First Tehachapi Beautiful plaques awarded

On Oct. 4, the City of Tehachapi presented its first two Tehachapi Beautiful Awards. City Manager Greg Garrett, accompanied by City Council members Susan Wiggins and Christina Scrivner, presented Socorro and Carl Schmidt, 211 W. Valley Blvd., with their award and personally placed the sign for all to see.

Socorro was born in Tehachapi and she and Carl bought the home in 1954. A block of cement from their original driveway remains etched with the date Sept. 17, 1954.

"I took care of it for decades and used to do it all myself," said Socorro who at one time worked at the Lehigh Cement Plant.

Socorro was a regular attendee at City Council meetings for years but said it is now too difficult for her to get there. She was a driving force for placing curbs and gutters on Valley Blvd. west of Curry, although, according to Carl, "We lost our parking."

The second award was made to Andy and Nancy Cortez who live on the corner of N. Green St. and J St. The home has been in Andy's family for over 100 years. Both he and Nancy's families came from Tehachapi. Nancy said they moved to the south side of the tracks after the 1952 earthquake but moved back in 1992.

Nancy said the front of the house represents Mexico with a hacienda style patio, the side yard represents Hawaii, including native plants that Nancy brings into the house during the winter, and the backyard represents Louisiana with a touch of the French Quarter.

Andy and Nancy like to decorate seasonally and last holiday season were the Holiday Lights award winner for their City Council district.

Stay tuned for more on Andy and Nancy Cortez in a future issue of The Loop newspaper.

The Tehachapi community can nominate a property, within the city limits, for its beauty by sending an email to [email protected].