American sees church membership plummet during this Holy Week, another utility pledges to destroy 11,000 palm trees in California, and pandemic eating proves a boon for DoorDash

<Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: No, God is not dead in America but organized religion is starting to look that way. U.S. church membership was sitting at an impressive 73 percent back in 1937 and it stayed that way for the next six decades. But since the turn of the century in the year 2000, it has been on a steady

decline and today the number of Americans belong to a church is down to just 49 percent. Experts say the decline it due to the growing number of Americans who express no religious preference, and that number has jumped three-fold to 21 percent today. Not surprisingly, the decline in church membership is generational, with older Americans more likely to belong to a church than their children or grand children.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "My spirit animal really could use a shower."

 

* ... PANDEMIC ORDERED: DoorDash and other delivery services did a gangbuster's business during the pandemic, and you might be surprised what we turned to for in-home dining. DoorDash said one it saw a huge increase in breakfast items ordered: iced coffee, sausage, egg and cheese, breakfast burritos, pancakes and French toast were among the items ordered. In addition, vegan and vegetarian foods were wildly popular, with black bean tacos seeing a 456 percent increase. Plant based burgers shot up 196 percent. The top cuisines ordered: Mexican, Chinese and Mex-Tex.

 * ... PALMS: Utility companies seem hell-bent to rid California of our majestic palm trees. First there was the stink out at Rosedale Ranch where Pacific Gas and Electric is taking down stately palms, and now Southern California Edison has announced he will remove some 11,000 palm trees over the next two years to mitigate the risk of wildfires. The palms in question are in Santa Clarita, La Canada Flintridge, Malibu, Simi Valley, Santa Ana and Lake Elsinor. The work will begin next month. (photo courtesy of 23ABC News)

 * ... TREASURE HUNT: Have you ever returned to Costco after a long absence and gotten lost, wondering where all the familiar items were? Well, there is a reason for that and insiders call it Costco's "treasure hunt" for customers. Every few months, the company changes the aisles to force customers to "relearn" the store layout and in the process force customers to stroll every aisle of the store. It's another reason you won't find aisles marked with signs indicating what items are located on that aisle; they want us to wander through the store like it was your first time.

 * ... MEMORIES: From the Kern County of Old website comes this pictures of a couple of men playing cards on the boardwalk next to the Chinese Joss House on L Street between 20th and 21 Street around 1900.

Looking for Catholic parishioners? You will find them at Costco, at least according to a local monsignor, and get ready for the annual Via Arte out at The Marketplace

 * … VIA ARTE: Make sure you remember that Via Arte is set for this weekend over at The

Marketplace in the Southwest. This is always an amazing experience as chalk artists line up to show off their talents in the parking lot. The event is free, of course, and it runs all day on Saturday and Sunday.

 * … SPOTTED: A roadside sign has this inspirational message: "You have never really lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you."

 * … OVERHEARD: A one-liner from Monsignor Craig Harrison: "I love Costco. I see more parishioners there then at church."

* … GOOD FORM: Tonya Grier was impressed when her son, who attends West High, found that someone had hit his car but left a nice note on the windshield. It stated 'I hit your car and I am soooo sorry, I had to go to work, but here is my number, call me so we can exchange info. Sara.' "The damage wasn't too bad, so I wanted to call the young lady and thank her for having integrity and good values by leaving a note, and also inform her that I know she is a student, so don't worry about it, best success in her future for doing the right thing.," said Grier. "(But) The number was disconnected! I was so angry, and she didn't leave her last name. I told my son, we will pray for her, God sees all."

 * … KIWANIS: If you want to support a good cause while enjoying some vintage cars, head to Olive Knolls Church of the Nazarene this Saturday to enjoy a car show sponsored by the Oildale Kiwanis Club. Ralph Korn told me proceeds from the show go to help needy youngsters.

 * … SERVICE: Another tip of the hat to a local company that provides excellent customer service. This time it's the folks over at Stability Home Access, who dropped what they were doing to install a grab bar in the bathroom of Jim Murphy who had just been released from UCLA Medical Center after leg surgery. Thanks to Jim's wife, Connie, for sharing her story.

