Meet Your New Neighbors

John and Annika Rehard had quite a welcome to their home in Bear Valley Springs. A few days after moving in, they were told to evacuate due to a brush fire. Although it was for only a matter of hours, it was still very unsettling. The Rehards had been trying to move to this area for over two years making offers on four properties before finding their beautiful rambling home on a hill.

They had lived on a ranch in Agua Dulce, near Santa Clarita, for 30 years. Of their two horses, ten llamas and three Australian Shepherds, only the horses and dogs were included in the move. The llamas found a new home. When John retired from his job at National Technical Systems three years ago, the couple decided it was time to move. He had been part of the aerospace industry for 44 years.

Annika was born in Sweden. At the age of eight, she and her mother, a nurse, immigrated to the United States and settled in Michigan. Annika said that her mother always claimed that Michigan was colder than Sweden. She added that they came to the United States under the quota system, a law that was enacted by Congress as the Immigration Act of 1924. The law limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States through a national origins quota and was not abolished until 1965. For many years Annika said she worked as the marketing representative for a large medical group and said it was her job to wine and dine all her clients, a job many would call a “dream job”. She owned a condo in the San Fernando Valley which she traded for her ranch in Agua Dulce when she decided that she wanted to have horses. Annika has two sons froma prior marriage who now live in Texas. Her hobby is books. She currently has a collection of about 15,000 of them and one requirement for her home was that there is room for them all.

John was raised in Paramount and South Gate, near Los Angeles. He has a daughter and three sons who live from Wisconsin to California. Now that he is retired he can concentrate on his other passions, his seven cars and fishing. The Rehard’s front yard displays two horse-drawn wagons and John’s red Chevrolet SSR.

Welcome to Tehachapi, John and Annika.

When I asked Jessica Oliver what brought her and her husband Steven to Tehachapi, she said “new scenery”. However, it is a bit more complicated than that. It was actually Steven’s work with Northrup that brought them from New York to California. They had settled in Lancaster for a short period of time but were not happy there. After camping in Tehachapi a few times, they decided to move here.

Steven was born and raised in upstate New York, in a little town called Medina. His family had 400 acres of farmland and according to Jessica, Steven’s father was well known in the area. He was the middle child between two sisters and grew up spending much of his time hunting and fishing. His sisters are now living in Florida and Arizona. After college, Steven enlisted in the Air Force and in 2012 was stationed at Edwards Air Force Base. It was while he was at Edwards that he met Jessica.

Jessica was raised in Lancaster and still has family there. She was working as a parts buyer for Wesco Aircraft in Valencia and commuting from Antelope Acres when she met Steven. They married and Steven went to work for Northrup when he left the military. Now they are in Tehachapi with their son, Kaden, and new daughter, two month old Amelia. Amelia slept through our entire visit perfectly happy to be rocked in her mother’s arms.

Bear, Moose and Otter are the other three members of the household. Bear and Moose are seven years old Australian Shepherds and are brothers. Otter is a miniature Aussie and is only two. Jessica told me that Steven is a really good photographer and posts many of his photos on Instagram. She added that the dogs have their own page.

The Olivers still love doing anything that is outdoors and look forward to raising their family in Tehachapi. Welcome to Jessica, Steven, and family.

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.