400 Kern Street

Taft, CA, 93268

Phone: (661) 765-2165

Fax: (661) 765-6639

www.taftchamber.com

TaftChamber@gmail.com

Our Gold Sponsors

Our Platinum Sponsors

February 4, 2015

Supervisor David Couch, Tony Cordova of Syndagro

Kern County Supervisor David Couch visited Sit n Sip by

telephone to update us on some of the changes to the

County administrative structure necessitated by the reduc-

tion in available funding. Most notable among the chang-

es were the combining of the Board of Trade and Employ-

ers’ Training Resource into one Department (“one depart-

ment, two divisions”). Teresa Hitchcock, Assistant County

Administrative Officer will head up both divisions. Tony

Cordova, Plant Manager for the Synagro facility near Taft,

shared some sought-after changes in operating guidelines

which Synagro is seeking to have permitted. We will hear

more about these changes in our February 18th Sit n Sip.

February 11, 2015

Shari Rightmer, Shar-On Corporation

Ms. Shari Rightmer, President of the newly-formed Shar-

On Corporation, brought us an informative presentation of

the plans the corporation has for ultimately delivering

mentoring, educational, and transitional programs to

homeless individuals who feel themselves ready for next

steps. Currently in Phase 1: Start-up Funding, Shari is look-

ing to raise $75,000 for an aquaponics operation that will

yield produce sales, product sales, and a Farmer’s Market.

The presentation sparked a lively discussion concerning

the level of homelessness in our community and the ser-

vices currently in place to address the issue. The Board of

the Shar-On Corporation includes many Chamber notables

such as The Reverand Heather Mueller, Orchel Krier, and

Todd Lederer.

February 18, 2015

Tony Cordova and Lorrie Loder for Synagro

Bob Hampton for Westside Waste Management

Lorrie Loder, original face of Synagro to the folks on the

Westside, and Tony Cordova, the current Plant Manager

for Synagro explained to the group the difference between

the current process for handling bio-solids at Synagro and

the process Synagro is seeking to have permitted. The in-

formal atmosphere enabled other issues to surface, and

the group learned interesting facts about the future of

waste management and what restrictions and guidelines

will go into effect in the future. For example, in order to

meet the demand of

AB32, the State of Califor-

nia will need to establish

approximately 100 com-

posting facilities by the

year 2020. Mr. Hampton,

owner of Westside Waste Management explained the AB

341 calls for us to reduce the waste stream by 75% 2020,

based upon the amount of waste in the baseline year of

1990. Taft is going to a two-cart system, which will be

phased in over this year, beginning in July with Ford City,

then Taft Heights, then South Taft, and eventually the City

proper. Tony Cordova invited members of Sit n Sip, the

students especially, to visit the Synagro facility and to take

a guided tour.

February 25, 2015

West Side District Cemetery and Guy Lingo, Historian

Joel Bauer, Manager of the Westside Cemetery District,

and District Board Members Gary Sommers and Bob Jor-

dan presented the District’s plan to renovate the 25 Hill

Cemetery in time for the 2015 Oildorado celebration this

October. The old cemetery, somewhat accessible by trav-

eling south on Lierly Street, has fallen into disrepair since

its last recorded renovation in 1985. The District plans to

replace the fencing surrounding the cemetery, preserving

the large pillars which were original to the boundaries of

the cemetery, preserve the headstones in place, tracking

who actually is buried where, and making the road to the

cemetery accessible. Guy Lingo also spoke of his project,

begun in the late 1980”s to find out who is buried in the

25 Hill Cemetery, and to track locations of plots and obitu-

aries of those who were buried there. To date he has

compiled a book about the life on one of the more fa-

mous” residents”, Sarina F. Storey, a vaudevillian who

came to entertaibn in Taft and died before her first perfor-

mance. The people of Taft rallied to give her a beautiful

send-off, regardless of the fact that no one even knew her.

Guy regaled us with many fascinating stories found as he

researched the history of the 25 Hill Cemetery. His two

compilations of history and obituary and The Life and

Times of Sarina F. Storey are available at the Chamber for

sale.

