Summer’s almost over … Join us for a meetup at the Clothesline Arts Festival in Rochester

We’re putting together a meet up for University of Chicago alumni from the region at the last summer arts festival in Rochester–the 2009 Clothesline Festival. Nothing special, but thought it would be a nice, family-friendly way to get together, take in some art, support the MAG, etc. Reply ASAP with whether you’d like to drop by and hang out with us UofC’ers for awhile. Call me if you have any questions. You can check out the Clothesline’s website for more information.

We’ll be meeting on the lawn in front of the Main Stage, with some way of you finding us I hope (look for UofC stuff), so drop by and we’ll hang out. Bring chairs (I’ll try to have a few on hand). The following acts will be appearing on the Main Stage from 12-4:

• noon City of Rochester Department of Recreation “All Stars” (poetry, rap, singing, dance and spoken word)
• 1:30 pm Michael Jackson tribute by Timmy Mitchum (from Across the Universe, Grammy Awards, The Lion King); guest appearance by Garth Fagan Dancers
• 2 pm Rochester City Ballet/Draper Center and Garth Fagan Dancers
• 3 pm Po’ Boys Brass Band (New Orleans style)
• 4 pm Hellcat Maggie

Details
Where: Memorial Art Gallery grounds, 500 University Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607
Date: Saturday, September 12, 2009
Time: 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm
$: $5.00 (This is the cost to get into the festival, we are not charging anything). Festival is a fundraiser for the MAG. Tickets to the festival include admission to the Gallery, where you can check out the 62nd Rochester Finger Lakes Exhibition and several other special shows.

UPDATE (9/11/2009): Due to a lack of response, I will probably not be sitting out there at the Clothesline festival as planned . I still plan on going to the festival on Saturday, however.  If you’re going to come by the festival, send me an email through the site and I’ll send you my cell so we can connect if we’re both there at the same time.

Join University of Chicago alumni for August Wilson’s play Fences at Rochester’s Geva Theatre!

Fences is Wilson’s most popular play, exploring the conflict across generations over a vision of black manhood and the terrible cost of a dream deferred. The story line, in short, as set out on the Geva site:

Troy Maxson could have been a baseball star. He once played for the Negro League, but too early to cross the color line. Now, in 1957 Pittsburgh, he has a solid family and a decent job. He drinks with his best friend on Friday nights and turns over the rest of his paycheck to his wife Rose. But Troy still yearns for something beyond his own backyard, and he believes he’s found it in the arms of another woman.

More on the context and background to the play here.

When: June 6, 2009 at 4:00 p.m.  We will begin gathering at 2:30 in the lobby and Geva Theatre Café (the play begins at 4:00 p.m., there will be an optional Prologue by Geva’s dramaturge and/or cast member at 3:00 p.m., or mingle with other alumni at the Geva Theatre Cafe and bar, which will open at 2:30 p.m.). Depending on interest, following the play some may repair to a local TBD restaurant for a meal.

Tickets (two options):

$40.00/ticket for Orchestra seats

$36.50/ticket for Balcony

These ticket prices are at a 15% group discount from the regular price. There may be same-day availability of seats at a substantial discount, but there is no guarantee that they will be available.

Where?
Geva Theatre Center
75 Woodbury Boulevard
Rochester, NY 14607
For directions call the theatre at (585) 232-Geva (4382) or see directions on the Geva site.

How to I sign up?

RSVP by May 27th via email reply using the link in the right panel of this site (please do as soon as possible as I have to release seats to Geva by the 28th). In your email, please provide your name, the number of people who will be in your party, the type(s) of tickets you wish to purchase. Please bring a check made out to “University of Chicago Club of Western New York” in the amount needed to cover the cost of your tickets to the event or contact me via email to get the address.

Who brew? First 2009 University of Chicago meetup at the Old Toad on January 29th

Happy New Year! I thought I’d set up another “meeting” for local alumni of the University of Chicago (College, Law School, GSB, whatever) at the Old Toad for Thursday, January 29th before the month got away from me. As it has been a popular destination and is easy to find, we’re going to again have it at Rochester’s authentic British Pub, the Old Toad, which is located in Rochester at 277 Alexander Street. There is parking in back and, while for pay, the bar will discount all but $2.00 of it (or at least that has been their practice). Let’s say from 5:00 to ? (I’ll be there from about 4:30 and people can stay or leave as they wish or their schedules demand). Let me know if you’re going to come by Tuesday morning so I can save enough seats to accommodate us.

I would really like to keep these going and get more of you out to meet other local University of Chicago alumni. I know that we seem to only go to pubs with great beer (we did do a coffee shop once), but our regulars have tended to like that type of venue. However, I could use some new ideas for times, days and locations for alternative places to hold these meetups, which are just informal get togethers for local alumni to get to know each other and build the local alumni group. Even If you can’t come, please drop me a line and let me know where and when would work better for you. I’d also like to hear from people on other types events that you’d like to see the group do more often and, always, would like to hear from anyone who has ideas or who’d like to help me work with me in creating some interesting events this year for some of the more than 1,000 alumni in our Western New York region (from the shores of Lake Erie to past Syracuse…).

Greg
Gregory V. Bell
President
University of Club of Western NY

Added January 29th: This event was cancelled due to yesterday’s weather and lack of interest, but I neglected to update this blog entry. If anyone came by through this post only (most were invited by email), I hope more than one did so you had your own meetup. Alas I wasn’t there. I’m going to set up something soon for February.

