County CLL program, Barberio jumped at the chance to lead the program upon Howard’s retirement.
“This program has been administered so successfully by Marilyn for the last six years,” said Barberio. “She will be sorely missed, but she has left such a solid foundation for us to continue to build on.”
He holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Utah and a bachelor’s degree in Management from Utah State University. Barberio lives in Henderson with his wife of 57 years, Diane. They have three children and four grandchildren.
The Creative Lifelong Learning program was established in 2017 through a generous endowment and is modeled after the OLLI programs at Duke and N.C. State universities. The program is committed to offering opportunities to stimulate the mind, uplift the spirit and enhance the well-being of adult learners through a wide range of educational programs, physical activities and social events.
For more information about CLL and all of the programs offered by Granville County Senior Services, visit the Granville County website at this link https://www.granvillecounty.org/residents/senior-services/ or follow Granville County Senior Services on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064457631282.
The Granville County Senior Center is located at 107 Lanier St. in Oxford and the South Granville Senior Center is located at 114 Douglas Dr. in Creedmoor. The North Granville Senior Center is currently located at 318 US Highway 15 South in Stovall but construction is scheduled to begin this summer on a new center located in downtown Stovall on Oxford Street.