Main Entry: bed-rock
Pronunciation: \-ˈräk, -ˌräk\
Function: noun
Date: 1850
1 : the solid rock underlying unconsolidated surface materials (as soil)
Time for some frank talk SCV. A valley-wide intervention if you will.
Laurene Weste’s comments that Newhall -specifically SoLy, Old Town, P-Canyon, and Newhall Avenue- is the SCV’s “cultural bedrock” really rang true to me. And not just because I live here.
With the valley’s only real museum, Hart Park, the western Walk of Stars, the Train Depot (I know it moved, but it’s still here and not there), Hart High, lots of ranches, the Historical Society, Old Town, , Placerita Canyon, a lack of cookie-cutter housing and so much more, the only possible answer to the questions “From whence does SCV culture spring?” and “Wherefore is the bedrock of SCV Culture?” is Newhall.
Indeed. After decades of languishing and official neglect, Newhall is finally ascendant. Ten years ago we got a train station. Then a community center. Then things finally started happening in Old Town Newhall. And now, we have a blank slate on which to build a new library. And we purchased some old decrepit auto shops which we can now turn into something beautiful.
And then just last week it happened. The feather in our cap, the news of the year, the deal of the century: Disney, in recognition of our brilliance, is moving to the 91321 and bringing with it thousands of jobs and new opportunities.
I’m so proud and happy for this town named after the famous auctioneer that I’m thinking it might be time for Newhall to split from the rest of Santa Clarita. Specifically, the parts of town that form the “unconsolidated surface materials” resting on top of my bedrock, weighing us down, retarding our progress.
I’m talking to you Valencia. Nothing exciting ever happens in your zip code. Valencia will look the same in 50 years as it does today, I’m certain of it. And Valencians are so ignorant, even contemptuous of, Newhall’s status that they’ll welcome that. Built as promised and never changing, that’s the Valencia way!
And what about Saugus? Well I’m fond of the name since that’s where Henry Newhall came from, but let’s be honest: nothing is so unconsolidated as Saugus. Really, if it wasn’t for Central Park, I’d never venture north of Newhall Ranch Road. There is just nothing compelling in your part of town (okay, I guess Best Buy.) I know it’s not your fault; when you moved here, you probably didn’t do the research to know that Newhall has it all, so you moved to Saugus. Poor sod.
Finally, there’s Canyon Country. Believe it or not, the SCV’s whipping boy had culture and, at one time, challenged Newhall’s dominance. (What? Redneck culture is still culture, right?) But no longer. Sadly, today “surface materials” is just about the best descriptor for Canyon Country. It is the place where people who own stomper trucks live, it is a place where chain restaurants and empty furniture stores dot the landscape in a truly haphazard way. Sorry CC, I heart you, but you just can’t compare anymore.
And then there’s Castaic. Someone call me when we finally learn how to deal with the valley’s resident schizophrenia patient.
So, to my fellow Newhallians, on this day as the West Side ponders their future, let us consider the proposition that not all SCV communities are created equal. Indeed, let us heed the words of Laurene Weste and acknowledge our cultural, geographic, and intellectual superiority to the rest of the SCV, and let us seek to separate ourselves from these lesser communities and form our own empire, the resurgent empire of Henry Mayo Newhall!
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