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BY BARBARA BUTLER Community contributor hen the mornings turn cool, and my Chinese Elm begins to drop its leaves, I know fall is in the air, and the annual visit from friendly ghosts and witches is right around the corner. This year my family, and I decided to try something new and visit the Halloween Pumpkin Festival at Lombardi Ranch located in Saugus, Calif. We had heard wonderful things about this 45-year-old working farm — and I am happy to say that we were not disappoint- ed. The farm cer- tainly is kid friendly with a wonderful vari- ety of rides and attractions but also very enter- taining for the adults as well. We enjoyed the music of the Zydeco Party Band so much that we pur- chased one of their CDs! Good food, live music — more pump- kins then I have ever seen in one place before — and “Scarecrow Alley,” the giant field of sunflowers filled with the scare- crows from the annual contest, all made for a wonderful day trip. The fresh corn-on-the-cob that we brought back with us for dinner wasn’t too bad either! Barbara Butler is the owner of FireCreek Photography. To see more pho- tos of Lombardi Ranch visit: www.baker- fieldvoice.com 2 The Bakersfield Voice Sunday, October 31, 2010 Share stories, photos, blogs www. bakersfieldvoice .com ■ Submitting your sto- ries for The Bakersfield Voice is simple and FREE! Just go to: www.bakers- fieldvoice.com and create a profile. ■ Choose what you’d like to contribute (an article, letter, picture or community event listing) and post it yourself. ■ For delivery issues, please email: voicedelivery@bakersfield.com ■ Still need help getting your contributions onto our Web site? E-mail Sandra Molen at smolen@bakersfield.com arlier this week, I received the wonderful news that the Fix Your Pit Program has spayed or neutered more than 500 pit bulls and bullie mixes since January. That’s an amazing feat, and one that’s worthy of a community cheer. The owners of Fortress Self Storage, believing that more needed to be done to reduce the number of pit bulls being killed in local shel- ters, took the initiative to create the Fix Your Pit Program, where they set aside a portion of the fees from each new space rental to subsidize the cost of having pit bulls altered through AngelDogs Foundation. The surgery, normally costing $110 (and includes a microchip and a rabies vaccination), is reduced to $40 for the owners of pittie and pit mixes, while Fortress Self Storage pays the difference. Everybody wins. Which leaves the owners of Fortress Self Stor- age to ask why more businesses can’t step up and help address the obvious pet overpopula- tion problem we have in Kern County by doing something similar? Is it for lack of ideas? If so, here are a few to chew on. How about donating a percentage of a day’s pro- ceeds to a local shelter or rescue group? If you pick a day in advance and do a little promotion, I can all but promise you that the pet loving folks in the area will come out and sup- port you. Perhaps a business can put out a “snip jar” for a month or so, asking patrons to kick in some spare change that can be donated to local groups for spay/neuter. While I can’t speak for everyone, I know that I am far more inclined to spend money at shops that are supporting causes that are dear to me. Maybe you own (or work in) an office setting where there’s not a lot of interaction with the general public. How about creating an office giving program, where employees can collec- tively pool together funds to create one larger donation from the company as a whole? Promotions like these can help businesses establish a relationship with their community that goes beyond mere advertising — and if you don’t think appealing to people who dig pets is important, or that they don’t represent a sizable enough segment of “your” market, per- haps it’s time to rethink that. Sixty-two percent of American households have pets living in them, compared to 46 percent of homes having children under the age of 18. Appealing to pet owners’ better nature might just bring you the customers you’re looking for as we head into the holiday season. If that happens, everybody wins. Questions? Comments? Email Vicky at: Vicky@ pawprintcity.com or visit www.paw- printcitytimes.com. YOUR PETS E Cheers for ‘Fix Your Pit’ spay, neuter program COURTESY OF CANYON HILLS WOMEN’S MINISTRY anyon Hills Women’s Ministries First annual “Canyon Hills Gift Boutique” will be held on Saturday, Nov. 6, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Boutique will be held at the Gymnasium of Canyon Hills Church, 7001 Auburn St. Admis- sion is free. Shop from over 50 crafters and thousands of unique items. Cinnamon rolls, Tri-Tip sandwiches, as well as raffle tickets will be available for purchase. Interested crafters and vendors who would like to register for a booth can fill out the registration form and return it with the deposit to Canyon Hills Gift Boutique, 7001 Auburn St., Bakersfield, CA 93306. For additional information, contact Robin Valdes at 871-1150. C PHOTOS BY BARBARA BUTLER Families shop for future Halloween jack-o-lanterns in a vast selection of pumpkins at Lombardi Ranch. Guests make their way through “Scarecrow Alley” filled with a va- riety of scarecrows on display. A father pulls his children and pumpkin in a multi-car wagon. COURTESY PHOTO ILLUSTRATION VICKY THRASHER Pet columnist W Unique crafts, cinnamon rolls and MORE at Canyon Hills Gift Boutique YOUR VOICE EXTRA! EXTRA! Lombardi Ranch 29527 Bouquet Canyon Rd. Saugus, Calif. 296-8697 Hours: Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays and holidays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Months of operation are from approximately late summer to mid-Novem- ber. For more information visit the Web site at: www.lombardiranch.com. IF YOU GO Nominated by Mandi Dickey am writing to nominate my son, Kaleb Dickey, as The Bakersfield Voice’s “Star Athlete.” Kaleb LOVES LOVES LOVES the game of baseball. He has played since he was 5 years old and now plays on the 9-and-under club team, Triple Play. Triple Play recently played in an out-of- town tournament and returned home as the champions. Kaleb helped his team achieve this championship by batting 1.000. For those of you who aren’t sure what this means, well ... Kaleb never got out! He also pitched eight great innings throughout the tournament — striking out seven batters and only walking three. Eight-year-old Kaleb is in the second grade at Veterans Elementary School in the Norris School District. Not only does he excel on the baseball field, he excels in the classroom as well. He has received straight A’s since he started school and takes his school work very seriously. Outside of playing baseball and school, Kaleb loves to watch his older and younger brothers, Joshua and Andrew, play baseball as well. He is an avid fan of all sports — especially the Texas Rangers. We want Kaleb to know how extremely proud we are of him — and how much we love to watch him play the game. Way to go, my little baseball star! Do you have a son, daughter, grandkid or buddy who is your pick for MVP? Nom- inate them for The Bakersfield Voice's Star Athlete by going to: www.bakersfield- voice.com and posting an article and photo. Nominations should tell us in 50 words or less what makes this youth a star athlete — and remember,your nomina- tion MUST include a photo in jpeg for- mat.Winners will be featured in a future print edition of The Bakersfield Voice! Kaleb Dickey, who plays for Triple Play baseball team, is looking in for the catcher’s sign. LEFT: Besides being a “star” baseball player, Kaleb Dickey excels in his second-grade classroom at Veterans Elementary. Here Kaleb is getting ready to steal third base. RIGHT: Kaleb showing off his championship tro- phy with little brother, Andrew. All photos provided by Mandi Dickey I Meet Kaleb Dickey, The Bakersfield Voice’s Star athlete! Spooktacular good time!
