John and Rhonda Stallone have created a wonderful marriage of business and community service in Mountain & River Adventures (MRA) in Kernville.
The outdoor adventure company was started by John in 1989, when he decided after spending three summers working as a raft guide that bringing the experience of outdoor recreation to others was what he really wanted to do with his life.
 John and Rhonda Stallone at their business, Mountain & River Adventures in Kernville. |
John first came to the Kern River Valley in 1986, when he was a senior at San Diego State University majoring in Industrial Arts and Furniture Design, because a friend encouraged him to participate in a rafting guide school here. He immediately fell in love with the Kern River and its surrounding mountains, and spent the next three summers working as a raft guide and exploring area on foot and mountain bike. During that time, John was also involved in competitive road and mountain biking.
The summers John spent here helped him with the decision to make Kern Valley his home. “I loved it up here, loved the activity,” he said.
In 1997, John had a pivotal year. He got a Conditional Use Permit for his property near Riverkern, now the MRA campground, and began a ropes course, which helped to bring in revenue to further the project. It kept growing from there.
Currently, in addition to being a campground, the property is used for corporate teambuilding, youth groups, inner city programs and visually impaired groups, and is rented to various local organizations and businesses for events.
But more importantly that year, he met Rhonda Knight when she participated in the annual raft trip offered by her then-employer, Kern County Waste Management. Because John had friends in the department, he decided to personally help guide the trip. Since his friends believed that John and Rhonda would be a good match, they conspired to make sure the two were in the same raft and sat next to each other at dinner that evening and the two did, indeed, hit off.
After dating for three years, John and Rhonda got married in November 2000 (“in the off season,” said Rhonda). They held the ceremony at Rio Bravo Resort, and Rhonda wore a dress she designed herself.
Rhonda was raised in Bakersfield, but was happy to move to Kernville when she married John. Shortly after they married, Rhonda, who was at that time working in the Kern County Administrative office as an analyst to start up the grants research unit, decided that her quality of life had diminished due to a two-hour round trip commute each day and began to look for a job closer to home. She worked for two years as a social worker in Lake Isabella, and then “joined the family business” as MRA's Media Relations and Marketing Coordinator.
Rhonda is a strong leader in the community, serving on the board of directors of Kern River Valley Revitalization and the Kern River Valley Chamber of Commerce. She was also on the Steering Committee for the Kern County Women's and Girls' Fund during its formation.
MRA is more than just a business for John and Rhonda; it is a passion and a vehicle to improve the lives of our local youth. For the past two years, MRA has been offering an 8-10 week program for the Boys & Girls Club of the Kern River Valley, where for a half day once a week the kids get to try a different outdoor adventure, including rafting, climbing, biking, ropes course, water slides, and more. At the end of the 10 weeks, MRA puts on a “kids festival day,” which includes climbing wall championships, a triathlon, jousting, and tug of war, all free for the kids.
MRA raises money for the event through sponsorships, and last year received $3,000 for Boys & Girls Club.
John also creates metal art sculptures featuring outdoor activities like kayaking and climbing, which he sells in the MRA shop in Kernville, and all money earned from his art goes to the Boys & Girls Club.
“When we work with Boys & Girls Club, we teach them to be good stewards of our forest. These kids are our future; if we don't teach them to respect nature, who will?” mused Rhonda.
MRA also offers free adventures for the Kern Valley Youth Center and South Fork School, and participates each year in the “Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day” each October, where kids are able call the MRA store in Kernville and sign up for a free mountain biking trip.
They also participate in the Kern Outdoorsmen and Women's Scholarship Fund in partnership with Jim Fletcher Archery and the Southern Sierra Troutfitters and Fly Fishing Association. The $1,000 scholarship is awarded to a Kern Valley High School student in the spring, and the winner is selected by committee based on a written interview.
“You become part of this valley; when you're passionate about what you do, more can be done to give back to the youth and the community. Businesses, individuals, groups; we can all do more,” said John.
In addition to helping the youth, John and Rhonda believe in being good stewards of the land that supports their business. They organize several rafting river cleanups each year with the Girl Scouts and other groups on the Powerhouse and the Rio Bravo sections of the Kern River, and do land trash pickup days from Riverkern to Kernville a couple of times each year.
MRA is also the first business in the Kern River Valley to begin a stewardship fund.
“We love this community and consider it one of our goals to help keep it as beautiful in the future as we see it today,” said Rhonda.
With their most recent endeavor, the docent-led travel tours, MRA takes Kern Valley visitors on a five-hour bus tour to the Trail of 100 Giants with knowledgeable guides, teaching participants about various aspects of the Kern Valley and Sequoia National Forest. MRA is not yet making a profit on the tours, but 10% of the price of the trip goes into the stewardship fund to help with projects to keep the Kern Valley and forest clean.
Currently, John and Rhonda are busy gearing up for MRA's 16th annual Fat Tire Festival from Oct. 19-22, and they are also pursuing a Forks Upper/Lower Kern Forest Service Permit which would allow them to offer longer river trips and would extend their rafting season.
To learn more about the many trips and programs MRA has to offer, call them at 376-6553.
Heart of the Valley is an occasional feature focusing on Kern Valley people who make a difference.
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