The Valley of Hope gala honors Rick Kreiser, Dr. Jasleen Duggal celebrates a birthday in style, and Via Arte wraps up its 21st annual event at The Marketplace

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 community such a special place. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not reflect the views of any other individual, organization or company. 

 * ... VALLEY OF HOPE: Congratulations to Adventist Health and its Valley of Hope weekend gala

that benefited the Valley of Hope Children's Foundation. More than 350 people gathered for the gala, which honored Rick Kreiser as one of his award recipients. Owner of Carney's Business Solutions and a man deeply involved in our community, Kreiser lost both his wife and one of his sons to cancer.

 * ... BLUE GOLD SCRIMMAGE: Make sure you check out Tuesday's annual Blue/Gold scrimmage out at the Icardo Center at CSUB when both the men's and women's basketball teams will kick off the season with a nite of dunks and high flying acrobatics. The 7 p.m event is free to the public and doors open at 6:50 p.m.

* ... FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Check out this post from my friend Lily Crommett-Marsh. Read it and weep: "So San Luis Obispo, population 6, (actually 47,000, with airports in Santa Maria and Santa Barbara) now has non stop flights to: LAS VEGAS ($99.00 one way- not entirely heinous), Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Seattle. Flights to SAN DIEGO and PORTLAND will begin next year.  And Kern, population 839,631, has next to nothing. What is going on. I know the airlines will go to the most lucrative markets, but what the heck are we doing wrong?????"

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Dear parents with teenagers: The bottle of vodka in your liquor cabinet is water."

 * ... BIRTHDAY: Dr. Jasleen Duggal, an endocrinologist from Bakersfield, celebrated her 40th birthday in style at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas with a few hundred friends and family. Duggal, known as 'Jazzy' to her friends, is married to local cardiologist Dr. Jeet Singh.

 * ... HOMELESS: Here is a random shot of one of our homeless using the public right of way as her own personal toilet. The caption read: "Off Highway 178 on Mt Vernon, panhandler taking a dump on the overpass where all can see him, as well as small kids."

 * ... VIA ARTE: The annual chalk art festival called Via Arte wrapped up this weekend, another successful venture by the Bakersfield Museum of Art held at The Marketplace on Ming Avenue. It was the 21st year of Via Arte. (photos courtesy of Jeanine Kraybill)

 * ... JUST FOR FUN: I saw this on social media, and it speaks volumes about how we view ourselves here in the Golden State.

 * ... MEMORIES: A couple more historic photos culled from the Facebook pages of Kern County of Old and Kern County History Fans.

Looking for Catholic parishioners? You will find them at Costco, at least according to a local monsignor, and get ready for the annual Via Arte out at The Marketplace

 * … VIA ARTE: Make sure you remember that Via Arte is set for this weekend over at The

Marketplace in the Southwest. This is always an amazing experience as chalk artists line up to show off their talents in the parking lot. The event is free, of course, and it runs all day on Saturday and Sunday.

 * … SPOTTED: A roadside sign has this inspirational message: "You have never really lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you."

 * … OVERHEARD: A one-liner from Monsignor Craig Harrison: "I love Costco. I see more parishioners there then at church."

* … GOOD FORM: Tonya Grier was impressed when her son, who attends West High, found that someone had hit his car but left a nice note on the windshield. It stated 'I hit your car and I am soooo sorry, I had to go to work, but here is my number, call me so we can exchange info. Sara.' "The damage wasn't too bad, so I wanted to call the young lady and thank her for having integrity and good values by leaving a note, and also inform her that I know she is a student, so don't worry about it, best success in her future for doing the right thing.," said Grier. "(But) The number was disconnected! I was so angry, and she didn't leave her last name. I told my son, we will pray for her, God sees all."

 * … KIWANIS: If you want to support a good cause while enjoying some vintage cars, head to Olive Knolls Church of the Nazarene this Saturday to enjoy a car show sponsored by the Oildale Kiwanis Club. Ralph Korn told me proceeds from the show go to help needy youngsters.

 * … SERVICE: Another tip of the hat to a local company that provides excellent customer service. This time it's the folks over at Stability Home Access, who dropped what they were doing to install a grab bar in the bathroom of Jim Murphy who had just been released from UCLA Medical Center after leg surgery. Thanks to Jim's wife, Connie, for sharing her story.

* … MEMORIES: Warren E. Pechin, a local architect, shared with me this walk down memory lane regarding the old Golden Crust Bakery. "I actually worked at the bakery before school started the spring semester of my senior year at Bakersfield High School and for about five summers afterwards except for the summer of 1967 when I was in summer school at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo taking architecture classes. The bakery was owned by George Martini and employed about 60 people producing the products of the bakery. I was one of the summer relief help hired to allow the full-time employees to rotate through vacations. Among the other 'helpers' were Steve Anderson of S.C. Anderson, Danny Ronquillo, who eventually wound up being a Fresno City Councilman, and Radon Fortenberry, who eventually was the athletic director at Shafter High School. The bakery closed in the summer of 1968 or 1969 and I went from making $4.20 an hour to $2 and hour at Wright and Metcalf, a local architecture firm who designed the Civic Auditorium and Bakersfield College and many other buildings in Bakersfield. All of us 'helpers' rotated through some of the regular jobs at the bakery, although I worked mainly in the packaging of bread and on the ovens, Steve worked with the engineers and maintenance staff, Danny worked in the dough room, and Radon boxed bakery goods and helped load the trucks for the various drivers (about 20 other employees besides the 60 mentioned earlier. The experience of working in the bakery was quite interesting and the pay was excellent for the time compared to many other jobs of students."