Social gridlock reigned at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum when it hosted its annual La Fiesta del Museo for 220 guests raising around $100,000 for the popular institution with all tickets selling out in two hours. Ubiquitous KEYT-TV reporter John Palminteri emceed the bustling bash and conducted the auction, with an etching by cowboy artist […]
A profusion of creative and colorful tony tête toppers packed the stands at the Santa Barbara Polo Club for the annual Ladies Day. As usual, I had the difficult job of judging the mélange of magnificent millinery, having learned my “craft” donning my top hat and tails attending the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot races […]
It wasn’t quite Tin Pan Alley, but the Music Academy’s latest chamber night at Lehmann Hall as the 76th annual Summer Festival winds down was pretty novel when a talented quartet played Bay Area composer Gabriella Smith’s work “Anthozoa.” Inspired by a diving trip to French Polynesia, Smith, 31, used two baking tins and even […]
One of Santa Barbara’s newest nonprofits, Hearts Aligned, founded in May 2021 to support critically-ill children, hosted a sunset soirée appreciation party at the Goleta home of founder Vivian Solodkin and her husband Peter, whose two-year-old son, Carlos, died during heart surgery in 2007. The charity provides rental assistance, gas cards, food vouchers, and even […]
One805Live!, which is throwing its annual gala at Kevin Costner’s oceanside Carpinteria property in September, gave a taste of what is to come with a boffo bash at the Montecito Club that auctioned off a guitar signed by Katy Perry for $5,000 and a package trip for four people to see Maroon Five – stars […]
It wasn’t quite the exotic occasion I envisaged when I celebrated the 20th anniversary of my half century last week, but a fun event nevertheless at Ca’Dario on Coast Village Road. Having not been able to fly to Marrakech, Morocco, for the past few years because of pandemic restrictions, my plans were to join an […]
My congratulations to three good friends, philanthropists Brooks and Kate Firestone and author Fannie Flagg, as well as one of my favorite theater companies, Ensemble, who have been chosen as Granada Theatre Legends. They will be honored at a glittering 7th annual gala at the iconic State Street theater on September 16. The highly anticipated […]
Tony Morris has begun his second year of a two-year term as president of Montecito Rotary Club as the organization celebrates its 70th anniversary. Joining Morris on the board are president-elect Kim Stone, secretary Roger Davis, and treasurer Kurt Koenig. From volunteering at the Montecito Fire Department’s annual July 4 pancake breakfast and continuing its […]
My item last week on the historic Lobero Theatre being chosen as one of the world’s 11 most beautiful by society glossy Town & Country prompted a call from Montecito philanthropist Anne Towbes saying that another of the theaters on the list, Steinmetz Hall in Orlando, Florida, was designed by Montecito architectBarton Myers, 88. The […]
The Music Academy’s 76th annual summer festival reached its halfway mark with a second chamber night concert at Lehmann Hall featuring works by Joan Tower’s “Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 3,” Mozart’s “Piano Quartet in E-flat Major” with Qiyan Xing on violin, Molly Prow on viola, Simon Housner on cello, and Robert Brooks Carlson […]
Society gadabout Rick Oshay and Teresa Kuskey Nowak, bubbly founder of the La Boheme dance company, hosted their 4th annual Viva La Fiesta bash at Fieldside, the popular Santa Barbara Polo Club restaurant, for 200 gloriously garbed guests. The fun fête featured Teresa’s colorful dancers who led our Eden by the Beach’s Summer Solstice parade, […]
Italian composer Puccini’s beloved opera La bohème took on a whole new tone at the Granada as part of the Music Academy’s 76th annual Summer Festival. Instead of Paris’ Latin Quarter in the 1830s, as in the original 1895 work, the setting was Brooklyn and Manhattan in 2011, a time of restless energy and a […]
Violinist extraordinaire Augustin Hadelich was back in our Eden by the Beach for the second time in two months when he performed at the Lobero as part of the Music Academy’s summer fest. Grammy Award winner Hadelich, who I saw at a CAMA Masterseries concert in April, his fifth appearance for the organization since 2015, […]
To the historic Santa Barbara Club for an enthralling talk by prolific Hope Ranch-based author Lis Wiehl organized by Montecito Bank and Trust’s MClub. One of America’s most prominent trial lawyers, the Harvard Law School graduate served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle and was a regular contributor on NBC, […]
It’s that time again! For the 16th year I have the onerous task of judging Santa Barbara Polo Club’s hat contest on Sunday at the spectacular Carpinteria locale after launching its high goal season with the Left Coast’s top tournament, the Netjets, USPA Pacific Coast Open on September 3. The three categories for the mélange […]
Culinary whiz Mitchell Sjerven, owner of the West Victoria Street eatery bouchon Santa Barbara, had a double celebration last week with Bastille Day, which was also the 25th anniversary of his popular restaurant’s opening. “It is a story of enduring relationships,” says Mitchell. “From working side-by-side with my wife, Amy, to having both my daughters, […]
Jenna Hamilton-Rolle, former director of education at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and the Sea Center, is the new director of education and community engagement for UCSB Arts & Lectures. She brings many community connections to her new role, including administrators and educators at the Goleta and Santa Barbara Unified school districts, and […]
