Melissa Meador is accustomed to the change that comes with relocating. The U.S. military wife has moved 28 times over the last 12 years. But Meador wasn’t fully prepared for the change that came with her family’s most recent move to Tooele County.

“Anyone who has lived anywhere else and then moved here is in for a little bit of culture shock,” Meador said.

Meador moved to Overlake a year and a half ago before resettling in Stansbury Park a year later. Her family was previously in North Carolina, where they lived on a military base. With two of the three units stationed on the base deployed almost constantly, wives and children were continually reaching out to one another for support.

“There was a very large sense of inclusion and community there,” said Meador, 32, who felt the transient nature of the base created a sense of urgency in making new friends — an urgency that doesn’t exist in Tooele County.

“Everybody in Stansbury is a transplant so it was an easier transition,” Meador said. “Overlake is a newer area, but everyone that lives there is originally from Tooele. There was a sense of satisfaction. It’s a satisfaction with the friends that you have and your family. You’re satisfied and so it’s hard to step outside your comfort zone. You already have your support system and so you don’t look else where.”

Meador is just one of many of the valley’s residents who have found unique facets of life in the rural community that can be, at times, difficult to adapt to.

Justin Beck, a professional horse trainer who moved to Grantsville from San Luis Obispo County, Calif., with his wife six months ago, said understanding the LDS community has been challenging, but adapting to the rural atmosphere has not.

“The people are quite a bit more laid back here. Everyone in California is stressed out all the time and wound pretty tight,” Beck said. “The second thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes the Mormon people can be stereotyping and judgmental. In other places, everybody is what you are — and it’s acceptable.”

That negative aspect aside, Beck said he’s adapting well.

“I make my business in the horse industry. I came here to be a cowboy, so it’s been an easy transition from California,” he said. “When you walk around town looking like a cowboy with your spurs and your hat, you don’t catch as many looks here as you do in California. I drive a flat-bed pickup and I’ve got a couple of dogs. In California, I got looks from people. Here, I haven’t felt like an outsider at all.”

Tylee Searle moved to Tooele from Yakima, Wash., a town of similar size, three years ago. She’s primarily been surprised by differences in attitudes toward education and recreation.

“Our elementary in Yakima wasn’t considered the best school in the area, but we had a gifted-and-talented teacher, a PE teacher, a music teacher,” she said. “Here the teachers teach each subject themselves or the parents do it. It’s just not as effective. Also, there aren’t as many trails or places to work out in Tooele County, which means there aren’t as many ways to have a healthy lifestyle.”

Searle said despite the differences, she is adapting well, which in part stems from her involvement in the community.

“I definitely feel a part of the community,” Searle said. “I’ve been helping with the new charter school and the Junior Jazz program, and it helps that a majority of my friends are newcomers too.”

Catherine Seekins, formerly of Yorshire County, England, cited differences in education as the main thing she has noticed as well.

“In England, all the kids have to wear uniforms,” Seekins said, adding that even makeup use and shoe height was monitored by school officials. “School in general was a lot stricter.”

Additionally, Seekins said “please” and “thank you” seem to decorate the vocabulary of British children more than they do with local kids.

After 11 years in Grantsville, however, Seekins said she has fallen in love with the area and hopes to be there for some time.

“People here really involve new people a lot,” Seekins said. “When we first moved in, we were invited to dinner a lot.”

Many newcomers stressed the importance of building a network of friends as quickly as possible.

Angela Grant, broker/owner of RE/MAX Advanced in Grantsville, and current chair of the Grantsville Planning Commission, moved to Grantsville three and a half years ago after living in Tooele for two and a half years.

“I wasn’t excited to move out this way,” Grant said. “But now I can’t imagine living anywhere else. When we first moved here, both my husband and I were very amazed with how friendly people were. It was such a big change from Salt Lake. Everybody knew of everyone else. There is a really big sense of community.”

Grant said Grantsville has been extremely welcoming to her.

“We’ve been able to make new friends and learn a lot from the old-timers,” she said. “There is a lot of really rich culture in Grantsville. They’ve become almost an extended family.”

One of the most successful former transplants to Tooele County is Tooele developer Matthew Arbshay, who was born in Iran. He said newcomers must change to thrive in this culture.

“I don’t want the people to adapt to me, I want to do my share,” Arbshay said.

Arbshay came to the United States in 1982, and 10 years later moved to Tooele when California’s economy started to decline.

“This was a place that nobody had their foot in the door,” Arbshay said. “For a newcomer, it was as easy place to start. The people are gentler and kinder.”

Meador said differences can easily be overlooked when outsiders take a proactive approach to understanding, and enjoying, new surroundings.

“I make conversation and try to be friendly. I try to listen and understand what the differences are,” Meador said. “I’m trying to understand the mentality so I can be included, but not be a part of the exclusive mentality. I’m trying to understand it so I can better interact with it.”

Jamie Belnap: jamieb@tooeletranscript.com