Meet Your New Neighbors

When Marcus came to Tehachapi as a student at Airstreams Renewables, he had no idea that Tehachapi would become his family’s home but in April of this year Marcus and Ayrissa Canty and their five children found themselves on a new adventure.

Marcus was born in Savannah, Georgia. His dad was in the military and at one time was a guard at the national monuments in Washington D.C.. Marcus told me his sister got her Bachelor’s Degree from Harvard and is now working on her Master’s Degree. “She got the brains and I got the looks”, he laughs. He added that he grew up loving golf and it is still his passion. Marcus received a scholarship to West Point. After two years there, he transferred to Georgia Tech in Atlanta where he studied construction management. It was later when he was attending the University of South Carolina Beaufort that he learned to throw the javelin and was good enough to try out for the 2006 U.S. Olympic team. He said that he once dealt poker in Las Vegas and spent some time in Argentina but the war in the Middle East prompted him to join the Marines. He served for five years and four months and became an air traffic controller. His final assignment was at Beaufort Naval Air Station in South Carolina.

After his release from the Marines, he became a civilian contractor and was sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as an air traffic controller. It wasn’t long before he decided it was time for a career change. Renewable energy attracted him and he came to Tehachapi to learn about wind and solar. Airstreams felt that Marcus would make a great instructor so, after graduation, they invited him to come back and teach. Currently he is teaching climbing safety, electrical safety and CPR and is looking forward to his next golf game.

Ayrissa was born in Halifax, Virginia. Her dad is a retired marine. She said that growing up she lived all over and even spent some time at Camp Pendleton. She was home schooled and started college at the age of 14 at the Technical School of the Low Country in Beaufort, South Carolina.

Although she has amassed 120 credit hours, she has yet to receive her degree. She loves to sing and says that singing Italian opera calms her. She also once performed in the musical “Cabaret”.

She was working as assistant manager of the golf pro shop at Parris Island golf course near Beaufort when she met Marcus. She said that he gave her his business card when he rented clubs. When he came back, he asked why she hadn’t called him. Her reply, “You gave me a business card!”

As if Armon (8), Darian (4), Sally (3) and Tracy (2) don’t keep them busy enough, they have recently added two young pups to their household.

We extend a warm Tehachapi welcome to the entire Canty household.

Lydia and John Loehr moved to Tehachapi in July from Benton, Kansas, a small town just outside Wichita. The move to California was the result of John’s new position as an engineer with The Spaceship Company in Mojave. Lydia said that she researched the area for a month before they moved. It was the principal at the school in Mojave that gave her the lead on Tehachapi and she is now very thankful. They love the natural setting of the mountains.

John was born and grew up in Garden City, Kansas. He is the youngest of five children with four older sisters. Although raised on a farm milking cows, he was fascinated with Star Trek, Star Wars and anything space related. It was while studying engineering at Wichita State University that he met Lydia.

Lydia was born in London but moved all over. She didn’t move to the United States until she was 18. Her mother met her step father in Spain where he was playing piano in a nightclub. He was from Kansas so when he came home, so did they. She said that she had decided that she never wanted to marry or have children but when she met John all that changed.

Abi is now 15 and attending Tehachapi High School; John, Aiden and Kurt are homeschooled and, the morning I visited, were very busy making scrambled eggs for themselves and Max and Emily, the youngest of the six. All are adapting pretty well to their new surroundings.

Lydia told me that she was so excited to find a German bakery in Tehachapi. She said that she spent some time in Austria as a child and German was actually her first language. She said that Kohnen’s Bakery has the best bread she has tasted in 20 years.

We are delighted to welcome the very busy Loehr household 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.