BakersfieldLife magazine puts spotlight on CASA fund raiser

 The latest edition of BakersfieldLife magazine comes out Saturday (March 26) and focuses on an upcoming fund raiser for the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). This "Wine, Women and Shoes" event will be held in early May and should be a well attended event. Wonderful cover shot by photographer Holly Carlyle.

Good news in the local used car sales and another scam hits the Bakersfield housing market

* ... GOOD NEWS: I dropped by the impressive new showroom at Motor City Lexus Saturday afternoon for Coldwell Banker's 2nd Annual Wine Tasting and Auction to benefit the American Cancer Society. More than 400 folks showed up to enjoy tastings from 25 California wineries and support the fight against this dreaded disease, which took my own mother. While there, Motor City general manager John Pitre told me the entire Motor City group (Buick, GMC, Lexus) set a record for used car sales in February, up more than 30 percent over the previous high. That's an all-time record, reflecting what may be a pent up demand for quality used cars in the 2007-2009 range. We take the good news when it comes.

* ... RENTAL SCAM: As if selling a house weren't hard enough these days, a new scam is making the rounds. This one starts with someone pulling a picture of your house off a Realtor web site and then posting it "for rent" on the free classified site Craigslist. If someone is naive enough, they will pay a deposit to this "renter" and happily get ready to move in - all without the knowledge of the homeowner who is simply trying to sell her house. I'm aware of this scam because it happened to my wife and me. Three times prospective "renters" showed up at our front door, one pair peering through the window like a pair of peeping Toms, checking out the "rental." Realtors say this is happening all over town, from Seven Oaks to the Northeast. These scammers could be from anywhere, from Lagos, Nigeria to across town. So if your house if for sale, stay on your guard and expect the occasional surprise guest.

 * ... PROUD MOTHER: Shirley Strickler is a registered nurse at Kern Medical Center and an understandably proud mother of four girls, three of whom went off to school and didn't return. All Highland High graduates, they include Christina Strickler Clayton, a UC Santa Barbara graduate now living in Carpenteria; Natalie Strickler, a San Diego State graduate now in San Francisco, and Leslie Strickler, another UCSB Gaucho who is living in San Diego. "They have had wonderful worldwide adventures and are great women, open minded and aware - they have taught me much about lifelong growth and learning," their mother said.  "My husband Fred is a Bakersfield native who has four daughters, four sisters and three granddaughters. Is he one lucky guy or what?" Amen.

 * .... CASA GRADS: The largest class ever of volunteers for the Court Appointed Special Advocates graduated last week. These are the folks who work with the courts in cases involving minor children, and they do an awful lot of good in the areas of our community that have the greatest need. Kate Kenny is the volunteer recruiter coordinator and said there were 39 people in the class, all sworn in before Judge Jon Stuebbe. She said all were "excited about taking a case and making a difference in the life of an abused, abandoned or neglected child in Kern County." Hats off to this group.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISMS: This one came from my friend Rachel Legan, morning host at KGFM 101.5 FM radio: "You know you're from Bakersfield when you spot wedding parties having their pictures taken in front of the rocks and water fountains at a mini-storage."

CASA puts on its annual fund raiser and remembering the 1970 student riots at UC Santa Barbara

* ... CASA GALA: One of the biggest social events of the weekend was held Friday when the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Kern County (CASA) held its annual fund raiser at the Moorea Banquet Centre off Harris Road. I'm always encouraged when the community turns out in mass to support  non-profits like CASA, and this event was no exception. CASA director Colleen McGauley told me they had 330 folks there, all bidding on silent and live auctions and dining on some excellent food and wine. There's not enough room here to note all the donors and supporters who were there, but among those I spotted included Bill and Whitney Rector, Steve and Nancy Sewell, Pat and Robin Paggi, David Coffey, John and Susie Falgatter, David and Catherine Gay, Pat and Roger Christy, Dan and Mikie Hay, John and Sonja Bush, Twila Klassen and Dave Urner, Joe and Jan Drew and Ernie and Shelly Phoenix, among others.

 * ... MORE GAUCHOS: Reader Joan Knowlden wrote to say that her husband, John Schumacher, was a student at UC Santa Barbara during the infamous student riots of 1970 when a branch of the Bank of America was burned. She said her husband "was walking home from school and walked into the bank after the doors were off. He looked around and thought 'this is probably not a good place to be if the cops come' and left the building." Schumacher and his sister, Mary King (valedictorian at Garces Memorial High in 1969), both graduated from UCSB and returned to Bakersfield, where they both now teach at Lakeside Junior High School. Thanks for writing Joan. By the way, Joan is an alum of Cal State Bakersfield.

 * ... GAUCHOS VERSUS ROADRUNNERS: Speaking of UC Santa Barbara, one alum reminded me that the Lady Gauchos will play the Cal State Bakersfield women at the Icardo Center next Saturday, March 6, at 5 p.m.

   * ... LA BOHEME: I heard from Ron Gallington that his son Aaron, a junior at Pepperdine University, is performing the lead role of Rodolphe in Puccini's LA Boheme at the university. Last summer Pepperdine sent Aaron and co-star Carolina Uribe to Heidelberg, Germany, for two months to study for the role and perform in Germany, Austria and Italy. Aaron is a theater and music major at Pepperdine and is a 2007 graduate of Liberty High School, where his proud father said he thrived "under the tutelage of his instructors Mr. Ware and Mr. Mac."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISMS: You know you're from Bakersfield when "you have debated the merits of skiing at Lake Ming versus Buena Vista," and "the best restaurants in town serve pickled tongue!"