Is Bakersfield headed for a new real estate bubble? And Texas leads the country with the most cities that are best for jobs

 * ... HOUSING: Is Bakersfield's housing market headed for yet another bubble? That's the warning from Gary Crabtree, a respected appraiser and a thoughtful analyst of our local real estate market. Crabtree shared a story from HousingWire that noted in markets like Bakersfield that have never "fully unwound" from the last bubble, "rapidly increasing price levels are a potential cause forconcern." Added Fitch Ratings: "The supply is also artificially low, as recent regulations have limited the pace of foreclosure sales and the large percentage of underwater borrowers continues to hope for future price increases to be able to sell their homes at a profit?" Sounds like Bakersfield. Stay tuned.

 * ... JOBS: What are the best cities for jobs in this economy? According to Forbes, the business-friendly state of Texas placed four cities in the top ten: Fort Worth (4), Houston (5), Dallas (6), and Austin (10). Others making the list included San Francisco, Salt Lake City, San Jose, Charlotte and Denver.

 * ... RODEWALD: Our community lost one of its great characters with the passing of longtime TV personality Don Rodewald. One reader, Joe Stormont, shared a memory of Rodewald's afternoon show, also known as Matinee. One feature was called Dialing for Dollars. "Don had a rotating bin with the telephone white pages cut into little strips. Don would spin the bin, then open it up and draw out a piece of the phone book. Count up or down a pre selected number of names from the top or bottom, and call that phone number... If the person who answered knew the 'count and the amount,' they would win the money. The prize amount started at $23 and increased by a few dollars each time he didn't have a winner. Sometimes the jackpot reached over $100."

 * ... OVERHEARD: A prominent local educator, recently retired, is telling a friend about moving into The Greens, the popular 55-plus gated community at Seven Oaks. "We love it," he said. "But the first day we were there a new neighbor came up to me and said, 'Didn't you used to be somebody?' I guess that says it all!"

 * ... AIRPARK: Reader James Irwin dropped me a note to ask about the airport that once existed on the Panorama Bluffs. That landing strip, James, was called La Cresta airfield and was located between Bakersfield College and where Greenlawn Mortuary Cemetery now stands. It was built duringWorld War 11 and planes took off over the Panorama Bluffs. The place has quite a storied history, and it was there when a young Mary K. Shell (a former mayor and supervisor) met her future husband, Joe.

 * ... KCUHS: Bill Deaver of Mojave remembers the two-headed calf that resided in a science room at the old Kern County Union High School. "I remember that two-headed calf," he said. "My grandparents, Henry Mack Sr. and educator Addie Mack, lived on Chester Lane, and we frequently drove by 'KC,' as my mom, former Californian East Kern correspondent Marion Mack, an alumnus, called it! This was in the 1940s and later."

Will Fessler be the new Athletic Director at CSUB? And noting the stream of paroled state prisoners walking our streets

* ... CAL STATE: There is a lot of speculation over who will replace the retiring Rudy Carvajal as athletic director at Cal State Bakersfield. This will be one of the bigger decisions made by President Horace Mitchell, who successfully pushed through the effort to bring CSUB sports up to the Division 1 level. Insiders tell me the only real inside candidate appears to be Roger Fessler, the former general manager of American General Media who joined CSUB as associate athletic director last year. Fessler's passion is college sports, and he has previous experience as athletic director at St. Francis University in Pennsylvania. But Mitchell could always choose to look outside the campus to bring in his own personal pick. A search committee has been formed, but anyone with any experience with university politics know this is the president's call at the end of the day. This is not an all inclusive list but among those on the search committee are assistant athletic director Gloria Friedman, Foundation athletic committee chair Greg Bynum, Roadrunner Club president Alan Wade, coaches Alan Collatz and Tim La Kose, associate vice president of enrollment Jackie Mimms, faculty athletic representative Jackie Kegley and John Holtzman, vice president of student affairs. (Rudy Carvajal with President Mitchell pictured below, followed by Roger Fessler)

 
 * ... HARVEY HONOR: Mayor Harvey Hall was honored with Cal State's John Brock award Thursday night at a dinner and reception at Seven Oaks Country Club. Organizers were thrilled the event sold out, particularly considering it was up against a number of other events: the opening of a new show at the Bakersfield Museum of Art, a private dinner and fundraiser for Meg Whitman at Barbara Grimm's estate, and the big NFL game between the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings.

