A Saturday morning stroll through the downtown Bakersfield farmer's market

 One of the under appreciated local treasures in Bakersfield is the Saturday morning downtown farmer's market, which features a wide variety of locally grown organic fruits and vegetables. There are also farmers from Fresno and Visalia. Make sure to check it out.

A judge recalls the back story of moving the jail lions to Reno and Dave Price faces a difficult recovery

 * .... RUNNER BASEBALL: One of the best kept secrets in town may be the Cal State Bakersfield baseball team. In only its third season, the Runners are one of the nation's hot teams but seem to draw few fans out at Hardt Field. Since going Division 1, the  Runners have defeated the likes of Arizona State, Kansas, Air Force, Northern Illinois and even defending national champion South Carolina. I suspect the low turnout for home games is largely due to CSUB's status as a commuter school, but certainly this team deserves better home town support. This week, The Ohio State University comes to town for a three-game series Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It would be good to see a big home crowd to greet the Buckeyes.

 * ... FARMER'S MARKET: And speaking of secrets, I continue to be impressed with the downtown Saturday morning farmer's market in the old Montgomery Ward parking lot. This week there was a large variety of oranges and tangerines (the Cara Cara orange from the organic Cliff McFarland farm near Visalia is my favorite) as well as broccoli, potatoes, herbs, scallions, home made breads, fresh flowers, nuts and frozen grass feed meats.

* ... JAIL LIONS: More on those huge old lions that once stood at the county jail until the 1952 earthquake. This comes from Superior Court Judge William Palmer, who apparently was one of those who helped move the lions to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house at the University of Nevada at Reno.  "The lions are currently in Evans Park, on the front porch of the SAE house, which is across the street from the southeast corner of the campus. By way of history, after several telephone calls between Bakersfield and Reno, on a Bakersfield City Council meeting evening, the successful bid for the lions was the fraternity’s. Over the Christmas holidays that year, several of my fraternity brothers met me here in Bakersfield, and with the aid of a very skilled hydro crane operator, after 'separating' the terracotta statues at the original seam points, the lions were loaded into the back of a rental truck. The lions arrived in Reno in separate pieces, but not damaged; and thereafter were reassembled and painted, and painted, and painted several more times, both by rival fraternities and restored to their white by the SAEs. One amusing aside, after loading the lions into the rental truck, we went to my parents’ new abode in Kern City where the truck was backed into the driveway. The neighbors were a bit concerned with a group of young men and a truck since my parents were still with my sister for Christmas. However I was able to convince them that our intentions were honorable."         

* ... REMEMBER BAXTER'S? I've been overwhelmed with reader responses on all the old drive-in restaurants that were once so popular in our community, and I love every one of them. Now comes Jerry Karr, talking about Baxter's Drive-In on Union Avenue at Kentucky Street. "The carhops did serve people on roller skates. Mrs. Baxter, whose name was Veda, was in charge of the carhops (who) wore roller skates and dressed in red and white. Mr. Baxter’s hair was a stunning white color, and yes, it had a lot to do with his wartime experiences in World War I. Mr. Baxter was 89 when he passed away in approximately 1986. The reason I know some details about these folks was because we were neighbors for several years. They were two wonderful people.  Mr. Baxter was often referred to as 'Bax' by his friends and family. At the end of his working career, he was considered Gene Winer’s top Cadillac person. He looked like a Cadillac. They are both laid to rest in the Baxter family plot at the Live Oak Cemetery in Monrovia."

* ... SICK BAY: David Price, the retired head of the county Resource Management Agency, is having a difficult recovery following a tricky surgery a few weeks back. Price, who retired to Tennessee last year, underwent an operation at the University of Virginia to treat numbness related to calcification in an area of his upper neck vertebrae. It's been a tough period for his friends and family and wife Liz is asking for your thoughts and prayers.

 * ... DID YOU KNOW:  Legend has it that Bakersfield is where the world’s first motel was created. It was built on Union Avenue at California Avenue and was named “The Motel” – a contraction of “Motor Hotel.” Once this name became generic, the motel changed its name to the “Bakersfield Inn.”

A Saturday morning stroll through the downtown Bakersfield farmer's market

 

Preparing for an historic election and more takes on the CSUB shooting

  * ... ELECTION DAY: If you are like me you've grown weary of the mud slinging and political attack ads that have come to be the norm in a political season. Instead of a sober examination of the issues, character assassination seems to be the preferred method of framing one's campaign. Still, every vote is important and this promises to be an historic election. So get out an vote on Tuesday.

 * ... MORE CSUB: Received a note from reader V. Kretsinger who chastised me for allegedly blaming campus security for the death of 18-year-old Bianca Jackson on the campus of Cal State Bakersfield. For the record, I never blamed campus security but rather questioned the wisdom of having a policy that allows late night parties at the campus. Regardless, here is Kretsinger's take. He said "the blame lies with the 75 students who invited all their friends who shouldn't have been invited and they invited their friends." Good point, but certainly the administration should realize that's how these things work, and they shouldn't be surprised if large crowds show up when parties are hosted on campus.

