Remembering the Alamo About to become an octogenarian, I look back at a life well lived but am discouraged about the future. My despair is not for the few years I have left, but for the future of our grandchildren, their entire generation and this nation. All great periods in history eventually come to an […]
Lea másA year and a half after fire, flood, and mud – and after seven years of extreme drought – the “disaster watch” seems to have receded in 2019. Gentle rains have nearly ended – leaving behind a profusion of May flowers and a greater sense of wellbeing for both community residents and visitors. Never has […]
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Everyone likes a TED talk. You learn something interesting every time you tune in, so it’s little wonder that when the opportunity to hear the Ted talk presents itself, locals listen. Edwin Knowles – better known to Montecito neighbors and friends as “Ted” – is a veritable font of wisdom and charming anecdotes culled over […]
Lea másIn the past, before technology invaded every aspect of our lives, you sometimes you got a lot of “personality” at the check-out stand. “Well how are you today? My sciatica is acting up. Not easy standing here all day. My new daughter-in-law has a desk job. Makes more money in a week than I make […]
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To get to Half Moon Bay, we had driven up U.S. 101 through crawling traffic in San Jose, dodged the pushy Porsches and Tesla jockeys of Silicon Valley, and finally twisted and turned our way over a busy road through the Santa Cruz Mountains. At the end, though, waited a quiet little farm town called […]
Lea másIn July of 2017, Sarah Reed Farmer, now the owner of SilverThorne Clothing, crouched in a fetal position on the floor of her apartment while her boyfriend attacked her. “Stop, please stop!” she pled. The assault left Sarah with a severe concussion, Post Concussive Disorder (PCD), as well as left frontal lobe brain damage, tinnitus, […]
Lea másMost people have probably forgotten why we call psychiatrists “shrinks.” (I had a friend who used to call them “trick-cyclists.”) But the term “shrink” is really a contraction of “head-shrinker,” and comes from the notion that, dealing with our heads as they do, they are like the natives of primitive tribes, who used to shrink […]
Lea másSpring is gorgeous around these parts, and it is also the time of year when we do our annual membership drive. We’d very much like to extend an invitation to you to join the Montecito Association, if you’re not already a member. We are offering a special three-day emergency safety kit this year as a […]
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The Rape Crisis Center, now renamed Standing Together to End Sexual Assault (STESA), threw its 11th annual Chocolate de Vine event at the Greek Orthodox Church, attracting more than 250 oenophiles and chocaholics, raising around $50,000 for the worthy charity that has an annual budget of almost $1 million. Fifteen chocolatiers, wineries, and breweries participated. […]
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It was a night on the tiles for more than 500 underserved school students over a two-day period when Montecito resident John Daly‘s nine-year-old organization, the KEY Class, which teaches youngsters social and business etiquette, threw a graduating dinner on the roof of the MOXI museum. The four-course dinner, prepared by Seasons Catering, was underwritten […]
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An avalanche of amazons descended on the Hilton for the 15th annual presentation of grants by the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara. Checks totaling $585,000 – $50,000 more than last year – went to nine local non-profit agencies, voted on by the membership of nearly 1,000 women and presented by Sandy Schoolfield and Maureen Ellenberger, […]
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The Coral Casino was the place to be when French champagne maker Dom Perignon hosted a heavenly bubbly bash to launch its association with Beanie Baby billionaire owner Ty Warner‘s eponymous bar across the way at the Biltmore. Every Friday through August Ty’s will feature the sparkling libation, created by Moet & Chandon in the […]
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Goats were in abundance when the 12-year-old African Women Rising, a northern Uganda charity, held its third Goat Fest with more than 200 guests at a rustic Cold Spring Road estate, raising enough to purchase 300 of the animals. “It’s not so much a fund raiser as a friend raiser, to draw attention to the […]
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John Fowler really made a spectacle of himself when he was presented with the Jim Stanley Memorial Award as Volunteer of the Year at a 14th recognition lunch for the Lions Sight and Hearing Center at Mulligan’s Cafe at the Santa Barbara municipal golf club. John, who was presented with the coveted trophy by former […]
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Crowns and tiaras were de rigueur when Santa Barbara’s Pacific Pride Foundation hosted its 6th annual sold-out biennial Royal Ball at the Rosewood Miramar. A record 425 guests partied the night away in the crystal chandelier-hung ballroom, magnificently decorated as a Platinum Palace by Montecito event wizard Merryl Brown, raising around $450,000 for the charity’s […]
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Despite gray skies and a light drizzle, thousands of family members and friends celebrated and cheered the 291 Westmont graduates, who received their diplomas at Commencement May 4. President Gayle D. Beebe gave the Westmont Medals to Rev. Dr. Katherine Wiebe and Lindsay and Laurie Parton. Wiebe, a Christian pastoral psychotherapist at the Santa Barbara-based […]
Lea másIt was a beautiful afternoon and evening on May 4th, as Montecito Union School held its annual fundraiser at Les Belles Fontaines. Three hundred parents, teachers, staff, and members of the community came together for a night under the stars. Special guests included members of the Montecito Fire Department, as well as First District Supervisor […]
Lea másSanta Barbara Running will soon open its doors in Montecito, moving their Funk Zone shop to Coast Village Walk, in the former home of Antoinette, which moved to a smaller space in the shopping center earlier this year. Santa Barbara Running has been locally owned and operated since 2003, at 110 Anacapa Street in the […]
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At this month’s Montecito Association Land Use Committee meeting, the committee heard from Flood Control Deputy Director Tom Fayram, who gave an update on the Randall Road debris basin project. The project, which includes the acquisition of seven parcels on Randall Road and one on East Valley Road, will offer improved debris catchment from San […]
Lea másThe Santa Barbara Medical Cannabis Conference and Expo – which would have been the first of its kind in the tri-county area save for a similar if smaller event held in Ojai last weekend – explores the science, and a bit of the spirituality, behind cannabis and CBD and their ability to heal ailments of […]
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