 * ... SPOTTED: A group of eight to 10 newly released state prisoners, all in matching white T-shirts, khaki slacks and black canvas prison slippers, walking west from the Greyhound Bus station into the heart of Westchester Wednesday morning. Ever get the feeling that these parolees are just being dumped into our community by the overburdened state prison system?

 * ... MAHAN OUT: Heard the bad news that Will Mahan, a Bakersfield High School and Bakersfield College alum, tore his ACL in practice and is out for the year at the University of Washington. Mahan is the starting punter on the Husky football team and will apparently take this year off and return next season.

* ... BAKERSFIELD INN: Reader Denise Irvin wrote to talk about her high school years when she would visit the old Bakersfield Inn and enjoy its pool. "There wasn't a swimming pool in every backyard then, but we 'younger ladies' soon discovered that we were welcome at the Bakersfield Inn for an impromptu swim party. We could order a lime Coke from the bar and spend the entire Saturday afternoon sunning and swimming at the Inn's pool, and if we got lucky there might even a bunch of cadets from Minter Field there to flirt with. Ah! Those were the days!"

 * ... LA CRESTA: Reader Gene Buchanan is another who recalls the old La Cresta Air Park off Panorama Drive. "It was my understanding that La Cresta was closed to private aircraft until Meadows was cleared by the Air Force. Until then we were flying off a dirt strip about 10 miles east between Breckenridge and Kern Canyon Road just east of Hillcrest Memorial park. It was August 1945 and I was a student pilot. When Meadows opened we moved there. Got word that La Cresta was going to have a small air show and Batman was going to jump from a plane. He went up in a J3 to about 6,000 feet and jumped. He had wings sewn to his sleeves and between his legs. You could hear the wings flapping, sounding like machine guns. He opened his parachute and his feet swung forward and then when they swung back he hit the ground. I was 16 at the time and was very impressed. And by the way, you know you're from Bakersfield if you remember the hamburgers served with a special sauce at Bloomfield's drive-in on Niles Street."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM:  You know you're from Bakersfield "if you consider 10 percent seasonal unemployment the norm."

Rubio holds a fund raiser and more Mayor Mary Kay Shell shares her memories of La Cresta air park

 * ... RUBIO FUNDRAISER: Today's political climate is rife with partisanship, so it was nice to hear of a recent fundraiser for State Senate candidate Michael Rubio that seemed to bring folks from all political leanings together. It was last Thursday, at the Bakersfield Country Club, and the evening was hosted by prominent farmer Joe Campbell and well known local defense counsel H.A. Sala. The crowd was seeded with loads of distinguished Democrats and Republicans who listened to Rubio's well tuned message of finding practical solutions for budget gridlock, water regulation, and sustained job growth.  Supporters from both sides of the aisle seemed to appreciate Rubio's dedication to work through these divisive issues. Among those attending were Castle and Cooke president Bruce Freeman, farmer Richard Sandrini, local attorney Barry Goldner, Supervisor Mike Maggard, former First Five chairman Wendy Wayne and attorneys Karen Gaul and David Cohn.

 * ... MORE LA CRESTA:  Former supervisor and Mayor Mary Kay Shell added a little romantic twist to the stories of the old La Cresta airfield.  "The La Cresta Airfield is becoming a saga!  Your column today jogged my memory further. I well remember Johnnie Bresnahan and his PT 19 and Jim Bowers and Hal Reed and their BT-13. What I didn't mention to you before was when I was working there I first met my future husband, Joe. We were married 38 happy years until he passed away in 2008. This was about 1947 when he frequently came in flying his navy blue SNJ (AT-6 in the Air Corps) to check his oil wells. He was an independent wildcatter. He never stayed long because someone he had buzzed picked him up right away. I recall he was a tall blond fellow with the name of Shell. We sold Shell gas at La Cresta and I was young and dumb and thought he might own that company (rather than the Dutch corporation it was).

After we married some 23 years later he used to love telling people I washed his windshield at La Cresta as I climbed all over his plane when he wasn't around. Not true, except I did climb on his plane because it was so nice!"

 

* ... MORE THOMPSON'S: Reader Don Enebo adds this memory about the old Thompson's Petland store. "When I moved to Bakersfield in 1958 a man named Thompson owned the pet shop. Oddly he was from my hometown of Stevensville, Montana, where he had owned a little country grocery store south of town. That store was previously owned by my uncle, Floyd Millikan. He ran the pet store for several years but I don't know when he sold it, nor what happened to him. Yes, everyone with children went in to look at the animals. Sort of like an early petting zoo."

