For five decades, the International Club of Newtown (ICN) was a social and cultural club made up of people from other countries, along with others who moved to the United States but previously resided overseas and speak the languages of those countries.

Members shared their varying cultural backgrounds and welcomed other new arrivals into the area. For years the club met monthly, rotating among the homes of members.

In 2016, then-ICN President Hilde Brehm told The Newtown Bee members always found "friendship, support, and cultural exchange."

A native of Germany, Brehm arrived in the United States in 1959. She worked as an au pair, in a German club, when she arrived in New York City. She met her future husband, who was also from Germany, within a year. The couple eventually moved to a home on Lake Zoar in Newtown. Brehm moved to Southbury over a decade ago, but remained very active with ICN.

Over the years members enjoyed everything from Halloween parties, end-of-summer gatherings, and garden parties to Tango Night, an Argentine-style "asado," South African-style Braai Vleis (barbecue events), Christmas parties, summer picnics, ladies lunches, and the occasional men's gatherings.

The club’s final event was celebrated last month. A “beautiful, unbelievable lunch” was served to those who participated in an ICN bus trip to New York City and boat ride around Manhattan. The event was both a 50th anniversary celebration and a formal finalé for the club. Brehm said the diminishing number of members and a lack of younger new members led to the decision to conclude ICN’s run.

“It may be the end of the International Club,” she said October 18, “but this isn’t the end of our friendships.”

The International Club was launched in 1976 by five couples who came from different countries, she shared last week. At the time it was a program of Newtown Junior Woman’s Club, and was based at Trinity Episcopal Church.

“Most of us came to this country and left our families behind,” Brehm shared. “We weren’t familiar with other clubs, or schools, or anything.”

The club was created because people were disconnected from each other. Ahead of the club’s 40th anniversary ten years ago, Patricia Rapela told The Bee she remembered learning about and then joining the club after arriving in the United States from Argentina.

"I moved here in 1983, and joined the club right away," she said in September 2016. "I started hooking up with Argentine people immediately."

"Wives and kids were home during the day, and did not have a way to meet with others," Rapela also said. "In other cases, people came to us because their husband was transferred into town, and had immediate interaction with others. It usually takes the longest for the rest of the family to adapt to a new culture."

The Junior Woman’s Club provided guidance on club activities and forming a board, among other help. The International Club eventually became its own entity, and its roster grew to more than 80 members.

Last week Brehm noted the club represented more than 30 countries.

“Our club became our family. We supported each other and shared our culture,” she said. “Just like any other families, we lost friends and made new ones, and shared many happy memories.”

On the lunch cruise last month, Brehm was among those who spoke to the guests. She offered a brief history, she said, and her thanks to those present “for 50 years of friendship.”

One particularly poignant moment during the cruise happened as the boat was circling the Statue of Liberty.

“There was a pianist on the boat, who played ‘God Bless America,’” Brehm said. “We were singing it with tears in our eyes. It was so meaningful.”

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Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.