Holy Week is upon us, the generosity of Jim and Beverly Camp and another successful Cioppino Feed by West Rotary

 * ... HOLY WEEK: Holy Week is upon us, and it seems a relevant time to thank our blessings and the recognize the good around us. Let's start today with some good news:

 * ... JIM CAMP: Communities are enriched in many ways, through civic engagement, wise and sober political leadership, volunteerism and charity. We all can contribute and we all can make a difference, and when we do, those who come after us will inherit a better world. Jim and Beverly Camp are among those who exhibit this spirit of engagement and generosity, and last week they donated $1 million to Memorial Hospital to help fund an eight-bed unit for the new Grossman Burn Center. Camp, owner of S.A. Camp Co., recalled the humble origins of his family and the guiding principle of giving back that has been handed down from his parents and grand parents.

 * ... CSU BAKERSFIELD: How fun was it to watch CSU Bakersfield fare so well in the NCAA Tournament? They performed admirably in their loss to Oklahoma, but performing on a national stage in front of a huge audience only elevated the team, the campus and our community. Hats off to Coach Rod Barnes and his Roadrunners for a memorable year. CSUB alum Rep. Kevin McCarthy was at the game and had this to say: "March madness is one of the biggest sporting events of the year. While the team that cuts down the nets will likely be a national college basketball powerhouse, the tournament exposes smaller schools to millions of fans. And today, millions of fans saw a CSUB program on the rise. And like countless examples in our community, they did it with heart. That is more than enough reason to celebrate."

 * ... CIOPPINO FEED: West Rotary did it again, putting on a Cioppino Feed to a several hundred clam and fish stew loving folks at Monsignor Leddy Hall up at Garces Memorial High School Saturday night. The club and its foundation raise upwards of $150,000 every year and promptly find ways to donate the money to deserving local charities.

* ... TRASH: It was good to see city work crews cleaning up literally mountains of old clothes, trash, abandoned shopping carts and debris out of the dry Kern River bed that has become home to homeless encampments. It's a dirty, but necessary task that happens a few times a year along the bike trail and the river bed. Homeless camps, once confined to the area near Manor Street, now extend all the way west to CSU Bakersfield.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "If you want to be remembered after you die, borrow money from everyone you know."

 * ... GRIFFITH FIELD: Lisa Krch, communications director over at the Kern High School District, corrected me on the renovation of Griffith Field by saying the plan to install artificial turf changed last year with the State Senate passed a bill banning artificial turns until studies on potential health risks are completed. "While it was part of the original stadium project, the Kern High School District has changed plans for the project to now include a sod play field," she said. "The project also includes infrastructure (e.g. curbing, irrigation, etc.) to accommodate an artificial turf field should artificial turf fields become a viable option in the future."

Here's my completely biased, unscientific selections of some food, people and events about town that make this place called Bako home

 * ... THIS AND THAT: I will be off for a few days and I will leave you with my entirely unscientific views on some of the "best bets" about town. Enjoy.

 * ... BEST SOUNDS: There are two sounds that greet you if you work or live downtown: the beautiful hourly chimes from the First Presbyterian Church, and the frequent wail of a train horn that serves as the soundtrack of where you live.

 * ... BEST  SANDWICH: The only problem with Sequoia Sandwich Co. is its popularity, particularly the downtown store that serves as a magnet for jurors and other folks who work in the downtown courthouses. There isn't a bad sandwich in the place, and my favorite: the Sequoia tuna melt with a side of cole slaw.

 * ... BEST COMEBACK: When Rod and Julie Crawford bought the Pyrenees Cafe and Saloon, the best days for the east Bakersfield landmark were behind it. But they gave the old girl a makeover, introduced live music and now Pyrenees is one of "the" hot spots in town for Basque food and weekend cocktails. Check out its new outdoor seating area and new music venue.

 * ... CORNER BAR: There are few restaurants in town that match Uricchio's Trattoria in  terms of service and food. Hard day at work? Stop in at Uricchio's happy hour and catch up with your friends at its long bar, and don't forget the fabulous appetizers (fried clams being one of my favorites). This is one of the places I always take out of town guests to treat them to warm, friendly service and meals that never disappoint. The late Nick Uricchio would be proud of how his daughter Claire has carried on the family tradition.

 * ... BEST NEWCOMER: This is a tough category because of the explosion of new eateries about town, but newcomer Jin Sushi on 19th Street is off to a fast start with healthy and fresh offerings and friendly service. Today's tip: they occasionally have blue fin tuna on the menu. It is a can't miss selection.

