Bako Bits: Recognizing more top scholars and the Petroleum Club is tapped to cater a Sarah Palin event

 ... COLLEGE BOUND: Yet another local youngster headed for college.
This comes from Kim Albers, Garden Pathways director, who said daughter Kristin has committed to Georgetown University. The senior at Bakersfield Christian High School was admitted to the School of Foreign Service for the fall.  Kirsten, a Ford Dream Builder, has served in both Kenya and China.  She hopes to pursue an international career striving to make the world a better place, her mom said. 

 ... PETRO CLUB: The staff of the Petroleum Club was selected to help cater an event at West Hills College featuring former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. According to club operations manager Lili Marsh, ´ápparently the reputation of the Petroleum Club precedes them.´ 'She said 19 staff memebers took the 100 mile trek to Lemoore on Sunday to serve the event.

 ... AWARD: Nice to hear that Kevin Crosby, a special education teacher at Independence High, has received a prestigious award from the Environmental Protection Agency. Kevin is a Falcon Autistic Solar Team advisor and won the Presidential Environmental Youth Award. An EPA official will be in Bakersfield May 19 to present the award and Kevin will fly to Washington, D.C. in June to accept it at a ceremony. He is a CSUB graduate with a masters from Chapman University.

 ... LOVE STORY: Reader Carl Kroll sent me a nice note to recall how he met the love of his life while stationed at Minter Field. ''I  was a captain in the Air Force flying missions in England and was stationed at Minter. I was from New York but I met and married the love of my life here, Venita Cassidy Kroll, and remained here to work and raise our family. I am now 89 years old and have fond memories of Bakersfield then.''


 .... MEMORIES: And some of those memories from Kroll are the watering holes in Bakersfield during World War II: Good Friends, El Adobe, Uptown Club, French Village and the Bakersfeld In. All had bands playing Sentimental Journey, Iĺl Be Seeing you in all  the Familiar Places and those great old tune, he said.

Sarah Palin and Bakersfield a dream team and a business born in the recession booms

 * .. LIKE THROWING RAW MEAT TO WOLVES: You have to hand it to George Martin, the local attorney who is bringing back the once wildly popular Bakersfield Business Conference. Martin scored it big by landing former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to be a headliner at the event, which is now scheduled for next October 9. Say what you will about Palin, but she is a red hot commodity right now and bringing her to Bakersfield's conservative audience is like throwing raw meat to a pack of hungry wolves. Meanwhile, no word yet on where the one-day conference will be held, but I hear Martin's first choice is the amphitheater at the Park at River Walk over off Stockdale Highway. The old venue over at Cal State Bakersfield appears to be out, partly because of the construction of the new student recreation center and the new bike path that winds around it.

 * ... A BUSINESS BORN IN THE RECESSION: If you're looking for some good news in the depth of this recession, consider Imbibe Wine and Spirits Merchants over off Truxtun Extension and Empire Drive. The business, owned and run by David and Tami Dobbs, is beautifully done and features a full wine store as well as a tasting area where you can sample wines by the ounce. The couple bought the building in July 2008, gutted and renovated it and opened Imbibe in March in the absolute depths of the recession. How are they doing? Tami tells me they are well ahead of their revenue goals and could not be happier with their growing clientele. The couple (she graduated from Bakersfield High and David from North High) spent 20 years in the wine business in Glendale before moving back in 2006 to be closer to family. This is a true entrepreneurial couple who built a business through sheer sweat equity against all odds in a recession. More power and all success to them.

* ... OFF TO HAITI: I saw Evan Evans, a local Allstate insurance manager, at Starbucks on 24th Street Monday morning where he regularly meets for coffee with his old high school pal Harry Starkey, head of the Berrenda Mesa Water District. Evans told me he was off to Haiti with 20 other members of the Olive Knolls Church of the Nazarene to build and work in a clinic. Apparently this is a 10-day trip and another example how many folks in this community give back in untold number of ways.

 * ... BOBBY'S BRIGADE FUND RAISER: If you're  looking for a good cause to support, drop over to B Ryder's sports grill this Thursday for an event supporting Relay For Life. The event is named for the son of CeCe Cross who lost his battle with leukemia. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door and includes trip-tip dinner, salad, beans, bread and a drink. B Ryder's is located at 7401 White Lane. Call CeCe Cross for details at 661-703-2050, or Vanessa Cierley at 661-246-8886. The event starts at 6 p.m.

 * ... RIP KURT YAEGER: I heard the other day that Kurt Yaeger, a local attorney who left town in the year 2000, had passed away in Riverside. Kurt and his wife Andrea Yaeger lived in Haggin Oaks and were avid golfers at Seven Oaks Country Club, where they were charter members and Kurt was the first head of the Board of Governors. Kurt was diagnosed with cancer three years ago and died at Loma Linda University Medical Center on November 10. He was 53. Keep Kurt, Andrea and their daughters Jacqueline and Elizabeth in your thoughts.