The holiday season is here, and we are fortunate to live close to a world-class event, the Grand Illumination at Colonial Williamsburg. Tidewater Mensa is inviting Richmond Area Mensa to attend. Outdoor fires are lit, hospitality abounds, cannons are fired, entertainment surrounds you and fireworks top off the evening. Annnd, we are going to be a part of this special day.

Join us at Paul's Deli on Sunday December 2nd at 3 pm for a late lunch and fellowship. We will all gather there as a meeting point and venture forth into the restored area to take in all this celebration has to offer.

Particulars: Dress warmly. Parking is usually tight; carpooling is recommended. There is no charge for this event. RSVP not required, just show up, and leave when you feel you've had enough. Celebrations start at 5 pm, but there is a lot to do before then.

The deli is located at 761 Scotland street.

Mark your calendars!

Announcing the first Richmond Area Mensa (RAM) Member Appreciation Day (MAD)! Here are the details:

Who: All current Richmond Area Mensa Members are invited. If you bring a guest, we ask that you also bring a dish or dessert.

What: We are providing lunch at 12:30 pm and dinner at 6:30 pm. Games and other entertainment (movies) will be held in between lunch and dinner. Of course, there will be lively conversation and snacks throughout. Members who RSVP in time and attend will receive a gift bag as a token of our appreciation for your membership to the group.

More is in the works. Additional details will be provided via email, here on the Richmond Area Mensa website and our private Facebook group as they become available.

Where: The FoxCreek Clubhouse located at 5901 FoxCreek Crossing, Moseley, VA 23120. Click here for directions.

When: Saturday, December 15th, 2018

How: RSVP by email to Santi at or on the Facebook Group Page by 5pm (Eastern Standard Time) on December 12th, 2018.

Now is a great time to test for admission to Mensa! Interested prospects may either submit prior evidence for review, or attend a supervised testing session. The cost is normally $60, but there are several great promotions - let's get the word out!

October is NATIONAL TESTING MONTH
Cost for testing is only $30, and we have two sessions scheduled:

• Oct. 27 - LaPrada Library
• Oct. 29 - Holman Middle School Library

See the join us page for information on registering for a testing session.

October 23 - Mole Day promotion
Take the Mensa Practice test online for only $10.23

November - Discounted Prior Evidence Review
During the month of November, submitting prior evidence for review will only cost $30 (normally $60).

Vouchers for free testing
All members have been given a voucher code to share with friends and family, which is available from October through March 31. With the voucher, a prospect is able to test for free! If you're a member who would like to donate your code to a prospect, please contact Deb Gribben to coordinate.

More information on Mensa admissions tests is available on the American Mensa site.

On September 8, join us for a tour of the state capitol. The tour of the state capitol is free. Please arrive by 11:45 AM. It is scheduled to start at 12 PM and last approximately one hour. Afterwards, we will go to lunch and finish the day with a visit of the VMFA starting about 3 PM. We extended the invite to Thomas Jefferson Mensa and Tidewater Mensa, so it will be a great time! This website has a link to directions and parking.

http://virginiageneralassembly.gov/virginiaStateCapitol.php?secid=7&activesec=1#!hb=1&mainContentTabs=1

Please let me know if you have suggestions for a place in Carytown or somewhere else convenient to the state capitol and the VMFA where we can have a group of 20 to 40 people.

Please RSVP to Victoria Mikula, RAM Activities Coordinator, at recsecretary@richmond.us.mensa.org by September 7 with the number attending.

Richmond Area Mensa issued an alert June 24th after a number of individuals were reported to have broken out from from escape rooms in the Midlothian area.

It is understood that a Casino Heist was attempted, with a number of suspects escaping with only seconds to spare. Meanwhile another crew did something about returning paintings to a Museum - details are somewhat confused.

The diverse group are believed to still be at large as this goes to press, with no distinguishing commonalities aside from a reportedly high IQ. Based on witness descriptions, an artist was able to produce this surprisingly realistic sketch.

