To the editor of the Kern River Courier:
Although I have been to the Kern many times and coming back for years, one of my most memorable times was (last month). I usually ride up there on my Harley and camp at Headquarters Campground.

This time I stayed in a little jewel on the river, the Riverview Lodge, operated by John and Annette.

To begin this I would like to say that my younger sister died on May 5. We had her memorial on May 10 and the journey began. Headquarters was her favorite campground. Also my father’s, who passed in 1972. We have been visiting your little community since about 1967 or 1968. I can remember the washout of the bridge in town and a portion of Riverside Park that washed away with the great flood. I can remember your fire station back in 1970 stitching my father's eye back together when he fell off his little Honda 90 (because of the gravel but also trying to show off to the ladies camped next to us.)

I can remember going down to the park with my father and seeing fish that were as big as a great white shark (at that age it seemed like it) and an older gent explaining to me how to catch the big one. He told me get yourself a small mouse, find a small log, hook the mouse in the tail, send it out on the log, and as soon as it was in the middle of the river, pull him off and the fish will go nuts for him. My little Zebco was ready and I was braced between two huge boulders.

This last trip was a special trip, revisiting the places my little sister loved so much and visiting friends who live in the valley like Bama from the Hut, to Bob whose birthday is this month to Cheryl’s Diner, whose waitresses and food are second to none. To Kern Valley Hospital, whose staff rushed me in to see a doctor (Phillip Martin) in record time (believe it or not, a toothache).

This last trip was by far a memorable trip and I will continue my journey of meeting new people in your community and someday possibly relocating to what I consider God’s Country.
Steve Geiger
Torrance
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To the Kern River Courier:
I need to express my gratitude and respect to Sr. Deputy Daures Stephens for saving my life on April 28, when I was brutally and terrorizingly assaulted at Oak Knoll Mobile Home Park.

My commendations are also sent to Kee Johnson of the Sheriff’s Department and Sgt. Dean Marshall, both of whom extended extraordinarily professional service to me during this devastating time.
Sharin Jablon
Wofford Heights