The Newcomers Club held their first general membership meeting since 2019 on June 16 at the home of Phillip and Katie Boggs with approximately 30 people in attendance including several new members who joined our community within the last year. The agenda included updates from the board on 2020 administration and activities and discussion of the restart of Newcomers Club events in 2021.
After a lengthy happy hour (due to late pizza delivery), President Phil Boggs welcomed the club members and was followed by Treasurer Gil Brown who reported the club is financially healthy and ready to move forward on providing social events for 2021. Secretary Katie Boggs reported on the implementation of a customer relationship management tool in 2020 which replaced the use of the three applications for membership and event management while also providing an informative website for club members. While there are fees for use of this tool, so far it has proved to decrease the amount of time required for administrative tasks and improved accuracy of records. She also reported that the current membership numbers 73 households totaling 123 individuals. In 2021 alone, nine new households have joined the Newcomers Club. As reported last month, the club has continued to deliver Welcome Bags throughout the pandemic, and Welcome Chair Nomi Taslitt reported that 23 bags have been delivered so far in 2021.
Club members engaged in a lively discussion on events to be held in 2021. The Board was specifically looking for member input as to whether a large end-of-summer party like that offered by the club in the past should be planned and if so, what the format should be. The overwhelming response from seasoned club members and true newcomers alike was that they are excited to get back to such events and want the club to move forward with planning. Michelle Major of Waterway summed up the desire of the true Newcomers by noting that they want the opportunity to forge the types of memories of Lake Barcroft events that the more established residents were sharing. There was much debate as to the format of the event, including questions about whether it should be catered or potluck, should barges be employed, and should there be live entertainment. Some reported that catering and live entertainment may be hard to come by due to a backlog of weddings following the pandemic. In the end,10 members volunteered to form a planning committee for the large end-of-summer event to be announced via the Newcomers Club website and LakeLink soon.
In addition to the large party, the club has two events planned for this summer. The first will be a “Welcome Cruise and Barbecue” to be held on July 10. This event will be open only to new residents (and their children) who joined the community in 2020 or 2021. Attendees will be treated to a tour of the lake via pontoon boats. This will be followed by the return of the “Raft Up and Swim” event on August 7 which will be open to all club members and is always a fun afternoon of floating in the lake. For more information on any of these events and to purchase tickets, please see our website. See you soon! And remember, Newcomers is for EVERYBODY!
