This story was corrected at 3:30 p.m. Monday. An explanation follows the story.

When Annette Miller moved to Potomac 15 years ago, she said her phone only rang when someone from her old neighborhood in New Jersey called.

“Then I saw an ad for the Potomac Area Newcomers Club in a little paper that came to my door and I went to a meeting,” Miller said. “The response was so kind and warm and welcoming. Immediately after that first meeting I gained a life.”

The newcomers club has been in Potomac since 1966, when it was the Potomac Welcome Wagon Club. The first meeting attracted 39 women.

Today, after a few name and bylaw changes, the social club accepts members from outside the Village of Potomac and has 173 active members, president Pam Lemmonds said.

Lemmonds said the group donates to charities if there is money left from the $30 per year dues, which covers costs of speakers and the occasional room rental for large meetings.

Most of the women at the Jan. 12 general meeting, a luncheon at the home of Jerry Palazzo in Potomac, said the club “saved” them just as it did Miller.

Many moved to the area because of their husbands’ jobs or to be near adult children. Others have lived in Montgomery County for a while, but after retirement, divorce or the death of a spouse, they found themselves wanting to meet new people, engage in new activities.

“I knew nobody when I first moved here. Suddenly I had places to go, people to do things with. It totally changed my life,” said Wendy Nyre, of Bethesda, who has been a member for 15 years.

The club offers dozens of activities for members including three book clubs, bridge, canasta and Mah Jongg groups, trips to museums, an investment club and conversation groups for English, French and Spanish.

Zehra Yargici, a 10-year member who lives in Rockville, comes from Turkey and said the English conversation group has been very helpful.

“The English group is wonderful because we try to talk and they correct us,” she said laughing. “It’s all ladies and it’s very friendly, and I’m not afraid to talk.”

Another immigrant with a special announcement at the January meeting was Andree Duval, of Chevy Chase, who moved to the area with her family 10 years ago.

She, her husband and their two daughters were going to take the oath to become United States citizens Jan. 13.

“It’s a big deal for us,” she said, receiving congratulations from other club members.

She is a native French speaker and said the group helped her to become confident about speaking English.

“All the women were friendly and took the time to listen to me,” she said.

For information about the club, visit www.potomacnewcomers.com.

pmcewan@gazette.net

Pam Lemmonds was incorrectly identified in the original version of the story.