Rwanda and the British Columbia Coast
The April 23, 2025 Armchair Traveler Program featured Ceeya Patton-Bolman sharing insights, maps, and photos based on her 20 years of experience in Rwanda and Gene Allen sharing pictures, maps, and information about the British Columbia Coast and its San Juan and Gulf Islands.
Rwanda and the British Columbia Coast
Wed, Apr 23, 2025, 10am
UMRA’s Armchair Traveler program from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 23, via Zoom will take us on a cruise along the coast of British Columbia, the westernmost province of Canada, and halfway around the world to Rwanda, a landlocked country located just a few degrees south of the Equator in East-Central Africa. Cecilia “Ceeya” Patton-Bolman will be our guide in Rwanda and Gene Allen in Canada.
Patton-Bolman, a retired pediatric intensive care nurse, will share pictures and information about Rwanda. In 2009, she co-founded Team Heart together with her husband, retired heart transplant surgeon R. Morton “Chip” Bolman, MD, and a group of nurses. Team Heart is a nonprofit organization focused on bringing sustainable cardiac care to Rwanda and East Africa.
Allen’s presentation, "British Columbia Coast and its San Juan and Gulf Islands," will be drawn from a month of exploring this large, beautiful area in his in-laws' 42-foot cabin cruiser, the Lady LaJean. The islands vary greatly in size, some with very popular attractions. A special example is the Butchart Gardens, a national historic site of Canada on Vancouver Island. In addition to many pictures, Allen says he will describe “three experiences we would not choose to repeat!”
I will send a Zoom invitation to all UMRA members a month before the program and a reminder the week before. I hope you can join us.
—Lynn C. Anderson, Armchair Traveler Program chair
Upcoming Events
The theme for December is historical family photos. Join us for photography and fun.
There are a few fun events coming up at the Campus Club that are open to everyone. See these events on the Campus Club Facebook and Instagram.
Meeting to plan books for next year.
There has been a lot in the news recently about the University of Minnesota Medical School, University of Minnesota Physicians, and Fairview Health Services. Please join us at breakfast on January 8 for a respectful and engaging discussion of their relationship.
The theme for January is great MN views.
Developing a sense of identity is a central psychological task of the lifespan. Memories and stories from our personal past, as well as cultural memories and stories in society play key roles in how we develop our identities. This presentation will discuss psychological theory and research on how memories and stories make us who we are.
When you are of Icelandic descent you can trace your ancestors back to around 1200 and sometimes further.
Bleak House by Charles Dickens.
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UMRA’s special event for this winter will again be a celebration of brighter days and the approaching end of winter. We’ll have food, fellowship, and music provided by Urban Sound, one of the University’s premier student a cappella ensembles.
Family history with Jim Kurle. A tale of Swedish emigration to Dunn County, North Dakota, including my grandfather whose unusual relationship to several churches and religion in general was one of the reasons for his emigrating.
Growing Up by Russell Baker.