Invocation: Brad Barnes

Flag Salute: Jeff Johnson

Song: N/A (Ken Carter said he retired last week)       

Greeter: David Dennison

Roving Mics: N/A

 

Today was Brad Barnes’ 61^st birthday – so President Garro gave Brad the option of paying $10 for a Happy Birthday duet or $50 to skip the singing altogether.  Brad made a counter-offer that President Garro could not refuse, and he ended up paying $25 in exchange for the entire club standing up and singing Happy Birthday to Brad.

 

Brad was also the featured “get to know your fellow Rotarian” segment, and the club learned that Brad was born in San Francisco and then moved to Bakersfield when he was young. Brad attended West High, and then went on to graduate with his degree in Finance from USC (the one in LA).  Brad has four children and two grandchildren, and he is the proud Founder and CEO of Entruity Wealth.   

 

Sergeant of Arms Jim Damien reminded the club that the Margarita Party is being held October 2^nd at Lou and Sheryl Barbich’s house.

Today’s offsite meeting was held at World Records located downtown at 2815 F St.  The speaker was the Owner of World Records: Pat Evans.  Pat is a Bakersfield native who played quarterback for North High School.  Pat’s several mentions of Oildale and North High throughout his presentation would have truly made Duane Keathley proud. 

 

Pat began by giving the club a historical overview of the building we were in.  He stated that the oldest record at City Hall regarding the building was from 1939 and that in 1956 the building suffered a major fire.  From there the building was bought and operated by Bill Davies as a furniture store, and then recently Pat bought the building and moved World Records into it.   

 

Pat came up with the idea of opening a record store after him and his best friend drove around the city all day looking for a specific record and had a horrible experience.  After that Pat decided to open his own record store, and he opened World Records off Oswell and Columbus on June 12, 1982.  Pat mentioned that he ingrained in his employee’s that they existed to meet the needs of their customer’s music interests, not the other way around.  In 1991 Pat moved World Records to a new location off Stockdale and Coffee, and he invested in high-end headphones to allow his customers the ability to listen to the new CDs that were being sold in his store.  
 

Pat discussed the many ups and downs of the record store industry, and he made a few jokes about other missed business opportunities he had with none other than local legends Ken Small and Gene Voiland.  In 1997 World Records put on three concerts at the Fox Theater, and Fiona Apple was the first singer he lined up to perform.  Pat made it his goal to put on shows and concerts without ever charging a service or handling fee on the ticket price. 

 

By 2002/2003 the music industry was turned upside down by Napster, music downloading, and music streaming.  Pat shared a story that at one time he gathered his four kids together and told them he was going to have to close World Records, but every single one of them (including his daughter who was present at today’s meeting) told him not to do it.  Pat, therefore, charged on, and after a harrowing tale of what it took for him to secure a bank loan Pat kept the doors of World Records open and relocated it to its current downtown location.  Pat used the bank loan to refurbish the building, and he is very proud of the fact that the acoustics for the venue are second-to-none.  Pat mentioned the World Records concert venue can accommodate 600 guests, and that it is the only record store in the nation that has its own concert venue inside.

 

Tim Fulenwider guest of Doc Ervin

Phil Shepard guest of Garro Ellis

Richard Sergent guest of Garro Ellis

Bernie & Bee Barmann- Twilight Rotary