 * ... FOX BIRTHDAY: The majestic Fox Theater is about to celebrate an important birthday: its 80th. The theater Foundation is planning to celebrate the birthday with a showing of the musical "Maggie" on November, 12, 13 and 14. Tickets are $25 and on sale by Vallitix (661-322-5200).

 * ... MONTGOMERY WARD: Received a nice hand written note from Sal Cruz, a 73-year-old Delano resident who remembers buying shoes in Bakersfield at the old Montgomery Ward stores and "having my feet X-Rayed to assure a good fit."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: Jenifer Pitcher is but 24 years old and working on her master's at CSUB, but she has her own memory of "old" Bakersfield.. "You know you're from Bakersfield if you remember the Big Green Monster water slide at the water park (I think it was on White Lane, but I was really young so I can't quite remember.)"

It's a trip down memory lane as readers recall the old La Cresta air park, the early days of BHS and home delivered donuts

 * ... LA CRESTA: Turns out a lot of folks have a connection with the old La Cresta air park, once located up on the Panorama Bluffs near Bakersfield College. John Bresnahan was the latest to weigh in on a bit of our history. "I learned to fly out of Kern County Airfield in 1945 and received my license in 1946.  Shortly thereafter, I noticed the construction of La Cresta airfield, and upon its completion I moved my PT 19 to La Cresta because I lived in the immediate area. I was 16 at the time and my dad and I flew out of La Cresta into 1949.  I met Jim French, and even flew my Fairchild to Arvin on two occasions to swamp for Steve Straub. My flying buddy at the time was Jim Bowers, and he parked his BT 15 next to me just beyond the Gas Island. I remember the P40 that Monte bought and sold to the Mexican Air Force (I was told)... In 1949 Jim discovered cracks in my Fairchild and that ended that. When I found out that they tore it apart and sold the parts, I was crushed. I would have stored it all of these years just to have it, but I was away at school at the time and only discovered the frame much later in a gully south of the hanger. Thanks for your Blog in the Californian."

 * ... FIRST FIVE: Good to hear that Jamie Henderson has been appointed executive director of the First Five Commission. Henderson spent 12 years as superintendent of the Rosedale Union School District and has impeccable credentials. He'll be a good addition to First Five, which suffered a soiled reputation under former director Steve Ladd's controversial spending practices. The commission doles out tobacco tax money for programs that benefit kids.

 * ... JOE GARONE: Reader Donna Calanchini dropped me a note to recall her father, Joe Garone, who had a lasting impact on our community. While student body president of Bakersfield High in the late 1930s, apparently Joe helped implement the closure of F Street to public traffic through the middle of campus, feeling it was a safety issue. Donna said her father was later a farmer and grocery store owner in Greenfield, helped establish the first Post Office there and later co-founded Greenfield State Bank in 1952. "My sister Judy was born the same year and had saving account #1. Greenfield State Bank later became California Republic Bank which then merged with First Interstate Bank which was eventually acquired by Wells Fargo Bank." Thanks for sharing that bit of our history, Donna.

 * ... YUMMY DONUTS: A random bittersweet comment from reader Margie Prichard: "Reading about Wayne's Dairy reminded me of the Yummy Donuts mom used to treat us girls to through Wayne's home delivery. I can still smell the delicious aroma. My memory was also brought to focus on the day of President Kennedy's assassination. I rode my banana seat bicycle to meet up with my high school sister (sporting a French roll hair do) walking home, crying and crying over the sad event. Thanks for all the walks through memory lane, both happy and sad."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: From my regular contributor Riley Parker: You know you're a Bakersfield old-timer if  "you remember when the Bakersfield Inn was a fun place to visit as a kid so that you could walk on the 'Bakersfield sign' overpass."

A shootout at Jastro Park leaves one dead, and Hollywood's obsession with narcissism

  

* ... BAD BEHAVIOR: Nothing like a half dozen police cars screaming by your house and a helicopter hovering overhead with a floodlight to get your attention. This was downtown, early Saturday evening, and I followed the sirens to Jastro Park where paramedics were busy trying to save the life of a gunshot victim. Turns out a group of African-American families were winding up their picnic when a confrontation ensued with a group of Hispanic men on the other side of the park. "Everything was okay and then someone pulled a gun," one woman told me. "Must have been five or six shots. We had 50 babies here and we just got them out of the way." Police said the Hispanic man was shot twice and later died. Let's hope this isn't a prelude to a bloody Labor Day weekend. Meanwhile, reader Bonnie Farrer sent me a few pictures of Hart Park, totally trashed after weekend picnickers chose to ignore the trash bins and just leave their garbage on the ground. And so it goes.

