Interest Groups

Meets Every Thursday, May – October

NEW CHAIRS NEEDED

Please contact Interest Groups Chair Lois Linsky (303-499-2689) if intterested.

The University Women’s Club Biking Group was started in 2007 by a few women who enjoyed bicycling but who were not road riders. We are recreational riders and use the bike paths around Boulder and also use roads and highways with bike lanes or wide shoulders. Our rides in the past have taken us throughout Boulder County. The trails are a combination of crushed gravel and pavement and a hybrid bike is a good choice, but road bikes and mountain bikes also work.

Since it is difficult to be very sociable riding single file, we also like to plan on a coffee stop on our rides so that members can get acquainted and have a chance to visit. We start out the season in the spring with rides of 10-12 miles and gradually work up to about 20-25 miles by the end of the summer. We meet every Thursday morning during the riding season and e-mail notices are sent out each week on Tuesday afternoon, giving the location and time of that week’s ride.

Electric bikes are welcome.

If you would like to join the group this fall, please contact the chair.

Chair: Rebecca Batizy (303-601-9956).

Contact chair for current information about meeting dates and times.

New members welcome.

Several years after the start of the UWC Bicycling Group, we realized that there was a need for members who wanted to ride more slowly and not as far as the Bicycling Group, so we started the Easy Riders Interest Group. This group rides a shorter distance at a slower pace, usually on bike trails but also on some streets/highways with a bike lanes. Starting in the spring with rides of about 5 miles, we gradually increase over the season and always include a social time every week. We meet every Wednesday morning, with a email message a couple of days before the ride stating the time and location to meet.

If you would like to join this group this fall, please contact the chair.

Group is welcoming new members.

4th Tuesdays, 1:30 pm in Members’ Homes (vaccinations required) or on Zoom.

Chair: Lois Linsky, Mary Anna Dunn

The Afternoon Book Group meets on fourth Tuesdays of the month (Sept through June, except December) at 2pm. One of our members hosts the group in her home and provides light refreshments; another leads the discussion. Discussion of books is always lively! June is set aside as a planning meeting, to select books for the upcoming year.

Books are suggested ahead of time by members and voted on by the group. We usually read a balance of fiction and non-fiction books. Within the fiction category, we try to include a memoir/biography and one classic work of literature.

3rd Fridays, 3:00 pm in person.

Chair: Mary Pierce

Meets in members’ homes

Currently at capacity.

Chair: Betty Barnes

This group is currently at capacity.

Meets 2nd Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. in Members’ homes.

Group is currently at Capacity.

Chair: Kathy Randall

We are committed to attending whenever we are able, and we read all of the selected books  even if the assigned book isn’t our particular favorite. We meet every month from Sept – May for book discussion and in August to select books for the coming year. At some time during the year everybody participates as hostess (unless her home doesn’t work as a meeting place), and as discussion leader, and each month as an active contributor to the discussions.

We primarily read fiction and try to choose books that are very well written and good for discussion. In addition to fiction, we sometimes select one literary non-fiction – a biography or memoir – and we try to include at least one classic.

The discussion leader provides a few minutes of background and keeps the discussion on track. Each discussion leader’s unique style is appreciated.

Meets Second Thursdays, 2:30 p.m. 

Meetings held in members’ homes.

Co-Chairs: Judy Thompson, Judy Reid

This group has been meeting continuously since the 1950s.

New members are welcome.

This group has been meeting continuously since the 1950’s.

This group is currently at capacity.

Meets second Mondays in members’ homes

Chair: Janet Evans

This group is currently at capacity.

Group is currently at capacity.

Meets 4th Tuesdays, 1:30 pm in Members’ homes.

Chair: Joyce Bograd

We read fiction and non-fiction books on alternating months.  In the past we have included historical fiction and some classics along with contemporary fiction, as well as memoirs, biographies, history and current topical non-fiction.

Books are chosen every 4-6 months by the entire group.  Members take turns hosting and leading book discussion so that each member participates.

Meets first Wednesdays, 1:00pm in Members’ homes

Chair: Karen Neff

Dates and Times To Be Determined.

Chair: Zdenka Smith

We are one of two UWC French conversation groups (we’re the group that is taking members currently). We welcome members from all conversation levels in a supportive and social atmosphere. Most of us fall somewhere in the range from “I took French in H.S. and want to get back into it” to “I can carry an (easy to moderate) conversation.” We are all helping each other along to improve our French. Conversations are mostly informal – we may talk about home projects, travels, a recent movie, volunteer work or anything else that comes to mind – and we also include some more structured conversation starters such as short reading sessions or whatever else our creative members develop. We meet at Panere Bread on 29th Street in Boulder every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month, at 2:30 p.m.

Bienvenue!

This group has limited openings.

Chair: Dot Thompson

Meets every Wednesday year round at 1:30 p.m.

Includes 8 sessions per semester with a paid native speaker.

