Events

Bye Bye Winter Happy Hour

You are invited to a virtual Bye Bye Winter Happy Hour on March 3 to meet other UMRA members for small group conversation about favorite avocations or activities. What have you been doing to get through the winter and this time of COVID?

Using DNA for family history research

Event Date: February 9, 2022, at 10:00 AM

Doing family history research with DNA was the focus when the UMRA Family History Interest Group (FHIG) met in February.

March hike

The March 14th hike will be led by Michelle Trudeau-Spanjers at Como Park. Meet in the parking lot south of the Como Lakeside Pavilion, 1360 Lexington Parkway N., St. Paul, at 9:30 am, and be ready to hike by 9:40.

Book notes | Prairie Fires

Event Date: March 18, 2022, at 2:00 PM

Caroline Fraser’s Pulitzer prize-winning book Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder is a meticulously researched biography of the much-loved author of the Little House books.

Book notes | The Nickel Boys

Event Date: January 21, 2022, at 2:00 PM

Colson Whitehead, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for The Underground Railroad, explores the horrors of a reformatory school in Florida in his subsequent novel, "The Nickel Boys."

Fourth Friday Book Club to meet February 25

Everyone is welcome when UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club (aka Book Club II) meets February 25 to discuss The Doctors Blackwell.

February Hike

The February 14, 2022 hike will be led by Julie Sweitzer at Fort Snelling State Park.  Carpools will be arranged for members who do not have MN State Park permits.  This will be a moderately-paced hike of approximately 5 miles.  Ice grippers are recommended as the trail may be icy in spots.

January hike cancelled

The January 10, 2022 hike at Fort Snelling State Park is cancelled due to sub-zero temperatures predicted for that morning.  It will be held Feb 14.

Photo Club to meet November 9

“Wildlife” will be the theme when the UMRA Photo Club meets to share and discuss pictures at on Tuesday, November 9, via Zoom.

Photo Club to meet January 11

The January meeting of the UMRA Photo Club will start with members sharing and talking about “What’s my number?” theme pictures.

Book Club II to meet January 28

How better to mark our first year of Fourth Friday Book Club than with another selection from the series of detective novels, set in the Périgord region of France, by Martin Walker.

Cabin Fever Happy Hour

Hold the date for UMRA’s first Cabin Fever Happy Hour, a social event for UMRA members and their guests via Zoom at 4 p.m. on Thursday, January 27, 2022.

January 26, 2022—Inuit Art Communities on Baffin Island and Aussie Travel and Trivia

Event Date: January 26, 2022, at 10:00 AM

This Armchair Traveler Program featured two very interesting presentation about two very different parts of the world. Kathryn Hanna, retired faculty member from the Waseca campus and the College of Biological Sciences on the Twin Cities campus, talked about how her interest in Inuit art resulted in a trip to Baffin Island where she visited three Inuit communities and met many Inuit artists.

Book Club I to meet February 18, 2022

Laura Ericksen will lead the discussion of The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah when the UMRA Book Club I meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, February 18.

Learn to scan your family photos

Event Date: December 8, 2021, at 10:00 AM

In this session, we learned how to take pictures (of your pictures) with a digital camera, the pros and cons of fee-based digitizing services, and flat-bed scanners.