Letters from the Editor

WOW! The Big 3-0... 30 years... 1,560 weeks... 10,950 days ...262,800 hours... 15,768,000 minutes—and we've loved every second of it. Well maybe not every second, but you get the idea...

Kern County has been the birthplace of some pretty famous racing teams and drivers. From the Mears Gang and Warren, Coburn, and Miller; to Kevin Harvick—the list goes on. And that’s just in autos...

When it comes to change, I fear it as much as the next guy. Maybe more (just ask my wife). Sure, some changes are inevitable, and I usually agree after the fact that it was for the better. I mean, I finally got internet service that doesn't sound like a CB radio when you log in!

Like most kids, going to the movies was part of my youth. But as a family, going to the theater together was a no-no; taboo; strictly off limits!

Having been single for a number of years after my divorce, Mom and Dad—well, mostly Mom—being the ever-so-thoughtful parents that they are, decided it was high-time for me to have a “friend...”

Of all the pieces and parts that go into the magazine each issue, the cover is by far the most difficult. It’s a painstaking process that requires the talents of many to bring together a representative image of the current theme.

We’d been planning this night forever. I’m not sure who appointed us—I imagine we took it upon ourselves, being part of a clique known as “the parking lot pack” at school, since that’s where we spent most of our Senior year. It was sorta like our unspoken obligation. Neither jocks nor nerds, we fell somewhere in the middle...

I have some pretty fond memories of growing up. But in an otherwise great childhood, there were a few dark moments. One of those was, ironically, “family game night...”

It’s 3 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving and I’m stumbling around in the dark, trying to wake up and get my bearings. I’m not even dressed yet; he’s ready—has been since 1 a.m. I find my way to the kitchen for a fix of caffeine and he’s pinging around the room like he’s indulged several times, talking a mile a minute with the excitement befitting a kid that just got his first kiss...

Joe Walsh’s “Life’s Been Good” was playing on the 8-track. I had just turned 16. I had a car and I had my band. And after months of preparation, we had just gotten the call that we were being booked to play the Kern County Fair Main Entrance Stage...life was good.

A band was born...