  * ... LA CRESTA: More reader feedback on the old air field that was located between Bakersfield College and Greenlawn Mortuary and Cemetery in La Cresta. Brian Landis sent me a note saying he researched it at the Beale Library a few years back and recalled it was built during or just after World War I by the Army Signal Corps. "In the early bi-plane days planes had limited range so numerous strips were built up-and-down the west coast. Every single day in the 1920s the Air Corps would go on patrols along the coast. The La Cresta strip was used basically as a safe place to land when needed and to refuel. I do believe, if I remember correctly, even the legendary Hap Arnold flew from La Cresta. Why were bi-planes patrolling the coast daily, especially here in Kern County? The newly created Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve would be a valuable target to an enemy attack potentially crippling the Navy's ability to defend the coastline. If somehow an attack were mounted by a sea-borne dirigible or float plane they could intercept it further away from the enemy's objective. Japan was seen, even then, as a military threat and very imperialistic after recent and unprovoked wars with China in 1895 and Russia in 1904. The La Cresta strip was also the first home of the Bakersfield Smokers holding drag races until encroaching home development led them to an auxiliary strip near Maricopa, then finally to the Famoso strip in 1954."

 * ... OVERHEARD: A middle aged man remarking on the movie 'Eat Pray Love' starring Julia Roberts: "Fifteen million people are out of work and Hollywood produces a narcissistic, self-indulgent movie about a rich woman trying to find herself. They should have made this in 2004."

 * ... QUARRY: More feedback on the old quarry at the Kern River and the 24th Street Bridge. Jerry Sutliff, a member of West Rotary, noted that he too nearly drowned there in 1946 when he was just 10 years old. "My friend, Jimmy Gleason, and I had to extract ourselves while our adult 'supervisors' were sitting across the river drinking beer. Sometimes I get a chill when I cross the 24th Street bridge." Another reader, JOSCO Construction owner Larry Sughrue, said he plastered a lot of sand out of the quarry. "The holes were dredged by Hartman Concrete. That was around 1948-1950."

 * ... PETLAND: I never visited Thompson's Petland downtown but from the amount of feedback I have been getting, it must have been a popular place. Patti Bailey wrote that it was owned by a Mrs. Pierucci. "An interesting note is that her son, Greg Pierucci, owns Advanced Automotive, corner of 22nd Street and M Street downtown, He has been our mechanic for 18 years, long before he owned Advanced Auto, and he is the best. He is honest, generous and knows his business!"

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're a Bakersfield  old-timer if  "you were standing in Elm Grove at BHS when they announced that President Kennedy had been assassinated.

The Padre Hotel promises a red carpet grand opening and Mary K. Shell looks back at La Cresta Airfield

*  ... PADRE OPENING: Mark your calendars for Thursday, September 30, when the newly renovated Padre Hotel will celebrate its official grand opening. Owner Brett Miller is promising a red carpet gala that will long be remembered. He's selling 700 tickets at $125 each which gets you into the door and includes all food and drinks as well as a lot of extras like free photographs of yourself in front of iconic Padre images. There will be live entertainment and a "casino" night on the outdoor second floor restaurant lounge. A part of the proceeds from the event will go to benefit the new pediatrics care unit at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital. Call the Padre to reserve your tickets. There also are package deals if you want to make a night of it and stay at the hotel.

 * ... LA CRESTA AIRFIELD: Received a nice note from Mary K. Shell, one of our community's prominent citizens and our city's first woman mayor. She recalled the old La Cresta Airfield (not air park, she corrected me) up on Panorama Drive between Bakersfield College and Greenlawn Mortuary and Cemetery. "Right after World War II I worked at the Kern County Airport and in 1947 moved over to La Cresta Airfield on the bluffs. It was owned by Ralph Smith and partners, but managed by John G. 'Monte' Montijo, a former P-51 pilot who saw combat in the European Theater. Flight training was one of the opportunities under the GI bill so flight schools sprung up all over, including at La Cresta.... Almost all of the pilots for Atwood Crop Dusters, based at La Cresta, were veterans of WWII including Bill Jukes and Steve Straub who had flown for the Royal Canadian Air Force, as well as Jim French, a highly decorated Navy pilot. There was no control tower. You just used your eyes to land and take off when it was safe. One great advantage at La Cresta was when you took off toward the northwest you had an immediate increase in altitude as you flew over the bluffs. I was young and it was fun to work there."

