The organizers of the events listed on this calendar have expressed willingness for members elsewhere in the world to join in. Please don’t give them a bigger crowd than they can handle, and do be careful about time zones. The displayed time zone is GMT! If you add them to your own calendar, the time zone should convert to your specified time zone.

To have your virtual event added to this calendar, contact Matt C., the CAM International Calendar contact.

There may be other virtual events, as well as in-person events, which may be of interest to CAM members, hosted by various local groups listed on the American Mensa Calendar of Events.

1/Tues­day

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  • ChiMe Activity Bulletin and Ad­ver­tising Deadlines. Last day for these submissions to the May ChiMe. Interested in organizing and hosting a virtual or in-person event? Find out how by checking out our guide to hosting events.

  • ChiMe Editorial Deadline. Last day for editorial submissions to the May ChiMe. Please submit original ar­ticles, insights, puzzles, brain teasers, or short poems. Your fellow Chicago Area Mensa members would love to hear from you.

  • Zoom Lunch 1 PM. Perhaps the longest running Mensa event anywhere, Chicago’s Zoom Lunch (formerly known as the Downtown Lunch) is held every week, alternating between Tuesday and Thursday. Join us for conversation, laughs, and attempts to define words you’ll never use again. The Zoom id is 836 1178 6315 and the passcode is 190710; it is also included as part of your host Jon G.’s contact information if you prefer a link. Questions? Contact Jon via email or call/text him. You may also RSVP via Meetup. We’d love to have you join us!
    Virtual Event!!

  • Meet the RVC4 Candidates 6:30 PM. We’re cordially inviting you to meet the three candidates: Jon Gruebele (Chicago), Laura King (Sangamon Valley), and Barbara Kryvko (St. Louis). The Zoom info is available as part of Jon G.’s contact info.
    Virtual Event!!

3/Thurs­day

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  • Conversation with London Mensans 8 AM. Join a video chat with our kin from across the big pond in London at 2 PM BDT. RSVP (via Meetup preferred) to local host Carey S. to receive the Zoom sign-in information. The London host is Ian David Moseley.
    Virtual Event!!

  • Virtual Special Business Meeting 7:30 PM. The ExComm has called a Special Business Meeting. The only agenda item is to discuss updates/deletions to the Actions Still in Effect (ASIEs). Per our Bylaws, the ExComm can not include any other topic on the agenda of the Special Business Meeting. Members are welcome to attend and voice their opinions, but only the five members of the Executive Committee can vote. The Zoom login info can be found on our Contacts webpage.
    Virtual Event!!

  • Mensa Cares: Northern Illinois Food Bank - Geneva 9 AM until Noon. As part of National Volunteering Month, join your fellow Mensan members, their family and friends at 273 Dearborn Court in Geneva, where we will be sorting and packing food. Please register individually with the Northern Illinois Food Bank in advance. See the article in the April ChiMe (when it becomes available). If you have any questions or you wish to RSVP , email our Community Services Coördinator Jean D. .

8/Tues­day

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  • Break­fast/Lunch in Arlington Heights 10:30 AM. The Southern Kitchen is located in a strip mall at 818 E. Kensington Rd. in Arlington Heights, a little west of the northwest corner of Kensington and Dryden. Separate checks are available. A 2% surcharge is added to the prices on the menu, but is waived if payment is in cash. A gratuity might or might not be added to the bill. Check your bill and please leave a tip if it is not included. You may include an additional tip for good service. Use Meetup, but if not on Meetup, RSVP to Ken L. via email. If you RSVP by email, your reservation is not confirmed until you receive a confirmation email.

9/Wednes­day

RSVP for Northern Exposure no later than 10 AM. RSVP via Meetup preferred.

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Northern Exposure

  • Northern Ex­po­sure Dinner 6:45 PM. April in Paris… Alaska? Then you should have dinner with us. Join us for dinner at a venue TBD in Lake County. Please RSVP on Meetup or via Janice’s email, jesser@chicago.us.mensa.org , so she can reserve a big enough table.

