Magazine Tabs Smyrna as Ideal for Retirees
The small but fast-growing town of Smyrna garnered worldwide attention in September 2007 when U.S. News & World Report featured it as one of the best places in the nation to retire. But the story wasn’t a newsflash to thousands of retirees who already call Smyrna home. They’ve been living the good life here for years.
“There’s an awful lot to do here. Smyrna’s a bustling area that it wasn’t 20 or 30 years ago,” says Patsy Brown, who moved to Smyrna in 1960 with her husband, Bill. He was stationed at Sewart Air Force Base, which is now Smyrna Airport.
“We have a wonderful park system that’s second to none for a town this size, a YMCA, the Smyrna Town Centre fitness facility and all kinds of opportunities for exercise,” she says. “We love to go out to eat at local restaurants, and there are two theaters in Murfreesboro and one in Smyrna. And if you don’t mind driving 12 miles to Nashville, you can find even more things to do.”
Smyrna’s excellent park system was one of the assets that caught the eye of editors at U.S. News & World Report. The town is home to 10 parks, a public golf course, seven miles of greenways and a 3,000-square-foot outdoor splash park where children can play. A short drive from Smyrna is Percy Priest Lake, which offers plenty of fishing and boating opportunities. There is also an abundance of churches, top-notch health-care facilities close by and job opportunities for retirees who want to keep working. For history buffs, there is the famous Sam Davis Home, where Confederate Civil War hero Sam Davis lived. The 21-year-old was captured and hung by Union soldiers after refusing to give them information that might compromise the Confederate cause.
The Smyrna Senior Citizen Center is another jewel in the community, and retirees gather here for fellowship, classes and activities. Brown was one of the founders of the Senior Citizen Center in 1979 – long before she was a senior citizen herself.
“I was a member of the Smyrna United Methodist Church, and our minister said it was too bad there wasn’t a place in Smyrna for older people to go for fellowship other than their own churches. That turned a light bulb on for me,” Brown recalls. “I was president of a local women’s group, and we started the center with 10 members. Now there are over 500.”
A short drive from Smyrna, retirees can also find the scenic campus of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, as well as the Nashville International Airport and shopping opportunities galore. Smyrna’s newest and largest shopping development, Colonial Town Park, opened in 2008 on Sam Ridley Parkway and Interstate 24. It’s home to Super Target, Kohl’s, PetSmart, Staples, Dress Barn and a bevy of other retailers.
By all accounts, the little town of Smyrna is growing up.
“I remember when there wasn’t even a place to eat in Smyrna,” says Printiss Fulton Jr., a retired chief master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. Fulton moved to Smyrna in 1957 when he was stationed at Sewart Air Force Base. He chose to retire in the area he fell in love with.
“Of all my travels in the U.S. and abroad, this was my choice of places to live,” he says. “I love the people and the location. It’s close to anything you want to do, and I’ve met super people through church and the Boy Scouts. My three sons went to MTSU, and my granddaughter graduated from MTSU, too.”
Fulton and his wife, Betty, enjoy going to Murfreesboro to eat at Demos’ Restaurant, Fulton’s favorite restaurant. They also like to travel, but as the saying goes, there is no place like home.
“We just came back from a trip to Kansas and the mid-states, but it’s no comparison to Tennessee – and I’m a Mississippi boy, born and raised,” he says with a chuckle. “There’s nothing but wonderful people around here.”
