Check out the Women Art Exhibit at "First Friday" and recognizing four women who enrich our community

 * ... ART SHOW: It's time for another "First Friday" downtown and with this weather we have been having, you don't want to miss it. Downtown will be alive so grab some dinner and then make the rounds of the art galleries and other shops. Make sure you catch the first "Women Art Exhibit" at Metro Galleries on 19th Street, featuring the work of local artist Barbara Reid and several other fine artists, including Betty Hock, Bonnie Hineline-Kempner, Gita Lloyd, Heidi Rufeh and Lily Stockman. Gallery owner Don Martin always puts on a good show this one is worth seeing. Then make sure to support our locally owned restaurants (Uricchio's, Mama Roomba's, La Costa Mariscos, Mexicali, Casa Munoz, Cafe Med among others) or the renaissance of the privately owned Padre Hotel and grab a bite.

  

* ... DENATALE LAW: I received a nice post from Tom DeNatale, one of the partners over at Klein, DeNatale and Goldner. Turns out his two daughters are both following in his footsteps. His oldest girl, Erin, just graduated (Magna Cum Laude) from the Whittier College of Law. She attended high school at Stockdale and earned her undergraduate degree from CSU San Marcos. Meanwhile his younger daughter Shannon, a graduate of Liberty High School and UC Santa Barbara, graduated (Cum Laude) from the law school at Santa Clara University. 

 * ... HEAT WAVE: Are you ready for the heat? After a spring that was richer, fuller and sweeter than usual,  we're looking at temperatures in the 90s this weekend and north of 100 on Monday. The heat has been knocking at our door, so get ready for it.


 * ... SCARY ROAD: Reader Marty Richardson called to warn cyclists about the dangers of riding on the Granite to Glennville road. I had blogged earlier about the driver of a late-model maroon Ford pickup who takes delight in almost hitting cyclists by refusing to pull to the left even when the road is wide open and clear. Marty lives in Bakersfield but has had property in Glennville for years. "You guys just shouldn't be on that road. It has no shoulder and it's just too scary. I don't want to hurt you and I don't want to get hurt." My view: let's all use our heads and share the road so we all can enjoy the beauty of Woody and Glennville.


 * ... FOUR WOMEN: It's always nice to see good things happen to good people, so I was happy to learn that four local women will be honored by Garden Pathways as "Women with a Heart for Bakersfield" They include Kim Albers, Cathy Butler, Susan Hersberger and Dayna Nichols. They'll be honored at a "High Tea" at Seven Oaks Country Club  on Wednesday, June 9. Albers is co-founder and director of Flood Bakersfield Ministries, which helps the homeless, and Cathy Butler is the longtime president of the Downtown Business Association. Susan Hersberger is public affairs director of Aera Energy and also a long-time civic activist, and Dayna Nichols is CEO of Castle Print and Publication which regularly gives back to the community. Proceeds from the event will provide mentoring and educational services for youth and families facing poverty. Interested? Call Karen Goh at 661-633-9133. (Seen below are Nichols, Butler, Albers and Hersberger)

, First

* ... BAKERSFIELDISM: This one from reader Terry Willey: "You know you're from Bakersfield when you remember when summer heaven was a swamp cooler and a popsicle."

The Tour of California prepares to sweep into Bakersfield and Big Mike Ariey returns to Garces High School

 * ... AMGEN TOUR: This is your final reminder to get out and watch the Amgen Tour of California bicycle race sweep through Bakersfield and up the Panorama Bluffs Thursday afternoon. This is a world class event featuring some of the world's best pro cyclists, including Lance Armstrong, Mark Cavendish, George Hincapie and so many others. The finish to this Stage 5 event will happen sometime between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. up on Panorama Drive in front of Bakersfield College. If you want to ride your bike to the event, Bike Bakersfield will have free valet parking for bikes up near the corner of Mount Vernon and Panorama. Simply check your bike in, enjoy the race and then pick it up by 4 p.m. A free "lifestyle festival" will get under way around noon and end at the finish of the stage.

 * ... HIGH DRAMA: Lots of drama around town as high school seniors get ready to walk across the stage to enter the next phase of their lives. It's always a stressful and exciting time for these seniors and their parents. I've heard of kids acting up (usually alcohol is involved) and being disciplined in the final weeks of school and others mentally checking out in bad cases of "senioritis." My advice: even good kids make bad decisions and they'll all pull through it. Time to leave high school and move on.

