Masthead
December 30, 2014
Executive Director Update

What is your New Year's resolution? If it includes improving your physical well being, consider one of Mill City Commons' fitness opportunities: 
We've negotiated special pricing for the SBS and Hatha Yoga classes for MCC members. 
Or perhaps you made a commitment to expand your horizons? Join the MCC Great Decisions discussion group. Want to have more fun? Join us for one of our many monthly social activities. Need a ride to join us? Call the office 612-455-3329 or send an email! 
Happy New Year and best wishes to for 2015!  -- Linnea
New Year's Eve Dinner
Wednesday, December 31, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Spoonriver, 750 S 2nd St 
Brenda Langton and her team at Spoonriver invite you to celebrate building community this New Year's Eve. She has developed an a la carte menu for the occasion and will include a complimentary smoked salmon appetizer for Mill City Commons members. Brenda is committed to cooking with health and longevity top of mind. Join your neighbors and celebrate a year well lived!  
 
Sorry, registration is now closed.
Taking Risks: Theological Imaginings
Tuesday, January 6, 4:30 - 6:00 pm
Washburn Lofts, 700 S 2nd St, #61

MCC member Mary F. Bednarowski has spent the fall as a resident scholar at the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research on the St. John's University campus.  She is doing research on stories told in the first person about religious lives and spiritual journeys in a variety of traditions.  These stories are found in many places:  spiritual memoirs, intellectual autobiographies, the prefaces of academic and popular books, interviews, literary works, blogs.  Her thesis, broadly, is the following: that whatever else they might be, religion and theology are arenas of ongoing human creativity that give us insights into how people claim, live out, question, renew or transform their religious worldviews in response to changing individual, communal, and social circumstances.  She will offer a presentation on her work and invites discussion from members.

 

MCC members sign up here.

Rendezvous Readers' Book Chat
Wednesday, January 7, 9:30 - 10:30 am
Charley's Grill, The Depot, 225 3rd Ave S

Join us to discuss Changing Habits by Debbie Macomber by the fireplace in the lounge at Charley's Grill.  The book begins in a more innocent time, when three girls enter the convent. The girls come from very different backgrounds, but they have one thing in common-the desire to join a religious order. Despite the seclusion of the convent house in Minneapolis, they're not immune to what's happening around them, and each sister faces an unexpected crisis of faith. Ultimately they all leave the sisterhood, abandoning the convent for the exciting and confusing world outside...the world of choices to be made, of risks to be taken. 


MCC members and guests.  No reservations required.

Social Bridge
Wednesday, January 7, 3:00 - 5:00 pm
Stone Arch Lofts Community Room, 600 S 2nd St
Join advanced or intermediate bridge players for a round of social bridge. You are expected to come with a partner at your level. (Advanced players play all the major conventions comfortably.)  If you need help finding a partner, contact Carol Jordan at 612-817-0466 or caroljordan@millcitycommons.org and she will assist you. Play begins immediately at 3:00 pm.

MCC members sign up here; Guests email MCC.
Our Turn: A Conversation for Women
Thursday, January 8, 9:30 - 11:00 am
Stone Arch Lofts, 600 S 2nd Street #105
MCC women, you are invited to attend Our Turn: A Conversation for Women.  This group meets every other Thursday alternating between morning and afternoon times. Marcia Townley hosts the topic "New Year's Resolutions." Do you make them? Do you believe in them? Do you share them? How do you welcome the New Year? 

MCC women sign up here.  Guests email MCC.
Great Decisions
Monday, January 12, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
The Towers Garden Room, 15 S 1st St 
This is the first of the 2015 Foreign Policy Association (FPA) sponsored Great Decisions (GD) discussions, a citizen education and discussion program.  It is in addition to the eight that are covered in the FPA Briefing Book. (Briefing books will be distributed when available mid-January after this meeting.) MCC member Bill Davnie will discuss "The Revenge of Geography."  In 1991, the United States saw itself as the clear victor of the Cold War, standing astride the world and ready to rule it for the common good for decades, if not even generations, to come.  It hasn't worked out quite that way. The world has proved more recalcitrant that we thought, and life more complicated.  Why did we think we could rule, and what do we need to learn for a more effective foreign policy?  
To join the GD discussion group, members pay a nominal fee for the briefing book and to help cover speaker honorariums. GD programs take place the second Monday of the month at 7:00 pm January - June and September - November. 

MCC 2015 Great Decisions Members sign up here.
Technology Helpdesk 
Tuesday, January 13, 4:30 - 6:00 pm
MCC Office, 219  Main St SE, Suite 401  
Schedule time with a Tech Support Guru from Backpack Tactics and have your nagging technology questions answered during our complimentary Helpdesk. Backpack Tactics can provide support for both Apple products and PCs.  When you register, MCC will confirm the time of your 20-30 minute one-to-one session. Reminder:  Installing or upgrading software and creating accounts cannot be included in the Helpdesk session, as they exceed the allotted appointment time.

