Bakersfield Life

The Final 2

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The Final Two

The moment that has been six months in the making is finally here.
The Greatest Thing About Bakersfield competition has reached the final two.

After six months of head-to-head battles reminiscent of the NCAA basketball tournament and thousands of votes being tallied, residents of Bakersfield have narrowed the original field of 64 down to 32, then to 16 and finally now down to the final two.

And those two that will be fighting it out for the title of Bakersfield Life’s Greatest Thing About Bakersfield couldn’t be more representative of the history and loyalty to local businesses that the city holds near and dear to its heart.
Oh right – don’t forget this city’s love of food.

In the end, it’s going to be Dewar’s vs. Wool Growers with the winner being named The Greatest Thing About Bakersfield. Both are local legends with Wool Growers being open for 54 years and Dewar’s set to celebrate 100 years of being in business in 2009.

Wool Growers has been known to have Hollywood-type celebrities stopping off for a bite to eat while Dewar’s chews have been seen as far away as Australia.

“I was hoping that it was going to turn out to be us against Dewar’s,” said Jenny Poncetta, second-generation owner of Wool Growers. “We’re two of the oldest businesses in town and we’re both local. I think this is great.” Interestingly enough, Dewar’s Owner Heather Dewar echoed Poncetta’s comment nearly word for word. But it’s no surprise considering the similarities in the two businesses. Dewar’s is a fourth generation local business while Wool Growers has its third generation currently working on site. Both offer something unique to the city and both are well known outside of Bakersfield.
It sounds like a final made in food heaven.

“This has really been a fun experience,” Dewar said after hearing that Dewar’s snuck past local hockey favorite Bakersfield Condors by just four votes. “As more and more people have found out about it, I’ve been getting more and more e-mails from people telling me that they have voted.” That voting has not only reached outside of Bakersfield and California, but all the way outside of the U.S. The Greatest Thing About Bakersfield competition found its way onto a blog operated by Dewar’s cousin in Healdsburg, Calif. That just so happens to have readers from around the world. Votes for Dewar’s came in from as far away as France, England and Australia.

While the current ownership of Dewar’s didn’t have anything to with that blog posting directly, rallying the troops to vote is certainly not against the rules. In fact, the Condors surely reached the final four because of its well-organized fan base after the team encouraged its fans to vote through its popular Web site. But in the end, Bakersfield’s hockey team came up just short.

Wool Growers didn’t do much to promote itself, but Poncetta’s daughter did place a couple of signs inside the restaurant that said “We’re in the Final Four, vote for your favorite Basque restaurant.” While Dewar’s barely edged the Condors by the slimmest of margins, it’s only be fair to say that Wool Growers’ margin of victory was only slightly greater. The Basque restaurant only defeated Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace by 20 votes. The Dewar’s win was the closest of all matchups since the beginning of the competition, while the Wool Growers win was fourth closest overall.

The Final
The winner of The Greatest Thing About Bakersfield will be released on Saturday, Jan. 31