Is Bakersfield a destination home for millennials? Judi McCarthy pledges $400,000 to the Women's and Girl's Fund and we hear the story behind the parakeets in town

Friday, May 3, 2019

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this such a special to live. Send your tips to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... MILLENIAL LOVE: What kind of cities attract millennials? If you didn't guess Bakersfield, you would be wrong. That's right, Bakersfield recently made a top 10 list of destination cities for millennials. Published by the National Association of Realtors, Bakersfield

joined nine other metro areas that are attracting young job-seekers like never before. The reasons: a robust job market and the low cost of housing. Other factors: tons of live music and the history of the Bakersfield Sound, and terrific family run restaurants and Basque food.

 * ... KERN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: Hats off to Judi McCarthy who made a very generous donation to the Women's and Girl's Fund (part of the Kern Community Foundation) to improve the lives of young women in our community. McCarthy was one of the founders of the fund but has since moved to Austin, Texas, but her heart remains here and she returned for a luncheon at Seven Oaks to make a special announcement. McCarthy pledged $400,000 for a two-for-one matching grant for every dollar contributed to the Women's and Girl's Fund. That's right, a $400,000 pledge with the hope of bringing the fund to a balance north of $2 million.

 * ... PARAKEETS: Did you know Bakersfield is home to thousands of wild green parakeets? If you live downtown, this will come as no surprise. They are commonly spotted not only in the downtown and Westchester neighborhoods but in Oleander as well. It was good to see that Valley Public Radio sent a reporter to Bakersfield, who spotted the wild birds in Beale Park. Read the report here. An excerpt from the report: "To find out I met with someone who’s studied this population of birds for decades. Alison Sheehey is Master Naturalist who focuses on the Southern Sierra and Kern County. She says it all started with a weather event. 'In 1977 there was a huge windstorm that hit,” Sheehey says. “The winds were in excess of 100 miles an hour and it blew apart an aviary, the Happy Bird Aviary." Two breeding pairs of the birds escaped. “There were a lot of other birds that escaped, but it seemed like the Rose-ringed parakeets were the only ones that successfully started breeding,” Sheehey says. Almost 40 years later the birds are thriving in Bakersfield because of the similar temperature and precipitation to India where they’re from. Sheehey estimates there are 3,000 living under the protection of palm fronds at night. By day these birds roam the city hunting for nuts, stone fruit and flowers to eat. Sheehey doesn’t think these birds will leave the city limits even though they are agricultural pests in other counties.

* ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Hey how come when Spider-Man shoots web from his hands, he's called a hero and when I shoot white stuff at someone, they call the cops. Is it because I'm brown?"

 * ... MORE SPOTTED: "Just saw a woman with a 'Dog Mom' bumper sticker. And while the kid in the back seat wasn’t great looking, I still thought it was kinda harsh."

 * ... ARNOLD: Remember a couple years ago when it was revealed that Arnold Schwarzenegger had an affair and his love-child son was living in Bakersfield? Well the boy is all grown up and recently graduated from Pepperdine University. Here is a photo of his son, Joseph, and Arnold on graduation day. Check out the resemblance.

 * ...MEMORIES: How about this old picture from "two bit" hill in the Taft oil fields?

Toyota says adios to California and heads to Texas, but is anyone in Sacramento listening? And more on the envisioned new grand park in Bakersfield out near the Kern River

 * … TOYOTA: The decision by Toyota to move its headquarters from Torrance to Texas should be a wakeup call for California lawmakers, who have a well earned anti-business reputation. Toyota

executives cited Texas' business friendly climate and the fact that the state has no personal income tax. Said Allan Zaremberg, head of the California Chamber of Commerce: "… In California, excessive litigation, overregulation, and high taxes are factors for both the employer and the employees in making location decisions."

 * … INJURY: A couple who used to live in Bakersfield were among seven people injured in Santorini, Greece, last weekend during a Resurrection procession. Vikki and Chris Presmyk were part of a crowd in a church yard when a home-made firework exploded next to them. Vikki suffered serious abdominal injuries and underwent surgery. Chris suffered burns on his face and legs. Apparently they are both recovering. Chris, who works for Schlumberger, and Vikki both had strong local ties to our community during their years in Bakersfield. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks to reader Donna Thompson for passing along this information.

* … CANYONS: A small correction is in order regarding the purchase of the 850 acres of uplands and bluffs out at Hart Park designated as a new grand park. I wondered about the increasing use of off road motorcycles in the area, but it appears that kind of use has been prohibited for at least 10 years. Said

hiker and local activist Michelle Beck: "When the Specific Trails Plan for the area was being put together, it was determined by the city and by the property owners that motorized vehicles were not a compatible use. OHV users were in attendance at these meetings, and the majority of them obeyed the rules and have been riding other places instead. Since the issue was settled long ago, there should be no reason for a 'dust up' when the property becomes a habitat preserve. If all goes well and the property is acquired, hopefully everyone will rally around and help with the clean-up of trash and the restoration of the plants and grasses. It has the potential to be another beloved jewel in Bakersfield's crown like the Kern River Parkway and Panorama Vista."

