Payson Is My Home

Payson, Arizona is my home, to be more specific, and what a beautiful home it is! I was born in Arizona as were my five children and we wouldn't trade it for any other place in the world!

Payson is the most wonderful town to live in. It is fairly small with a population of approximately 15,000 people. Most of these people are friendly Christian people that love it here too. Payson has great schools for the kids, both public and private, with lots of sports and positive programs for the children to get involved in. Our Parks and Recreation Department has activities and sports for children and adults so it is easy to get involved and stay active. The College (E.A.C.) is also a great place to check out because they offer a variety of classes for young and not as young, and the staffs there are wonderful help for getting everyone in the classes that are right for them.

Another neat thing about living in a small town like Payson is the traditions that the people here preserve. We are home to the “Worlds Oldest Continuous Rodeo,” every August the town becomes Rodeo America as restaurants and businesses all over town dress up and endorse the big event. It is a lot of fun for the whole town. This August will be the 122nd Annual Payson Rodeo event. The Zane Grey Cabin was recently rebuilt at Green Valley Park and it is a great tourist attraction. The original Zane Grey Cabin stood out in the forest on the Rim for over 100 years but was burned down by the Dude Fire about 15 years ago. Lots of fundraising was done and in 2005, a replica of the Zane Grey Cabin was rebuilt at Green Valley Lakes in the center of town.

The greatest parts of living in Payson, Arizona are the majestic forests all around us. Within just a few miles, you can be in the most beautiful places on Earth. Some of my favorites include the Tonto Natural Bridge, it’s a great hike and you can stand under a waterfall, or Washington Park. If you've never been to a tropical rain forest this is the next best thing with lush green vegetation and a river that flows through from a natural spring. Let's not forget Fossil Creek or Horton Springs both which will never cease to amaze you, and Roosevelt lake is only 30-40 minutes away. Payson is the place to live if you love outdoors; it’s not too cold in the winter nor is it too hot in the summer. You can drive up the Rim at sunset, you’re bound to see some elk or deer, and almost every night we have the most amazing display of stars in the sky you'll ever see!

Payson, Arizona is the ideal hometown for anyone looking to get out of the city or off the farm. It's a great middle ground with a variety for almost any lifestyle. The people here are friendly and the climate is next to perfect. There are plenty of retirement or family communities, as well churches and group organizations. In a nutshell, Payson, Arizona has something for everyone!

Standing on the Corner of Winslow, Arizona

I feel that Winslow, Arizona is a wonderful place to live. The town is growing and there is already a college here, Northland Pioneer College. If you like the weather of mostly sunny days, but with a hint of windy breezes, this is the place for you. There are some friendly people here, which is good for making new friends. We do get some tiny dust tornados and earthquakes, but not enough to cause problems. No floods, and well the town is growing, so there will be some more businesses coming in.

We currently have a one-screen theatre here that shows movies one to two weeks old, but it beats going to other towns and watching them there, with the gas prices now. We have two grocery stores, which include Safeway and Bashas’. I work at Bashas’ so that place is good, and I like working there. I get to meet a lot of people there and they are friendly to me and others. There is a Wal-Mart and pretty soon there is going to a Super Wal-Mart. We have a Taco Bell with a Long John Silvers in the same building that is new, that opened in March 2006, as well as a Subway, McDonalds, Arby’s, Denny’s, Sonic, Dairy Queen, KFC, Flying J: Country Market, and other types of places to eat. Some other businesses include Checkers Auto Parts, Goodwill industries, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Movie Gallery, The Reminder, The Scoop, and others.

I go to Northland Pioneer College and the classes there help me prepare to go to a bigger university later in life. The price of going to Northland Pioneer College is affordable. That is why I go there; my tuition with books was around $1000! Another college down in the valley offer about the same classes for $4500 and I didn’t know if that was with the books included! I had around sixteen credits too, and a full student has twelve. I did a little bit more schooling, so it depends on the fees of the classes, payment plans, and books.

