wrote and I snipped:
My 3-year-old daughter and I are in a wonderful playgroup that we've
been attending since her birth. We've been meeting one weekday morning
a week, plus having once-a-month "mom's night out" dinners.

Next fall, nearly all the children are starting preschool. Some will go
Mon/Wed/Fri and some Tues/Thurs, which means there is no day we can
continue meeting when most people can come.

Have you been in a playgroup like this that survived preschool and
stayed in close touch? Any tips on how to do this?

We're spread over a fairly large geographical area, so we don't
generally all run into each other as part of other community events or
organizations.

I was in a similar situation with DD and my moms' group. Six of us met
with our newborns in a Lamaze new moms support group 8 years ago, only we
had a few moms who went back to work full-time after their maternity leave.
We were also quite spread out geographically. For many years, we met once a
month with the kids. It was usually on Saturday morning at about 10 am
until just after lunch. When they were younger, we tended to meet at
someone's home. As they got older (and more exuberant), we started meeting
at local playgrounds, pools, or special events, like puppet shows or
hayrides. We would plan the dates a few months in advance. This kept up
until they were about 6 years old. Now it's been a year since we've seen
everyone. Hmmm, you've given me an idea.....

HTH,
-Patty, mom of 1+2