Events - Month View

Do you find it hard to really get to know members at our large programs … or those featuring a speaker? This spontaneous event might be just right for you! Join us for a casual conversation at Milwaukee Road Restaurant and Bar at The Depot. Take this opportunity to meet new members and reconnect with some you haven’t seen lately. If you are attending for the first time, please contact the MCC office so we can be sure someone is there to meet you.

Schedule time with a Tech Support Guru on Zoom and have your nagging technology questions answered during our complimentary Help Desk. The zoom link will be provided in your confirmation email.

Join your friends and neighbors at the C.R.E.A.M Cafe for a morning chat. This adventure requires no reservations.

Chairs from all of the different committees meet monthly at the MCC Offices.

Join us to discuss this month‘s book, "Goodnight Irene," by Luis Alberto Urrea. You are welcome to join us in conversation whether or not you‘ve read the book.

If you‘d like to read ahead, May‘s book is "Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story that Awakened America," by Joy-Ann Reid, and June‘s book is "100 Years of Solitude," by Gabriel Garcia Márquez.

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

Get to know other MCC members at a casual Saturday morning breakfast mixer inside Elsie’s Restaurant‘s dining room. Hot coffee awaits you when you arrive on foot or by bike or by car - order a full breakfast or simply a beverage. Open seating at tables set for 4 or 5 - great for conversation with friends, old and new. To help the restaurant prepare, please register.

NOTE: Breakfasts are outside as long as the temperature is at least 50 degrees. If bad weather, Elsie’s has a secluded indoor space available in the main dining room. This event is limited to 35 to accommodate Elsie‘s staff.

Are you looking for a new activity to try out? Tapestry Folkdance offers a gentle movement class called “Joyfully Dancing 55+.”

The class is described as “a dance experience that celebrates many genres of dance and music: American, swing, popular, and international, to name a few.” Dances are taught/reviewed every session. As the name suggests, participants feel a lot of joy (and get some exercise too) while dancing together! No partner is needed, and all levels of ability are welcome.

Joyfully Dancing 55+ is taught at Tapestry Folkdance, 3748 Minnehaha Avenue in Minneapolis, and it meets Mondays from 9:30 - 10:30 AM. Cost is $5, payable to the instructor. Participants are asked to bring a pair of inside shoes (in order to keep grit, salt and water off the dance floor). Dancing with just socks is also OK.

If you’d like to carpool, please be at the ARC parking lot ready to leave at 9:10 AM.

Do you find it hard to really get to know members at our large programs … or those featuring a speaker? This spontaneous event might be just right for you! Join us for a casual conversation at Milwaukee Road Restaurant and Bar at The Depot. Take this opportunity to meet new members and reconnect with some you haven’t seen lately. If you are attending for the first time, please contact the MCC office so we can be sure someone is there to meet you.

Loft Teaching Artist Patricia Hoolihan is available to guide MCC members in exploring their stories during four 2-hour writing classes in April and May. This class will provide a chance to explore the world around you and within you in new ways through language – whether you are writing for yourself or to share with family and friends. Writing exercises will encourage you to open doors and cross thresholds to find words and stories that have been waiting to be discovered—by you. Writing prompts will invite you to express your unique voice in a variety of creative ways through journaling, poetry, essay, and memoir. Each class includes time for writing exercises, discovery of similar experiences, and optional sharing of written words. Cost for the 4 classes is $120, payable to the instructor on the first day of class.
Minimum of 7 enrollees, and limited to 20 members.

Daniel Slager is the Publisher & CEO of Milkweed Editions, one of the nation‘s leading independent publishers of literature. He will explain how this publishing house -- and neighbor, as Milkweed is located in Open Book -- came to be a national force, and how it is evolving successfully in the context of significant change in the publishing industry. This program will be recorded.

Join your friends and neighbors at the C.R.E.A.M Cafe for a morning chat. This adventure requires no reservations.

This guided discussion group with professional facilitation supports MCC members and nonmembers who are in a caregiving role.

The next Executive Committee meeting is on April 10, 1:30-3:00 pm at our Mill City Commons Office. The meeting on April 10 has been CANCELED!

This casual, Dutch-treat lunch at Klassic‘s Kitchen alternates weeks with Men’s Coffee and Conversation. There’s no program, but good conversation happens here! Please register, so we can let the restaurant know how many to expect. If you would like to be added to the Thursday Dutch Lunch list or suggest a topic for discussion, email alburd4057@gmail.com.

Are you putting off writing your bio for your Mill City Commons profile page? Then this may be the class for you. Get to know your fellow MCC members in this small group session as you work to create your biography for your MCC profile. Please bring your laptop or tablet.

There‘s a new jazz club in town! Join us as we take a nosy neighbor tour to the Berlin Jazz Club. Berlin combines state of the art sound and hospitality with the charm and intimacy of a European-inspired jazz club.

