Local kid heads to Oregon to work for Republican congressional hopeful and a photography show worth seeing

 * ...MID-TERM ELECTIONS: Looks like Robby McCarthy, one of the young guns in the office of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (not related), is leaving to become the finance director for a Republican running for an important Oregon congressional district. Robby will be on temporary leave to work for Scott Bruun (check out his website here) who is running against one-term incumbent Kurt Schrader in Oregon's 5th Congressional District. This is a big race for the Republicans as they try to exploit the economic malaise and President Obama's weaknesses in the mid-term elections. Robby is the son of Judi McCarthy, head of the Kern Community Foundation, and Rob McCarthy, owner and founder of Lightspeed Systems. He graduated from Garces Memorial High School and then the University of Southern California in 2006. He will return to the Bakersfield Republican congressman's office after the November elections.

 * ... AIR PARK: How many of you knew there used to be a small air strip up on Panorama Drive? Old timers will remember the La Cresta Airpark located between what is now Greenlawn Mortuary and Cemetery and Bakersfield College. The runway was situated almost perpendicular to Panorama Drive, meaning small planes taking off or landing sometimes had to fly over the bluffs. Houses now sit on the old air park land.

 * ... AIR FORCE: Nice to hear that Foothill High graduate Edward Ramirez has graduated from the Air Force Academy and is headed to Arizona for flight school. He is the son of Ruben and Virginia Ramirez. If you remember, Ruben was the long time wrestling coach at Arvin High School who died in 2000 of complications of a 1982 car wreck.  

* ... ART SHOW: If you've got the mid-summer blues, stop by The Padre Hotel to catch a show of some outstanding photography in the hotel's Farmacy Cafe. It's the work of Fred Castillo, a Bakersfield native who left town but returned in 2004 to help care for his ailing father. There will be about 14 prints on display of various sizes, all of them capturing the special mood, flavor and taste of our community. There is a stunning sunset shot of Fox Theatre and some interesting landscapes. The show opens Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and is sponsored by Don Martin's Metro Galleries, which consistently sponsors some of the best art seen in our town for years. (not all of the shots shown below will be on display)

 * ... WHERE'S WESTCHESTER? My earlier post about a burglary on 20th Street in Westchester drew this response from Geraldine Sproul: "As I have stated before many times, Westchester is located north of 24th Street. This area was developed in the late 1940s after World War II. I was living here then and well remember it. I live in Westchester as I am north of 24th Street. I am sorry to say ... 20th Street is not in Westchester."

* ... UNION AVENUE: Reader Donna Garone Calanchini dropped a note to recall "attending children's birthday parties at the old Carnation Ice Cream plan on Union Avenue in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Other fascinations on Union Avenue in those days were, of course, the Bakersfield sign stretching across the highway and the roundness of the Saddle 'n Sirloin building."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: From reader Esther Brandon: You know you're from Bakersfield when "a fellow customer at Blockbuster spits on the floor while browsing the slasher flics."