Wednesday mornings @ 9AM

Taft Chamber, 400 Kern Street

By Dr. Kathy Orrin, Executive Director

It is well-known that I attend City Council meetings. I happen to believe that those who serve as Council

Members deserve our participation, and as a citizen, I owe it to myself to keep informed about what is hap-

pening in our community—what is really happening . . . not just what I have heard is going on.

It is part of my job to keep the Council, and the community, informed about the Chamber’s activities, both

past and future. We are very lucky to have a Council that not only indulges the Chamber by listening to their

reports of upcoming events, but also attends and supports those events.

However, at the last City Council meeting, I addressed the Council, not as a Chamber Executive Director, but

as a citizen of Taft whose property has been victimized by vandals and thieves no less than four times during

the past month. I was confident that a tall, chain-link fence with concertina wire across the top would have

been sufficient to keep out thieves; but I was wrong. They simply jumped the fence in order to steal items

from the parking area outside the building. The next time they came on to our property, they did so

through the use of bolt cutters, simply cutting the chain link to provide a doorway through which to steal

wire and other building materials.

The third time they were more brazen. They could not enter the building through the windows or doors

which had been secured; so they took the siding off the building and went in through the wall. They threw

family photographs around, drank some booze, tried on some clothes, wrote expletives and names on the

wall, and left—taking the cremated remains of relatives as far as the alley. It was there they apparently

were noticed by a passerby. They left some items, probably to return to retrieve them; but we were noti-

fied by a caring neighbor who alerted us. We were able to collect some of the items that were most im-

portant to us. The fourth affront to our property was a brick through the plate glass door.

Since the voters of California passed Proposition 47, effective January 1, 2015, life for criminals is looking up.

This measure was designed to “convert non-violet offenses [translation: offenses involving property and

drugs] from felonies to misdemeanors”. Actually, it was a way to reduce the costs of housing criminals, and

we bought it. Now our police officers and sheriff deputies cannot do anything about most thefts because

they must amount to $950-worth of value, and unless they actually see something happen, there is little

they can do. It is a mess!

So what do we do? 1) Secure your property like Fort Knox. 2) Get an alarm system—a real alarm system-- if

you don’t already have one. (We got a dog, but they stole her.) 3) Meet your neighbors and exchange infor-

mation. 4) Keep a look out for the property near you. 5) Call the police/sheriff on anything that looks suspi-

cious. If they will not take your information for any reason, document that you called, what you called for,

and what the dispatcher said. You can use that information to build a case the next time you call.

We can win this. We are going to have to take a more active role in our own safety, but we can do this. Taft

still is the safest community in Kern County, and we want to keep it that way!

March 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2 3

12-6pm Houchin Blood Bank @ Chamber

6pm City Council @ City Hall

4

9am Sit N Sip @ Paik's

6pm Industry Night @ Taft Petroleum Club

5

5pm Kern COG Award Dinner @ Seven Oaks Country Club

6

6-10pm First Friday Cruise Night

7

12-3pm Freedom Homes Home Buyer Seminar, @ Taft Chamber

8 9 10 11

9am Sit N Sip @ Taft Chamber

5pm The Bank Grand Opening and Wine Down Wednesday

6:30pm Rotary Club Drawing @ Jo’s

12 13 14

4pm, First Annual Taft Pub Crawl—“Irish, Irish, Irish I had a Beer”