* … MORNING CHUCKLE: This morning chuckle comes compliments from a neighbor downtown. "I was out whacking weeds in the alley and rested a cold longneck on top of one of my green waste containers while I was working about 50 feet away. Two guys in an old Chevy or Ford pickup drive slowly down the alley and stopped next to the green waste container. The passenger rolls down the window and reaches for my beer. I yelled at them. They rolled the window back up and drove slowly past me while I was lecturing them on the fine points of weed whacking beer etiquette. They wouldn’t make eye contact or or roll the window back down. Is nothing sacred any more?"

 * … QUIG'S: The Garces Circle downtown has never smelled better since Quig's BBQ and Catering opened on the corner. At noon, the aroma of fresh barbecue fills the air for blocks.

 * … HIGH ACHIEVER: Hats off to Emily Bloom, a junior at Bakersfield High School who has been accepted to the Viterbi School of Engineering at USC to study petroleum engineering this summer.  She is the daughter of Peter and Karen Bloom. Said her proud mother:  "The Bloom family has suffered tremendous loss and tragedy, but through it all, Emily’s light persistently shines."

 * … GIRLS FUND: The Women's and Girl's Fund has given out another $30,000 in grants in the area of education and training. Among the recipients were Dress for Success Bakersfield at $7,000, Youth 2 Leaders Education Foundation at $8,000, and the Kern Adult Literacy Council at $15,000.
The ever gracious Joan Dezember received the 2014 Women Defining Philanthropy Award for 2014. Also recognized with the same award were Isabella and Sophia Busacca, two high achieving youngsters who along with their brother Anthony started the non profit Dreamn Catchers program at Liberty High School. The Women's and Girl's Fund is part of the Kern Community Foundation which was established in 1999. The Foundation now has more than 100 charitable fund with assets of more than $18 million

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Former House Ways and Means Committee chairman Bill Thomas to appear on First Look to talk what is going on in Washington, and Bakersfield rallies around the St. Vincent de Paul homeless center

* ... THOMAS: The ongoing stalemate in Washington that has shut down the government has left the country dismayed and plunged the popularity of Congress to an all-time low. What got us to the point, and why has Congress seemingly lost the ability to cooperate to get things done? Those are some of the questions I will be addressing with former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas when he appears as my guest on First Look with Scott Cox. The show will air at 9 a.m. Tuesday on KERN NewsTalk 1180 and will be broadcast live on bakersfield.com.

 * ... HOMELESS: Bakersfield loves to rally around a good cause, and last week it was the St. Vincent de Paul homeless center that benefitted from our community's generosity. More than 800 people showed up last Thursday to dine on Gary Icardo-cooked steaks to raise money for the Baker Street center, a turnout that came as a pleasant surprise to event chairwoman Deborah Leary. "It was a perfect night and we were all thrilled," she said. The center serves breakfast and lunch for the homeless, as well as providing showers and other essentials.

 * ... BIRTHDAY: Hank Pfister, longtime tennis pro at Stockdale Country Club, celebrated his 60 birthday this weekend in typical Pfister style. He convinced a group of 32 cyclists to ride into the Sequoias for a grueling, 106-mile ride. In exchange for his family providing food at rest stops, each rider wrote checks to support Links for Life.

* ... GIRLS' FUND: If you run a nonprofit and your focus is on educating local women and girls, The Women's and Girls' Fund is planning a new round of funding in 2014 for the right programs. The fund is a leadership initiative of the Kern Community Foundation and expects to award at least $25,000 to local nonprofit charitable organizations in 2014. The focus should be on literacy, educational attainment, dropout prevention, high school graduation, college prep or job skills training. The deadline for applications is Nov. 6. For more information go to www.kernfoundation.org.

 * ... CSUB: Make sure to mark your calendar for this Thursday, October 17, when Cal State Bakersfield will put on a tri tip fund raiser for the men's soccer team. The event will run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Lengthwise Brewing Company on Schirra Court. Former House Ways and Means Committee chairman Bill Thomas will help run a live auction to support the college soccer program.

* ... BAKERSFIELDISM: Reader Marsha Wiswall says you may be a Bakersfield old timer if you remember the drug stores run by Jules Reufener, who she described as "a most kind and unselfish man." She said Ruefener owned the drug store on the southeast corner of Baker and Sumner streets and also the one inside the Green Frog on Alta Vista. (He later had stores in Arvin, Lamont and Fresno.) "Each Halloween Jules was as happy as the revelers as he handed out Fleer double wrapped bubble gum. Inside were coveted cartoon strips. We would have contests who could blow the biggest bubbles."