Wednesday, October 12, 2005

What's in a name?

The Bakersfield Californian is asking residents to respond to a very important question. Randal Beeman, the president of the Kern County Historical Society, wants to name Bakersfield land marks after one of the famous people from Kern County, like Merle Haggard, Cesar Chavez, or Earl Warren. (Buck is out – he already has a boulevard.)

My question is what landmarks are we talking about? I mean, most of the landmarks we have are already named; Graces circle, Beale Clock Tower, etc. Do they want us to start calling the Bakersfield sign the “Cesar Chavez Bakersfield sign? That sounds stupid. How about the Earl Warren Bluffs or the Merle Haggard Grapevine?

While we’re at it we could rename the canyon “Korn Canyon.” Maybe that would keep people out of the river.