Wood Lake Nature Center is a peaceful 150-acre cattail marsh, woodland, and restored prairie that is a haven for migrating birds and waterfowl. This UMRA hike is a great opportunity for those who would like a shorter, easier hike. The trails are dirt, grass, and woodchip, with some bridges and a bit of paved trails. Only a couple small hills to navigate, the park is mostly flat. 

University of Minnesota Regent Penny Wheeler, MD, will be the featured guest for the UMRA luncheon forum on May 20. In place of the usual speech format for our forums, Regent Wheeler will be interviewed by UMRA member and liaison to the Board of Regents John Finnegan, professor and dean emeritus of the U of M School of Public Health.

I, Claudius by English writer Robert Graves, published in 1934, will be up for discussion when UMRA's Fourth Friday Book Club meets via Zoom on May 23.

June is the perfect time for an urban hike! Bev will lead a 4-mile hike from Lake Nokomis Community Center along Minnehaha Creek to Minnehaha Falls and back.

The UMRA Photo Club will meet at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in the meeting room of the Hennepin County St. Anthony Branch Library, in the small shopping center at New Brighton and St. Anthony Boulevards.  

The theme is hats.

Join Michael for a 4-to-5-mile hike at one of the most popular parks in the West Metro, Richardson Nature Center in Bloomington. It is located at the north end of Hyland Lake Park Reserve at 8737 East Bush Lake Road in Bloomington. 

The UMRA Book Club will discuss The Great River by Boyce Upton when it meets via Zoom on June 20.  

Learn about writing memoirs, technology for seniors, campus architecture, and more at the fourth annual Age-Friendly University Day to be held in the McNamara Alumni Center on the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis on Monday, June 23.

Catch up with friends and former colleagues, meet new UMRA members, enjoy delicious food, and participate in the third annual UMRA Summer Social Quiz at the Como Lakeside Pavilion in St. Paul on Wednesday, June 25.

The UMRA Hiking Club will hike two wonderful county parks in Monticello, MN on Monday, July 7. Lynn Anderson will lead the hikes and we will meet at her home at 9:30 a.m. and carpool from there.  

Our July 14 "hike" is a kayaking adventure on Bde Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun) and Lake of the Isles led by Barb Friedman and Bev Moe. 

Join hike leader Nanette Hanks on August 4th for a “Trail in Two Cities” hike.