Anybody else here under 50? Saw that old reddit thread about the Bay being just for retirees

Was scrolling r/Arkansas last night (couldn't sleep, 3am brain) and found an old thread where somebody called the Bay a golf retirement community for well-off people, basically not a place for anyone in their thirties. Mountain Ranch and Indian Hills got named a lot. Kinda made me laugh because I'm 38, live off Lost Creek Parkway, and work from home, so I'm apparently the unicorn.

Some of the younger families in that thread were asking the same stuff I wonder about. How are the schools, with the town split between Cleburne and Van Buren counties? And is there anything for kids and teens here besides the lanes and the lake? Summer's starting so I'm asking now before the "I'm bored" chorus kicks in.

I'd honestly love a regular board game / video game night for the teens, or even a sewing and crafts thing for kids. I'd help run it, I just don't know if anybody would show up. So who else has school age kids here, and what do yours do all summer?

You're not the only one, Jason. I'm well past 50, but I follow the school board stuff pretty closely, and the county line thing does confuse people. Which district your kids end up in can depend on where exactly you are, so if you haven't already, call the district office and ask them directly instead of going off what somebody told you at the marina.

On the sewing and crafts, I'd show up for that. I've got a closet full of fabric and not enough excuses to use it. Kids can learn a basic running stitch or make a pillow in an afternoon, and it's cheap. I'd try the library or one of the churches for a room before paying for space. Teens might surprise you too, especially if there are snacks.

My grandkids visit in the summer and the lake gets old for them by week two, so I think a regular thing would get used.

Keisha's right about calling the district... I've watched more than one young couple fall for a house here and then find out the county line wasn't where they figured. Ask before you sign anything, Jason, not after.

You're not as rare as you think, either. More folks your age have bought in the last few years, mostly the work-from-home crowd. It just doesn't show at the golf course.

On the sewing thing, if it happens, count me in as a supplier. Every summer somebody's selling a working machine and a box of fabric for ten bucks at a yard sale around here, usually 'cause they're downsizing... I'd happily keep an eye out and hand over whatever I find.

WFH is the only reason anybody under 50 can afford to stay here tho. If you dont have a laptop job its the restaurants, the golf courses, or drive to Heber or Clinton every day and gas isnt getting cheaper. That's my actual gripe, not the retirees. Nobody says it but the jobs are whats keeping young families from sticking.

Jason I'd send mine to a game night, pizza alone would get them there. Come fall they got deer season to keep em busy, mine already has his stand picked out, but summer is a loooong stretch of "theres nothing to do" and the lake only goes so far. Alot of kids just end up on the phone all day.

Agree with Cedric on the county line thing too, we got two different answers from two different people before somebody finally told us to just call the office. Dont trust the marina.

Morgan, the jobs thing is the one I hear from other parents too, and I think it's the real reason you see so few families in their thirties out here. Plenty of people I know ended up working in Heber or Clinton because that's where the paycheck is, and then they just settle there.

On the summer stuff, I've got a teenager, and what helped us was giving him a reason to get off the phone that wasn't me nagging. Fishing did a lot of that. Put a kid on the water early with a cheap rod and a tub of worms and the whole day looks different. A few shifts a week at one of the restaurants does more than any lecture I could give, too. If yours is into football, summer workouts are worth asking about. The coaches usually have a schedule out before school lets out.

I'd also send mine to a pizza and game night in a heartbeat. Jason, if you get it going, put me down to help. I'm over in Edgemont so it's a drive, but I'd make it. Fair warning, the first one might be five kids staring at the floor. The second one is when word gets around.

Keisha's right about calling the district office, and I'd go one step further and actually sit in on a school board meeting if you can. Most of them post the agenda ahead of time and you learn more in an hour of that than from a year of hearsay at the marina. Budget stuff, bus routes, which kids go where, its all just sitting out in the open. I've been following it a few years now and it gets pretty interesting when the county line stuff comes up, because thats where the bus routes get weird.

The library or a church room for the crafts thing sounds like the easiest start to me. Churches around here are usually glad to have somebody use a fellowship hall on a weekday, you'd just have to ask nice and maybe offer to sweep up after. And I'd bet a few of the retirees would come just to teach, theres alot of folks who sewed their whole lives and nobody to show.

Morgan's point about jobs is true too, I'm out on 330 and the drive to Clinton every day adds up quick, especially with gas. Summer shifts at the restaurants are a decent start for a teen though, they always seem short on help by Memorial Day weekend.

Jason put me down for pizza, I'll bring a couple board games if nobody else has them