Roscoe Rolnick kicks off his annual shoes for the homeless drive, another new eatery for downtown Bakersfield and a little history of an old building being renovated

* … ROSCOE: Roscoe Rolnick has kicked off his 22nd annual Shoes for the Homeless Shoe Drive to benefit the Bakersfield Homeless Center. This is one of those under-the-radar events that has a huge impact: in 10 days he collects enough pairs of shoes to supply the homeless center for a year with

shoes. And check this out: over the last 21 years, the shoe drive has collected more than 55,000 pairs of shoes. Louis Gill, homeless center director, said shoes were the number one item requested. If you'd like to donate, drop the shoes off at Guarantee Shoe Center at 21st Street and Chester Avenue and receive $10 off your next purchase.

 * …  BUSINESS: And speaking of local businesses, the always popular White Forest Nursery is getting ready to celebrate 50 years as a family-run business. Owners Jeri and Rita White will hold a special celebration on Saturday, May 3, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be prizes, local vendor booths and try tip sandwiches for $5. It is hard to beat White Forest for its sheer size and selection, not to mention good prices.

* … SPOTTED: Posted on a friend's Facebook wall: "Is there anyone else interested in ruining my life this morning? Applications are being accepted until noon."

 * … EATS: Yet another new restaurant is getting ready to open downtown. It will be called City Grill and it will be located on Chester Avenue between 18th and 19th streets.

 * … BAD FORM: Who dumps a mattress in a park? Someone did up on Panorama Drive, leaving a dirty mattress in the small parking lot and overlook area across from the cemetery. Really? (Californian file photo)

  * … RUDY: Terrie Stoller outs at Sunridge Nurseries has authored a cute book about a throwaway dog who was abandoned on a Bakersfield road. She told me it's a true story that is told through the dog's eyes. Called "Rudy the Throwaway Mutt," the book is available on Amazon.  Reviews on Amazon praise the little guy's tenacity and character emphasizing the sadness felt by abandoned animals. Proceeds from the book are donated to the local NRA children's programs and the Free Roaming Felines in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

 * … MEMORIES: Elinor Grant is one of my pen pals and she is a walking encyclopedia on Bakersfield history. Regarding the building being renovated at the corner of 18th and Chester she said: "Before it became a restaurant it was another bank - Crocker National. When I was in grade school my fourth grade teacher arranged for her students to open bank accounts there with deposits of nickels and dimes. This was in the mid 1930s. After the bank moved to another location the building then became a restaurant."

Ten days after the Great American Cleanup and the city has yet to remove the collected trash, and how about some water in the river for the Tour of California

 * ... TRASH: Ten days ago hundreds of local volunteers spread across our community picking up trash as part of the Great American Cleanup Day. That was terrific, yet more than a week later much of the trash remained, particularly along the Kern River bike path where the once neatly stacked piles of black trash bags were trashed themselves by the homeless, animals and inclement weather. It's a shame it took more than a week to finally pick up the trash bagged by legends of volunteers.

* ... KERN RIVER: If the city would like to make amends, perhaps it can arrange to have water in the river during the upcoming Tour of California bicycle race. At least that's the idea of Frances Rosales, one of the owners of Happy Jack's restaurant downtown. "Why can't we have water flowing down the river when the Amgen Tour of California bike race is in town? We have friends coming from Napa and it would be great to see us at our best," she said. The tour will be in Bakersfield on Thursday, May 17, for the individual time trial competition. Some 30,000 spectators are expected to watch the time trial on the Panorama bluffs near Bakersfield College.

* ... SHOE DRIVE: Rosco Rolnick is at it again, helping those in need with his 20th annual "Shoes for the Homeless" campaign benefiting the Bakersfield Homeless Center. Rosco is president of Guarantee Shoe Center on Chester Avenue and has long been a supporter of our community. The shoe drive will conclude on May 6. Donations can be dropped off at Guarantee Shoe Center, KGET TV, Second Smile Denture Car, the Downtown School and at Four Seasons activity center. Donors will receive $10 off their next purchase of regularly priced shoes of $60 or more at Guarantee Shoe Center.

 * ... BOMB SHELTERS: My earlier post on the bomb shelter in Rick Kreiser's yard in College Heights brought this note from reader Carl R. Moreland. "In 1966, when we bought our first home on 21st Street from the former Kern County Museum Director Richard Bailey, it included a bomb shelter. When visitors first came the house, we always took them went down into the submarine-like shelter. Our children Margalo and Krista and their friends used it as an underground playhouse."

 * ... BOMB BAR: And then there was this note sent to me from Richard Diffee: "One more thing about bomb shelters. Old timers may remember a bar on Union Avenue near 8th Street during the 1940s called the Bomb Shelter. Patrons went there to get bombed."

 * ... WEBSTER WEBFOOT: I wrote earlier about the old television show called Webster Webfoot and Jimmy Weldon. It brought this response from reader Gary Higgins: "Jimmy is alive and well and living in North Hollywood. I was an avid fan of Webster Webfoot when I lived in Fresno in the 1950s.

* .... WHO KNEW? From the Vision 2020 Image Committee comes this: "Did you know there is a band called Brokedown in Bakersfield that pays homage to the Bakersfield Sound, which it says is 'California country music made raw and rocking, spiked with twang and sweetened with heartfelt harmonies.'