April 2023

Rejoicing is due with the return of spring and the Shakespeare Repertory in April! A University Retirees Volunteer Center “Favorite,” we offer you the reward of satisfying your desire for theater enjoyment at no cost (and with free parking). We are asked to provide volunteer ushers and you can serve that role. The University Theater Department will perform two of Shakespeare’s plays in the Stoll Thrust Theater in the Rarig Center: Cymbeline and Winter’s Tale. Four performances of each will be presented in a six-day period from April 4th through 11th. This is a fine opportunity to experience the excellence of the University’s theater students and become more familiar with these lesser performed works.

Do you have a pet article you’ve written or would like to write but haven’t found a place for publication? The online Journal of Opinions, Ideas, and Essays is soliciting articles for its 2019 issue.

Dr. Robert Kane has offered to train a group of UMRA members to be “Care Guides.” Nine UMRA members have volunteered to learn about decision making and the options and resour­ces available through the Center on Aging. After training is completed, these volunteers will be available to any UMRA member who seeks help about health care decisions.

Work is going forward to re-launch the new online journal JOIE (Journal of Opinions, Ideas, and Essays) sponsored by UMRA and the University Library.

Articles approved by JOIE’s original editor, Marty Dworkin, will soon appear as volume one of JOIE.

The seventh cycle of grants to help retirees pursue projects related to their scholarship has been funded by Provost Karen Hanson and UMRA. All faculty members, profes­sional and administrative and civil service retirees from the Twin Cities and coordinate campuses of the University are eligible to apply for the grants (up to $5,000).  The deadline for applications is December 15, 2015. 

Retirees, both Faculty and Staff, retain lifetime access to their U of M Google accounts as long as they access them at least once every 3 months.  “Google Account End of Life Policies,” http://it.umn.edu/google-account-end-life-policies, states:  “The retiree will retain lifetime access to the account.”

Do you skip over the monthly URVC article when you see the “V” word? Are there more important matters than the needs of our community—or your own well-being? When we participate, we are engaged. We not only become inti­mate partners with those who use our skills, we become re­vitalized, mentally alert, psychologically uplifted, physically strengthened. You will live a fuller and longer life!

UMRA bylaw revisions will be presented to the members for their approval at the November luncheon meeting.

It’s not meant to be a secret, but we have learned that many UMRA women do not know about the University of Min­nesota Women’s Club, said Shirley Holt at a recent gather­ing. “It’s time for us to spread the word about the UMWC,” said Van Linck, member of UMWC and an UMRA leader.

This is a dynamic women’s organization, and it is a natural activity for retirees, although membership is open to all ages. 

The Offie of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) reported that we received 12 applications for the Professional Development Grants for Retirees by the December 15 deadline. Awards will be announced by March 1, 2016.