Interest Groups

Minnehaha Falls hike

Our April 17 hike will be in St. Paul, walking to Minnehaha Falls and back for an energizing 5.5-mile hike. We did this hike in November 2021, and hikers loved it.

Telling the stories of the living

Event Date: April 12, 2023, at 10:00 AM

Larry Rudnick and Vicki Gaylord shared how they have worked with living family members to gain more information and insight into their family trees. Gaylord and Rudnick explained the processes they used and gave great examples.

April Photo Club

“Domesticated animals” is the theme for the in-person gathering of the UMRA Photo Club in April. For those interested in having lunch together first, meet at the Great Dragon Buffet, across the St. Anthony Shopping Center parking lot, at 11:30 a.m. Newcomers are welcome!

Take a hike—or two!

Welcome to spring, UMRA hikers. April is when the UMRA Hiking Club returns to two hikes a month, on the first and third Mondays of the month. We may still have snow on the ground in April, making urban paved and plowed trails a better option.

Fourth Friday Book Club to discuss Louise Erdrich’s debut novel

Members of UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club will discuss Minnesota-born author Louise Erdrich’s 1984 debut novel Love Medicine when they meet via Zoom in March. It is a story of love and survival, of the comic and the tragic.

Book Notes | ‘A House Among the Trees’

Event Date: March 17, 2023, at 2:00 PM

The fictional story and characters portrayed in 'A House Among the Trees' are based on the last will of Maurice Sendak, the renowned author and illustrator of children’s books who died in 2012 and left his entire estate to his longtime personal assistant.

‘Staircases’ is the theme for March Photo Club meeting

“Staircases” is the theme for the in-person gathering of the UMRA Photo Club to be held in person on Tuesday, March 14. Newcomers are welcome!

Hike around the Lake of the Isles and Bde Maka Ska

Let’s walk around Lake of the Isles and Bde Maka Ska. Will meet at Lake of the Isles Parkway and 28th Street, on the east side of Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis. The walk will be about 5 1/2 miles. 

Dystopian novel is FF Book Club selection for February

Winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, The Orphan Master's Son is a dystopian novel set in North Korea that follows the misadventures of Jun Do, a North Korean everyman.

Book Notes | 'Nomadland'

Event Date: February 17, 2023, at 2:00 PM

For several years, journalist and author Jessica Bruder followed a group of retirees who lived in their vehicles, everything from small cars to worn out RVs, as they tried to piece together a subsistence lifestyle. Her book chronicles the challenges, the hardships, and the community these modern nomads created for themselves.

Ways to engage family members in family history

Event Date: February 15, 2023, at 10:00 AM

UMRA's Family History Interest Group (FHIG) met via Zoom for two presentations on ways to engage family members in family history.

February Photo Club

For February the THEME is Trees. Lunch at the Great Dragon at 11:30am for those who are interested.

Urban hike from Bde Maka Ska to Lake Harriet

For our first hike in the new year, the UMRA Hiking Club will sample a stretch of the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes Regional Park, from The Bakken Museum to the Lake Harriet Bandshell.

Encore urban hike February 5

For our first hike of the new year, the UMRA Hiking Club will again sample a stretch of the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes Regional Park, from The Bakken Museum to the Lake Harriet Bandshell. 

‘Red Notice’ is FF Book Club pick for January meeting

A well-told financial saga and crime thriller, Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice is the compelling memoir of an accidental activist.