The winter cold did not keep the OWLs at home in February. A lively group of 21 ventured to the Outback for a delicious dinner followed by grooving at a Simon and Garfunkel tribute band concert at the Heider Center. A good time was had by all!

November was a fun month for the OWLs. Our outing was Tuesday Night at the Movies. A fun-loving group of 18 headed to the local cinema for viewing the animated comedy “The Star.” We followed this with a wonderful dinner. A great time was had by all. Based on feedback from the group, we will probably make this an annual event.

The OWLs will kick off December and the Christmas season with an awesome Christmas concert. We will travel as a group to Christ Episcopal Church, in La Crosse to hear the UWL combined choirs and orchestra “Festival of Carols.” This is an uplifting concert that will get us in the spirit of the season as we prepare for the birth of Christ. The concert is free and will take place on Saturday, December 9. We will leave from the church at 4:00 PM to travel to a local restaurant to enjoy some good food and fellowship before the concert. Dinner is on your own. Following dinner, we will make our way to the church. So we know how much transportation to arrange, please contact Brian Narveson at owls@firstlu.org or 608-526-9700 by Friday, December 8, if you plan to attend. This is a great way to kick off the Christmas season.

The OWLs took great advantage of the nice weather in September. We attended the La Crosse storytelling festival on a wonderful afternoon, heard some great stories and music. We finished the month with a beautiful afternoon on the Narvesons’ deck with good food and wonderful poetry.

It was great to seeing everyone after our break in July. A group of 22 of us had a wonderful evening in August with dinner and the play “Steel Magnolias” in Lanesboro. Thank you to everyone who helped by driving.

The OWLs got into some serious summer fun in June. On a beautiful night, we had a wonderful dinner at Huck Finns by the water with a fun view of all the boats at the Marina. The special treat for our anniversary outing was attending the La Crosse Community Band Concert for “Circus Night”. We were entertained by many magnificent clowns while listening to some great circus music.

May was an excellent month for the OWLs. 23 of us Hooted our way to Norskedalen, where we were greeted with warm hospitality and a warm spring day. The Scandinavian lunch in Westby was a delicious delight. Our potluck the following week included the usual delicious lunch and a very interesting presentation by Paw’s for Independence.

Despite the cold, the OWLs had a fun and heart-warming January. Many of us attended the new movie La La Land after a great lunch. Our potluck featured Pastor Ron Nowland, who gave a very interesting presentation on “Where Angels Come From.”

Our February potluck will continue with the theme of angels. Many of us have either been touched by an angel or been an angel to some else. For our program, we will be the program. Everyone should bring a story about either how they have been touched by an angel or have found themselves being an angel to someone else. If you have a special angel symbol in your life (a piece of jewelry, a Christmas angel, a piece of art) please bring it to show. Our potluck will be on the usual 3rd Wednesday, February 15, in the narthex at noon.

The OWLs had a fun and exciting December. We started the month with a wonderful Christmas concert at English Lutheran by the UWL combined chorus and orchestra. We finished with a Christmas feast and games at the potluck. A great time was had by all.

November was a fun month for the OWLs. We began with Friday Night at the Movies. A fun-loving group of 22 headed to the local cinema for viewing the action thriller “Inferno”. We followed this with a wonderful fish fry dinner. A great time was had by all. Based on feedback from the group we will have another movie outing in the new year.

October was an enjoyable month for the OWLs. After a foggy ride to Sugar Creek to attend Yesterday’s Youth, we had a nice program and a great lunch. The ride back along the river was beautiful. Our potluck was well attended with a very interesting presentation from Skip Temte on his cruise ship experiences and his most recent trip to Alaska.

By popular request are rescheduling the canceled August outing to the Commonweal Theatre in Lanesboro, Minnesota. Our evening will start with a beautiful ride along the Root River, dinner in one of Lanesboro’s fine establishments and some fantastic Theatre at the Commonweal. This fabulous evening out is scheduled for Thursday, September 15. After a delicious dinner we will see they play Pride’s Crossing. Proclaimed the Best American Play of 1997 by the N.Y. Drama Critics Circle. A thoughtful and enticing play about the life of the first woman to swim the English Channel. The NY Post declared it “ a play you will remember and cherish forever”. We will leave the church at 4pm on Thursday, September 15. Cost of the Theatre is $35, ($30 if we get 15 or more) and dinner is on your own. Please email (owls@firstlu.org) by Tuesday, September 13th if you are planning on attending. You can pay for the tickets the night of the outing.

The OWLs took the month of July off but finished June with a picnic and rousing game of Kubb at the Narveson’ s. Kubb is a fun Scandinavian lawn game of opposing teams throwing sticks to knock the opposing team’s pieces down. Very basic, but much harder than you think. 

August will begin with our monthly potluck on Wednesday, August 10 at noon in the narthex. This is one week earlier than usual, so please mark your calendars. 

In spite of overcast skies, the OWLs had a fun and informative trip to Sugar Creek Bible camp in April. We saw several eagles on the trip down and enjoyed a wonderful program by Dick Campbell, who helped us “Remember the USS Indianapolis and Her Crew.” Everyone agreed we learned a great deal about the famous ship and its crew.