 * ... BURGERS: There are too many to choose from that pass my taste test, but here are my local favorites: the 'Hudson' burger at Muertos, the 'Sonny' burger at Mexicali downtown, virtually any burger from Eureka!, and the bacon, cheese and mushroom burger from Pyrenees Cafe. (file photo of a Muertos burger)

 * ... FUND RAISERS: Our town lives and breathes fund raisers, but there are a few that stand out above the rest: West Rotary's annual Cioppino Feed is at the top of my list, followed by St. Francis Parish's Crabfest, and virtually anywhere where Gary Icardo is cooking Harris Ranch steaks (like this week's St. Vincent de Paul Center event).

 * ... HIKING: We take Hart Park for granted, but the undeveloped hills above the park provide a beautiful venue for weekend hikes and mountain bike rides. There are only a few things standing between you and enjoying these hills: a sturdy paid of hiking shoes and you own will.

 * ... PIE RUN: And finally, the annual Thanksgiving 'Pie Run' has always ranked among my favorite early morning activities. It all starts on Thanksgiving morning at Hart Park where a hundred or so walkers, hikers (with their dogs) show up in this annual pot luck event to kick off the long Thanksgiving Day feed. Stay tuned for more details.

California Gov. Jerry Brown defends hydraulic fracking on Meet the Press, checking up on the Meals on Wheels program and another successful Cioppino Feed by West Rotary

 * … FRACKING: Gov. Jerry Brown launched a no nonsense defense of hydraulic fracturing on Meet the Press Sunday, dismissing host Chuck Todd's concerns that the practice uses too much water and could be dangerous. Brown noted California oil companies have been fracking for decades, safely, and that the practice does not use excessive amounts of water. He also reminded Todd that California
imports 70 percent of its annual oil consumption, and banning fracking would hardly make a dent in consumption but force the state to import yet more oil on rail cars.

* … MEALS ON WHEELS: I stopped by the Rasmussen Senior Center last week to check on the remarkable Meals on Wheels program run by the North of the River Parks and Recreation District. Five days a week the program feeds 255 homebound seniors and another 150 show up daily for lunch. The program is so popular that there is a waiting list. It's hard to overstate how important this program is for so many seniors who live alone and don't have the means to provide for themselves. Hats off to some of the NOR executives involved in the program, including Lisa Plank, Diane Hooper and Mishelle Ulrich.

 * … CIOPPINO: I would not have wanted to be anywhere else this past Saturday evening than at Monsignor Leddy Hall in La Cresta, where I joined a few hundred other folks at the annual Cioppino Feed. West Rotary has cracked the code on a successful fund raiser: feed the crowd with steamed clams, salad and cioppino (a fish stew), keep it simple with wine and a silent and live auction and send everyone home happy and smiling. A special thanks to our server Alyson Amestoy and her group of Centennial High School volunteers who worked the room to keep everyone fed. The club expects to make some $80,000 which it will dole out to deserving charities.

 * … BAD FORM: Shame on whoever decided to dump an old jacuzzi off Round Mountain Road at the foot of someone's driveway. Think about it: it likely took three or four strong young men to lift the 500-plus pound piece of plumbing into the back of a pickup, but instead of taking it to the dump, they unceremoniously left it on the side of the road.

* … DOWNTOWN: The deadline is fast approaching for grant applications focused on improving downtown Bakersfield. The Bakersfield Californian (family) Foundation will accept applications up until April 3 for projects devoted to beautifying, or improving, the downtown area. Go to www.bakersfieldcalifornianfoundation.org for details.

* … KINDNESS: Teri Snow Gamblin was riding on the back of a motorcycle near Sierra Summit recently when she was thrown from the bike onto the highway. Her companion was not injured but she suffered some serious cuts and found herself bleeding in an area with no cell phone service. The 61-year-old woman shared what happened next. "A young boy maybe 10 cautiously approached, and I asked  him for help. He said they had heard the crash, his mom was coming and that she was a nurse.  I was taken into their cabin where she cleaned the wounds and bandaged my hand until I could get a ride to the hospital. Mom said they came to the cabin for the weekend, so she could help her son with his homework. She kept me warm and even cut one of her t shirts to bandage my hand with. Her son and his dog went down to the highway and flagged down the car that was taking me to the  hospital… As mom helped me into the vehicle she took my head into her hands and kissed my forehead and wished me well. In the shock of it all I didn’t get her name,  however she is a Kaiser nurse working behind San Joaquin hospital. Richard it would be greatly appreciated if you could share this story and hopefully someone that knows this beautiful, kind person can let her know how much I truly appreciated the kindness she and her son bestowed on a total stranger."

