As a follow-up to a story we’ve been following since April, Montecito Natural Foods, which was located in Montecito Country Mart for nearly 60 years and closed its doors in June, has reopened a small storefront in the Upper Village, next to Josephine’s Antiques. The store, now dubbed Montecito Natural Health, opened in mid-July, and […]
Lea más
A bountiful bevy of parasol-carrying anthophiles and phytologists turned out for Lotusland’s sun-soaked sold-out annual fundraiser gala with 500 guests raising a hefty $800,000 towards sustainability and plant conservation programming. The fun fête at the 37-acre botanical paradise dubbed Lotusland Celebrates: Where the Wild Things Grow, organized by Merryl Brown Events and designed by Mary […]
Lea más
Social gridlock reigned at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum when it hosted its annual La Fiesta del Museo for 220 guests raising around $100,000 for the popular institution with all tickets selling out in two hours. Ubiquitous KEYT-TV reporter John Palminteri emceed the bustling bash and conducted the auction, with an etching by cowboy artist […]
Lea más
A profusion of creative and colorful tony tête toppers packed the stands at the Santa Barbara Polo Club for the annual Ladies Day. As usual, I had the difficult job of judging the mélange of magnificent millinery, having learned my “craft” donning my top hat and tails attending the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot races […]
Lea más
It wasn’t quite Tin Pan Alley, but the Music Academy’s latest chamber night at Lehmann Hall as the 76th annual Summer Festival winds down was pretty novel when a talented quartet played Bay Area composer Gabriella Smith’s work “Anthozoa.” Inspired by a diving trip to French Polynesia, Smith, 31, used two baking tins and even […]
Lea más
One of Santa Barbara’s newest nonprofits, Hearts Aligned, founded in May 2021 to support critically-ill children, hosted a sunset soirée appreciation party at the Goleta home of founder Vivian Solodkin and her husband Peter, whose two-year-old son, Carlos, died during heart surgery in 2007. The charity provides rental assistance, gas cards, food vouchers, and even […]
Lea más
One805Live!, which is throwing its annual gala at Kevin Costner’s oceanside Carpinteria property in September, gave a taste of what is to come with a boffo bash at the Montecito Club that auctioned off a guitar signed by Katy Perry for $5,000 and a package trip for four people to see Maroon Five – stars […]
Lea más
It wasn’t quite the exotic occasion I envisaged when I celebrated the 20th anniversary of my half century last week, but a fun event nevertheless at Ca’Dario on Coast Village Road. Having not been able to fly to Marrakech, Morocco, for the past few years because of pandemic restrictions, my plans were to join an […]
Lea más
My congratulations to three good friends, philanthropists Brooks and Kate Firestone and author Fannie Flagg, as well as one of my favorite theater companies, Ensemble, who have been chosen as Granada Theatre Legends. They will be honored at a glittering 7th annual gala at the iconic State Street theater on September 16. The highly anticipated […]
Lea másTony Morris has begun his second year of a two-year term as president of Montecito Rotary Club as the organization celebrates its 70th anniversary. Joining Morris on the board are president-elect Kim Stone, secretary Roger Davis, and treasurer Kurt Koenig. From volunteering at the Montecito Fire Department’s annual July 4 pancake breakfast and continuing its […]
Lea másMy item last week on the historic Lobero Theatre being chosen as one of the world’s 11 most beautiful by society glossy Town & Country prompted a call from Montecito philanthropist Anne Towbes saying that another of the theaters on the list, Steinmetz Hall in Orlando, Florida, was designed by Montecito architectBarton Myers, 88. The […]
Lea más
All eight graduates of Westmont’s inaugural Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) cohort have successfully passed the National Council for Licensure Exam-RN (NCLEX-RN) and begun careers as nurses. Half of these nurses serve in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. They completed the program in May 2023. The 2023 national average for Bachelor of Science […]
Lea másThe Westmont women’s swimming team has capped off an historic season by being named Scholar All-Americans by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America. The teams were selected on the basis of their spring 2023 team grade point averages. The Warriors posted a team GPA of 3.38. The CSCAA also selected Ella Chaisson […]
Lea más
Erik Hansen, a former student-athlete at UC Santa Barbara where he was a member of the men’s swim program, has been tabbed as Westmont’s new sports performance coach. He will also serve as the assistant women’s swimming coach and will teach kinesiology and physical activity courses. “As we look to the future of Westmont athletics, […]
Lea másThe complexities of reviewing literature cannot be overstated, especially in the cosmic case of T.C. Boyle, an award-winning writer of 30-plus novels published in 24 languages, done on a cyclical exchange with books of short stories and other works. He writes continuously and is not here to people please anyone. Like it or love it, […]
Lea másThe Montecito Association is considering recommending to the County a ban on “big box,” “formula” retailers in Montecito. I oppose such a ban. My wife and I have lived in Montecito since 1978. We are members of the Montecito Association. We have been active in the community over the years. Recently I was a promoter […]
Lea másAs most know, our County’s complete lack of ethical standards is something I have raged against. While other counties have a Code of Ethics (something that our Grand Jury recommended in 2020), our County blissfully dances in the darkness without pesky little rules relating to the timing of campaign contributions, acceptance of gifts, hiring of […]
Lea más
Celebrating the 99th anniversary of its founding this year, Santa Barbara’s Old Spanish Days Fiesta was established in August 1924. Civic celebrations commemorating Santa Barbara’s old Spanish days, however, date back to the December 1886 fiesta celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Mission Santa Barbara. The purpose of that four-day celebration was to […]
Lea más