St. Vincent de Paul holds its annual barbecue fund raiser, a vegetarian and vegan restaurant downtown gets some kudos and local businessmen turn to security shutters to combat crime

Friday, October 5, 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 news tips to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... HOMELESS BBQ: One of the older organizations in town dedicated to helping the homeless is the St. Vincent de Paul homeless center off Baker Street, which held its annual barbecue fund raiser this week. Organizer Deborah Leary said more than a thousand New York steaks were served

Thursday evening, along with Casa Munoz beans, a salad and dessert. This facility feeds hundreds of homeless every day as well as provides them showers and a place to pick up mail. St. Vincent closes daily in the afternoon - it is not an overnight facility - and serves an important role in giving a helping hand to our growing homeless population. Among those I spotted were Monsignor Craig Harrison, Teri and Barry Goldner, Fran and Gregg Gunner,  Judge Robert Anspach and his wife Rosemary, their daughter and son-in-law Dr. Tom and Mary Berry, Eleanor Etcheverry, Gordon and Lynn Westhoff, Jim Sakowski and so many more.

 * ... CRIME: How bad is crime locally? Well, it is so bad that the King Door Company is doing a brisk business in security shutters for local businesses. Company owner Roman Ruiz said local businesses are being regularly broken into, and they are taking steps to combat this dangerous new wave of crime. King Door now offers a wide range of metal security shutters and steel reinforced doors. Some of their clients include a new California Highway Patrol facility, school cafeterias, Infiniti of Bakersfield, United Rentals and the Kern Oil Refinery. A sign of the times.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "To anyone that ever gave up on me all I have to say is ... good call."

 * ... MAMMA MIA: I finally stopped by Mamma Mia's, the new Italian restaurant downtown run by a chef who worked at Luigi's for more than 20 years. As expected, the menu features some Luigi's look alikes, as well as some new offerings. The night we were there it was jammed and service was spotty, but the food was excellent. My beef: my salad, the size of a normal dinner salad, cost a pricey $12.99. Yikes.

 * ... HEN'S ROOST: Meanwhile if you are looking for something more healthy, either vegetarian or vegan, try the Hen's Roost behind the downtown Post Office on G Street. Run by Jaclyn Allen and a small but dedicated staff, this new twist on a health food restaurant features some of the best non-meat burgers in town, including the "Impossible Burger" featured here.

 * ... MEMORIES: Check out these photos of 19th Streets back in the day, and today. Something went wrong methinks.

Bakersfield flirts with setting a new record for heat as we welcome the season of rolling blackouts, professional cyclist Tyler Williams returns to California for a break and some good form around town

 * ... HEAT WAVE: Welcome to the season of excessive heat, rolling blackouts, faulty air conditioning units and the general resignation that we are in for a long summer of temperatures well above 100 degrees. The folks who live in the Haggin Oaks area got their first nasty taste of summer Monday

when some 450 homes lost power, and other blackouts were reported in the Northwest as well. Will we break any records? The website ClimateSpy.com says the hottest day on record for this month was set June, 29, 1976, when the mercury hit 113.9 degrees, and the hottest month on record was July 1988 when we averaged 102.7 degrees. According to another weather website, Bakersfield averages 33 days a year with temperatures over 100 degrees. But hey, it's a dry heat, right?

* ... WELCOME HOME: Welcome home Tyler Williams, the Bakersfield lad and professional cyclist for the Israeli Cycling Academy team who just wrapped up a race in South Korea. Williams took to Instagram to say he is headed back to California after more than five months abroad (he is based in Spain) and is looking forward to being reunited with his wife, Brea Williams.

* ... RAAM: And speaking of cycling, good luck to a crew of local cyclists who are participating in the Race Across America, but this time riding fixed gear bikes. Among those racing are local fitness instructor Joe Peterson, Bill Elrich, Albert 'Vegas' Vasquez, Misha Tyler, Bo Bohannan, along with two riders from Los Angeles. The eight-man team is crossing the country headed to a finish line in Annapolis, Maryland.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Amazon is buying Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. That's about a  year's worth of groceries at that store."

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "It's so hot a Tennessee Williams play just broke out in my room."

 * ... GOOD FORM: Here's an example of some good form compliments of King Door sales consultant Michael Whitmore: "I just wanted to send you a note about the great folks at Stockdale tile. Remember the disabled vet that had his donation jar ripped off a week or two ago in front of Walmart? Well the owner and staff at Stockdale Tile presented a $1,000 check to that gentleman this week to replace the money that was taken. It’s great to know that there are still kind hearted people around."

 * ... BAD FORM: Here's a good reason to avoid California Avenue between H Street and Oak Street while it is being repaved. I was on H Street headed south at the bottled up California Avenue intersection when the driver of a silver pickup tried to cut in front of a woman driving a black SUV. A verbal argument broke out, complete with heads popping out the windows hurling insults, and it ended when the man driving the silver truck threw a soda can at the woman, bouncing off her window.

 * ... MEMORIES: Karene Williams wrote to say she enjoyed "your short piece about the old Sears store in downtown Bakersfield. My mother, Winifred Williams, was auditing supervisor at that location from 1955 until it moved into the new store at Valley Plaza. She continued as auditing supervisor at the new store until she accepted a position in the headquarters offices in Alhambra. After she retired from Sears many years later, she moved to Lake Isabella and worked at the catalogue store until Sears closed their catalogue businesses. Our family has fond memories of Sears and are sad to see it go downhill."