Let's Laugh - Or Maybe Not

By now anyone who reads me knows I’m not old but I’m not young either. Readers would have to know I have children and grandchildren. Yes, I was born yesterday when Mary Jane was really a girl named Mary Jane. If you were gay you were happy and carefree. It can’t be too hard to understand how totally undone my generation is by current news reports.

When I was in high school the worst “crime” I could have committed that would have landed me in a whole lot of trouble with my parents was to drink beer, smoke cigarettes or date a Catholic. I was raised in a small town in a small Lutheran congregation. Everyone knew everyone. If I had taken to drinking beer it would have been reported to my parents seconds after the first gulp. Smoking cigarettes would have been shared before the first puff by the store owner who knew my dad. Dating a nice Catholic boy was out of the question. Ditto, getting pregnant – even by a Lutheran!

So you can imagine my surprise when I read about a pregnant man. And as if that isn’t enough, the small town where I grew up made national news during this election year. They elected the first transgender mayor of any town in the entire USA! The population today is about 9,000. It was 3,000 when I was young and naïve. Both of these newsworthy events took place in Oregon, my home state, home of the Meadowlark, the Portland Rose Festival, Crater Lake, Mt. Hood, strawberry fields, rugged ocean vistas, sparkling mountain streams and salmon that kill themselves swimming against the current with the hope of finding a mate.

I guess this proves that we are a progressive society. What did my parents know? How bad, really, could it have been to date a nice Catholic boy? And a sip of beer now and then? Come on! I must say that I am kind of relieved that my parents aren’t alive to witness the “improvements” in society we are experiencing today. When they moved to California a few years prior to their retirement, their friends in Oregon teased them about moving to the “land of fruits and nuts,” their favorite description of the people of California.

Hmm, let me think about that a minute.

Never to Young to Honor Veterans

You're never too young to honor our veterans with an entry in the Veterans' Day Parade. Coming from a family of Eagle Scouts, young Mr. Tyler Dunn is shown in his decked out car as a salute to all veterans.

This is Tyler's second year to enter the Veterans Day Parade.

Daisy Troop 173 Honors Veterans

Daisy Troop 173 honored Kern County's veterans with their entry in the 2008 Veterans Day parade. This is Troop 173's first time to be a part of this celebration and appreciate the opportunity to recognize the service our veterans have giving to our country.

Boy Scout Troop 712 Annual Pumpkin Launch

The boy scouts and families of Troop 712 found a use for their Halloween jack-o-lanterns at their annual Pumpkin Launch. The scouts made scarecrows and launched their leftover pumpkins from the overgrown homemade slingshots.

Families enjoyed lunch; bobbed for apples: and a crawl through the maze of barrels and boxes.

Boy Scout Troop 712 Salutes All Veterans

Boy Scout Troop 712 honored veterans' for their service to our country in the Veteran's Day parade. This was Troop 712's 25th year celebrating veterans with an entry in the annual parade.

Troop 712 meets Mondays at Thompson Jr. High - 7:00 pm.

Southwest Voice YOUTH Issue! Last call for content!

Just a quick reminder: we are looking for stories and photos for our upcoming Southwest Voice "Youth" issue. Not sure what to send? How about:

-pics from homecoming games, plays, concerts or other activities for our Southwest Schools photo page!
- stories about kids doing incredible things or by incredible kids!
-calendar events for the family!
-Youth Athlete of the Month nominations

If you want your stories or photos to be included in our Youth issue, please submit them to our website by our DEADLINE: MONDAY, 11/17 by MIDNIGHT!!!!!

Erm, We Exist Too

Everywhere I look on the Southwest Voice, I don't see anything about Old River Elementary School in the Panama Buena Vista Union School District.

Come on, people! We exist too!

I am an Original Wrangler at Old River, and this is my last year. It is my hope that we will one day be acknowledged on the Voice.

As I see it, all schools are now created equal.

Thank you.

