The Santa Barbara Historical Museum (SBHM) gives one of the best Fiesta parties in town. The venue makes a perfect backdrop – it looks like a movie set and all we have to do is don our costumes and we’re ready for action! We entered through the front door and trekked through the galleries, one […]
If you want to have some fun and laughs, go to West Beach when the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) hold its annual Kardboard Kayak Races. This 17th year 32 teams entered the competition (three divisions of family fun and one division of the paddling pros (adult). Each team could have up to four people […]
The Channel City Club and Committee on Foreign Relations invited members to take a day trip to Simi Valley to see the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum and particularly the current exhibit, “The World of da Vinci.” It’s always surprising to me to learn that Vinci is where Leonardo was born. So it really […]
Did you know that we have one of the ten best gardens in the world right here in Montecito? That would be Lotusland, which just celebrated its famed flower – the lotus – with the annual LotusFest. July is supposed to be their prime blooming time, but as one of the volunteers explained, “They are […]
Every year the Santa Barbara Club turns into an art gallery for two weeks with artworks loaned from their members’ collections or work they have done themselves. There was an opening reception with champagne and hors d’oeuvres followed by dinner. The public was welcome to buy tickets as well. To name a few of the […]
Friends and fans gathered at the Tecolote Book Shop in Montecito’s upper village for a book signing of Willard Thompson’s latest novel, The Girl from the Lighthouse. His wife, Jo, had treats for us with rosé wine and finger sandwiches. This is not Willard’s first historical novel. He has written a trilogy with Dream Helper, […]
Right in our own backyard sits one of the most beautiful and threatened biodiversity hotspots in the world, the Gaviota Coast. “We should never take this 72-mile long stretch of coast for granted,” said Gaviota Coast Conservancy (GCC) board member Phil McKenna. We were gathered at the Santa Barbara Club for another Lunch & Learn […]
The Garden Club of Santa Barbara recently celebrated the unveiling of the new and renewed Arizona (cactus) Garden at Casa del Herrero. This project began a year ago with the club’s Civic Project Grant Program and a lot of hard work by the horticulture committee’s three co-chairs, Amy Mayfield, Puck Erickson–Lohnas, and Sharon Bradford, and […]
Jerome Lowenthal is one of the most electric pianistic personalities before the public,” so says one of his reviewers. Santa Barbara’s The Music Academy of the West (MAW) claims him for their own because he has been a part of their eight-week summer program for an amazing 50 years mentoring students. Yet he has appeared […]
It’s that time of year – every June since 1972 the Santa Barbara Writers Conference (SBWC) commences for six days. Until the demolition it was held at the old Miramar Hotel and with a few stops in between it is finally at the Santa Barbara Hyatt at 1111 Cabrillo Boulevard. Mary and the late Barnaby […]
It was the very first annual luncheon with over one hundred guests for Compassionate Care of Carpinteria (CCC), which is a spin-off of Hospice of Santa Barbara. Their new office is at Carpinteria Children’s Project at Main. Now everything that is offered at Hospice of Santa Barbara (HSB) is offered in Carpinteria as well. After […]
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) has expanded to include a 3,600 sq. ft. space at 1313 State Street to be called the Barbakow Family Center for Film Studies or just the Education Center. A place to create and learn thanks to Jeff and Margo Barbakow’s generous support. As executive director Roger Durling showed […]
Community Action Commission (CAC) gave its 14th annual Champions Dinner, this year at the Hotel Corque in Solvang. Donors, sponsors, and employees gathered from all over the county for a wine tasting reception and dinner. This year’s Champions recipient was the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. Giving back to the community has always been […]
After seven years of living in Spain and going to many ferias, this one was a little different – no horses but lots of art. The board of trustees at Casa del Herrero held an Art Show and Garden Fair at the Casa. This year’s event was a celebration of creativity and preservation of the […]
Old Spanish Days 2019 got underway at the Carriage & Western Art Museum with the 95th annual La Primavera event. Historically, “In 1920 the La Primavera Association sought to perpetuate the history of Santa Barbara’s founding years through a spring festival and pageant. More than 300 locals played a part in the La Primavera masque, […]
Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Director Larry J. Feinberg and the Board of Trustees of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA)invited exhibition sponsors, sustaining trustees, legacy society, benefactors circle, director’s patron and special guests for a reception celebrating several current exhibitions. Larry explained that “Out of Storage and into the Light: Sculptures That Tell Stories” […]
The American Irish Historical Society founded in 1897 is alive and well here in Santa Barbara under the leadership of Frank McGinity. They recently had a lecture and book signing for one Irish lady from New York, at Frank’s newly restored McCormick estate in Riven Rock. It’s hard to imagine a boulder as big as […]
Guys and gals got out their cowboy hats and boots for the annual Barn Dance fundraising at the Carriage and Western Art Museum. This was all for the best cause – Hearts Therapeutic Equestrian Center (HTEC). Guests could mingle with a margarita, peruse the silent auction and enjoy a good ol’ fashioned Santa Maria BBQ. […]
Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) presented their Spirit of Entrepreneurship (SOE) awards at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort celebrating women entrepreneurs and supporting student entrepreneurship as well. During the cocktail hour held in the rotunda we got a chance to meet the high school and college winners of the New Venture Challenge given by Scheinfeld […]
Direct Relief Women held a Mother’s Day celebration in the new mammoth facility. Direct Relief Women has enabled over 60,000 safe births since its inception. Every $25 makes one safe delivery possible. Shockingly there are 303,000 women who die each year from preventable complications occurring during pregnancy and childbirth – 830 per day. We know […]
Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care (VNHC) focused this year at their annual Mother’s Day luncheon not on fashion but on “Music & Moms” at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. The honored mother was Sharol Siemens and the remembered moms were Faviola Belnitz Calderon, Josie Gower, Alice Mitchell, Marilyn Ramos Benitez, and Rebecca Riskin, all […]
The Pacific Pride Foundation (PPF) turned the Rosewood Miramar Beach Resort Chandelier Room into a Platinum Palace, literally. As designer Merryl Brown said, “There will be elements of muted gold and ivory floral and masses of silver.” The Royal Ball is so over the top, they only hold it every two years. Guests arrived with […]
Youth and Family Services YMCA had their 20th anniversary for Reaching for the Stars at Santa Barbara Women’s Club, Rockwood. The terrace outside the club is always so welcoming, this time set with glasses for wine tasting from Brander, Jaffurs, Melville, Pence, Union Sacre, and brew tasting from Draughtsman Aleworks, Inc. and Firestone Walker Brewing […]
The Transition House Auxiliary held its 21st Mad Hatter Luncheon and for the first time at the new and elegant Rosewood Miramar Beach Montecito in the Chandelier Ballroom. What a treat to be in a ballroom with windows. The day began with tours of the new resort which most of us had not seen. The […]
Baubles, bangles, and beads were front and center at the Coral Casino Beach & Cabana Club. There were also book sales for Gray Matters written by the first entertainment reporter, Rona Barrett. She used to give her pop news on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and much more. She knew all the stars. More […]
Santa Barbara City College Foundation (SBCC Foundation) gave its very first gala, “Spring Forward,” attended by students, staff, faculty, college trustees, volunteers, foundation board members, donors, sponsors, alumni, and friends from near and far, 335 strong. It was held in the Sports Pavilion, which took on a very different look, thanks to Merryl Brown and […]
Every three years, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Women’s Board takes on a monumental task of an event called “Off The Wall” to raise funds for the Museum’s acquisitions, exhibitions, and education programs. This year it was under the direction of Leigh Shreves and her committee: Susan Bradley, Leisa Cosentino, Wendy Darling, Paula Farrington, […]
The Cecilia Fund is the oldest philanthropic organization in Santa Barbara having been chartered in 1892. It was then called the St. Cecilia Club because she is the patron saint of music and the ladies had a small orchestra. They used their music to give concerts to raise money to assist patients at the new […]
Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, and Joan of Arc were the subject of discussion at the Montecito Bank & Trust Lunch & Learn MClub event with author Victoria Shorr. She has a book called, Midnight: Three Women at the Hour of Reckoning. She calls it creative non-fiction. One of the blurbs reads, “I finished Victoria’s book […]
The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum also just opened its newest exhibit “Rum Running, Sailors & Prohibition” which covers more than 400 years of history and connects Santa Barbara to those times. Why Santa Barbara? Because we have more coastline than any other county in the United States including the Channel Islands. A perfect place to […]
The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) recently had author Robin Lloyd for an evening to tell us what Havana, Cuba was like in the mid-1800s. That would be in our Civil War era. This is chronicled in Lloyd’s book, Harbor of Spies: A Novel of Historic Havana. This historical novel is set at the height […]
UCSB Arts & Lectures brought best-selling Blue Zones author Dan Buettner and photographer David McLain to Campbell Hall on the campus for their presentation on the secrets to living longer and better lives after studying the world’s happiest, healthiest, and longest-living people. Prior to the talk there was a private dinner reception at sponsors Nicole […]
Food from the Heart held their seventh “Sips & Nibbles” event in the El Paseo Courtyard for about one hundred people. We all got to wander from one wine tasting room to another – Barden, Happy Canyon, and Grassini Vineyards – sipping as we went. Each place had a table full of yummy appetizers by […]
Each year the National Charity League (NCL) holds a senior recognition event at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. This year nearly 500 friends and relatives of the 18 graduating girls (Ticktockers) gathered to honor their six years of volunteering. The NCL mission is to foster mother-daughter relationships in a philanthropic organization committed to community […]
This was the 12th annual Women of Achievement (WOA) awards luncheon. It was given at the El Paseo Restaurant – a luncheon honoring women “Who Make a Difference with Stories that Matter.” The Association for Women in Communications (AWC-SB) is the only chapter in the state of California. Their membership includes authors, journalists and broadcasters; […]
Every year, Girls Inc. of Carpinteria honors “Women of Inspiration” at an annual luncheon. The co-chairs Dawn Howard and Jacquelyn Pawela–Crew and their committee worked their magic – turning the gymnasium into a springtime luncheon garden of yellow and white. I wanted to win one of the centerpieces, they were such beautiful bouquets, but it […]
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art Women’s Board has another group it couldn’t do without and that is the Sustainers who give continual financial support for their Board’s many projects. These are Museum members who have been active on the board in many capacities and then choose to “retire” or at least not be active […]
There’s a new walking tour in town! It’s a tour of the Funk Zone and it’s free. If it’s too good to be true, this one is true. This is all because John Ummel took walking tours in Europe so when he came to Santa Barbara, he went to the city fathers to suggest we […]
The Lobero Theatre Associates have a winning event every year when they present the Hats Off luncheon in the Loggia Ballroom at the Santa Barbara Biltmore. The members rummage through their closets for those little worn items, a dress hat, dust them off and then tip them to the honored keynote speaker. This year that […]
After living overlooking the Montecito Country Club for almost 20 years, and watching the construction of the new Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course (we now have the 14th green in our view instead of the 13th) we were anxious to see people playing golf again. The course has been finished for a long time, waiting […]