Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
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The Bakersfield National Cemetery will commemorate Memorial Day with a 9 a.m. ceremony on Saturday, May 28 at the Bakersfield National Cemetery. Veterans, their families, friends and the public are invited to attend. Guest speakers for the event include Congressman Kevin McCarthy and Congressman David Valadao. The event will also feature a fly over, wreath presentation, traditional military tributes and music provided by the Bakersfield High School Band. U.S. Air Force Lt Col Hans Buckwalter,...
An important election is coming up in June! The BVS Homeowner’s Association is having its annual vote for candidates for our board. Meet the candidates on Wednesday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Country Club. You will have an opportunity to ask questions about their goals. Your candidates this year are Peggy Bergman-Smith, Dain Hurst, Guy Munday and Jim Panek, who are re-running for three open seats. We also have two new candidates: Nick Beske and Joe Horswell. It’s important to get a quorum of eligible voters. If we don’t meet our quorum, the e...
The California Living Museum (CALM) will celebrate its 39th Birthday Bash on Saturday, May 21, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. A variety of nature-related and civic organizations will be on hand to provide party guests with information and give-a-ways. The Bakersfield Police Department K-9 team will be the main presentation of the day. The demonstration is always a crowd favorite. The train will be running from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and wristbands are only $2 per person with unlimited rides. How does a trout...
The Devil Pups Youth Program For America, which emphasizes “Growth Through Challenge,” is seeking interested candidates for the 2022 summer camp program to be held July 21-30 at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Founded in 1954, this program strives to develop in its participants qualities of good citizenship, confidence, personal discipline, teamwork and respect for others, their family and their country. Applications must be postmarked by June 11. Interested boys and girls, age...
WARNING: This article contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised. (Note: This is the continuation of our 31st article, from our April 2, 2022 issue, in a continuing series about local military veterans and their service to our great country. The articles may contain graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.) (Note: As a .50 caliber ball turret gunner in a B-17 "Flying Fortress" heavy bomber, Stanley had taken part in 11 hellish combat missions against such heavily defended...
The Bakersfield National Cemetery announces its Annual Memorial Day Weekend Ceremony on Saturday, May 28 at 9 a.m. at their location at 30338 East Bear Mountain Blvd, Arvin, CA 93203. The public is invited to this patriotic event as we pay tribute to those who have served our country with dignity and honor. Barry Zoeller, VP of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations at Tejon Ranch, will serve as our Master of Ceremonies. The ceremony will include a Garrison flag provided by the Kern County Fire Department, Color Guard by the Kern Count...
WARNING: This article contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised. (Note: This is the continuation of our 31st article, from our April 2, 2022 issue, in a continuing series about local military veterans and their service to our great country. Articles may contain graphic content and strong language. Reader discretion is advised. After a year of training in the Army Air Forces as an aerial gunner and radio operator, Stanley had shipped out to England in December 1943. He and his...
I remember attending a Navy League meeting in Bakersfield back in 2005 where I mentioned that my husband, Al, likes to watch a documentary video called, "Report from the Aleutians." The movie was directed and narrated by John Huston and it tells the story of the great battle fought at Dutch Harbor and on the islands of Adak and Kiska. The weather conditions in the volcanic Aleutians were more of an enemy to the Army and Navy, than the Japanese. There is a constant low pressure around the Aleutia...
(Note: This is the 31st article in a continuing series about local military veterans and their service to our great country. The articles may contain graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.) Stanley J. Novak passed away late last year at the age of 98. He lived an extraordinary life, and I'm honored to (much too briefly) tell the story of this heroic Tehachapian. Stanley was born on May 13, 1923, in the town of Natrona, Pennsylvania, situated along the Allegheny River not far from...
The community of American military veterans is not large. Only seven percent of all Americans have served in our military forces in all the history of our country. Every American owes everything they are and everything they have to these few because without them, there would be no America. Military service has many traditions including the two most basic: We take care of our own, and we leave no one behind. Operation Second Chance (OSC) is a national veteran’s organization that is committed to these two principles. OSC is a group of p...
"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." – Galatians 6:9 If you have a friend who is tough on the outside but soft on the inside, treasure them. Gene Dallachie is one of those folks you want to keep and treasure. A former Marine, he may be gruff around the edges but he is a teddy bear inside. Gene has a heart of gold and a willing spirit. He is always ready to be there for others. Strong and secure within himself, Gene shows up with genuine s...
Assemblyman Vince Fong, Jan. 10, announced his re-election campaign in the newly drawn 32nd Assembly District. Fong, a Republican, has represented the vast majority of the district since his election in 2016. "Our state faces tremendous challenges, which must be addressed with a sense of urgency," said Fong. "Building needed water storage, reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires, supporting our law enforcement, producing more energy, and providing permanent tax relief are critical...
(Note: This is the thirtieth article in a continuing series about local military veterans and their service to our great country.) In an unusual twist of sorts, David Patton ("Pat") Grier's fascinating story begins not in the United States, but in Canada, and with the Canadian Army in World War II. Many decades later, Pat and his family would settle in Tehachapi. Pat was born in the town of Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada, on Sept. 14, 1924. He came into the world with an illustrious lineage. His...
