Taken from the April, 2007 newsletter of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, University of S. Maine in Portland.

While in Kusadasi, Turkey, members of the Greek trip found a lovely 8x10 Turkoman orange-toned carpet we were longing to buy to put in the new OLLI building, currently under construction.

There will be a talking/sitting area in front of a small fireplace in the new building and we could see such a warm, cozy rug just lighting up our new lobby.

The dealer in Kusadasi, Oscar, was willing to wait for us to raise funds, so by January 8th, we had the money in hand. Oscar, however, sent us a tragic email, that he had had a “float” (flood?) and the rug was ruined beyond rescue. We tried repeatedly to reach him again but his email also died.

So, the Rug Gnomes, (David Murray, Denny and David Morton and Viv Sohn) prowled the rug shops of Portland looking for a replacement.

We found this 8x11 foot Heriz, from Iran, at the Araby Rug Shop in Falmouth. The tones are reds and blues rather than orange but the overall effect is also rich and warm.

We bought it for OLLI and Mr. Moss will store it for us until the building is ready. Thank you.

So all is well that ends well…deepest thanks to all who helped us, and everyone, please come enjoy it when the new building opens!