Events

Check back as time and location TBD 

Lauren Marty joined BMoA in 2020. She is responsible for promoting the museum’s exhibitions , education classes, community events, membership marketing, and facility rentals. She also manages the museum’s social media activity and public relations work. After years of managing marketing departments in other industries, she says “it’s a pleasure to promote a place that encourages creativity, learning, and art appreciation.”  

32^nd District Assemblyman

Stan Ellis is a farmer, local businessman, and community member with deep roots in the Central Valley. Growing up on a hog farm in South Dakota, he worked to put himself through college at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

After graduating with a degree in mathematics, Stan settled down in Kern County, where he began an extensive entrepreneurial career. He started several small businesses across various fields, including oil, agriculture, chemical process, and reclamation. His work in quantum physics includes innovations in quantum communication, quantum networking, and the development of revolutionary medical research and treatment using quantum entanglement.

Stan started his career in the Kern County oil industry in 1975 as a “mud engineer” before forming his first company, West Coast Mud, in 1981. After this company found success, Stan entered the chemical process industry with — Global Environmental — to minimize waste from oil refineries. 

He has since founded a quantum physics lab which leads in the design and manufacturing of entangled photon sources and state measurement systems. Stan’s company, Qubitekk, stands out for its commitment as a US based company to protect critical infrastructure from the danger of hacking threats both foreign and domestic. Qubitekk is working with the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense to advance cybersecurity in the U.S.

As a member of the Cal State University, Bakersfield Engineering Advisory Board, Stan is invested in the education and growth of the next generation. With a family spanning five children and twenty grandchildren, Stan is motivated by a profound sense of duty to future generations.

Along with his work in quantum physics, Stan developed a radiation device for COVID-19 which is expected to enter the market early next year. The device irradiates and mutates RNA, killing any virus with a 99.9% destruction efficiency. Stan believes that integrity and hard work are always the formula for success, and there is an obvious lack of integrity in the political system. Overregulation in California has stressed almost every industry imaginable, especially agriculture.

Kern Medical CEO Scott Thygerson has more than 20 years of experience as an executive and consultant in health care strategic planning, operations, business development, and marketing.

Prior to serving in his current position, Scott was Kern Medical’s President and before that, Chief Strategy Officer. He has fulfilled similar roles at hospitals within Dignity Health System and Trinity Health.

🎲 It’s Bunco Night! 🎲

Join us for the November Club Social on November 20th at 6 PM at Denise’s home.

Roll the dice, enjoy some snacks, and share a night full of laughter and fellowship!

✨ Check out the flyer for all the details — we can’t wait to see you!

📅 RSVP by November 14th so we can save you a seat at the table!

Evette has over 15 years of experience in wastewater and has dedicated 12 years to serving the City of Bakersfield.  A Cornell University graduate with a degree in civil engineering, Evette is a licensed Professional Engineer and a certified Grade V Wastewater Operator.

Having served as the Wastewater Manager for four years, she now brings her expertise to the role of Assistant Water Director, continuing to advance the city’s water and wastewater infrastructure.

Join us for food and festivities for the Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary Holiday Party. 

See the attached invitation for the details 

Beth Brookhart has been a storyteller since childhood in Colorado, beginning with a book of poems written for her mother. A journalism graduate of Colorado State University, Beth spent two decades reporting on agricultural news, often found tromping through farm fields in pursuit of a story.

Later, her career shifted to communications roles with several agricultural organizations in Bakersfield, CA. In 2010, she embarked on her fiction-writing journey, leading to the completion of The Book Project, a prestigious two-year program at the Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver. An avid volunteer, Beth was inspired by her seventeen years of service on the board of her local museum to pen The Four Queens of the Buttonbush Museum.  

Beth lives in Bakersfield, CA with her husband who is a table grape farmer. She has two children and five grandchildren who are the most fun in the entire world. She also has three very large, drooling dogs named Lola, Vinny and Angus.

Born and raised in Kern County, Norma is committed to making a positive difference in her community. A business and community leader whose passion for education and business has earned her a reputation as a high-impact networker. She is a sought-after community leader as she is accomplished at planning and executing strategies that are both effective and efficient; not to mention her proven track record of assisting private, public, and nonprofit organizations with forging successful partnerships.

