Meet Your New Neighbors

It won't be long before every parent in the Tehachapi Unified School District will know Stacey Larson-Everson. On April 9, the District Board of Trustees announced that they had chosen Stacey as the new TUSD Superintendent. It was then that Stacey and her husband Lance Larson began to plan their relocation from Fallbrook, Calif. in San Diego County where they had lived on their ranch for 14 years. It was in Fallbrook that they went through 4H with their four kids, cared for their six horses and raised chickens and pigs. It was a lifestyle they loved.

Stacey has worked in education for 31 years and said over the last several years, her work took her further and further away from their preferred lifestyle.

"I was so excited when I saw the ad," said Stacey. "Tehachapi has a similar type of lifestyle as Fallbrook."

In June they made the move to Tehachapi, just in time for her to start with the TUSD on July 1.

Stacey was born in Burbank, Calif. Her family eventually moved to Orange County where she went to El Toro High School. She began her college studies at UC Irvine. Her parents had a getaway in Las Vegas so she transferred to UNLV and got her degree in Spanish. To earn money while in college she worked for the casinos and at Ole's home building store in Las Vegas.

Stacey taught elementary school for 14 years at Vista Elementary School; kindergarten, first and fourth grades. After she earned a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from National University she was hired by the Orange County Board of Education, a job she held for two years. The commute was far enough that she took an apartment in Orange County and went home to Fallbrook on weekends. Then she was asked to go to the Bellflower Unified School District as Assistant Superintendent and after four years, she began to feel like she was spending most of her life on the 405 Freeway. Anyone who has ever spent an afternoon on the nightmare called the 405 Freeway can understand Stacey's excitement at the opportunity to move to Tehachapi.

Stacey and Lance have four children, two grandchildren and a Chihuahua named Zeus. They share a love of horses, nature, bird watching and hiking and are really excited to be in Tehachapi. Stacey wasted no time becoming part of our community, attending the Greater Tehachapi Economic Development Council with Interim Superintendent Paul Kaminski on the first Wednesday in June. She is a new member of Tehachapi Rotary Club and is a volunteer for "Cheers to Charity."

Welcome to Tehachapi, Stacey and Lance; we are delighted that you and TUSD found each other and you chose to move here.

When the Tehachapi Edward Jones Financial Advisor Ben Graham decided to retire, he and Edward Jones began a search for his replacement. In cases of retirement the company tries to match up their agents from within the company. As a result of the search, Chico, Calif. Edward Jones Financial Advisor Francisco Garcia and his wife Chantal travelled to Tehachapi in January 2019 to check it out. They stayed at an AirBNB, explored the area and stopped at the Visitor Center. They knew immediately that they wanted to make the move and arrived in Tehachapi in May.

Francisco said that he likes to get out, knock on doors and visit with clients; a practice common with Edward Jones agents. While he said he only had three or four clients in Paradise, Calif., all of that changed after the devastating fire in 2018 and he began to look at new possibilities.

Both Francisco and Chantal were raised in the area. Chantal and her sister were raised in Chico. Francisco and his three sisters were raised in Twain Harte, a little town in the Sierra Foothills. He attended Cal State Chico and graduated with a degree in Musical Theater. However, as his family was in the financial business, it was a natural progression for Francisco. Chantal graduated with a degree in child psychology, also from Cal State Chico.

Francisco said that he and Chantal actually met online and discovered that they only lived four hours apart. Both have a love of musical theater. They have been in plays together, among them "Beauty and the Beast" (Francisco played Gaston said Chantal) and Annie (Francisco played Rooster and Chantal played Grace). They were excited to learn that Tehachapi has such an active community theater group. Aside from theater, Francisco's hobbies are craft beer, biking, reading, camping and board games. Chantal's are crafting, music and psychology.

Welcome Chantal and Francisco. We hope to see you on stage in the not-too-distant future.

If you have moved to Tehachapi within the last six months, Hilltop Welcoming Service has a bag of information about the Greater Tehachapi area, its activities, events, government and facilities. There are always a few coupons and gifts as well. It is a great way to learn about your new community. Being part of this column is strictly optional. If you would like a visit from the Welcome Hostess contact our office at (661) 822-8188.