Good Food, Good Conversation, and The Wedding Singer

The table was loaded with delicious treats for the Metro West holiday gathering. Betty Owen hosted a pre-theatre social hour at her home, then we attended a dynamic production of The Wedding Singer at The Old Log Theatre.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Title IX Featured in November

Jill Gaulding, legal director of Gender Justice, was the featured speaker at the November branch meeting. She discussed a number of issues related to Title IX, and also a bit about what cognitive science research tells us about how our brains develop bias.

It's All About Balance

The theme was balance as Metro West met on October 15 at the Minnetonka Community Center. Siobhan McMahon led us in a number of exercises to help us maintain good posture, good balance, and avoid falls. There are a number of exercise classes available in the area for anyone interested in learning more.  The Marsh and YMCA were two places mentioned that offer classes.

What's New at Artistry?

It's time to kick off a new AAUW year.  Thirty attendees enjoyed a buffet luncheon on September 19 at Parkshore Senior Campus in St. Louis Park.  Artistry executive director, Andrea Specht spoke to us about changes and events happening at the former Bloomington Theatre and Arts Center; including theatre, visual arts, and arts education.  She also described the "creative-place-making" project underway in the South Loop area of Bloomington.

To Hopkins for a Summer Outing

About a dozen Metro West members visited the Hopkins' Farmers Market on August 8.  In addition to shopping for fresh food, veggies, and other items, they had the chance to look inside a "little house" provided by the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society.  For more information about the house, visit this page. The house will also be on display at the Minnesota State Fair.  Lunch was enjoyed at the Big Ten restaurant in downtown Hopkins.  Navigating downtown Hopkins was a little challenging with all the street work in progress, but those who attended had an enjoyable time.

Salad Supper Finishes the Program Year

On May 14, our program was presented by Paul Simone and Rachel Laurie, who talked about volunteer opportunities with RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) and Experience Corp, a part of Volunteers of America.  We also enjoyed our annual salad supper.  Although it was a drizzly kind of evening, the food and conversation was wonderful (as it is every year at this event).

State Convention Photo Summary

Eight members traveled to Austin to attend the state convention April 10-11.  The Hormel Historic Home was an excellent site for the conference.  Speakers from the Association and a dynamic LAF speaker (Kathy Bull) connected attendees to how AAUW works to accomplish its mission.  Here are a few photos from the conference.

Immigration was April Theme

Emily Good, Staff Attorney for Research, Education and Advocacy at The Advocates for Human Rights spoke to us about the subject of immigration.  Her presentation included information on the legal process of immigration and a bit about the immigration court system.  Options for legal immigration include: having a family member in the United States already, coming as a refugee, or winning the ‘green card lottery’. She briefly reviewed major immigration law from the Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986) to the Homeland Security Act (2002).  The immigration court system is seriously overburdened with only 200 immigration judges in the entire country (3 in Minnesota). There was a lively discussion after her remarks.

Groundwater Issues was March Subject

Diedre Coleman, a Master Water Steward with the Freshwater Society presented an interesting program about the Freshwater Society and its efforts in the areas of groundwater sustainability, fighting pollution in lakes, rivers, and streams, especially from non-human sources such as storm water runoff.  While governments at the federal, state, and local level have water pollution prevention programs, water does not follow political boundaries, so in Minnesota, we have watershed districts to coordinate programs across political boundaries. The Master Water Stewards program is currently a pilot project.  It involves 60 hours of classroom training, outreach work, a capstone project, and stewards must commit to 50 hours of volunteer time to work on water-related projects.

OOPS!

Looks like I kinda forgot to update the blog last month---so here comes a bunch of stuff to catch you up on MetroWest activities.

Loft was February Feature

Metro West gathered at Meridian Manor on February 21 for lunch and an interesting presentation by Jocelyn Hale, Executive Director of The Loft Literary Center. She spoke about the upcoming conference of the Association of Writers and Writer's Programs that will be meeting in Minneapolis in April, as well as the 40th anniversary of The Loft, that will take place in August.  The Loft continues to support writers in a variety of ways.  More information is available at https://www.loft.org/.

Improving Our Nutrition

Approximately 24 MetroWest members gathered at the Glenn on January 17.  A healthy luncheon including salad, pan-seared chicken, potatoes, asparagus, and apple crisp was enjoyed by all.  Lois Kukuk presented the program about reviewing our diet and looking for more healthful options than what we eat now (aren’t we all guilty of those fast-food indiscretions?). She included information about which foods are good for the brain; as well as the benefits of protein, and how antioxidants fight free radicals, the cause of several health problems, among other topics.