Events: Raising Bakersfield

The Chamber Haunted House

The Chamber Haunted House, doors open at 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Sam Lynn Ballpark, 4009 Chester Ave. $10.

myspace.com/chamberhaunt or chamberhaunt.com.

Parent Night Out Childcare Event

Parent Night Out, hosted by American Kids Sports Center, has been known to be the most fun your kids will ever have on a Saturday night (for the least amount of money too). Activities include gymnastics, group games, tumbling, martial arts, swimming (indoor), trampoline, and a lot more. Our Monkey Bar Café is open for the kids to purchase items during snack breaks.

So, why trouble with finding a babysitter when AKSC is always here to serve you! See you Saturday night!

6pm-11pm, Ages 3-13 (potty trained required)

For reservations, call 589-2100.

Prepaid $20 for the 1st child, $13 for each additional family member. $24 at the door.

Via Arte Italian Street Painting Festival

Saturday & Sunday, The Marketplace.

Enjoy beautiful chalk drawings in this lovely street festival. Hundreds of artists participate in this enjoyable event that is a treat for all families and is free to all. Entertainment, food, music and more. This year, celebrate Via Arte's 10th birthday with special events and activities planned.

Thomas & Friends Play Date!

11am - 1pm, Toys R Us. Bring in your little engineer for Thomas & Friends play dates! Including: storytime every half hour, coloring fun, and Thomas & Friends wooden railway play table time!

Old Time Peddler’s Faire and Harvest Festival

Kern County Museum, Saturday, October 11 and Sunday October 12
Hours: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Saturday, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm on Sunday; Early bird Saturday at 7:00 am
Two hundred vendors will unpack their wares throughout the museum’s 16 acres for the Old Time Peddler’s Faire and Harvest Festival put on by Ace Antiques. Harvest games, fresh produce and historic displays round out the fun. Early bird admission Saturday at 7:00 am $12. Hours: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Saturday and 9:00 am to 3:30 pm Sunday. General admission $8, children under 8 free with adult. For vending information call Mark Bianchi at 661-496-3962.

Kid's Safety Carnival

Saturday, October 11, 2008

10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

FREE ADMISSION

@ CALM - 10500 Alfred Harrell Hwy

FUN!!! PRIZES!!!

Grandma's Attic Storytime

Storytime at Southwest Library every Saturday, 10:30 AM.

Pumpkins, Patches and Pancakes

8 - 11 AM, Murray Family Farms.

Don’t miss this great family event featuring a pancake breakfast provided by Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary Club, pumpkin face painting, costume fashion parade, hay wagon ride, a live animal petting zoo and other activities...all to benefit CASA’s powerful work with kids!

Lowe's Build and Grow Clinics: Spooky Skeleton

Lowe's Stores, 10-11 AM.

Get ready for Halloween! Bring your child to Lowe’s and they can build this glow in the dark Spooky Skeleton!

Your child will love building. At lowe's your little one can build and grow. Visit the website: www.lowesbuildandgrow.com to view current project and find store locations.

Healthy Baby Day

Healthy Baby Day, with seminars, product demonstrations, vendor tables, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Babies "R" Us, 9280 Rosedale Highway. 587-0423.

Murray Family Farms October Fest 2008

When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays in October

Where: Highway 58 at the General Beale Road exit

Admission: A $10 per-person day pass allows entry into the October Fest area (children under 30 inches tall get in free). Once inside, you can purchase a train ride ticket for an additional $3.

Information: 339-0296 or 330-0100

What makes it special: General manager Mariella Canepa said October Fest at Murray Family Farms provides a wholesome family environment full of “things you don’t experience at the mall or at the movie theater or at the bowling alley.”

The Spider Maze is all about spiders without being scary. It’s interactive, educational and fun, Canepa said.

“The Asparagus Maze is all about colors and fruit,” she said. “When you eat fruit, you’re eating colors and vice-versa. We educate kids about how important it is to eat your colors. Ultimately it’s all about getting them to eat nutritious fruit.”

The Hay Wagon Ride teaches kids about farming and what it takes to grow food. Everyone with a day pass is allowed to pick a 2-to-3-pound baby pumpkin to take home, Canepa said.

