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NEWCOMERS CLUB Jay Darst, 913-226-8471, madarst@kw.com, www.newcomers.peapps.com

No matter where one has spent the summer months within the United States or abroad, there have doubtless been
days one yearned for some other kind of weather! Hot and sticky in Florida, hot and dry in the Southwest, hot in the
Midwest, and, well, you get the picture. Unless you were in the mountains, upper Northwest, or some parts of Canada,
you wished you had cooler weather. That being said, it is what it is and we deal with it!

Over the summer we’ve had reports of new
members joining the club! We’d like to welcome
April Mazur and Michael Fetkowitz from Palm
Beach County, FL; Denise and Steve
DeBerardino from Sugar Land, TX; Jeanmarie
and Dale Wentzel from Atlanta, GA; Joanne and
Timothy Sullivan from Ridgefield, CT; Audrey and
Tom Legge from Dubois, PA; Kathy and Jeff
Pedu from Lake Placid, NY; and Ute and Hal
Hasiba from Denver, CO. Hope they all begin to
enjoy our club of people who have been
members of the PGICA for three years or less.

September begins the trickle of members back
into the Florida flow and opens up new
opportunities for service, new friendships and
more good times! Let them begin at Newcomer
Happy Hours at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Game Night
September 6 and September 20 at St. Andrews Bunny Gladwin, Linda Cram, Susan McKittrick and
South Country Club, 1901 Deborah Drive. Susan Rosanne Kruse
Brown, exgatorceo@yahoo.com, and Michelle
Maloney, macaloney@bellsouth.net, coordinate these evenings and Big Bob, our resident bartender, makes sure there
are plenty of snacks. Make a new acquaintance and head out to one of your favorite restaurants to top off the night with
dinner.

Where can you participate in a meal with strangers or club members you haven’t gotten to know yet and only bring part
of the meal? Hosted Dinners is that place. One couple hosts and two to four couples join in by bringing sides or dessert.
BYOB is the operative word (meaning bring your own bottle of wine, liquor, beers or other refreshments) and we do a
lot of that throughout our activities in Newcomers and other clubs within PGICA. Let Maryanne Darst, madarst@kw.com
or 913-226-8471, know you’d like to get to know other club members by joining this activity. The host is usually
someone who has been doing hosted dinners for a while and knows the ropes, contacts others assigned that month
and they agree on a mutual date for the dinner. This is not meant to be intimidating as we are all Newcomers and it’s a
great way to get to know someone other than neighbors!

Ladies Lunch will meet Wednesday, September 13 at Scotty’s Brewhouse in Fisherman’s Village. Noon is the
appointed hour. Please sign up on the Newcomers website calendar page. Deb Morlachetta at debrat114@comcast.net
or 609-502-8243 coordinates the activity and has more information.

Likewise, the Men’s Lunch Brunch will be meeting Wednesday, September 13 at FM Don’s (formerly Jack’s) at 201 W.
Marion. Meeting at noon, there is no need to sign up, just show up! Contact Joe Bukowski at 973-769-2310 or
jbuko6331@gmail.com or Jay Darst at 913-220-8471 or
madarst@kw.com for more information.

The September general membership meeting on Tuesday,
September 19 at 5:30 p.m. will feature the film “Hidden
Figures”, an Academy Award-winning film about the
contributions of black female mathematicians and computer
scientists to the earliest days of the space program. This will be
shown after our very brief general meeting and dinner. Please
check your email for the eblast for info about the dinner plans
and sign up on the Newcomer website calendar.
Eating is a recurrent theme here in Punta Gorda and our
members love to Dine-Around once a month. We’re headed to
Hurricane Charlie’s at 300 Retta Esplanade on Wednesday,
Dart Night Winners September 27 at 5:30 p.m. We’ll be dining in the historic Jim
Richard Grosvenor, John Bothwell, Reif room. Sign up on the Newcomers website calendar or call
Judy Cincotti and Barry Miller Roseann Kruse at 941-916-1754 or k2home@yahoo.com or

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