10/Thurs­day

11/Fri­day

  • Poetry Dis­cus­sion 7 PM. Our poetry group is using Zoom for meetings. Please send a poem or two to Joe D. by Monday, April 7th. Interested persons who are not currently members of the poetry group can contact Joe D. , and he will email the poems to be discussed. Contact Bill K. for the Zoom links or any help you might need. Do NOT RSVP via Meetup. This event is usually held on the evening of the second Friday of the month.
    Virtual Event!!

12/Satur­day

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Rockford-Area Mensans

  • Rock­ford-Area Lunch Noon. Join Dave and other Rockford-Area Mensans for lunch at the Olympic Tavern, lo­cated at 2327 N. Main St. in Rockford (on the southeast corner of Main and Fulton). To RSVP , for more information, or to get on our email list, contact Dave L., our Rockford-Area Coördinator. RSVP required in case of cancellation, time, or venue change. Do not RSVP via Meetup. This event usually recurs on the second Friday of the month.
    Date & Time Change!!

  • passover

    Pass­over begins

13/Sun­day

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Ethnic Dining

  • Ethnic Dining 1 PM. Join us for a GOBS-subsidized lunch at a venue TBA. For Ethnic Dining notifications, updates, and all the details, join the Mensa Connect Ethnic Dining Group. This event recurs on the 2nd Sunday of the month.

  • SFRM: Let’s Talk About Money 4:30 PM. Presented by Marci Grossman, CPA, who has over 30 years of experience helping individuals and businesses to manage their financial needs. She is a financial literacy educator, author, and speaker passionate about encouraging people to take control and improve their relationship with money. In plain english, sharing true stories, she helps people to better understand the financial decisions they make every day.

    Let’s remove the stigma around talking about money so that you can know your money, own your money, and live your best life. This talk will be about money and the importance of financial literacy. Money is the medium by which we exchange what we have for what we want. The better you understand it, the better decisions you can make regarding how you use your money.

    Please register early. To register, visit San Francisco Regional Mensa (SFRM)’s registration signup for this event. For more details, visit the SFRM Zoom RSVPs group on Facebook or https://livepresentation.link/info.
    Virtual Event!!

15/Tues­day

  • Mensa Cares: Northern Illinois Food Bank - Geneva 5:30 PM until 7:30 PM. As part of National Volunteering Month, join your fellow Mensan members, their family and friends at 273 Dearborn Court in Geneva, where we will be sorting and packing food. Please register individually with the Northern Illinois Food Bank in advance. See the article in the April ChiMe (when it becomes available). If you have any questions or you wish to RSVP , email our Community Services Coördinator Jean D. .
  • hourglass

    Federal Tax Deadline.

16/Wednes­day

  • GOBS Request Deadline Noon. Today is the last day to submit a request for GOBS funds to be approved at this Saturday’s Business Meeting for any planned, eligible event, activity, or class taking place after Saturday, April 19th and through Saturday, May 17th or later; to be eligible, events involving CAM members must be published in the issue of ChiMe corresponding to the month in which they occur. For CAM events, it’s recommended you submit the GOBS request and get it approved before submitting your event information for publication in ChiMe — so no later than today for events planned for June. June events need to be submitted by the 1st of May to the activities editor to be included in the June ChiMe. An article must be featured in the June ChiMe for GOBS-subsidized July events with an RSVP deadline in June (same 1st of May deadline but article emailed to the editor; see editorial deadline).

17/Thurs­day

19/Satur­day

  • Conserv­atives Lunch 11:30 AM. Join other members of the Mensan cell of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy for lunch and civilized un-PC conversation. No forbidden questions, no unchallengeable answers. This lunch happens on the third Saturday every month. The venue will be The Patio, 2780 S. Highland Ave. in Lombard (NW corner of Butterfield and Highland, but you can enter only from Highland). RSVP by emailing Jim Z. the event coör­di­na­tor. You may also RSVP via Meetup. Open to non-Mensans; bring a curious friend.

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  • Beverly Area Saturday Salon (B.A.S.S.) ~Noon. Spontaneous conversation in far SSW Chicago, approx­i­mate vicinity of 107th St. & Western Ave. Please contact Rick E. the Beverly Area Coördinator, for this month’s lo­ca­tion and the exact time as well as more information; if emailing, put “BASS” in the subject line. This event usually recurs midday on the 3rd Saturday of the month.

