What started a quarter of a century ago as a way for stay-at-home mothers to connect in the Old Orchard neighborhood of West Toledo has grown into a torch bearer for community enrichment.
Seventy families strong — the group’s peak number that has grown by 28 in the past six months — the Old Orchard Moms’ Group is as much about playdates for toddlers and connections for working parents as it is about neighborhood pride.
Heather Meyer, 46, and Mo Sheahan, 31, have just completed their six-month tenure as co-presidents of OOMG, as it is affectionately known by its dues-paying members. From the very start, sense of community was their focus for the families in the neighborhood, which is contained between Secor and Douglas roads and Central Avenue and Bancroft Street.
“When we first met and we were planning out our first month and trying to decide what our goals were, we were thinking along the same lines, about the community,” Ms. Sheahan said. “That’s really what it is. It’s not just making sure our moms are entertained, although that’s part of it, it’s really giving them the opportunity to connect with one another so that you know somebody else.
“We really try to make it so you know your neighbors. It is that pride in our neighborhood.”
“Me, being a Toledo girl, and Mo, having just as much pride as I do, so we really focused on — playdates are great — how do we build a sense of community for not just the moms? How do we make this more inclusive than just playdates?” Ms. Meyer said.
Ms. Meyer, a native of Toledo, noted how hard that can be for working families. Plus, the architectural style of the homes which were built in the late 1920s, ‘30s, and early ‘40s doesn’t help when it comes to getting to know your neighbors.
“Everyone plays in their backyard,” said Ms. Meyer, mother of Ella, 5. “It’s not the front-porch community. These homes weren’t built that way, like they are in the Old West End.”
City-based or church-organized mothers’ groups are pretty common, but having a neighborhood-centric group was key when the Sheahans moved to Toledo from Denver two years ago.
“We have good friends who live in the neighborhood; [husband] Brady’s best friend growing up,” said Ms. Sheahan, mother of 2½-year-old Oliver. “When we came back to visit for holidays, we would occasionally stay with them for a night or two. So, we really got a good feel for the neighborhood from that.
“We kind of dabbled in Sylvania a little bit [and] Perrysburg, but we just loved the feel of Old Orchard, the architecture, and how’s it’s kind of surrounded by the university and Ottawa Hills. It just feels like it has more defined borders because of that.”
Of course, there are playdates and mom-to-mom sales. But there are also Friday night summer get-togethers, T-shirt fund-raisers, neighborhood photo shoots, a new moms’ support group, and an end-of-summer outdoor family movie night.
Plus, there are a handful of bigger events that require complex planning by the co-presidents and other group members: a progressive dinner with different courses of the meal served at different houses, a viewing party for the University of Toledo homecoming parade, the annual neighborhood garage sale, a holiday party for the parents, as well as the Halloween party.
This year’s Halloween party took place at the Darlington House nursing home, which borders the Old Orchard neighborhood.
“My husband [Larry] said, ‘Our kids should be able to enjoy our Halloween party in our neighborhood,’ ” Ms. Meyer said. “We could always go to Wildwood and rent a pavilion, and we’ve done that and it’s been fun. But it’s not as easy as loading up the kids in the wagon, or strolling over with the stroller, or getting on your bikes.”
“That’s what makes the Halloween party cool — it’s in our neighborhood,” Ms. Sheahan said. “We could have had it someplace else, but it’s so much better to have it in our neighborhood.”
The Halloween party also served as a symbolic passing of the torch as new co-presidents Jennifer Kopp and Addie Nelson will lead the group for the next six months.
There isn’t a strict rule about living in the Old Orchard neighborhood but it helps, Ms. Sheahan said. There are some members who live north of Central Avenue, a few in Ottawa Hills, and other families who have moved away from the neighborhood but have remained in the group.
The annual dues for OOMG are $30. As part of the membership, access is given to the group’s Facebook page which keeps track of all the goings on and is yet another way for Old Orchard families to be connected.
“When I first moved here, I didn’t think I was a moms’ group person,” said Ms. Sheahan, who works in corporate communications. “I wasn’t really all that interested. I was a new mom — we moved here when [Oliver] was 6 months old — so it was a lot of transition going on that I was still getting used to and we’re brand new to this city. If you’re a new mom or a mom to older kids too, it can be so isolating, I think, especially if you don’t know anybody around you. So, finding a moms’ group was a godsend, honestly. It made me feel so much more connected.”
The co-presidents emphasize the use of term “families” rather than “moms” because what defines a modern family isn’t necessarily the same as it was 25 years ago.
“The moms’ group that started out 25 years ago was a much different animal,” said Ms. Meyer, who works in human resources. “It may have been more stay-at-home-moms and how do we connect and how do we entertain our children. Now, fast forward to 2014,” and the group has four stay-at-home fathers.
Ms Sheahan said they were able to put the dads in touch with other dads because otherwise they might not have known they weren’t alone.
The diversity and education levels of the neighborhood have changed quite a bit, too, Ms. Meyer said.
“There now are Asian, African-American, and other transracial and adopted families in the neighborhood. And that was really big for me,” she said.
The moms know there will be a day when the kids don’t need the moms’ group anymore, but the friendships and connections the parents make will carry on.
“Your children get to be a certain age and their activities far outweigh what goes on in the neighborhood,” Ms. Meyer said. “You’ve got an 8 or 10-year-old and their schedule of extra-curricular things have really taken over. And so it does have a life in terms of involvement, but things like the [summer gatherings] and the couple’s events. The parents will still continue to come to those.
“Their kids may have outgrown some of the stuff because they’ve got soccer and Boy Scouts and things, but because of the wonderful connections that were made when the kids were younger, [the parents are] still sticking around, which is really great.”
Contact Bob Cunningham at bcunningham@theblade.com or 419-724-6506 or follow him on Twitter @1012rbc.
First Published November 2, 2014, 4:00 a.m.
