The Bakersfield Californian 'Eye St.' Entertainment / 10-21-10

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The Bakersfield Californian Thursday, October 21, 2010

Eye Street

Index Daniel Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 CSUB alumni fall mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Arts Alive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Gay Pride Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 The Lowdown with Matt Munoz . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Foothill Shakespeare Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Fall Home Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30-31

Editor Jennifer Self | Phone 395-7434 | e-mail jself@bakersfield.com

Taft: The party’s not over yet Oildorado winds down with parade Saturday BY DENNIS MCCALL Contributing writer

B

iscuits and gravy, Eddie Money, an old-fashioned melodrama, vintage war planes and a parade top the agenda as Oildorado Days wind down Taft’s 100th birthday party this weekend. Money, the 1970s rocker whose hits include “Two Tickets to Paradise” and “Baby Hold On,” headlines tonight’s downtown street party. He had three chart-topping hits in the early ’80s, including “Shakin,” “Think I’m in Love” and “Take a Little Bit.” “We wanted to throw a Money party on Center Street that would attract a wide range of people, and Eddie Money is someone everybody has heard of,” said Oildorado president Eric Cooper. “His music is fun for all generations.” Street party entertainment — on Center Street between Fourth and Sixth — begins at 5 p.m. with local band Good Question. Money will take the stage about 8 p.m., Cooper said. Comedian Darrin Carter also is on the program.

Parade grand marshal Saturday’s parade also is a big draw with more than 100 entries, including nine bands and 100-year-old grand marshal Opal Smith, who will turn 101 on Oct. 29. “I think it’s exciting,” she said. “I’m really honored.” Smith has been a member of the Auto Club longer than anyone. She got her membership card when she was 16 and a student at Taft Union High School. The melodrama — “Shakespeare Comes to Calamity Creek” — debuted last night and will hold evening performances today and Saturday and a matinee on Sunday afternoon. Director Debbie Potaczala, who has been involved with stage productions at Taft High and the Westside Recreation and Park District, calls the cast “unquestionably the most talented that I have ever worked with.”

B-25 flyovers Another popular tradition of Taft’s once-every-five-years celebration is Saturday’s vintage aircraft fly-in at the Taft Airport, featuring two “Mitchell” B-25 World War II bombers made famous by the Jimmy Doolittle raid in 1942. Both planes and a vintage bi-plane will take the public aloft for rides Saturday and Sunday. Other vintage aircraft will be on display.

DOUG KEELER / MIDWAY DRILLER

Larry Sharp holds Raspy (Rodney Wykoff) at gunpoint in this scene from the Oildorado melodrama.

World pizza record

Great buzz

A world record will be attempted over a 24-hour period that starts Friday afternoon, when the local Domino’s franchise will attempt to bake and distribute 10,000 medium pepperoni pizzas. Local businesses, service clubs and individuals have pitched in by purchasing pizzas in advance to be delivered throughout town, including places like the Taft College dorms. Pizzas will be delivered “Pony Express” style to the Oildorado store and the West Kern Oil Museum. It’s not the first world record for an Oildorado event. Back in 1975, the celebration saw a Guinness World Record broken when local sandwich shop owner Leonard Gentieu created a submarine sandwich that measured just over 464 feet. It was sliced up and sold, with proceeds donated to a local charity. Other Saturday events include an allyou-can-eat biscuit and gravy breakfast that should fuel up folks for the “Best of Times” Taft vs. Bakersfield alumni football game dedicated to the memory of the late legendary Taft College coach Al Baldock. The hometown team will wear Taft College colors (black and gold) while the Bakersfield outfit will be decked out in Renegade red and white. The game will kick off at 4 p.m. at Taft High’s Martin Memorial Stadium.

Cooper, the Oildorado president, said he’s pleased the way the celebration has gone so far. “Everybody seems happy with everything,” he said at Sunday’s contests to see who had the best whiskers, ponytails and hair buns. “All the comments have been positive. The buzz has been great. We’ll regroup this week and look forward to an even bigger weekend.” Taft and its Oildorado celebration got plenty of primer when the Gulf oil spill triggered a landslide of media interest in the Lakeview Gusher, which occurred a hundred years ago and was the nation’s biggest oil spill. That attention, including a feature in the Wall Street Journal, has continued into the celebration with National Public Radio reporters and other media in town for feature stories. Huell Howser, whose series “California’s Gold” airs on public television, was in town last Friday for the dedication of the oil worker monument. He plans to run a segment about that and Oildorado Days in two to three weeks. “I think this is going to be a great program,” he said, after finishing up interviews at the West Kern Oil Museum that included a woman who returned to Taft after an absence of 47 years. “We got a lot of really good stuff here. These things often take on a life of their own, and this was one of those.”

OILDORADO WRAPUP Today Oildorado Street Party, with performances by Eddie Money, Good Question and comedian Darrin Carter; with beer garden and food booths, 5 p.m. to midnight today, 500 Center St. (on Center between Fourth and Sixth streets), Taft. $5 Oildorado Melodrama, 7 to 9 p.m. today and Saturday, Taft High School Auditorium, 701 Seventh St., Taft. $6

Friday Domino’s attempt to set world record, trying to sell 10,000 pizzas in a 24-hour period, starts 4 p.m. Friday and ends 4 p.m. Saturday, Domino’s Pizza, 530 Kern St., Taft.

Saturday Soroptimist Biscuits & Gravy All You Can Eat Breakfast, 7 to 10 a.m., Taft High School, Cafeteria, 701 Seventh St., Taft. $5. Oildorado Grand Parade, 10 a.m. to noon, begins at Sixth and Ash streets, then east on Center Street Grand Stand in front of Lincoln School, 810 Sixth St., Taft. Alumni Football Game Taft vs. Bakersfield, 4 to 10 p.m., Taft Union High School, Martin Memorial Stadium, Eighth and San Emidio streets, Taft. $8 tri-tip sandwiches and chips. Information for all events: oildoradodays.com or 745-4894


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