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NEWCOMERS CLUB Frank Riccio - flymo_77@hotmail.com , www.newcomers.peapps.com

Whew! We’ve made it through another hectic month of parties and family visits or trips near and far. You can’t have
asked for nicer weather leading up to these holidays when remembering what so many of us have left behind - the
snow, the slush, the traffic jams, crowded airports and cranky travelers. Now that it’s over and it’s on to a whole new
year of Newcomers.

How about the Christmas party at Twin Isles Country Club last month? Over 100 members attended the party and dined
on great food and drink and danced until after Punta Gorda midnight! Thanks to Social Chairwoman Susan McKittrick
and her committee of worker bees for a successful evening.

A mostly new group of people have stepped up to organize club events in 2018. They have met with the 2017 Board
and seek to make the new year a great one for Newcomers. Board members and their emails are:

President Frank Riccio, flymo_77@hotmail.com
Vice President Bunny Gladwin, bgladwin3@comcast.net
Treasurer Jeanmarie Wentzel, jeanmariewentzel@comcast.net
Secretary John Moore, papajohn2u@gmail.com
Membership Chairman Steve Brown, steve@paynlesstravel.com
Communications Director Cathy Hunt, cathuntisme@yahoo.com
Social Chairman Donna Pape, donnapape@comcast.net

We’ve added the following
residents to our
club :Bobbie Kratt, NJ; Jim
and Susanne Turlington,
MD; Karen Landherr, FL;
Cindy Clayton, Il; Sandy
Reale and Patricia Smith,
NY; Steve and Estelle
Graeff, FL; Larry and
Marcia Vorhees, AZ; Bob Steve Brown, Bill Boyd, Ray Brown
and Maggie Carson, IL;
and, Jeff and Tracy Kauffman, TX.

Ron Kruse, Barry Miller, Mike Manternach We will say farewell to about 40
Newcomer households who are
leaving us after 3 years to move on to other clubs and committees with PGICA. They
will be feted at our first Happy Hour January 3 at 5:00 p.m. at St. Andrews South Golf
Club, 501 Deborah Drive. We wish them all well.

All members are reminded to pay their dues for the 2018 club year. Dues are the best
value in town at $25 per household and can be
mailed to or dropped off at the PGICA offices
for placement in the club’s folder.

Activity chairpersons for special interest groups Mike & Debi Dougherty
and smaller gatherings of members for lunch
and other fun are busy formulating plans for the new year. Please feel free to
contact the activity chairs for more information or check the club’s website
calendar. If you need some assistance with the site or the calendar, please let
one of the officers or the committee chairperson know of your struggles.

The January General meeting on January 16 at the PGICA starts at 5:30 p.m.
and will feature a speaker from TEAM Punta Gorda. After a short business
meeting, we will hear the story of a volunteer group named TEAM Punta Gorda
that dove into action after the devastation of Hurricane Charley in 2004. These
volunteers and community leaders “facilitate the development and
implementation of a master plan for Punta Gorda’s recovery.” Now they
volunteer on a “wide variety of projects to enhance our friendly, quaint, historic
waterside community.” The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. Watch for the club
eblast and sign up on the club’s website calendar for information on food. As
Jean Bienz, Lisa Koeneman, always, bring your own beverage.
Linda Cram
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