Some suspects reportedly re-grouped at Mi Hacienda, where they are reported to have celebrated their deeds with margaritas, dinner and good company. The restaurant CCTV captured this image of the gang.

Members of RAM with an interest in staying informed about this and similar events should make themselves known on the RAM Facebook group or get in touch with our Activities Coordinator, Victoria Mikula. Watch the events page for more.

- Brendan

Kuba Kuba Dos
403 N. Ridge Rd.,
Henrico, VA 23229
July 28 from 2:00 PM

On Saturday, May 5th, we will all meet at Paul's Deli located in the historic section of Colonial Wmbg.( 761 Scotland St.) at noon for  lunch and camaraderie. Afterwards, we will depart for self-guided tours of the historic section or a trek to the outlet malls for shopping. You can do both if you feel so moved! Enjoy a day of nice weather and interesting attractions.

Then, at 5 PM we will all trek to the clubhouse at Williamsburg Commons condo development just off Bypass Rd (address to be given later), near the historic area, for refreshments (sandwiches and sodas) and more camaraderie where we will join Tidewater Mensa again.

Please RSVP by May 1st to recsecretary@richmond.us.mensa.org.

Did you know we're on Facebook? Check out (and like) our public Facebook page for news, brain-teasers and more: facebook.com/richmondareamensa

Besides helping with the festivities of the Annual Gathering/Meet & Greet, RAM also needs another Proctor for our Membership Testing.
If you are interested in becoming a Test Proctor for RAM, please contact our Testing Coordinator via the contact us page.

Winter greetings RAMmers! Boy, it’s cold!  I hope everyone is keeping warm and staying safe as we get hit with some of coldest days that I can remember in the Richmond area.  Or do they just seem colder?

Anyway, I hope you are willing to venture out this month as it’s time for Richmond Area Mensa’s Annual Gathering / Meet and Greet.  We’re still in the midst of finalizing some of the details, but we wanted to try something different this time around.  Instead of having a 3-4 hour event, we’d like to offer our members a bigger window to come out and enjoy each other’s company, including a variety of activities.  So, this month’s RAM AG/M&G will start at 10:00 am and run until 9:00 pm on Saturday, January 27, 2018.

Since it runs all day, this event also includes a lunch potluck and a dinner potluck, so please bring a drink, dish, or dessert to share – that way we can keep the food and drink flowing from morning ‘til night.  The clubhouse has a kitchen with a refrigerator, regular oven, and microwave oven.  If you are attending, please let me know what you are planning to bring, for either lunch or dinner (or both), so we can plan what food and drink RAM provides accordingly.

The agenda above will take a few folks to pull it off, but the more volunteers we have, the better it should be. Also, since the intent is to hold an event that would result in your attendance, the agenda is subject to change based on the kind of responses we get. Is there an activity not listed that you wish would be included then please let me know? For example, if you have a subject you wish to speak on, that would be great - we could fit that into the schedule.  Or, if you want to teach the group how to prepare an awesome dish, that would be great too.  If you'd like to lead an activity or just help, please let me know.

Finally, some of our members have commented that it would be great if these gatherings provided some way for their really young kids to be watched while they enjoyed themselves for a little bit.  If you’re one of those parents then let me know and, if we get enough of a commitment, then we’ll arrange that.  As always, this is a family-friendly event, and members may bring guests; all we ask is that the size of the drink, dish or dessert you bring matches the number in your group.

To keep tabs on the latest agenda, check our Facebook group page regularly or look for email updates as the date gets closer.  Please respond by January 21st.  For those responding on our Facebook page, please change your "Maybe" response to a "Going" or a "Can't Go" by January 21. On Monday, January 22, a "Maybe" will be considered "Can't Go". And if you mark yourself as "Coming" and then have an emergency that prevents you from attending on the 27th, I'll understand that life sometimes doesn't work out as planned.

I hope I see you on the 27th, whether you come for an hour or two or for the whole day.

Thank You,
Santi