New to Huntsville -- ideas for meeting friends? (Dothan, Arab: home, rent)

[that_laura]

Hi -- My husband and I (40 and 34, respectively) just moved here from Atlanta and are THRILLED to have found this special place, seemingly without the smog, traffic, excessive crime, racial tension, etc. of Atlanta. I am not currently working, and do not yet have children, so I am finding it more difficult to meet people. Our neighbors are very nice, but are at different stages in their lives. This almost sounds silly to ask, but are there places/organizations/events geared towards meeting new friends? I seem to have lost the knack for meeting new friends, as this is only my second major move in my life. Thanks in advance!

[bamagirl924]

I'll take the chance of being criticized, but one of the best places to meet people is in church. If you don't have a preference, there are some non-denominational churches in Huntsville, like The Rock Family Worship Center. God bless you!

[henders]

Hi Laura,

I'm not living in Huntsville yet (hubby and I hope to move there in '07), but I found this website interesting:

http://newcomersofgreaterhuntsville.org

Perhaps someone who is a member or knows more about it can chime in, but it does sound like a way to make new friends in the area.

[Rick in Dixie]

Originally Posted by bamagirl924

I'll take the chance of being criticized, but one of the best places to meet people is in church. If you don't have a preference, there are some non-denominational churches in Huntsville, like The Rock Family Worship Center. God bless you!

This was my first thoughts too. then I read bamagirl's post. The Rock would be my choice or Word of truth on Winchester Rd. but if your more denomenational, Whitesburg Babtist would also be a good choice. there are many organizations and special intrest groups that are conected with their church. I live nearby in Arab, and welcome to the area. I'll asure you , you'll meet plenty of friends here.

[nalabama]

The Huntsville Ski Club has mixers rather frequently and you do not have to ski to become a member for the social events. It's a mixed group: mixed ages, mixed marital status, mixed ages, mixed incomes, etc. Ball room dance classes are also a good place to meet other couples; go early and stay late--you'll find some folks to talk with. If you like hiking, the state park and local land conservation groups have established many hiking trails in the area and sponsor group hikes on occasion--another good chance to meet others of like interests. Good luck.

[lookingfortheperfectplace]

try meetup.com I use that site here in CA for stay at home moms group and plan to use it when I more to Al. I sure do hope there are other ways to meet people besides going to church, because are not church go-ers.

[1stimesouth]

I was just wondering if you had found any good ideas for meeting friends? We've lived here for just over a year and haven't had much luck meeting people. We do have kids, two little ones. We just haven't met anyone who both myself and my husband find interesting. We are both originally northerners, cheeseheads actually. Would like to meet some people who are a little more laid back, act grown up, but still like to go out for a beer occationally, maybe go to church, but aren't hyper religous, love their families, but interested in more than just what super special thing their kids did on a given day. We like it here, just haven't found a way to connect with people yet.......... I'm guessing its more our fault than everyone elses, but I'd love to hear suggestions

[AnotherBravesFan]

I hope to meet up with Laura and the others. I'll be in somewhat of a similar situation. Husband will retire 12/07 and move to Huntsville to attend UAH. I'm only 45, don't have enough years w/ employer & not old enough to retire yet; I'll probably want to work part-time when I get there. We are also non-church goers with no kids and won't know a soul there when we relocate, other than a few staffers at UAH. Though I haven't found any church here that I'm comfortable with, I am open to trying The Rock if it would help me feel less isolated. Maybe we women planning to move there could start a pen-pal/email group or something with the Laura and the others? I'm a baseball NUT (as if my screen name didn't give that away ; love going to games, playing in fantasy leagues, etc. and can't wait to check out the walking trails and clean air in Huntsville. A big thank you to the locals for the suggestions. I can't wait to get there!

[homey]

Everbody says how friendly people are in Alabama. well they seem to be, I have been called SIR so much I am starting to get a complex, I have to snap back and tell them not to call me sir, it makes me feel important.

But we have been here since July this year, and we have not been danceing yet, most all the places we have found so far are geared to the younger Hip Hop set, don't get me wrong the wife and I are Hip, but too **** old to Hop much anymore so we need to look for the more refined places and we are just not finding them, it is like we are worlds apart here, we were used to going out 2 - 3 times a week danceing at the club (Eagles) but they just do not have that going on here.

We did place an ad in the local Newspaper, and got no calls, I did however find My Space and did a local search and we did meet up with one couple so far, so you may want to try that, if you were close we would invite you over here. Since the wife is working PT three days a week, we only have Friday nights to go out, Dothan is a big city, and we will not give up trying to find and make new friends, church was brough up as a way, I will grant you that I am sure you can meet all kind of people their, but we are not church goes either.

I did find a Newcomers Club here but it is for women (that sucks), and we are not ready to join any Senior Citizians groups just yet, so I guess we will refine ourselves to partying here in our private back yard with the pool and the hot tub, but it gets lonley out here.

You might even find someone on here? so if anyone lives close to the Dothan, Alabama area, send me a private email. Good Luck to all of yea, but I thing the key here is you need to get out and socialize, to gain a circle of friends.