1/Wednes­day

  • ChiMe Activity Bulletin Deadline. Last day for these submissions to the August 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 and Ad­ver­tising Deadlines. Last day for editorial submissions to the August ChiMe. Please submit original ar­ticles, insights, puzzles, brain teasers, or short poems. Your fellow Chicago Area Mensa members would love to hear from you.

2/Thurs­day

  • Conversation with London Mensans 8 AM. Join a video chat with our kin from across the big pond in London at 2 PM BT. 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!!

  • 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!!

3/Fri­day

4/Satur­day

  • fourth

    Inde­pend­ence Day
    (Federal Holiday is Friday, July 3rd)

5/Sun­day

RSVP for South Suburbs held on Sunday, July 12th no later than Sunday, July 5th.

7/Tues­day

9/Thurs­day

10/Fri­day

  • Poetry Dis­cus­sion 7 PM. Our poetry group is using Zoom for meetings. Please send a poem or two to Joe D. by Monday, July 6th. 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!!

11/Satur­day

  • Rockford-Area Pool Party 2 PM. Bring your own drinks and munchies to pass around to Ted K.’s. We’ll order out for pizza or something. Guests and family (children and grandchildren) welcome! To RSVP and for Ted’s address, for more information, or to get on our email list, contact Dave L., our Rockford-Area Coordinator. Do not RSVP via Meetup. Rain date is Sunday, July 12th at 2 PM.
    Schedule Change!!

12/Sun­day

  • Ethnic Dining: Polish 1 PM. Join us for a GOBS-subsidized lunch at a venue TBA. Save the date. For Ethnic Dining notifications, updates, and all the details, join the Mensa Connect Ethnic Dining Group, but do not respond using Mensa Connect. This event usually recurs on the 2nd Sunday of the month.

14/Tues­day

  • bastille

    Bastille Day

15/Wednes­day

  • GOBS Request Deadline Noon. Today is the last day to submit a request for GOBS funds to be approved at this Tuesday’s Business Meeting for any planned, eligible event, activity, or class taking place after Tuesday, July 28th through the Wednesday before the August Business Meeting and, optionally, 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 September. September events need to be submitted by the 1st of August to the activities editor to be included in the September ChiMe. An article must be featured in the September ChiMe for GOBS-subsidized October events with an RSVP deadline in September (same 1st of August deadline but article emailed to the editor; see editorial deadline).

16/Thurs­day

18/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 coor­di­na­tor. You may also RSVP via Meetup. Open to non-Mensans; bring a curious friend.

  • 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 Coordinator, 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.

Our next Bi-Monthly Gathering occurs on December 6th.
at the
Rolling Mead­ows Com­mu­ni­ty Center
3705 Pheasant Drive, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008

  • Virtual Monthly ExComm Business Meeting 7 PM. Our ExComm and any other interested members discuss various topics and issues as well as GOBS requests. Members are welcome to attend and voice their opinions, but only the five elected members of the Executive Committee can vote. The Zoom login info can be found on our Contacts webpage.
    Tentative: Date & Time May Change!!
    Virtual Event!!

  • SFRM: Spy School 4:30 PM. Have you ever wondered what “Spy School” was like during the age of the Cold War? Find out from someone who was there.

    Don Grayson has a BS in Physics and obtained an MS in engineering at Purdue in 1972. He had 30-year career as a civilian engineer for the U.S. Navy in engineering management at the Naval Avionics Center Indianapolis. His assignments included U.S. NATO rep to Sweden, classified courier, project manager and technical analysis to various military radar and weapon guidance systems. Don is a sailboat hobbyist.

    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!!

  • Inquiring Minds: Neurodiversity Around the World: Respect, Responsibility and Resilience 2 PM. What if autism is the key to bridging the communication gap between dynamic societies and individuals? Felicia M. L. Davis, a Mensan with a master’s in organizational management, utilizes her autism to unlock the world of communication creating bridges to communicate fluidly.

    In this talk, Felicia will encourage discussion and questions about Autism Spectrum Disorder and will discuss attitudes towards ASD and resources available to people with ASD in various countries.

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

  • Irish Mensa Lecture and Discussion: Bach’s Invention: The Divine Trickery of J .S. Bach 1 PM. Irish Mensa meets virtually on the third Monday of each month at 7 PM Irish Time; a discussion then follows the lecture.

    Behind the sublime precision and expressive power of Bach’s music lies a mischievous spirit. From puzzle canons (where the performer must solve a riddle to reach the score), melodies that run upside-down and backwards against themselves, hidden symbols, endless loops, to the embedding of numbers and names into the music, this lecture explores Bach’s ingenious trickery. Unravelling this thread enhances an appreciation—and sense of humanity and playfulness—to his transcendent music.

