By Jen Matteis, Source Community Desk Chief:
Having moved from Connecticut to Texas to Virginia and back to Connecticut, this year’s president of the Madison Newcomers Club, Sarah Suerth, is uniquely qualified for the position.
“I have been a newcomer in other situations in my life,” she says. “Moving to Texas—being completely uprooted from my family and friends—I understand what it’s like to be new somewhere.”
The multiple moves came about through her relationship with Ryan Suerth, an attorney who recently ran for 12th District state senator against incumbent Ed Meyer. Throughout Ryan’s four years in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, Sarah followed him to a variety of different locales.
“He kept trying to get further and further away from me, but I wouldn’t let him go,” she jokes.
During his one-year deployment to Iraq—one place where Sarah couldn’t follow—Ryan proposed. Two months after the birth of their daughter Regan in Texas, the couple moved to Virginia, where they lived for less than a year before moving to Madison in April 2007.
Sarah checked out a Newcomers meeting after hearing countless prompts about the club from her neighbors.
“In the first meeting I made some friends who are still my friends now,” she recalls. “It’s been an amazing opportunity for me.”
After a year of making friends and forming community connections through the club, Sarah deepened her involvement when she became president in June. In her current role, she helps out with local events ranging from the Fourth of July Parade to Madison Community Services’ holiday food baskets to the Watrous Nursing Center’s annual holiday party. The club’s members form new roots in town, while the community benefits from their support.
“I just want to emphasize how important Newcomers is to the town and people new to town,” Sarah notes. “Madison Newcomers was a vehicle to meet other people and see what you can do in that community to become more involved.”
The club, which began in 1968 and since then has donated countless funds and time to the community, provides an outlet for women new to Madison to form new connections through recreation, volunteerism, and other civic activities.
“We want people to enjoy their time as newcomers and see everything that Madison has to offer,” Sarah comments. “We’re just really trying to help people see what’s out in the community for volunteer opportunities and services and businesses, and help them navigate the shoreline.
“It really was just such a great experience,” she adds. “I’ve met so many great families.”
An asset to both Madison and Guilford, Sarah enjoys a combination of duties as a teacher and science department chair at Guilford High School.
“You not only get to teach but you get to take a more active role in the school and the direction in which it’s heading,” she remarks. “I absolutely love it.”
For both Sarah and Ryan, their move to Madison—where the couple plans to stay for some time to come—is reminiscent of a homecoming.
“We both grew up and were raised in Connecticut,” Sarah says. “I’ve always had a fondness for [Madison]. I had a good childhood friend who had a beach house down here in Madison. I would spend almost every summer down here.
“Madison was our number one choice.”
Are you new to town? The Newcomers Club holds general meetings on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at Memorial Town Hall on the Madison Green. January’s meeting is replaced by an expo for newcomers (local vendors welcome) at 7 p.m. at the Country School, 341 Opening Hill Road. To find out more, email Sarah at mail_mnc@yahoo.com or visit www.madisonnewcomersct.com.
Pictured: Sarah Suerth has faced the challenge of forming new roots
in different towns across the nation and now helps others do the same
in her role as president of the Madison Newcomers Club.
Photo by Jen Matteis
Got advice for someone new to Madison, or questions about what to do in town? Post your comments below.