Faces behind the BeeKay mural

Ever wonder if the faces on area murals are actually those of real Tehachapi residents?

This week I divert from my normal column, taken from my mother Marion Deaver's files, to highlight one of those faces.

I met with a much taller Tanner Garrett, son of Greg and Chrissie Garrett, who had his profile added to the BeeKay Theatre mural, which depicts present and past residents of this wonderful mountain city of Tehachapi.

The mural was nearing completion when Tanner, a graduate of Tehachapi High School, thought it would be cool to have himself – and his family – memorialized on the wall of the theater, which faces Centennial Plaza adjacent to Green Street.

He spoke to his father about the idea and his father told him he would have to speak to Charles White of the Heritage League.

White agreed and set him up with the artist.

"She took a bunch of photos of me and my dog Flake, who has now passed, and then added me to the mural, in period clothing. But the real kicker here is – Tanner paid the $500 fee to be added to the mural all by himself.

He told me he saved money on a regular basis and thought the mural funds would go to a great cause – the Heritage League.

Since then, Tanner has grown several inches and is a student at Northern Arizona University, where he will be a junior next year. His major is Political Science, and he is almost 20 years old.

His dream is to become a firefighter, and he hopes to begin as an Emergency Medical Technician and then move on to become a firefighter, somewhere in Southern California.

He played basketball for the Tehachapi High School Warriors and also enjoys riding dirt bikes in Eastern Kern County.

He continues to seek summer employment to help supplement his income in the winter at school.

Something tells me that whatever Tanner seeks will be a success – looking to his past accomplishments thus far!