Lewis Brown humbles himself about his contributions as president of the Tehachapi Senior Center since 2014.
“I saw a need,” he said. “I said this is the place for me.”
Member Mary Ellen Ross is among many who appreciate Brown’s efforts. She nominated him for Citizen of the Year and earlier this month President Jeanette Pauer of the Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce announced that Brown was selected for the award that is co-sponsored by the chamber and Tehachapi News.
“When he was first elected, there was a noticeable difference in the atmosphere (of the senior center),” Ross said in her nomination letter. “There was a spark, there was new vitality. Some new pictures were on the wall, the library was enlarged by bookcases (he built). New activities were initiated such as line dancing and card-playing, wood carving and table games, along with the usual exercise class and yoga class available to all members.”
Although activities came to a halt when COVID-19 brought a lockdown in March 2020, the center continued providing senior citizen meals for pick up, Ross said.
“The seniors appeared daily to pick up lunch and talk for a moment or two outside the building,” she noted. “It was a difficult time but Mr. Brown never lost sight of his goal, to provide a safe and happy place for the seniors of Tehachapi.”
When the building was able to reopen, she said, the old vitality began building again, thanks to Brown’s persistence and dedication.
Tehachapi Senior Center
The Tehachapi Senior Center is located at 500 E.F St., in a residential area east of downtown.
“If you think this is a place for people in wheelchairs to sit around all day, think again,” Brown said. “We are active seniors here.”
Around 350 people are on the membership roster, he said, but only about 300 regularly use the center.
In addition to providing access to lunches for seniors 60 and over, in cooperation with the California Department of Aging, the center provides space for a range of activities and is typically open weekdays from 10 am to 2 pm
Brown first became acquainted with the center when he attended caregiving classes before his wife died in 2012. He had noticed people playing pinochle there and soon joined in that activity.
Then, he said, he began observing some things in the center that could use improvement. His hobby is woodworking and he began building furniture, shelving and cabinets.
As Ross noted, the center began looking better and by 2014 Brown became president — a job he still holds.
“But I don’t do everything,” he said. “We have a great board of directors and we all work together.”
Other activities
Brown is also active with the Tehachapi Community Church and Tehachapi Community Theater. He serves as box office manager and handles rentals of the BeeKay Theatre. Previously he was active in the property owners association in Stallion Springs.
Brown purchased property in Stallion Springs in 1971 when he came up for a rodeo there. He retired from Knudsen Creamery in the San Fernando Valley in 2004 after 27 years and moved to Stallion Springs with his wife in 2009.
While their children were growing up, the family spent Christmases in Stallion Springs, he said, renting one of the bungalows and often enjoying a white Christmas.
He has two children — a son and daughter — plus five grandsons and two great-grandchildren, a girl and a boy. His children will be present at the awards banquet.
About the awards
In addition to the Citizen of the Year award, the chamber and Tehachapi News will honor Hydrochrome, winner of the Small Business of the Year award, and Waste Management, winner of the Large Business of the Year award. More information about each of the business winners will be published in upcoming editions of Tehachapi News.
The honorees will be celebrated at the May 21 event, at which the chamber will install its 2022 board and officers.
Claudia Elliott is a freelance journalist and former editor of the Tehachapi News. She lives in Tehachapi and can be reached by email: [email protected].
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