Carol Stanzak Sutkus
Special to The Citizen
I grew up in Auburn, and have been gone for 40 years with visits in between. Last summer, my Southern California-bred husband and I did something I never thought we would do â we moved back to the area.
Growing up in Auburn in the 1970s, I spent my summers having family picnics at Emerson Park, riding my bicycle down Owasco Road to spend the day swimming at the lake, and as a teenager, âsocializingâ during the evenings with other kids at âthe lake. Owasco Lake was clean and fun and a bright spot in a teenagerâs otherwise boring (insert eye roll) hometown. But that time period was also a time of declining economic activity in the Auburn area. Factories were reducing shifts and moving to sunnier locales. Sure, summers were grand, but I wanted out of the area. I went away to college and moved to many states as I pursued my career.