 When moving to a new community, one of the most challenging obstacles might be making new friends. The Brainerd Lakes Area Newcomers Group is hoping to help in that process. Sarah Winkelman has this week's Community Spotlight. Many aspects of the community have come together to help bring the Brainerd Lakes Area Newcomers Club back into town. We just felt that it was really important that we have a way to welcome new people to our community and kind of get them, I guess you will, locked into a group of friends, so once we get people here we want people to stay here. There have been several versions of the group in the past, including when Carl's in-laws joined back in the 50's. They moved here in 1957 and their whole network of best friends were people they met in the Newcomers Club for 36 years until they passed away. Organizers hope the club will stick around and most importantly that people will join and just say yes. The opportunity when you move to a new area, I say yes to it, only because I think it's important to get to know others and see different elements of the community and meet different people and so it's been really fun just saying yes to a lot of different things. And saying yes to the Call of Action is the club coordinator who is excited to start back up the Newcomers Club. I was born and raised here and I feel like this area hasn't really been that welcoming. You know, so we kind of wanted to get something where people could meet other newcomers and just feel welcome and more at home. However, Amanda is not the only local who participates in the club's gatherings. One of the things that I didn't realize is there's people here who are from the area and also newcomers, which I think is a brilliant idea because then you can ask questions about people who actually are from here. The club combines social gatherings and open community and the cool factor in an effort to make newcomers feel welcome and hopefully stay in town. Well, it's really fun for one. I love doing it and I just think it's great to bring people together and let them know that you're here to help them. The Get-Togethers are focused on local opportunities to get newcomers involved. For this week's Community Spotlight and Brainerd, Sarah Winkelman, Lakeland News. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.