Monthly Archives: July 2024

Play Bill

Bill Lanphar wasn’t the best-known singer-songwriter-guitarist who called Santa Barbara home. But he might very well have been the best-loved among his peers.  Lanphar, who had a rock band when he lived in L.A. before relocating to Santa Barbara and La Conchita, started playing music during open mic nights at Dargan’s Pub and quickly became […]

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Going South 

Continue motoring down the 101 this weekend for more musical adventures, including the first installment of the 2024 Ventura Music Festival, the seaside city’s long-running boundary-busting fest that extends to various venues and genres. Grammy winner and 12-time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year Michael Cleveland brings boffo bluegrass to Olivas Adobe Historical Park with […]

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In Memory of Polo’s Patriarch

Polo patriarch and former U.S. ambassador to Jamaica, Glen Holden, who died in April at the age of 96, was honored with a memorial service at the Santa Barbara Polo Club on the eponymously named Holden Field with 600 guests flying or driving in to honor his memory led by his son Jeep Holden at […]

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Dance, Play, and The Way of the Lotus

Lotusland’s annual gala is undoubtedly one of the social highlights of the year with the 500 tickets sold-out months in advance. This year’s 30th annual bash Lotusland Celebrates: The Way of the Lotus, co-chaired by the tony triumvirate of Merryl Brown, Ashley Adelson, and Lisa Bjornson Wolf, raised a whopping $1 million for critical support […]

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Cheers to the Birthday Boy

Yours truly marked the 21st anniversary of his half century with a dinner garden party for 12 hosted by company chairman Susan Josephson at her East Valley Road home, just a tiara’s toss from Pierre Lafond. The Gala-catered surf and turf bash featured a160-pound bluefin tuna caught off the coast of Catalina the day before […]

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Viva La pre-Fiesta

Society gadabout Rick Oshay and Teresa Kuskey, bubbly founder of the La Boheme Dance Company, hosted their fifth annual Viva La Fiesta at Casa de la Guerra, with more than 200 guests. The fab fête featured Teresa’s colorful dancers who led our Eden by the Beach’s summer solstice parade, and festive dancers including 2020 Jr. […]

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Vino on the Plaza

Oenophiles and gourmands were out in force when the sold-out California Wine Festival, which was comprised of two different events, celebrated its 20th anniversary with a rare and reserve wine tasting at the Hilton’s Plaza del Sol, kicking off the event for 350 guests sampling 200 wines from more than 70 vineyards and 30 eateries […]

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RiteCare Childhood Language Centers

There are 19 RiteCare Childhood Language Centers across California, a program of the California Scottish Rite Foundation that provides life-changing speech therapy, language skills, and literacy services to more than 2,300 children at no cost to the families. The highly effective centers in many ways more than fill the gaps between what the public schools […]

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After a 30-year Hiatus, Noche de Gala Event Returns to Montecito

Society is happy to announce that the famed Montecito celebration of Old Spanish Days (OSD), known as the “Noche de Gala,” has been revitalized and will be held on Saturday, July 27, after its 30-year hiatus. The event, re-imagined by OSD El Presidente 2023 David Bolton, is hosted at Casa del Herrero, with tickets on […]

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‘Grounded’ An Environmental Exhibition & Fundraiser at Lotusland

Lotusland is holding its annual fundraising duo of an art exhibition and gala. Good news art lovers, the exhibition and art works for sale are online through July 20. If you are attending the sold out Lotusland Celebrates: The Way of the Lotus gala this Saturday, you can select and purchase artwork along the garden […]

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The Rise of Brownlee

Lawrence Brownlee is one of today’s most celebrated bel canto tenors, in demand for opera performances as well as song cycle recitals with major orchestras across the country and around the world. He’s particularly praised for his interpretations of Rossini – his Grammy-nominated album Virtuoso Rossini Arias prompted famed New Yorker critic Alex Ross to […]

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Summer Exhibit Unveils New Acquisitions

Experience 45 of the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art’s recent acquisitions at a stunning summer show. The exhibition features works by three dozen artists, including Americans Richard Artschwager, Laddie John Dill, and Louisiana Bendolph of the Gee’s Bend quilters, contemporary Chinese artist Yue Minjun, and numerous local artists.  New Acquisitions: Selections from the Modern and […]

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Impact Conference Explores AI, Education

Westmont’s annual Impact Conference, co-sponsored by Salesforce, explores opportunities and dangers using artificial intelligence tools in education Thursday, July 25, and Friday, July 26, in the Global Leadership Center. Tickets to the two-day event cost $100 with breakfast and lunch provided both days. To register or get more information, please visit westmont.edu/impact. “The conference, geared […]

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Warriors Gain Full NCAA DII Membership

Westmont Athletics has been granted full membership into NCAA Division II… a year early. The NCAA Division II Membership Committee told President Gayle D. Beebe and Robert Ruiz, director of athletics, that the Warriors had successfully completed year two of the NCAA probationary period and had been granted a waiver for year three of the […]

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Avocados

What is more quintessential than the California avocado? Creamy, decadent, savory, sweet – the avocado is so versatile and nutritious! My favorite avocado farmer is Vista Del Mundo and wow does he have an incredible harvest right now. There is some confusion as to whether the avocado is a fruit or a vegetable, but it’s […]

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Blessings Porter: A Fur Friend to All

Blessings Porter has yet to meet a human he hasn’t liked. And, in his 14 years, he’s met hundreds of people. Since moving from Orange County to Montecito more than ten years ago, he’s become a frequent beachgoer on the Rosewood Hotels & Resorts Miramar Beach’s oceanfront sand. He’s a favorite unofficial “ambassador” to other […]

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Pardon My Misteak

Among the many books my wife had brought back from her travels, which I’d never looked at until recently, was one I thought I might enjoy. It is a supposedly amusing collection of signs and other short messages written in English by Japanese people not totally familiar with our language. But I did not find […]

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