Whether you are single or part of a couple, Virginia’s Blue Ridge offers a wide variety of choices for the retired. It’s a place where ‘everyone is a neighbor.’
People entering retirement want certain elements to be prominent—when they have a choice.
They want a reasonable cost of living, moderate year-around temperatures, a certain level of natural beauty, available quality entertainment and a good health care system.
The argument can be—and has been—made that Virginia’s Blue Ridge fits all those criteria.
Those new to Virginia’s Blue Ridge and those who are natives have seen the evidence and it is overwhelming.
Following are couples who had plenty of choices but settled on Virginia’s Blue Ridge to retire for reasons of their own.
Jim Canody, 67, and Sherry Payne, 63, had full and productive lives before they met. Jim was a professional musician—among other things—and Sherry was an RN and a power line crew member—among other things.
Their lives were full to brimming before meeting, but when they met a few years ago (he was divorced, she widowed), they were near retirement age and had to find a place to settle down. They found a dilapidated house on a prime spot at Smith Mountain Lake and took on the challenge of renovating it. “It was a tear-down,” says Jim, who has worked as a carpenter in the past. But he and his new wife, who loves a challenge, enthusiastically took on a house they believed had good bones and great potential.
Today, the house is about 3,700 square feet on three levels and accommodates their lives spectacularly. Their social life is full and they are musicians together (recently starring in the play “Lightning Shall Strike,” by their friend Linda Kay Simmons, for which Sherry wrote four songs).
“We both love the mountains,” says Sherry. “I came here as a kid. We looked for a long time to find what we wanted that was affordable” and the “tear-down” was it. She re-designed the home and together they put in the sweat equity. “We walked away from it three times, but kept coming back,” says Sherry. “We finally bought it and now it’s worth about three times what it cost us.”
Sherry says the area has always meant “peace” to her and “now I feel it every day.”
They are rarely bored. Not only do they play music together, but they are constantly involved in household projects, are part of a lively music scene, enjoy eating out at quality restaurants and have found many new friends. “There is so much to do here,” says Jim. “It is a place where creatives retire and we’ve met many of them. … It is a cultural Mecca.”
“The slower pace is also attractive,” says Jim. “We’ve had all the excitement we want. … We are best friends and we don’t like being apart.”
Ken, 74, and his homemaker wife Trisha, 72, were all set to settle in for good during their retirement years on their rural Botetourt County farm where they’d lived for 40 years. But when Ken Ferris’ 40-year-old tractor hit a stump, threw him off and ran him down, nearly costing him his leg, his life changed and his retirement plans took a dramatic turn. The accident left one of Virginia’s Blue Ridge’s communications technology icons barely able to walk, following three serious surgeries. “If it hadn’t been for the accident, we’d still be out there,” says Ken. “We were isolated in Daleville.” That wouldn’t do when his rehab was considered.
They looked around and found the ideal situation in the new exclusive Southwood development in the southern part of Roanoke. “This neighborhood has so many welcoming people,” says Trisha. They were immediately enveloped.
“We are still in transition,” says Ken. “Between the accident and COVID-19, a lot of lives were put on pause. We are looking to find the new rhythms of our lives. What do we want to focus on? I think for me, it will be one-on-one relationships.”
With the sale of the Botetourt County homeplace, the Ferrises would be closer to some of their family (including daughter and grandchildren) in Roanoke, but there is another part in Chattanooga (a son and grands). They settled that by buying a condo there. They will split time between their homes.
The Ferrises have been married for 52 years and have known each other since they were 13. He is a Roanoke native; she was born in Kentucky.
For the past 40 or so years, Ken has been one of the leading lights in communications technology in Virginia’s Blue Ridge and he was on the founding teams of Fibercom, Millennia Systems and Luna iMonitoring. He has been a leader in, first, the New Century Technology Council and now the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council, as well as a mentor at RAMP. Traditional retirement, he insists, has never been a consideration. “In the book ‘Aging Matters,’ the writer says you retire two weeks before you die,” Ken says. “So, I guess it depends on how you define retirement.”
Retirement, he insists, “is not a calling.”
“He would never retire and sit on the beach or play golf,” says Trisha. They want “meaningful things to be involved in: kids, church, volunteering and something outside church.” Ken has been a business mentor, both officially and unofficially, for some time. And re-settling in Roanoke is not a big change. “We couldn’t imagine living anywhere else,” says Trish.
They both see considerable excitement ahead in their retirement years with family and new challenges in a part of the world they look at as the best for comfortable, fulfilling living.
Meg Hibbert is right where she wants to be at 76. “Retirement is what I wanted – except for the money. I enjoy weekly wine with friends, gardening, reading and people-watching.”
She is a retired journalist (finishing as the editor of the Salem Times Register) and now a baker serving two farmers markets weekly in Salem and Catawba. She also drives a 97-year-old Holocaust survivor “who is a hoot,” she says. Her husband, Bill, died in February 2019, just shy of their 50th wedding anniversary.
“I worked full-time until I was 68 and have continued part-time since then,” she says. “Was I ready to retire? Financially, no; practically, definitely ready to plan my own schedule and have my own fun.”
The best part of her career is still in play: “I continue to tell other people’s stories by freelancing for the Salem Times-Register and other publications. I am The Cookie Lady, and I bake and sell cookies, South Georgia pound cake, peach scones, blueberry muffins and other seasonal fruit muffins and sourdough rolls. I volunteer through the Salem Garden Club and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Martha and Mary Circle, and sing tenor in the Salem Choral Society.”
Her daughters, Meredith and Haley, are frequent visitors, and Haley has a son, as well. She and grandson Vinny read to each other.
The changes keep coming. “I recently sold our home of 22 years … and I live independently with a five-year-old ShihTzu and a cat in a Ridgewood Farm condo.”
Karen and Steve Wachnowsky were on the busy end of careers and home-making for many years before retiring to Roanoke. They were never completely settled in a place, living in 11 different localities over their professional careers.
They moved to Bent Mountain from Giles County where Steve was an executive with Celanese and Karen was Literacy Coordinator for the county. Their children and grandchildren live here. Both Pittsburgh natives were and remain active volunteers.
The volunteerism has followed Steve, 70, and Karen, 67. He is a SCORE mentor and she is with the Newcomers Club and, with Steve, the Bent Mountain Center.
The kids and grands were the obvious draw to Virginia’s Blue Ridge, but, says Karen, “The cost of living in Southwest Virginia is affordable and one of the reasons we decided to pick this area for our retirement. We both enjoy live theater, and we plan on purchasing season tickets to the Broadway series shows for the next season. Explore Park and the City Market are favorite spots of ours. We enjoy spending time with friends and family.”
They have never been afraid of the new, says Karen. “Due to Steve’s work, we moved every three to four years, and we treated every move as an adventure. Our children had wonderful experiences living in different parts of America.
“Of all the wonderful places we lived, this area held a special place in our hearts,” says Karen. “The major draw … is the idea of living in a rural area but still being close to a city of 100,000 people. Previously living in the New River Valley, we knew what amenities were available in Virginia’s Blue Ridge. However, there has been growth in terms of shopping and restaurants.
“Unfortunately, the pandemic hit six months after we moved to the area, so exploring was limited. Since the ‘reopening’ we have ventured out to visit local sites. We found that there is a variety of entertainment available in Roanoke.”
It all led to “building our home [on Bent Mountain] in mid-2018 and we moved in a year later. We have six acres and love the serenity and beauty of the area. The people of southwest Virginia are genuine and humble. They are always there to lend a helping hand and provide a kind word when needed. Everyone is a neighbor.”