Wool Growers restaurant likely to get some new love in an upcoming feature of Saveur magazine, and an old timer remembers the original Green Frog market

 * ... WOOL GROWER'S: It looks like Wool Growers, the famous Basque restaurant on 19th Street, will be getting some more love from the national press. Christiane Camou, daughter of Wool Grower' owner Jenny Maitia-Poncetta, tipped me that the editor of Saveur magazine (James Oseland) popped into the eatery last week.  "He enjoyed it so much that he had his photographer take hundreds of pictures of the food, and visited with my grandmother and myself about the history of Basque restaurants in Bakersfield," she said.

 * ... CAL RADIO: Tune in to Californian Radio (KERN1180) Monday at 9 a.m. when Assemblywoman Shannon Grove will be my guest to talk about AB 202, the school marshal's bill. In addition, I will be chatting with Cal State Bakersfield Athletic Director Jeff Konya and Runners baseball coach Bill Kernen.

 * ... HIGH ACHIEVER: Hats off to Stacy Vanderhurst, valedictorian of her 1994 graduating class at Centennial High. She went on to graduate from Notre Dame with honors and is now completing her doctorate at Brown University. In addition, Stacy is teaching an "Anthropology of Globalization" class at Brown this semester.

* ... NIGHTMARE: Here's a nightmare story on air flight that I wouldn't wish on anybody. Lois Henry, our Californian columnist, was flying back from the inauguration when she missed her 6 p.m. connection in Phoenix and was bumped to the 9 p.m. flight. That turned out to be two hours late, but it did make it to Bakersfield only to pass over the city and turn around because of fog at Meadows Field. "They initially rebooked me on the next day's 9 p.m. flight, but I was able to finagle a seat on the 11 a.m. flight. And no, US Airways did not put us up in hotels. You either had to pay for your own room, or schlump around the airport all night. If I don't see the Phoenix airport again for a good long while, it still won't be long enough!"

* ... WHAT'S IN A NAME: Cheryle DeMaro shared with me the origin of her own namne. "In the mid 1950s there were quite a few female babies (me included, except my dad changed my middle name to Jeanette in a compromise with my mom) that were named Cheryl Ann. Working in banks over the years I met a few of them in Bakersfield. I got curious and asked my mom why she picked that name. She said while in the hospital a new TV series came on and it was called 'On the Waterfront' starring the hunk at the time Preston Foster. His famous tug boat was named the Cheryl Ann. It was only on a couple of years but he had some Bakersfield women who had a crush on him. I thought maybe these 'Cheryle Anns ' would like to know. Also, does anyone know the story of the beautiful old Victorian house located behind the new Maya?"

 * ... GREEN FROG: Stan Anderson wrote to recall the old Green Frog Market that was located on the southeast corner of California and Chester. "In the early 1950s, Paul Taylor owned and operated the grocery department, and my dad, Clif Anderson, owned and operated the 'full service' meat department while Charlie Everett owned and operated the produce department  Somewhere around 1953 or 1954 Mr. Everett built the store at Alta Vista and Bernard and the Chester store closed. At this point, my dad went to work in the Alta Vista store where he worked for Mr. Everett as a meat cutter until he retired in 1974.  My Mom, Naomi Anderson, was the bookkeeper for the Bernard store from about 1955 until she retired in about 1992."

Is the Bakersfield Prayer Breakfast exclusionary by focusing on the Christian view of Jesus? And more memories of Banducci's Corner restaurant out on Weedpatch Highway

 * ... PRAYER BREAKFAST: The Bakersfield Prayer Breakfast is coming up next week and will celebrate 33 years as an annual event. It is always a popular event but some in our community are questioning if its Christian-centric theme is exclusionary. The event promotes the Christian view of Jesus, but what about all the Sikhs, Muslims, Jews and others who call Bakersfield home? A friend of mine who happens to be Jewish noted that while the event may not be an official City of Bakersfield event, the exclusionary nature is apparent "... from the 'cross' imagery to the Ephesians reference to the statement of purpose 'to bring citizens together in the name and spirit of Jesus Christ to offer gratitude and praise to God and to pray for our community, government and leaders.' I thought we were past this already. Unfortunately, it seems that our own local theocrats, who are amongst the first to howl about religious intolerance when it occurs in other countries, have an agenda in mind, and it doesn't include us." Local lawyer Joseph Hanson spoke for the organizing committee and noted the event is facilitated by a group of lay persons, not the city or a church. "Our purpose statement is on all our advertising and it is printed in the program each year," he told me. "It states that we gather in the name and spirit of Jesus. We do not hide that. What would make it exclusive would be to state that only 'Christians' or only 'Followers of Jesus' are invited. That has never been the case... If people attend and leave encouraged by the message or the prayers offered by community members, the committee would say that we have accomplished our goal and each year this is what we experience."

