Kern County Raceway is for sale for a cool $15 million, the indie band Darlingside heads to Bakersfield and remembering an old saloon in town

Friday, February 9, 2018

Welcome to Bakersfield Observed, now online only. We celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this such a special place. We value your feedback. Email your news and notes to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... RACEWAY: Did you see that the Kern County Raceway is now for sale? Coldwell Banker's

Gary Belter and Georgia McCaffrey have listed the property for $15 million, a bargain if you believe it was a $40 million project. The raceway has room for 3,000 general admission seats and another 1,000 reserved seats, plus 22 luxury suites. The raceway is located just off Enos Lane and Interstate 5.

* ... OUR WORLD: What does it say about our society when the two top local stories recently were the City Council approving a "shot spotter" system to locate gang shootings and a program reminding parents they can relinquish their children at a local fire station?

* ... COKE AND PEANUTS: Growing up in the South, my summers were spent drinking an ice cold Coke with salty peanuts. That's right, we'd take a few swigs from the Coke and pour in a small bag of salty peanuts, creating a tasty and crunchy summer drink that never failed to satisfy. When I mentioned this on my radio show (KERN NewsTalk 96.1) a caller said he too drank the same concoction while growing up in Shafter. They called it an "Okie float."

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Don’t you hate that person who almost never answers your calls or texts… then when you see them they can’t put down their phone?"

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "Love is like hearing your favorite song for the first time. Then listening to it over and over again til you hate that song."

 * ... DARLINGSIDE: One of the hottest groups in America, an indie folk band called Darlingside, is coming to Bakersfield on Wednesday, March 7, at the Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame. This four-man group from Boston features incredible vocals and lyrics and is a can't miss event if you are into music. Go to eventbrite.com to get your tickets.

* .... MEMORIES: I loved these pictures of an old Bakersfield saloon featured on the "Kern County of Old" Facebook page. The entry from Todd Walker read: "Jean Eyrauds Saloon...While on one of my history seeking adventures about 25 years ago, I met the owner of an old home in East Bakersfield. The owner of the home happened to be the great grandson of Jean Eyraud, the proprietor of the Jean Eyraud Saloon. Now, most of you probably have never heard of this saloon or even knew it existed, and neither did I at the time. Anyways, after we got to talking a while about Bakersfield and its history, he mentioned that his great grandfather, Jean Eyraud, had owned a saloon on Sumner Street across from the old train depot, and that he had a trunk containing old family photos and pictures of the inside and outside of the saloon and other businesses on the block. Trying to hold my excitement back I said I would love to check it out. He took me down to the cellar of the old house, and there it was an old trunk from the 1800s! After looking through the old trunk, he had mentioned he wasn’t interested in anything in it, and that he had planned on selling or getting rid of it. Being a collector of old Kern County photographs I gladly purchased just the photos of the saloon and the various buildings around it from him. I told him that he should at least keep the pictures of his family and the old trunk. Anyways, that was 25 years ago and I’m not sure whatever happened to him. Since then I have researched the old photographs and believe them to be from around 1890 to 1900. I have yet to find any old advertisement or any other photographs from this saloon besides the ones I have. Here’s all the pictures I got from him. Notice the picture in front of the saloon with everybody holding old bottles, lots of details! Notice the 'Ladies Entrance' in the picture with the restaurant in it. Definitely different times back then! Hope you enjoy these pictures, I’ve been wanting to contribute them to Kern County photo collection for years."

Out of town speculators are returning to the Bakersfield housing market, driving up prices but crowding out many local buyers

* ... REAL ESTATE: There is some good news and some bad in the local housing market. According to Coldwell Banker's Adam Belter (son of longtime Realtor Gary Belter) there are fewer than 550 homes on the market, a near all time low. That drives the prices up, which is good news, but it also has attracted a new wave of out of town speculators who are crowding out local buyers, often paying above the asking price. "We are in danger of becoming a community with more rentals than owners," he told me.

* ... COMING HOME: I had the chance the other day to catch up with plaintiff's attorney Daniel Rodriguez, who told me his 24-year-old son Marcos just graduated from Loyola University Law School in Chicago after receiving his undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Arizona.  Marcos is coming hope to join his mother, Sylvia Lopez, to practice law. He is a 2005 graduate of Garces Memorial High School where he played basketball and football.  "I’m hoping to pry him away from time to time to help me in a trial or two," he told me.

  * ... BAD FORM: Steve Illingworth is the general manager of Urner's and a friend for almost 20 years. He's not prone to hype, which is why I am passing along this note about what appears to be some bad form on the part of a Kern High School District passenger van.  "I was driving west on White lane on Monday morning, Memorial Day, and was passed and cut off by a KHSD passenger van (no students on board). I observed the driver changing lanes multiple times to get by other drivers who were observing the 55 mph speed limit. The KHSD van was driving in excess of 65 most of the distance between Wible and Old River. She exceeded 70 mph at least once. After I gestured to her at a stop light to slow down, the light turned green and she honked at me and then tailgated me at a very close distance for quite some time. When I called the district on Tuesday morning to report the incident they were able to identify the driver but they could not answer why this employee was driving so recklessly or why she would be driving a KHSD van on a holiday."

 * ... RIP COOPER'S: Steve Montgomery joined the chorus of people lamenting the passing of Cooper's Nursery, which has served our community for so many years. "This past Saturday I picked up a tree for a friend of my wife's and while in the office handling paperwork I noted on the wall vintage signs from past businesses of the family. One sporting a three-digit phone number and a much newer one with a phone number starting with a two letter prefix. Remember those?"

* ... COVENANT: I stopped by the new offices of Covenant Community Services, the local organization that does so much good to help current and former foster children acquire the skills necessary to lead productive lives. The stunning new offices are located at 1700 North Chester in an old bank building that his been rebranded "Covenant Coffee: Hope Lives Here." It is now a full coffee house and sandwich bar, staffed by foster youth who have been trained by some of our community's most prominent restaurateurs and business people. Covenant's chief is Randy Martin, who told me a second location is being planned for Taft at the intersection of 4th and North streets. Drop by for a coffee sometime to help this worthy organization.