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The nation marks the birthday of Cesar Chavez, but years after his death the United Farm Workers has become an insulated, irrelevant force, say critics

* … CHAVEZ: The legacy of Cesar Chavez has been in the spotlight this week - a new biopic movie on his life opened along with National Cesar Chavez Day - but is the union he founded still 

relevant? Some critics say no, and they say his foundation now exists to run radio stations, attract grants and employ a few people. Miriam Powell, who wrote an unflinching portrait of Chavez and the United Farm Workers in the book 'The Union of Their Dreams: Power, Hope, and Struggle in Cesar Chavez’s Farm Worker Movement,' said this in an opinion piece for Fox Latino News:  "The man born 87 years ago today worked with a single-minded intensity few could ever match. For a time, that zeal produced unprecedented gains for California farmworkers. But the union he founded failed to thrive and has become irrelevant; farmworkers today know Cesar Chavez only as the name of a famous Mexican boxer. In the end, Chavez’s legacy is far from the fields, in cities across the country where his name evokes pride and his life serves as an example of what community organizing can accomplish."

 * … HEART HEALTH: Margaret Scrivano Patteson is the seeming picture of perfect health: an avid runner and cyclist, she rarely goes a day without a vigorous workout and watches what she eats. Yet while cycling recently the 51-year-old pharmaceutical sales rep suffered a heart attack, and her story is a cautionary tale for all of us who think we are doing the right thing but are unaware of the silent killers within us. Patteson appeared with me on First Look with Scott Cox to talk about her family history of heart disease and to thank her cardiologist, Dr. Brijesh Bambi, the folks at Bakersfield Heart Hospital and her personal physician, Dr. Raj Patel. Go to bakersfield.com to view the entire interview.

 * … GOOD FORM: Julie Calvin submitted this bit of news to make your day. Last Sunday she went to PetStyling Co. on Coffee Road to pick up her dogs after being groomed. "As I hurried to get them safely into my vehicle, I apparently dropped my wallet in the parking lot. Not realizing that I had dropped it, I continued home.  About five minutes later I received a call from the manager at PetStyling and they had found my wallet (I didn’t even realize yet that I had dropped it!).  I went back to retrieve my wallet and everything was still in it. It’s nice to know that there are still honest people in the world!

* … CIOPPINO: Congratulations to Bakersfield West Rotary for another spectacular Cioppino Feed over at Monsignor Leddy Hall this past weekend. The proceeds from the event - it raised some $100,000 -  will help fund the club's foundation as well as Memorial Hospital's pediatric unit.

  * … WRESTLING: I ran into Vernon Varner at the Cioppino Feed and he reminded me of another upcoming fund raiser to support the storied CSUB wrestling program. The event, planned for Tuesday, May 6, will feature former world wrestling champion and ex New England Patriots player Stephen Neal. Tickets are $75 each. Call Janis Varner at (661) 587-8157. CSUB wrestling could not exist with the help from the Varners and the Coyote Club, and it's worth your consideration to support this effort.

Dr. Jane Goodall, world famous expert on chimpanzees, will speak at Bakersfield College and get ready for another Cioppino Feed at Garces Memorial High

 * … GOODALL: Bakersfield College scored a coup when it announced that Dr. Jane Goodall would speak there on Tuesday, April 1.  Goodall is widely known as the world's foremost expert on

chimpanzees, and for her multi-decade study of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. She will appear just shy of her 80th birthday. This will surely be a fascinating talk. General admission tickets are just $15 ($10 for students). She will appear at the Gil Bishop Sports Center.

 * … CIOPPINO: One of my favorite fund raisers of the year is coming up Saturday, March 29, at Monsignor Leddy Hall at Garces Memorial High School. It's the annual Cioppino Feed put on by Bakersfield West Rotary to support the Robert A. Grimm Children's Pavilion for Emergency Care over at Memorial Hospital. If you haven't been, this is a wonderful night of sumptuous clams and cioppino and wine. The cost is $100 per person. Call Howdy Miller for tickets at (661) 747-5380.

* … KERN BAR: Congratulations to Linda Sullenger, who has been appointed the new executive director of the Kern County Bar Association.

 * … VALLEY BAPTIST: And kudos also go out to a group of young adults from Valley Bible Fellowship, who spent last weekend sprucing up the bike bath near Gordon's Ferry.

 * … SUMMER: Speaking of the bike path, I have spotted three snakes sunning on the asphalt in the last week, a sure sign summer is right around the corner.

