Photos: The Southwest Voice

Take the Voice on vacation: La Purisima Mission

Liliana, Brent (back row) and Hannah and David Leaman (front row) in front of the pastures of La Purisima Mission

Take The Voice on Vacation: Carpinteria

Grant, Frank, Kinsey, Marcus, Leigh and Brianae read The Southwest Voice while vacationing in Carpinteria!

Take The Voice on Vacation: Route 66

The Feil cousins get their kicks on Route 66 with

The Southwest Voice!

Take the Southwest Voice on Vacation

Take The Voice on Vacation

Take The Voice on Vacation!

Taking The Voice on Vacation to Las Vegas! Or, otherwise known as... Pulling a Liane Whitson with The Voice!

Take The Voice on Vacation!

Mason Trueblood and Sally Wang who dance for Troupe Civic, Civic Dance Center's performing company, were both invited this summer to attend the West Coast Dance Explosion National Finals as members of their Elite program. As part of their program they performed as backup dancers for R&B recording artist Deborah Cox at the Gala night. They also competed for the national title of Mr./Miss Senior West Coast Dance Explosion. Sally was awarded 2nd runner-up out of 32 female dancers. Both dancers received a yearlong scholarship to the dance convention as part of their award. They did a wonderful job representing Bakersfield.

Take the Voice on vacation.

Taking The SW Voice on Vacation

While on vacation, and river rafting, Kody Saffell finds time to relax and read his favorite magazine, The Southwest Voice, in a tree overlooking the Kern River !!

At the Dog Park

“The Russians are here,” said my wife Linda. A pair of huge Black Russian Terriers entered the Kroll Way off-leash dog park. Before Kroll Way, I had never seen or even heard of the breed, developed by the Soviet military and not exported until after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

We’ve met other fairly rare dogs at the park such as Cisco the German “Draht Haar, “ one of the most popular hunting dogs in Germany; Sophie the Spinone Italiano, an Italian hunting dog, and her roommate Ghillie the Griffon wire-haired pointer. We like P.J. the Bouvier des Flandres , a stocky Belgian herding dog (Ronald Reagan kept a Bouvier named Lucky in the White House).

We’ve also enjoyed popular dogs such as the many Labrador Retrievers (including Mike Alexander’s Niner), a few Goldens (like Brandy, age 15) some Standard Poodles like Kevin and Marta Hale’s Clovis, Boxers like Tank or Mike Crook’s Million, German Shepherds (Doc and Ted, among others), and Pit Bulls, including the adorable puppy Vincent. Abby the Dalmatian is a running dog by trade, but the older dog prefers to walk beside her owner. When Rick and Christine Hixson’s whippet arrives, we stop to watch the fastest dog in town. She is Mia.

We began bringing our English Sheepdog O’Malley as soon as he was released from puppy quarantine. Young dogs thrive on socializing and running hard; they like to chase and be chased and to rough house, sometimes so hard that we wince.

Recently retired from the Cal State English faculty, I’ve recognized several university dogs--all probably smart--at Kroll Way. Retired mathematics professor Lee Webb brings two Brittanys and a Golden. Professor of French Joanne Schmidt brings her French Poodle, Marvel. We recently saw CSUB alum and my former student Darlene Stotler with her English pointer puppy Jessie, who runs full speed during her 30-40 minute visit.

Giant dogs always stand out: the Great Danes Titan, Tricia Ferguson’s Barracuda, Morgan Brewer’s Toby and an Irish Wolfhound, name unknown. These majestic dogs are the gentlest visitors to the park.

Many of our favorite Kroll dogs are rescue dogs like Jane and Keith Garrison’s three Old English Sheepdogs, Sammy, Bella, and Cosmo; and Stewart Lewis’ Carson and Sophie. Mixed breeds are popular at the park. Dianne Funssagrives and Moy Leuthardt regularly visit; Diane's Austrialian shepherd mix Maggie likes to chase balls while Moy's border collie mix Tessie is happy just to walk.

Finally, we have international dogs. Ellie the Vizsla (a hunting dog known mainly in Hungary until after WW II) has been transferred to Oman with her owners.

The mayor of the dog park is Barracuda, who recently enjoyed his second birthday party at the park. Like the mayor of Bakersfield, ‘Cuda is tall, friendly, and has appropriate gravitas. ‘Cuda’s roommate, Sage the English Mastiff, serves as the Great Dane’s chief of staff, O’Malley as vice-mayor. Gilly is our sheriff, who asks that visitors follow two rules: (1) pick up after your dog (2) correct your dog if it gets aggressive.

The Kroll Way dog park is at Kroll Way and Montalvo, just east of Stockdale Elementary and adjacent to Kroll Way Park. Plastic bags are provided for picking up. Water is available from a faucet, but there are no rest rooms. With dogs running hard, this is not a safe place for small children, and even adults need be aware of happily swirling dogs.

Take the Voice on vacation

Dirt Queens

"She stole, she stole, she stole 2nd base!"

Mookey Branson of the Dirt Queens.....

Vacation for Johnny -- who needs a kidney!

We took Johnny to Disneyland so he can be a kid again. We had a nice time being there two full days. Johnny has been trying to get his kidney for 5 years and he still has not gotten the approval from the VA after telling him he was ready back in August 2007.

'Take The Voice on Vacation' - Disneyland

The SW Voice at the Happiest Place on Earth