* ... OLD MEMORIES: Does anyone out there remember a little cafe called the Belly Full? According to 85-year-old Betty Isaacs, the cafe was located at the southeast corner of California and Union avenues prior to the construction of the Bakersfield Inn. Betty's family owned a service station and grocery store and there was an apartment over the store where the family lived. There was also a blacksmith shop just east of the store on California where folks would bring their horses to be shod. She wonders if there is anyone left who remembers the place.

 * ... ENGAGEMENT: It was nice to run into old friend Ken Carter the other day, even if it was at the funeral of former Judge Joseph Noriega. Ken shared with me the happy news that he is getting married next month over on the coast. His fiance is Renee Cherie Redmond, who works as a marketing representative for Old Republic Home Warranty. Ken is the owner of Watson Realty Co. and is involved in many community activities, including the downtown Rotary Club. Ken's father, former Bakersfield resident Warren Carter, will officiate at the wedding on September 8.

 * ... LAW SCHOOL: David Partida, son of Armando Partida, just completed his first year at Columbia Law School and is on the staff of the Columbia Law Review. David graduated from Bakersfield Christian High School and then the University of Notre Dame. Thanks to Rick Isle of American National Insurance for alerting me to this high achieving youngster.

* ... WACKY WORLD: One of the nuttier areas of our community has to be downtown in the block between the Greyhound Bus terminal and the old Post Office. You've got the downtown homeless denizens with their mangy dogs on rope leashes, the lost souls who pace along the sidewalks having animated conversations with invisible partners, and the scary looking parolees in white tee shirts who get off the buses and blend into the community. Sometimes entertaining and sometimes alarming, but always there.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: From reader Riley Parker: You know you're a Bakersfield old timer if "you ate apple pie at Tiny's for 35 cents and went to Saturday afternoon movies at the Tejon Theater for a nickel."

Steak dinners for $1.50 at the Bakersfield Inn and the community says farewell to the late judge Joe Noriega

* ... LAW SCHOOL: It was nice to hear from Kerry McGill that his son, Phillip, has decided on attending law school at the University of San Diego. I met Kerry while appearing on the  "Moneywise Guys" radio show (KERN 1180 AM), where he is one of the hosts. Phillip graduated from Stockdale High School and then UC Irvine and ended up with a number of law school scholarship offers (including one from the University of Notre Dame) but decided the lure of staying in California was just too great. Hats off to this high achieving youngster.


 * ... NORIEGA FUNERAL: The community gave a proper send off Thursday to Joseph Noriega, the former judge who died of cancer last week at the age of 81. Monsignor Craig Harrison presided over the Catholic service at St. Francis Church, which drew a large crowd of community leaders. Among those attending were District Attorney candidate Lisa Green and husband Jeff, community activist Sheryl Barbich, Superior Court Judge Gary Freidman, defense attorney H.A. Sala, local businessman and attorney Tony Leggio, John Brock Jr., Watson Realty president Ken Carter, local attorney Steve Clifford, Bruce and Jane Haupt and businessman Ed Shuler and wife Colleen. Noriega served as a judge for five years but is also known for helping found one of our community's premier insurance defense firms, Clifford and Brown.

* ... BAKERSFIELD INN: A reader sent me a menu from the old Bakersfield Inn on Union Avenue, once one of our city's premier restaurants. There's no date on it but it apparently was printed during World War II because it includes a note about many employees being gone serving in the military. The hotel's signature New York sirloin steak went for $2, halibut was 85 cents, salads were around 80 cents and two pork chops (including potatoes and rolls) went for 80 cents. Breakfast? Poached eggs on toast cost 65 cents, bacon or cheese omelette was 50 cents and a cup of coffee was a dime.

