Newbies Club makes plans for final 2021 events

After a sold-out Comedy Night and Concert Fundraiser last week, the Canyon Lake Newbies and Social Club is gearing up for its next events to close out the year.

First up is a fall picnic tentatively scheduled for Nov. 13 designed for Canyon Lake families to get to know one another.

This will be the club’s second annual fall picnic and will feature such kid-friendly activities as face painting, two piñatas, a Nerf gun battle royal game, and back by popular demand, the club’s signature activity they have dubbed “The Great Canyon Lake Turkey Hunt,” the club’s co-founder, Bradley Morton, said.

“Basically the so-called Great Canyon Lake Turkey Hunt is where several brave community dads dress up in ridiculous turkey costumes and run around like idiots while their kids shoot them with a fierce volley of Nerf gun bullets,” Bradley said. “It’s an hilarious spectacle that will hopefully create lifelong laughable memories of childhoods spent in Canyon Lake.”

While the kids are at play in the various family picnic activities, the adults will be working together to assemble holiday care packages for U.S. troops deployed overseas.

A Navy veteran herself, Jonda Morton, the social club’s co-founder and current president of the Canyon Lake Junior Women’s Club, said there is nothing like receiving these care packages from home.

“When I was young and serving on the USS Carl Vincent aircraft carrier, mail call was the highlight of the day,” she said. “Nothing warms the hearts of service members more than receiving a little love from back home. Last year, our fall picnic assembled and sent around 40 or so care packages. This year we hope to surpass that number with 50 plus packages.”

For those interested in joining the growing club and meeting new neighbors, simply search Facebook groups under the name Canyon Lake Newbies & Social Club.

“The club has now grown to over 860 members and is dedicated to improving community connectedness and various charitable endeavors,” Bradley said. “One thing is for sure…with events such as comedy nights, golf cart pub crawls, boat tie-ups, beach parties and fall picnics, club members sure seem to be having a good time along in the process.”