Contact chair for details.

Third Tuesdays 1:30 – 4:00 p.m. at the home of the chair in Louisville.

Contact chair for more information.

Chair: Kathleen Newton

“It’s Anyone’s Game”.

Board and Card Games. For more information, please contact the chair.

Third Wednesday 11 a.m.

Chairs: Jyotsna Raj, Jean Rohrschneider

I began to garden when we moved to Boulder and the UWC Garden Group got me started with gardening in Colorado. It was a very active group with many members. Our activities included visits to area botanical gardens, garden tours of home gardens in Boulders, visits to local plant nurseries, and talks and demonstrations by gardening gurus. A pretty good format, I would say!

We have had a few years of lagging participation but are now back strongly, with a full roster of meetings this past summer, all well-attended and enjoyed. We have returned to our original format, with a garden-related activity followed by a pot-luck lunch at the home of one of our members or in an area restaurant. This social time builds friendships, which gardeners always enjoy.

Feel free to contact the chair if you’d like more information.

For the casual golfer. 1 p.m. every Thursday at various golf courses.

New members welcome. 

Chair: Susan Planck

Meets Every Friday, 9:00 am September-May; 8:30 am June-August in person.
Meet at covered parking lot opposite lower-level entrance to the former Macy’s.

Dogs nare not allowed on UWC hikes.

Chairs: Joan Cardone, Frieda Holley

The Hiking Group meets every Friday morning, rain or shine, snow or holiday, for an appropriate walk or hike that day. There might be only two members, or there could be fifteen or more, depending on the weather and the day. Between September 1 and May 31, we meet at 9:00 a.m.  These hikes and walks are about 3 to 5 miles roundtrip and generally get us back by late morning.  During the summer, June 1 to August 31, we meet at 8:30 a.m. to avoid some of the heat. Our meeting place is the parking structure on the 30th Street side of Macy’s, lower level, area nearest Walnut and 30th. We usually decide on the hit,e by Thursday afternoon and send an email to everyone. For these regular hikes, we welcome anyone to come with no need to let us know. Just show up ready to go.

In the summertime, we try to go up in the foothills somewhere for a slightly longer hike with sack lunches, weather permitting. For most of these, we met at 8:00 a.m. The drive to the trailhead could make the day longer, or the hike itself might be longer. Many trails out of Brainard Lake are favorites, as well as other Indian Peaks Wilderness places like Fourth of July and Diamond Lake, Devils Thumb Bypass, Niwot Ridge, St. Vrain Creek trails, up into Rocky Mountain Park for Wild Basin to Ouzel Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, down south to Roxborough Park, Golden Gate Park, or up to Moffat Tunnel (East Portal) trails … and many, many more. Anyone who does not have the time or energy for these longer excursions meets at the usual time and place for a local hike, or arranges an even later time.

The group has all levels of hikers/walkers. The conversations as we walk are animated and are sure to keep the bears and mountain lions away! On a given hike, some might go at a faster pace (the “swifter striders”), some medium (the “average amblers”), and some more like walking (the “slower strollers”). We rarely carpool according to these groupings because it is too hard to decide, or we really want a chance to talk with all the members. But we do try to have at least two people together and to always know where the others are. Most hikes are “out and back”, so we do find each other at the end. The wonderful sociability continues for many with lunch afterwards, usually at Jason’s (28th and Walnut, in Boulder Plaza, west side of 28th).

Wednesdays; 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. on Zoom.

Chair: Maxine Wilson

A group of UWC women who love Italy formed the Italian Conversation group 16 years ago. Today, some eight to ten women meet every Wednesday afternoon to chat—chiacchierare—in Italian, to read, translate and discuss Italian stories and articles and, every so often, to tackle some challenging topic of Italian grammar.

Through the years, the group has become familiar with some wonderful Italian authors, such as Italo Calvino, Gianni Rodari and Natalia Ginsburg. Articles from Italian newspapers, Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica, have served to familiarize us with Italian politics, history, culture and current happenings.

Participating in this group has given our members more confidence in our ability to speak and understand the Italian language, enabling many of us to travel beyond the well-worn tourist paths to those parts of Italy where English is rarely spoken. Members have also reinforced their study of Italian by taking language courses both in Italy and right here in Boulder at the University of Colorado. We all benefit from their studies when they share their new knowledge with the rest of the group. We are fortunate to be able to come together each week to enjoy friendships forged by our common interest in and love for Italy.

The Italian Conversation group meets every Wednesday from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Y, 2850 Mapleton Avenue in Boulder. Feel free to contact the chair if you’d like more information.

Second Monday afternoon of most months in members’ homes, providing a venue for musical performers to meet and share their love of music in an intimate setting.

Co-Chairs: Berry Todd, Tula Roberge

The Music Group has welcomed professional and amateur musicians alike for over 60 years.

