Bako Bits: Ashburn says he will step down from state board if he wins election to county supervisor, and a little history quiz courtesy of Mary Kay Shell

 * ... ASHBURN: Roy Ashburn has had a change of heart about remaining on a state board if he is successful in his race to serve as 1st District county supervisor again. Ashburn told me Tuesday that - if elected - he will step down from the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, an appointed position that earns him $129,000 a year. "I want to clear that up," he told me. "There has been some misunderstanding and I want people to know where I stand."

* ... MEXICALI:  Here's a trivia quiz for all your Bakersfield old timers. Before it became known as Mexicali, the downtown restaurant operated under the name Herb King's. Before it was Herb King's, what was it known as? The answer from former mayor Mary Kay Shell: "It was called the Drink-o-Link Drive In before Herb King took it over. Maybe Drinkolink was all one word. I can't remember!" (staff photo of Mary Kay Shell)

 * ... TRAIN: More reader input on the miniature train that used to ferry passengers at Hart Park. Leslie Torrigiana said it was her grandfather, J.M. Van Cleave, who built the train. "I don't know the year. My mother has told us many a fun family story that can't be repeated in the paper about train passengers. My mother and her siblings were at Hart Park the day the train took its first trip around the track.  There were many spectators as the train pulled away that day. The train took riders across a wooden bridge and through a dark tunnel. My grampa went every weekend to service the train and his family rode for free."

 * ... SPOTTED: A woman walking three small girls to Standard School is spotted wearing pajamas, a robe and slippers. Said Linda Welch: "I think some people carry casual Friday just a little too far."

 * ... CALORIES: Some interesting (and alarming) statistics on how Americans consume calories from The New York Times' Jane E. Brody. Brody noted that Americans are consuming billions of calories unwittingly and often between meals. For example, a Double Gulp 64-ounce cup of soda at a 7-Eleven has a full 800 calories, and some bagels now pack up to 600 calories. At one New York restaurant, a personal size pizza contained 2,100 calories, the amount "the average woman needs in a day." Is it any wonder we are a "full size" nation?

 * ... TAFT COLLEGE:  Sheri Horn Bunk, now executive director of the Taft College Foundation, tipped me off to a grand opening reception this Friday of the school's new Campus Art Gallery.  On display will be the works of two established artists, entitled 'Women Working' which will include watercolors by Nancy Dawson and sculpture by Betty Younger. It's open to the public and begins at 5 p.m. Bunk says there will be music and poetry readings and a "special dramatic surprise."

 * ... WHO KNEW?: Courtesy of the Kern Economic Development Corporation: "The statue of Father Garces on the Garces Circle was commissioned in 1939 by the Works Project Administration of the Great Depression. He was sculpted out of limestone by John Palo Kangas, who also did a sculpture of our beloved Colonel Baker."

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.)"