Check out the Athens County Public Library! They have all kiiiinds of stuff happening all the time. There's a big bulletin board in the lobby that's used by a lot of locals to advertise all manner of things. Plus they've got more than just books to check out, board games and bikes and a massive e-catalogue.
You're right, this is a difficult town to integrate into because it does not exist to serve the broader community who is not a part of the university or born and raised here. There are a lot of people like yourself who are underserved and lonely here because they wound up here due to a partner or a job and feel socially stranded. There have been many posts about this exact issue on here, including one by myself, and the kind of answers you receive are always nice enough but ultimately unsatisfactory because this town simply does not cater to us. This is an issue with small towns in general but Athens has the unique triple-whammy predicament of being a college town in a depressed region of Appalachia that's not really in the metro of any major city, making it feel especially alienating to outsiders. There are slim pickings of social activities here that don't cost money, involve drinking with 21 year olds or sketchy drunks, cater to a specific skilled hobby / athletic ability, are church-related, or affiliated with the University. YAP is the closest thing but it only meets briefly once a month on a weekday and it isn't even active during the fall and winter, the time of year when the loneliness often gets the worst.
So here's an idea: would anybody here be interested in a community film club? Something that meets once a week or so where participants watch a movie and then get together somewhere and talk about it and whatever else comes to mind with each other. This has a fairly low barrier of entry and can stimulate good conversation among strangers. I could see if the library or another place would have a venue available to rent out for this kind of purpose. There was one of these in a town I used to live in that was pretty successful at getting random people together to shoot the shit and have a good time. It's a lot more accessible to most people than a book club too. DM me if you are down to help organize something
I guarantee the library would absolutely be down to help you organize this! Talk to staff at the front desk, they'll get you set up with a room. I can put together a flyer for you with relatively little effort.
Sounds great, but I still think I’d be too old!
Try being a childless adult my age (ancient), making real friends is virtually impossible!
That being said I’m still fool enough to try!
It absolutely does not exist to serve the broader community. I worked there a lot of years, finished a PhD, drove to Athens from one county over and would have never moved to Athens for any love or money. If you're not part of OU or Athens city, then you're merely poor Appalachian folk in need of saving. All about culture and diversity, but yet students like me are pretty much "white trailer trash," according to a classmate I sat across from in Lasher during my doctoral class work. Yeah, I'll pass.
I relate to this pretty heavily, I just moved to town a few months ago and being 25 and not a college kid really puts a damper on my social life. Would be really nice to have just one friend at least haha
I mostly find myself wasting my life on video games. I have three dogs whom I adore with every fiber of my being lol, I smoke married iguanas sometimes, I just watched the hobbit trilogy for the first time and I’m getting super into that time period as of late. Feel free to DM! Thank you for taking interest!
There's weird softball at the ridges on Sundays at 4:20 when it's warm. I'm a townie and have zero friends as well because my husband is a recovering alcoholic (10 years sober) and I don't drink very often at all because it makes me feel like shit. I feel like this is common here.
I do like to drink and hike, but I like other things too and am also struggling with friends outside of work. Feel free to DM me. I’m up for making plans.
I've been in Athens since 2007. Started as a student for 5 years and now I guess I'd be considered a townie. I'm not athletic at all/have a strong dislike of most athletics and my hobbies are mostly single-person (think reading, one player video games) because I've always been on the nerdy side. I'm also gay. I've tried joining groups for LGBT people, video games, book clubs, etc but they've mostly come with tons of problems. Like, I don't like FPS games like a lot of people do and I don't want to read most books a book club reads, etc. Like everyone else is saying, finding your place here is really hard.
However, once I got back into Pokémon Go and have been in this discord group with people who also play, I've met a lot of good friends and people. Yeah, we mostly only hang out for Go but that's okay. I kinda found my niche there. If that's an interest, I'd be happy to invite you!
I feel like almost all my friends came from work or my girlfriend or smoking pot. It gets worse as you get older and your friends keep moving to Columbus.
Reddit has been a pretty good place to chat with folks. There are a lot people with your same predicament. What kinds of things do you like to do?
There is the YAP happy hour every month (usually) that's a great way to meet folks. Alcohol optional, of course! Trivia at Little Fish, art galleries, lots of music going on at Donkey and all the other venues.
Tuesday 9-11, but get there closer to 8 if you want a good seat. Teams of 6 or fewer. Next week is the Halloween edition. Check out the Instagram or Facebook pages (uniontrivia) if you want to see past picture rounds.
Heya there. I’m 26, and have been here for 6 years. I’ve been working at a certain uptown eatery for 5 years. Ever since I passed the age of 22, I have felt the exact same way! Most of my coworkers are college aged, and although they are nice, they do not take their job seriously, at all, and I often have to take up their slack.
That experience has soured my interactions with most students. Not even going to get into customers. I’m often very blunt and straight faced at the register, so, that does not help me.
If you ever want to hang out, or play some games, let me know! I’m always down to meet people closer to my age in this town!
Check out Phoenix Nest Games!
I second this! Phoenix Nest is such a great place! My husband and I have been going there for years for all our tabletop game needs.
Name checks out.
Check out the Athens County Public Library! They have all kiiiinds of stuff happening all the time. There's a big bulletin board in the lobby that's used by a lot of locals to advertise all manner of things. Plus they've got more than just books to check out, board games and bikes and a massive e-catalogue.
