Vegan Meetup

When we first moved to this town (or moved back in my case since it is my home town), I was all about finding a veg*n community. In the DC area, it was easy. There was a great Veg Society and lots of veg*n friends, animal rights activities, animal sanctuaries, etc. When we moved to the Midwest, I knew it wouldn't be DC, but I had hopes...high hopes. We were new parents and I was determined to find the quiet veg*ns lurking in our town so our child would not grow up feeling like the lone vegan.

So, I started potlucks. They were fun, but surprisingly enough most of the people who showed up to our house were single guys. Not negative at all and they could cook which is always an added bonus for potlucks. Somehow things dwindled and died out. We made some lasting friendships from the potlucks, but it didn't become what I was hoping it would be. We live in a transient college town so at times we've had quite a few veg*n friends and at other times not so much. Lately, I've been craving a veg community again and so has Rob (which is slightly unusual since, although he's been vegan much longer than I have, he's not a big joiner or starter). Anyway, Rob found a notice somewhere about a new local vegan meetup group. They have monthly potlucks.Last night was our first potluck we were able to attend and we also hosted at our house. It was so nice to get to know the people in the group, eat great vegan food, and connect again with like-minded vegans. I just started to cook when a couple people arrived an hour and half early (an issue with multiple emails with different times). I was a little worried we were wrong about the starting time and I would have nothing to offer at a potluck we were hosting, but all turned out fine. I didn't take any pictures, but I made Car Crash Casserole and Peanut Noodle Salad.
We are the only people in the group so far with kids (many of them seem to be zero pop people and I totally respect that and understand that thinking...we were dead set again having more than one child ourselves for many years...things changed for us), but it is pretty diverse from the age angle. The kids had a great time and Parker spent quite a bit of time talking with someone who we found out was a friend of a friend of my mother's...small town. Dema and Josie fell asleep pretty early in the night and Parker (who is a night owl) also ended up falling asleep before the night was over. I look forward to more potlucks and getting to know everyone better. If anyone locally is interested in veganism or just enjoy good vegan food, feel free to click the link above and join the meetup group.