Park Stockdale is a neighborhood of 578 homes located in beautiful southwest Bakersfield With entrances at Rio Bravo DrIVE and Lennox AveNUE. Park Stockdale is a quiet, mature community with a distinctive character not seen IN the newer housing tracts where it is difficult to tell one house from the next.
Residents enjoy community amenities including four full-size tennis courts, a five-lane, 75-foot-long swimming pool with diving board, Harrington Park – a private community park/playground, and Frank Weldon Community Hall – the neighborhood community center. Regular neighborhood activities include T-Ball, bi-annual neighborhood-wide yard sales, and seasonal neighborhood events.
To advertise here, please contact info@parkstockdale.org
Improvements to basketball court
Thanks to board members Josh Saravia and Bob Snoddy for repainting the basketball lines Friday and to Josh for replacing a rim.
Tom Bell celebrated
In 10 days, Harrington Park will come alive with the joy of dozens of young children coming together to experience the teamwork and unbridled fun of T-ball. For most, this will be their first chance to experience organized sports. And this has been designed to be a positive adventure focusing on fun as much as fundamentals.
Today, the life of the man that made it possible was celebrated there. Tom Bell and his wife of 50 years, Kay, started the program for four- to eight-year-olds 45 years ago. And she is continuing it.
Many of those in attendance wore their playing jerseys in honor of the man who made it possible. In a program with this longevity, some players had grown up to coach. Or coaches who taught their children, also coached their grandchildren.
Tom, as everyone knew him, would have been delighted by the turnout of more than 100 and casualness of the affair. Photographs of Tom’s life from his days as a high school basketball player to adult tennis player and golfer to a father of four and then a grandfather of six mingled with photos of T-ballers around the periphery of the pavilion.
His friend Ken Frech was the first to speak, followed by Tom’s son, Tim, and others. They cited Tom’s generous spirit, donating thousands of hours to his community as president of the Park Stockdale Civic Association board of directors for decades; the man who kept the diamonds alive in the spring and the swimming pools operating throughout the summers.
Besides the T-ball paraphernalia, friends brought a potluck to the hamburger and hot dog barbecue. They sat and shared stories of a man who turned a neighborhood into a community, who created spaces for neighbors to create memories that last a lifetime.
Easter egg hunt
The Park Stockdale Easter egg hunt for children living in Park Stockdale will be held in the park and pavilion at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 28.
Community activities chairpersons Barbara Kamena and Joshua Saravia will organize the annual event.
Games tentatively will include: three-legged races, spoon-and-egg races, and human wheelbarrow races.
If you would like to donate candy to fill the Easter eggs, please bring sealed bags of candy to the office during business hours: 9:30-1 Mondays and Fridays, 3-7 Wednesdays.
Election results
Incumbents Ana Flores, Adam Johnson, Jim Carnal, Kiki Contreras and Joshua Saravia were re-elected to two-year terms on the Park Stockdale Board of Directors on Feb. 17. Bob Snoddy was also elected to a two-year term.
At the board’s next meeting on March 9, Matt Coleman, the next highest vote-getter, was appointed by the board to fill the final year of the late Tom Bell’s term.
The Board of Directors also elected officers at the March 9 meeting: president Jim Carnal, vice-president Bob Snoddy, treasurer Kiki Contreras and secretary Roxanne Fackler.
March board agenda
AGENDA
7 p.m. March 9, 2026
Meeting called to order by presiding officer.
* Seat election winners
* Nominate to fill one-year term vacated by Mr. Bell
* Elect officers
Audience Participation
Public Comments
Comments/Concerns from Administrative Assistant
* BFMC dates to be approved:
April 2, May 7, June 4 and 18
Minutes Approval 5 min.
Treasurer’s Report
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Treasurer’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kiki Contreras
Pool & Building Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Carnal
Recreation Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kiki Contreras, Barbara Kamena
Park & Playground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Carnal, Josh Saravia & Adam Johnson
Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Carnal
Tennis and Pickleball. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Carnal
Community Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kiki Contreras, Roxanne Fackler
Community Safety and Security . . . . . . . . . . . Eli Hamm, Kiki Contreras
Pool Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eli Hamm, Barbara Kamena & Jim Carnal
Unfinished/Old Business
* 2026 budget
* Motion sensor bathroom faucets
* Easter egg hunt date
New Business
* Buy more trash cans and locks
* Mistletoe in trees
* Clean air vents?
* Buy heavy-duty pickleball net?
Adjournment
A celebration of Tom Bell’s life
Tom and Kay Bell in 2024
A celebration of life will be held for Tom Bell at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 14 at the Harrington Park pavilion.
Resident Ken Frech will lead the service.
The public, including T-ball players and parents, are welcome to share their stories of Tom.
The beloved and longstanding pillar of the Park Stockdale community, passed away on Feb. 6 after a brief illness. He was 88.
Tom served on the Park Stockdale Civic Association Board of Directors for decades, including many years as president. A dedicated volunteer, he was deeply committed to keeping costs down and ensuring the neighborhood amenities were well maintained.
He was the go-to expert on the community swimming pools and saved the association countless dollars by personally maintaining and keeping them operational year after year.
Along with his wife, Kay, Tom may be best known for founding the Park Stockdale T-ball program nearly 50 years ago and running it continuously ever since. Through his leadership of both the pool and the T-ball program, Tom brought joy, connection, and lasting memories to generations of children in the neighborhood and in the T-ball league.