By Lily Nussbaum | Staff Writer
A retired Waco Independent School District home economics teacher, a three-time breast cancer survivor and a group of Baylor graduates compose a small portion of women involved in Newcomers and Neighbors of Waco.
Since 1989, the group has met to create a social club for women seeking friendship and fun within their community. While most women are from Waco, anyone in McLennan County is invited to join.
“There’s just such a wide variety of women from all walks of life, all ages of life, all stages of life,” Baylor alumna Brenda Underwood said. “We have a good time together.”
Underwood said she joined the group when she moved to Waco. Before she moved here, Underwood said she and her daughter realized their lives were “too churched.” While she is still very involved in her church, Underwood said coming to Waco and joining the group has allowed her to expand her circle of friends and participate in nonreligious activities.
“Some of the friends I’ve met, we get together outside of the luncheons, outside of the special interest groups,” Underwood said. “We just get together and do stuff.”
One of the people she met is the group’s current president, Andrea Phillips.
Phillips started her term in June and will serve over the next two years. Phillips said she has made sweet friendships during her time in the group. She said the people within the group make her leading easy, and she would consider herself a facilitator rather than a president.
Each monthly luncheon features key elements: a speaker from the Waco community; “brag for a dollar,” a moment when members can brag on someone in their lives in exchange for a dollar; raffle giveaways; and member spotlights.
Phillips said her favorite past speaker was Gerald Powell, a retired Baylor law professor. At this past luncheon, Ashley Bean Thornton, founder of Act Locally Waco and creator of Waco Walks, spoke about Waco Walks and how women can get involved. Next month’s speaker is Elizabeth Barnhill, a book buyer for Fabled Bookshop & Cafe.
“As a Wacoan, to get to realize how many people move in and get to know people from all states and all kinds of interests, I think has been really fulfilling,” Baylor alumna Barbra Roundtree said.
Dr. Betty Dungan, another Baylor alumna in the group, was born in Waco but grew up in Dallas. She said she returned when pursuing her doctorate at Baylor, and her interest in the group came after her retirement.
“You lose your work group,” Dungan said. “So I thought, ‘Well, I need to meet some more women.’”
Dungan said she initially thought the group was only for newcomers but was excited to hear longtime residents could join too. She said she has been given opportunities to learn more about the community with new friends through her various interest groups.
“We have a group that meets once a month to go to lunch and a movie, and we have groups for different card games,” Dungan said.
Dungan said Newcomers and Neighbors of Waco has solved a significant problem for many women in the group: “It’s no fun to go by yourself.”
