How can we improve El Dorado and Union County?
Winning Essay
Everyone always makes jokes about how there’s nothing in El Dorado (including myself), but in reality this town has a lot to offer. El Dorado has a wide variety of restaurants, both fastfood and dine-in. When I want to go pick up something to eat on my way home from practice, I have a lot of options within a reasonable price range from which to choose. When my friends and I want to go enjoy lunch together on the weekend, we have a variety of choices. El Dorado offers an array of activities for kids including parks, swimming pools, and organizations such as Campfire and Boy Scouts. Golf courses, small shopping centers, and PJ’s Coffee provide options for the adults. Despite all that El Dorado offers for children and adults, it lacks activities for teenagers and young adults.
El Dorado has a movie theater, bowling alley, and a hangout spot at the square which provides some entertainment for teenagers. However, if you ask most teens if they would rather spend a weekend here or in a larger city, they will choose the city. A larger city offers activities that today’s teenagers want including shopping, paintballing, playing in arcades, and going to concerts, amusement parks or water parks. Adding a few of these centers would allow teenagers to have fun at home rather than having to travel out of town. An investment in any of these activities for teenagers, while expensive in the short term, would keep more teens and parents in town on weekends, holidays, and summer vacations.
El Dorado already has a lot to offer for such a small town, but there is always room for improvement. While we may never have a huge mall, a Starbucks, a theme park or a major stadium, I will always love my little El Dorado.
One idea that I think would make El Dorado and Union County a better place to live would be more community service opportunities. There are a lot of hurting people in town and it surely brings a sense of unity and purpose when people come together in order to help those in need. As someone who has served in service projects such as Bounce Disaster Relief, I know that service not only impacts the people directly involved, but the people who are part of the project itself. Love is a strong affection that can bond people of any nation, race, gender, or background. Love through service can break issues of the past, show kindness to those who are hurting, and create opportunities for those who want to make a difference in other people’s lives. Caleb Wess West Side Christian School
Union County is honestly boring with not a lot to do. We need more attractions, such as a water park, laser tag, a rec center with a basketball gym, to name a few. For me, I would pay some good money to be able to get a membership to a basketball gym in El Dorado. I spend a lot of time trying to find places to play ball and I would love to be able to go play ball anytime I want. El Dorado is a basketball town; even the football players and baseball players play basketball.
As for a water park, after a good day at the gym, I would love to sit in the pool and just chill and hang out. Everyone would go. El Dorado has a large amount of people and most would love to have a water park. Even the surrounding towns would come to the water park since the towns are so close together. To conclude, Union County needs more attractions, particularly a rec center and a water park that can be used by all. Seth Graves West Side Christian School
I have a messy neighbor she’s like a hoarder. Every time I leave my house I can’t help but look at her trash. She has a lot of animals, and they are disruptive. I can’t even walk up the road without them barking all the time.
The community should do a better job of cleaning up our neighborhood. She’s becoming a problem for the neighbors to do anything, and she has too many pets. She has too much stuff like an old bus, and part of an old subway car.
Next, the only yard that looks like that is hes on the whole road, and her pets the dogs should be put on chains. Her house is the only trash hole on the road. I mean no one else’s house looks like hers on a daily bases.
Finally, we could all take time on a weekend, and help her clean up her yard. If we all pitch in and help her we could have her yard looking better. If we all pick up stuff, throw away trash, and dispose of all the things she doesn’t need her yard will be looking better in no time.
In Conclusion, imagine waking up every day going outside eand having to look at a yard that looks like a city dump. No single person, or their neighbors should have to live like this. Hannah Miller, West Side Christian School Edward Ford El Dorado High School
Have you even been riding in a car only to round a corner and almost take out a cyclists? Well I have.
El Dorado needs more safe places for people to ride their bikes safely. Bikers don’t have safe places to ride their bike where they do not have to worry about cars driving past them. Bikers should be able to enjoy their ride outside.
If you pay attention as you drive around town you will notice many people out riding for exercise and enjoyment, but you’ll also notice the only places they have to ride are the streets and highways. This isn’t always safe because of driving too fast. Many cities have bike lanes for cyclists and some even have special trails just for cyclist to ride.
The city needs to invest in the health and safety of it’s resident bike riders and create safe trails and roads where they can enjoy their sport. El Dorado needs to look into getting a bike trail for bikers.
Bikers shouldn’t have anything to worry about when riding their bike. They will not longer have to worry about cars and can now enjoy their ride with their family and friends with no cars. Isabel Connor El Dorado High School
I had heard about cars being stolen, but now that we had found someone’s fingerprints on my sister’s car, I knew something had to be done.
As my sister’s most prized possession, she keeps it pristine clean most of the time. When she found ginferprints all over the drive’s window, we were all worried. Due to the position of the prints, it looked like someone had been looking inside, as if looking for valuables that were worth taking. I used to believe that I was safe in my town, bat the time, I was doubting myself.
After speaking to my father about what she’d found, he told us that other cars in our neighborhood had been stolen. My heart literally dropped. If someone had been targeting our truck, what else would they do? Would they resort to breaking into a house? I lost the feeling of all safety I used to feel. I felt scared of my own neighborhood. How could I be so scared to live in a place I love so much?
However, I also felt inclided to see solutions to this problem. The best idea at the time was to park the car in the garage rather than outside while the criminal was still loose. This helped my worries, and he was soon caught. In order to save other from the same situation, there should be surveillance cameras at certain points in neighborhoods in order to protect the safety of El Dorado’s citizens.
Even though the criminal is off the streets, I still feel unsafe in my own city, and believe more surveillance could benefit all of us. Ashlyn Falcon El Dorado High School