Northland Pioneer College also has an Internet access lab, where students can go on the Internet free, and you can print some materials for only five cents. This is one of the four campuses of Northland Pioneer College, so there are more classes here than the centers. The Professors and staff are very nice and I am even going to take some summer classes there for the affordable pricing Northland Pioneer College offers. Northland Pioneer College is right off the highway 66, which makes it easier to get to. Sonic, Dairy Queen, and Flying J are right near the college too. This makes it easier to go get gas or fast food.

Winslow is also heard about on that one song, “Standing on the Corner of Winslow, Arizona.” That is cool and there is a statue of the guy standing on the corner downtown near the Reminder and Winslow Theatre. Of course, if you like the water, Clear Creek is not far from Winslow. At Clear Creek you can go fishing, swimming, or boating. It’s also a great place to sunbathe and get a great tan. Plus, Winslow is right between Flagstaff and Holbrook if you need to get out of town. Holbrook has another Northland Pioneer College campus and Flagstaff has the Flagstaff Mall. Flagstaff is a mountain area with the San Francisco Peaks and it’s a bigger town.

For all these reasons, Winslow is great. I love it here because I grew up here. By the way, the properties are going up to, so it would be good to buy now. That is why new businesses are coming to Winslow. The railroad is nearby too, so if you need to go somewhere, you can hop on the train. Go ahead and come to Winslow, Arizona to live and grow. Don’t forget to go and stand on the corner of Winslow, Arizona too!

Strawberry Is My Home

There is a point in everyone’s life that his or her personality needs to be defined. Their character and its origin scream to be evaluated. Their childhood memories and experiences beckon to be recalled. As I start to brave my senior year in high school and began to prepare to venture out into the world, I need to reveal my true character and how it formed. How and where do you even start to identify you character and values? As a good starting point, I need to evaluate my childhood and where it was spent.

On September 23rd, 1988, I was born in Payson, Arizona. With a population of 13,620, Payson was a small community with all the amenities of a large city. Payson is about 20 miles to the south of Strawberry, Arizona where I was raised though. Nestled below the Mongolian Rim, Strawberry was an ideal place to grow up. The town itself only had a gas station and lodge in my time. Growing up in this rural community, my life was defined by the seasons and the lessons that each one brought.

As the snow melted and the blinding green plants emerged every year, I would start my spring with a family vacation to Rocky Pointe, Mexico. As a child, the six-hour car trip was torture but once I arrived on the sandy beach, I was in heaven. I learned how to live every moment to the fullest as I splashed, played, and baked under the warm sun. Returning from paradise to Strawberry was an easy thing to do though because I kept busy. From growing enormous vegetables for the county fair to hiking through the wooded terrain, spring was a time every year for enormous fun. Yet without avail, summer always snuck in and with it bringing new adventures.

From May until the end of August, I romped around the countryside of Strawberry with no track of time. From sun up to sun down, I spent my time constructing forts in the forest, practicing for the next rodeo, and flying down dirt paths on my bike. I was always looking for the next adventure and competition along with my best friend Kyja. I often learned the lesson of defeat in these competitions but savored the moment of glory when my turn came around. As night would fall, I would sit on my porch with my father. Every time, I felt insignificant under the glowing stars. Summer was always a time of adventure and learning. I learned always to see what was just around the next corner.

Just around the corner was the fall though. Shortly after Labor Day every year, my father and I pulled out the fly-fishing gear out of storage. We always saved fly-fishing for the fall. I never understood why my father held off from this favorite event. Those few weekends under the changing fall leaves seemed to freeze time itself though. On a deserted stretch of stream, a daughter and father would perfect the rhythmic cast. Along with some trout every outing, I caught patience and understanding for the world around me.