15 16 17

6pm City Council @ City Hall

18

9am Sit N Sip @ Taft Chamber

6pm Planning Commission @ City Hall

19

20 21

Little League Parade Opening Ceremony

22 23 24 25

7am, Economic Summit KC

9am Sit N Sip @ Taft Chamber

4pm Chamber Board Meeting @

26

5pm Ethics & Brown Act Training @ The Fort

27

28

29 30

SPRING BREAK

31

SPRING BREAK

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

SPRING BREAK

9am, Sit N Sip @ Taft Chamber

6pm, Industry Night @ Taft Petroleum Club

2 SPRING BREAK

3 SPRING BREAK

6-10pm Cruise Night

4

5 6 7

6pm, City Council Meeting @ City Hall

8

9am, Sit N Sip @ Taft Chamber

6pm, Wine Down Wednesday at The Bank Sports

9

West Side Health Care District Community Meeting

10

Maricopa Gusher Days

11

Maricopa Gusher Days

11am-2pm, Taft ARC BBQ @ Taft Moose Lodge

12

Maricopa Gusher Days

13 14 15

9am, Sit N Sip

9am-Noon Taft Job Fest @ The Fort

16

11am, TCFPP Luncheon & Welding Dedication

17 18

9am, Soroptomist Garden Tour

6pm, TUHS Hall of Fame Dinner

April 2015

April 2015 cont. 19, Downtown Business Association 5K/10K Run

21, City Council Meeting 22, Planning Commission Meeting 23, State of the City Luncheon

24, Taft College Al Baldock Golf Classic 28, Houchin Blood Bank

29, Taft Chamber Board Meeting 30, Fort/TAPT Wine Tasting

May 2015 1, First Friday Car Cruise 5, City Council Meeting

6, Industry Night at Taft Petroleum Club 13, Together We Can Meeting 16, Taft Relay for Life, TUHS

23, The Fort’s 75th Anniversary Celebration 30, Taft Chamber Car, Truck, and Bike Show, Rails to Trails

7th Annual Rails to Trails

Car, Truck, and Bike Show

SATURDAY MAY 30, 2015

7am-3pm

Pre-register $25

Includes goodie bag and t-shirt

Day of Event $30

SAVE THE DATE!

Register your car today!

Bet on Taft!

2015 Installation Party

& Awards Ceremony

February 5, 2015

EVENT SPONSORS Asian Experience/The Bank

Bill & Verna Black California Resources Corporation

Edward J Herrera Insurance Agency Jan Ashley

Lisa Brown, Realtor Roger Miller Insurance Agency

State Farm - Julie Franks Taft College Foundation

Taft Production Company Total Western Inc.

West Kern Water District West Side Recreation & Park District

Westside Waste Management

THANK YOU!!!

A Hint of Class

Accelerated Environmental Services

Acme Jewelry & Gifts

AFLAC—Gary Hackler

Alliance Tax Credit Consulting, Inc.

Alloy Construction

Alpha House Women’s Shelter

Alzheimer’s Disease Association

American Cancer Society

AmeriFirst Financial, Inc.

Asian Experience

ATP Homes, LLC

Banks Pest Control, Inc.

Becky Ashcraft, Realtor

Ben’s Books

Black, Bill

Black/Hall Construction

California Resource Corporation

Calvary Temple Assembly of God

Campos Tire Service

CASA of Kern County

Cavins Oil Well Tools

Chevron

Chevron Valley Credit Union

Chicken of Oz

Circle of Love

City of Taft

Coldwell Banker Preferred, Realtors

Community Christians Fellowship

Copper’s True Value Hardware

Creekside Apartments

David Janes Company

Dr. David Cothrun

Dr. James L. Simonson

Dr. Loretta Garcia Lipscomb

Edward J. Herrera Insurance Agency

Employers Training Resources

Erickson & Brown Funeral Home

Extreme Wireless

Fairouzah Merchant

Fastrip Food Store #929

Faulkner, Tom

First Baptist Church of Taft

Freeport McMoran Oil & Gas

Friends of Temblor

General Production Services, Inc.

Hall Ambulance Service, Inc.

Helt Engineering, Inc.

Hodel’s Dining

Holland Inn & Suites

Hosking, Harry & Carolyn

Huddleston Crane Service, Inc.

IDI-Tech

Interfaith Electric & Fire

Joyce Properties

Ken Anderson

Kern Street Pharmacy

Killingsworth, Vic L.

