Presumed GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and wife Ann are headed to Bakersfield for a fund raiser, and Californian Radio to explore gay marriage

 * ... ROMNEY: It looks like presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and wife Ann are coming to Bakersfield for a fund raiser at the home of Grimmway Farms owner Barbara Grimm-Marshall. It's being billed as "an afternoon with Governor Mitt and Ann Romney" and will be held on Wednesday, May 30. Tickets are going for $2,500 a pop, $10,000 will get you a photo session and for $50,000 you get a private reception. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) will be there along with event co-chairs Jim and Beverly Camp, Iva and Michael Hawkins and Barbara Grimm-Marshall and Darcy Marshall.

 * ... GAY MARRIAGE: Polls show the nation is slowly warming to the idea of same-sex marriage, but the issue remains has hot as ever. On Monday, I will be take on the topic on Californian Radio KERN 1180 beginning at 9 a.m. Among my guests will be a young gay man who vehemently opposes same-sex marriages. Tune in to hear him articulate his position. We'll also hear from Dr. Raj Patel, partner in Preferred Family Care Physicians, about the obesity epidemic.


 * ... REIDER: I attended the dedication of the Larry Reider Education Center this week, named after the retired Kern County Superintendent of Schools. One of the reasons Reider is so enormously popular,  outside of guiding the department during some economically turbulent years, is his terrific sense of humor. In his speech, he recalled a friend who had been promoted to chief executive of a local company. Said Reider: "So this man asks his wife, 'Honey, in your wildest dreams did you imagine me being promoted?' And his wife replies: 'Honey, you're not in my wildest dreams.'" Classic Larry.


* ... TRASH: Tami Schumacher is a relative newcomer to Bakersfield (her family moved here from Southern California last summer) and she is amazed at the amount of trash on our streets. "I was at the park with my dog and saw a car pull up and a man drop a cup out of the car.  He proceeded to go to the basketball courts without picking up the cup and a trash can was 10 feet from him!" Tami: I wish I could tell you that what you witnessed was an anomaly, but it's not.

 * ... MAKE A WISH: The Make-A-Wish Foundation does an awful lot of good locally and generally does so without a lot of press. Which is why I'm happy to promote the organization's special fund raiser next Friday, May 18, at the Crystal Palace. It's the "Silver Spur Gala" featuring a steak dinner, live auction items and of course dancing. And, you get to taste Bowen's Whiskey, the new Bakersfield-made whiskey for just $5 a pop. (All proceeds go to Make-A-Wish). Tickets are $100 each or $1,000 for a table of eight. Call (661) 634-WISH (9474) if you are interested.

April ushers in the charity fund raising season and Karen Goh will appear on Californian Radio to talk about her campaign for supervisor

* ... FUND RAISER: If it's April it means the charity fund raising season must be in full swing. I stopped by one of the fund raisers for the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Saturday evening, a French-themed roving party held at the homes of Ken and Teri Jones, Brent and Anna Dezember and Gary and Bettina Belter. These events are always spectacular and they raise a lot of money for good causes throughout our community. Among those I spotted at the CASA party were David and Catherine Gay, Gregg and Fran Gunner, Bob and Betty Stine, Jeanne and Michael Young, Pam Giumarra, Linda Sullenger, Colleen McGauley, Greg and Mary Bynum, Rick and Cindy Jones, Cindy and George Meek, Jim and Jeanne Filbrandt, Sue and Herb Benham, Jan and Joe Drew and Bill and Holly Lazzerini, among others.


* ... KUDOS: Hats off to the hundreds of people who fanned out across town on a chilly Saturday to participate in the Great American Cleanup Day. If you ever doubt the goodwill of our community, it will be dispelled when you see so many young people volunteering their time for a good cause.

* ... GOOD DEED: Lois Ernst wrote to share a random act of kindness. "My daughter and some friends were recently in the drive thru at our local Chick Fil A. They placed their order, which came to about $24, got up to the window to pay and were informed that the customer in line behind them had already paid for their order. They were amazed and delighted that a stranger would do that! Bakersfield is a nice play to live, contrary to all the 'bad lists' we seem to end up on." Amen to that Lois.

 * ... FIFTH DISTRICT: One of the more interesting local elections this year is in the Fifth District county supervisor race where appointed incumbent Karen Goh faces a stiff challenge from former public defender Leticia Perez. Join me at 9:30 a.m. Monday when Goh will be my guest on Californian Radio KERN 1180. I will also be talking about the controversy over Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen's dig at Ann Romney because she has never held a steady job. But isn't raising five boys a job enough? Haven't we moved pass this type of flagrant attacks on women who choose to stay at home and raise their children?

* ... SMALL THINGS: Isn't it amazing how small things move us and change our lives? Yet another reader, Susan Peninger, wrote to say she too has a special plant that was given to her by a special friend. In this case the friend is Cecil Hall, the mother of Mayor Harvey Hall. "She is my aunt, Cecil Hall, who gave me an Aloe Vera plant she had in her College Height’s yard a few years before she passed away.  I love that plant that still lives on my La Cresta patio, not far from whence it came. More than likely thought she had moved that plant with each move before its stint on Baylor when she passed it along to me.  I understand the attachment to readers’ Camellia and rose bushes; I treasure the Aloe Vera plant because it reminds me of my fun-loving, always entertaining, Aunt Cecil.  I know for certain, she and Uncle Pete would be over the moon proud of their son, the mayor."

 * ... ZIPPY: For you old timers who remember Zippy the clown on local TV, Chuck Walker (formerly of Bakersfield and now of Doha, Qatar) says Zippy "was a real dwarf that appeared on the George Day Show, one of the afternoon shows on one of the local TV stations in the 1960s. The Uncle Woody show was a decade later on channel 29 and featured Woody Bryant who owned the Toy Circus, and his sidekick Chester the clown. Chester was played by Steve Hanson, among others.  Chester and his sometime sidekick,  22nd, (named for 22nd  Chester,  the location of the huge toy store in the old Three-Way Chevrolet showroom) would appear at parties and BBQs.  22nd was played by local attorney Bruce Blythe."