Celebrate UChicago at the 2009 Inauguration

From a recent alumni email if you missed it:

On January 20th, Barack Obama, who some have described as a ‘University of Chicago Democrat,’ will become the 44th President of the United States. Around the globe, University of Chicago faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends are preparing to mark this historic moment. Members of the University community who plan to be in Washington, D.C., to witness the inauguration are invited to take part in the following special events:

• From Hyde Park to the White House – January 18
• Alumni Club of Washington D.C. Social – January 18 (check alumni website for details later)
• Warm Up at the DC Regional Office during the Inauguration – January 20
• Chicago Booth’s Economic Forecast Dinner – January 21

Tweet on, Chicago!… Check out what’s going on at the law school

The University of Chicago’s Law School has joined the Twitter universe, creating a page highlighting the “tweets” of the school’s current and former denizens.  By answering the question, “What are you doing right now?” the writers who are creating the 140-character “tweets” are being utilized by the school on this page to provide a continuously updated snapshot of daily life at the law school. Cool idea….

I’m on Twitter, too.  Check me out if you wish. It’s a bit of an odd concept, but there are some interesting connections you make (like the one above, which I made through seeing a “tweet” about it.

Join us at the Tap & Mallet on August 20th

We’re moving for August to the pub Tap & Mallet for lively conversation and beer or other beverages (as well as food, if you wish). The pub is located at 381 Gregory St. off South Ave. in Rochester.

Club president Greg Bell will be there on August 20th from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. Send him an email through the link on this site if you’re interested or if you just stumbled on this site and want to know more about the Western NY alumni club. If you know anyone in Rochester or Western New York that is a University of Chicago alumnus and doesn’t know about the club here in Western NY, please bring them along or feel free to send them a link to this blog so they can contact us. Hope to see you there!

This is getting old…Old Toad that is! Meet us on July 29th to send off some local alums…

Sorry I have been so out-of-touch recently. It’s the usual stuff—too little summer, too much to do, changes at work, etc. Well, local alumni Remek Kocz and Anne Michalenka are departing the Rochester area to further their studies elsewhere. To help send them off and to try to restart our monthly meetups of University of Chicago alumni in the Rochester area we’re meeting at what is becoming a favorite watering hole—the Old Toad at 277 Alexander St., in Rochester (585-232-2626). We’ll be meeting on Tuesday, July 29th starting at 4:00 pm (come when you can, we’ll be there until 6 or 7pm).

I realize many of you are out of town on vacation or otherwise enjoying the brief summer, but I hope some of you can make it. For those of you outside of Rochester, if you’re interested, let me know and perhaps we can set something up closer to you this summer. I’ll try to attend as well….

I’m getting thirsty again (surprise, surprise) . . . come out for a beer with other University of Chicago Alumni at the Old Toad

For those of you who missed the opportunity to cheer on our Maroons earlier in the month as they trounced the UofR Yellowjackets (yes, I was a bit surprised too. . . .), we’re setting up another “meeting” at the Old Toad for Tuesday, February 26th before the month gets away from us. Rochester’s authentic British Pub, the Old Toad is at 277 Alexander Street.  Let me know if you’re going to come by Tuesday morning so I can save enough seats.

I would really like to keep these going and get more of you out to meet other local University of Chicago alumni. I know that it seems that we only go to pubs with great beer (we did do a coffee shop once); our regulars have tended to like that type of venue; however, I could use some new ideas for times, days and locations for alternative places to hold our “meetings”. If you can’t come, please drop me a line (use the link in the right panel) and let me know where and when would work better for you so I can start setting those up.

Come out to see the University of Chicago basketball teams deal the No. 1 Yellowjackets a much needed loss (or not…)

As usual, we’re the underdogs. . . but what else is new? Of course some of you may have divided loyalties anyway….

We’re planning on meeting up at the University of Rochester campus on February 3, 2008, to cheer on the Maroons men’s basketball team take on the currently No. 1 University of Rochester Yellowjackets at the Louis Alexander Palestra gym. The game starts at 12:00 pm, so we’ll meet up around 11:30 am inside the Palestra (it is February 3rd). The women’s team tips off at 2:00 pm if the men’s game just you all riled up. Some will probably be brave enough to wear UofC wear within the Palestra, so look for something maroon in the see of blue and yellow to find us (or contact us through the email link on this site so we can make arrangements). Let us know if you’re going. We’ll probably head out for some post-game repast at a nearby restaurant. The Palestra is part of the Robert B. Goerletic Center, which you locate on this map of the UofR Riverside Campus.

Now that it’s 2008, let’s get together again! Join us at the Tap & Mallet in Rochester

We’re going to get together again this month for some lively conversation and beer or other beverages (as well as food, if you wish) at the new pub Tap & Mallet. The pub is located at 381 Gregory St. off South Ave. in Rochester.  It is one of the best places in the city (or out of it) to get a decent beer.  Their website is under constuction, but there are some reviews at RocWiki.

Greg Bell (Club Prez) will be there on Tuesday, January 22nd from 5-7pm one way or the other.  If no one shows, he’ll still be a happy man.

If you know anyone that is a UofC alum and doesn’t know about the club here in Western NY, please bring them along or feel free to send them a link to this blog so they can contact us.  Hope to see you there!