Please join us for the September Program:

It’s that time of year again! Mark your calendars and make your reservations now for the Newcomers Fall Kickoff Dinner. This event is the first of the 2010-2011 season. It is a great opportunity to meet new friends, renew old acquaintances, learn more about the Newcomers Club, and sign up for the many group activities available to you. We are sure you will enjoy the evening. If you have friends who are considering joining the club, this would be a great event for them to attend.

The center is located on beautiful West Bay between the Holiday Inn and the Senior Center.

   CASH BAR 6:30 PM                                    SIT-DOWN DINNER 7:30 PM

When making your reservations, please select from the following two dinner choices:

 Autumn Chicken Roulade (Baked Chicken breast stuffed with apples, dried cherries and sourdough, presented with a sage cognac roulade.)

 London Broil (Marinated Flank Steak served with button mushrooms and a demi-glace.)

If needed, special dinner plates may be requested. All reservations must be received no later than Tuesday, September 14, so please send your reservations in early! Make your check payable to Newcomers Club for $25 per person and mail to:

Pat Haber, Executive Assistant
1910 E. Swanson Trail
Cedar, MI 49621
(phone: 231-228-4245)

Poker                                  
Tuesday, September 7

The poker group usually meets the 1st Tuesday of the month, with winter hours of 1:30 PM—4:30 PM and summer hours of 6:30 PM—9:30 PM. The group meets on a rotating basis at each member’s home. The game is small stakes, (5¢, 10¢, 25¢), to keep the game and conversation fun and friendly. The host merely has to provide the home and setup, while members bring snacks and drinks.

Plans for the September meeting are still underway.  If you are interested in participating, please let Mike Huffman know.

The poker group coordinator is Mike Huffman.  Phone is 517-655-3374.  Email is wdcspike@yahoo.com.  
 

Solos

Monday, August 30, 2:00 PM

Until Solos finds a new leader, I (Judy Owen) will be glad to continue with my ideas. I do think someone else should take over because you must be tired of going along with all my events. Until then...Solos will meet at the Aromas parking lot (corner of M-22 and M72) at 2:00 PM on August 30 to tour four or five plant nurseries. Hopefully we will find some good sales. Then we will get a bite to eat at Haylofts on M-72. They have good Mexican food and I'm told good burgers. Call me (Judy) at 922-9619 if you'd like to join me.

September plans - - bonfire at the beach, lunch and 1 hour of gaming at the Leelanau Sands and a tour of the Native American museum.

October 1 we will go to the St. Francis home football game. And we will be having a film festival movie night and discussion plus planning for more events.

Our September 7 selection is Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell. Katie Brown will lead the discussion. Katie is also our new leader for the morning book group.

Please bring book titles that you want to recommend for this year's reading list. This should be a book that you have read and you would be expected to lead the group in the book's discussion.

The Book Club meets in the lower level of Horizon Books in downtown Traverse City. You are invited to go to lunch following the book discussion.

Due to the popularity of this Newcomer activity, we will be creating a second book group. This could potentially meet in the afternoon or evening (Horizon's has an availability of a Tuesday afternoon). A leader is needed for the new group. If interested please contact Pauline Watt, (jwatt1107@charter.net or 231-360-3216). Details of this new group will be discussed at the September meeting

Men's Book Club  

Monday, September 27, 10:00 AM

The Men’s Book Club will be discussing The Longest Winter by Alex Kershaw. This is the story of the Battle of the Bulge, one of the epic and decisive battles of World War II, and the U.S. Army’s most decorated platoon. As always, current and new members are invited to join us for what promises to be an interesting discussion about an extraordinary event and the people in it.

The club meets in the lower level of Horizon Books the fourth Monday of each month at 10:00 AM. New members are welcome whether you have read the book or not. We sometimes go to lunch at a local restaurant following the meeting.

Contact Ralph Mittelberger for questions and information, mittelberger.ralph@arentfox.com.

