Borrego Springs Resort Golf Course Closes Golfers, Wildlife Loses... What About Our Community?
Last updated 10/30/2019 at 2:27pm
Community, community, community – that’s what we hear about when folks speak lovingly about our village of Borrego Springs. Fred Jee said it Saturday night at the Miss Borrego Pageant. Miss Borrego, Dennise Cecena, expressed this sentiment as well during her final speech about her year long reign as Miss Borrego and Honorary Mayor Andy Macuga alludes to this rich community whenever he addresses the public.
What makes us a community? Is it the small town parade that heads down Palm Canyon Drive every Borrego Days or is it the Friday night football games at our small yet mighty high school? Or perhaps it’s the Thursday night soccer games on the high school field where dozens of young adults come together to enjoy an evening of competition and camaraderie, with lighting a gift from the school district? Or maybe it’s the rich cultural experience going on in the Community Garden at the Borrego Art Institute where folks from diverse ethnic, linguistic and economic backgrounds come together and growing food and flowers, all with a common language of soil, water and the joy of growth! Perhaps it’s the outpouring of community support and interest in our Dia de Los Muertos altar displays in the Mall bringing together two cultures to remember with affection the lives of our deceased loved ones.
However, community is defined, one cannot but be alarmed to realize that at every closure of a golf course, a restaurant, a hotel or nursery/farm land, there are local folks who lose their jobs, possibly move away, and with every move, they take away a bit of what constitutes our “community”.
Looking at the recent closure of the Borrego Springs Resort Golf Course, preliminary reports reveal that 15 men lost their jobs. It appears that five have been employed by other golf courses, one has moved out of town, two are unemployed and the rest are unaccounted for at the moment. The total number of children by these men sits at eight. The unknowns are frightening and could be a harbinger of things to come.
While we applaud and revel in what makes Borrego Springs such a special place, let’s not overlook what’s happening and what could possibly be the long range consequences.
Families make up the majority of the year round Borrego Springs’ community, and families need working parents. Parents with no jobs move to other places, and with them they take a piece of our community. While we ponder the fate of the golfers and the wildlife with the closure of the BSR’s Golf Course, might we also take a moment to ponder the fate of our community?