Kiwanis Club of Taft

Lighthouse Foursquare Church

LPL Financial

Management & Training Corp (MTC)

McKittrick Waste Treatment

Measure Me Mommie

Midway Laboratory

Mike’s Pool Service

Miller, Randy & Ginny

Monarch Fleet Services & Automotive

New Horizon Financial Services

Omni Family Health

Pacific Perforating

Paik’s Ranch House

Pizza Factory

Proforma Solutions

Ray Morgan Company

Razor’s Edge

Revival Worship/United Pentecostal Church

Rotary Club of Taft

S&S Printing

SCORE Golden Empire

Shar-On Corporation

Snow Well Service, Inc.

Soroptomist International of Taft

Southwest Signs

State Farm Insurance Agency—Julie Franks

State Farm Insurance Agency—Kathy Herm

Sunrise Power

Swearengin, John

T’s Taxi

Taft City School District

Taft College

Taft Community Gardens

Taft Holdings, Inc.

Taft Midway Driller

Taft Midway Sunset Lions Club

Taft Motorcycle Show

Taft News Now

Taft Plumbing Co, Inc.

Taft Production Company, Oil-Dri

Taft Sky Sports, Inc.

Taft Sportmen’s Club, Inc.

The ARC—Taft

The Fort Preservation Society

Unity Security Bank

Unity Thrift & Outreach

Vibul Tangpraphaphorn, M. D., Inc.

Waldrop’s Auto Parts

West Hills Church of the Nazarene

West Kern Water District

West Side Furniture

West Side Mosquito & Vector Control District

West Side Recreation and Park District

West Side ROP

West Valley Real Estate

Westside Christian Minister’s Associa-tion

Westside Economic Development Company, LLC

Willow Ranch Restaurant

Welcome to our new and returning members for 2015!

We look forward to serving the membership and our community through the 2015 year. Your support allows us to grow and act as the business hub for Taft.

If your name or business is missing from this list, that means we have not received your Membership Application and Dues by the time of this publication. Stop by and renew your Chamber membership today!

2015 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President: Emmanuel Campos Monarch Fleet Services

1st Vice President: Ron Sousa

Albertsons

2nd Vice President: Jordan Miller Roger Miller Insurance Agency

Treasurer: Bart Hill United Security Bank

Devinder Bains

Taft Chevrolet—Buick

Glenn Black Black/Hall Construction

Eric Burkhart

Total Western Inc.

Les Clark West Side Recreation and Park District

Tony Cordova

Synagro

Bob Hampton Westside Waste Management

Ed Herrera

Edward J Herrera Insurance Agency

Greg Hill Old’s Cool Antiques and More

Sharon Hill

Taft Union High School

Shawn Johnson David Janes Company

Sandy Koenig

Westside Community Resource Center

Orchel Krier Tumbleweed Café

Dr. Dena Maloney

Taft College

Yvette Mayfield City of Taft

John Neumann

Accelerated Environmental

Dennis Schertz Asian Experience

Harry Starkey

West Kern Water District

John Swearengin Kern County Sheriff’s Office

Dan Tosti

Aera Energy LLC

Adele Ward Taft City School District

Rodney Wikoff

West Hills Church of the Nazarene

400 Kern Street Taft, CA 93268

661-765-2165

www.taftchamber.com

OUR STAFF

Executive Director: Dr. Kathy Orrin kathy.taftchamber@gmail.com

Event Coordinator: Shannon Jones

shannon.taftchamber@gmail.com

TAFT OILDORADO

October 9-18, 2015

Civic Luncheon, Grand

Parade, Hot Air Balloons,

Music Festival, Car Show,

Gala, Whiskerino, Maid of

Petroleum, Hoosegow &

more. Contact Paul Linder

for info!

TAFT OILWORKERS MONUMENT

SPACE IS LIMITED!!

Call us at 661-765-2165 to order a

brick for that special oilfield

worker or family member to be

placed at the Taft Oilworkers

Monument.

4x8 Brick: $100—8x8 Brick: $175

1st Annual Taft Pub Crawl March 14-17, 2015

Buy a Passport Card for $50

And receive a Free T-Shirt

4 days 10 different locations

Use your passport card at each of the 10 locations anytime from March 14 through

March 17 for a free beer.

Cards may be purchased at The Bank Sports Lounge,

Irish, Irish,

Irish I had

a beer!