As Thanksgiving passes every year, a light snow fell, signifying winter. Winter meant snow days spent with Kyja and hot chocolate at the Strawberry Lodge every day after school. Only a couple days out of the season were spent inside, because as a child, there is no limit on cold when you had a sled. However, the snow was only short lived along with the entire year.

Each year, I passed through the cycle of seasons. Each year, I grew up a little more and learned a little more about this game we call life. Living in Strawberry, Arizona truly did shape who I am today.

Lakeside Is My Home

Arizona is my home, more importantly my hometown is Lakeside, Arizona. I love the area that I come from; personally, I feel that you can't beat the feeling that a rural community gives you. The ability that I had to just take off into the woods with my family or friends is something you can't find anywhere else. I grew up in a world were evening and weekend barbecue’s were normal; where taking off on horseback for the day or weekend isn't unheard of. My town facilitated having large families and get togethers with friends and family, this community isn’t an isolationist one but rather a place were you know that people love you. Growing up in rural America has helped to keep grounded in a life where I see things for what they are and what they can be. This is because of where I come from. Living here, you have the opportunity to really “see” the forest; the “seeing” that comes from living in the middle of the forest helps to remind me of how small I am in the grand scheme of things.

Most people wouldn't think of a small town as being a great place to grow but I would strongly have to disagree with that. In a large city, you are a soul among millions of others, very few people know you are around. When it comes to school you are one student among thousands, getting the help you need is much harder to find. In a rural community there a fewer students to teacher and therefore the teacher has an idea of what you really need help with, or how certain students will better learn math.

Many times, I have heard that kids my age are bored up here because there is nothing to do, but this is absolutely wrong. From my front door, I can walk onto national forest land. There are trails to hike and places to explore at nearly every corner, all that has to be done is to go out and look for something to do and one could entertain themselves for days on end. Some of my favorite areas of my hometown and surrounding areas are found by just taking off with friends and family to explore the world around me. Sometimes we like to see if we can find a new area or, other times we just hang out to kill time in one of the parks. There is so much open land that anything you can imagine can be. Being raised where this notion of exploration amidst the support of adults that truly know us enable me to look to the future with excitement, confidence and a childlike wonder for the grandeur of the world.

There is a different type of education in the mountains too, here we are taught to care for one another strongly and help a classmate when they are down. There lies a very strong feeling of community because everyone knows everyone, in a small town, you’re all neighbors. I would have to say that my favorite part of growing up in rural Arizona is that I don't have to listen to my neighbor’s radio or television. The best part is that I am allowed to escape, there are plenty of areas to find a quiet place, where I can think. This ability to reflect to think helps me to figure out who I am as a person and where I want to go in life. The thing I value most about my hometown is the ability to remove myself from the world in some quiet place to think, and the very strong sense of community that you find everywhere you go. Going to Friday night football games where the bleachers are packed by six thirty, people always seem to find room so everyone can have a seat. It’s that wave you get driving down the road from everyone, even if you don’t know who they are. Some of the most obvious ones I can think of though are when you see someone helping an elderly person in Wal-Mart. There is a large retirement community here in the summer, and that someone will help them unloaded their cart or reach an item on the top shelf. That is a moment when I see the most camaraderie, someone going out of his or her way to help another person. I have learned to expect this as well as deliver to others.

No matter where I move to be it New York City or in the middle of Wyoming, I will always feel that Lakeside, Arizona my home. This is where I was raised, this is where my memories are from, where I learned about living. That’s something you can't ever replace, this is my home and I love it. For its perfection’s like being able to escape or knowing that a helping hand will find you if you need one, plus all of its imperfections. The sometimes very crowded streets or the uneducated populace that is very evident here; that’s the character of this area and that’s what makes it special. This place has its own heartbeat making it easy to love and so hard to forget. The fact the even if it’s only a visit, others feel they're a part of this place; there is never the feeling of being an outsider. Such feelings show how tight knit this community is. I love it and it's special to me for the open spaces, community feeling, and the heartbeat that it takes on. Everything I learned was here; from riding a horse to dancing, to going to my first school dance, this community, this town made all of my growing up possible and memorable.

