{"id":2410,"date":"2019-09-14T00:43:17","date_gmt":"2019-09-13T21:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/?p=2410"},"modified":"2019-09-16T20:57:30","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T17:57:30","slug":"dearborn-loyal-69-year-resident-talks-past-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/dearborn-loyal-69-year-resident-talks-past-present\/","title":{"rendered":"Dearborn Loyal: 69-Year Resident Talks Past & Present"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rasheed Alnozili<\/strong>
\nYAN- Dearborn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tony Auvia is an 87 year old man who has been living in East Dearborn for the last 67 years. A Korean War veteran, he moved to Dearborn when he was 20 years old, in 1952, because one of his war buddies lived here. He worked at the steel mill for 32 years and is now retired. He has a wife and his two daughters also live in Michigan. Tony came to Dearborn for friendship and he found a community \u2013 a community that\u2019s changed a lot over the years. We sat down with Tony and talked to him about Dearborn, then and today, and what this man on the street thinks about the big changes in East Dearborn.<\/p>\n

YAN: What\u2019s the biggest difference between when you moved to Dearborn and now?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDifferent people. It used to be Italian, Polish and Irish, and now it\u2019s mostly Arabic, and a few Italians. At one time East Dearborn was the place to live, now West Dearborn is the place to live. I\u2019m just telling you \u2013 most of the people I know moved to West Dearborn or Canton, you know? But we\u2019ve still got the best doughnuts.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

YAN: What would you like to see more of in East Dearborn?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d just like to see \u2013 you know, I\u2019m not saying nothing, but \u2013 people taking care of their property, their weeds. It gets pretty bad now, you know? Back in them days that kind of problem was less of an issue with Mayor Hubbard. They\u2019ve got lots of nice palaces and homes, but the grass dies \u2013 and you gotta take care of your grass, you know? And I\u2019ve told the city hall, and they say, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll go check,\u201d but \u2013 you know how it is.\u201d
\nTony shrugged.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

YAN: You live right near the Mosque. When the mosque went up, what changed? What\u2019s different now?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt improved it, the look and everything. When a house goes for sale, now, people buy it! Kids go to Fordson, we\u2019ve got good schools, we\u2019re close to everything. People ask me if I wanted to come down for lunch [at the mosque] and during Ramadan [for iftar]. They\u2019re good.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

YAN: Did your property values go up?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, way up. I\u2019ve got people everyday asking if I want to sell, and I say, \u201cHey, I ain\u2019t going nowhere. When I die, maybe, but not before that.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

YAN: Do you think the Arab American community has done anything for Dearborn?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, yeah! They\u2019re the ones who built it back up! Who brought it out of the recession.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

YAN: What about the market? What\u2019s the best market?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe go to Meijer. We go to Greenland. I used to go to La Shish in the old days, too. They\u2019ve got good stuff \u2013 good quality, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

YAN: Public Safety. Have you ever had an issue?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe safety issue is nice, but a lot of people don\u2019t watch their kids, and that\u2019s why they\u2019ve had those accidents. People aren\u2019t watching their kids. I\u2019ve lived in the city for 47 or 67 years. I\u2019ve seen some bad incidents. About 3 or 4 years ago someone broke into my home, and stole my wife\u2019s jewelry, but that\u2019s the only time something like that\u2019s happened. But it ain\u2019t all like that, you know?<\/p>\n

Across the street from me is this young guy, Arabic guy, he\u2019s Yemeni, and he\u2019s got 3 kids. Every time he comes home from work, before he goes in the house, he walks across the street and checks on me and my wife. The day that I got robbed, a lot of the Arabic people wanted to give us money, and even asked if they could give my wife jewelry. I was surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

YAN: Do you think if you have a chance to leave, would you like to leave, or do you want to stay?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNah, I\u2019m not going nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

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