Planned Parenthood California Central Coast (PPCCC) held their Birds and Bees Bash at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort with over 435 attendees. They hoped to raise $75,000. The three co-chairs: Cynthia Abulafia, Kristen Klingbeil–Weis, and Wendy Wheeler Smith and their committee worked to make that happen. Geoff Green added his humor to the evening […]
They were all there! Rosie the Riveter, movie stars, socialites, dancers, military, and medical personnel in the USO Hollywood Canteen aka the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM). This was their annual fundraising gala stepping back in time to the 1940s. The evening’s honorees were Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation and the Santa Barbara Navy League. Sounds […]
The Center for Successful Aging (CSA) held a private concert at the home of Dr. Guy Clark and his wife, Dr. Ramona Clark. The afternoon concert was limited to 30 people and included wine and a buffet. Legendary pianist Gil Rosas performed and if ever a house was built for music it was this George […]
It was time once again for a visiting professor of surgery to visit Sansum Clinic for a week of teaching practicing Santa Barbara surgeons and physicians. Dr. W. Charles Conway, FACS is the new Visiting Professor of Surgery Program Administrator. Dr. Ron Latimer established the program in 2010 with the Department of Surgery and Sansum […]
The MClub held one of its Lunch & Learn events at the Santa Barbara Club with the iconic photojournalist Santi Visalli as the guest speaker. The dining room was full with over 50 guests eager to hear about Santi’s life and how he came to photograph famous folks all over the world including five presidents. […]
In 1970, my friend Susan Gulbranson’s mom, Clair Miles, who was a nurse and doctor’s wife, learned of a young father under extreme stress who killed his eight-week-old son. She put a special telephone in her home and instructed her young children to never answer if it rang. Thus was born Child Abuse Listening Mediation […]
The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) held another of its lecture evenings, this one about “The Refugio Incident: A Wildlife Responder’s Perspective” as told by Elaine Ibarra. Elaine graduated from California State University at Channel Islands with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and is a trained and experienced oil spill responder. She had extensive volunteer […]
Still Alice is considered the definitive and illuminating novel about Alzheimer’s disease and it was written by Lisa Genova. She recently gave a lecture on the subject for UCSB’s Arts & Lectures at Campbell Hall. Prior to the talk, sponsors Hollye and Jeff Jacobs gave a private reception for her at their home. Genova’s TED […]
“Validating Dreams and Visions of the Dying” was obviously a subject of great interest to many as almost 500 people showed up at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort for Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care’s (VNHC) 6th annual health care symposium. According to president/CEO Lynda Tanner, “VNHC began in 1908 with one nurse providing 140 […]
Author Eli Saslow was brought here by UCSB Arts & Lectures and the Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life as well as sponsors Tracy and Michael Bollag. Susan Rose had a private reception at her Hope Ranch home for Eli before his presentation at Campbell Hall. This handsome […]
The Santa Barbara Yacht Club (SBYC) was all decked out in its nautical garb in honor of Opening Day Ceremonies and so were all the members. It was the 147th Opening Day. SBYC is the second oldest club on the west coast of North America. The morning began with mimosas and coffee, followed by a […]
“The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.” René Descartes When I was a little girl (a thousand years ago) the big collectible was Storybook dolls. They were a little smaller than a Barbie, which came later, and arrived in white boxes with either blue or […]
As the invitation stated, “From the moment you step through the door you’ll know you’re not in Kansas any more.” There’s a private club with nightclub atmosphere on Los Patos Way across from the Bird Refuge. Milt and Arlene Larsen recently had their grand opening reception for Angel members, media, and special guests. The Magic […]
Montessori Center School (MCS) held its annual gala with the theme of “Beyond The Sea.” It could have been called Under the Sea because of the aqua table coverings and sea shells all about. And of course cocktails were served on the terrace of the Biltmore Coral Casino right by the ocean. Some of the […]
The Arlington Theatre was packed with folks eager to hear from the iconic photographer Annie Leibovitz. After seeing her work many years ago in Vanity Fair and Vogue, I was too. UCSB Arts & Lectures was presenting the program. Annie began her career with the Rolling Stones in 1970 while she was still a student […]
There’s a new kid on the block. That would be Giuliana Montecito. Before, it was named Giuliana Haute Couture. It’s a charming boutique in the upper village near Via Vie restaurant and next door to what was Lana Marme’s at 1485 East Valley Road Ste 3. The new family owned shop creative director Mandana Mir […]
It’s amazing how many people will get up very early to come to the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort for a 7:30 am breakfast in support of the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation’s (TBCF) Little Heroes breakfast. And thank goodness they do because of all the good they do for young cancer patients. We learned that […]
I hadn’t been to the MCASB (Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara) for several years. What a nice surprise to see it flourishing with a new exhibit and a new director and chief curator Abaseh Mirvali. There was an exclusive preview for an hour before it was open to the public including a wine and […]
CBB (Congregation B’Nai B’rith) brought the Hilton Santa Barbara to life with over 300 celebrants for their biennial gala. They are a congregation of 800 households founded in 1927. This year’s theme was Roots2Wings, inspired by a poem written by Rabbi Stephen Cohen. This is an excerpt from two pages. It’s entitled “Who Are We?” […]
“It takes more than a village… it takes a community.” The theme of the Domestic Violence Solutions (DVS) luncheon was Community and purple is their color. We were in the Loggia Room at the Santa Barbara Biltmore to celebrate what has been accomplished so that victims are visible – not invisible – and to raise […]