THIS AND THAT: BAILOUTS

BAILOUTS

In my humble opinion, the auto industry bailout, now in the billions, should be paid, half by the UAW Union, not the members, but the Union itself, and the other half by upper management who drew exorbitant salaries as they drove their companies into bankruptcy. They over-built, they over paid, and they certainly didn’t consider the market or the consumers. I feel we have bailed them out before and if they haven’t learned by now how to manage their companies, they don’t deserve to be a part of our economy. I realize a lot of people will be put out of work and they are counting on us feeling sorry for these workers. So we will again hand over billions of dollars to make them solvent. They will never be solvent as long as the upper management and the CEO’s remain greedy and incompetent. The UAW Union pushes for higher wages, more benefits then pockets the dues as they grow larger and wealthier and push the auto makers into over-production and ridiculous decisions. . Like the housing industry and the banking industry they ignored the signs of coming doom and keep on with their greedy ways. While the housing industry was over-building homes, the banking industry was making ridiculous loans that they had to have known would never be paid.
How can a family that makes $50,000 a year make a $3,000 house payment? Where in the world is the logic in something like that? And those interest only loans and the adjustable mortgages, all have contributed to the downfall of our economy. Banks and mortgage companies have gone bankrupt and wonder why. Take a look at your business practices and you will know why!
All this makes me feel we need to re-educate all people who study business administration.

The number one change on my list would be GREED DESTROYS! Number two would be, USE YOUR COMMON SENSE.

5000 Years of Chinese Culture

The Bakersfield Chinese Women’s Club presented a program on October 25, 2008 about the “5000 Years of Chinese Women’s Fashions.” The costumes that were shown in the program were created by Cathie Godges, Maria Leung, Livia Kao, and Pearl Tom. Grace Feng has helped the Chinese Women’s Club over the years by choreographing movements for the dancers and models. Thanks to the Ying On Association, the Chinese Women’s Club were allowed to use their space numerous times for rehearsals. Technical assistance was taken care of by Allen Kao. He worked with the lighting and music during the program. Maria Leung and Livia Kao carry the responsibility of being the show coordinators. While being the fashion show originator, Cathie Godges also commenced the program.

Other events that occurred within the program at the Beale Library happened to be the Lion Dance prepared by the Golden Lion Studio, Olivia Feng dancing the Uygur Dance of the Xinjiang Province, and the traditional Chinese music played on Ancient Chinese Zithers by Hannah Tran and Meghan Tran.

Meet your new Teen, Miss and Mrs Bakersfield!

The 16^th Annual Bakersfield Pageant took place last Saturday, November 8^th at the Bride Bible Church . Over 530 people attended to see who the new Teen, Miss & Mrs. Bakersfield title holders would be from a field of 35 outstanding contestants. The theme was “Salute to Our Veterans” (which was appropriate since it was Veterans Day weekend.)

The teen contestant crowned that evening, Erica George, got a surprise visit from her brother Zack Julien, serving in the Army. Stationed in Texas and going to Iraq in January, a loving brother with last minute weekend leave flew into Bakersfield to support his sister. What a touching moment it was!

                                                The winners are:

    Teen Miss Bakersfield (Erica George) a 16 year old Junior from Bakersfield Christian H.S.
    Miss Bakersfield , (Angelica August) a 20 year old student at Bakersfield College.

    Mrs. Bakersfield, (Rhenana Grimes) the mother of three little girls and works as a sign language interpreter at a local elementary school.

Teen Court: 1^st Runner-up (April Mitchell) 2^nd Runner-up (Jessica Martinez)

Miss Court: 1^st Runner-up (Heather O’Conner) 2^nd Runner-up (Kirby Krausgrill)

The Four Points Sheraton hosted the judges’ accommodations, the Elephant Bar hosted the Judges’ Dinner and the California Pizza Kitchen hosted all of contestants at a dress rehearsal dinner.

Prizes included a cash scholarship from Wells Acoustics & Alta One Credit Union, tiaras from Daniel’s Jewelers, trophies, flowers, a photo package, fitness memberships, personal training, restaurant certificates, jewelry, facials etc. Winners will advance on to the California International state pageant which will be held in Los Angeles next August 2009.

Warren Jr. High Band Celebrates Veterans Day

The Warren Junior High School Band was fortunate once again to participate in Bakersfield's Veterans Day Parade. This year they were accompanied by both the Warren Colorguard and Warren Cheerleaders as they marched while impressively performing "God Bless America."

Bandleader Bradford Pickett was instrumental (pun intended) in orchestrating a fantastic performance. The students put a lot of effort into this event, resulting in a performance they can be proud of. Everyone enjoyed themselves and certainly enjoyed hearing the news later that they had received the honor of Most Patriotic Junior High Band in the parade! In the spirit of the event, it was heartwarming to be able to give something back to the veterans of our community.

Southwest Voice "Youth" Issue

Greetings!

