Retirement in Asheville - From CBS News

(CBS) Mountain air is not enough for a generation determined to ban boredom in retirement. Martha Teichner visited Asheville, N.C., to explore how some are designing more creative retirements:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Bauer was a high school teacher in Michigan before retiring to Asheville, and getting a part-time job as a tour guide at the Biltmore Estate.

"Why do I wanna keep on teaching when I can retire financially and I can try something completely different?" he asked.

Americans just aren't retiring the way they used to ...

"We don't want to just sit down and vegetate," said Jim Wyatt.

And you don't have to go very far from the Biltmore Estate to see how they're redesigning the whole notion.

Nancy Long spent her career writing for newspapers and magazines. Now she's a volunteer docent at the Asheville Art Museum.

Long and her husband, Al, were attracted to Asheville, N.C., because for a small city, it has a lot going on culturally.

But the big selling point was the fact that they could live right downtown and walk everywhere, a growing trend among retirees.

The Longs live in a compact loft in an old commercial building, but here's the kicker: When they retired, they actually lived in Florida … and moved away.

Why?

"We thought it'd be boring," Martha told Teichner.

"Boring," Al agreed.

Ron Manheimer, who heads the Center for Creative Retirement at the University of North Carolina in Asheville, said, "People are saying, 'Well maybe Florida isn't the place to go.

"What I see is very high expectations that something special should happen in and around this time of life, and I think I see people searching for what that would be."

Asheville has been a beneficiary. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, it is on just about every top ten list of the best places to retire in the U.S.

It says something about Asheville that it's got a Center for Creative Retirement, where $115 a semester will buy you an all-you-can-eat menu of classes taught by retirees themselves … a cross-section of courses in Latin, French, bookmaking, or a how-to class on navigating senior benefits.

Then there's deepening inner stillness.

Asheville property developer Jim Anthony thinks they're looking for a healthy, outdoorsy lifestyle he calls "wellness."

Taking Teichner on a helicopter tour of the area, Jim Anthony said, "I look right down and there's about ten acres right there that we have set aside wildflowers and trail system, because that's what people are looking for."

Anthony is 65, but has no intention of retiring himself. He loves to fly prospective buyers over what will be the first golf course in the U.S. designed by Tiger Woods.

"I think we'll attract more people for this whole setting, this mountain top setting with the trails and the spa and wellness center than for golf."

Anthony is marketing a kind of "Blue Ridge Mountain high" to aging baby boomers with money, whose retirement may turn out to be a third of their lives.

"We walked into Asheville, said 'This reminds me of the Sixties without the Vietnam War,'" said Bill Dorfman. "I loved the Sixties."

The spirit of the '60s is alive and well in Asheville, including the need to do good.

Don and Lisbeth Cooper had all the retirement that money can buy. He'd been in finance, she was in fashion. They built the house of their dreams at the top of a mountain outside Asheville.

And then reality intervened. Lisbeth wasn't satisfied with the care available for her daughter, Danielle, who's had bouts of mental illness. She suggested to Don starting their own mental health care facility.

"And what did you say?" Teichner asked.

"No way, Jose," Don said.

Famous last words.

Together they raised ten million dollars and built the not-for-profit Cooperriis Center which seems more like a working farm than a hospital.

"We're making a wonderful improvement in many people's lives, and it's been very rewarding," Don said.

And they're still at it.

"This was 80 hours a week and still is because we're building a second center in Asheville," said Lisbeth.

"Now, was this your idea of your retirement?" asked Teichner.

"No, I had no clue," said Don.

"He used to tell me he was bored," Lisbeth said. "He's not bored anymore."

No, indeed. Gone are the days when retirement meant the end. In Asheville, it's clear retirement is the beginning.


