21 Nov 2023
Surfing for Support at FisHouse
A tsunami of supporters turned up at the FisHouse for a Heal the Ocean sunset soirée to thank donors for helping raise a most impressive record $350,000 from its fourth consecutive imaginary Silver Anniversary gala. “It’s the perfect kind of event,” enthused Hillary Hauser, president and executive director of the popular charity. “Very little overhead […]
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Going Big at Operation Bigs
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle paid a visit to Camp Pendleton, the U.S. Marines base near San Diego, ahead of Veterans Day. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stopped by Operation Bigs, a mentoring program tailor-made for children of military families, according to the couple’s Archewell foundation. Meghan wore a $1,490 Carolina Herrera cardigan embroidered […]
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14 Nov 2023
Santa Barbara City College Foundation
The SBCC Foundation has posted a job opening for the position of Chief Executive Officer of California’s top community college foundation, one with assets of $85 million and a full-time staff of 15. The announcement explains how the new CEO will “build on the SBCC Foundation’s longstanding success in ensuring that Santa Barbara City College […]
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Dinner With Friends
More than a year ago, in “sleepy” Santa Barbara, long before Hamas ever slaughtered 1,400 innocents at a peace festival or Israel retaliated, a special group of Central Coast locals were incubating a project that could just very well help with this mess. Maybe a lot of messes. Ironically, we may owe a debt of […]
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Iconic Cypress Tree Comes Down
Earlier this week, an iconic cypress tree in the Highway 101 median just south of the San Ysidro Road exit was removed, in preparation for the expansion of the freeway in both directions. The removal has spurred many comments in online and social media forums, with commenters lamenting the loss of the tree, which many […]
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Housing and Flooding Discussed at Land Use
At this month’s Montecito Association Land Use Committee meeting, chair Bill Babbitt introduced Cindy Chvatal, who will be working with the committee regarding affordable housing requirements and initiatives in Montecito. Babbitt explained there are three different ways the state of California is trying to add to affordable housing supply: the Housing Element and RHNA (Regional […]
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Transforming Perception and Experience Through Miracles
Miracles transcend the boundaries of our ordinary understanding, going beyond mere magic tricks or supernatural occurrences. Instead, they offer profound shifts in perception and experience, unveiling a deeper reality that lies beneath appearances. A Course in Miracles by Helen Schucman reveals miracles as natural expressions of love and forgiveness emanating from our connection to a […]
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Art Museum Goes Big with 675 Small Works
The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art’s most popular exhibition and fundraiser returns to Montecito on Nov. 30 to Dec. 15, offering viewers an opportunity to see and bid on more than 675, small five-inch-square works by regional, national, and international artists. The museum hosts a free, public opening reception on Thursday, Nov. 30, from 4 […]
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Exploring Creation Care and the Cappadocian Fathers
Westmont senior Katie Knapp presented a paper about the thoughts and practices of the Cappadocian Fathers at the Great Lakes Theology Conference on Nov. 2-3 in Holland, Mich. The religious studies and environmental studies double major from Soquel, Calif., has been working on the major honors project about patristic creation care ethics with professors Helen […]
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Warriors Host Hoops Tourney
The Westmont men’s basketball team hosts the Conference Challenge Event, a tournament that includes Saint Martin’s (Wash.), Hawaii Hilo, and Montana Billings, on Nov. 10-11. The Warriors play Montana Billings on Friday, Nov. 10, at 5:30 pm and Saint Martin’s on Saturday, Nov. 11, at 3 pm. Last year, Westmont competed in the 64-team NAIA […]
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Left is Not Woke?
In ancient Greek tragedy, exile was considered a worse punishment than death. In modern times, woke cancel culture applies exile with little regard to its devastating impact on the target and on society. “Woke” originally meant a person was awake to actual racial and social injustice. Leftist Susan Neiman wrote a book Left is Not […]
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The Helicopter War: Things We Cherish and Something Our Community May Lose
After a tour in Vietnam, I remained on active duty with an assignment to the Army Combat Development and Experimentation Command, which was tasked with testing new concepts and equipment at Fort Ord. I didn’t spend much time “back home.” Therefore, instead of being confronted by hostile civilians and old friends who did not serve […]
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A Koi-ful Addition to Lotusland
Former TV talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres, who used to live near the Montecito botanical paradise Lotusland before selling the estate to Google honcho Eric Schmidt, has come to the 37-acre estate with 55 mature Koi for the Japanese Garden lake. Rebecca Anderson, executive director, tells me Robert Riskin of Riskin Partners Estate Group contacted the […]
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A CALM-ing Lunch
What a difference a year makes! Last year, CALM at Heart’s lunch was only saved from deluging rain with the erection of a large tent preventing the gardens at Los Sueños, the Montecito home of international lawyer Robert Lieff, becoming a quagmire. This year, as Lieff has just put the George Washington Smith estate on […]
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One Charming (Not Alarming) Show
Kristin Chenoweth had one of the hottest concerts of her career at the Granada when the theater’s fire alarms went off three times during her highly entertaining, 90-minute show! Fortunately, they were all false alarms, allowing the 4’11” dynamo from Oklahoma – dressed in a silver pantsuit even more sparkling than her personality – to […]
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Having a Ball, Private
Pomp, pageantry, and ceremonial reigned when the Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation hosted its 26th annual military gala at the U.S. flag festooned Elks Lodge in Goleta with 240 guests, many in uniform, helping contribute to military charities. Belgian philanthropist Pierre Claeyssens initiated the ball, now called the Veterans Day Gala, in 1996 as a way […]
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Honoring ETC’s Jonathan Fox
An old friend, Jonathan Fox, who was artistic director of the Ensemble Theatre Company (ETC) for 17 years, has been honored for his sterling work at the New Vic. First District Supervisor Das Williams has proposed a resolution marking Jonathan’s many contributions to Santa Barbara’s art and culture. Under his supervision, ETC acquired and renovated […]
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Remembering Mary Conrad
On a personal note, I mark the move to more heavenly pastures of Mary Conrad, widow of the late writer and artist Barnaby Conrad, at the age of 88. Born into a prominent family in Pasadena, she was an accomplished horsewoman and avid tennis player, enjoying the game for most of her long life. After […]
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Off to See the Desert Stars
Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle joined Cameron Diaz and her husband, Benji Madden, and Avatar actress Zoe Saldana on a private plane from Santa Barbara to Las Vegas to watch one of local singer Katy Perry’s last concerts of her two-year residency at the Resorts World Theatre. They were joined in the venue’s VIP […]
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