Thursday, June 5, 2014

The nation celebrates the 70th anniversary of D-Day, old warbirds are headed to the Minter Field Air Museum and more bad form about town

* … DDAY: It's amazing to think we are celebrating the 70th anniversary of day Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy. Each day we lose more members of the Greatest Generation, that time when so many men and women gave everything so that the we could enjoy freedom. If you haven't paid a visit to Normandy and the solemn military cemeteries there, it is worth putting on your bucket list.
Locally, it's great to see so many aging veterans take the Honor Flights back to Washington, D.C., to visit the memorials to these brave men and women. Today, we remember.



 * … MINTER FIELD: Speaking of remembering, put Saturday, June 14, on your calendar for a special air show and display out at the Minter Field (Shafter) Air Museum. There will be an airplane fly-in in memory of the late T-6 Warlock pilot Al Goss, vintage planes and race planes. The museum has also invited local car clubs and military vehicles to the event. It runs from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the cost is $10 for adults and $5 for children. Pancake breakfast is another $5.





* … BAD FORM: A middle aged is behind the wheel of a late model Acura westbound on Truxtun extension doing 30 mph and weaving all over the road at lunch hour. His sin? Texting while driving.

* …MEMORIAL: I goofed in inferring that Mercy Hospital was the only local hospital to have Vein Finder devices. Turns out that Memorial Hospital also has three such devices, including two in the Lauren Small Children's Medical Center.

 * … FUND: Kudos to the Women's and Girls' Fund which has reached its goal of having a $1 million endowment. The fund, part of the larger Kern Community Foundation, awards grants to improve the lives of Kern County women and children. It was started in May 2005 by Judi McCarthy and a handful of friends and grew to $300,000 within two years.

 * … TINY'S: The renovation of the old bank building on the northeast corner of 18th and Chester is continuing, but did the building ever house a restaurant called Tiny's? Walt Berry has worked in the Sill Building across the street for 50 years and says he remembers Tiny's being located on the southeast corner, not the northeast. "Some of my friends keep telling me Tiny’s Restaurant was on that corner, but I have a picture of that intersection from November 1940 which clearly shows Tiny’s was on the south east corner. I also remember my father parking in front of Tiny’s in October 1949 on the southeast Corner. Can you or someone in your organization tell me if Tiny’s was ever on the northeast corner?"




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