Traverse City has landed on many “top places to retire lists” in recent years. But are people actually following the accolades?

If there is one clear indicator the region is a retirement community on the grow, it’s this: the Newcomers Club of Grand Traverse has doubled its membership in a little over three years and now numbers 500 members – the largest membership in the club’s 67-year history.

And more new people show up every month, says Co-President Judy Pelto.

The club is a social and civic organization built around welcoming new residents to the area. It provides monthly educational programs and activity groups that give newcomers the chance to quickly build a new social group with both residents and other newly relocated people who share common interests. Though not exclusively for retirees, most members are retired.

Linda and Max Proffitt joined the Newcomers Club just three months after moving to Traverse City in December 2009 from Cleveland, Ohio. No longer technically "newcomers," they are both still active in the group, Linda as the other co-president.

“We find that most members have moved here for all the same reasons – art, music, theatre, restaurants, wineries, breweries, winter and summer sports, a thriving downtown and a strong sense of community all centered around beautiful lakes and the Grand Traverse Bay,” Proffitt says.

They are also almost all in the same boat – knowing no one in town.

Though the Proffitts had vacationed in the area for years, “when we moved here, we knew nobody,” Linda says. Now, almost all of the couples’ good friends are people they met through the Newcomers group. “You really do develop strong, long-term friendships.”

Judy and Robert Pelto left their lifelong home – along with family and friends – in the Dearborn area when they moved to Traverse City in 2006. One of the reasons was so Judy could be close to a childhood friend who lives here. She took the couple to a Newcomers Club meeting and they joined soon after.

“You immediately make good connections through the club,” says Judy. “When we joined membership was under 200. It has really grown … it’s a testimony to all the people moving here.”

The breadth of activities also appeals – whether one enjoys card games, walks in the woods, books, film and theatre, or microbrews and wine.

Unlike other Newcomers groups around the country, the local group puts no limits on how long one can be a member.

“We believe if you’re in a group that’s strong and happy and working … you should continue to be a part of it,” says Proffitt.

What are some of the most popular groups?

“Well, the Midwest folks are euchre players … we have 13 groups of 12, so a third of our members are playing euchre once a month,” says Proffitt.

The monthly film group, which Pelto heads up, is also very popular as are the book clubs. In addition to the monthly meeting, the club also hosts one-time events, such as touring Cordia (senior living community in TC), going to a new exhibit at the Dennos Museum, or making croissants with the baker from 9 Bean Rows.

So is Traverse City really one of the best places to retire? If it is measured by friendliness, newcomers say TC has it in spades.

Pelto says they constantly comment on the “nice, small town feel” and that people are “extremely friendly.” They also can't say enough good things about how helpful people are in their dealings with local government.

Finally, because the Newcomers Club is so big, new members often find themselves running into people they've just met no matter where they go, adds Pelto. “It goes back to that small town feel,” she says. “They just love that.”

The club is hosting its Fall Kickoff event tonight (Tuesday). Anyone interested in becoming a member of the group may go online and follow the instructions for printing a new membership form.