Going Clubbing
Art: Jane Mjolsness
When Gail Martin moved to Park City in June of 2005, she knew exactly three people: her daughter and two grandchildren. Fifteen months later, the former Floridian says she can’t go anywhere without running into a familiar face.
“I see [people] in the nail salons, at the grocery store, or at the doctor’s office,” she says. “I look at them and [think], ‘I know them from somewhere.’”
“Somewhere” usually turns out to be one of two popular social organizations: the Park City Mountain Sports Club and the Newcomers’ Club of Greater Park City. Martin has been a member of both since her first month in town.“I don’t think I would’ve gotten this far had I not been in those clubs,” she says.
As luck would have it, Martin lives in the same housing complex as Peggy Hanson, Park City Mountain Sports Club’s co-president. The two became fast friends.
“She kind of dragged me around and got me out of my shell,” Martin recalls. “That’s how it all started.”
These days, Martin says she attends three or four club events a week. Most of the activities are through Newcomers’, and they range from parlor games like bunko, bridge and Scrabble to social outings such as “Out to Lunch” parties, monthly meetings over coffee and group walks.
Hanson says her club hosts similar events, but adds that most are outdoor-oriented. There are wildflower hikes during the spring, hiking and biking trips during the summer and fall, and downhill skiing and snowshoeing excursions in the winter, to name a few.
“Our members are not couch potatoes,” Hanson declares. “They are interesting people who enjoy doing interesting things.”
Newcomers’ co-president Joan Mosch believes both clubs enable folks to meet people in the quickest possible manner.
“There is no reason to be lonely in Park City,” she says.
Despite the Newcomers’ tag, Mosch insists her club wouldn’t deny admission to those who have lived in the area for decades, nor would it kick members out for losing their tenderfoot status.
Each club boasts more than 300 members, many of whom — like Martin — are active in both. Though the clubs are open to individuals age 21 and up, Mosch estimates the mean age range to be late 40s to early 60s.
“That’s probably the sweet spot,” she says, noting that most clubbers are female, though male participation is increasing.
Not all club members live in Park City. Many hail from the surrounding valley and Salt Lake City. Others, Mosch says, split their time between seasonal homes in Utah and elsewhere in the world.
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