Friendship Makes Move Worthwhile
Bill and Charlotte Shimmel turned one room in the couple’s lakeside cottage into a craft room. Decorated with Charlotte’s paintings, the room also includes her weaving supplies, sewing machine and hand-stitched quilts.
Since moving to The Summit in September, Charlotte has found a community of other artists and crafters.
“What really sealed the deal for us was the attitude of the people here. They are just so friendly,” she said. Bill, who spent his career working for University Cooperative Extension offices in Wisconsin, Vermont and South Carolina, plans to take up golf and fishing when the weather breaks this spring.
The couple wanted a comfortable retirement community. “We really felt more comfortable here than anywhere else,” Bill said. “We haven’t changed our minds either.”
The couple has five kids from coast to coast, along with 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. They used to spend summers visiting family in a camper. Their daughter, son-in-law and several grandchildren live in Lynchburg near The Summit.
“When we first walked in to visit, three or four people were there and they were just so friendly and welcoming,” Charlotte, a retired registered nurse, said. “When you move a long way, you have to leave your friends and so making more friends is important to me and The Summit is very friendly.”
There is another nice perk. For a couple that endured snowstorms in Wisconsin and Vermont, waking up to a lovely Virginia snow came with a surprise. “When I got up, the sidewalk was shoveled,” Bill said.
A maintenance-free Life Plan Community with plenty of friends sums up life at The Summit.