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In early 1985, four American women - Kristy Delfausse, Sam Rounds,
Louanna Samuels, and the late Carole Dumas - met and discussed the needs of
women moving to Athens. Sometimes, the best way to cope with life in a new
culture away from family and friends is to participate, to share and to
find someone who understands a little bit of what you're going through.
On Valentine's Day, 1985, Marijane Andreopoulos wrote a set of goals for
this new organization called "Newcomers". The basic tenets to
assist new arrivals, to help women adjust to a new environment, and to
share our time, interests and individual capabilities with each other has
changed little over the years. We still continue to compile a members
telephone list, have monthly meetings, provide a resource booklet on
everything from doctors to a babysitters’ list. Each meeting started by
introducing the newest arrivals who wore the red name tag so that we could
all welcome them to Athens.
Marijane Andreopoulos became the first leader because not only was she loud
enough to speak over the large gathering of talkative women but also she
was able to project the feeling that "laugher is a great
medicine". Another goal from that initial meeting was to make life a
little lighter and hopefully easier.
In September 1988, our Newsletter was born under the capable hands of
our first editor Beverly Bailey who was followed by many able and capable volunteers
as Jane Cook and Kristina Nikopoulos. From the first edition to the present
six page monthly addition, the Newsletters continues to list the regular
and special activities of the group including Book Club, Book Library, Baby
and Toddler’s Group, Tennis, Bridge, and International Cooking. Our
Newsletter as the story goes is even read internationally as some people
are deciding what activities they are going to sign up for before they
arrive in Greece! We now produce 200 copies a month and our Newsletter is
available at some Athens Embassies. Everyone who attends a meeting must get
a copy of the Newsletter for friends who cannot attend a meeting.
One of NEWCOMERS most popular activities, walking, afforded the group to
meet up with energetic Lynda Evans, and we became...REALISTIC RAMBLERS!
Luckily for us, Lynda also revolutionized and put a sense of order into all
the activities. Lynda continues to offer tours, trips, and a most popular
series of lectures at local museums in early part of each winter. We used
our first 50 mugs, bought out of NEWCOMERS funds, at our September 1988
meeting — a measure of real growth! Another milestone achieved in February
1990… 50 more coffee mugs bought to serve us all!
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