  • Mensa Cares: Feed My Starving Children 7 PM until 8:45 PM. As part of National Volunteer Week, join your fellow Mensans at 742 E. Park Ave. in Libertyville. Specific details, including Covid safety/restrictions, will be provided to those who sign up. RSVP via email to Hieu N..

  • SEMM: 28,800 Rubber Duckies 6 PM CDT. On the night of January 10, 1992, an enormous container ship from China, crossing the north Pacific, ran into a storm and eventually lost several tractor trailer sized containers to the sea. This actually happens quite often and some people get their kicks hunting down Adidas sneakers, or the ten thousand catcher’s mitts or hockey sticks that bob to the surface after the ocean pops the container open. But on this Friday night, the cargo was 28,800 floating bath toys.

    Our guest speaker Donovan Hohn tells of how he read an article about the 28,800 floating toys, and the search for information about them took over his life for the next three years! He figured he would interview a few oceanographers, talk to a few beachcombers, read up on Arctic science and geography, and ascertain the global ecological impact. But questions can be like ocean currents — wade in too far, and they carry you away. Hohn’s accidental odyssey pulls him into the secretive arena of shipping conglomerates, the daring work of Arctic researchers, the lunatic risks of maverick sailors, and the shadowy world of Chinese toy factories. This is the true story of a journey into the heart of the sea and an adventure through science, myth, the global economy, and some of the worst weather imaginable.

    Donovan Hohn is the author of The Inner Coast: Essays (2020) and Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea (2011), a New York Times Notable Book and runner-up for both the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction and the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. His essays have appeared in such publications as Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, The Virginia Quarterly Review, Lapham’s Quarterly, and The New Republic. A recipient of the Whiting Writer’s Award and an NEA Creative Writing Fellowship, Hohn spent a number of years editing essays, fiction, and literary journalism at Harper’s. He has taught nonfiction in the MFA program of the University of Michigan and is now Director of Creative Writing at Wayne State University.

    See the full write-up and find contact info on the American Mensa Events website. All attendees must preregister by visiting the SEMM gathering page.
    Virtual Event!!

Our next Monthly Gathering occurs on February 15th.
AGoG will be held Feb. 14th – 16th. Both are at the
Westin North Shore Hotel
601 N. Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling, IL 60090


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Add CAM April Monthly Gathering @Rolling Meadows Community Center

  • Monthly Gath­ering
    The location of our April Month­ly Gath­ering is the Rolling Mead­ows Com­mu­ni­ty Center
    3705 Pheasant Dr. in Rolling Meadows.

    Games and hos­pi­tal­ity are in the spacious auditorium, with overflow space in the lobby. The speaker event is in the Card Room. A Parents-Kids Play Room is available after the Mensa Test. Park in the NW lot behind the building and use Entrance K (near inner corner). Please note that we have this venue only until midnight, so plan accordingly. This gathering is open to the public. So if you’re interested in learning more about Chicago Mensa, come join us. There is an admissions fee to help cover costs (major credit cards accepted); the April MG is free to all CAM members. Members, RSVP via Meetup to let your friends know you’re going to be there.

    Test:
    5 PM.
    Business Meeting:
    5 PM.
    Game room opens:
    6 PM.
    Voting opens:
    6:30 PM.
    Program:
    7:30 PM.
    Voting closes:
    8 PM.
    Refreshments:
    8:30 PM - Midnight.

    The CAM Executive Committee has allocated GOBS funds to be used for the reimbursement of either or Uber ridesharing services from/to the Arlington Park METRA station. Details are on our Monthly Gathering page.
    * * * * *
    Volunteer
    Get involved! Hone your leadership, organizational, or web skills. We’re looking for vol­un­teers to fill some of the open po­sitions listed both near the back of ChiMe or on the List of Officers. Try your hand as a co-Program Officer, a website designer, web content creator, or a MG Hospitality Volunteer. You can view the job descriptions and the required qualifications for all the open positions and ones you may be interested in. Or consider supervising the children at the MG for some extra cash.
    * * * * *
    Express Yourself
    Write an ar­ticle, submit a photo, or create a puzzle for ChiMe; see our Submission Guidelines for contact information and deadlines. Host your own event or your own virtual event using Discord!

