Meet Your New Neighbors

When Jack Roth met Sylvia in 2008 he was living at Rosamond Air Park with a 1949 Navion which he had owned for 15 years. He had met women and dated but no one had “clicked” until, by chance, he was waiting in line at Walmart one day for a prescription. While talking to a woman in line, she finally said “You need to meet my aunt”. He agreed, called Sylvia and they met for bagels. They were both a bit apprehensive at first but enjoyed each other’s company. Jack even agreed to watch her dog for two weeks while she went on vacation. To make a long story short, they eventually married and lived in Rosamond until they decided that the natural surroundings and four seasons of Tehachapi was where they wanted to spend their retirement. In June they found their new home and moved.

Sylvia was a “Navy brat”. She was born in Hollywood and moved around a lot. She even spent about three years in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has four children in San Diego – three girls and a boy – and a grandchild in college. Her brother lives fairly close by in Norco. She is a crafter, loves to sew and still loves to travel (as does Jack).

Jack has retired after his 36-½ grueling years as a firefighter and he also has a long history with horses. He claims he won his first horse in a shuffleboard tournament and then had to work for hay. His father had been a brick layer, so Jack learned to be a “jack-of-all-trades”. He even learned to be a farrier. Although he no longer rides horses or flies airplanes, he loves to work on Jeeps and his new house.

Jack and Sylvia are not alone. They have two friendly pups, a Labrador Retriever named Katy and a Cavalier King Charles named Lucy. They all love their new neighborhood and their neighbors and we welcome the Roth family to Tehachapi.

The Embry Family found their new vacation home in September. Since then Jim, Sheila and their three children have been spending as much time here as they can. The motivating force was, according to Sheila, “wanting to be with our family in nature”.

The family spends most of their time near Sunland, in the San Fernando Valley, since both of them still work in the Los Angeles area. Jim is a teacher, working with youth-at-risk for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Sheila was the producer of “The Dog Whisperer” with Cesar Milan and is currently working on a documentary about a soldier with PTSD and his relationship with a horse.

Jim is originally from Half Moon Bay in northern California and played professional baseball for about five years, playing for the Giants, the Phillies and the Angels. His hobbies, of course, are sports and also acting. He has appeared in a number of films including “The Other Sister”, “Rocky II” and “Escape from New York”.

Sheila was brought up in the Los Angeles area and has lived in Culver City, West Los Angeles and Long Beach. She is a real horse woman. Although she said she likes to read, she also told me she has ridden horses her whole life. She has even worked as a camp wrangler and a guide for a pack station.

Seven year old Ben and five year old twins, James and Anabella are always busy. It is not a surprise that the boys love baseball but Anabella is into gymnastics. Ben also rides but it is Anabella who is showing a real interest in horses.

When the family visits the mountains, they usually bring their two horses with them. Spirit is a Rocky Mountain Pleasure Horse and Stormy is a Tennessee Walking Horse and they both seem very comfortable with their new surroundings. The household would not be complete without their two dogs: Ollie – a Havanese – and Goldie – a Labrador Retriever.

I know they will all spend many happy vacations here enjoying the beauty of the mountains. To the entire Embry household: “Welcome to Tehachapi!”

If you have moved to the Greater Tehachapi Area within the last six months and would like to know more about your new community, call 661-822-8188. We will be happy to make an appointment for a hostess to come by and give you lots of helpful information, some valuable coupons, gifts and much more. Many families and individuals who come to the area are pleasantly surprised with the amount of knowledge they gather about their new home. Publishing your welcome article is completely voluntary and is not a requirement of being welcomed.