 * ... CRIME WATCH: Heard from a Northwest resident fed up with petty crime in her area. "We get hit almost every night - Coffee, Olive, Hageman, Patton - they take everything that's not nailed or glued down in your car and they go through your car like they are on some kind of scavenger hunt ... chap stick, hair scrunchies, cheap sun glasses. Whether you locked your car or not, whether you locked your garage door or not, whether you locked your front or side door or not. Nothing like waking up to hear someone was in your home while you were sleeping. I think the security watch signs should say 'Welcome to our neighborhood. Take all you want. Let's not be strangers. Come back anytime ya hear!'"

 * ... MORE OLD TIMES: Dena (Chase) Duty, born and raised here, wrote to share some special memories of Bakersfield. "As a family we would go to Woody's Toy Circus on Ming Avenue and I remember picking out a set of clackers and my mother bought me my first 'grown up' pair of bell bottom pants from Newbury's when I was around 10 years old. I have lived in other states (Scottsdale, Az., Colorado Springs, Co.) and while I appreciate their beauty and uniqueness, I am so happy to be living back here in Bakersfield, my home. Your (column) ... puts a smile on my face. Thanks for letting me share and keep the 'Bakersfield Memory' chain going. Love it!" And thanks to you, Dena.

 * ... AIR PARK: Earlier this week I mentioned the fact that there was once a small air strip (called La Cresta Air Park) up on the Panorama Bluffs between Bakersfield College and Greenlawn Mortuary and Cemetery. One reader, Gary Denny, emailed to tell me he not only remembers the air park but also recalls that it would occasionally be used for drag races.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're a Bakersfield old timer if you "remember when Kern City was the newest part of town."

Local kid heads to Oregon to work for Republican congressional hopeful and a photography show worth seeing

 * ...MID-TERM ELECTIONS: Looks like Robby McCarthy, one of the young guns in the office of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (not related), is leaving to become the finance director for a Republican running for an important Oregon congressional district. Robby will be on temporary leave to work for Scott Bruun (check out his website here) who is running against one-term incumbent Kurt Schrader in Oregon's 5th Congressional District. This is a big race for the Republicans as they try to exploit the economic malaise and President Obama's weaknesses in the mid-term elections. Robby is the son of Judi McCarthy, head of the Kern Community Foundation, and Rob McCarthy, owner and founder of Lightspeed Systems. He graduated from Garces Memorial High School and then the University of Southern California in 2006. He will return to the Bakersfield Republican congressman's office after the November elections.

 * ... AIR PARK: How many of you knew there used to be a small air strip up on Panorama Drive? Old timers will remember the La Cresta Airpark located between what is now Greenlawn Mortuary and Cemetery and Bakersfield College. The runway was situated almost perpendicular to Panorama Drive, meaning small planes taking off or landing sometimes had to fly over the bluffs. Houses now sit on the old air park land.

 * ... AIR FORCE: Nice to hear that Foothill High graduate Edward Ramirez has graduated from the Air Force Academy and is headed to Arizona for flight school. He is the son of Ruben and Virginia Ramirez. If you remember, Ruben was the long time wrestling coach at Arvin High School who died in 2000 of complications of a 1982 car wreck.  

* ... ART SHOW: If you've got the mid-summer blues, stop by The Padre Hotel to catch a show of some outstanding photography in the hotel's Farmacy Cafe. It's the work of Fred Castillo, a Bakersfield native who left town but returned in 2004 to help care for his ailing father. There will be about 14 prints on display of various sizes, all of them capturing the special mood, flavor and taste of our community. There is a stunning sunset shot of Fox Theatre and some interesting landscapes. The show opens Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and is sponsored by Don Martin's Metro Galleries, which consistently sponsors some of the best art seen in our town for years. (not all of the shots shown below will be on display)

 * ... WHERE'S WESTCHESTER? My earlier post about a burglary on 20th Street in Westchester drew this response from Geraldine Sproul: "As I have stated before many times, Westchester is located north of 24th Street. This area was developed in the late 1940s after World War II. I was living here then and well remember it. I live in Westchester as I am north of 24th Street. I am sorry to say ... 20th Street is not in Westchester."

* ... UNION AVENUE: Reader Donna Garone Calanchini dropped a note to recall "attending children's birthday parties at the old Carnation Ice Cream plan on Union Avenue in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Other fascinations on Union Avenue in those days were, of course, the Bakersfield sign stretching across the highway and the roundness of the Saddle 'n Sirloin building."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: From reader Esther Brandon: You know you're from Bakersfield when "a fellow customer at Blockbuster spits on the floor while browsing the slasher flics."