Prior to taking the role as Program Director for the Women’s Business Center serving Kern County, Norma’s experience at Santa Barbara Business College included teaching college-level business classes, managing the business department as the Business Department Lead and she later became the Career Services Manager. She currently serves as the Workforce Development Director for the Kern County Society of Human Resource Management Board of Directors, is on the American Red Cross Board of Directors for the Kern County and Eastern Sierra Chapter and Chair of the philanthropy committee.

She contributes to the Kern Initiative for Talent and Entrepreneurship Committee and serves on the Better Bakersfield & Boundless Kern steering committee, focusing on business resources for the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Kern County and works with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to educate entrepreneurs about financial fundamentals and access to capital in the Central Valley.

Here are some highlights about our upcoming speaker. 

Economic & Community Development Manager at 

City of Bakersfield-Government

Real Estate Sales Agent at Sage Equities

Former Executive Director at Bike Bakersfield

Former Claims Processor at State Farm

Studied City & Regional Planning at California Polytechnic State University

Went to Bakersfield Christian High School

Lives in Bakersfield, California

Join us for the first 2026 Club Social on Thursday, January 15 at 5:30 pm at the Hungry Hunter, where they proudly claim to have the best prime rib in town!

Hungry Hunter
3580 Rosedale Hwy.
Bakersfield, CA 93308

Please RSVP by Monday, January 12, as I must have the head count in by the 13th.

You may email, call, or text me with your RSVP. My cell number is 661-809-9294. If you text, please be sure to include your name—my ESP hasn’t been working very well lately. 

Come visit, laugh, and enjoy a great local restaurant with friends.

Thank you, and let’s kick off 2026 right!

Warmly,
Jennifer

Come join your club buddies and Golden Valley Interactors at one of our traditional service projects - Pancakes for the residents and under-homed of East Bakersfield who are in need of a warm breakfast.  They are appreciative of the food and our efforts.

There are two shiftts:

6 am - 9 am - set up, preparing the food and starting service (handing out to-go boxes)
9 am - 12pm - serving food and cleaning up the kitchen, grills, etc.

Text or call event coordinator Erick Bautista with the shift(s) you will work.
His cell is 661-889-8204 or email ekbautista@gmail.com

You make a difference!

A change of leadership is coming to the influential agency responsible for transportation planning across Kern County. Jay Schlosser, the city of Tehachapi’s development services director, will become the eighth executive director of the Kern Council of Governments on June 30. Schlosser will replace Ahron R. Hakimi, who is set to retire this summer. Hakimi, formerly an engineer with Caltrans, became Kern COG’s executive director in 2012. Through a joint powers authority, Kern COG brings together local governments, Golden Empire Transit, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration and other stakeholders.

Kern COG's board of directors, comprised of a mayor or councilmember from each of the county’s 11 incorporated cities plus two county supervisors, voted April 17 to appoint Schlosser to its top position. "We are pleased to have Mr. Schlosser as our next executive director," board Chairman Bob Smith, a Bakersfield city councilman, said in a news release. "His proven experience on the Kern COG Transportation Technical Advisory Committee and with the city of Tehachapi promises a strong future as Kern County faces numerous transportation opportunities and challenges in the next decades."

Second District Supervisor Chris Parlier, whose area includes Tehachapi, and Tehachapi City Councilman Phil Smith are among members of the board.  “I look forward to working with Jay as the executive director,” Phil Smith, the longest-serving member of the Kern COG board, said in a brief interview Thursday morning. “He has demonstrated a superior work ethic. With so many accomplishments, he will be hard to replace.”

All BBRC members are cordially invited to attend

The Rotary Club of Bakersfield Breakfast

44th Anniversary Charter Night
Saturday, February 7, 2026

Stockdale Country Club – 7001 Stockdale Highway

Cocktails 6:00 Dinner 6:45

Please RSVP with your menu choices by 2/1/26 to:

RedLari523@gmail.com

Members are complimentary.

First Guest - $20; Additional Guests - $65 each

Semi-Formal Attire

No-show member &  guest reservations will be charged $65 each.

Bios: Naomi Vidales and Officer Jose Lara

Naomi Vidales, Executive Director, Police Activities League

Good morning,

I am so pleased to introduce you to Naomi Vidales, Executive Director of the Bakersfield Police Activities League, who was appointed to this position in February 2024 after an extensive career with the Bakersfield Police Department.

