The most popular doll on the planet, Barbie, is still going strong after 65 years! Barbie has proven she still creates social buzz with the “pink summer” surrounding the 2023 release of her first live-action movie. Along the way she has significantly impacted social values in pop culture by modeling female independence, has been the subject of social controversy, run for U.S. President six times, literally travelled into space twice – AND has done it all looking great, in the latest fashions. Not bad, given that everyone except her creator was sure she would be a failure from the start. Mattel reports that there is a Barbie sold somewhere in the world every second. Millions of girls own and play with Barbies, and she has hundreds of thousands of collectors around the world. Perhaps you played with Barbie or are a collector yourself. Plan to share your thoughts about Barbie during our time together; join Barbie enthusiast Mary Bondarenko and other class members in going down memory lane with this toy icon. 

Bondarenko is a retired management trainer from a fortune 500 company. She has been active in Elderwise in Ann Arbor for seven years, and is looking forward to being back in teaching mode for the first time since retiring.

Part II of the lecture will be streamed on Zoom on Monday afternoon, August 12th from 1 p.m., to 3 p.m.  

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84053965693

This special event will also be streamed on Facebook Live, which can be viewed from the library’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Tecumseh-District-Library-192148050127/.

No one will be allowed to enter the Zoom meeting after 1:05 p.m.; you are welcome to join the live stream on Facebook at time that is convenience for you.