To the Editor:
I grew up like most other 73-year-olds, with my parents, 4 brothers and a dog, in Rochester, New York. Our city was busy with downtown shopping stores lined up and down Main St.
Just a few miles in either direction of the city were acres of sunflowers, cornfields, cattle farms, hay bales lined in the fields of farmers. This was 40 and 50 years ago.
Now, those fields are gone. Those areas are lined with towering businesses, 5-floor townhomes, gas stations on every corner, and huge warehouses.
My point is: Yes, Virginia, time doesn’t stop, and the economy grows, businesses expand, population increases – that’s life.
Why is it that every day, people write about how Ocala “isn’t the same anymore?”
No, it’s not, but your fond memories will not change.
If you’re missing farms and open fields of green, drive west. Take a day, and go out to Crystal River, go to Yankee Town, go to Cedar Key. It is all beautiful countryside, cattle farms, towering trees and your frets about change will relax. Ocala will always be horse country, just not in the middle of the city.
Progress doesn’t stand still, nor does our aging.
Ocala will always be beautiful with its Historic District, tiny bungalows of past, trains rolling through, and church bells ringing.
Remember, your grandchild didn’t know Old Ocala, but they know you.
You will be the one with the pictures and stories of old. Gifts of books about Old Ocala are wonderful and you can say you grew up on a farm just west of Rt 75.
Yes, I grew up in a city that isn’t the same as it was 50 years ago, but wouldn’t that be the same for all of us 73-year-olds?
Be happy you are experiencing growth and prosperity. Ocala will be ready for your grands to be in big business, without having to leave Florida. They can raise their families in a place where there is Historic Ocala and then the Ocala of today with much to offer all ages.
Mary Jo Smith
Dunnellon