Recently, many of you have sent me emails about Southwest youth who are already doing incredible things with their lives or have an interest in sharing their voice through our magazine. This got me thinking, we've dedicated a whole issue to our senior citizens, why not do the same for those for our young adults?

So, the Nov. 26 issue of The Southwest Voice is going to be dedicated to our youth and we need your help to fill its pages!

-Share a story about an individual or group of youth who are already making their mark on the world.

- Encourage a young adult you know to share their perspective through writing

- Share photos from high school homecomings, competitions and other events!

- Send in your nominations for Youth Athlete of the Month!!

We'll need your submissions by this coming Monday, Nov. 17 at Midnight!!!

Please pass this email along to anyone you think would be interested in contributing and for those of you who are new to our submission proccess, simply register at: www.swvoice.com, sign in and click the "add" button under "My Stuff" to start submitting!

If you need help getting started, feel free to contact me!

Thanks a bunch,

Natalie Erlendson
Editor, Southwest Voice
Nerlendson@swvoice.com

Sports Shorts

For sure, tears shall flow at the Icardo Center as former Stockdale High School volleyball standout Mystie McNaughton breaks the career digs mark for Cal State Bakersfield. With seven matches remaining, McNaughton will breeze past former Runner Camille Mitchell who holds the record with 1,793 digs. The senior has been a most integral part of CSUB’s transitional period into Division I as her skill and poise has led the Roadrunners through the sometimes rough gauntlet associated with the transition from D-II to D-I. OK — tears might be going a little overboard here, but you can be sure that there will be those who will be “Mystie-eyed.”

While on the V-ball subject, how about those Patriots from Liberty High? The SEYL undefeated girl’s team secured the league championship and are sure to be a high seed come play-off time. LHS is led by Mariah Alvidrez, among county leaders in both kills and digs, and by Emily Cote who is the standard bearer for assists as she averages a healthy 9.5 per contest. Guaranteed, these Pats are no patsies!

Running back to CSUB, Fresno State football coach Pat Hill’s yearly “anywhere, any time” proclamation may be considered apropos for Coach Keith Brown’s Roadrunner Basketball squad as CSUB has inked a pact to travel to Westwood next November to engage the mighty Bruins of UCLA. This is an astonishing feat for CSUB’s program as UCLA is synonymous with collegiate basketball elitism. When one thinks of college hoops, one immediately thinks of the UCLA lore. The scheduling of this game once again spotlights the rise of Coach Brown’s program and speaks volumes of the man himself for his ability to schedule and recruit.

Epilogue: The Tampa Bay Rays’ light dimmed at the end of the weather-plagued World Series. They seemed to have fallen out of sync upon arriving in Philadelphia and they ultimately paid the price for it. Some personal caveats for the Rays not winning included: did not risk being fired by boss for missing four hours of work while handing out issues of The Southwest Voice at Truxtun and Chester avenues; did not clutter that particular corner on Election Day so as to hinder voters’ pathway; saved battery power on boom box; didn’t have to purchase a Rays hat; prevented possible scorn from authorities by not playing the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up.” It would have been fun, but one must remember that you “can’t always get what you want!”

Editor’s note

Creativity abounds in Bakersfield! In the past couple months as the editor of The Southwest Voice, I have met amazing people doing amazing things. People walking unique paths of life to better themselves or their community.

Nanette Bonilla is one of those people. I met Nanette while training for the Volkslauf. In August, Nanette shared with our readers her excitement and fears in preparing for what is known as “The Ultimate Challenge.”

In this issue she recounts her unique experience crossing the finish line a healthier, more accomplished woman. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it! Get inspired to get fit by reading her article.

Speaking of unique, if you’re looking for one-of-a-kind gifts for this holiday season that will not only wow the recipient, but will go easy on your wallet, check out our cover story featuring local artisans who are selling their handmade goods to a worldwide market via the Web.

Also, read how Stonecreek Junior High students are finding creative ways to raise money for The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. Maybe you can help!

The Southwest Voice Pumpkin Carving Contest

This Halloween, we asked Southwest Voice readers to submit photos of their creatively carved pumpkins. Possibly deterred by tough economic times, or the fact that pumpkin patches were practically non-existent this year, we did not receive many submissions. However, we did receive a few snapshots of kids in their creative costumes and a spectacular “super pumpkin” created from lights - our winner. We’d like to share those submissions with all of you and encourage you to be on the lookout for the next big contest!

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