Saturday, September 18, 8:00 AM
Mackinaw Island 

We will meet at Tom's East Bay parking lot (738 Munson Ave.) at 8:00 AM and leave at 8:30 by car (car pool if we can). Take US-31 all the way to Mackinaw City. At exit 337 get off and take Nicolet Street to Central Ave. Turn right and go to Shepler's dock.

The cost to take the ferry over to the island with your bike is $32/person. This will be an ALL day trip.

If you are interested in joining the group for this outing please contact Don Eastway at cadillac2154@yahoo.com

Meet at 9:45 (or earlier) to be on the water by 10:00 AM. 

New to the sport? Need help with boat unloading? We especially encourage beginners, but all are welcome to join. PFDs (and boats, etc.) required. We'll paddle for 1 to 1.5 hours and then go out to lunch. These are beginner outings, so we will cancel if bad weather is a possibility. Be sure to call us to sign up so we can notify you in case of cancellation. Jody and Bob, 231-932-9249, bennettjj@charter.net.

Paddle a short segment of the river that will be much livelier when the dams are removed. We’ll go upstream (not much current) to the Sabin Dam and then return.

Directions: Turn south off Airport Rd. onto Racquet Club Drive (it’s across from Logan’s Landing). Follow the road back to the YMCA parking lot. If there is no activity, we can drive across the lawn to the put-in area to unload. If we can’t do this, we’ll park in the lot and carry the boats approximately 100 yards to the river.

This will be the final Newcomer paddle for the year. The activity will resume next spring. Meanwhile, if you would like to get out on the water before then, please check the Traverse Area Paddle Club website for more outings this fall. Many of the outings are open to the general public: traverseareapaddleclub.org.

WALK IN THE WOODS

SEPTEMBER 11, 11:00 AM
Ransom Lake Natural Area, Lake Ann

Ransom Lake Natural Area offers recreational opportunities for canoeing, fishing, and hiking. Diverse plant life and hardwoods surround this pleasant inland lake.

Directions: Take Front Street west out of Traverse City to where it becomes North Long Lake Road. Continue west towards Lake Ann (N. Long Lake Rd. becomes 610). Turn left on Bellows Lake Road and follow the signs to the Natural Area.

The Garden Club group has enjoyed meeting several times over the spring/summer months, visiting members’ gardens, sharing plants and knowledge, viewing a demonstration of pruning techniques, attending the Friendly Garden Club’s walk with lunch at Minerva’s, and learning about the growing and caring of orchids.  The last meeting for the year will be in September, date to be announced. Topics for the September meeting will include fall plantings, division of perennials, preparation of gardens for winter, etc.

Contact Rose Neibauer with any questions or comments. 231-267-9553; jeneibauer2@charter.net

Newcomers Needlers

               September 2 & 16--1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Dust off those knitting needles, embroidery needles, or rug hooks and join us as we work on our projects, share our needling and hooking secrets, and solve all the problems of the world. We also like to show off our finished projects. Just bring something to work on (or not!) and join us. We also give great instructions for beginners.

We meet on the first and third Thursdays, 1–3 PM, at the Aroma’s Coffee Shop (http://www.aromascoffeeshop.com/) at Kid’s Creek shopping center on Division, just south of 14th Street. The next dates are September 2 and 16.

Have questions, want to be on the email list, or just want to let us know you’ll be there? Contact Sandy Seppala, sansep19@earthlink.net, 421-3343 or 703-597-7925 (cell).

Golf                                                

NC golfers have enjoyed a great golf season this year. We have played some old favorites as well as new courses. One new course now on our favorites list is Timberwolf east of Kalkaska. If you have not had a chance to golf with us, there is still time. We will continue to play every Monday through mid-October with the exception of Labor Day. See the schedule below and on the NC website.

Email me at brickmanbus@yahoo.com and I will put you on the list for weekly information about where we will be playing. ALL golfers are welcome, pros and beginners, ladies and gents, young and old. So come out, have fun and meet new friends. There’s more great golf to be played.

