Beginning in March 2023, general meetings of the OURA are being held in the second-floor conference room of the First Baptist Church's Family Life Center, 300 W. Comanche St. in Norman. Any change of venue will be announced both on this web page and on page 1 of The Banner issue that precedes the meeting affected. Recent and upcoming meeting dates are:
OURA DAY TREKKERS: [February 2026] Think Nature and Food and come join us on Thursday, March 19th, for a fun morning at the Discovery Cove Nature Center at Lake Thunderbird Sate Park (Clear Bay Area) in Norman, Oklahoma, followed by a short "road trip" to The Farmer's Daughter Market BBQ & Café, 302 N. Broadway, in Tecumseh (405.598.2683) for lunch. For those who like to browse antique stores, immediately next door to the restaurant is The Homestead Antiques & Interiors house. - Discovery Cove Nature Center serves as a hub for environmental education, offering hands-on learning, a few wildlife exhibits, and several conservation programs. The naturalist will meet us at the center at 10:30 a.m., give us a brief talk about the area's flora and fauna, provide a short guided nature hike for those who wish to participate, and offer a craft experience. We will leave the park around 11:15 and drive to Tecumseh for lunch. - Parking: All state park visitors who do not have a state park pass/permit must pay a $10 parking fee. However, I have made arrangements with the Ranger Station so that those of you who drive to the park for our event will not be cited. I can only do this if you send me your car's license plate number prior to March 19th. Once I have the list, I will contact the Park Ranger, who has assured me that no one on the list will need to pay the $10 fee. - Carpooling: For those who wish to carpool, we will meet in the front parking lot of CrossPointe Church, 2601 24th Avenue S.E. (corner of 24th Ave. S.E. & Highway 9), Norman, at 10:00 a.m. We will caravan east on Highway 9 to the Clear Bay Entrance of Lake Thunderbird and follow the signs to the Nature Center. - As always, our trek is open to all OURA members as well as their families and friends. Everyone is welcome. Grettie Bondy, gbondy@ou.edu, 405.447.8818 (h), 405-537-2642 (c)
OURA BOOK CLUB: [March 2026] Until Norman's Central Library reopens, the OURA Book Club is holding its monthly meetings at The Well in central Norman. The club's March 17th discussion centered on Charmaine Wilkerson's NY Times best seller and current Hulu streaming series Black Cake (2022), "an immersive family saga in which two estranged siblings delve into their mother's hidden past and how it all connects to her traditional Caribbean black cake." On April 21st club members' attention turns to Helen Sinonon's national bestselling novel The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club, described by critics as "historical fiction of the highest order, an absolute joy of a book with so much to say about the lives of women in the years following World War I, and a timeless comedy of manners about a generation of young women facing the seismic changes brought on by war and dreaming of the boundless possibilities of their future." On May 19th club members will examine Anne Napolitano's 2023 NYT best seller and Oprah Book Club pick Hello Beautiful, "an exquisite homage to Louisa May Alcott's timeless classic, Little Women, and a profoundly moving portrait of what is possible when we choose to love someone not in spite of who they are, but because of it."
Unless otherwise announced, all club meetings begin at 1:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month, and of course every meeting is open to OURA members and nonmembers alike. For further information about the club, about obtaining the selected books, and about future meeting dates, times, and locales, email any of the club's co-chairs: Debbie Blasiar (dblasiar@ou.edu) , Sue Carlson (scarlson@ou.edu), Lawana Dillard (lawanasd@gmail.com).
