Cafe Smitten and the renovated Silver Fox Starlite Lounge open on 18th Street, Cathy Butler retires from the Downtown Business Association and remembering when Truman's whistle stop tour came to Bakersfield

* ... CAFE SMITTEN: The downtown area is getting an upscale new coffee and pastry house east of Chester on 18th Street. It is called Cafe Smitten and it is run by the daughter of Ward 4 City

Councilman Bob Smith and her husband, Stasie and Shai Bitton. Not coincidentally, Smith is a principal investor in the 17th Place Luxury Townhomes just a couple blocks away. Cafe Smitten opens on Monday. Meanwhile, down the street we are about a month away from the opening of Qwikcafe, the new venture by Sequoia Sandwich Co. that will feature a full array of "to go" sandwiches and salads.

 * ... STARLITE LOUNGE: Meanwhile a bit farther east on 18th Street the Silver Fox Starlite Lounge opens Friday after an extensive remodel and facelift by new owners Rod and Julie Crawford, who also own the popular Pyrenees Cafe in east Bakersfield. Both the Starlite and Cafe Smitten are important chapters in the renaissance of the 18th Street corridor.

 * ... CATHY BUTLER: Congratulations to Cathy Butler who recently retired as president of the Downtown Business Association after more than 40 years. Butler was a tireless advocate for downtown, but the passage of time has rendered the DBA as something of a nostalgic relic of the past. Whatever largely ceremonial work the DBA is now engaged in could likely be performed by a committee at the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, at a fraction of the cost.

* ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Don't be surprised when your tax refund arrives as store credit toward the purchase of Ivanka's Spring line of fashions."

 * ... MEMORIES: How about this memory from east Kern's Bill Deaver? "About your item on president Harry Truman visiting Kern County during his 'whistle-stop' tour in 1948. My brother Mike (later deputy chief of staff under President Ronald Reagan) and I were attending Mojave Elementary School and walked to the Standard Pacific station in Mojave to see Mr. Truman. He walked onto the back platform of the heavily-armored Ferdinand Magellan, the presidential car. About that time one of the new jet fighters from Muroc Army Air Base flew over and Margaret Truman ran onto the platform to see it and almost knocked her dad down, to the great entertainment of the large crowd. Fast-forward to 1984 and guess who was riding in that car as a top aide to President Ronald Reagan during another presidential campaign? That kid from Mojave, Michael K. Deaver! One of those “only in America” moments!"

  * ... MORE TRUMAN: Jim D. Smith also remembers the whistle stop tour of Harry Truman. "As an 11-year-old I was on the Beardsley School playground as the train slowly rolled into Bakersfield, powered by a steam engine and pulling a caboose. Teachers had us all outside, knowing the train was due to pass by. "    

 * .... BAKERSFIELDISM: According to Ronal Reynier, you may be a Bakersfield old-timer if you remember two of Bakersfield's auto thrill rides: "the 'Seven Sisters' outside of Oildale and when the road down the Bluff's was two-lane. I think almost everyone when they got a car had to try the Seven Sisters. There were other places outside the city were you could 'fly' with four wheels up but they were a lot further out then the Sisters. A trip in the spring on Round Mountain Road to South Granite Road can be quite interesting at times. At times you can still see pieces of cars at the bottom of 100 foot gullies who did not make the complete trip. It gets interesting when oil trucks are coming at you 50 mph and you think your 25 mph is too fast."

Check out the Women Art Exhibit at "First Friday" and recognizing four women who enrich our community

 * ... ART SHOW: It's time for another "First Friday" downtown and with this weather we have been having, you don't want to miss it. Downtown will be alive so grab some dinner and then make the rounds of the art galleries and other shops. Make sure you catch the first "Women Art Exhibit" at Metro Galleries on 19th Street, featuring the work of local artist Barbara Reid and several other fine artists, including Betty Hock, Bonnie Hineline-Kempner, Gita Lloyd, Heidi Rufeh and Lily Stockman. Gallery owner Don Martin always puts on a good show this one is worth seeing. Then make sure to support our locally owned restaurants (Uricchio's, Mama Roomba's, La Costa Mariscos, Mexicali, Casa Munoz, Cafe Med among others) or the renaissance of the privately owned Padre Hotel and grab a bite.

  

* ... DENATALE LAW: I received a nice post from Tom DeNatale, one of the partners over at Klein, DeNatale and Goldner. Turns out his two daughters are both following in his footsteps. His oldest girl, Erin, just graduated (Magna Cum Laude) from the Whittier College of Law. She attended high school at Stockdale and earned her undergraduate degree from CSU San Marcos. Meanwhile his younger daughter Shannon, a graduate of Liberty High School and UC Santa Barbara, graduated (Cum Laude) from the law school at Santa Clara University. 