Date        Course                 Time      Course#

Aug 30     Twin Birch            9:30      231-258-9691
Sept 13    Mistwood            10:00     231-275-5500
Sept 20    Crystal Mountain  10:00     800-968-7686
Sept 27    Emerald Vale       10:00     231-824-3631
Oct 4       Leelanau Club      10:00     231-271-2020
Oct 11     Crown                 10:00     231-946-2975

It’s another start to a brand new Newcomers’ Year!

Jo Anne and I presided over our first board meeting as Presidents in August. We have an impressive board that includes some new members and some returning members, everyone with lots of experience and enthusiasm. Plans are finalized for our Kickoff Opening Dinner at the Hagerty Center where you will have the opportunity to sign up for our many activities.

You won’t want to miss the Cherry Capital Airport tour in October or the auction in November with the exciting addition of Marlow Bonner as our auctioneer. A new twist on the Holiday Party: it will be held at the gorgeous Traverse City Country Club and will include live music.

There will be lots of fun for Newcomers in 2010-11, but not without YOUR presence and participation. Although we have had some great turnouts in the last couple of years, we would like ALL Newcomers to come to our events. WHAT can we do to get everyone there? Send me your ideas at marshallpersky@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Marshall

Hi Everyone!

I hope you have been enjoying this wonderful summer with family and friends. It’s hard to believe, but autumn is just around the corner and with it a new year of activities with your friends at Newcomers. Your new board has met, and we think you are going to love the plans we’ve made to make this the best year ever. We’re building on the successes of previous years and making some changes that we think all of you will enjoy. Our goal is to provide a variety to great activities and programs for all current and future Newcomers.

I’ve always thought that the best part of Newcomers was the welcoming attitude of our members. It makes us want to remain in the club and invite others to come and enjoy the fun. Our Kickoff Dinner is a terrific time to invite a friend or neighbor to find out more about Newcomers. We’ll introduce the new board, outline programs and events, and most importantly, have an opportunity to sign up for the many activities available throughout the year. You can’t beat the view, the food and the friendship that you’ll experience at the Kickoff Dinner. We hope to see you all there!

Newcomers is a great club that focuses on building friendships and having fun. Through the newsletter and the website we hope you’ll take advantage of the many activities that will truly enrich your life. If you ever have ideas for programs or activities that we don’t currently offer, please contact any board member. Your input is always welcome.

Looking forward to a great year!

For Sale or Wanted

Welcome to the beautiful Grand Traverse area and the Newcomers Club of 
Grand Traverse website!  

Brand new to the area? Click on the Welcome Service link at the top to find out how to get a personal visit from the Newcomers Welcome Service, which includes many valuable coupons from local merchants. 

Feel free to check out our most recent issue of "Newcomers News" for a feel of what we've been up to lately. If that leaves you wanting more, browse through our Newsletter Archives, which contains five years worth of our history. Likewise under our Programs, you can quickly find the next scheduled monthly program and speaker or look through the Program Archives for the last couple of years. Be sure to take a peek at some of our numerous Activities, which really are the cornerstone of our club. 

When you are ready to join, follow the Join Us! link on the left, which will 
take you to a summary of the benefits of membership and you can print a 
Membership Form to complete and mail back.

Let us know what you think of our website. Our goal is to provide current 
members with timely information and to attract potential new members. 
We are always open for suggestions, so contact our webmaster at lhuffman@gammet.com with your thoughts and suggestions.

NMC Library privileges: Residents of Michigan are free to use Northwestern 
Michigan College's Osterlin Library, a fact not knows to many local residents, and Newcomers are encouraged to become library visitors, according to Mary Beeker of NMC. For information call 995-1015. Also, a link is provided here to directly access the library's web page. http://www.nmc.edu/library/ 

If you have any questions, Robin can be reached at 231-668-7579.  New photos should be received no later than Thursday, September 30th.