You really have to dig a deep trench through the Kern County Superintendent of Schools’ (KCSOS) archives to find the first mention of “Special People Day” at the Kern County Fair. A Bakersfield Californian story titled “500 Handicapped Children Spend Day at the Fair” was written on Sept. 26, 1963. The accompanying picture shows two members of the Kern County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse, Ernie Ferguson and Cliff Neeley, watching a circus performance with six special needs children. The article hints that this was not the first year the posse had opened up the fair for deserving children. It mentions that A. C. Wynn was serving his 10th year as event chairman. That means it may have been happening as far back as 1953. Some posse veterans think it may go back further than that. Things have changed quite a bit since the 1963 article was written. Back then, the posse served “30 dozen hot dogs, gallons of milk and ice cream and soft drinks.” At the Sept. 25, 2008 Special People Day at the Fair, Kern County Superintendent of Schools' (KCSOS), statistics show the posse barbecued more than 3,000 hamburgers and hot dogs for the students, teachers and aides, with an equal amount of soft drinks and other food. Each year the nonprofit posse teams with fair officials and KCSOS to provide special needs students with this day of meaningful experiences. While the posse paid for carnival rides, bought food and cooked the lunches, KCSOS volunteers and those from other school districts bused the children in and provided supervision. The day offers much more than a free meal for the children. It is an opportunity for them to socialize and experience life outside the classroom. The opportunity helps many children with sensory problems, overcome fears when introduced to petting animals. Students with hearing and sight disorders see and hear the day in enjoyable ways others may not grasp. More

A bold decision to use bright purple instead of natural skin tones was the right decision for Liberty High freshman Natalie Chambers who received the Best of Show Ribbon at the annual Kern County Fair Children’s Art awards ceremony held on Sept. 24 in the fairgrounds’ Harvest Hall in Bakersfield. Chambers’ painting titled “Indian Maiden” was judged the best among 613 entries from 47 schools throughout the county. Chambers was an eighth-grader at Rosedale Middle School when she painted her winner which was entered in the fair competition in May. “Actually, I had been planning on using natural skin tones for the face, but the more I thought about it, I decided to just go for the purple.” Chambers said. “I think it is the focal point of the painting because it really makes all the other colors, such as the facial war paint, stand out.” Chambers’ judgment was not questioned by her Rosedale Middle School art teacher Sandra Nelson. After all, Chambers had been the school’s female artist of the year in both seventh and eighth grades. The bright colors and the purple face were a bit of a departure for her. Chambers’ favorite subject has always been people, but in the past she had confined her artwork to pencil drawings. “When Ms. Nelson told me in May she was going to enter it at the Fair, I got really excited,” Chambers said. Nelson has a pretty good eye for talent. Four other students of hers in past years have earned the Fair’s Best of Show Award and school Sweepstakes Trophy, which remains in the school’s trophy case for an entire year. More