Choir lovers rejoice: It’s the most wonderful time of year as several of the city’s classical vocal groups perform holiday concerts this week. Sing! – the Music Academy’s free community youth choral program – gets things going at 6 pm December 7 with a free one-hour concert featuring Christmas carols and holiday songs from across […]
Lea másThe pandemic-propelled State Street parklets are still preventing the return of the Santa Barbara Downtown Holiday Parade, but neighbors just a bit east and south are both staging their marching extravaganzas on Saturday, December 9. Carpinteria’s Holiday Spirit Parade begins at 3 pm on Linden Avenue, the seaside city’s main drag, with floats, marching bands, […]
Lea másChaucer’s Books closes out its impressive year of in-store events on December 12 with husband-and-wife authors Neal Allen and Anne Lamott surrounding Allen’s latest, Better Days: Tame Your Inner Critic. The new book finds the former journalist and corporate executive turned writer and spiritual coach diving into how our own internal critical voice gets in […]
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The 2nd Annual Summerland Beautiful Holiday event took place on Friday, December 1, at Farm to Paper on Lillie Avenue, from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. The event was spawned by Summerland Beautiful President D’Arcy Cornwall and her team: Secretary Penny Mathison, Treasurer Elizabeth A. Winterhalter, and members Sharon Curry and Leslie Person Ryan. Guests were […]
Lea másSanta Barbara Museum of Natural History announced the newest members to its Board of Trustees: our town’s Hiroko Benko and Amanda Lee. Both women have long histories as professional businesswomen and philanthropists. Benko is renowned for her historic ocean exploring vessel, The Condor Express, founded by her late husband Fred, for which she is the […]
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In its second of three scheduled meetings with the residents and business owners in Montecito, the Santa Barbara County Flood Control (SBCFC) Project Team for the Montecito Flood Control Master Plan laid out their various plans to control debris and for flood management at Cold Spring School auditorium on Wednesday, November 29 from 5:30 – […]
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It was an animated holiday gathering of Richie and his Montecito barbers with this year’s selected nonprofit organizations for his annual holiday toys and funds drive. Richie’s Barber Shop is starting to collect the donations – feel free to drop off any time the shop is open or by appointment. The donations will be heading […]
Lea másIt wouldn’t be the holiday season without the trimming of the giant pine tree near the Manning Park tennis courts on San Ysidro Road. It’s a festive tradition that goes back many decades, and we retell it here each year to keep the memory alive. As the story goes, in the early 1960s, then Montecito […]
Lea másThe Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors narrowly approved the Housing Element Update (HEU) on Tuesday, solidifying the State-mandated housing chapter of the County’s Comprehensive Plan. The purpose of the Housing Element is to accommodate existing and projected housing needs for all residents of the unincorporated County. County planners presented the HEU to the Supervisors, […]
Lea másUndoubtedly the most heartwarming event of the year is decorating the Hathaway Memorial Tree in Upper Manning Park. Last Friday, many elves, young and not so young, adorned the tree with lots of ornaments and tinsel! The presence of all the school kids, Dana Newquist arriving in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the firefighters ascending the […]
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Empty Bowls, the popular fundraiser for the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, staged its 26th event at the new $20 million Sharehouse in Goleta, with a record 750 guests being shuttled by the Santa Barbara Airbus from the Hilton Garden Inn, a short distance away. The 77,000-square-foot Foodbank property, which boasts 10 times the refrigerated […]
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Everybody was certainly in the pink at Arise International’s third 5K run-walk along the beachfront at Chase Palm Park, which had a record breaking entry of 250 participants raising a record $50,000 for Bethel House, a women’s residential treatment program at the Rescue Mission. The monies will enable the facility to complete renovations on the […]
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Westmont College fielded its full arsenal at the Granada for its 19th annual sold-out Christmas Festival. Always a great start to Yuletide, the concert Fullness of Joy was the third year at the historic State Street theater after years at the First Presbyterian Church. Ruth Lin, chair of the music department, conducted the Westmont Orchestra, […]
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Staff, trustees, and friends of Lotusland, the 37-acre Montecito botanical paradise, gathered at the University Club to celebrate Corey Welles after a career of 33 years tending to the estate of former Polish opera singer Ganna Walska. Welles, recognized today as a leader in the field of sustainable horticulture, pioneered Lotusland’s sustainability efforts and is […]
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The Ensemble Theatre Company’s latest production Ring of Fire, Richard Maltby Jr.’s musical review of singer Johnny Cash’s extensive body of work is a real Christmas cracker! The hugely entertaining cast at the New Vic consists of five actor-musicians – L.J. Benet, Glenn Stanton, Valerie Larsen, Kasper,and Sam Linkowski – under the direction of Randy […]
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Rick Caruso’s Rosewood Miramar attracted a hoard of parents and children when it staged its colorful Christmas tree lighting by managing director Rick Fidel. Hot chocolate, apple cider, and prosecco cocktails with colorfully decorated cookies and macaroons were the order of the night as the oceanside hostelry lit its 17-foot fir that had been flat […]
Lea másUCSB Arts & Lectures provided a wonderful double bill at Campbell Hall when unparalleled Broadway singer Audra McDonald and Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho performed within 24 hours of each other. McDonald, winner of a record-breaking six Tony Awards and an Emmy, was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people, and received a National […]
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Racketeers were out in force at the Santa Barbara Family Y when the local School of Squash, founded by British champion Robert Graham, opened its first squash court at the popular facility. “We have basically been playing on the club’s racquetball courts, but with the help of $20,000 and a lot of persuasion, one of […]
Lea másOn a personal note, I remember former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has moved to more heavenly pastures at the grand old age of 100. We met through a good friend Pat Buckley, wife of political pundit and National Review founder Bill Buckley, and I attended a few parties at his magnificent home with […]
Lea másChanges to Santa Barbara’s State Street – recently reborn as a cozy, sun-soaked pedestrian promenade – have transformed the palm-lined commercial-and-arts district into an almost park-like destination for calming and convivial holiday shopping, the salt-scented, sparkling beach mere blocks away. Seriously. How do we love State Street over the holidays? Let us count the ways… […]
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