Marvin Defined

Monday, February 23, 2015

Change

I was sitting and thinking yesterday, and it dawned on me that I have been in Yuma now for 40 years. I came in on a Trailway's bus with my grandmother from Indiana at 4 am on or about January 31, 1975. The first stop was Gary's restaurant on 4th Ave and 24th St. It is called Bubba's now. I was in the fourth grade and was 10 years old.

In the ensuing years I went to elementary school, junior high school, high school and college right here in Yuma. most of my childhood friends and acquaintances are here. My first love, first real girl friend, my first job, and for the longest time my family was here. I learned many valuable lessons here that have gone with me my whole life.

Over the years I have seen quite a few changes. I have seen the Old Town Mall come and not go and struggle to remain relevant and thus in business. I have seen the Southgate mall come and go. I have seen the community grow from 32,000 to 100,000. I have seen two highs schools turn into five. I have seen the desert bloom into farmland, and the farmland turned into housing, and strip malls. I have seen the television stations rise from one to three, and the radio stations go from three and one college station to five not including the same college station. In short what I have seen in Yuma in the last 40 years is progress.

We have progressed from a sleepy farm community on the Arizona/California/Mexico border to a major growing and shipping point for winter vegetables, for the entire country and parts of the world. We are no longer a fuel stop between San Diego and Phoenix. We have become a destination, whether it be agriculture, the Marine Corps, winter visitors, or recreational enthusiasts. We have evolved therefore we have progressed.

Progress is inevitable. I do not like change generally, and change in Yuma specifically. When our children are young everything is fine, then they grow up. When that happens progress happens, and you don't really like it. You know it is for the good, yours and theirs. Same with Yuma, We may not like the changing Yuma, but as with our children it is for the good. Change or no change, what has not changed is the feel. No matter how much Yuma changes it still feels more like home than any other place I have ever lived. In the 40 years that I have been here Yuma has changed, but the people have not. That is what makes Yuma livable. We have progressed to a destination, but where do we go from here as a community? That is the new question.

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