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!!

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!!

Ethnic Dining 1 PM. Join us at the Himalayan Restaurant, lo­cated at 8265 W Golf Road in Niles. This will be a GOBS-subsidized meal. Save the date. For Ethnic Dining notifications, updates, and all the details, join the Mensa Connect Ethnic Dining Group, but do not use it to RSVP. This event recurs on the 2nd Sunday of the month.

Zoom Lunch 1 PM. See Thursday, June 5th.

Northern Ex­po­sure Dinner 6:45 PM. Twenty-four hours of daylight? 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.

Conversation with London Mensans 8 AM. See Thursday, June 5th.
Virtual Event!!

Rock­ford-Area Dinner 6:30 PM. Join Dave and other Rockford-Area Mensans for dinner at a venue TBA. 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.

Poetry Dis­cus­sion 7 PM. Our poetry group is using Zoom for meetings. Please send a poem or two to Joe D. by Monday, June 9th. 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!!

Conversation with London Mensans 8 AM. See Thursday, June 5th.
Virtual Event!!

Zoom Lunch 1 PM. See Thursday, June 5th.

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.

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.

Monthly Gath­ering
The location of our June 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. 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). Members, RSVP via Meetup to let your friends know you’re going to be there.

Monthly Gathering

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.
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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.
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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

Theodore Talk: How Corn Changed Itself and Then Changed Everything Else: The Role Agriculture Played in the Early Days of Chicago 2:30 PM. About 10,000 years ago, a weedy grass growing in Mexico possessed of a strange trait, known as a“jumping gene”, transformed itself into a larger and more useful grass — the cereal grass that we would come to know as maize and then corn. Nurtured by Native Americans, this grain would transform the Americas even before First Contact. After First Contact, it spanned the globe, but it also drove westward expansion in North America, building cities and inspiring innovators and entrepreneurs.

Thanks to corn, the Midwest was settled faster than any other region in history, and Chicago became immensely influential. From the Chicago Stock Yards to the Chicago Board of Trade, the city changed the way the world did business. However, vampires, whiskey, Henry Ford, time zones, Fritos, and the Chicago Bears are also part of this remarkable story. As Margaret Visser noted in Much Depends on Dinner, “Without corn, North America — and most particularly modern, technological North America — is inconceivable.”

Cynthia Clampitt, author of The Midwest Maize: How Corn Shaped the U.S. Heartland, will present what may prove to be the corniest Theodore Talk ever! To register, check your email for the Zoom link for this Theodore Talk or, on or after Friday, June 20th, 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!!

Zoom Lunch 1 PM. See Thursday, June 5th.

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.

Conversation with London Mensans 8 AM. See Thursday, June 5th.
Virtual Event!!

54th Chicago Annual Pride Parade ~10 AM. The CAM contingent is sponsored by the Rainbow SIG. The Rainbow SIG will be marching and riding on their float again this year in the Chicago Annual Pride parade. Although it started out as gays marching down Broadway to display their pride after decades of discrimination, it has evolved into a million people, gay, straight and everything in between supporting equal rights for everyone and celebrating the diversity that was once frowned upon. The interaction with the crowd is exhilarating. And spreading the idea that Mensans are everywhere and come in all shapes, sizes, sexual preferences, and gender identities sends an important message. Participants who sign up will be notified of the exact time and lo­ca­tion (along W. Sheridan or N. Broadway, near the intersection of N. Broadway and W. Sheridan Rd. in Chicago) once that information is known, about a week before. After completing the 2 mile route, it’s about a ½ mile walk southwest to enjoy an optional, private, late luncheon (see below). For all details, visit the Parade Info webpage or see the ar­ticle in the April ChiMe (when it becomes available). For all details, visit the Parade Info webpage.

Rainbow SIG Late Luncheon no earlier than 2:30 PM (immediately following the Parade)—a more precise time will be announced one week before the parade. It will be held at Basil Leaf Café located at 2465 N. Clark St., Chicago. Visit the Parade Info webpage to sign up or for more details.