Naomi started as a Bakersfield Police Explorer, where she first interacted with the Bakersfield Police Activities League as a volunteer at various PAL events.

She began her “paid” career with the BPD as a Police Cadet assigned to the BPAL Center. BPAL then hired her as an Activity Leader, allowing her to continue working directly with youth.

Naomi worked full-time, raised her 3 younger siblings and her own son, and, at the encouragement of a BPD Sgt., she earned her Associates degree in criminal justice at night through an online program.

In 2005, she became the full-time Office Manager and later, the Assistant Director at BPAL, overseeing daily operations, fundraising, bookkeeping, and grant writing.

In 2015, Naomi left PAL to work for the BPD in a variety of administrative positions in the Records department, Traffic Unit, and Special Operations. In 2024, she joined the Community Engagement Unit assisting BPAL on the administrative side and soon was appointed Acting Executive Director.

With 24 years of involvement with BPAL as a volunteer, and as a mother and grandmother, this work and organization is deeply personal to her.

BPD Officer Jose Lara has been an officer for 3-and-a-half years and is currently assigned to the Bakersfield Police Activities League.

Officer Lara grew up down the street from BPAL and started attending at the age of 7. For 5 years he felt safe growing up at the facility as he participated in after school and summer sports activities.

It was at BPAL where he learned to play soccer in a league setting; skills he took to compete in club, high school and collegiate soccer, first in Nebraska, then at Cal Poly 

"Mr. LaManque brings over 35 years of aviation experience to his role as Kern County Director of Airports, a position he assumed in July 2025. Previously, he served as Senior Planner for the Virginia Department of Aviation, managing projects and budgets for 31 airports statewide, he has also held positions in Airport Operations and Business Development. Earlier in his career, he spent more than 20 years as a flight instructor and commercial pilot, including serving as a project pilot for NASA’s Langley Research Center. He holds a bachelor’s degree with a concentration in finance and real estate, an MBA, a Commercial Pilot’s License, an Advanced Ground Instructor Rating, and is a Certified Member of the American Association of Airport Executives."

It is all about the love of Jesus healing hearts and making the impossible possible.

Having personally experienced the impact of God’s grace and mercy in my life, I have great hope for others! My desire to follow God is fueled each time I witness God do the impossible. Be Finally Free began as a passion for people in prisons, addicts, and their families…’the least of these’ (Matthew 25:45). Today it is so much more than a passion…it’s a mission! BFF brings real hope through discipleship, education, and relationships. The challenges people face get solved through the love of God offered in relationships with people like us: people who love, hurting people. Join us! Pray, give, or volunteer.

Mr. Christian Clegg was selected as the City Manager of the City of Bakersfield in 2020. Under City Manager Clegg’s direction, the City Manager’s Office is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the City, development of the City budget and implementation of City Council goals and priorities.

Mr. Clegg is a passionate, community-oriented local government leader. He is committed to reinventing how local governments connect to and serve communities, as well as redefining what it means for residents to be part of a community.

Mr. Clegg leveraged outstanding mentorship throughout his 5 years in the City Manager’s Office for the City of Tacoma, Wash. during a period in which the City undertook a comprehensive organizational change effort toward becoming a high performance organization.

Mr. Clegg then made a unique commitment to public service in taking on a challenge working in the City Manager’s Office for Stockton, Calif. as part of the new executive team rebuilding and then driving change in Stockton to create a new pathway forward for this community. His initial area of focus in Stockton was to rebuild the core internal organizational capacities, such as internal controls, policies and procedures, agenda management, strategic planning, performance measures and contracting.

Mr. Clegg received the 2016 League of California Cities John H. Nail Award for distinguished community leadership by a Deputy City Manager for maintaining the daily operations of the City while the City Manager focused on guiding the City through the bankruptcy process.

In more recent years, Christian has been more engaged with external partners building a legislative advocacy program, managing regional collective impacts strategies and implementing priority special projects for the City of Stockton. Of particular note is Christian’s pivotal role in establishing a new Office of Violence Prevention for the City of Stockton.

Mr. Clegg has a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University in Psychology and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Kansas in Public Administration.  

