Welcome!

It’s the 50th birthday of Newcomers & Friends of Lexington. On February 24, 1976, we were first registered with the Kentucky Secretary of State.

As part of our ongoing spotlight of longtime members, this month we meet Ana Maria Schmidt who has been a member since June 1990. She has remained a member because she's enjoyed all the wonderful activity groups over the years. Some of those groups have come and gone (babysitting exchange, civic interest, issues of the 90’s, playgroup) and some have come back (bowling, bunco), some continue to this day. One activity that has continued over the decades is Cooking Light. It started in the early 90s taking inspiration from the now-defunct Cooking Light magazine. The group has recently renamed itself Lunch and Libations. Ana Maria met long-time member Marlene James and fellow Cooking Light member at a craft group in 1990. 

Members asked and we heard you. For the first time the March General Lunch will be on a Saturday and a buffet lunch. The date is  March 14 at Columbia Steakhouse on Richmond Road. Make sure to wear red, white and blue as we celebrate 1976. See the club calendar for registration and payment information. Thank you to members Barbara Shears and Linda Beyer for chairing the event.

Sometimes it's hard to keep up with all the wonderful and amazing things that go on every month in Newcomers & Friends. From the social activities to our volunteer opportunities, to the work done by our board members.

Please make sure that you have opened the emails that arrived in your mailbox on January 5, 12 and 19 from website director Pam Carney. Each of those emails covered extensively a different aspect of navigating the club website including logging on, curating your profile and the membership directory. They are well worth your time to read.

Our club volunteer/outreach efforts continue to expand.  The Let’s Get Crafty and the Volunteer/Outreach groups recently combined their talents and made 22 crocheted soap sacks for unhoused people. They were distributed by the HOPE Center in Lexington. Special thanks to Anita Alford and Barbara Shears for coordinating the event.

These amazing things that are happening in our club don’t happen without direction. We have a hard working board of directors who put in exceptional effort to give you a great member experience. It’s time to think about club officers for next year. Officer installation takes place at our June luncheon. Open positions include Membership Director, Activity Director, General Meeting Director December, and Communications Director. Click on "Governance" in the navigation bar on this page, then "Bylaws 2025," for the duties of these positions. Contact me with a nomination (or self-nomination!), presidentlexkynewcomersfriends@gmail.com.

Here’s to many more years ahead for the club!

Brenda,