Ladies group hits mint.
Sandra Browne, Marion Stevens, Yvonne Machika, Maureen Fellett, Valerie Ward, Marion Ross and Edwina Kohler are all members of the Ottawa Newcomers Club, hailing from as far away as England and Alberta. The group had just finished their tour of the Royal Canadian Mint on Dec. 13. The group meets for crafting, golf, skiing and tours of the nation's capital.
Jennifer McIntosh
The Ottawa Newcomers Club provides an instant community for women moving to the national capital.
The club is part of an international network of newcomers clubs, meant to welcome women moving to new locales.
Ottawa president Susanna D’Arcy said that women moving around with their husbands often get left out of the community men find with their colleagues – so the newcomers club is way for women to form bonds outside of family obligations.
“We also have a lot of women who moved to Ottawa because this is where their children or grandchildren live and they want to have something outside of that,” D’Arcy said.
The club accepts members who are new to the Ottawa area and the club boasts about 60 or 70 members at any time. There is also an auxiliary club of former members.
“People often want to keep the connections they made in the initial club,” D’Arcy said, adding the auxiliary club has hundreds of members.
She found out about the club from her sister, who moved around Canada and the U.S. because of her husband’s career, so D’Arcy said she decided to give it a try after moving to the Ottawa area from Oakville, Ont.
Because the groups are all volunteer-led, D’Arcy said it’s a tight-knit community.
D’Arcy said that it enables her to see all of the city, rather than sticking to her neighbourhood in Rockcliffe. She is currently taking bridge lessons and meets for games off of Woodroffe Avenue, and also participates in the group’s craft and chat – which is once a month when members meet to knit or do needlework.
“Some women just come to chat,” D’Arcy said.
Aside from the craft and chat, the club also offers:
* Book club.
* Dinner club.
* Bridge/Scrabble.
* Movie club.
* Luncheons.
* Gallery tours.
OUT AND ABOUT
Sandra Browne, who hails from Newfoundland, is the convener of the Ottawa club’s out and about group. She said monthly she polls the other members to explore local landmarks.
A trip to the Royal Canadian Mint on Sussex Avenue in December proved to be a thrill for a small contingent of the club.
“I try to pick things with historic significance,” Browne said.
The mint, which originally opened in 1908, definitely provided a interesting historical specimen for the seven women who could eek out the time between Christmas shopping and family obligations.
“I knew it would be a small number because of the time of year,” Browne said. “But I think we all really got something out of it.”
A tour through the mint showcased the medals from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games and the currency the Canadian mint makes for other countries.
Back at the gift shop; the girls perused the merchandise and tried lifting a 11-kilogram gold bar.
THE GIRLS
Valerie Ward, who grew up in Alberta and is now living in the west-end neighbourhood of Carlingwood, said that she learned a lot during the mint visit. She moved to Ottawa to be close to her son and his family and said she gets a lot of out of being a member of the club.
Maureen Fellett had lived in Ottawa before, but lived London, England, for the last 20 years.
Marion Stevens, from Richmond Hill, Ont. moved to Ottawa to be close to her five grandchildren, and said the club provides a nice outlet.
“I am also a member of the active living group at my condo,” she said. “You’re starting a new life somewhere else and you need to have a social circle.”
The club is always taking new members and information can be found at www.newcomersclub.com or by calling 613-860-0548.
jennifer.mcintosh@metroland.com