Interest Groups

All Interest Groups articles are collected here.

June Photo Club

Event Date:

Theme to be announced.

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May Photo Club

Event Date:

Theme to be announced.

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Family history open discussion

Event Date:

Family history open discussion.

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April Photo Club

Event Date:

Theme to be announced.

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Fort Snelling State Park hike

Event Date:

The UMRA Hiking Club will explore wildlife along the Mississippi River in Fort Snelling State Park. The 3.9-mile Pike Island Loop is generally considered an easy route and takes just over an hour. Hikers can leave at that point, or stay to add another short loop. The trail is located below the bluff on which the historic fort sits.  The last time we were there we saw a lot of deer, and the river always provides fascinating views.

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March Photo Club

Event Date:

Theme to be announced.

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Will Craig on using local family history sources

Event Date:

Will Craig discusses using local sources for family history.

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Fourth Friday Book Club to meet February 28

Event Date:

The Fourth Friday Book Club will meet via Zoom on February 28 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. CST to discuss The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

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Huckleberry Finn, book cover

Book Club I to meet February 21

Event Date:

John Bantle will lead the discussion of A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson when the UMRA book club meets via Zoom on February 21. 

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A Walk in the Woods, book cover

UMRA Photo Club to meet February 11

Event Date:

"Things that drive me crazy" will be the theme when the UMRA Photo Club meets on February 11. Newcomers are welcome.

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Mexcian sunflower. Photo by Dave Holets

Lake of the Isles hike

Event Date:

Our February 3 hike will be around Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis, with an option to add Bde Maka Ska, weather permitting. No matter how far we hike, let’s go to Isles Bun & Coffee for treats after the hike. Their buns are delicious!

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Isles Bun & Coffee, graphic

Fourth Friday Book Club in January

Event Date:

Selection: Middlemarch by George Elliot.

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Middlemarch

Japan, Norway, and Sweden

Event Date:

UMRA’s first Armchair Traveler program of the new year included two presentations featuring travels in Japan with Wayne “Ironwain” Potratz and in Norway and Sweden with Lynn Anderson.

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Book Notes | ‘Tom Lake’

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'Tom Lake' by Ann Patchett is set in the early summer of 2020 at a cherry orchard on the shores of Lake Michigan, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the three daughters of the main character have returned home to help with the harvest.

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Tom Lake by Ann Pathett, book cover.

January 2025 Photo Club

Event Date:

"Birds" will be the theme when the  UMRA Photo Club meets in person on Tuesday, January 14, at the meeting room of the Hennepin County St. Anthony Branch Library, in the small shopping center at New Brighton and St. Anthony Boulevards.  

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Eros Bendato Screpolato by Igor Mitoraj at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Photo by Jean Kinsey.