 * … REALLY? This note from reader Phillip Anderson speaks for itself: "Just what we need. With all the bad press that Bakersfield gets, yesterday I saw a GET bus with an advertisement on it that said "Come for vacation leave on probation."

* … SALAD BOWL: I received this valentine from Bob Myers, a 1954 graduate of Bakersfield High School who now lives in Lake Havasu, Arizona. "I read with interest your blog about the Mossman's and the Salad Bowl restaurants. I took a girl friend to the Salad Bowl on Union Avenue (am I correct in this?) in 1958 on our first date.  I had invited Miss Mary Lou Bundy to go with me to the movies at the Nile Theater and as we were approaching the theater I said to her, 'If this movie costs more than (some figure I don't remember) we're not going.'  It was, and we didn't go to the movie.  Instead I asked her if she was hungry, she said yes and we went to the Salad Bowl where I knew we could get good food at a reasonable price.  The romance blossomed and this year we will celebrate our 56th wedding anniversary. "

 * … MEMORIES:  And finally there was this from Anthony Cueto III. "Back in 1951 my father, Anthony Cueto, owned the Palace Hotel, which was located on 21st Street, between L and M streets. I remember visiting the place and going down to the basement where the laundry room was located. I can also remember my father pointing out the openings in the walls that led to the tunnels. I was quite small at the time, but it was something that I never forgot."

The never-ending cycle of criminals being dumped on the streets only to commit more crime sparks a backlash, and eat more fish if you want to avoid heart disease

 * ... CRIME: There is a growing backlash against prison realignment and the way so many career criminals are dumped back onto the streets, often after serving only a fraction of their sentences. One reader, Margaret Roux, noted that an 18-year-old man was arresting for burglarizing a nearby home, all the while wearing his parolee tracking ankle bracelet. He was arrested and the homeowner was able to recover most of the stolen items at a pawn shop. As it turns out, the same teenager was arrested in
December for possession of a stolen vehicle, receiving stolen property and possession of a controlled substance, but served just 49 days before being released to hit the streets to burglarize again. And so it goes.

* ... FISH OIL: If your mother told you to include more fish in your diet, it turns out she was right. A new comprehensive study in the Annals of Internal Medicine confirms what we all have suspected: that people with "high omega-3 blood levels outlive those with the lowest levels." As reported in The New York Times, researchers said there was a direct correlation between the intake of fish and lower risk of heart disease. The conclusion? If you don't eat enough fish, take omega-3 supplements. If you are on a heavy fish diet, supplements would certainly not hurt you. (photo courtesy of The New York Times)

 * ... CIOPPINO: One of the hottest tickets in town is for the annual Cioppino Feed, the annual West Rotary fund raiser that features some of the best clams and cioppino you will ever eat. Word is there are some tickets left for the Saturday evening feed at Garces Memorial High School. Call Howdy Miller if you interested at (661) 747-5380.


 * ... FIRST FRIDAY: Should be a great Spring night for this month's First Friday downtown. Metro Galleries, one of the anchors of this popular monthly event, is featuring a unique exhibit by Southern California artist Karine Swenson. The show is entitled  'Real and Imagined: A Collection of Mostly Animal Paintings.' Next to Metro at the Foundry, a photography exhibit, "Superimposed" will feature work by Jennifer Williams and Tim Chong. As always on a First Friday it's fun to check out all the galleries, shops, restaurants and boutiques in the arts district.

* ... LITTER: It's our collective shame that after every holiday, like Easter, our parks are awash with litter. Deanna Haulman had this suggestion: "My husband and I walk at Hart Park. We notice that after the weekend the litter is awful, even dropped next to the large garbage cans throughout the park, apparently the litters are too lazy to even place the litter in the can.  We pick up during our walks but have come to the conclusion these folks assume someone else is responsible for picking up their garbage.  I would like to see the park rangers start to give tickets for littering maybe that would help obviously our efforts and the efforts of others doesn't help."

 * ... ADS MARKET: Some more memories of old Bakersfield, these compliments of Terrie Stoller. "My parents; Jack and Lyle Parlier, taught at Washington Jr. High School in the late 1930s and through the 1940s. It is now a district office. Admiral Dewey Sprayberry and his wife Velma became their very first friends in Bakersfield after their Fresno State College graduations and very first teaching jobs in Bakersfield. I got the feeling that Dewey and Velma were like surrogate parents of a young couple just starting out. ... I remember the Sprayberrys, their little ADS grocery store and apartment next to it very well.  My mother remained a faithful visitor to Velma until her last days."