Kathy Solomon: I love it here!

I fell in love with Highland County the first time my husband brought me here to visit some of his friends. This rural, mountain area takes me back to my roots in Oklahoma. My family came to Tidewater, Virginia when I was a child, but each summer, we headed west to my grandparents farm.

My first visit to Highland was four years ago and the course of events that led to our actually living here would make one think it was “meant to be”.

I could say the same thing about my new position as Director of Community Programs. I thought I would like to have a part time job in order to meet people and become a part of the Highland community, and I missed the work I had done for the past 17 years. Over nine of those years were at a retirement community in Williamsburg where I created programs for adults 60+ years old. The past seven years I was on staff of a cancer treatment center, where I planned and implemented programs and services to support patients in treatment. Both experiences involved building from the ground up just like our “center without walls” concept will require here.

I’m very excited to be a part of this project and look forward to seeing it take life of its own. Second Wind programs will have an emphasis on our 60+ population, but will certainly have interest and appeal to all ages. . . something for everyone.

Kathy Solomon is the director of Second Wind Community Programs, a service of the Valley Program for Aging Services. More online at www.HighlandCountySecondWind.org.