Winter Social will celebrate brighter days ahead
Tue, January 28, 2025, at 2pm
Urban Sound
A cappella ensemble
U of M students
Midland Hills Country Club
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.
We’ll be gathering mid-afternoon at Midland Hills Country Club in Roseville in its light-filled Turnberry Hall. The winter solstice will be behind us, the days will be getting longer, and spring semester will have started.
Before the students fill our hearts and ears with song, we’ll have time to socialize and enjoy a wonderful selection of appetizers and sweet treats. We’ll also have coffee, water, and a cash bar.
As U of M retirees, it will be fun to connect with the young and talented U of M students. I have asked the members of Urban Sound to identify themselves, their class years, and their majors.
The price of UMRA’s 2025 Winter Social is $39 for those making reservations by December 31, and $42 for later reservations. The reservation deadline is January 18.
—Will Craig, UMRA Special Events Planning Group
Upcoming Events
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.
Professor Kathryn Pearson will be a special guest at the UMRA breakfast in June. This will be an opportunity to hear Professor Pearson’s perspective on President Trumps’s first 100 days, and to engage in discussion about what we, as individual citizens, can do in these challenging times for democracy.
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.
H is for Hawk: A Memoir on Grief and Falconry by Helen Macdonald, published 2016.
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.
The UMRA Book Club will discuss Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid when it meets via Zoom on July 18.
Bill Doherty's April Living Well Workshop, Dealing with differences in a polarized world, inspired many UMRA members. He has very graciously agreed to hold a Skills for Disagreeing Better workshop for us in July. You will learn about the values and concerns of the other political side and practice skills for communicating more effectively in the presence of disagreement.
Still Life by Louise Penny.
Join hike leader Nanette Hanks on August 4th for a “Trail in Two Cities” hike.
The UMRA Book Club will discuss Blue Ribbon by Karal Ann Marling when it meets via Zoom on August 15.
Join Larry Micek, hike leader, on August 18th for a hike at Lake Elmo Park Reserve, located at 1515 Keats Avenue North, Lake Elmo, MN.
You are invited–join other UMRA members and friends for a late summer river cruise, this year on the Saint Croix River, departing from Stillwater Riverboat Company dock. Our lovely 2.5 hour private charter cruise on the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway includes lunch, a cash bar, and the excellent company of friends and colleagues.
Daytrip Stillwater in the afternoon with friends! Make a day of it.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.