SHARE: Friendships
In a small community like ours, with so many opportunities for interaction, making friends is easy. Because our residents come with widely varied backgrounds, education and accomplishments, we can quickly find something in common or different experiences to share.
Varied backgrounds
The depth and breadth of life experiences among Mountain Meadows residents is remarkable, from education to careers to travel and adventures. The vitality and zest for life exhibited by those who live here is expressed in their wide range of interests and participation in the community, both at Mountain Meadows and in the wider Ashland community. A casual conversation can reveal a friend with common interests, stimulating differences, or shared connections.
Education and accomplishments
The varied educational backgrounds and accomplishments of our residents are distinguishing features of our community. Many of our residents have advanced academic degrees and fascinating careers, factors that contribute to the richness of our conversations and activities.
In a small community like ours, with so many opportunities for interaction, making friends is easy. Because our residents come with widely varied backgrounds, education and accomplishments, we can quickly find something in common or different experiences to share.
Our Stories
Get acquainted with some of Mountain Meadows’ residents as you click through their stories below.
While attending our son’s Medford wedding, we fell in love with Ashland’s climate and mountain views. Each summer in Ohio before my teaching year, we fed our theatre passion with Ontario’s Stratford Festival, never realizing we could retire with a renowned repertory theatre in our backyard. Cultural bonuses in Ashland include attending interviews with Oregon Shakespeare Festival actors, the Ashland Independent Film and New Plays festivals, and classes for seniors at OLLI – all minutes away. Mountain Meadows has provided friendships and travel buddies; home equity; relief from cooking and yard chores; participatory governance; and opportunities to stay fit physically, mentally, and socially.
My wife and I came to Mountain Meadows in 2009 from Ohio after I retired at age 66 from serving for nine years as Director of Finance for the City of Columbus. I also practiced law for 30 years. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival was a main attraction after we spent many years attending the Stratford Festival in Ontario. We have since taken advantage of many other cultural attractions here—other theaters, a film festival, and senior classes. Hiking and biking keep one in good shape. I am in my fourth three-year term as an MMOA Board member, serving as Treasurer.
Our mantra at MM is “Happily Ever After!” My husband and I moved here in 2017. He is a consultant and I had retired from my interior design company. We left DC to be near our young grandson and his parents in Oregon, and our daughter and her husband in California. We were attracted by the friendly, like-minded residents we met and the handsome condominiums we toured. Soon we were involved with new friends and MM events: community dining, live music, water exercise classes, stimulating lectures, committee work, and more! Top-drawer in-town performing arts, and Lithia Park enrich us.
We discovered Ashland in 2002 on a motor home trip from South Carolina. We were visiting our daughter, Abigail, in San Francisco, and she asked for a ride to Ashland to visit a client. After enjoying a tour of the town, we wrote in our log: “What a nice place. It would be good to live there” without the slightest intention of doing so. We soon moved to a self-built house in South Carolina which was to be the one from which they would carry us out. Abby moved to Ashland in 2004 and we made several visits. She showed us Mountain Meadows, which we thought very appealing, still not intending to come. Eventually as we neared our 80s with no family nearby, we sold our perfect house and gladly made the move.
Ashland has been my home for four decades, I raised two children here, and had a satisfying career as a registered nurse. When I retired, I enrolled in art school and earned a BFA in printmaking and painting. Then Ron and I moved to Mountain Meadows. There is a pervasive sense of good will and welcome here. I continue with community involvements, volunteering, and caring for grandchildren. Meanwhile Mountain Meadows provides me with a fitness program that challenges me and keeps me feeling good and a community garden that lets me grow the veggies and flowers I enjoy. I love being free from having to shop and prepare meals every day. I have time to do the painting and the travel that I love with people that I trust and enjoy.
My husband and I came to Mountain Meadows in 2011 from Los Gatos, California, where I had worked as a human resources executive. We loved Ashland, and we were attracted by the opportunity to own our home and to take part in governing the community. I served six years on the MMOA board, two of those years as president. Now, I’m continuing to “write my next chapter” as a board member for two organizations in Ashland, one connected with the choral music I love. And I am still an active contributor in the Mountain Meadows community. I love living here!
My wife and I moved to Ashland and Mountain Meadows in 2016 after 32 years in San Francisco, having moved originally from Chicago. I worked in mental health services and Carol was a realtor. The primary draw of Ashland for us was the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, followed closely by the relaxed vibe of Ashland and the abundant nature available for outdoor activities. Mountain Meadows was a surprising find for us where we discovered a healthy, supportive community, a great house and opportunity to be involved in running the community. Whatever your interest or passion may be, Mountain Meadows is a great base, to where you can live, love and own.
In 2014 after extensive on-line research and visiting a number of communities, my husband and I relocated from our home in Wisconsin to Mountain Meadows. The strengths of this unique community are the welcoming friendliness of its residents, self-governance, an excellent dining room, great fitness center, and home ownership without a lawn to mow or snow to plow. I quickly became involved in Mountain Meadows activities and governance. In addition, I regularly ride my horse, cycle around the valley, attend plays and festivals, take OLLI classes and much more. I am never at a loss for things to do and love it here.