Keeping with its namesake city, Berlin features a variety of experimental music from jazz, ambient, and electronic programming.

Meet at the club at 4:00 pm for a short tour, then stay for a Dutch-treat happy hour.

Interested in carpooling? Click on the registrant list and find a member in your building or near you that you can connect with and ask to share a ride. Or, feel free to contact the MCC office for a suggestion.

Get to know other MCC members at a casual Saturday morning breakfast mixer inside Elsie’s Restaurant‘s dining room. Hot coffee awaits you when you arrive on foot or by bike or by car - order a full breakfast or simply a beverage. Open seating at tables set for 4 or 5 - great for conversation with friends, old and new. To help the restaurant prepare, please register. NOTE: Breakfasts are outside as long as the temperature is at least 50 degrees. If bad weather, Elsie’s has a secluded indoor space available in the main dining room. This event is limited to 35 to accommodate Elsie‘s staff.

Join your friends and neighbors for this Sunday Soiree Brunch, hosted by Ron and Carol Vantine and Pat Hoven. Please contribute to the potluck by bringing brunch fare, to serve at least 8 people. We need 4 hotdishes, 5 salads, 4 desserts, as well as cheese platters, fruit, and bread. As you register, let us know what you’ll be bringing by answering the “Question” that will appear on the screen. Please be as specific as you can. You are welcome to bring your own wine or beer to share.

The Membership Committee develops new strategies for member recruitment and retention. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to Committee Chair Jane Helsing.

Do you find it hard to really get to know members at our large programs … or those featuring a speaker? This spontaneous event might be just right for you! Join us for a casual conversation at Milwaukee Road Restaurant and Bar at The Depot. Take this opportunity to meet new members and reconnect with some you haven’t seen lately. If you are attending for the first time, please contact the MCC office so we can be sure someone is there to meet you.

Scientific advances benefit from collaboration between researchers, but what happens when material, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) is controversial and important to a nation’s national security? Is there a middle ground between sharing information and denying access? How can we regulate cooperation?

Loft Teaching Artist Patricia Hoolihan is available to guide MCC members in exploring their stories during four 2-hour writing classes in April and May. This class will provide a chance to explore the world around you and within you in new ways through language – whether you are writing for yourself or to share with family and friends. Writing exercises will encourage you to open doors and cross thresholds to find words and stories that have been waiting to be discovered—by you. Writing prompts will invite you to express your unique voice in a variety of creative ways through journaling, poetry, essay, and memoir. Each class includes time for writing exercises, discovery of similar experiences, and optional sharing of written words. Cost for the 4 classes is $120, payable to the instructor on the first day of class.
Minimum of 7 enrollees, and limited to 20 members.

Join MCC members Ric Rosow and Vicki Underland Rosow as they talk about their two journeys to Tibet.

Their first trip to Tibet was to document the flora on the highest plateau in the world and to bear witness to the treatment of Tibetans by the Chinese. Hear as they detail how they met with family members young men imprisoned for supporting the Dali Lama. Ric and Vicki also spent time in a monastery that was randomly shot at by police.

Ric and Vicki‘s second trip was to fulfill a request from a group of Tibetan nuns who wanted to learn English. On this second trip they were banned by the Chinese government from spending time in a village, because the Chinese government did not want them to see what was happening there. Instead they had to spend their time in another village and a night in a tent with nomad family.

Enjoy this month‘s reading of "Elizabeth is Going Into the Ground," by Emma Watkins.

Four trees in the north Maine woods communicate through an underground network of roots and fungi. Four women, each struggling to come into her own in a nearby rural logging town, pass each other gifts by way of the town’s one-car postal service. By blurring the boundary between human and tree, "Elizabeth is Going Into the Ground" contemplates the communities of our forests, weaving a tale of love, resilience and old growth.

Join your friends and neighbors at the C.R.E.A.M Cafe for a morning chat. This adventure requires no reservations.

Current international news and U.S. foreign policy provide an endless trove of topics for learning and discussion. Retired foreign service officer and MCC member Bill Davnie will identify a topic in advance, although news can always lead us in a fresh direction. There will be both presentation and discussion. This session will be in person at our MCC Offices.

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

Do you look at your neighbor‘s patio or deck and wonder where they got their green thumb? Wonder no more! Join us as we hear from Trish Lundberg and Shannon O‘Halloran of Landcraft Landscaping and Design. They will provide tips and tricks so that you can have the patio of your dreams!

Get to know other MCC members at a casual Saturday morning breakfast mixer inside Elsie’s Restaurant‘s dining room. Hot coffee awaits you when you arrive on foot or by bike or by car - order a full breakfast or simply a beverage. Open seating at tables set for 4 or 5 - great for conversation with friends, old and new. To help the restaurant prepare, please register. NOTE: Breakfasts are outside as long as the temperature is at least 50 degrees. If bad weather, Elsie’s has a secluded indoor space available in the main dining room. This event is limited to 35 to accommodate Elsie‘s staff.