As Fire Chief and Director of Emergency Services for the County of Kern, I am deeply honored to lead the Kern County Fire Department (KCFD), a professional organization committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our community. 

From its inception in 1927, the KCFD has developed into an efficient force of over 600 dedicated professionals, providing essential services via 47 fire stations. Our footprint spans over eight thousand (8,000) square miles, encompassing nine incorporated cities, underscoring our daunting yet crucial role in public safety.

Our essential duties go beyond firefighting and extend to emergency medical support, technical rescue, hazardous materials response, fire prevention and education, fire investigation, and emergency management. Through these varied services, we aim to secure the citizens and businesses of Kern County, ensuring that our community thrives in a safe environment. Our collaboration with the State also highlights our commitment to broader fire suppression services in the State Response Areas (SRA).

I am fully aware of the task at hand and the expectations we have set for ourselves. But I am equally confident in the capacity and commitment of the men and women of the KCFD who make our mission possible. Every member of this department is a testament to our core values of Leadership, Integrity, and Service. These values guide our operations and ethos, inspiring us to face daily challenges.

I am immensely proud to be at the helm of such a dedicated team, and I promise you that the KCFD will continue to strive for excellence and put the safety of Kern County citizens at the forefront of everything we do.

Location:
Rosemary's Family Creamery
2733 F Street
Bakersfield, CA 93301

Date & Time:
5:30 – 7:30 PM

Please RSVP by March 10th so I can provide Rosemary’s with an accurate headcount.

You may reply to this email or text me at 661-809-9294.
(If texting, please include your name.)

Gus Mattammal is the Director of Advantage Testing of Silicon Valley. Advantage Testing has been described by the New York Times as “the gold standard of the tutoring industry.” Gus has led the expansion of Advantage Testing’s private and pro bono activity throughout the South, Midwest, and West. As a full-time educator with Advantage Testing for over 22 years, Gus has personally worked with over 1,000 students of every race and socioeconomic background and helped them achieve their academic goals and aspirations.

Gus is an elected member of the Midcoast Community Council, representing the 12,000 people who live between Half Moon Bay and Pacifica, and serves on countywide boards dealing with transportation and with tax oversight. He is also President of SHIFT-Bay Area (www.shift-ba.org), a nonpartisan policy advocacy group focused on regional issues in the Bay Area. SHIFT-Bay Area brings together people from across the entire political spectrum to promote transparent, accountable, sustainable policies in the areas of housing, infrastructure, finance, and transportation.

Gus is a candidate for the California Superintendent of Public Instruction. He hopes to bring the principles and policies discussed in A is for Average to our school system. To find out more or to support Gus’s campaign, visit https://www.gusforca.com/.

When not teaching kids or working on public policy, Gus enjoys reading, taking his border collie Dixie on long walks, and spending time with his amazing wife Jill, whom he hopes to one day deserve.

Amy Smith is the Capital Campaign Director for The Open Door Network, leading a $45 million effort to create a new campus that will expand opportunities for women, children, and families, providing a safe and nurturing environment for hundreds each year. Known for building strong community partnerships and leading successful fundraising initiatives, she previously served 8 ½ years as Executive Director of the Bakersfield Museum of Art. A proud 2013 graduate of Leadership Bakersfield, Amy has been active in Rotary for many years, serving as Twilight Club President and as Assistant Governor and Executive Assistant Governor for District 5240. She and her husband, Zane, have been happily married for 33 years and love cheering on their children, Christopher, a Financial Services Officer at a credit union in Monterey, and Charlotte, a substitute elementary school teacher pursuing her master’s in education.

Lauren Skidmore is a non-profit leader as CEO for The Open Door Network. She also is a 5th generation Cattle Rancher where she supports the family business. Since 2021, Lauren has led The Open Door Network which provides services to those whose lives have been, or could be, impacted by homelessness, domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and human trafficking. Lauren describes her life goal as becoming a vital community leader through her passion in community development, outreach, leadership, and government relations. She is a life-long learner and hopes to be an asset in her community.

Prior to her work with the Open Door Network, Lauren was the District Director for the 34th District of the California State Assembly, working with the Honorable Vince Fong. She has served on many community boards and committees and is currently Chair of Kern County Planning Commission, member of the Kern Bakersfield Regional Homeless Collaborative, and member of the Go Red committee