The Kern County Museum’s newest structure in Pioneer Village was christened last week by a small gathering of museum supporters, some with family names that are well known in Kern County. Longtime local grape grower George Giumarra was there with his wife, Marcia, and son Jeff. The family, with proud Sicilian roots, was central to Museum Director Mike McCoy's plans to transform a small structure donated by another local Italian American family into the newly named Caretta Bar.

"This is going to be a wine-tasting room for weddings and events," McCoy said. The now-completed transformation couldn't have been made without the generosity of the Giumarra family, he said. On Wednesday, it opened for the first time. The Giumarras were joined by Joe Bugni and his niece Jill Bugni, members of the family that donated the old farmhouse, or "cascina," to the museum last fall.