Meet your new neighbors

I first met Sarah and Randy Frantz at Tehachapi’s 4th of July Hot Dog Festival when they told me that they were buying a home here. They finally were able to make the move from Long Beach in August.

For the last 12 years, Randy has worked for the Los Angeles County Fire Department in Palmdale and had commuted to work from Long Beach. Since Randy’s parents live in Bear Valley Springs, Tehachapi seemed like an ideal move with a much shorter commute.

Randy and Sarah were both raised in Huntington Beach and are real beach people. Sarah is a swimmer and, amazingly, they managed to find one of the few homes in Tehachapi that has a swimming pool. She is an only child and is now a stay-at-home foster mom. Some of her other favorite things are reading, music and the company of seven year old Penny, the family’s lovable mutt.

Randy is a surfer. He started surfing at the tender age of four. Sarah said that he really does miss being close to the beach. Randy is also into cycling and likes dirt biking as well as street cycling. Since Tehachapi is the perfect place for cycling, it could also be the perfect place for Randy. If his schedule allows, he may sign up for next year’s Gran Fondo.

Randy is not the only firefighter in the family. His father is retired from LA County Fire and his brother is a fireman in San Francisco. His mother currently works here in Tehachapi at the prison.

Sarah told me that over the years she has worked many restaurant jobs ranging from waitress to bartender. She was working in a restaurant in Seal Beach when she met Randy. She said that she felt an immediate attraction between them but figured that it was a fleeting moment until he left her a note in the check. They had their first date the next day.

Both Randy and Sarah love to travel and camp. Two of their favorite camping places are Carpenteria and Jalama (near Lompoc). Both are still an easy run from Tehachapi.

Welcome to Tehachapi, Sarah and Randy. Enjoy your new mountain home.

Len Nguyen came to Tehachapi from Hartford, Connecticut, last spring. It was through a Facebook group that he met his friend Payton Palmer of Tehachapi. Eventually he decided that California was where he wanted to live so he packed up and drove across the country. He said that he made the trip in three days and that once he got here, he just said “hello” and went to bed.

Len was born in Viet Nam and his family moved to the United States and Connecticut when he was four years old. He has an older brother, a sister, and two little brothers. He came down with an ear infection from the cold winters on the east coast that left him hard of hearing.

Len is the first to admit that he loves learning. He first attended college in Wethersfield, Connecticut, and then went on to Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, for four years to get his degree in art and imaging. After RIT he went on to study marketing at Central Connecticut State University. Len said that he is still not finished. He has plans to study management at CSUB in Bakersfield. He has totally financed his college education as a stock exchange day trader. According to Payton, he is a computer “wiz” who loves to build and repair computers as a hobby. Since his arrival in California, he has built a website for a furniture store in Bakersfield.

Len said that in his free time, he loves to watch movies, play games and study the global markets. He has also done work with Habitat for Humanity.

I was left with the feeling that we have not heard the last from Len Nguyen.

We are delighted that you have come to Tehachapi. Welcome, Len!

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.