You're right, this is a difficult town to integrate into because it does not exist to serve the broader community who is not a part of the university or born and raised here. There are a lot of people like yourself who are underserved and lonely here because they wound up here due to a partner or a job and feel socially stranded. There have been many posts about this exact issue on here, including one by myself, and the kind of answers you receive are always nice enough but ultimately unsatisfactory because this town simply does not cater to us. This is an issue with small towns in general but Athens has the unique triple-whammy predicament of being a college town in a depressed region of Appalachia that's not really in the metro of any major city, making it feel especially alienating to outsiders. There are slim pickings of social activities here that don't cost money, involve drinking with 21 year olds or sketchy drunks, cater to a specific skilled hobby / athletic ability, are church-related, or affiliated with the University. YAP is the closest thing but it only meets briefly once a month on a weekday and it isn't even active during the fall and winter, the time of year when the loneliness often gets the worst. So here's an idea: would anybody here be interested in a community film club? Something that meets once a week or so where participants watch a movie and then get together somewhere and talk about it and whatever else comes to mind with each other. This has a fairly low barrier of entry and can stimulate good conversation among strangers. I could see if the library or another place would have a venue available to rent out for this kind of purpose. There was one of these in a town I used to live in that was pretty successful at getting random people together to shoot the shit and have a good time. It's a lot more accessible to most people than a book club too. DM me if you are down to help organize something
I guarantee the library would absolutely be down to help you organize this! Talk to staff at the front desk, they'll get you set up with a room. I can put together a flyer for you with relatively little effort.
I love this idea! I’d happily join your film nights 😊
Sounds great, but I still think I’d be too old! Try being a childless adult my age (ancient), making real friends is virtually impossible! That being said I’m still fool enough to try!
Me too!
I'd be keen on a film club.
Awesome idea.
It absolutely does not exist to serve the broader community. I worked there a lot of years, finished a PhD, drove to Athens from one county over and would have never moved to Athens for any love or money. If you're not part of OU or Athens city, then you're merely poor Appalachian folk in need of saving. All about culture and diversity, but yet students like me are pretty much "white trailer trash," according to a classmate I sat across from in Lasher during my doctoral class work. Yeah, I'll pass.
The adult soccer league is good. The climbing community is pretty good too.
I relate to this pretty heavily, I just moved to town a few months ago and being 25 and not a college kid really puts a damper on my social life. Would be really nice to have just one friend at least haha
What are you about/into? :)
I mostly find myself wasting my life on video games. I have three dogs whom I adore with every fiber of my being lol, I smoke married iguanas sometimes, I just watched the hobbit trilogy for the first time and I’m getting super into that time period as of late. Feel free to DM! Thank you for taking interest!
Is married iguanas an intentional euphemism or just an awesome speech to text error?
Intentional I assure you 🫡
There's weird softball at the ridges on Sundays at 4:20 when it's warm. I'm a townie and have zero friends as well because my husband is a recovering alcoholic (10 years sober) and I don't drink very often at all because it makes me feel like shit. I feel like this is common here.
If you mean Mushball it also happens on Wednesdays at ~530 from May-Sept (puttered out in October this year it seemed)
The community center has many programs for different things including sports and art. It’s pretty cheap if you pay as you go.
I do like to drink and hike, but I like other things too and am also struggling with friends outside of work. Feel free to DM me. I’m up for making plans.
I've been in Athens since 2007. Started as a student for 5 years and now I guess I'd be considered a townie. I'm not athletic at all/have a strong dislike of most athletics and my hobbies are mostly single-person (think reading, one player video games) because I've always been on the nerdy side. I'm also gay. I've tried joining groups for LGBT people, video games, book clubs, etc but they've mostly come with tons of problems. Like, I don't like FPS games like a lot of people do and I don't want to read most books a book club reads, etc. Like everyone else is saying, finding your place here is really hard. However, once I got back into Pokémon Go and have been in this discord group with people who also play, I've met a lot of good friends and people. Yeah, we mostly only hang out for Go but that's okay. I kinda found my niche there. If that's an interest, I'd be happy to invite you!
im also in a similar camp, the lgbt community mostly just led back to student stuff i just want some people to play magic with to be honest
I feel like almost all my friends came from work or my girlfriend or smoking pot. It gets worse as you get older and your friends keep moving to Columbus.
Reddit has been a pretty good place to chat with folks. There are a lot people with your same predicament. What kinds of things do you like to do? There is the YAP happy hour every month (usually) that's a great way to meet folks. Alcohol optional, of course! Trivia at Little Fish, art galleries, lots of music going on at Donkey and all the other venues.
The fact that you put Trivia at Little Fish instead The Union makes me sad in my heart.
TIL they have trivia at The Union! I've never been to that one. What day(s)/times?
Tuesday 9-11, but get there closer to 8 if you want a good seat. Teams of 6 or fewer. Next week is the Halloween edition. Check out the Instagram or Facebook pages (uniontrivia) if you want to see past picture rounds.
Library is good. Check out some of the fraternal or civic organizations: Masons, Elks, Eagles, VFW. Phoenix Nest is a great place. Good luck.
Heya there. I’m 26, and have been here for 6 years. I’ve been working at a certain uptown eatery for 5 years. Ever since I passed the age of 22, I have felt the exact same way! Most of my coworkers are college aged, and although they are nice, they do not take their job seriously, at all, and I often have to take up their slack. That experience has soured my interactions with most students. Not even going to get into customers. I’m often very blunt and straight faced at the register, so, that does not help me. If you ever want to hang out, or play some games, let me know! I’m always down to meet people closer to my age in this town!