Members include pianists, vocalists and other instrumentalists, and music genres vary from classical to jazz to folk.

Meetings provide a venue for members to perform pieces of music they have prepared and to socialize.

Meeting Times: Various

Meets from time to time aiming to have 4 to 6 outings per year.

These outings are in person.

Interesting adventures on the road.

Chair: Kathy Randall

This popular group hits the road from time to time to enjoy activities, exhibits, and events that are some distance from our Boulder center. We carpool or take the bus to partake of pleasures that have included visits to the Museum of Western Art in Denver, Denver Botanical Garden, backstage at the Denver Art Center, CPR Studios in Centennial, the Louisville History Museum followed by an English afternoon tea at The Huckleberry, the bronze art foundry in Loveland, and other interesting places.

During this pandemic we substituted actual trips with virtual trips via the internet, followed by Zoom get togethers. These have included a hike along the Colorado Trail, visits to Europe’s Christmas Markets, listening to an Arvada Center radio play of The Great Gatsby and other venues that we couldn’t possibly do in person. Kathy Randall continues to chair the group for 2022-23.

Under this year’s format we will have four to six outings. If you have an idea for an excellent outing, please contact Kathy Randall.

Meeting Times: Usually 4th Wednesday, at noon at various local restaurants.

Chairs: Jyotsna Raj, Jean Rohrschreider

Our name says it all!

We are a group of food lovers who meet once a month in various restaurants in the greater Boulder area to try offerings at new restaurants or return to old favorites to enjoy their cuisine.

Boulder is a foodie town.  We were named the foodiest town in America by Bon Appetit magazine, and our group certainly takes full advantage of the  culinary skills of area chefs.  In recent months, we have enjoyed lunches at the Kitchen and Q’s in downtown Boulder and have ventured further afield to the Martini Bistro in Longmont. We are a very democratic group when it comes to restaurants and member suggestions are welcome  – how else would we find such great restaurants to visit!!!

The best thing about our group is that it allows us to get to know each other over a good meal and a glass of wine and form friendships with the women we meet.

We meet on the fourth Wednesday of the month in the restaurant of our choice. If we are going out of town we arrange to carpool. All UWC members are welcome to join us.

3rd Monday, 4:00 p.m. at the main Boulder library.

Chairs: Patty Ludke, Kathy Randall

This group (abbreviated RT2) meets at 4:00 p.m. in a meeting room at the Main Boulder Library on the 3rd Monday from September through June. We socialize for a little while, hear some background about the play we are going to read and then take roles and read the play aloud. We do not have rehearsals but the readers receive the play and their cast assignments about a week before the reading, so we have a chance to familiarize ourselves with our characters. After the reading we discuss the play.

We read a full-length play over a couple of meetings or we read shorter works – a one act play or several very short plays.  Everybody gets a turn being a reader and being an audience member if there are not enough roles for everyone. The size of a person’s part varies. We are all good sports about it, and have a good time getting together and reading, regardless of experience or skill.

Contact chair for details.

Chair: Diana King

The UWC Spanish Conversation Group formed in 2008.  We meet weekly for an hour. Typically, we discuss various topics and what is happening. For each of us, attending the group has greatly increased our ability to speak more casually and readily, and our vocabulary has grown.

At times, we hire a native speaker to help us. To cover the costs, we each contribute fees. We welcome new members who already have some basic knowledge of Spanish and who want to practice and expand their conversational capabilities. It has been both a learning and a friendship experience for us all. “Espero que puedes asistir a nuestro grupo. Hasta la vista.”

Usually second Sunday, to see movies at a theater in Boulder or at a nearby theater.

Co-Chairs: Carmen Caver, Sharon Nehls

If you love watching movies and talking about them, you’ll love this group!

Sunday Afternoon at the Movies meets once a month on the second Sunday. Movies are always at the Century Boulder Theater and start between noon and 3:00 pm. About a week before the second Sunday, one of the chairs selects a movie and sends an email to the group with the name of the movie and the meeting time. Members RSVP via email. Since tickets are reserved in that theater, the chair gets there early, sits on the right side (as you face it) of the lobby, and watches for people in the ticket line to tell them where the group is sitting so other attendees can get seats next to them. Some people prefer to sit in the back or the front row, etc. rather than with the group and that’s just fine.

Afterwards, those who would like to go for a snack and discussion vote on a nearby restaurant. The restaurants within walking distance are Cantina Laredo, California Pizza Kitchen, BJ’s, and Panera Bread.

If you’d like to give it a try or would like more information, contact the group’s chair.

See you at the movies!

Chair: Cindy Meyer

Dates depend on the play chosen. Mostly matinees of plays by the Boulder Ensemble Theater Company.

Members gather in the lobby of the respective theater or in a nearby facility to discuss the play after the performance.

Theater Goers is once again an active UWC Interest Group.

Contact the chair, Cindy Meyers, for more information.