Kern City at 50: Residents celebrate their senior community
| Thursday, Oct 06 2011 07:20 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Oct 06 2011 07:20 PM
Kern City's Golden Jubilee events
Saturday, Oct. 8
* Pancake Breakfast, 7 to 9 a.m. at the Town Hall, 1003 Pebble Beach Drive
* Parade, 10 a.m. at Sundale Avenue and Pebble Beach Drive
* Exhibits from local groups including the Bakersfield Police SWAT Team, Bakersfield Police dogs, Hall Ambulance Service, Kustom Kar Club and Tanglewood Farm Miniature Horses, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot and grassy areas
* Barbecue Lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the patio
* Various musical, dance and theatrical performances, 1 to 3 p.m. at the Town Hall and on the patio
* Silent Auction, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Town Hall's Del Webb Room
Food and beverages are available for purchase.
Images
From left, Donna McKenna, Phyllis Adams, and Patti Imes are ready for the "Golden Jubilee" 50th anniversary of Kern City, one of the first communities designed for seniors.
A full-page ad from the Friday, Oct. 6, 1961 issue of The Californian tells readers to "plan now to drive out Saturday and Sunday" all the way to Del Webb's Kern City -- "just three miles west of Highway 99 on Brundage Lane" -- for the freshly completed "active retirement" community's grand opening festivities.
Photos in the ad depict "Senior Americans" enjoying crafts, the outdoors and, of course, each others' company.
Five decades later, on the cusp of Kern City's golden anniversary weekend, residents say not much has changed in the development, where the same swimming pool still sparkles and the town hall still regularly hosts social functions.
This week, residents planned their upcoming celebration at their community south of Stockdale Highway and west of New Stine Road.
"I've lived here since '76," said Golden Jubilee organizer Phyllis Adams, "and I've enjoyed every minute of it."
Hailed as one of the first communities specially designed for ages 55 and older, the 1,024-unit Kern City was part of a joint development venture between Del E. Webb Corp. and the Kern County Land Co.
Together, they made up the Stockdale Development Corp.
The development is a mix of single-family houses and condos that were part of a master plan modeled after the Del E. Webb Corp.'s successful age-restricted development in Sun City, Ariz.
"Del Webb -- it was his theory," said Dorothy Eddy Low, Webb's first employee hired specifically for the California project. "He built all the amenities before he sold one lot."
Then, once enough lots were sold in 1968, county records show Stockdale Development Corp. deeded common areas to the Kern City Civic Association, which runs the community to this day.
That practice, said Kern County Assistant Assessor Recorder Anthony Ansolabehere, is not uncommon.
Nevertheless, Bill Pearson, president of the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum said a company executive noted at the time that Kern City "should never have been developed as an active retirement community because of its location."
Pearson said Del Webb's Vice President of Operations John Meeker wrote that "wintertime dense fuel fog" and high summertime temperatures made conditions less than ideal for further development beyond the retirement community -- which had also been part of the master plan.
So, from about from 1964 to the mid-1970s, Pearson said Meeker would've made it a priority to sell off any land Webb still had in Kern County. (A Del Webb company is selling homes in another Kern development today.)
Since it was created, however, Bakersfield has sprung up all around Kern City and residents don't seem to have noticed that their community could've been deemed a failure.
Low, who has lived for a few years in a Kern City home she originally bought for her mother, said one thing that makes Kern City unique is "the fellowship and the friendship."
"It's better," she said. "It's more cohesive."
Wednesday, while Adams prepared to head a social planning meeting a bit later that afternoon, Donna McKenna, who's lived in Kern City for 27 years, meandered through the Town Hall complex.
She gestured toward a raised platform on the patio, the quiet 9-hole golf course beyond it.
"By five this is all shady," McKenna said. "We barbecue and set up the tables out here and we sit and eat."
Past the pool, she popped into various activity rooms -- an art studio, and an exercise room complete with old-fashioned stationary bikes.
In "the sewing room," she greeted women playing bridge and in "the Dog House," a few men and one woman -- Low -- sat around a poker table before breaking for coffee and doughnuts.
"It's very interesting to be at this end of 50 years," Low said. "Everyone's looking forward to the jubilee."
