Remembering Western Colorado’s Amazing ‘Yesterdays’ [LISTEN]
After a couple of really rough weeks in Grand Junction, this tune might just be what we need. Take a listen to Western Colorado's Clyde Jorgensen as he performs his tune, "Yesterdays."
Western Colorado has endured a lot these last few days. Let us remember, though, this community has held together through tough times before.
I was born here and remember all too well what life was like in the valley when the bottom fell out in the early 1980s. You couldn't give away a house in Grand Junction... nobody could afford the property tax. Some economic experts predicted this town wouldn't be around much longer.
I remember seeing over 50 people standing in line at a convenience store at the east end of North Avenue. People from all walks of life, college educated, blue collar, young and old, all hoping to land the one minimum-wage job position the store had available.
Along the way, we've had to endure the worst of the worst. If you were living in GJ back in the mid-70s, you no doubt recall when a real piece of work by the name of Ted Bundy came rolling through town. A few years later the valley was shattered again following a visit from Christopher Wilder.
Through the good and the bad, this is the best community on the planet. When I left for a few years to go on the road with a country band, I found myself really missing Western Colorado. As a matter of fact, I couldn't get back fast enough.
This song, "Yesterdays," written and recorded by Clyde Jorgensen from Grand Junction's famous "Ralph N' Clyde," sums it up. Grand Junction peeps stand by one another through thick and thin.