    Program Topic: TBA

20/Sun­day

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  • SFRM: Meet the Beatles You Thought You Knew 4:30 PM. The Beatles were a cultural tsunami that forever changed fashion, manners, humor, media, values, and style, while influencing musical genres and future musicians long after the group’s demise. Kansas University’s professor of rock and lifelong educator Steve Lopes will lead us in a review of their origin story and Beatlemania, and study how they became so fabulous. Participants will engage in trivia quizzes and discussions of the Fab Four’s legacy.

    Steve Lopes was a technology educator for 15 years before becoming a union organizer. After 30 years with the Kansas National Education Association, he returned to teaching, this time leading history of rock classes for lifelong learners at the University of Kansas, University of Missouri-Kansas City, and Washburn University. Steve enjoys researching rock ’n’ roll history and sharing it with his students. He also donates his organizing skills in support of progressive causes and candidates.

    For more details, visit the SFRM Zoom RSVPs FB Group or the SFRM List of Presentations. To register, visit San Francisco Regional Mensa (SFRM)’s registration signup for this event.
    Virtual Event!!

  • easter

21/Mon­day

  • Mensa Cares: Nourishing Hope 2:30 PM until 5:30 PM. As part of National Volunteer Week, join your fellow Mensans at 5151 N. Ravenswood Ave. in Chicago. Specific details, including Covid safety/restrictions which may include proof of vaccination, will be provided to those who sign up. RSVP via email to Hieu N..

  • Best Night for Lyrids Meteor Shower . Viewing. The meteor shower will be hitting its peaks with as many as 18 meteors per hour late evening until dawn. The moonlight may be an issue. See the viewing tips at In-The-Sky.org.
    Public Event!!

22/Tues­day

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  • Break­fast in Mount Pros­pect 10 AM. Breakfast or lunch and conversation at Jelly Café lo­cated at 1784 W. Golf Rd. in Mount Pros­pect (northwest corner of Golf Rd. and Busse Hwy.), featuring a large and diverse menu. Dining might be indoors or outdoors, depending on conditions. Sepa­rate checks are available. Use Meetup, but if not on Meetup, RSVP to Ken L. via email. If you RSVP by email, your reservation is not confirmed until you receive a confirmation email.

  • MEANS (North Suburbs) Dinner 6:30 PM. Join Mensans Eating Around North Suburbs (MEANS) at Hackney’s on Lake located at 1514 E. Lake Ave. in Glenview. Free parking. Separate checks available. Limit 12. Please RSVP via Meetup (preferred) or email Brent B. Recurs on the 4th Tuesday of the month.

  • earth

    Earth Day

24/Thurs­day

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  • Mind Games® 2025 starts today. The event is being held today through Sunday, April 27th, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Portland located at 1000 NE Multnomah St. in Portland, OR. Visit the website for all the details.

25/Fri­day

  • arbor

    Arbor Day

  • Mensa Cares: Northern Illinois Food Bank - Joilet 9 AM until 11:30 AM. As part of National Volunteer Week, join your fellow Mensans at 171 S. Larkin Ave. in Joliet. Specific details, including Covid safety/restrictions, will be provided to those who sign up. RSVP via email to Hieu N..

27/Sun­day

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  • Theodore Talk: When the World Came to Chicago: The World’s Columbian Exposition 2:30 PM. In 2003, Eric Larson’s book, The Devil in the White City, sparked widespread popular interest in the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, 1890s Chicago, and world’s fairs, generally. While readers were enthralled with the grisly details of the murderous H.H. Holmes, the world’s fair was more than just a setting for a true crime tale (and was not, in fact, the location of the murders); it was an important moment in Chicago’s history that set a trend for subsequent fairs for decades.

    In this lavishly illustrated talk, Dr. Nicholas McCormack will examine a brief history of world’s fairs and the context for Chicago playing host to the first one in the United States. You’ll learn how the fair was designed, what its intended purpose was, and its impact on Chicago and the future of world’s fairs, especially Chicago’s second world’s fair in 1933-34. There is a vibrant scholarship — a historiography — of world’s fairs that highlights serious issues such as colonialism, classism, and racism, which many popular tellings of the Columbian Exposition and other world’s fairs either ignore or distort. This talk will engage with those debates and issues as well.