* ... SPOTTED: On a less serious note, Jeff Pickering, president of the Kern Community Foundation, posted this heart warming message on Facebook after brushing his 7-year-old daughter's hair. "Olivia (as I was brushing her hair): 'Daddy, how many hairs are on a human head?' Me: 'I don't know, why don't we count?' Olivia: 'Okay, but let's use your head so it will take less time.'" (file photo of Jeff Pickering)

* ... BANDUCCI'S: More fond memories of the old Banducci's Corner restaurant. Said Mary Sams Durham: "I too have very fond memories of Banducci's and I remember having lunch with my daughter, Cyndi Blankenship, at Sinaloa when they were located in the Wool Grower's building. This was in the late 1950. Since we are going down 'Memory Lane' how many remember swimming in the old Lakeside pool? Many kids from the Arvin and Lamont areas were bused there to swim. I was one of those kids."

 * ... MORE BANDUCCI'S: Norale Boyle wrote to say her favorite meal at Banducci's was ravioli, made from three different meats roasted for several days beforehand. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone still had the recipe?" And former Assemblyman Trice Harvey called to tell me he was a health inspector at the time, and that the owners of Banducci's asked him not to come during lunch because they didn't want to bother the customers.

 * ... MEMORY LANE: And speaking of memory lane, the recent closing of the Green Frog Market prompted Joe Fontaine to send me this: "A lot of people are lamenting the recent closure of the Green Frog Market. How many of them are Bakersfield old timers who remember its original location on the southeast corner of Chester and California avenues? My memory of that location for goes back to December 7, 1941. I was sent on an errand to the Green Frog that morning to buy a quart of milk. Everyone in the store was all abuzz about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I rushed back home to break the news to my family. How many Bakersfield old timers remember the Palms Liquor Store on the northwest corner across from the Green Frog? It is still there today but sadly the palm trees that graced that corner are long gone. That was years before the 'shoe' at 10th and Chester was built to house a shoe repair shop."

Air Pollution Control District takes more heat and BC looks for an athletic director

 * ... AIR DISTRICT: More criticism for the Valley Air Pollution Control District. This time it comes from Stephen Montgomery, a retired railroad employee and former union legislative representative who worked to improve working conditions. He called the air board's move to shut down the Thanksgiving Day Pie Run bonfire "an overreaction to small potatoes. It's apparent they enforce the things that are easiest to enforce and in at least one case avoid messing with the ones that may be more difficult." He cited, in his capacity with the union, numerous letters he wrote - including one to the air district - to complain about hazardous dust at the Traver truck stop 30 miles south of Fresno. He said trucks are routinely driven off the road to an unpaved portion of railroad right of way "raising dust in the dry seasons. In wet conditions water runoff from the fuel dock aprons puddles up in this area and along with all the runoff containing fuel and brake dust soaks into the water table." In short, it's a mess and certainly creates more pollution, day in and day out, than a simple once-a-year bonfire at a public park. And what happened? According to Montgomery, absolutely nothing. (photo courtesy of Stephen Montgomery)

* ... THE BUZZ: The announcement that Jan Stuebbe will be stepping down as athletic director at Bakersfield College has some folks speculating that BC may look to Cal State Bakersfield for a successor. CSUB of course just named its new athletic director, Jeff Konya, and in so doing  passed over Roger Fessler, who was outgoing AD Rudy Carvajal's No. 2 person in the department. In fact, not only was Fessler passed over but he also wasn't given the courtesy to interview for the job, a slight that did not go unnoticed both inside and outside the campus. All this is speculation of course, but BC could do a lot worse than Fessler, who has deep roots in the community and who also spent time as athletic director at St. Francis University in Pennsylvania.


* ... MINIATURE GOLF: Reader Pam Mahan wrote to say she "had to laugh when I read Jimmie D. Hill's comment about the miniature golf course just north of Green Frog Market. I remember when I was playing there with a group of friends who included Arnold Kirschenmann. Arnold, who even at that time was a really good golfer, had a terrible round at the miniature course and proceeded to terrorize his golf club by bending it over his knee and throwing it into outer space. I don't know how Arnold's knee turned out, but it was a rough day for the golf club."

 * ... MARATHON: Heard from reader Pat Chaffin who wanted to share the news that her sons, their wives and two grand daughters walked and ran 13 miles in the Zappo's Rock and Roll Las Vegas Marathon. "What a spectacle," she said. "Thirty two thousand competed and 18,000 were first timers. Many dressed in costumes and there must have been 50 Elvis impersonators... What's amazing is the majority of them are just ordinary working stiffs squeezing  in the time from their jobs and families to train for this race. Next year maybe they'll do the 26 miler!" The group includes Steve and Sara Chaffin, Doug and Connie Chaffin and Jenni Chaffin.

 * ... RETIREMENT: Hats of to one of our city's most valuable and beloved employees who recently retired. That would be Louie Peralez, who retired after 42 years, serving most recently as the street superintendent. Mark Salvaggio, former city councilman, described Louie as "a city of Bakersfield institution. His service is second longest in the history of the city... He is the finest public servant one can find anywhere. His shoes will never be filed." Good luck, Louie.

  * ... OVERHEARD: "A local electronics story now sells a key chain breathalyzer ... the perfect gift for that 'special' relative."

* ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're a Bakersfield old-timer if "you remember the long lines outside of Fontana's Pie Shop on Niles Street the day before Thanksgiving with people wanting fresh pumpkin or pecan pies." Thanks to Ken Barnes for this one.