Bakersfield's housing market starts the long climb back and it's time for the annual Thanksgiving Day "Pie Run" out at Hart Park

 * ... BUILDING PERMITS: The five-year cloud hanging over the local housing market seems to be lifting, and Realtors are finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. Home prices are rising, inventory is tight, mortgage rates are low and homes are selling. New homebuilders also are showing clear signs of confidence with more than 100 permits pulled in October alone. That's the word from Baynes Bank of Mission Bank. Some of the top builders, according to Banks, are DR Horton, Lennar, McMillin, Balfanz, Castle and Cooke, S and S Homes, Towery Homes and Froehlich.

 * ... PIE RUN: If it's Thanksgiving week it must be time for another Pie Run, that iconic Bakersfield tradition that starts at dawn on Thanksgiving Day out at Hart Park.  John Rous, one of the fathers of the annual event, says it will all start around 6 a.m. Bring a pie, cookies or other eats and then hit the hills for an invigorating run or walk with your favorite friend or dog. Rous will have a bonfire where he will make hot dogs and tri-tip, along with enough coffee for some 300 people. This is one of Bakersfield's signature seasonal events and it's well worth setting the alarm clock for an early start.

 * ... SMALL WORLD: City councilwoman Sue Benham and husband (Californian columnist) Herb were in a small bar in Paris on election night when they met two young American college students. "When we told them we were from Bakersfield they said, 'Our friend is from Bakersfield! Here she comes.'" Sue told me. And who walks up? Stockdale High graduate and now Stanford student Melissa Hamilton, daughter of local orthopedist Dr. Chris Hamilton and wife Susan. Small world, indeed.

 * ... GOOD DEED: Sheila Vogel sends a shout-out to an unidentified man "at the corner of Coffee and Stockdale Tuesday morning who exited his work vehicle to assist a disabled pick-up with a trailer through the intersection. The man who appeared to be in the bakery business with white pants and an apron helped the truck’s occupants push the truck out of traffic's way and to clear the intersection. Thank you! "                                                    

 * ... WREATHS: The Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary Club is renewing its annual drive to place wreaths at the National Cemetery on Dec. 15. You can help by buying a wreath for just $15 to honor our veterans. Check out the webside at www.bakersfieldwreathproject.org.

 * .. THANKSGIVING: Jolie Brouttier is a kindergarten teacher at McKinley Elementary who is part of a group that gets together to feed the needy on Thanksgiving.  "I sent out fliers to inform families about this event and got a tremendous amount of families (some households of 10 living in tiny apartments) who can't provide a meal on Thanksgiving day. These families, my students, are the light of my life. I have food on my table every day, I have a fridge full every day. These kids, they don't. Two hundred families returned the form desperately requesting food to be delivered Thanksgiving day, and 'Love for Thanksgiving' does that.

Bakersfield gets some love from a visitor and - ouch - local home prices take another dive

 * ... HOMETOWN PRIDE: Bakersfield has always had a bit of an inferiority complex (thank you Johnny Carson) so it's always nice to hear how an outsider really views us. Which is why I was thrilled that Cheryl Scott passed along a letter from Dane Rauschenberg, an extreme athlete who visited us recently to run in the Inaugural Fit for Business run put on by the Kern Economic Development Corp. I will let his letter speak for itself: "Did it have the history of the Boston Marathon? Obviously not. What it did have in spades were wonderful volunteers, organizers and runners sprinting down one of Bakersfield's newest running attractions, the Kern River Parkway Bike trail... I have had the opportunity to see every corner of this country in every race distance imaginable. I will never forget how wonderful this race was executed from top to bottom. Take a second to pat yourself on the back, Bakersfield."


 * ... HOME VALUES: The real estate website Zillow.com estimates that Bakersfield home values sank 1.6 percent in February and were down 13.9 percent from a year ago. Realtors will tell you that Zillow only computes averages and doesn't take into account upgrades and other intangibles, but it does generally reflect trends. As for my own home, purchased a year ago? Zilllow says it has lost 17 percent of its value. Ouch. Meanwhile, perhaps a more accurate view of the local market comes from appraiser Gary Crabtree, who said the median price for a home in Kern County was $115,500, up from $111,000 in March but still a drop of 11.3 percent from April of last year. Crabtree added: "My Bakersfield ONLY numbers are the median price home was $126,000 in April, down from $128,000 in March and down 7.2% from the same period last year. "

* ... CSUB TENNIS: I stopped by a fund raiser for Cal State women's tennis last weekend and left even more impressed with the level of support for the program. Held at Stockdale Country Club on the grass courts, the Noodles and Nets event was just the latest in a long list of fund raisers to save both the women's tennis and wrestling programs. CSUB Athletic Director Jeff Konya was there, along with predecessor Rudy Carvajal, and many other supporters including Bruce and Molly Busacca, Vernon and Janis Varner, Kryssy Jamieson, Jenny Vaughn, Michael and Chris Olague, P.K. Zander, Garrett Ming, Bryan Lynn and many others. 

 * ... MOVER: Kudos to Chris Lowe, who has been hired as a vice president/small business banker at Bank of America downtown. Lowe comes from Westamerica Bank, where he spent the last six and a half years. Lowe is a product of Taft College and recently joined the board of directors of the North of the River Chamber of Commerce.

 * ... COLLEGE BOUND: Congrats to Jennifer Lynn Parish, a Highland High grad who is headed off to San Diego State University. She is graduating with a 4.33 GPA and is the daughter of Leo and Lori Cox.

 * ... SPOTTED: Young mother in older green Toyota Camry, texting away on her cell phone after  picking up her son at Juliet Thorner School, nearly runs down four other boys in the street as she glides through a stop sign ignoring the school crossing guard.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're from Bakersfield if you ate the six-egg omelette at the old Friendly Cafe in Oildale.