 * ... HEAT WAVE: Are you ready for the heat? After a spring that was richer, fuller and sweeter than usual,  we're looking at temperatures in the 90s this weekend and north of 100 on Monday. The heat has been knocking at our door, so get ready for it.


 * ... SCARY ROAD: Reader Marty Richardson called to warn cyclists about the dangers of riding on the Granite to Glennville road. I had blogged earlier about the driver of a late-model maroon Ford pickup who takes delight in almost hitting cyclists by refusing to pull to the left even when the road is wide open and clear. Marty lives in Bakersfield but has had property in Glennville for years. "You guys just shouldn't be on that road. It has no shoulder and it's just too scary. I don't want to hurt you and I don't want to get hurt." My view: let's all use our heads and share the road so we all can enjoy the beauty of Woody and Glennville.


 * ... FOUR WOMEN: It's always nice to see good things happen to good people, so I was happy to learn that four local women will be honored by Garden Pathways as "Women with a Heart for Bakersfield" They include Kim Albers, Cathy Butler, Susan Hersberger and Dayna Nichols. They'll be honored at a "High Tea" at Seven Oaks Country Club  on Wednesday, June 9. Albers is co-founder and director of Flood Bakersfield Ministries, which helps the homeless, and Cathy Butler is the longtime president of the Downtown Business Association. Susan Hersberger is public affairs director of Aera Energy and also a long-time civic activist, and Dayna Nichols is CEO of Castle Print and Publication which regularly gives back to the community. Proceeds from the event will provide mentoring and educational services for youth and families facing poverty. Interested? Call Karen Goh at 661-633-9133. (Seen below are Nichols, Butler, Albers and Hersberger)

, First

* ... BAKERSFIELDISM: This one from reader Terry Willey: "You know you're from Bakersfield when you remember when summer heaven was a swamp cooler and a popsicle."

Teagarden in as president at Karpe and what to do about all those scofflaws with expired tags on the road

 * ... TEAGARDEN IN AT KARPE: It looks like Tom Teagarden is the new president over at Karpe Real Estate Center, succeeding Ray Karpe who abruptly resigned last week. Teagarden is a longtime Karpe employee and local product who has worked with the family company for years. He told me that he had been out of town and wasn't even aware that Ray Karpe had resigned, and when he returned Bob Karpe (Ray's father) offered him the job. (In an earlier post I erred in saying Bob Karpe founded the firm. It was actually his father, Elmer) Nobody is going public on the rift between Ray and his father. Ray says only there was a difference of opinion on the company's strategic direction. Teagarden was born in Bakersfield, graduated from Garces Memorial High and later UC Santa Barbara. He moved to Virginia where he worked, moved back and began working at Karpe in 1989. He's been married for 35 years to Susan and they have three grown boys, Thomas, Adan and Matthew. Here's wishing him and the company success.

 * ... THE SCOFFLAWS WITH EXPIRED TAGS: I hit a nerve with an earlier post on all the cars driving around town with expired license tags. My email inbox was filled with responses, including one from Bakersfield resident Gary Denny who said this had been a pet peeve of his for years. His words:

 "At times, I have seen three or four vehicles at one location with expired tags. A couple of years ago I tried to find an agency to call or report this information to: CHP, city police, sheriff's department, Department of Motor Vehicles... none of these agencies were responsible... an individual has no way to report these vehicles. How many millions of dollars is the state missing from expired tags?"

 Yet another correspondent (who asked me not to use her name) speculated those driving around with expired tags are the same people who regularly fail to pay library fines or their student loans, and then are shocked when it negatively impacts their credit. "This is a blase attitude that I have noticed for all the years we have been living here," she said.

 * ... A DOWNTOWN RENAISSANCE? I had a nice chat the other day with Cathy Butler, head of the Downtown Business Association (DBA), who was absolutely giddy over what is happening downtown. She was raving about the new restaurant Victor Victoria's over on 19th Street, located in the same spot that once hosted Kosmo's and Goose Loonies. She also mentioned the new "O" sushi restaurant (owned by the same folks who run Toro sushi over at the marketplace; read the previous post here) and of course she's excited about the opening of the newly renovated Padre Hotel in six weeks or so. Bringing downtown Bakersfield back to life is a block by block project. The old central business district has come a long way and has an equally long way to go, but these developments are worth celebrating..

 * ... PCL MAKES A DONATION: I mentioned earlier the generosity of industrial services company PCL donating $10,000 to the Golden Empire Gleaners. Here's a picture of the check presentation, never a real compelling picture but these folks deserve some recognition. From left to right are Jim Blom, Todd Yepez, John Kerchinski (PCL president locally), Pam Fiorini, Pam Lindaman, Renee Massey and Ronald Eaves.