MCC members sign up here.
News from Members

Did you know that MCC member Mike Rosen has a blog with photo tips?  If you'd like to subscribe, go to Mike's website, click on BLOG, and sign up online or you can email Mike directly at mrosen47@gmail.com.     
Around Town

Winter Salon Group Exhibition
January 10, 5:00-8:00 pm, CIRCA Gallery, 210 1st St N
Join an opening reception at CIRCA Gallery to commemorate the gallery's 25th anniversary.  Their annual Winter Salon will offer recent work by 27 contemporary artists.  The event is free and open to the public.  The exhibit runs through February 21.

The Earl's Library: Private English Libraries in the Age of Downton Abbey

January 14, 10:00 am-12:00 pm, Elmer Andersen Library, 222 21st Ave S

This talk will explore some of the fascinating tales, details and perhaps even mysteries bound together in an earl's resplendent library.  Together we will look at the "Downton Abbey" library and those of surrounding neighbors, exploring the richness of the English bibliographic countryside.  For details, click here.

 

The State of U.S. Foreign Policy 2015 with Tom Hanson

January 27, 6:00-7:30 pm, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 301 19th Ave S 

Listen to an analysis of the latest foreign policy developments, trends and challenges faced by the United States in the year ahead. The discussion will also include the repercussions of recent international elections and the 2014 U.S. mid-term elections. Cost is $20.  Registration required and recommended early as the event sells out.  Click here for more information.

 

Mill City Times

It's a metro website devoted specifically to our neighborhood and a place to go to find out what's happening, whether it's a new restaurant opening, a local event, proposed construction, etc. Check it out at MillCityTimes.com. 

MCC Upcoming Events  
View the December Calendar here
View the January Calendar here

 

December 31:  Rendezvous on 5.  No reservations required.

December 31:  New Year's Eve Dinner.  Members click here.

January 6:  Taking Risks:  Theological Imaginings.  Members click here.

January 7:  Rendezvous Readers' Book Chat.  No reservations required.

January 7:  Social Bridge.  Members click here; Guests email MCC.

January 8:  Our Turn: A Conversation for Women.  Members click here; Guests email MCC.

January 12:  Great Decisions.  Members click here.

January 13:  Technology Helpdesk.  Members click here.

January 14:  Rendezvous on 5.  No reservations required.

January 15:  Men's Coffee and Conversation.  Members click here; Guests email MCC.

January 15:  At the Movies:  Driving Miss Daisy.  Members click here.

January 15:  National Senior Games.  Members click here.

January 18:  Sunday Soiree.  Members click here.

January 20:  Author Celebration: Paul Mohrbacher.  Members click here.

  Mill City Commons

Ongoing Fitness Opportunities


SBS Class

                      Thursdays

2:00-3:00pm
501FIT,
501 Washington Avenue
Created exclusively for MCC, this class at 501F1T focuses on strength, balance, and stretching. 
First time participants, please contact 501F1T at 612-767-4415 and arrive 20 minutes early to complete paperwork. Cost varies depending on commitment.

  

  River Walkers

Tuesdays and Thursdays,

7:30-8:30am

Stone Arch Lofts Riverside Parking Lot

All level of walkers welcome for this early morning walk along the banks of the Mississippi River. An MCC volunteer leads each walk.

  

Hatha Yoga

Wednesdays and Fridays,

8:00-9:15am

Yoga Center of Minneapolis, 212 3rd Ave N., Suite 205

This is an alignment-based class. Purchase a 12-class pass for $132 directly from YCM to use as your schedule allows, or drop in on a class for $12.50. Contact Dena at 612-436-4700 for details.

Drop-ins welcome.

 
Ongoing Member-Led Activities

 

Men's B&BS Lunch
Elsie's Restaurant,
729 Marshall St NE
Alternating Thursdays at 11:30 am
 January 8
This casual, dutch treat lunch alternates weeks with Men's Coffee and Conversation. No reservations required! Questions? Contact  Allan Burdick
 

MCC Ongoing Social Opportunities

 

Rendezvous

Readers' Book Chat
1st Wednesday of the month
Charley's Grill at the Depot
   No reservations required.
Changing Habits
by Debbie Macomber

Rendezvous on 5

Wednesdays

Guthrie Theater Level 5 Express

Drop in and join your friends and neighbors for fellowship at this neighborhood haunt.  This weekly adventure requires no reservations!

 

Men's Coffee and Conversation  

Elsie's Restaurant,

729 Marshall Street NE

Caffeine and camaraderie for the male members of MCC! This group meets every other Thursday morning and is hosted by various members who get the conversation going.

Our Turn: A Conversation for Women 

Relax and chat with other MCC women. This group meets every other week and alternates between morning and afternoon times. Look for details in the body of this newsletter.

 

 
Volunteer Opportunities 
 
 Click here for community volunteer opportunities on the MCC Website!  
 
Mill City Commons | 219 Main Street SE, Suite 401, Minneapolis, MN 55414
www.millcitycommons.org | info@millcitycommons.org  
612-455-3329