Music therapy is April topic

About 25 members gathered on April 21 to hear Hilary Fredenburg discuss the value of music therapy in treating a number of emotional, social, and physical conditions that people experience in their lives. Hilary is a board-certified music therapist at McPhail School of Music. She covered a lot of ground in a short time, but everyone felt they learned something new.

Time to Catch up

Apologies for not writing for a few months.  Here are a few pictures to catch our readers up.

In January, we met for a luncheon at the Parkshore Senior Campus.  Our speaker was Nkiruka Okafor, a AAUW International Fellow currently studying at Luther Seminary.  She spoke about her research related to transforming the voice of women sex workers in Africa.

In February, we met at Ridgepointe for lunch.  Our speaker was Dr. Ellen Kennedy, Executive Director of World Without Genocide.  She gave us a thorough overview of how food shortages lead to violence in countries, and that can lead to genocide and other major social problems.

In March, we returned to our evening meeting schedule and reconvened at the Minnetonka Community Center. Vickie Nordquist presented the program about the concepts behind Advanced Higher Brain Living.  This program helps people increase oxygen to the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, which helps them to think more calmly and clearly, and eventually focus on and resolve various problems and issues in their lives.

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.