Looking to a New Year and the nagging problem of homelessness, the magic of the camellias that remind me of Nancy Wickersham Hall and Brian Smith eyes running for sheriff

Monday, December 31, 2018

 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 such a special to live. Send your tips to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... NEW YEAR: If I had one wish for our community for the new year, it would be to get a handle

on our homeless problem. Hard to do? Certainly, given the toxic mixture of drugs, hopelessness, lack of education and addiction that contribute to the problem. But the hard truth is this: failing to address homelessness will have a lasting negative impact on our community. It will devalue our neighborhoods and put a permanent blight on the reputation of this community we call home. It will demand money, focus and more resources than we want to spend, but I can think of no other single issue that trumps homelessness as our first cause of concern.

 * ... RIP NANCY: The camellias in my back yard are blooming once again, so vibrant in their shades of pink, white and red. And I can't look at those flowers without thinking of Nancy Wickersham Hall, who died over the holidays after a long and distinguished career and life. She was born a Wickersham and later married jeweler Don Hall in 1951. My connection with Nancy was late in coming: when I moved into a 1934 California bungalow downtown in 2014, Don Hall reached out to tell me that his beloved Nancy grew up in my house, and the camellias that now frame my lot were planted by her late father. So here is to the late Nancy Hall, her husband Don, their son Jon and all the memories she left.

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "Yesterday I tried on something from five years ago and it still fits. So proud of myself? It was a scarf, but let's stay positive here."

 * ...  BRIAN SMITH: I ran into retired California Highway patrolman Brian Smith at a holiday party a few days ago and learned he is ready and eager to run for Kern County Sheriff. Smith told me he is running but there is one caveat: he won't run if Sheriff Donny Youngblood decides to seek another term. "I told Donny that," he said. "I won't run if he does."

 * ... SPEED OF LIGHT: If you don't think technology has changed our world, consider all the things that did not exist 15 years ago, among them: iPhone, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, iPad, Netflix streaming, Google Maps, Snapchat, Spotify, Android, Uber, Lyft, Alexa, Airbnb, App Store Google Chrome, WhatsApp, Fitbit, Waze, Slack, Square, Dropbox, Pinterest, Venmo, Bitcoin, Hulu and Kindle.

 * ... FACE OF EVIL: Take a look at a real face of evil, this man who is accused of shooting and killing a northern California policemen during a traffic stop. The illegal immigrant was identified as Gustavo Perez Arriaga, 32, arrested by Kern County deputies in Lamont. Authorities believe he was headed to Mexico to escape arrest.

* ... MEMORIES: A picture of Chester and 19th Street back in 1910.

Nancy (Wickersham) Hall dies, some snapshots of our homeless problem around town and celebrating the last standing Woolworth's right here in downtown Bakersfield

Monday, December 24, 2018

 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 such a special to live. Send your tips to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... MERRY CHRISTMAS: Merry Christmas to everyone who reads this blog, which has now

entered its seventh year publishing multiple days of the week. Though we have plenty of problems here locally, the positive spirit of our community remains as strong as ever. Here's to your Christmas and a successful and healthy 2019.

 * ... RIP NANCY HALL: Our community lost a grand dame this week with the death of Nancy Hall, wife of longtime jeweler Don Hall and long a fixture in Bakersfield. Born Nancy Wickersham, she was raised in a Spanish bungalow on Cedar Street downtown, where her soon to be husband Don courted her. They were married in 1951. She was 86 years old when she died. She had been suffering from Alzheimer's and died on Sunday. Her son, Jon Hall, posted this about his father on Facebook after announcing his mother's death: "Prayers for him, because two hours later he receives more news that his sister; my Aunt Sonya passed in Los Angeles. I am numb."

 * ... HOMELESS: Here are some random shots of homeless in our downtown on the Sunday before Christmas. The problem is not getting any better.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "My wife just called me a chauvinist, which is silly because I don’t recall giving her permission to talk."

 * ... WOOLWORTH: Did you know that our Woolworth's downtown in the last one still standing in America? That's what a Los Angeles based website reported recently when it devoted a long story on the history of the Woolworth Co. and how the Bakersfield location has been converted into a lunch diner and antique mall. Here are some of the pictures that accompanied the story.

 * ... MEMORIES: Check out these rare old pictures of Bakersfield in the late 1890s. The pharmacy was located on Chester and 19th, and the hospital on the north side of Oak and 19th Street in 1980.