400 Kern Street
Taft, CA, 93268
Phone: (661) 765-2165
Fax: (661) 765-6639
www.taftchamber.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 [email protected]
Event Coordinator: Shannon Jones
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!
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