The UMRA Special Events Planning Group identifies, plans, and organizes social events for members and their guests. We encourage and promote social events proposed and organized by members. The Planning Group meets as needed throughout the year, and reports to the UMRA board through the UMRA Program Committee.
We regularly plan a summer picnic social, a fall river cruise, and a winter celebration to bring the light! Cabinets of Curiosity events are held several times each year.
Cabinets of Curiosity
From miscellaneous cabinets of curiosity in the seventeenth century to contemporary specialized museums, carefully curated material objects have become fundamental to knowledge making. UMRA sponsors a few tours each year to visit the rare and often well-hidden collections tucked away in storage across the UMN Twin Cities campus, typically visible only through with small selected items on display. Under the guidance of expert curators and librarians, we have been allowed to get up close and see rare and unusual objects. Attendees may also gather after the tour for discussion and treats.
If you have ideas for future social activities, or would like to join the planning group, please contact Jan Morlock, [email protected]. Below is a list of past events.
UMRA Breakfast Gatherings
Topical breakfast gatherings: Sometimes we need to talk with people face-to-face about topics we care about or with whom we share common experience. UMRA will host a monthly in-person breakfast and the group will be limited in size to facilitate a good discussion. There will be an expert or two thrown in the mix as a resource for our discussion. Topics will be wide-ranging, from the challenges of caring for someone with dementia, to surviving illness such as cancer, to the challenges of downsizing.
For more information about the breakfasts or if you have ideas for topics, contact Bill Donohue [email protected] or Lynn Slifer [email protected]
Share your upcoming events. Submit event information in the Event Submission form
Upcoming Events
UMRA’s second “Campus Conversation” with a University leader will offer UMRA members an exclusive opportunity to meet with John Morris, president and CEO of the University of Minnesota Foundation. The focus of the conversation will be the role of the foundation and its relationship to retirees.
UMRA’s Cabinets of Curiosity tour will offer an insider's look into the important work happening at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center. We will enjoy a walking tour through patient exam rooms, student learning areas, and clinical/surgery suites, highlighting how faculty experts and student veterinarians collaborate to deliver life-saving care.
Tour the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Containment Lab for a behind-the-scenes look at how researchers study aquatic invasive species. Participants will learn about current research projects and discover how scientific findings are translated into practical management tools that help protect Minnesota's waters.