Community In Every Corner
- Katy Shero
- Jan 18
- 6 min read
Meet the Mount Gretna couple fostering connection across cottages and continents.
by Katy Shero
[Originally published in the Winter 2026 issue of Mount Gretna Magazine. View the full issue to see this story in its designed layout, complete with additional images and an extended interview about how Cory incorporates community into his works.]
Cory and Christy Wanamaker sit on their cottage porch, taking in the serene green leaves, warm sunlight, and crisp breeze that personify a late summer Mount Gretna afternoon. They laugh as they recall a memory of the time two others sat across from them on the porch, their good friends from Glasgow, Scotland. Another memory arises when the pair recall the time they spontaneously joined their taxi driver for an underground cooking feast in Fiji — a Fijian Lovo. There’s also the year they lived in Buenos Aires, got to watch Argentina win the FIFA World Cup, and celebrated with the locals for two days straight.
The Wanamakers say recalling such eclectic stories still feels unreal to them, but these memories are very much real. They have a lifetime of them, going as far back as high school.
“We first met when we went on an American Music Abroad tour, a music tour, all over Europe together,” says Christy, an Eastern Lebanon County High School alum. “We would have never thought that during our big adventure abroad then, several lifetimes later, we would be back in some of those places together.”
An education in world cultures
Cory, a Northern Lebanon High School alum, says the couple began dating six months later. The initial trip “was a precursor to what was coming.”
Both attended Millersville University to pursue careers in education. Cory focused on art, and Christy concentrated on music. After graduation, they began teaching at Manheim Central School District and building their life together in central Pennsylvania. However, the travel bug, or as Cory calls it, the “precursor,” didn’t fade away.
“We did the American Dream thing. We had the starter house in Lititz, and then had our son, and then we started thinking, ‘This is pretty cool, but what else can we do?’” Cory says. “And so Christy came home with this idea of a Fulbright Fellowship for International Education.”
“We applied for the Fulbright teacher exchange, where you exchange lives with a teacher, and ended up going to Cory’s placement,” Christy says, alluding to the town of Otley in Northern England. “We spent a year there in their house, and we exchanged cars, phones, families … It was amazing. It would have made a great reality TV show.”
After returning home, Cory and Christy continued to teach at Manheim Central while Cory devoted himself to creating art in his studio, Airy Hill Studio. But the idea of moving again resurfaced — the next adventure was Moscow, Russia.
The Wanamakers spent three years in Russia, immersing themselves in the culture and navigating the uncertain transition to full-time expat life.
“I think it was really hard at first because there were a lot of growing pains with it. … We took [language] lessons for a while and got to the point where we called it ‘Taxi Russian,’ where we could order things or get places. This was all before Google Translate,” Christy says. “It was a big culture shock, but overall, I would say it was just so amazing.”
One of the biggest culture shocks that Christy and Cory agree on was the philosophy on education in the international school their son attended, which they also taught at.
“Teaching there, like an art or music teacher, it was never questioned that this was a major subject. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, this is an extra subject.’ It was, ‘This is part of what a whole child should be,’” Christy says. “My son was learning to ice skate during his PE classes in third grade and sledding during recess.”
Moscow, as a whole, is a culturally rich city, according to Cory, and he says this aspect allowed him to take his growing art career to a new level while living there. He had the opportunity to open a studio in Moscow and received an invitation by the Russian Ministry of Culture to exhibit his work in one of the state museums alongside a Russian artist.
“We were like, ‘Yeah, we can’t go back after this opportunity to make connections through art, music and culturally, for the whole family. We have to keep going,’” Christy says.
This motivation led to several more moves, including Prague, Czech Republic; Shanghai, China; and their most recent trip before moving to Mount Gretna in 2025, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Nurturing a cross-cultural community
Despite several continental moves and many changes throughout the decades, one thing has remained constant for the Wanamakers: community.
“In Fiji, we ended up meeting a taxi driver who picked us up at the airport. He said he wanted to pick up a family that day because he had just lost his son the year before. We ended up connecting with him, and he invited us to his house to do what’s called Lovo,” a type of underground oven cooking, Cory says. “Lovo is when you dig into the ground, wrap food in banana leaves, and use palm leaves to tie the wrapping. We went out, and we shopped for all this food with him … and spent the day doing this.”
Christy adds, “After our dinner was over, we were like, ‘We have all this food. We had a Lovo,’ so the community came, all these people, and it was a beautiful exchange. We’ve just had so many exchanges like that.”
The Wanamakers now have friends from all over the world.
Creating a home in Gretna
Today, with more than 50 countries and four continents under their belts, Cory and Christy bring to Mount Gretna an encyclopedia of lessons they say can strengthen any community — whether you’re as far away as Shanghai or in your own backyard in Gretna.
“I think the biggest lesson is staying open. … Go out of your comfort zone to leave your space, even if it’s just for a week … and try not to live the life that you have in your comfort zone,” Christy says. “Embrace others and culture and learn from it. Bring some of that back with you to share. … When you see people walking down the street, and you think they look different or sound funny or something, there’s a great opportunity there to get to know them and exchange culture.”
Cory says that “taking risks” is also essential and can help you grow as an individual and a community member.
As far as what’s next, the Wanamakers plan to take a gap year, enjoy the “cool Gretna air,” and focus on creating art and being educators. Cory is currently doing commissions in the area and recently designed “The Guardian of the Arts,” a 12-foot bronze sculpture to honor Miriam “Mim” Enck and those who support the arts in Mount Gretna.
This year is meant to be a “breather” for the couple. “We have been enjoying the rare opportunity to be back in the States and reconnect with friends and family on a regular basis,” Cory says. “We are now beginning the search for our next adventure."
“One of the things that the Fulbright said to us was, ‘If someone invites you, you say yes because you can sleep when you’re dead,’” Cory says. “We’re trying to do this while we’re at home, but we’re like, ‘Well, we’re gonna die,’ so we’re going to do crazy stuff.”
As Cory and Christy strive to continue to build a life around community and art, Mount Gretna remains the most natural contender for their latest move.
“It provides an energy, whether I’m playing or singing on the porch, and the neighbors come and sing along … it’s like a magnet for that energy,” Christy says.
“I think it’s a haven. It’s a place not where you put your political views on show, but you sit on the porch and get to know each other,” Cory says.
“And we’re all equal on the porch,” Christy says.
Katy Shero is a freelance writer, professional journalist, and editor. As a Palmyra native, she has many fond memories of visiting Mount Gretna while growing up. She most recently worked as the editor-in-chief for Susquehanna Style magazine before moving to Durham, North Carolina, in May 2025.