    To register, check your email for the Zoom link for this Theodore Talk or, on or after Friday, April 25th, tap/click on the Zoom link that will be available here on our website. See a list of all the Theodore talks on the American Mensa Events website. Even if you can’t attend the live talk, provided you register, you will receive a link to a recording of the event. Closed captioning enabled.
    Virtual Event!!

  • Virtual Escape Room: The Haunted Theatre 4 PM. Join us in another virtual escape room from Escape Room LA. In this 3-D adventure, groups of up to 10 people will explore the backstage and dressing rooms of an old, haunted theatre in a quest to free the theatre’s ghost before the next performance begins — or be trapped inside forever! The Haunted Theatre is a large, challenging game that will give all members of the group plenty to do in a fun and immersive online experience. The virtual escape room experience allows players to move around freely, explore the space in 360 degrees, and interact with everything they discover!

    The GOBS rate for this event is only $10 per CAM member, for up to 30 people. Members are allowed one non-member guest at the subsidized rate. Please note that you must pay for each person participating, not by device. It is recommended that each person have their own device for this event. This escape room is not recommended for children under 14. RSVPs are required; to RSVP, email Heather B. and she will let you know how to submit your payment. You are not considered to have RSVP’d until your payment is received. Payment via Zelle or PayPal is preferred. If you can only pay by check, please make sure to leave enough time to send via USPS.

    If you don’t have a Zoom account, you should download the Zoom app at least a ½ hour prior to the event. About 15 minutes before game time, you’ll receive the Zoom sign-in information. You should start your Zoom session before 4 PM because the game starts promptly.
    Virtual Event!!

  • Theodore Talk: Why Black Baseball Matters 2:30 PM. In 1920 Andrew "Rube" Foster established the Negro National League in Kansas City, Missouri. Featuring teams in Chicago, Cincinnati, Dayton, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and St. Louis, the NNL adopted the slogan, “We Are the Ship, All Else the Sea” as a pledge to set its own course. Many teams discovered financial success coming out of the gate; Foster’s American Giants drew nearly 200,000 spectators during the 1921 season.

    The NNL created a forum where many star players could make a bigger name for themselves — especially to white audiences. Future Hall of Famers Cool Papa Bell, Martín Dihigo, Willie Foster, Judy Johnson, Satchel Paige, and Turkey Stearnes all flourished in the NNL, along with many others. The creation of the Negro Leagues proved that Black players could play on even terms with their white counterparts — and draw just as much interest from baseball fans.

    Larry Lester, co-founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, located near the AG site, will discuss how these men of color changed the landscape of American history and became a bridge over troubled waters. When you place their achievements against the background of discrimination and political resistance it makes all of baseball history more impressive in its efforts toward social change. See the full write-up and find contact info on the American Mensa Events website. Even if you can’t attend the live Talk, as long as you register you will receive a link to a recording of the event. Closed captioning enabled.
    Virtual Event!!

29/Tues­day


* * * * *

1 May/Thurs­day

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  • ChiMe Activ­ity Bulletin and Ad­vertising Dead­lines. Last day for these submissions to the June ChiMe. Interested in organizing and hosting a virtual or in-person event? There’s bound to be an activity or a restaurant you want to try, but you just want some other people to experience it with you. So invite your fellow Mensans. Find out how by visiting our guide to hosting events.

  • ChiMe Editorial Dead­line. Last day for editorial submissions to the June ChiMe. Please submit original ar­ticles, insights, puzzles, brain teasers, photographs, or short poems. Your fellow Chicago Area Mensa members would love to hear from you.

Activities Bulletin
April 2025 (Tentative)

April
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RSVPs - Always contact the CAM event host as specified in the event details — email , phone , text , or Meetup .

About
Meetup

Chicago Mensa Meetup - All our events are listed; see who signed up, get notifications, and add the event(s) to your personal calendar. Check out the current calendar

About
Meetup

Chicago Mensa Meetup - All our events are listed; see who signed up, get notifications, and add the event(s) to your personal calendar. Check out the current calendar

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