Interest Group: Film Fans By Cherril Peabody

The Film Fans interest group has been active since the mid-2000s. Until COVID-19 struck, on the third Tuesday of each month our members met at the Tower Theatre or some other local theater to see a movie matinee together. Then, those who had the time got together nearby afterward to have lunch or a snack and talk about the movie and whatever else came up! It’s a very friendly group, and we always have had a lot of laughs. Since March of last year, we have been meeting on Zoom, but last month we ventured out in person again, though we still met on Zoom as well.

For our Zoom get-togethers, we choose films that are available on Netflix and watch them on our own and then discuss them on our traditional third Tuesday morning on Zoom. To choose the film or films we will see, I come up with several suggestions that I think the group would enjoy, and those who plan to participate vote on them. Members can suggest another film if they like, providing that it is available currently on Netflix. We like independent movies and foreign films a lot, so I often suggest those types of films. When we attend in person, our criteria for movie selection include the time and the place the film will be shown.

We stuck our toes back in the water with our recent in-person attendance to view the new version of “West Side Story,” which we all enjoyed, and we even went to lunch afterward. I expect we will be organizing more in-person screenings in the coming months, though of course it all depends on how Omicron plays out.

If you are interested in getting on the email list for the group, send me an email to me (contact information for Cherill Peabody can be found in the Membership Directory).  We have around 50 people on the list, but most of them don’t participate frequently, particularly since we have been on Zoom. We have a core group now of about six members who attend often on Zoom. You are welcome to join us whenever you can.

Interest Group: Singles Dining By Nancy McCabe

If you are a member of the Sacramento Branch of AAUW and are single, you are welcome and encouraged to join our dinner group. We have about 35 members and generally have eight to 12 dining together on the first Sunday evening of each month.

We began as an offshoot of the couples dining as there was a difference in the community of interests, like how does one survive without cooking! We vary from restaurants where you look up to read the menu or look down. Cuisine was our most important criteria before outside heaters rose to the top! We prefer to patronize locally owned businesses to support the community.

We share good conversation about AAUW activities, personal interests and who has the cutest grandchildren!

I am always open to suggestions about restaurants that are relatively accessible to everyone, are open on Sunday evening and have adequate parking. If you are newly single or have been so for a long time, email me (contact information can be found in the Membership Directory)  to be added to our mailing list and give us a try — we would love to get to know you better. Good food and good friends — it doesn’t get much better.

Sacramento AAUW Art and Architecture Interest Group By Deborah Dunn

Do you have an appreciation of and fascination with a variety of visual arts?  Would you like to learn more about architectural styles and treasures around Sacramento?  If so, you will find like-minded AAUW members in the branch Art and Architecture Interest Group.

Sandi Schoenman(AAUW), David Sobon(WOW founder) and Anne Just(AAUW)

Since the interest group was created about 10 years ago, members have had the opportunity to gather together once a month and experience a museum art exhibit, tour a building or series of buildings or a garden, meet an artist in their studio, or wander through small local art galleries.  Typically, the group meets on the first Friday of the month, shares the scheduled visual arts experience and enjoys lunch together afterward.

Of course, during the COVID-related restrictions on in-person meetings, the group could not operate in the usual manner but was able to enjoy a variety of intriguing online art experiences and presentations.  For example, using Zoom, the interest group members were enlightened by a SMUD lighting expert about innovations in lighting home and work areas.  Also, an art deco enthusiast took our group members on a virtual tour of art deco treasures in Sacramento.

In September, the Art and Architecture Interest Group began meeting in-person again, but with an outdoor activity:  a walking tour of murals in Wide Open Walls.  The next gathering will be for a docent-led tour of the “Monet to Matisse” special exhibit at the Crocker Art Museum.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Art and Architecture group, contact the group leader, Deborah Dunn. Deborah’s contact information can be found in the branch Membership Directory.

Great Decisions Interest Groups By Kathy Schrumpf

Our Great Decisions groups discuss one article a month from the Foreign Policy Association book. A new book is published every year with timely articles on today’s world issues and US foreign policy.

