How to Find Community in Puyallup and Sumner

Courtesy of the Ingbretsons

Husband and wife Clint and Ila Ingbretson traded the wilderness for the limelight. Both were born in Alaska, grew up in Oregon ­– where they first met in high school – and moved to Las Vegas after college to be entertainers.

When the pandemic halted live performances, the couple switched gears. They found an opportunity with Hawthorn, a company that operates senior living communities, and after training around the country, they landed in Puyallup, Washington, where they run Julian Estates Gracious Retirement Living, an independent living community for people over 55.

“We had never even heard of Puyallup before we moved here, but we have been here for about 15 months and have just fallen in love with it,” Clint says. “There isn’t a better place to live – the people are truly kind.”

Livability chatted with the Ingbretsons on how they found community in Puyallup and Sumner.

What did you do to get connected to your new city?
First, we went out every weekend and explored the area to get the lay of the land, but part of our job is doing community visits to tell people about Julian Estates, so we went to the Puyallup Sumner Chamber of Commerce.

We just fell in love with what they’re doing there. They really know what they’re doing. We immediately got connected with the Blue Scarf Society, a group of professional women, and through other folks at the chamber, we started performing again, too. It just sort of expanded from there. We met new people. We love that people here are so connected, which you just don’t find in bigger cities like Seattle and Los Angeles.

What are some community events you love to attend?
There’s always something going on in the downtown area, especially during the summer. They have a beautiful farmers market; we’re surrounded by farms here. We have the Washington State Fair, which has a lot of vendors and activities. They have a lot of breweries here, and they do a Brewallup Craft Beer Festival that has beer and live music.

How do you recommend newcomers meet new people and plant roots?
What’s worked for us is that we started just going downtown. We love the old structures and the nostalgia. Our first stop in any new town is the chamber. They gave us great recommendations on things to do in the area and businesses to visit.

We also rely on word of mouth, which happens a lot here. People are so kind, so they’re happy to give you suggestions. We also have used the internet to find things like parks for our daughter to play at or to discover nearby national parks or other local resources.