 * ... HERSBERGER KIDS: Good news for local residents Rod and Susan Hersberger, whose two children are both about to complete their MBA degrees. Mark is about to graduate from San Diego State and sister Kate Greenberg will get her advanced degree from UCLA on June 11. Both have undergraduate degrees from UCLA. Mark works in the corporate office of UPS in San Diego and Kate works for Disney Consumer Products in Burbank.  Mom Susan is director of public affairs at Aera Energy and dad Rod is the dean of the University Library at Cal State Bakersfield.

 * ... HARVARD LAD: Heard from local jeweler Gordon Wickersham that his son Greg will receive a master's degree in school policy from Harvard University at the end of this month. Greg graduated from UCLA and has been teaching English as a second language in the Atlanta school system.

 * ... BIG MIKE: Nice to hear that Mike Ariey, "Big Mike" to his friends, is returning to coach the freshman football team at Garces Memorial  High School. A product of Garces High and then San Diego State, Ariey played professional football with the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers and was instrumental in establishing the freshman program at Garces in the late 1990s. "I love working with these kids and I'm thrilled to be going back," he told me. "It's like going home." Ariey owns a barbeque and catering business.

 * ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Joyce Hobbs wrote to welcome home grandson Brian Mercado after two tours of duty in Iraq. Brian, his wife Veronica and their three children flew from Germany to LAX and will be home a month before heading to Fort Bliss, Texas. Veronica was also in Iraq on a tour of duty. "Brian was injured more than twice, fighting for our freedom, and I am so proud of him," Hobbs said. "Today is his 29th birthday, and he will be celebrating in Vegas on the 20th, and the 21st. Could you wish him  happy birthday?  Thanks so much- a proud grandmother." Welcome home, soldier.
 
 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: This from reader Will Winn: "You must be from Bakersfield if you remember when there used to be two monuments at the Circle -- Father Garces and Chief Fire Water."

Out and about: a night at the Museum with the Kern Adult Literacy Council

Spent a lovely evening at the Bakersfield Museum of Art for an event for the Kern Adult Literacy Council. Few places spruce up as nicely as the museum for an informal event featuring a silent auction. Lisa Borda provided the finger food (delicious as usual) and Croad Vineyards provided the wine. The event was held to honor Ginger Moorhouse, publisher of The Californian and my boss who has been quite generous to the Literacy Council. Ginger could not make it because she was at UCLA Medical Center tending to husband John, to whom Ginger donated a kidney. John came down with Valley Fever after the transplant and he is on the mend. These events are always great venues to see folks: School Superintendent Larry Reider and wife Sandra were there, as were AGM radio group owner Rogers Brandon and his wife Esther, banker Bart Hill, (that's Rogers and Bart in the photo) Bridget Blackburn, my old friend Jan St. Pierre snapping photos, Community College District Chancellor Sandra Serrano, museum director Bernie Herman, Area communications director Susan Hersberger and of course a host of Californian folks including editor Mike Jenner and wife Jean, sales VP John Wells and wife Karen, HR VP Nancy Chaffin and new Content VP Olivia Garcia. The wine from Croad Vineyards was excellent.

Also had the pleasure of meeting Talia Anders, daughter of Dr. Alpha Anders and wife Avital, who last year graduated from prestigious Williams College in Williamstown, Mass. She's thinking of grad school. Another high achieving youngster there was Clarise Hammett, who is headed to an intensive French program at Middlebury College in Vermont after a couple years with the Peace Corps in Africa.

Southwest Baseball's Aera Park to open in April

Here's some welcome good news: that long-planned mega baseball park in the Southwest is set to open in April. If you recall this is "Aera Park," so named because of Aera Energy's generous donation of $250,000 to help the Southwest Baseball organization realize its dream. (the donation actually came from Kern Community Foundation via funds donated by Aera) Our town is sorely in need of improved facilities for our kids (soccer and baseball most prominently) so this will be a huge boost. There will be eleven baseball diamonds located behind Riverwalk off Jewetta and Stockdale Highway. Rob Noriega, a local attorney and VP of Southwest Baseball, filled me in over lunch and said Aera Park will be city owned but that his organization will run it on contract for 15 years. Southwest Baseball, which serves about 1,500 kids, will get priority and other groups can use the facilities by scheduling through Noriega's group. Three folks have been working diligently to make this happen: Rob, Aera communications chief Susan Hersberger and Duane Keathley, president of the baseball group.