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Don't tell members of the Moms Club of Kingsview/Germantown that the newness and rapid growth of their community leads to boredom and social isolation among its residents.

The nine women and 11 pre-school children drawn to the group's monthly meeting on Thursday at Messiah Lutheran Church on Clopper Road filled a room with the sights and sounds of neighborly fellowship. Some children plinked away on the keys of a piano in the corner while others snacked on cheese and crackers or drew pictures with crayons and paper. Their mothers tried to concentrate on a visiting saleswoman from a cosmetic company as she demonstrated her product line and passed out samples in the midst of the youngsters' playful chaos.

"I go to a grocery store and see people I recognize because the mom's club has helped me get out and meet people," said Lindsey Buckton, the group's president. "I really feel if someone is feeling isolated, the mom's club is a wonderful way of finding people from other areas."

The Kingsview/Germantown mom's club, like all of the more than 2,000 chapters of the California-based organization in the United States, is open to any woman with children, although those with pre-schoolers often constitute the majority of the membership. Germantown has three other chapters.

"Everything in the mom's club, the kids are welcome," said Adrienne McDonald. "It's not a big thing to bring your kids, unlike a lot of other things where it's hard to bring them."

Courtney Flaherty, 37, the club's vice president of membership, said the group's activities tend to be aimed at personal interests that foster bonds between members.

"We have small group functions so you can get actually get to know people," Flaherty said. "If there's a scrapbooking day, you're only going to get the scrapbookers there and so you can meet people who have common interests with you."

A lost cell phone she found lying on the ground proved to be McDonald's improbable introduction to the Moms Club of Kingsview/Germantown. McDonald, who has been a member for almost four years, picked up a cell phone she found in her neighborhood one day and dialed the home number stored on it. The number connected her to the secretary of the mom's club. The secretary, since moved away, was relieved about recovering her cell phone and encouraged her to join the organization, McDonald said.

"I've made a couple of friends," said McDonald, 34. "Everybody is really friendly and you never feel awkward about going to an event. If you're having problems with kids, there's always someone who's been through it. It's good to meet a lot of people who have dealt with these mom-type problems that other people don't know about or have forgotten about."

Flaherty said the membership of 40 has been fairly steady over the years. Members tend to come and go within a short time as their children pass quickly from infancy into kindergarten within a few years, she said.

Buckton, 28, who was elected president after joining only a little more than a year ago, said the club has been around since 2001 when it was formed as a spinoff of another mothers' club that split into four new groups.

The club's activities go well beyond regular monthly meetings. For example, the September calendar lists two breakfast club meetings, a book club meeting and a park-and-play session for children at Hoyles Mills Park. The monthly meeting features a self-defense demonstration. Buckton said the club also works on service projects such as collecting school supplies for distribution to needy children.