To See Video,
Watch CBS Videos Online

6th Annual Montford Music & Arts Festival

6th ANNUAL MONTFORD MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2009

This year’s festival will feature a great variety of food, so come hungry. The Greek Ladies Philoptochos Society will once again sell their delectable breads and desserts, Satay a Go-Go will be back with authentic Thai food, and Twin Cousins will serve delectable Cajun cuisine. We hope that Mr. Gene’s, a Goombay favorite, will be offering fried chicken and fish specialties. If you’re thirsty, fresh lemonade will also be available. For those who want to eat inside, Nine Mile Restaurant will serve up its menu of Jamaican food all day to match Pure Fiyah Reggae Band’s music.
Artists and crafters will be everywhere this year. The winners from last year will be back: Les Powell with his pottery, Wonderland 5 with their fabric creations, and Scott Owen with his fabulous jewelry. A previous winner, Una Barrett, will return with new jewelry designs. Many festival artists show their work on www.etsy.com Check out www.montfordfestival.com for links to the artists’ websites.
The festival is a great opportunity to learn more about nonprofits such as the Animal Compassion Network and the Asheville Vegetarians. The Alzheimer’s Association and Odyssey Community School, among others, will also be represented. So join the fun and spend the day. As always, we’ll have a limited number of chairs available for folks who want to sit and listen to the music. This year’s festival promises to be bigger and better than ever.
Oh yes—the Health Department asks that you please leave your dog at home. See you on
Saturday, May 16!

Performers

Snake Oil Medicine Show, Pure Fiyah Reggae Band, Good Old Boyz, and Ira Bernstein and John Herrmann will headline the Six Annual Montford Music and Arts Festival on Saturday, May 16. The party will start at 10:00 a.m. and keep going until around 8:00 p.m. on Montford Avenue between Cullowhee and Waneta Streets. Other performers include Tater Diggers, Kon Tiki, Vollie McKenzie and the Lead-Foot Vipers, and WestSound. The Montford festival is unique
in that every act features performers who are current or former residents of the neighborhood.
Highlighting the diverse strengths of Asheville’s most historic neighborhood, this year’s festival will offer a wider array of arts and crafts than ever. The juried art show is regarded as one of the best in the region. And the food available on the long block promises to be outstanding!
Celebrating its sixth anniversary, the Montford Music and Arts Festival is free to the public. The festival is produced by the Montford Neighborhood Association and made possible by the generosity of corporate and individual sponsors. Dozens of Montford volunteers make this festival go, and we want to give special thanks to the festival committee: Sharon Fahrer, Ben
Scales, Mitch Russell, Ross Terry, David Patterson, Laurence Pamer, and Wanda Hawthorne.


Performance Schedule

10:00 a.m.—Tater Diggers. This trio enjoys digging into the songs and styles of the mountains,and they’ll sprinkle in a sea shanty or two as well.

11:00 a.m.—Kon Tiki. Tropical lounge swing will make late morning on Montford Avenue
feel like an evening on the beach at Waikiki.

Noon—Ira Bernstein and John Herrmann. John, the Zen Master of Old-Time, will put
Ira through the paces of Ten Toe Percussion.

1:00 p.m.—Vollie McKenzie and the Lead-Foot Vipers. Step to vintage jazz, swing,
and blues with influences ranging from Hank Williams and Ray Charles to Appalachian string bands and gospel.

2:00 p.m.—WestSound. This family band mixes gospel favorites with high-energy soul and R&B.

3:15 p.m.—Good Old Boyz. These rock and rollers can sure enough play outlaw country,
conjuring some of the legends of hard-edged country music.

4:45 p.m.—Snake Oil Medicine Show. Danceable, zany, and crazy, this troupe will cure
what ails you with their potent mixture of music and art.

6:15 p.m.—Pure Fiyah Reggae Band. “Our music is the sounds of the system, the good,
the bad and the oppressed ones.” Move to this powerful music and feel the positive vibration.

Throughout the day, enjoy the artistry of: Asheville Morris Men and Ashgrove Garland—traditional dances of the British Isles melmacpink—hoop dancing.

Don’t miss the Maypole celebration at around 1:00 p.m.!