Meet Your New Neighbors

Jeanne and Michael Bryant are glad to be back in California. They moved to Tehachapi in August from Piedmont, South Carolina, where Michael built planes for Lockheed. Between Palmdale and Greenville, South Carolina, he spent 36 years with the company. When he retired, it was time to go home. There were a number of reasons for choosing Tehachapi. They love the mountains and the trains as well as having four seasons, but the primary reason was that Tehachapi is between Lancaster and Monterey -between their two families.

Jeanne was born in Bakersfield and has three brothers only one of which still lives in California. Michael was born in Lancaster and has two brothers and two sisters. With the exception of one, they all still live there as does his mother. Michael and Jeanne met and fell in love at Quartz Hill High School. However, Michael went to Viet Nam and they lost track of each other. After the war, Michael married, went to work for Lockheed and had two sons who are now grown and live in South Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Jeanne married and had four children. In 1978 she moved from Lancaster to Monterey, California. Her three sons are still living there and help care for mother who is suffering from dementia. She also has nine grandchildren living there. Needless to say, she spends a lot of time in Monterey.

Anyway, twenty-six years after they parted and once again alone, Michael and Jeanne found each other again online. They rekindled their love, were married and Jeanne moved to South Carolina. A true love story!

Even though they go to Monterey every week, the Bryants try to find time for their other interests like gardening and traveling to historic sites. Michael is also a writer. In fact, he has written a series called “The Outlaw Badge” and a book about a convair airplane called “The Jeanne Blue”. Jeanne told me that he is also a real Beatle fan and has collected every one of their albums. His office is filled with Beatle memorabilia. Jeanne is a crafter. She likes to sew and scrapbook and will make anything “holiday’.

This retired couple doesn’t let any grass grow under their feet and we are delighted to have them in Tehachapi. “Welcome”.

We also want to welcome Mark and Rosa Amendola to Tehachapi. They moved to Tehachapi in June from Bellflower, California, in order to manage an orchard for “Aunt Anita”, a member of Rosa’s family who is a pharmacist for the Sheriff’s Department in Los Angeles and purchased the property on Highway 202 for her retirement. When she asked them to help, they jumped at the chance.

Mark now works as lead carpenter for DreamMaker Bath and Kitchens in Bakersfield and when he is not there, he is working on the house in Tehachapi. He has also had careers as a commercial painter and a hair dresser. He told me he received his cosmetology license at the age of sixteen making him the youngest ever licensed in the state of California. Rosa spent 34 years as a registered nurse before retiring two years ago. For the last seven months, she and Mark have been raising her six year old grandson, Anthony.

Mark’s father was in the military so it should be no surprise that he was born in Palermo, Italy. He is the youngest of ten children. His family moved back to the United States when he was six years old and settled on Long Island, New York. They moved on to California in 1969. Mark’s passions are organic gardening and landscaping so he is in his element when tending Aunt Anita’s orchard which had not been well tended in many years. Little by little it began to produce delicious apples and peaches, enough that they were able to sell some from a stand in front of their home. Next year they expect to have a really great harvest.

Rosa was born in Houston, Texas, and has one brother and one sister. Her father’s work brought the family to California when Rosa was five years old. She has two sons by a prior marriage and a granddaughter who lives in Wisconsin in addition to grandson, Anthony. Rosa loves to cook and bake. She even entered the pie baking contest at this year’s Apple Festival. She enjoys hiking and can be seen walking their eight year old Husky/Chow mix, Olivia, in the neighborhood.

“Welcome to Tehachapi”, Mark, Rosa and Anthony. We will all be watching for word of your harvest next summer.