The small Petting Zoo features baby goats, pygmy goats, chickens, a llama, a pig, birds and sheep.

A picnic area at the farm allows families to bring lunch and enjoy it in the open.

The Knack Great Pumpkin Event

10 am - 3 pm, Michaels.

Bring the whole family to Michaels on October 11, 2008, 10am–3pm. For only $5 you can decorate your own craft pumpkin for Halloween at the Great Pumpkin Event. Supplies and pumpkin are included, what a fantastic value!

Music Classes For Toddlers & Preschoolers

Introduce your little one to the world of music! Harmony Road Music School is now enrolling for a new 6-week session for toddlers and preschoolers that begins the week of October 13.

Activities include singing, movement, playing with rhythm instruments, rocking/cuddling songs, activities w/balls, scarves, and hoops, and keyboard introduction. A parent participates in each class.

For more info check out our website at www.harmonyroadbakersfield.com or call us at 665-8228.

Buy Popcorn responsibly- Buy it from a CubScout

BUY POPCORN RESPONSIBLY

BUY IT FROM A CUBSCOUT!

Your Local CubScout Pack 25 will be selling the best popcorn in the world at Rite Aid on Jewetta and Olive Drive on Saturday October 11th from 9am-6pm

your support helps our Cubs achieve the very important life lesson of working hard and earning your own way.

Military donation option is available as well. Every year Trails end popcorn send their popcorn to be enjoyed by our hard working military. You can support this mission by choosing "military donation" for $25 at the store front on October 11th.

The Reading Express Book Drive at the Bakersfield City Fire Station

In an effort to promote literacy among young children in our community, Golden Empire Transit (GET) has launched The Reading Express, an on-board library program.

The Reading Express is geared towards children ages birth to 3rd grade and will encourage early literacy. During the initial kick-off, forty-one of GET's buses will be stocked with a selection of children's books for kids to read while commuting with their parents. As new buses are added to the fleet, they too will be stocked with books.

The Bakersfield City Fire Station will be hosting a Book Drive for The Reading Express on Saturday, October 11th from 11am-1pm. Donate a book and receive a Fruit Bar courtesy of La Rosa Fruit Bars & Ice Cream, Inc. There will also be FREE tours of the Fire Station and a KRAB Live Remote.

Now you can share the books that your kids and grandkids have outgrown by donating them to The Reading Express. All of those great old stories will be new again to a whole new generation of readers. See you at the Bakersfield City Fire Station on the 11th!

The Reading Express Book Drive

11 am to 1 pm, Bakersfield City Fire Station.

Come donate a book and tour the Fire Station from 11 am to 1 pm!

In an effort to promote literacy among young children in our community, Golden Empire Transit (GET) has launched The Reading Express, an on-board library program in September 2008.

The Reading Express is geared towards children ages birth to 3rd grade and will encourage early literacy. During the initial kick-off, forty-one of GET's buses will be stocked with a selection of children's books for kids to read while commuting with their parents. As new buses are added to the fleet, they too will be stocked with books.

Boys & Girls Club's Artfest

6 - 10 pm.

Set in the private community of Windermere, guests will be treated to a strolling dinner, wine tasting, silent and live auction featuring both professional artists and art by the stars of the evening...children from the Boys & Girls Club. Proceeds benefit art programs for children in Kern County.

East Hills Walmart Children's Miracle Network Fall Craftsfair

9 am - 5 pm. East Hills Walmart is hosting it's annual craftshow benefiting Children's Miracle Network. All booth fees will be donated to the charity. The craft show Will be in the main parking lot of the Walmart. Public is welcomed.

43rd Annual Italian Festival

43rd Annual Italian Festival, with booths, raffles, prizes, bocce tournament, games, music and more, noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, Italian Heritage Hall, 4415 Wilson Road. 831-0867.

OLPH Annual Fall Harvest Festival

2 - 6 pm, Annual OLPH school fundraiser complete with pumpkin patch, games prizes food & fun.

Preschool Storytime - Beale

Join our storytime every Monday at 10:30 am!

American Girl Book Group

Join us every 2nd Monday, 7:00 PM, at Barnes & Noble!

