The Bakersfield Voice
Goodbye, Buck
Goodbye, Buck
By: Dana Martin, Community Contributor
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Posted by sunnica Wed Nov 30, -0001 00:00:00 PST
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To have lived in Bakersfield all of one’s life is to have known Buck Owens.
I did not know him personally and met him only once or twice.
I saw him sing at the Crystal Palace with the Dixie Chicks, and he was there the night Keith Urban picked his fingers off with a band called “The Ranch.”
However, to be a native Bakersfieldian is to grow up knowing things about the city: we have oil wells, the bluffs, fog, pleasant neighborhoods ... and Buck Owens.
We didn’t have to see him regularly to know he was here; his presence was everywhere.
My mom tells the story of dancing with my dad at The Blackboard when Buck played. My grandma would run into Buck shopping for groceries at the then-Safeway on North Chester Avenue. My husband nearly bumped into him at a western store downtown.
Buck didn’t just live in Bakersfield.
He WAS Bakersfield.
I didn’t think I would ever get used to the change from Pierce Road to Buck Owens Boulevard, but I did. And, today, most people don’t remember the road before it was Buck’s street.
Once the re-done Bakersfield arch went up, many of us — who used to drive beneath it on Union Avenue every Sunday morning at brunch — get back a little bit of our childhoods each time we see the sign Buck saved from the freeway.
The original Crystal Palace in London was an exposition hall designed in the mid-1800s to showcase Europe’s inventions and successes during the Industrial Revolution. People traveled from as far as China to witness something so grand.
Likewise, Buck’s Crystal Palace has drawn visitors from all over this nation and others to Bakersfield since it was built, showcasing relics and pieces of country music history that have helped put our city on the map, a city that has been coined “the armpit of the state” on more than one occasion.
Buck never saw Bakersfield like that.
Instead, Buck set up his home and work here. He loved the people, the community, and he left a lasting impression on everyone who calls Bakersfield home.
And to those of us lucky enough to have lived here a lifetime, we lost a bit of our childhood on the morning of March 25, a man who is as much a local legend as Father Garces is a memorable landmark at the Circle — Buck has just always been here.
So, goodbye, Buck, and thank you for your time here.
You went to bed Friday night in Bakersfield, and on Saturday morning, you woke up in Heaven.
Knowing Buck, I bet he hardly noticed a difference.
Editor’s Note:
Send your Buck memories and photos to:
www.northwestvoice.com
We plan to share them with your Northwest neighbors in our next issue.
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