Lotusland: LotusFest’s Return Launches 30th Anniversary Lotusland Forever Campaign
Cue the fanfare! LotusFest is coming back to Lotusland, the spectacular public gardens nestled in the Cold Spring neighborhood of Montecito. The Saturday, September 16, afternoon affair represents the post-pandemic return of the event, which provides an opportunity to enjoy a treasured wine-and-beer affair ensconced in the lush green lawns surrounded by a wonderland of […]
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John Holman and ‘A Horse in My Suitcase’
John Holman – U.K. expat, adventurer, programmer, grandson, and nephew of a storied horse-trader and Royal jockey, respectively – has written an affecting and often hilarious memoir of his youth in a tiny, post-war West Sussex village. His bittersweet memoir of village life in rural England is called A Horse in My Suitcase, and will […]
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12 Sep 2023
The Empathy Center
Cultivating a Culture of Empathy: The Visionary Work of Edwin Rutsch Living in these divisive times can undermine our equilibrium and sense of community. We experience the impact whenever a casual conversation veers to issues of the day and the mood sours. In situations where people happen to disagree, it’s even more dramatic as muscles […]
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Learning Through Lyrics
I recently enjoyed a Sunday evening Broadway Cruise onboard Hiroko Benko’s Condor Express whale-watching vessel here in Santa Barbara. The event featured two young singers – soprano Anikka Abbott and baritone Nicholas Ehlen – who sang classic numbers (accompanied by pianist Renée Hamaty) from a variety of Broadway musicals. The songs featured were such hits […]
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An Enchanting Viticultural Voyage through Croatia’s Istrian Peninsula
My husband and I were thrilled when I was chosen to be a judge at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, hosted this year by Vinistra, the Association of Winegrowers and Winemakers of the Istrian Peninsula in Croatia. Returning to Croatia, one of our cherished travel destinations from a decade ago, was a dream come true. […]
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Falling in Like
Yes, let’s leave Love out of it. The word is too loaded. Saying “Like” is, in most cases, much easier and safer, and probably more accurate. There are too many songs about Love, and too few about Like. But aren’t we really talking about Friendship? True, there aren’t many songs about that either. But it […]
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Kawaii Klaws
In the Dear Montecito column, we have hosted writers, musicians, and filmmakers. This week, we are branching into a new medium with Lauryn Rousseau, a 2021 graduate of UCSB and the owner of Kawaii Klaws, a boutique nail art studio. Q. How did you get interested in nail art? A. My cousin was really into […]
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NYC Artist Charles Fazzino at his SB Gallery
Over the Labor Day weekend, the 3D Studio Gallery at 529 State St. was packed with fans and newbies to the art of Charles Fazzino, as he had arrived from New York City to make his annual Santa Barbara visit. Art was flying off the wall into the hands of new lucky owners and collectors […]
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Young Alumna to be Honored at Homecoming
Westmont will give Gabriella (Pinheiro Chavez) Avila (2014) the Young Alumni Award at a special Homecoming brunch Saturday, Oct. 14, for her faithful life of leadership and service. Avila serves as a counselor in California’s largest school district: Los Angeles Unified. She meets regularly with many of the 1,200 students at her middle school, helping […]
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Talk Examines Christian Nationalism, the Gospel
Andrew Whitehead, one of the foremost scholars of Christian nationalism in the United States, speaks about his new book, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church, on Thursday, Sept. 14, from 3:30 to 5 pm in the Global Leadership Center at Westmont. The lecture is free and open to the […]
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Vera Cruz Village Housing Grand Opening
On Thursday, August 31, the latest development in resolving Santa Barbara’s housing crisis for the underserved and homeless was celebrated with the grand opening of the Vera Cruz Village apartment complex on East Cota Street. The ceremonies took place in the building’s garage with many attendees being project partners with project lead, the Housing Authority […]
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A Little Local History on Roundabouts
Traffic circles sound so British, don’t they. I feel like folk in Downton Abbey period garb should be milling around, with an occasional ‘ahooga’ horn barreling into the Olive Mill. Thanks for your softly-wrapped skepticism/wariness about the new “fixes.” I was an outspoken critic when the idea first surfaced and maintained a wary and concerned […]
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Former Montecito Resident Charged with Securities Fraud
It has been seven months since I had the pleasure of sharing my writing with the readers of this newspaper. My debut novel — Montecito — was serialized in these very pages from July of 2022 to February of 2023. As Gwyn Lurie and I expressed in our respective introductions to Chapter One, Montecito, while […]
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Granada Legends: Annual Gala Takes the Stage
There’s no doubt that The Granada Theatre has played a vital role in developing and extending Santa Barbara’s thriving music and performing arts landscape for many decades – especially since 2008, when the theater reopened after a massive multi-million dollar renovation. The result not only restored The Granada to its 1930s glory but established the […]
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A Chukk’ing Good Time
Social gridlock reigned at the Santa Barbara Polo Club when it hosted the 114-year-old NetJets Pacific Coast Open with more than 3,000 spectators watching the hotly contested match, with both teams attempting to gain a hat trick. Farmers & Merchants Bank, which won the trophy in 2017 and 2019 under captain Dan Walker, was up […]
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“All’s Fair” in Love and Tecolote
A bevy of bibliophiles descended on Tecolote, the upper village literary gem, when retired corporate attorney David Gersh hosted a launch bash for his latest art mystery, All’s Fair, featuring Jonathan Benjamin Franklin. It is one of eight books that Montecito resident David, a Harvard Law School graduate, has written. His last tome, published in […]
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Art in the Cabana
Funk Zone dynamic interior design duo Steve and Caroline Thompson held a double celebration at Cabana Home when they celebrated the opening of the new West Coast boutique of the historic wallpaper and furniture maker Thibaut and a new exhibition of art works by Chris Trueman, presented by Los Angeles dealer Edward Cella. Thibaut, which […]
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This Book Speaks Volumes
Oceanographer Jean-Michel Cousteau, 85, and his partner Nancy Marr met in Maui in 1985, living there for 11 years before moving to our Eden by the Beach in 1992. “I lived with my family on the island for 22 years and have many friends who have been devastated by the Lahaina Fire,” says Nan. To […]
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More Help to Maui
In other Maui news, former TV talk-show titan Oprah Winfrey, 69, has teamed up with actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, 51, in committing $10 million to make direct payments to the Hawaiian island of Maui devastated by wildfires. The People’s Fund of Maui will give $1,200 to adults not being able to return to their […]
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5 Sep 2023
White Buffalo Land Trust
An art show at a downtown Santa Barbara gallery might seem to have little to do with a nonprofit working with systems of regenerative agriculture. As it turns out, though, one of the series in Holli Harmon’s To Feast on Clouds exhibit on display at Sullivan Goss – An American Gallery through September 25 is […]
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