Valley Bible Fellowship MOPS Meeting

Every 2nd and 4th Monday at 9:00 AM. Those interested in attending meetings need to contact raquelsteele@sbcglobal.net for more information.

MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) (ages 0-6 years) is a Christian non-profit organization which provides encouragement and support to young mothers of preschool children. MOPS recognizes that the years from infancy through kindergarten are foundational in a mother-child relationship and are filled with unique needs.

MOPS groups are chartered through local faith-based organizations, including churches and parachurch ministries, although most churches don't require you attend the church or even be of a specific religion. While each group is different, the MOPS programs provide childcare and include crafts, coffee, and guest speakers.

Groups run from September to May.

Please contact the group before attending.

Fee applies.

Breastfeeding Support Group

Breastfeeding Support Group, 10:30 a.m. Monday, Clinica Sierra Vista, Southwest WIC Office, 4626 American Ave. 845-5051.

meet other breasfeeding moms
share your breastfeeding concerns and successes
choose the discussion topic

Pop-In Playtime Pre-K

You and your child are invited to come and play on our giant, soft, fun-filled, interactive inflatables during Pump-It-Up Playtime. Children must be between the ages of 2-6 and at least 34 inches tall to play.

Cost: $ 7 per child, $5 per sibling, Parents are free
Playgroups of 6 or more kids: $6 per child

Little Book-A-Roo

Yee-haa, pardners! Git along little book-a-roos, round up the young-uns for a whip-snapping good story, every Tuesday morn, 10:30am at Borders!

Mommy & Me Dance Class

9 am, Tuesdays, The Dance Stop, 1610 19th St.

For 2 - 3 year olds and their mommies.

For more information call 322-8874 or visit thedancestop.com.

How to Start a Child Care Business

Learn all the practical information you need to open a quality child care business, whether a stand-alone center or an in-home operation. All aspects of the business will be discussed, including the need for more quality child care, licensing requirements, start-up costs, how to obtain financing, and where to get expert assistance at all stages of developing your child care business.
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Location: Weill Institute of Bakersfield College, 2100 Chester Avenue, Bakersfield CA 93301
Audience: If you are a child development professional or child care operator, a home based entrepreneur, a real estate developer, a business owner, or from a faith-based organization, this workshop will help you determine if a child care business is right for you.
Cost: Free
Contact: Call the SBDC at 661-395-4126 or online at http://www.weill-sbdc.com/workshops-events.html

Do the Math

Every Tuesday and Wednesday from 4 - 5 p.m.
Do The Math provides students 4th - 12th grade with assistance on homework and standards based math instruction.

Each week students compete to answer Challenge Problems. You can call your answer into 636-4357 (HELP) or toll-free 866-636-6284 (MATH).

Students who become the first to correctly work a Challenge Problem will receive a prize and be invited to appear on the broadcast show.

Tutors begin taking calls every show day at 3:30pm and continue until 5:30pm

Basic Feng Shui

7 pm, Beale Library, Tejon Room, 2nd Floor.

Dr. Patrick Leung will host a presentation on the basic teachings of Feng Shui followed by a question and answer session.

October is Chinese Cultural Month at Beale Memorial Library!

Check out more events at www.kerncountylibrary.org.

Music Classes For Toddlers & Preschoolers

Introduce your little one to the world of music! Harmony Road Music School is now enrolling for a new 6-week session for toddlers and preschoolers that begins the week of October 13.

Activities include singing, movement, playing with rhythm instruments, rocking/cuddling songs, activities w/balls, scarves, and hoops, and keyboard introduction. A parent participates in each class.

For more info check out our website at www.harmonyroadbakersfield.com or call us at 665-8228.

Calvary Chapel Westbrook MOPS Meeting

Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday at 9:00 AM.

Groups run from September to May.

Please contact the group before attending.

Fee applies.

Women's Pregnancy Chat Group

Women's Pregnancy Chat Group, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Babies "R" Us, 9280 Rosedale Highway. 587-0423

Free Children's Immunizations

Wal-Mart – Tuesday, October 14th
8400 Rosedale Hwy (parking lot), Bakersfield
from 12:00 pm to 3:00pm

San Joaquin Community Hospital will be offering immunizations free of charge to children. No appointment necessary, but immunization cards are required. We will stop registration 30 minutes of closing time. The clinics will be held in the parking lots. For more information call (661) 869-6740.