Join our MCC Opera Friends at the at Met Live in HD performance of "La Rondine." Following the performance, let’s walk a half block to CRAVE restaurant for conversation and refreshments. There is free covered parking next to the theater.

Are you looking for a new activity to try out? Tapestry Folkdance offers a gentle movement class called “Joyfully Dancing 55+.”

The class is described as “a dance experience that celebrates many genres of dance and music: American, swing, popular, and international, to name a few.” Dances are taught/reviewed every session. As the name suggests, participants feel a lot of joy (and get some exercise too) while dancing together! No partner is needed, and all levels of ability are welcome.

Joyfully Dancing 55+ is taught at Tapestry Folkdance, 3748 Minnehaha Avenue in Minneapolis, and it meets Mondays from 9:30 - 10:30 AM. Cost is $5, payable to the instructor. Participants are asked to bring a pair of inside shoes (in order to keep grit, salt and water off the dance floor). Dancing with just socks is also OK.

If you’d like to carpool, please be at the ARC parking lot ready to leave at 9:10 AM.

Do you find it hard to really get to know members at our large programs … or those featuring a speaker? This spontaneous event might be just right for you! Join us for a casual conversation at Milwaukee Road Restaurant and Bar at The Depot. Take this opportunity to meet new members and reconnect with some you haven’t seen lately. If you are attending for the first time, please contact the MCC office so we can be sure someone is there to meet you.

Join your friends and neighbors at the C.R.E.A.M Cafe for a morning chat. This adventure requires no reservations.

This guided discussion group with professional facilitation supports MCC members and nonmembers who are in a caregiving role.

Eric Schwartz, University of Minnesota Professor of Public Affairs, will talk with us about border migration policies in the context of the political debates in the United States around irregular extralegal migration. The debates are taking place amidst a presidential campaign in which border migration is a key issue. This program will be recorded.

Enjoy this month‘s reading of "Elizabeth is Going Into the Ground," by Emma Watkins.

Four trees in the north Maine woods communicate through an underground network of roots and fungi. Four women, each struggling to come into her own in a nearby rural logging town, pass each other gifts by way of the town’s one-car postal service. By blurring the boundary between human and tree, "Elizabeth is Going Into the Ground" contemplates the communities of our forests, weaving a tale of love, resilience and old growth.

This casual, Dutch-treat lunch at Klassic‘s Kitchen alternates weeks with Men’s Coffee and Conversation. There’s no program, but good conversation happens here! Please register, so we can let the restaurant know how many to expect. If you would like to be added to the Thursday Dutch Lunch list or suggest a topic for discussion, email alburd4057@gmail.com.

The Program Committee meets the fourth Tuesday of each month. If you have a program idea, please feel free to fill out the Program Committee Proposal form and email it to Jane at janestacy@millcitycommons.org. For April only, we will meet on Thursday, April 25 at 1:30 pm.

Join us for a rare Thursday Happy Hour at Giulia, the restaurant in the lobby of the Emery Hotel. Hosted by Patty Connelly and David and Sheryl Evelo, this gathering is a time to catch up with friends and neighbors over small bites and Dutch treat drinks. If you‘d like to stay for dinner, please call the restaurant directly for reservations at (612) 215-5450.

Valet Parking or 5th Street Parking ramp. Street meter parking is unavailable from 4:00-6:00pm.

Join us for a fun morning of mixed Mah Jongg. Meet new members, guests and fellow Mah Jongg enthusiasts. All levels welcome from beginners to experienced. This event is limited to 15 participants. Registration closes at Noon on April 25.

Get to know other MCC members at a casual Saturday morning breakfast mixer inside Elsie’s Restaurant‘s dining room. Hot coffee awaits you when you arrive on foot or by bike or by car - order a full breakfast or simply a beverage. Open seating at tables set for 4 or 5 - great for conversation with friends, old and new. To help the restaurant prepare, please register. NOTE: Breakfasts are outside as long as the temperature is at least 50 degrees. If bad weather, Elsie’s has a secluded indoor space available in the main dining room. This event is limited to 35 to accommodate Elsie‘s staff.

Do you find it hard to really get to know members at our large programs … or those featuring a speaker? This spontaneous event might be just right for you! Join us for a casual conversation at Milwaukee Road Restaurant and Bar at The Depot. Take this opportunity to meet new members and reconnect with some you haven’t seen lately. If you are attending for the first time, please contact the MCC office so we can be sure someone is there to meet you.

Join us as we embark on a once-a-month culinary experience at different restaurants around the city, and around our neighborhood. This month, we will enjoy a Dutch-treat dinner at EaTo. This event is limited to 12 people. Please register by 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 25.