Remember When

Historical Note: This comes from Larry Peahl's 53 page compilation of the "Chronology of History of Taft" from 1863 until October 2009:
Sept. 22, 1960 --  Jo Binford opens Jo's Restaurant at 510 Kern Street.
Sept. 28, 1960 --  Shop Building at Lincoln School completed.
Sept. 30, 1960 --  Demolition of work begins on Burns Store at 330 Center Street for construction of new Croker Anglo Bank building.
Oct. 2, 1960 --  Taft Beautification Day is held.  Store fronts on Center Street are all painted in one day.
Oct. 13 - 16, 1960 --  Oildorado celebrates Taft's 50th birthday and streets are painted gold.

Remember When

Reporting an Illness
    I am sorry to have to report that Don Gillaspie of Taft, Class of 1958, recently had a stroke which sent him to the hospital. The latest report is that he is now in a Rehab Center Hospital at 2221 Mt. Vernon Ave, in East Bakersfield, telephone 661-872-2121.  While still somewhat paralyzed and having difficulty speaking, his mind is as sharp as ever,
    (NOTE:  I was the boys counselor for the Class of 1958 the four years that they were at TUHS.  Gillaspie and I made many videiotaped programs of events on the West Side, filming historic places and interviewing oldtimers in the Taft area,  All tapes are available at the West Kern Oil Museum.)

Buena Vista Ladies Golf
(Daily Midway Driller, June 7, 2001)

Wednesday May 20 the ladies played the "Best Nine."  Winners were Jackie Scott, 1st, Pat Griffin 2nd and Nervella Shields 3rd,  The winner of the "Chip In" was Sheril Duval.
   
 Wednesday, May 9th and Thursday May 10th was the Annual Ladies Buena Vista Club Championship.  Congratulations to Janice Varner, the B.V. Club Champion for the year 2001.
    
Wednesday, May 16th played "cross county."  The winners were Betty Thompson, 1st, Pat Daly 2nd and Sheril Duval 3rd, Laura Wooldridge 4th and Evelyn Wilson 5th.
    
Wednesday, May 23rd the ladies played "Best Nine."  The winners were Betty Thompson 1st, Mable Mitchell 2nd and Micki Foley and Dorothy Madden tied for third.
    
Wednesday, May 30th, the ladies played "t and f".  The winner were Linda Zumbro 1st, Dorothy Madden 2nd and Mable Mitchell 3rd, Wanda Barrett 4th and Betty Thompson 5th.
    If you would like more information concerning the Ladies Club at Buena Vista or would like to become a member of the club, please call the Club President, Sheril Duval.
    

Westside Happenings    
Daily Midway Driller, June 7, 2001
Civil Air Pilots Meeting, Pilots Lounge
6-8:30 p.m.,  Boys & girls,
6th or 12 years old     
 
Kiwanis Clun Meeting, 12 noon
Chicken of Oz Banquet Room
 
 SHARE sign up, '26 Emmons Park
 9:30 a.m.to 1:30 p.m.
 
Bridge Lessons at West Side
 Recreation and Park District
Community Center
12:00 to 1:00 p.m. No Fee
 
Taft Motorcycle Club Meeting
6:00 p.m. Petroleum Club Road
 
Foster Family Meeting at St. Andrew's
Episcopal Church
501 5th Street, 6:00 p.m.
 
F. & A.M. Masonic Lodge Stated
Meeting Dinner, 6:00 p.m.
Masonic Temple on North Street
 
Lincoln Junior High Graduation
on Field 7:00 p.m.
 
Daily Midway Driller, Monday,
June 11, 2001
I.O.O.F. Meeting.Meeting,
7:30 p.m., 504 Center Street
 
American Legion Auxiliary. Unit 50
Luncheon and Installation at
Jo's Restaurant, 12 p.m.
 
Daily Midway Driller, Tuesday,
June 14, 2001
Blood Pressure Clinic at Mercy
West Side Hospital Lobby
8:00 a.m. until 12:00 and
1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.
 
Soroptimist meeting
at 12:00 p.m.
at O.T. Cook House and Saloon
banquet room'
 
Taft Camera Club meeting
7:30 p.m. West Side Rec
500 Cascade Pl.
 
Maricopa 8th Grade Graduation
in Auditorium  7 p.m.
 
Daily Midway Driller,
Wednesday, June 13, 2001
TUHS Graduation,  
8:00 p.m
Martin Memorial Stadium
 
    
Reader Comments

From Neil McCabe, Class of 1958, from Chico, California
    Hi Pete,
   Regarding the Lincoln School Boys Acappella Choir: I feel fortunate to have been a member in 1952, when I was in the 6th grade. The choir was composed of boys from 6th thru 8th grades, singing 4-part harmony. One of the songs we sang was in Latin. The talent was there, just waiting for a leader to bring it out. That leader was Clive Mefford, and the talent he brought out was amazing. This is just one example how excellent our school system was. I'm very grateful for the education I received in Taft. Thanks again, Pete, for the guidance you provided us at Taft High.
    Neil McCabe
    TUHS Class of '58
    (NOTE:  It was a very enjoyable experience to listen to the Taft City School’s Acapella Choir.  It was made up of young boy voices whose singing voices had not changed yet to the more adult sounding singing voices.  When you knew the boys it was quite an experience to see them very well behaved on the stage in their gowns.  They looked very angelic.  They behaved because their choir director Clive Mefford trained them that way.  The harmony was beautiful.  Upon his graduation from TUHS, Neil attended Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley and became an attorney.  The boys of the class of 1958 were my counselees for the four years that they were at Taft High.)

From Kenneth Witte, Class of 1969
    Didn't Drake drive the bus in the 60s?

From John Turman, Class of 1953, from Orinda, CA
    Pete, I enjoy your news letter; I lived in 11-C camp(Std Oil) for about 15 years, up to 1951. On the 'south' side of the camp, in some open area across from the homes, there were two rows of dirt dikes. We were told that they were built originally to protect the camp from flash flood, in case of heave rain? Would you know anything about these dikes, any of their history, when built.?
    When I was a kid there, they were worn down in some places due to kids riding bikes over them , etc.
    Regards,
    John Turman

    (NOTE:  I have not seen those dikes that John is describing, but I am aware of flooding in that area.  There is a usually dry creek bed that comes out ot the hills to the south and west of Taft.  When there has been substantial rain in the foothills that creek fills, and the water comes down that creek and cause substantial damage. At one time there was such an event that flooded the football field at Taft Union High School and filled it with mud.  It filled the basements of some of the buildings.  I remember going with my parents to the school to watch the heavy equipment clearing the mud from the football field.  I believe that happened sometime in the early 1930s.  Incipiently, there was to be a State Track meet held on the track that circled the football field a few days later.
    After that event the school constructed a dike on the west boundary of the playing fields to protect the school in the future.  That mound of dirt can still be seen in that area of the school.
    On an other afternoon on a a weekday our area had a violent rain storm.  I happened to be in my third floor classroom at that time, located on the north side of the Auditorium Annex building which is located just west and behind the auditorium. From the windows of my classroom I could see that Tenth Street from San Emidio north of The Historic Fort was flooded.                        
    What happened was that the water coming down the creek could not pass under the railroad bridge located just east of Tenth Street because of weeds and sagebrush under the bridge. The water began to flow over the bridge and began to flood Tenth Street.  During that rain storm the creek flooded as that meandered  through Ford City.  There was also flooding at the bridges on Emmons Park Drive, Sixth Street and Fourth Street.
    Old timers will remember that there was a railroad spur located east of Tenth Street to the II-C Standard Oil Camp.)