When Rita Ruscetti moved to O’Hara in the mid-1980s, she connected with new friends in no time.
It was easy, she said, as a member of the Fox Chapel Area Newcomer’s Club, which hosted a slew of dinner parties, scavenger hunts and card games for people adjusting to life in the Lower Valley.
As the club marks its 50th year, the mission remains — to put people face to face rather than today’s reliance on connecting through social media.
“It was an instant way to meet people,” said Ruscetti, now of Harmar.
“It was great fun and some of the first people I met were Newcomers. We spent a lot of time in each other’s homes, getting to know each other.”
Past and present members say connections made in person help people feel less lonely and more part of the community. The club alleviates the isolation of being the “new face,” many said.
“I joined thinking it was going to be a moms group, and while I met plenty of people with young kids, I was pleasantly surprised to meet people from all generations that I might not have gotten to know otherwise,” Social Chair Lauren Coatney said.
A past club president, Coatney moved in 2019 from Regent Square to Fox Chapel. She said the group helps strangers become neighbors.
A lengthy lineup of monthly offers something for all tastes.
This month, a fall social was hosted at the Fox Chapel Racquet Club. Upcoming activities include volunteering with Global Links and Backpacks for Hunger on Oct. 17 and 21, and a outing with kids to Soergel Orchards on Oct. 25.
Already scheduled for November is a book club discussion of “Searching for Sylvie Lee” by Jean Kwok hosted at Mercurio’s, an Italian restaurant in O’Hara.
Coatney said the club exists for no other purpose than facilitating friendships and educating people on the countless amenities in the Fox Chapel Area communities.
Membership is open to anyone who has moved within seven years into the Fox Chapel Area School District and neighboring towns.
Member Corina Barnett said that while the club has survived 50 years, a once-robust membership dwindled because of the pandemic and, before that, the rise of mothers rejoining the work force.
Barnett, former membership co-chair and president, believes the club fills a void and that it can rebuild a hardy membership.
“The more people I meet, the more they share with me that they were former Newcomers and have fond memories of their time in the club,” she said.
“We feel it can still be a leaping pad to connect transplants with others who were also once new to the area.”