Toddler Storytime

Join the fun every Wednesday, 10:00 AM, at Barnes & Noble!

Pre-school (ages 3-6), Toddlers (age 3 and under)

Preschool Storytime - Southwest Branch

Join our storytime every Wednesday at 10:30 am!

Miss Lynn's Storytime

10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. every Wednesday at Russo's Books in the Marketplace.

Toddlers and pre-schoolers come bring mom, dad, and grandparents of all ages to your special day. Miss Lynn keeps you entertained with the best in books for the under 3 foot crowd.

Music Classes For Toddlers & Preschoolers

Introduce your little one to the world of music! Harmony Road Music School is now enrolling for a new 6-week session for toddlers and preschoolers that begins the week of October 13.

Activities include singing, movement, playing with rhythm instruments, rocking/cuddling songs, activities w/balls, scarves, and hoops, and keyboard introduction. A parent participates in each class.

For more info check out our website at www.harmonyroadbakersfield.com or call us at 665-8228.

Pajama Storytime

Thursdays, 7 pm, Beale Library.

Traditional Chinese Medicine with Dr. Frank Lu, M.D.

7 pm, Beale Library, Tejon Room, 2nd Floor.

Dr. Lu will discuss the benefits of traditional Chinese medicine and herbal remedies.

October is Chinese Cultural Month at Beale Memorial Library!

Check out more events at www.kerncountylibrary.org.

Laurelglen Bible Church MOPS Meeting

Every 3rd Thursday at 9:00 AM.

Groups run from September to May.

Please contact the group before attending.

Fee applies.

Valley Baptist Church MOPS Meeting

Every 1st and 3rd Thursday at 9:00 AM.

Groups run from September to May.

Please contact the group before attending.

Fee applies.

Free Children's Immunizations

Taft City School Dist. – Thursday, October 16th
820 6th Street (parking lot), Taft
from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm

Friday Morning Storytime

Every Friday, 10:00 AM, at Barnes & Noble!

Children, Toddlers (age 3 and under)

Children's Song & Story with Miss Val

Come one, come all! Babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers all have a blast every Wednesday at Russo's Marketplace. Miss Val keeps the kids hopping with her very special songs, great stories, and upbeat fun. Storytime is from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., but be sure to come early for the best seating!

Free Museum Entrance Day

Every third Friday of the month, all admission FREE!

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM! A Haunted Museum Night!

October 17th & 18th, 7 pm - 9:30 pm, Buena Vista Museum of Natural History.

If you dare to creep through the museum’s many exhibit halls with only a flashlight guided tour.

$7 Adults / $5 Students

A night for the whole family. Let your imagination run wild with a Fun and Fearful time, a special visit to the Weird Professor’s Science Lab is a must!

Popcorn Cartoons

Fridays, 3 pm, Baker Branch, 1400 Baker St., 861-2390.

www.kerncountylibrary.org

"Little R Us" Halloween Party

6 p.m. Friday, Babies "R" Us, 9280 Rosedale Highway. 587-0423

The Chamber Haunted House

When: 7 p.m. until all the ghosts have gone home this Friday, Saturday & Sunday, Oct. 10-12, 17-19, 23-26, 30-31 and Nov. 1. The last night is a benefit night, and half of Nov. 1 proceeds will be donated to the Bakersfield Association for Retarded Citizens.

Where: Sam Lynn Ball Park, 4009 Chester Ave.

Admission: $10 — $1 discount coupons available in record, game and Halloween costume stores around town.

What makes it special: Very, very scary. Parental guidance required for children under 13.

David Enloe, creator and owner of this haunted house/maze type of attraction, makes sure his blood-and-guts props are as lifelike (or deathlike) as possible, and also employs live actors to scare the Beetlejuice out of screaming patrons.

Speaking of beetle juice, “Bug Bite” is one of this year’s environments in The Chamber. The other two are “Wrong Turn Alley” and “Cirque de Souls.”

This is the fifth year of The Chamber in Bakersfield, according to Enloe, who said attendance last year was about 15,000.