The Department of Veterans Affairs has named Bakersfield National Cemetery as an Organization of Excellence, a designation that is given to national cemeteries that meet strict department standards. On Dec. 14, 2021, Bakersfield National Cemetery was presented an award for receiving this designation. An independent team evaluated and compared the cemetery’s performance against National Cemetery Administration (NCA) standards, which are derived from customer satisfaction surveys, appearance of h...
On the evening of Dec. 18, the community of Tehachapi came together at Freedom Plaza on the corner of Tehachapi Blvd. and Curry St. after laying over 720 holiday wreaths on the tombstones of every veteran in Tehachapi's Eastside and Westside cemeteries for a brief yet moving ceremony. Tehachapi was only one of over 3,000 communities across the country to participate. The mission statement of Wreaths Across America is "Remember, Honor, Teach." Ideals that were embraced that day. Jason Stanley, Co...
On Saturday, January 15, 2022 (1 to 4 p.m.), local military historian Craig Luther, Ph.D. will be selling and signing his new book: "Our Soldiers' Stories: Kern County Goes To War - From the Beaches of Normandy to the Deserts of Iraq." The book (215 pages, both in hardback and softback, large 7" by 10" format) includes 25 stories of local Tehachapi and Kern County veterans over three generations of war, along with 85 photographs. All proceeds go to the Jason E. George VFW, Post 12114 in...
(Note: This is the twenty-ninth article in a continuing series about local military veterans and their service to our great country.) Born on July 10, 1941, Gilbert Louis Mitchell is the only U.S. serviceman from Tehachapi initially declared "Missing in Action" (MIA) during the Vietnam War. Gilbert enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve in 1964. Following flight training, he was eventually assigned to Attack Squadron 75, Carrier Air Wing 11, aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63), which,...
Roman Gregory Weltin, long time Tehachapi resident, passed away Sunday, December 12, 2021, after reaching the age of 80 years old. For years Roman fought various illnesses as he struggled to remain active in his family's lives. Roman died peacefully, while hospitalized from complications with COPD, with his beloved wife, Laura and daughter, Lynette by his side. Roman was born September 7, 1941, in Conneaut, Ohio to Paul and Betty Weltin. He grew up and attended school in Fremont, Ohio. He...
(Note: This is the twenty-eighth article in a continuing series about local military veterans and their service to our great country.) James was born in Bakersfield on March 30, 1994, but grew up in the unincorporated area of Hart Flat, where his parents owned a five-acre property. His father, David, teaches history at Tehachapi High School; his mother, Lara, taught English at the high school and other locations through 2020. As a youngster, James worked for neighbors cleaning horse stalls,...
On Dec. 8, the Bakersfield National Cemetery Support Committee unveiled the Avenue of the Flags, 44 new American flags and flagpoles lining the gently curving road leading to the Upper Assembly Area of the cemetery and also sweeping down away from it. It's a graceful circular drive, lined with stately and gorgeous ceremonial flags. Dick Taylor, president of the Support Committee, stood in front of five rather impressive military branch insignia pillars and addressed those gathered including...
(Note: This is the twenty-seventh article in a continuing series about local military veterans and their service to our great country.) Henry Leonard ("Len") Ochsner was born on February 3, 1923, in the township of Hellgate, Montana, at the western end of the Missoula Valley on the banks of the Clark Fork River. (As a historian, I cannot resist a fascinating historical note: "Members of the Bitterroot Salish [or Flathead] Native American tribe often traveled through the Missoula Valley on their...
Tehachapi resident, Christine Maag, is a true combat veteran, having served multiple tours in Iraq as a U.S. Army medic. She is a 17-time national gold medalist in the VA Creative Arts Competition, and has become one of the most recognized veteran participants in festival history. Normally, entries for the NVCAF are due in early spring and national award winners are notified in early July of their national placement and inclusion into the Veterans Arts Festival Show, which is held in a different host city each year. The NVCAF was cancelled in...
On Sunday, November 7, 2021, Jayne Ellen Whittaker-Scardello passed away after battling many years of chronic illness to be reunited with her loved ones in heaven. Jayne will be remembered for her no-nonsense way of looking at the world we live in as well as the people, organizations, and charities she so intensely supported throughout her life. Jayne will be remembered by her husband, Mike Scardello, three children (daughter, stepdaughter, and son), six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren...
A fun new opportunity awaits. The Bear Valley Community Service District has been updating Bear Valley’s street signs to make them more reflective and safe. They started at the gate, working their way westward and upward. The old signs will be up for auction. If you want a piece of Bear Valley Springs history, you will have an opportunity to bid on the signs from your community. The proceeds of the auction will go to the road fund to speed up the purchase of new signs. To bid, go to w...
At 11 a.m. on Nov. 11 members of the American Legion and Legion Riders raised the American flag in Philip Marx Central Park. The eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 was the day and time of the signing of the armistice ending World War I. It was renamed Veterans Day in 1954 and honors the veterans of all branches of the military. Veterans groups set up booths throughout the park, a model encampment was set up and a mini-boot camp was available for kids to try their skills. The veteran-run...
