Librarian writing the book on Oildale history
| Thursday, May 21 2009 05:20 PM
Last Updated Sunday, May 24 2009 02:53 PM
The librarian says...
"People who have Oildale historical interest photos -- of people, places and events -- and care to share them with the public, and with anyone researching Oildale, are encouraged to bring them to the Bryce C. Rathbun Library, 200 W. China Grade Loop, 393-6431. Staff can scan them while you wait and return them immediately.
"We would like to remind everyone that sometimes what is in the background of a photo is more historically important than what is in the foreground.
"We are also interested in photos of Oildale businesses over the years, with information about the owners and any memories they can offer, as well as the history of the buildings. We are especially interested in locating photos of the Teakwood Dairy and the Beardsley Ballroom."
-- Karen Leifeld, branch supervisor at the Bryce C. Rathbun Branch of the Kern County Library
The librarian says...
"People who have Oildale historical interest photos -- of people, places and events -- and care to share them with the public, and with anyone researching Oildale, are encouraged to bring them to the Bryce C. Rathbun Library, 200 W. China Grade Loop, 393-6431. Staff can scan them while you wait and return them immediately.
"We would like to remind everyone that sometimes what is in the background of a photo is more historically important than what is in the foreground.
"We are also interested in photos of Oildale businesses over the years, with information about the owners and any memories they can offer, as well as the history of the buildings. We are especially interested in locating photos of the Teakwood Dairy and the Beardsley Ballroom."
-- Karen Leifeld, branch supervisor at the Bryce C. Rathbun Branch of the Kern County Library
Images
Alex Horvath / The Californian Real people Karen Leifeld. She is the supervisor of the Bryce C. Rathbun branch of the Kern County Library.
As Oildale turns 100, an Iowa native who lives more than an hour away in Bodfish is becoming an indelible part of its history.
Karen Leifeld, 68, who will retire within a year as branch supervisor at the Bryce C. Rathbun Branch of the Kern County Library, has been busy gathering scores of oral histories, transcriptions, and hundreds of photos for an Oildale Centennial Project funded in part by the Friends of the Library and a gift from Paramount Farming.
"It's important to preserve what's in the past so that people appreciate what they have now," said Friends of the Library president and Oildale resident Donna Wolfe, who calls Leifeld a personal friend. "Karen knows more than I do, and I've lived here almost all my life and I'm a senior."
Just like a quilt Leifeld made, which hangs in the library and features the oil derricks that were ubiquitous throughout Oildale at one time, the centennial history project has been a labor of love for Leifeld.
"It was because I wanted to give something back to the community before I ended my career, that 14 months ago I started planning a small one-hour (library) program about Oildale history," Leifeld said. "We thought we would be lucky if we could get 40 to 50 people to come." Hundreds showed up for the Jan. 31 event.
"We had to open the two sets of front doors and side doors so people could hear what was going on from the outside," Leifeld said. It was then, she said, that the project "took on a life of its own."
Or, Wolfe might say, Leifeld gave life to it. "Karen did most of this on her off time," she said, which isn't surprising. "Lots of times when we needed refreshments for an author's program she would take it upon herself to bake cakes, cupcakes, whatever was needed."
Baking, like quilting, is something that comes naturally to Leifeld, according to daughter Cherie Luter, 44, who lives in St. Louis. Leifeld once had a successful business making wedding cakes, Luter said. "She made my wedding cake, in fact. She would have four to seven weddings in one weekend."
As for quilting, her mother is "always making quilts" for her family -- birthday, Halloween, Christmas, spring quilts -- especially for her four grandchildren by Leifeld's son, Bob Leifeld, Luter said.
"She is a giving person," Luter said of her mom. "I just feel so bad sometimes that she just wants to give and give and give."
Kern County 3rd District Supervisor Mike Maggard, who has offered support for the centennial project, has nothing but praise for Leifeld.
"Karen has done an outstanding job in helping the citizens of Oildale enjoy and enhance the centennial celebration," he said. "She has made the Rathbun Branch Library a vital resource for all those who live in the Oildale communities, for which I am very grateful."
Leifeld will be sorely missed after she retires, Wolfe said. But Leifeld also will miss her patrons. She called her job at Rathbun "a position that I have enjoyed more than any other job in my career" -- and she's served in two other Kern County Library branches as well as libraries in Georgia, South Carolina and Ohio.
"The people of Oildale are exceptionally kind and very appreciative of the library services we offer," she said.