* … MEMORIES: Warren E. Pechin, a local architect, shared with me this walk down memory lane regarding the old Golden Crust Bakery. "I actually worked at the bakery before school started the spring semester of my senior year at Bakersfield High School and for about five summers afterwards except for the summer of 1967 when I was in summer school at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo taking architecture classes. The bakery was owned by George Martini and employed about 60 people producing the products of the bakery. I was one of the summer relief help hired to allow the full-time employees to rotate through vacations. Among the other 'helpers' were Steve Anderson of S.C. Anderson, Danny Ronquillo, who eventually wound up being a Fresno City Councilman, and Radon Fortenberry, who eventually was the athletic director at Shafter High School. The bakery closed in the summer of 1968 or 1969 and I went from making $4.20 an hour to $2 and hour at Wright and Metcalf, a local architecture firm who designed the Civic Auditorium and Bakersfield College and many other buildings in Bakersfield. All of us 'helpers' rotated through some of the regular jobs at the bakery, although I worked mainly in the packaging of bread and on the ovens, Steve worked with the engineers and maintenance staff, Danny worked in the dough room, and Radon boxed bakery goods and helped load the trucks for the various drivers (about 20 other employees besides the 60 mentioned earlier. The experience of working in the bakery was quite interesting and the pay was excellent for the time compared to many other jobs of students."

A happy ending: the story of an abandoned dog, the farmer who found it and the trucker who adopted it

* ... JEFF ROSS: Shares in the mobile marketing company Velti PLC rose sharply this week after it hired a respected executive as chief financial officer. That executive is Jeff Ross, the former chief financial officer of the software maker Sybase Inc. Ross is a 1983 graduate of North High School and went on to earn a degree from Cal Berkeley. He is the son of Barbie and Dick Ross, who taught math at North High. Prior to working for Sybase, Ross worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers and held other finance jobs at other companies.

* ... HAPPY ENDING: From my mailbag came this delightful story of a little chihuahua who was abandoned along the side of a local road and rescued by a farmer named Travis Fugitt. A "found dog" advertisement was posted in The Californian and - voila - a Chicago-based trucker spotted it while driving through town. Now the chihuahua, comfy in her new sweater, is at home in Chicago and named Baby II after the trucker's other chihuahua who recently died. She even accompanies him on the road and rumor is they will back through town this week. Who says there is no good news in the newspaper?

 * ... OVERHEARD: In Costco a middle aged man asks a young woman where to find Scotch Tape. "It's over there," she responds, "and it's delicious!" "Scotch Tape?" he queries. Flustered, the woman says, "Oh, I thought you said scalloped potatoes."

* ... BELMONT PARK: Last week I mentioned that the same folks who renovated the Padre Hotel three years ago had been awarded a contract to refurbish Belmont Park In Mission Beach. Bow Porter read that and mentioned that her mother, Alice Ball, was a cashier at the facility, which she referred to simply as 'the amusement center.' "My mom was a cashier at the Plunge and the Dance Hall when the center was first developed. My dad (Bob McGetchin) was a San Diego County surveyor, and a beach boy at heart... There was a dance hall that was quite plush, with a large stage and huge dance floor, and seating area... probably cocktail tables. As a child, I remember the marathon dancers, that would dance for days at a time, staying on their feet until they fell from exhaustion. The last guy standing won. As children we peeked thru the windows as we were not allowed inside without adults." (photos courtesy of Bow Porter)

 * ... MY TAKE: I personally welcome the national conversation about violence in our society in all its forms: mental illness, the culture of violence in movies and video games and of course gun ownership. But I hope we don't believe that banning military style assault rifles and the number of rounds in a clip will stop these types of senseless killings. These types of rifles are deadly, but any ballistics expert will tell you a simple semi-automatic shotgun (the type used for bird hunting or clay sports and easy to reload) can inflict equal or even greater damage at close range. This is not an argument against the ban, but rather a thought that the problem is larger than any single weapon design. Banning assault rifles may make us all feel good, but the truth is it is almost impossible to legislate our way to a safe society.