 * ... FATAL CRASH: A Sonoma County judge has upheld a 13-year prison sentence on a woman who was involved in a drunken driving crash that claimed the life of former Bakersfield resident Kathy O'Daniel. The 54-year-old O'Daniel was killed in September of 2009 when a car driven  by Judy Shafer slammed into her Honda Civic on a rural road. Kathy, her husband Chuck and their five children lived in Bakersfield for years before moving to Northern California. Chuck O'Daniel was the manager of the old Harris Department Store at East Hills Mall and later served as advertising director for The Californian.

 * ... COLLARDS: Hard to beat the spectacular weather on Sunday. Clear and crisp and the best of a Bakersfield fall. On Saturday I stopped by the downtown farmer's market off F Street and it was bustling with folks buying fresh winter greens. There were collards, kale, turnips, green and yellow squash, spinach, cauliflower, apples, nuts, honey, beautiful fresh flowers and of course pumpkins. All this abundance while an acoustic folk country band provided a soothing backdrop to a wonderful fall morning.

 * ... WREATH LAYING: If you haven't been out to the relatively new Bakersfield National Veteran's Cemetery, it's worth the trip. Located off Highway 58, it's on land donated by the Tejon Ranch Co. and now is home to 780 veterans. Recently I heard from Adoree Roberson that Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary is participating in the "Wreaths Across America" event in which wreaths are placed on all veterans' graves across our country. This year it falls on December 11. If you'd like to buy a wreath in honor of a veteran, living or dead, go the website www.bakersfieldwreathproject.org.

 * ... OVERHEARD: A local Realtor telling a friend that her daughter was turned down for a loan even after offering to put $100,000 cash down on a $350,000 home. "They've made it almost impossible to make a sale," she said.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: From reader Jo Lynn Moralez:  "You know you're from Bakersfield if you remember, in the 1960s, bomb shelters being sold at the corner of Baker and Niles streets."

Another Saturday, another Bakersfield farmer's market

 There is no reason to post these pictures other than to celebrate fresh fruit and vegetables, much of it organic, available at Bakersfield farmer's markets. This is the Saturday market that runs from morning to noon at the corner of Brimall and Calloway Drive. 

Saturday farmer's market, Bakersfield

 Some random shots from the Saturday farmer's market at the corner of Brimhall and Calloway drives in the Action Sports shopping center. It's good to see these markets thriving around town. Much of this produce some from Lamont, Arvin and other farms around Kern County, as well as Reedly and other Central Valley towns.

Earning your money in a recession and more areas of town hit with rash of burglaries

 * ... REALTOR PRAISE: There are few harder jobs in this economy than being a Realtor. The real estate market is in a major funk, home prices have been sliding for three straight years, credit is tight, banks can be difficult to work with and the appraisal business is a mess. Many Realtors who were flying high several years ago have simply gotten out of the business, but the hardiest of the lot remain, and they can be invaluable. I sold a house recently and encountered the usual challenges of the 2010 Great Recession: an escrow that fell through, a low appraisal,  picky buyers, price concessions and seemingly endless open houses. It was an agonizing ordeal and would never have happened without the diligence that my Realtor - in this case Mary Christenson of Watson Realty - gave my case. How many times have you come home to find your Realtor on her hands and knees with a bottle of Pledge shining your wood floors? Our community is blessed with many good Realtors, and this year they are earning every penny of their commissions.

 * ... FARMER'S MARKET: Had the chance to check out the new farmer's market over at the newly renovated Mill Creek Park behind the Bakersfield Museum of Art. There were about a dozen vendors and the fruit and vegetables were splendid: fresh corn, tomatoes, various kinds of squash, scallions, melons, strawberries, blue berries, dried fruit and herbs. It runs every Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and is worth checking out. Another farmer's market is out at the corner of Brimhall Road and Calloway Drive on Saturday mornings.

* ... MAN OF GOD: Rev. Peter J. Pacini, Bakersfield High School class of 1985,  was in town recently on his way to a new assignment in South Bend, Indiana. That might prove touchy for Rev. Pacini, particularly since he graduated from USC - one of the University of Notre Dame's arch rivals - in electrical engineering. He will be installed as pastor of St. Adalbert and St. Casimir parishes in South Bend, home of the Fighting Irish. His parents are local residents Pete and Rosemary Pacini.

 * ... CRIME WATCH: Here are more neighborhoods that readers have told me that have been hit with burglaries over the last few months: Laurelglen, Silver Creek,  Oleander, Westchester and the Bakersfield Country Club area.


  * ... COACHLIGHT: Reader Barbara Fleming added her own memories of the old Coachlight Inn. "Every time you have written about the Coachlight Inn my heart has smiled. My husband Jim was district manager of the Social Security (office) when we met. The Coachlight Inn become our place that we loved to go for romantic dinners, a martini and great conversation. The place is still high in my memories."

* ... BAKERFIELDISMS: Two gems from reader Fred McCaa: You know you're  from Bakersfield when "you can get sun burn by moonlight, and if you fail to stop at the stop sign, just stop twice the next time."