Community of experience

Tucked into a dusty folder on the second floor of Bryan Hall in the Offices of the IU Archives is a simple letter from a great man about an ambitious idea.\n"The development of a retirement apartment building here is still very much alive," former Univeristy President and IU-Bloomington Chancellor Herman B Wells wrote in 1971 to Josephine K. Piercy, a retired IU English professor. "I am well aware of the fact that there are many who wish such a facility. My own interest in it is not without personal motivation as well."\nIn his 1962 State of the University address, Wells detailed his dream of a retirement community close to campus to serve retired alumni and faculty. In 1980, his dream became a reality in the form of Meadowood, a retirement community just north of the football stadium where, today, 80 percent of the residents have an IU connection either as a retired professor or alumni. \n"There's a vibrancy," said Executive Director of Meadowood Susan Bookout. "They're energetic."\nOriginally founded as IU Retirement Community, Meadowood celebrates its 25th birthday this year, and although Meadowood officially separated from IU and became an independent corporation in 1989 because of financial difficulties, the connection to IU is still strong.\nLike clockwork, Jim Walden, a former professor of education, wakes up every morning at 6 a.m. and goes downstairs from his apartment to work out on the stationary bikes \nbefore heading back upstairs to read the newspaper. He moved to Meadowood for the 66-bed health pavilion almost two years ago after his wife Leola fell ill. \n"There's such a variety of people here," he said. "I've met a commercial airline pilot, a medical doctor -- I never sit at the same table twice."\nAccording to a Meadowood community newsletter from 1982, Meadowood's first residents, doctors Mark and Louise Dick, moved into their home in 1981. Resident Cornelia Vos Christianson followed soon after.\n"It's the Hilton," Vos Christianson said in the newsletter.\nAt that time, the community was scheduled to have 92 garden apartments, 92 apartments in the main community building and a 25-bed health care facility, according to a December 1981 issue of Construction Digest. Currently, Meadowood has 92 garden apartments, 88 apartments in the community building and a 66-bed health care facility.\nWalden moved to Bloomington in 1963 to teach at the School of Education. While he was a professor, he traveled to Pakistan and Iran to teach and evaluate their schools.\nOn Mondays, Walden and others from the community volunteer at the football stadium folding letters to send out to prospective athletes. \n"Did you see the Kentucky game?" he said. "That was a fun afternoon."\nMeadowood resident Nevin Raber received his bachelor's degree from Purdue University and came to IU in 1946 to start a master's degree in history. After serving in the U.S. Army for four years, he returned to IU in 1951 to receive a masters in library science. Then, he became an employee of the University in 1962, eventually becoming head of the business library. Raber said the rivalry between the two universities was as strong then as it is now, but he feels a relatively equal allegiance to both.\n"It's about even now," he said, "even though I spent more than 40 years here and only four years there."\nAfter he retired in 1983, Raber would continue to visit the business library several times a week. Since he moved to Meadowood almost three years ago, the visits have dwindled to once a week.\n"The way libraries operate now is a substantially different operation," Raber said. "I know the basics, but there's a lot of new technology being used these days, and I'm not up on it."\nWhile Raber has left the business library, the librarian in him has not disappeared. Since his retirement, the history of food and eating has consumed his interest. \n"I've collected 500-plus books on the subject," he said, smiling. \nOf course, all of his books are catalogued and annotated.\nBob and Shirley Hart are part of the 20 percent of residents not affiliated with IU before their move to Meadowood.\n"We'd never been to Bloomington before we moved here," Bob Hart said with a smile.\nBut the attraction of Meadowood for the Harts, both former school teachers from Libertyville, Ill., was its proximity to IU and the learning opportunities available from living in a college town. After living in Bloomington for 17 years, Shirley Hart said the two consider themselves a part of IU, attending arts performances and football games.\n"We have to keep our mouths shut at Homecoming, though," she said. Both are proud graduates of the University of Illinois.\n"I think folks here want to be engaged," Susan Bookout said. "They're not rocking away their older years"