Out & About with Carter...
Lots of activities go on in our City of Bridges. Yet many places in the Valley are quite unknown and unexplored to the average citizen. So, let us take a minute to go out and about, with Carter.
Wake up Valley City. Your favorite teen is back and have I got a doozie for you. Pizza Corner. A pizza heaven for our city and the tristate area. A staple of Valley City history. With the best pizza ever, this restaurant has brought flavor and favors to our great town. Now a long time ago there was a whole factory in the Valley for this pizza place. And my grandmother Aggie Hass worked there. She worked for years at that factory until its closing. Grandma loved Pizza Corner and its closing stunned Valley City at the time. However, Pizza Dave is still bringing happiness through simple food even after the factory’s closure. So why do I mention this? Two reasons.
First. Resilience. Even after the closing of a factory that brought jobs to this town and put us on the map after the railroads turned to I-94 his business remained. I mean picture this. Your town is thriving and growing but its major employer, its economic dependent, shuts down. You would think we are doomed. But it is quite the contrary. His business still lives on today and Valley City thrives. Heck John Deere is our factory employer, the churches are our family’s cornerstone, our small business brings the city to life, and our retirement community is the city’s largest customers “metaphorically speaking.” Valley City is not dead! It is the 21st century and we are just getting started. Gen Z in this town was raised by farmers, economic experts, educated civilians, and diligent Christians. We are not done. The future of this town is bright. Alive and well we stand, ready and willing we fight. God bless our town and its citizens.
Second, the impact. This is a bit lighter of a point. My friend Connor Erickson “West Fargo High School Student” came to our home speech meet this weekend. Every speech meet he goes out and gets pizza. He will walk miles and spend excessive amounts of money, all for the enjoyment of pizza. Connor is a pizza genius. You want good pizza in ND, you go to Connor. But this weekend he said something quite extraordinary to me. “The only reason I come to The Valley City Speech meet is Pizza Corner.” He says he has been to so many pizza places and pizza corner is the best! A FARGO STUDENT GOES TO VALLEY CITY JUST FOR PIZZA??!!! I could not believe it. Yet it only proves my point further. Pizza Corner brings us together. It has an enormous impact on our town. We need places like Pizza Corner and thank God, we have it. Now granted this is just one kid, but still, he came for the pizza and put our town on the map for him and that is a blessing.
Valley city’s reputation can lie in the smallest of things and our comeback story is rooted in the same. So try to remember the good ole days and don’t give up hope on this grand highway town. We are more than just a passing by. We are Hi-Liners, we are families, we are Christians, we are diverse, we are fighters, we are pizza lovers. We are Valley City! Have comments, questions, or concerns. Email me at carterryanhass@gmail.com
Carter Hass is a Valley City High School student who will be sharing his writing-about the City of Bridges, with the Valley City Times-Record readers.