Holbrook Is My Home

Whether we like it or not, where we are from has everything to do with whom we are. It is from our distinct corners of the earth that we first experience the world and learn what it is like to be a part of it. It would be a lie to say that growing up in Holbrook, Arizona was a world of happiness, wealth, and success. In reality, Holbrook is a small town with limited opportunities and well-paying jobs to offer its citizens. Yet, deeper than that, Holbrook is lessons in life, hard work, values, and character that could only be achieved through the ups and downs of life in small-town Arizona. It was the author Aldous Huxley who said, “Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.” The experiences that Holbrook gave me and the lessons that I took from these experiences have molded me into the man that I am today. Because of the things that I learned from my 18 years in Holbrook, I know who I am, where I’m coming from, and where I want to go.

There is no better place to learn the value of hard work than a blue-collar town like Holbrook, AZ. Like clockwork, every weekday at 5:30 am, my father would be up getting ready for another day of hard work at Cholla Power Plant. That routine continues to this day. He has never complained or asked for any sort of sympathy. This is what being an adult is about. This is what being a man is about. You don’t whine about what you don’t want to do. You get things done. The whole community reflected this attitude. Nothing in this life is going to be given to you for free, especially coming from a middle-class family in Holbrook, AZ. There is only one path to your goals and the things that you desire, and that path is uphill. If you want something, you must be willing to work for it. The output of your endeavors will always be equal to the energy and work that you put into them. These are the attitudes I will take with me as I work through my last years of undergraduate education and begin to approach medical school.

Growing up in Holbrook, you learn early on, that life is not fair. It is a hard concept to grasp. However, the quicker that you come to this conclusion, the quicker that you can come to understand that, although life is not fair, life is what you make it. Our task is not to complain about our plight, but to make our situation better. The world is an obstacle to be conquered. Hardship and setbacks are the challenges that teach us who we are deep down. We emerge from hardship with a greater sense of ourselves and a greater knowledge of what we are truly made of.

Likewise, Holbrook taught me that the world would not be given to me on a silver platter. Life in Holbrook is not all peaches and cream. Most people live pretty much paycheck to paycheck. Most families are not rich or socially well connected. You work for the things that you have and know that you must work even harder to get the things you desire. However, that is the beauty of things. No matter where we come from, wealth or adverse circumstances, we are all given the opportunity to make the best for ourselves. Through hard work and persistence, we can get everything we want. Holbrook taught me that the difference between the man that makes it and that man that doesn’t make it is simply about who is willing to work harder and longer to get what they want. It is not about who deserves it. It is about who wants it more. It is this sense of empowerment that pushes me to be the one that works harder and longer than anyone does.

In Holbrook, unlike most of the world, a great deal of emphasis was not put on material things or outward appearances. Instead of judging people, you take the time to understand them. In life, we encounter many different people, each with a unique experience and perspective to offer the world. You must learn to value a person for what is on the inside. When I look at someone, I don’t see the clothes they wear or the car they drive, I see them. This has helped me in my life since Holbrook. I have had the opportunity to meet and interact with many different people. In these interactions, I have always taken the time to hear someone’s story. Through this, I have seen many different perspectives and learned to value each of them for what they are worth. Everyone has a reason why they are the way they are and, undoubtedly, all people are worthy of respect.

More than anything, my upbringing in Holbrook has given me a sense of perspective. Holbrook is a land of tough circumstances. Among my friends and even within my own family, I witnessed the perils of poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, and domestic violence. I can say proudly that I have found success despite adverse circumstances. Life is not always fair. Bad things can happen to good people, but you have no choice but to keep on going. I have experienced setbacks and hardships in my life. What matters is that I have overcome everything with a greater sense of toughness and resilience. The challenges and hard times have served to shape my character. I know who I am and where I come from. Because of this, I know where I am going. No matter what I face and what I must endure, my experiences have created the perspective that gives me the confidence to know that I will come out on top. No matter what the future may hold, I know that my goals will become a reality.

