The Cape Coral Social Club has upped its presence in the community by joining forces with the Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral.
The members celebrated their newfound partnership with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday at the Cape Coral Yacht Club, followed by informative presentations from several community organizations.
The Cape Coral Social Club is an offshoot of the New Residents Club, a club that is one of, if not the oldest, community groups in the Cape.
The New Residents Club, formed in 1967, was aimed at attracting people who had lived in the Cape for less than a year. Now, 42 years later, New Resident Club members often segway into the Cape Coral Social Club.
“It’s a venue in our community to meet new people,” said member and publicity chair Denny Bowers. “People get the opportunity to meet, share stories, become an integral member of our community.”
Indeed, the community came to out to Thursday’s meeting, as organizations from around the city gave presentations about their particular causes or services.
Lifeline Family Center, Angel Food, Friends of Wildlife, SHARE Club, Tender Loving Care and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department had a presence at the meeting.
Kitty Sayers, supervisor for the city’s senior centers, implored the audience to “be part of something bigger” by taking full advantage of what the Lake Kennedy Senior Center and Tony Rotino Senior Center have to offer.
“It’s not the building, it’s not what the building looks like … it’s the people, it’s what goes on inside (that makes it special),” she said.
The move to join forces with the chamber is really twofold for the Cape Coral Social Club.
On one hand, it raises its profile in the Cape and it automatically links the club to the chamber’s vast network of contacts in the business community.
“The chamber is going to give us another source to get our name out,” Bowers said. “It wasn’t that we had to join or we wouldn’t survive … we just wanted to share our story.”
For club President Julie Lombardi, who is originally from New Jersey, the chamber’s location on the west side of the Cape Coral Bridge acts almost like a gateway to the community.
Lombardi said many people visiting the Cape for the first time usually stop by the chamber office for information, directions and maps. It is the perfect time to introduce them to the social offerings of the Cape as well.
“They are a center point in the Cape … people gravitate toward the chamber,” she said. “We did when we first visited. It was the first thing we did, it was like a central hub.”
The Cape Coral Social Club offers a host of programs, activities and social networking opportunities. It meets the second Thursday of each month at the Cape Coral Yacht Club at 10 a.m., with coffee served at 9 a.m.
For more information, visit: capecoralsocialclub.org, or e-mail info@capecoralsocialclub.org.