December was an exciting month for the OWLs. Many of us traveled to Sugar Creek for an excellent program, meal and music. We followed that with a Christmas potluck full of great food and fun games. Dressed in our Christmas sweaters, everyone went home full of Christmas goodies with smiles on their faces.

We will kick off January with a trip to the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona. It has been several years since we have visited them, and they have two new exhibits by excellent regional photographers opening in January. The first is River Life: Recent Work by David Eberhardt, a Minnesota photographer. The exhibit documents his recent journeys sailing down the Mississippi River and the Mekong River in Asia. The second exhibit is Spiritual Offerings: Photographs by Douglas Beasley, a prominent St. Paul, Minnesota, photographer and author. Featured are photographs from his global travels including Japan, China, Ireland, Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, Italy, Norway, Japan and China. Beasley’s personal vision explores the spiritual aspects of people and place and is concerned with how the sacred is recognized and expressed in everyday life. In addition, we will have full access to what the Star Tribune calls its “Blockbuster Collection” of paintings. The adventure will begin at 10:30 AM on Friday, January 15. We will meet at the church and travel to Winona as a group. We will have lunch at one of Winona’s fine establishments and then move on to the museum. A tour guide will help us interpret the exhibits. Seating and wheelchairs will be available during our visit. Lunch is on your own; cost of museum entry is $7. We should be back at the church by 4:00 P.M. If you plan to attend, please email or call (608-526-9700) Brian Narveson before the 15th.

The January potluck will be Wednesday, January 20, at noon in fellowship hall. For our program, pastor Karyn will provide insight about what was experienced and learned, in addition to showing us photos, from her recent trip to Israel. They had a fantastic adventure; this is a program not to be missed.

Hope to see everyone in January.

The OWLs are a group at First that welcomes anyone, First Lutheran members or not, who are 55+. For information or to ask questions, contact Brian Narveson at owls@firstlu.org.