Although it may seem as if I had little positive to say about my hometown, I would not choose to be from anywhere else. Holbrook made me the man that I am today. Beyond the laughter and joyous memories that accompany most childhoods, my upbringing in Holbrook gave me a sense of reality that will always stick with me. I wouldn’t trade the upbringing that I had for riches or fame. The experiences that I had and the lessons that I learned are indispensable. More than molding and shaping my character, Holbrook gave me a toughness that will always be a part of me. No matter where I go or what I do in this lifetime, I will always be the same scrappy kid from Holbrook. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t be more proud.

Eagar Is My Home

Arizona is my home, Eagar, Arizona that is. Eagar is a beautiful little community in the northeast part of the state. John, William, and Joel Eagar, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints settled Eagar in 1879. Eagar is in the White Mountains. The White Mountains are covered with ponderosa pines and snow lies on the higher peaks for most of the year. There are herds of cattle and sheep on the lower slopes of the mountains. The Little Colorado River and its tributaries are used for irrigating crops and to beautify our lands. Eagar is near several lakes, beautiful mountains, a ski resort and a new golf course. There is excellent trout fishing in the streams and wild game, including elk, deer, antelope, and turkey which make the surrounding country a sportsman's paradise. People come from all over the nearby states to hunt, fish and to see the changing colors of the Aspen leaves in the fall.

Eagar is also home to the only high school dome. Football is played in the dome and it is used for school and community events. High school teams from all over Arizona and New Mexico use it in the summer to get away from the heat. We are very fortunate to have this facility because we have some harsh weather from October until March.

Eagar is special to me because it was where my mother, father and I were raised. It is a very small community of about 6,000 people. My mother's family, the Phelps, moved to Eagar in 1968 and they are prominent in the community. I was lucky enough to have a lot of family nearby while growing up. I love having lots of aunts, uncles and cousins nearby. I know that many care for me. We get together weekly to visit and monthly for a big dinner and activities. We all support each other. Some people think that is a bad thing for everyone to know each other. I love it and thought it was a great advantage because the people take care of one another. Now that I am in a big city, I feel like I don't know anyone. I am slowly but surely building new friendships but I can't wait to finish college and move back to the rural community of Eagar.

Eagar is unique because it is an old-fashioned little town. You feel safe at all times. You don't even have to lock your doors. People are always concerned about their neighbors. You don't hear about the many murders or drug arrests that occur in the big city. I am looking forward to someday returning to Eagar, Arizona and raising my own family.

Eagar, Arizona, is the only place for me, that is where I want to return. I want to go back to Eagar and live in a small town and teach is a small school. Eagar, Arizona is home to me.

Globe Arizona Is My Home

Arizona is my home. They say home is where the heart is and this is where my heart is. We have many things that make our town so unique. Things like our drive-in movie theatre, the antiques shops we have all around town, and that we are a small mining community. These things make us so unique.

Imagine a town where some of our buildings are older than anyone in the town. I call our town an antique town. We have so many things that are hundreds of years old but are so awesome to learn about. For example, the movie theatre we had was set up like something from the early 1900’s. Unfortunately it burned down. We have other places, such as some of the stores that were here when mining first began in Globe.

We have one of the only drive-in movie theatres in Arizona. The drive-in is where friends and family can go together and just have a ball. We can sit around and talk. Bring our own food and drinks, partially not to have to pay ten dollars for a bucket of popcorn. It is also a good place for married couples to be able to bring their kids and not worry about someone getting upset about their children moving around.

We are a small knit mining community. How many towns can you go to in America and you are friends or related to half the community? Well, in Globe you can! We know everything that goes on and because we are so close we can be there for others when they are in their time of need. If someone gets hurt we can be there for the rest of their family and help them when they can’t provide for themselves.