Glen Ellyn Newcomers Club celebrates 60th year of social events
When a family moves, Mom and Dad usually worry about the kids and how they’ll handle changing schools, whether they’ll find activities and friends in their new life.
But a move is just as disruptive to an adult’s social life, and building new connections among grown-ups is more difficult than walking up to someone and asking if they’d like to play on the monkey bars with you.
That’s where groups like the Glen Ellyn Newcomers Club come in.
The Glen Ellyn Newcomers, like similar clubs in towns throughout the suburbs, welcomes new residents with a jam-packed calendar of social activities, hobby groups and outings. The theory is: Get involved with something you like and you’ll find people who share your interests. Enjoy creating in the kitchen? You’ll find fellow foodies in the cooking club. Are you a runner or a golfer? Newcomers members are, too. Are you hoping to get to know your new town and lend a hand? Volunteer with the Community Connections program.
Despite the Newcomers name, members often stay with the club well beyond their first days or years in Glen Ellyn, said President Diana Laufenberg, whose own connection to the club dates back to her mother joining when the family moved to town in 1983. And some members join when they find themselves in a new phase of life — the new mom who worked full time but now stays home, the woman who sent her youngest child off to college.
The Glen Ellyn Newcomers are celebrating the club’s 60th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the club is hosting a Celebration of Tables on Saturday, March 3, to share ideas for the home and for decorating for celebrations.
Guests can tour a banquet room featuring 20 tables set with china, flatware, stemware, centerpieces and more decorations, each table with a theme such as “Springtime in Paris,” “Children’s Candy Land,” “Bridal Shower Luncheon,” “Easter,” “Ravinia,” “Picnic at Lake Ellyn,” and even a “Dinner with William and Kate at Buckingham Palace” featuring a British member’s china with the queen’s pattern, Laufenberg said.
“We want to celebrate our 60 years and welcome former Newcomers back to enjoy the event together,” she said. “We will have historical pictures from our archives on display along with a guest book that former members can sign and share their memories of the group.”
The Newcomers also hope to introduce the club to prospective members.
Today, Laufenberg tells us more about what the Glen Ellyn Newcomers Club offers.
Q. What is your club’s mission?
A. The Glen Ellyn Newcomers Club is a social organization for the purpose of welcoming people who have just moved to Glen Ellyn or the immediate vicinity, giving them an opportunity to get to know the area, make new friends and become part of our social and community life.
Q. How do you accomplish that?
A. We host a Welcoming Social on the first Wednesday of every month to welcome new women to Glen Ellyn and for them to find out more information about our group. We then hold monthly all-member meetings and various activities four to five times per week for our members.
Q. When and why did the club start? How has it grown?
A. We were started in 1952 by our founder, Kathleen Culp, for the purpose of welcoming new women and families to Glen Ellyn. We have grown over time to 330 members, five elected board members, 20 board members and 35 activity leaders.
Q. What kind of success have you had?
A. At our annual Breakfast with Santa, we had 205 people last year. This year it was such a huge success, with more than 375 members and their families attending.
Q. What challenges does the club face?
A. Making sure we connect with everyone who has moved into Glen Ellyn to offer them an invitation to join Newcomers.
Q. What is the club best known for in the community? How does the club contribute to the community?
A. Many, many women in Glen Ellyn have been a part of our group over the years and they loved being a part of the group where they made lifelong friends. My mom joined Newcomers in 1983 when our family moved from Connecticut to Glen Ellyn and made a core group of friends that she still gets together with monthly for lunch in Oak Brook, and we spend every Easter together with all the women and their children and grandchildren.
We also do a lot of community service programs through our Community Connections program: volunteering at the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry and Re:New; collecting athletic gear for Sneaker Tree, backpacks for kids in Districts 41 and 89 at the start of the school year. Each month we feature a different group to raise support and supplies for.
Q. What would surprise most people if they spent a month as a member of the Newcomers?
A. We are a very active group. At one of our book club meetings, we had more than 50 women in attendance. At least four times per week we offer events for our members, our husbands (poker and a basketball league), and lots of events for kids. Our monthly activities include bunco (a dice game), wine tasting, couples night out, ladies night out, Bookworms (our book club), Daytimers (a group that takes classes, shares lunch, tours museums during the day), running club, cooking club, yoga club, ladies tennis, ladies golf, couples golf, moms and tots on the road, organizing playgroups and Community Connections (our volunteer group). We also have a large fall family picnic at Lake Ellyn and a Breakfast with Santa at St. Mark’s Church in Glen Ellyn.
Q. Who are your members?
A. Our members are mainly from Glen Ellyn and the surrounding communities. We have members who have just graduated from college and settled in Glen Ellyn, members who have kids getting married, members with grandchildren. We welcome everyone who would like to join whether you are new to Glen Ellyn or have a life change like having a baby or getting married, or just want to meet more people and have lived in the area for a long time.
Q. What do you expect of your members?
A. Glen Ellyn Newcomers can have as little or as much involvement as their personal schedule allows. For members of the board there are a lot of time commitments with meetings and events, but members can choose what activities they are most interested in and attend as many or as little as they like.
Q. How can readers get involved?A. Visit our website, www.GlenEllynNewcomers.org, for information on membership, our club and even a button to join. Women will be invited to a Welcoming Social on the first Wednesday of the month to meet other prospective members and to find out more about our group.
If you go
What: Celebration of Tables
Why: To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Glen Ellyn Newcomers Club
When: 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 3
Where: St. Marks Church, Mahon Hall, 393 N. Main St., Glen Ellyn
Details: Guests may view 20 themed table settings to get ideas for their homes and celebrations; light breakfast served
Cost: $10 in advance, $12 at the door
Tickets: Via PayPal at www.GlenEllynNewcomers.org or at Princes Table, 530 Duane St., and Marcels Culinary Experience, 490 N. Main St.
Info: (630) 793-5365 or glenellynnewcomers.org