Neighbor helps neighbors for fun
Volunteering and bridge is what Deb Sorensen does for enjoyment. Sixteen years ago in Minnesota, a magazine article led the Sorensens to Bella Vista, and a frozen septic system that winter convinced them to stay.
“I love meeting new people,” Sorensen said, which is probably why she’s been running the quarterly Meet and Greet for the past three years. Last weekend was the first online Meet and Greet because of the coronavirus. Usually, they get together in the Vista Room at the Country Club and the meeting adjourns in time for participants to get lunch at BV’s Bar & Grill. But with more than 60 people signed up, it’s too big a crowd for an in-person meeting.
“They’re coming from all over,” Sorensen said, a few days before the meeting. Bella Vista has always attracted new residents from the Midwest, but now there are also people moving from California, Washington, Texas and the east coast, including North Carolina and Maryland, as well as Florida and Tennessee.
Both POA General Manager Tom Judson and Bella Vista Mayor Peter Christie attend the Meet and Greets to let newcomers know what Bella Vista has to offer.
Sorensen is also the vice-chairman of the Joint Committee on Recreation and spent several years as its secretary.
For the last two years, she’s been working with the
Bella Vista Foundation on the APT Golf Tournament. She works on the silent auction which takes place during the Pro-Am party. This year, they didn’t know if they would be able to have the party until a few weeks before and yet they raised more money for the charities than they had the year before. It took a lot of hard work, especially by the Foundation Board, to put everything together.
She served on the board of Live On Stage.
“It was wonderful,” she said about that organization, “but it went by the wayside like so many things.”
She and her husband, Stu, were active with a group that picked up litter along Highway 71 and Deb volunteers at the Animal Shelter.
“A lot (of) people like playing bridge, but they don’t want to organize it,” Sorensen said. She took on the job of organizing for the group she plays with at Papa Mike’s. “I enjoy doing it,” she said.
A diagnosis of breast cancer motivated her to retire early and enjoy life. Although she was born in Nebraska, she spent 35 years in Minnesota with a career as an employee benefits consultant. She was a broker and helped companies find a program that would fit their needs. After she retired, she organized a “Race for the Cure” that is still an annual event in her former hometown.
“I’ve always been very active,” she said, “We decided to shoot for an early retirement and enjoy ourselves. Our enjoyment is volunteering.”
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