Brain Drain is a big problem for our valley communities. Many of our best students go off to college and never return.
They find college sweethearts, high-paying jobs, more excitement, get married, and that is the last we see of them.
It is like a curse.
Here in the valley, we need the best and the brightest; however, all too often, they end up in a place where many go unnoticed.
Somehow, some way, we need to figure out how to get them to want to come back to the place where they were raised.
Many years ago, this newspaper man wanted to teach his children the newspaper business, in hopes one day they stay home and run the business.
It was not to be. Both children went far away. One moved to northern California and became a forester. The other joined the United States Navy and for a time was stationed in the Philippines.
This valley held little or no interest for them. As a result, being a grandparent to their kids was a long distance relationship. We had to fly to Rhode Island to see the birth of our grandson. Our granddaughters were born in Northern California while their father became a fireman with Cal Fire.
How much we have missed them because they did not live closer.
Our story is not a new one. Lots of families are split up because their children graduate from college and look for good paying jobs. Here, at home, these are few and far between.
In order to break this cycle, we need to provide a better living environment, better and higher paying jobs.
We can’t expect our children to return to a valley which has a regular diet of drive-by shootings.
They don’t want to deal with the homeless that lie in the corners and defecate in public places.
We need to provide reasonable housing in safe neighborhoods.
We need schools which teach the values which we were taught.
We need to break the cycle. Offer a better life than the big cities.
In order to do this, we need for them to come back and be a part of the community which gave them birth.
If you have a son or a daughter who graduated this year or will graduate next, try to talk about the value of finding a home in this valley.
Help us rebuild this valley like it once was, and can be again WITH THEIR HELP!