Post a Comment On: Bakersfield Observed

 * ... FUND RAISING: If it is fall in Bakersfield you can bet there will be a major fund raiser somewhere across town every weekend. This past weekend there were two: the huge Garces BBQ,
[Image] held at the high school under near perfect fall weather conditions, and the 14th annual Larry Carr Memorial Golf Event with a dinner/auction at Bakersfield Country Club. The tireless Tracy Kiser and Rogers Brandon chaired this event along with auction coordinator Lynn Joseph, raising more than $250,000 for the Lauren Small Children’s Center at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital. The 280 dinner guests included BMH President Jon Van Boening and his wife Phillis, Kari and Steve Anderson, Beverly and Jim Camp, Janie and Kable Munger, David Munger, Tuesdy and Kevin Small and Susie and Ken Small, among others. I attended the Garces BBQ (Jenny Waugespack put this beast together) and caught up with an eclectic mix of Bakersfield characters: Monsignors Michael Braun and Craig Harrison, Ray Mish, Superior Court Judge Gary Friedman, Dr. Chris Hamilton and wife Susan, Shawna Haddad and her father Angelo and his wife Nancy, Oscar and Paula Baltazar, Dr. Javier Bustamante and wife Laurie, Mission Bank's Samy Abiaoui and Lisa Boydstun and Tom Anspach.

 * ... FOODIE: Looking for a new menu item for the cooler days to come? Check out the linguini with shrimp or the angel hair pasta primavera at Uricchio's Trattoria, two off the menu specials offered for the next two weeks.

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 * ... OAK STREET: Is there a worst traffic choke point in town than the intersection of Oak and Truxtun from 3:30 p.m. on?

* ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I'm in a long distance relationship. Sure, some people refer to it as a restraining order, but still."

 * ... SPOTTED ON TRUXTUN: A white Toyota Solara convertible is cruising down Truxtun going too slow for traffic and weaving while its driver stares into her cell phone and happily texts.

 * ... STARBUCKS: Remember when I told you that a barista at my local Starbucks was already well into her Christmas shopping? Well she told me the other day she is done, and it isn't even October. Talk about an over achiever.

 * ... FAIR: Did you know the history of the Boy Scout baked potato booth at the fair? Jim Houck does, and he passed along this interesting bit of history: "It started in about 1953 as a project of Troop 8, which met at Horace Mann School on Niles Street. The scoutmaster was a great guy named L.L. Carpenter, known as Slim. The troop was sponsored by the Kern County Potato Growers Association. Urner's lent us ovens, my dad, who worked for Meadow Gold Dairies, got us butter and sour cream, and of course the Potato Growers gave us huge sacks of White Rose potatoes, a great Kern County variety that baked beautifully but is hard to find nowadays, unfortunately.n In those days Scout equipment usually came from the war surplus stores that sold beat-up pup tents, canteens, mess kits, folding shovels and knapsacks. This stuff was cheap but very heavy.n After our first year we'd made enough money to ditch our bulky canvas tents and replace them with big, light ones. Not sure what happened to Troop 8, but I saw someplace that the baked potato booth has been taken over by the local scout council. The wealth spreads."

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