    Our Speaker: Professor Milton Mermikides is a composer, guitarist, technologist, academic and educator in a wide range of musical styles. He has collaborated with artists and scientists as diverse as Evelyn Glennie, Tim Minchin, Pat Martino, Peter Zinovieff, John Williams and Brian Eno. Son of a CERN nuclear physicist, he was raised with an enthusiasm for both the arts and sciences, an eclecticism which has been maintained throughout his teaching, research and creative career. Mermikides is a Professor of Music at the University of Surrey, Professor of Guitar at the Royal College of Music and Deputy Director of the International Guitar Research Centre. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics (BSc), Berklee College of Music (BMus) and the University of Surrey (PhD).

    For the full write-up and to join, visit the American Mensa event. One does not have to register early for the event—simply click on the Zoom link before the session starts (check back here for that link on Tuesday, July 21st).
    Virtual Event!!

21/Tues­day

Northern Exposure

  • Northern Ex­po­sure Dinner 6:45 PM. Ice floes in your birdbath? Then you should have dinner with us. Join us for dinner at a venue TBD in Lake County. Recurs on the third Tuesday of the month.

  • Best Night for Meteor Shower Viewing . Both the Southern Delta Aquariid shower will be hitting its peaks with as many as 20 meteors per hour. After midnight the moonlight is less likely to be an issue.

  • MWW: Nonfiction Book Discussion 4:30 PM CDT. Please join us in discussing Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (revised and updated), by Robert D. Putnam. We generally discuss what we liked about the book or found challenging. We also discuss what we would like more or less of, what format we read the book in, and whether it was a recent read. Can’t make it this month? Future books will be: The Backyard Bird Chronicles, by Amy Tan (August 27) and The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource, by Chris Hayes (September 24).

    See the full write-up and find contact info on the American Mensa Events website.
    Virtual Event!!

23/Thurs­day

  • pythagorean

    Pythagorean Theorem Day
    a2 + b2 = c2
    72 + 242 = 252

  • Theodore Talk: Free Speech Opportunist: Elon Musk’s Degradation of the Town Square 4:30 PM. Social media is often considered to be a democratic space. The platforms make it easy for nearly anyone to say nearly anything to seemingly everyone, and many people hail the results as the purest form of free speech. Elon Musk latched onto that notion as one of the reasons he decided to buy Twitter and promote it as the world’s town square. But as the platform faced criticism from users and advertisers, Musk’s attempt to enshrine it as a marketplace of ideas has been challenged by the marketplace of commerce. One of his reactions: restrict speech.

    Professor Stephen Wolgast, Knight Chair in Audience and Community Engagement for News and professor of the practice of journalism at the University of Kansas, will demonstrate how the man who calls himself a free-speech absolutist places a higher value on the dollar than others’ ideas, and show how the notion that is a town square fails on a number of counts.

    To register for this Theodore Talk, visit the American Mensa Events website or, on or after Saturday, July 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!!

28/Tues­day

  • 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.

  • Theodore Talk: A Horological Discourse: Mechanism, Risk and Wonder 2:30 PM. With ingenuity and design came reflection on our place in the universe, the tilt of the earth’s axis, precision and predictability, and the limits of our cognitive capacities. We engineered mechanisms to navigate our oceans and map the cosmos, explore metaphysical realms by animating the dead and rendering forms from the golden mean. We generated machines of wonder that could play music, make magic and conjure bird song. We made devices for detonating the first manifestation of manmade existential risk, destroying living organisms by the millions.

    Through examining the connections between this diverse set of objects, we will trace the story of craft and the science of horology, demonstrating its pivotal role in design through the ages and why their preservation is vital to our future.

    Brittany Nicole Cox, a horological conservator based in Seattle Washington, has a Masters in the Conservation of Clocks and Related Dynamic Objects from West Dean College, UK. She founded Memoria Technical in 2015 where she teaches, makes original work, and operates her conservation studio. Her work has been shown at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York and was featured in National Geographic and two feature-length documentaries. She has written for Vanity Fair and is working on a manuscript to be published by Penguin Press. See the full write-up and find contact info 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!!

30/Thurs­day


* * * * *

1 August/Satur­day

  • ChiMe Activ­ity Bulletin Dead­line. Last day for these submissions to the September 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 and Ad­vertising Dead­lines. Last day for editorial submissions to the September 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
July 2026 (Tentative)

July
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26 27 28 29 30 31  

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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