RAPS Group Reports Book Group THE BOOK GROUP met on February 15 at Nancy Chapman’s home and discussed Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It is an acclaimed book, winner of many awards, and offers a framework for understanding the racial history of America, and its current tensions. As a group of older white men and women, we found it difficult at times to fully comprehend the anger and despair of its young African American author. The discussion was sober, as we sought to truly understand the themes of the book. In February we will read Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, a story of refugees fleeing the advancing Soviet army in 1945, and of the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff in the Baltic Sea, a major maritime tragedy that is not well known. We will meet on Tuesday, February 19, at 1:30 pm at the home of Marge and Leif Terdal in Terwilliger Plaza, 2545 Terwilliger Blvd., Apartment 812. There is complimentary valet parking at the main entrance. Call Marge at 503-808-7438 or email her at dbmt@pdx.edu and let her know whether you will be there. For those who like to plan ahead, in March we plan to read Perfume River: a Novel by Robert Olen Butler, and in April we’ll discuss Evolution’s Captain by Peter Nichols. The book group meets at 1:30 pm on the third Tuesday of every month. New members are always welcome. —Joan Shireman Bridge Group THE RAPS BRIDGE GROUPmeets in the afternoon, generally on the first Tuesday of each month. We begin play at 12:15 pm. We try to finish up by 4 pm. We meet in Smith Center, on the second floor. Please mark your calendars for the following upcoming bridge group meetings during winter and spring terms: • Tuesday, February 5, in SMSU 258, • Tuesday March 5, in SMSU 258, • Tuesday April 2, in SMSU 258, • Tuesday May 7, in SMSU 258, • Tuesday June 4, in SMSU 258. I will send out the reminder email notice about one week prior to each date we play. The RAPS Bridge Group members are very friendly and are always looking for new players. If you wish to join us, please contact Steve Brennan, 503-646-6297. My email address is the.steve.brennan@gmail.com. —Steve Brennan Hiking Group THE RAPS HIKING GROUP has planned a hike on Portland bridges from Tilikum Crossing to past the Hawthorne Bridge, on Tuesday, February 26, 9:30 am to early afternoon. We will meet at Terwilliger Plaza Lobby at 9:30 am to begin the hike. The valet will park your car at no charge, no tips. Members will hike across Duniway Park, past the Under Armour corporate grounds, up a dead-end street, and then up a trail with 40 steps to Terwilliger Blvd. We will then hike up a path and steps (or take an elevator) to take the Portland Aerial Tram down to the South Waterfront terminal. Hikers will then walk north along the west side of the Willamette River, cross Tilikum bridge, then proceed north past OMSI to the Hawthorne Bridge. We will cross this bridge and continue walking north along the waterfront—or south to a restaurant for lunch. On January 22, eight hikers explored the Tualatin River Greenway trail on a remarkably rainy day. This trail provided views of the river as well as educational signs that linked the trail with Ice Age floods, megafauna like the Tualatin Mastodon, and erratics (boulders moved by the floods from distant locations). Hikers also visited the Tualatin Library and viewed the bones of a mastodon skeleton dug up in 1962 by Portland State College student John George from a swampy area near Nyberg Road in Tualatin. Please contact Larry Sawyer at 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net for further information. For more details about upcoming hikes please consult the RAPS hikers’ website: https://www.pdx.edu/raps/RAPSHikers —Larry Sawyer RAPS Hiking Group members discussed the Ice Age trail markers along the Tualatin River Greenway while on the February hike. —-Photograph by Eileen Brennan 3
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