Date: Fri 08-Sep-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDREA

Quick Words:

Newcomers'-Club-Nord

Full Text:

with cut: Newcomers' Club Isn't Just For Newcomers

Elaine Nord, the newly elected president of Newtown Newcomers' Club, has some

definite ideas on where the organization is headed. She also wants to get the

word out that the group is community-based and not just for those who recently

moved to town.

Mrs Nord describes the group as a "Lost and Found" for any town resident who

wants to connect to the community. This would include new residents, men who

work outside of the area and would like to establish friendships in town,

single parents, new mothers, anyone who has experienced a lifestyle change, or

people who have lived here for a while but have never gotten involved, she

said.

Formerly known as the Welcome Wagon Club, members decided to dissolve

connections with the international organization earlier this year and

incorporate as Newcomers'. There are currently 100 to 150 members in the

group.

"The club should be able to handle the whole community, not just one segment,"

said Mrs Nord. "And then it tends to be a much more diverse group, which I

think is fun. You have different people with diverse interests."

This town is so huge, you could easily be lost - mentally and emotionally, as

well as geographically, said the new president. The goal of Newcomers' is to

make people feel more a part of a group and the community.

Mrs Nord speaks with conviction because she vividly remembers the adjustment

she had when she left a demanding job as marketing representative to stay at

home with her children. One year after that, she and her husband, David, moved

the family to a newly developed area of Newtown where they had only one

neighbor. And they worked during the day.

"It's really a great thing to be part of a club that gave me so much when I

moved here," she said. "People who I didn't know would call up and say, `I

hear you're new in town. Would you like to go to this luncheon? Or do you need

anything?'... The club was my only life line and became an extended family."

It's nice to be able to help each other, "because we've all been through this

at some point in time," said Mrs Nord. The job of president is more fun now

that most of the paperwork for the new club is completed. The board is

currently filing for non-profit status, she said.

"My main focus for this year is to get more men involved in the club, and get

the group to be part of the community through various activities," she said.

To this end, she asked men in the group to build the float for the Labor Day

Parade, which they did.

This summer, the group provided the food at the Special Olympic welcoming

reception in Newtown. Members have recently bought school supplies for a local

needy families who they will also sponsor for a Thanksgiving meal. The club

will continue to make ABC Quilts for abandoned and AIDS babies at area

hospitals. And a First Aid Course will be taught by Newtown Ambulance Corps on

September 19, at a cost of $20 per person.

The club's September Kick-Off will be held September 20, in the Alexandria

Room of Edmond Town Hall at 7:30 pm. All Newtown Newcomers' Club programs are

open to the public.

Other club events include picnics, play groups and tot tours, breakfasts,

men's poker, book club, Bible study, recipe exchange, wine tastings, ladies'

golf, concert and shopping trips. The Sunshine Committee provides meals to

members who have just had babies or those who are home after surgery.

"What we're all about is being a part of the community, being a good

neighbor," said Mrs Nord. "It may be an old-fashioned thing. One hundred years

ago, people looked after each other and that what we do."

The annual dues for an individual or family to join Newtown Newcomers' Club is

$30. For information on the organization, call Elaine Nord at 426-4774.