A Bakersfield kindergarten teacher instructs her kids on the lessons of September 11, and a fund raiser is set for Saturday for the Fox Theater in Taft

* .... NEVER FORGET: Jolie Brouttier, a kindergarten teacher at McKinley Elementary School, posted this beautiful note on her Facebook page to remember the victims of the September 11 attacks.

"It is a day we will all remember and never forget. However my students, born in 2008, are unable to reflect on a day that they did not experience, nor would they understand. It is my job today not only to teach them but to instill and enlighten the beauties of being American. We cross our hearts, they pledge, and I reflect."

 * ... SPOTTED: At the Ramco gas station and market at the corner of F and 23rd streets a woman is gassing up her car, using her right hand to hold the nozzle and a cigarette at the same time.

 * ... ANIMAL CARE: Gene Bonas and his wife Robbie are animal lovers, and every year they send a nice donation to the SPCA and the animal control facility on Mt. Vernon. He always receives a nice thank you note from the facilities but has a better idea. "I suggested quite some time ago that each start a monthly pledge type donation program, such as the one conducted at The Mission of Kern County. I realized that, instead of one big donation, a monthly donation would total much more for the entire year. Although I received nice cards from both places, neither has yet to begin any kind of pledge program."


 * ... 25 HILL: The Fox Theater in Taft will be hold a special screening this Saturday for 25 Hill, a move directed by Corbin Bernson. His mother, of course, is the late soap opera star Jeanne Cooper, who grew up in Taft. The screenings will be held at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and proceeds will go to the Fox Theater digital conversion project. The movie is about the All American Soap Box Derby and a boy whose father died in Afghanistan. (file photo of Corbin Bernson)

* ... FATHER CRAIG: Monsignor Craig Harrison will be honored later this month at the annual Police Activities League (PAL) fund raiser at Seven Oaks Country Club. This is PAL's major fund raiser to support its efforts to help needy youth in Bakersfield. Monsignor Craig will be honored as PAL's Hometown Hero for all the work he has done to help our community. If you are interested in sponsoring a table at the Thursday, September 26 event, contact Naomi Vidales at (661) 283-8880.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: Dolores Hoffman says you may be a Bakersfield old timer if you remember the martinis at Ewing's Tam O'Shanter were garnished with a small pickled green tomato instead of an olive. "Mickey was our favorite waitress, and dining at Tam O'Shanter was always very special.