Meet Your New Neighbors

I first met Lauren Thompson at the Fall Business Showcase where she was representing Creative Connections, a non-profit that helps to find homes for developmentally disabled adults. She told me that she and her husband, Nathan, had just moved their family from Bakersfield to Tehachapi. On my subsequent visit with Lauren, I learned that they had been looking for a chance to raise their family in the clean mountain air so, when Lauren’s company decided to open an office in Tehachapi, they jumped at the chance to make the move. Lauren has worked with Creative Connections for ten years as a case coordinator and will be opening and running the Tehachapi office. In the meantime, the Thompsons are looking to find a permanent home here.

Originally from Oceanside, Lauren had been in Bakersfield since college when she attended Cal State Bakersfield on a water polo scholarship. After college she was a personal trainer for the developmentally disabled and was a part owner of that business. She eventually sold her shares in the business when the state cut funding for programs for the disabled. She has been with Creative Connections ever since. She has a brother and sister who are currently living in Texas and, after years of convincing, her parents finally moved to Bakersfield from Oceanside. Lauren is now trying to convince them that they need to move to Tehachapi.

Nathan was born in Missouri but has lived most of his life in Bakersfield. He is a contractor and still makes the daily commute to the valley. He and Lauren met at a wedding and now have two very active boys of their own. Three-year-old William and one-year-old Logan are what Lauren calls her ”Karma”. She says that they are like “little tops”; always moving. Needless to say, she is a busy lady.

Even though Nathan and Lauren have very little free time right now, they look forward to riding their Harley on weekends and joining their friends on poker runs. However, all that fun may have to wait a little while.

Tehachapi welcomes the Thompson family and we know we will be hearing more from Lauren in the near future.

Thomas Mills also had a booth at the Fall Business Showcase and is a new resident to Tehachapi this year. He is a financial advisor with Waddell & Reed, a nationwide asset management and financial planning firm. Although he was born at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, he has just recently bought a home and moved to Tehachapi from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Thomas grew up, went to school and was married in the Antelope Valley. After graduation he went to work as a dialysis technician and quickly discovered that he hated it. His uncle in Albuquerque was a financial advisor and offered to teach Thomas the business. He moved to Albuquerque at the age of 20, and found he had an aptitude for the business. His uncle eventually decided to move his business to Colorado Springs and asked Thomas to join, him but Thomas decided to stay in Albuquerque. He said that he moved from firm to firm for fifteen years until settling in with Waddell & Reed. After his wife passed away, his communications with Tehachapi area friends here in his return to California and to Tehachapi.

Thomas is a music enthusiast. He plays guitar and drums when he can find the time and has an impressive music setup in his garage.

Thomas told me that he is planning to open an office in Tehachapi in the near future. In the meantime, he is working out of his home office and adjusting to California life, again. Welcome Thomas.

Dorothy Anderson has just moved to Tehachapi from Clovis, California, where she had lived for many years. She came to Tehachapi to be near her son, Greg, and his wife, Cindy, who live here.

She was born in Monte Vista, Colorado where her father was a farmer and her mother a nurse. She still has a sister living in Denver. Now retired, Dorothy spent 32 years as a legal secretary. She has three sons, a daughter, five grandchildren, two great grandchildren and a “grand-dog” named Charlie. She loves to sing and play her keyboard and, according to Greg, she is quite accomplished. Once settled, she said that she will be looking for an outlet for her talents.

Dorothy is glad to be in Tehachapi, close to family and knows that she will adjust to mountain living. As luck would have it, she arrived on one of the few cold and rainy days we have had this fall. A huge “Tehachapi Welcome” to Dorothy.

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.