Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1545888
By David Kelts I may be new to Four Seasons, but I am not new to Beaumont. My parents came here during World War II while my father was serving in the Army, then stayed for the mild winters, sunshine, and views of the San Bernardino Mountains. In 1946, they opened Kelts Sporting Goods on East Sixth Street, where I grew up helping in the store and learning the lasting values of hard work, kindness, and community service. Born in 1948, I remember Beaumont as a town of about 2,000 people, where everyone seemed to know everyone else. Mail could arrive without a complete address, telephones were on party lines, doors often stayed unlocked, and neighbors helped raise — and occasionally correct — the town's children. My boyhood was filled with simple pleasures: rides on the Brookside Milk truck, chunks of ice on hot summer days, bike rides through Cherry Valley and San Timoteo Canyon, snowball fights, apples in Oak Glen, and orchards of cherries, plums, apricots, almonds, and olives surrounding the town. Before Interstate 10, Sixth Street bustled with travelers, restaurants, motels, and gas stations. Beaumont was known for dining spots such as the Rusty Lantern and Fireside Inn, and movie and television stars often passed through on their way to Palm Springs. I once even had lunch with Gabby Hayes at Bob's Café. Schools, churches, and sports anchored daily life. My father started and coached Little League Baseball in town, and I remain active in Beaumont Presbyterian Church as its longest-time member. After teaching in California, I spent 28 years teaching on American military bases in Japan, with time also in the Azores and Germany, and became fluent in Japanese. Judy and I later retired to Washington's Wenatchee Valley, where we built lasting friendships through the Wenatchee Valley Misawa Sister City Association. After 20 years as snowbirds, we moved permanently to Four Seasons in 2025. We love the friendliness, sunshine, familiar winds, beauty, and easy-breezy life here. Today, we enjoy volunteering, meeting new people, and sharing Beaumont's history and local treasures through the Beaumont Historical Society and Four Seasons Lifelong Learners. FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | AUGUST 2026 19 RESIDENT SPOTLIGHT David in Misawa, Japan festival parade M Breez Boyhoo Beaumon, Californi David, Judy, and Cookie … all happy to be in Four Seasons Beaumont Presbyterian Church at 7th and Euclid David Kelts age 7 David and father, Don 1997