We normally order books for the next year in October at a discounted rate of about $30.  Normally, our first meeting of the year is in January for book distribution and volunteering to either host or lead a discussion.

The Foreign Policy Association offers well-researched articles, providing an excellent way to review your geography and history. The topics make reading the daily newspaper even more fascinating. Some issues we have discussed this past year include Brexit and the EU, the Arctic, and China in Africa.  We will discuss the response of the World Health Organization in our current crisis of COVID-19 later this year.  We are awaiting the publisher’s release of topics for 2022.

The branch currently has three Great Decisions groups: Group I meets at 7 p.m. on the third Monday, February through October (contact Cathy Locke); Group II meets at 7p.m. on the second Thursday, with a January organizing meeting, and meets February through October with a break in July (contact Lynn Wood); Group III meets at 1p.m. on the third Monday, with an organizing meeting in January and gathering February through November, with a break in July and August (contact Kathy Schrumpf). Contact information for all group leaders can be found in the Membership Directory.  Most meetings this past year have been via Zoom, but we hope to gather in a member’s home in the future.

Interest Group: Reader’s Theater By Diane Petersen

In your wildest fantasy are you:  Ingrid Bergman, Sandra Bullock, Meg Ryan, Katherine Hepburn, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, or Elizabeth Taylor in a comedy, drama, historical event, or mystery?  If you answered YES, then welcome to Reader’s Theater.  Your fantasy will be played out from September to June on the second Tuesday of the month.

Thanks to the California Drama Exchange for bringing plays to AAUW study groups since 1958.  Sixty-three years!  WOW!

The Reader’s Theater interest group continued during the Covid-19 shutdown. We decided to read the plays via teleconferencing instead of Zoom. So, we did the following:

October 2020 – May 2021: The plays were delivered on the second Monday to the members at their homes in a mailing bag on their porches. I picked up the plays on the second Wednesday.

We always go out to lunch in June, so we stretched it throughout the summer months. June—August: We had lunch on the second Tuesday at Obo’s Restaurant at 11:30 am.

September 2021—June 2022: We will meet at Mary Williams’ home at 7 p.m. to read the following plays:

Sept. 14:  “Nude with Violin” by Noel Coward (comedy) — A famous painter of modern art is revealed to be a hoax.  His paintings were painted by at least three artists.  TV movies in 1956 and 1964.

Oct. 12: “Man from Earth” by Jerome Bixby (a science fiction film writer) (drama) — A college professor reveals at a party that he is thousands of years old.

Now it is your turn to look up the following plays and see what interests you to join us on the second Tuesday of the month:

Nov. 9: “The Rainmaker” by Richard Nash

Dec. 14: “A Touch of the Poet” by Eugene O’Neill

Jan. 11: “The Unexpected Guest” by Agatha Christie

Feb. 8: “Isn’t It Romantic” by Wendy Wasserstein

March 8: “Rose’s Dilemma” by Neil Simon

April 12: “Peg O’ My Heart” by Hartley Manners

May 9: “Dead Ringer” by Charles Ross

June 14: “Sweat” by Lynn Nottage

We laugh, cry and have fun reading the variety of plays that are sent to our group. If you are interested in reading any of these plays, please contact me: Diane Petersen (chair), 916-214-4644, ladypetersen@icloud.com to RSVP and get location information.

Walking Group By Vicki Nicholson

AAUW Sacramento Interest Groups By Vicki Nicholson

AAUW Sacramento is fortunate to have so many Interest Groups! Book and interest groups are good places to get to know other members who share common interests.  Most groups plan to resume in-person gatherings in 2021 or early 2022, so check with the individual group’s contact, which is listed in the front of the directory.  Any general questions may be directed to Vicki Nicholson, whose contact information can be found in the Sacramento Branch Membership Directory & Handbook.

Interest Group leaders will include short articles on their groups in upcoming branch newsletters. Here’s what to expect:
Sept.–Readers’ Theater                        Feb.–Travel
Oct.–Great Decisions                            March–Healthy Heart
Nov.–Art & Architecture                        April–Scrabble; Board Games
Dec.–Singles Dining Out                       May–Bridge
Jan.–Film Fans