Merle Haggard photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.
February 12, 2008 — California's Kern County will dedicate a stretch of road to one of its favorite sons on Wednesday with the renaming of Merle Haggard Drive.
The ceremony, which takes place at the Bakersfield Harley Davidson, will represent a change in the name of Seventh Standard Road. The event will also mark the beginning of an initiative to create a greenway adjacent to Haggard Drive. The area would become known as Hag's Place.
Merle will also attend the opening of a Ronald McDonald Family Room at the Bakersfield Memorial Hospital that afternoon and perform in the evening at the Fox Theater, reports bakersfield.com.
The county Board of Supervisors officially paved the way for Merle Haggard Drive with a resolution in December 2006. Merle was one of several performers — including Buck Owens, Wynn Stewart, Ferlin Husky and Tommy Collins — who became associated with the Bakersfield Sound, notable for its strength and energy.
The city already has a Buck Owens Boulevard, which runs by the Crystal Palace, the venue Buck opened in 1996.