If the ‘50s and ‘60s were your thing, you are familiar with Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine and its centerfolds and interviews. I liked the interviews; my husband liked the centerfolds. During part of that era we lived in Spain. One Christmas our Spanish friends came to visit and brought gifts. As we frantically tried to […]
The Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront was a sea of red with a sold out crowd of 450 ladies and gentlemen sporting red – dresses, suits, ties, scarves, boas, even socks. It was all because the American Heart Association (AHA) was having their annual luncheon to promote and raise dollars for heart research and related areas. […]
The Friendship Center elder day care held its 20th Festival of Hearts Luncheon turning Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort into the Emerald City from The Wizard of Oz. The 20th milestone of an event is symbolized by emeralds hence the suggestion to come as an Oz character or at least wear green. The results were […]
They called it the “Party of the Year” held at the Ritz-Carlton Bacarato benefit critical care services at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. It was a sellout with 511 attendees in spite of the rainstorm. The gentlemen were elegant in black tie and the ladies with long gowns, many topped with tiaras. Wearing a tiara must […]
Friendship Center’s 20th annual “Festival of Hearts” was held at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort February 9. Several days prior to the event there was a display of many of the decorated hearts for the public to see. The showcase windows at Charleston Shoe Co. at 1017A State were chock a block full of […]
The show business adage is never follow children or a dog. Glenn Close was definitely up staged by a dog at her tribute during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF). I’m sure she didn’t mind since it was her own dog, Pip, who sneaked out of the green room and came prancing out on […]
The MClub held its first event of 2019 at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum (SBHM) with Richard and Amanda Payatt speaking and touring us through the exhibit, West Dressed Women. The Payatts have interesting credentials. Richard has the largest collection of British military uniforms in private hands in the United States. He was one of […]
The Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara held its 35th annual Women’s Philanthropy Luncheon at the Four Seasons Biltmore with a new kind of program. Instead of a speaker there was the Jewish Women’s Theatre from Santa Monica performing. What is the mission of the Jewish Women’s Theater? “We strive to challenge minds, move hearts, […]
Opera Santa Barbara (OSB) celebrated its 25th anniversary with a concert at the Lobero Theatre followed by a party across the street at the El Paseo Restaurant. To add some sparkle to the occasion, the evening began with a champagne reception on the terrace at the front of the theatre for 500 guests. After going […]
The 40th annual Art Scholarship competition was just given by the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. According to board chair Don Logan, more than 80 high school seniors applied. Seventy-nine were accepted and 24 named winners. They each received $2,500 and the best of show received an extra $1,000. The winners were Katherine Benzian, Andrew […]
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) Women’s Board held their annual member luncheon at the Santa Barbara Club to welcome new members – nine strong this year. Vice president of membership Marjorie Robertson introduced them. They are Susan Bradley, Tina Downs, Nancy Kirkpatrick, Irene Kovalik, Amy Michelson, Cat Smith, Karen Sweeney, Karen Tenzer and […]
UCSB Arts & Lectures presented “An Evening with Madeleine Albright” to a packed house at the Granada Theatre. In case you don’t remember, she was the first woman Secretary of State and the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government in 1997. Currently she is chair of Albright Stonebridge Group, which is a […]
The entire Santa Barbara Club was transformed in a time warp to Shanghai of the 1920s for the annual benefit of the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Barbara located at 632 East Canon Perdido Street. The dress was cocktail attire with a touch of Shanghai – fans, mandarin collars, and silk dresses with slits. […]
The Mural Room conservation project in the Santa Barbara Courthouse received a prestigious award – the 2018 Governor’s Historic Preservation Award – one of only six awards in California. It honors preservation projects representing exemplary achievements on behalf of preserving California’s richly diverse heritage. “The California Legacy Foundation (CLF) is proud of the entire project […]
The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) presented another of its nautical lectures, this time about the 1969 oil blowout and the birth of the environmental movement. Fifty years ago I was living in Europe, but even without cell phones we knew about the disaster in Santa Barbara, California. A blowout on Union Oil’s platform A […]
Donors, partners, and supporters gathered at the Santa Barbara Courthouse for an unusual dedication ceremony – a 7-foot-by-9-foot American flag made out of fire hose sourced from the Montecito and Santa Barbara fire departments and used in the Thomas Fire. It was made to honor the First Responders of the Montecito mudslides by retired Santa […]
The non-profit SOS (Stop Oil Seeps) held their annual holiday soirée in January at the University Club. Co-founder Lad Handelman was holding court with all his friends and the Club was full with members and guests sipping wine and scoffing down sliders and pizza. As Alice Green said in her blog, “Natural processes can wreak […]
The Arts Fund family held a Donor Appreciation Night recently in a most charming venue – the Spanish Garden Inn at 915 Garden Street. It’s owned by two artists, Rich Untermann and Gail Elnicky, who designed the facility some 17 years ago to give guests a true Spanish experience. They graciously opened their doors to […]
And, we did it! CEO Rolf Geyling and Rebecca Weber were at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission hosting a walkthrough of the newly finished women’s part of the $11 million renovation of the whole facility. It’s incredible. Last time I was there, the walls were gone and only studs left. The chapel, a new bathroom, […]
Montecito Bank & Trust’s MClub, directed by Maria McCall, was traveling on one of their day trips to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library for the Pompeii exhibition to experience over 150 original, 2,000-year-old Pompeiian artifacts. Since I lived in “Napoli” for three years and visited nearby Pompeii several times, this was a must for my […]