Melinda Cabrera, who as Vice President of United Way of Santa Barbara County helped spearhead the organization’s robust response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been named president and CEO of the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. “Melinda comes to us with an impressive record of community engagement and energetic leadership,” says foundation board chair Danna […]
Montecito actor Billy Baldwin got a considerable shock with a blast from the past this week. He has revealed he went to school with accused New York mass murderer Rex Heuermann, 59, the alleged serial killer of 10 women on a barren stretch of Long Island coastline nearly 13 years ago, who was snared by […]
Retired Montecito corporate attorney David Gersh has published his latest art mystery tome featuring Jonathan Benjamin Franklin, All’s Fair. It is the fourth in the series and one of eight books David, a Harvard Law School graduate, has written. “This is undoubtedly the best art scam work I have ever created,” he enthuses. The novel […]
Independence Day lived up to all its expectations with the annual village parade wending its circuitous new route along Coast Village and Hot Springs roads watched by colorful crowds, including Meghan Markle and Prince Harry holding his two-year-old daughter Lilibet. Having played King George III with the late Santa Barbara Polo Club publicist Charles Ward […]
Santa Barbara Historical Museum’s latest exhibition, Project Fiesta, marking the 99th anniversary of Old Spanish Days, was a Herculean task. Museum president Dacia Harwood and her colleagues had to sort through thousands of photos in the institution’s Gledhill Library to pick just 99 shots, mostly black and white, taken since Fiesta was founded in 1924. […]
To the Music Academy for an entertaining lunch with New Yorker music critic Alex Ross, who is doing a short residency at the Miraflores campus, teaching 10 students, whittled down from 25 applicants, how to write succinct and entertaining program notes on the summer festival concerts. Los Angeles-based Cross, 55, a graduate of Harvard, has […]
Mega director James Cameron and his wife, Suzy, are selling their longtime oceanfront home on the Gaviota Coast for a titanic $33 million. The roughly 100-acre property was purchased in 1999 for $4.37 million, according to records. Cameron, 68, wrote the blockbuster movie Avatar, the highest grossing film of all time, at the ranch. He […]
Globetrotting accountant Frank McGinity has published the fourth and last updated edition of Get Off Your Street, a personal travelogue recounting his travels from all seven continents. “It covers my travels over the last 25 years,” says Frank, who lives a tiara’s toss or two from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Riven Rock. “Most […]
It is hard to believe the Music Academy’s annual festival Summer of the Artist is almost halfway through. The third week of the highly entertaining program kicked off at Hahn Hall on the Miraflores campus with Avery Fisher Prize winning pianist Jeremy Denk playing an all-Bach program of five partitas. The New York City resident, […]
Danna McGrew, partner in the advisory and audit department of Bartlett, Pringle & Wolf, is the new chairman of the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. Her two-year term started at the weekend. A Santa Barbara native, McGrew earned a bachelor’s degree in business economics at UCSB before joining the accounting firm in 1992. She was […]
On a personal note, I remember the British actor Julian Sands, whose remains were found in the San Gabriel Mountains after he was reported missing by his family in January. Julian, 65, known for his Oscar-nominated films, including 1985’s delightful Room with a View, disappeared during a trek in the Mount Baldy area of the […]
Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner, 78, is coming to the big screen, in a comedy, no less. America’s favorite plushies are finally getting the movie and TV treatment with The Beanie Bubble, which shines a light on the owner of the Biltmore and the San Ysidro Ranch, the tycoon behind the collection craze from the […]
Oenophiles and gourmands were out in force at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History when the popular venue hosted the region’s premier food and wine event, attracting 1,400 supporters to the sprawling 17-acre Mission Creek campus, raising more than $200,000 for the museum’s programs and exhibits. Around 200 VIP tickets, giving early access to […]
The Art Foundation of Santa Barbara took over the historic town club for its annual members’ art exhibition, which featured 45 works scattered throughout the venerable Chapala Street venue. The Santa Barbara Club’s featured speaker was British artist and gallery owner Ralph Waterhouse, who with his wife, Diane, recently opened a new gallery on Coast […]
It was quite the celebrity turnout when the Santa Barbara Museum of Art launched its latest exhibition The Private Universe of James Castle, which runs through September 17. With more than 90 works, the show features many of the most beautiful and accomplished drawings created by the extraordinarily gifted, profoundly deaf, self-taught artist, many of […]
The second week of the Music Academy’s Summer Festival lineup goes from strength to strength. Hahn Hall on the 10-acre Miraflores campus was the venue for the String Quartet showcase featuring the Vela Quartet – violinists Aaron You-Xin Li and Harin Kang, violist Vincenzo Keawe Calcagno, and cellist Hamzah Zaidi – kicking off the highly […]
Santa Barbara Maritime Museum has three new board members – Don Barthelmess, Tom Elliott, and Chad Makela. The 21-member board provides oversight to the stewardship of the harborside organization, and the tony triumvirate brings a unique skill set and experience to the role.
Automotive industry mogul Dave Cantin and his wife, Dina Manzo, widely known for starring in The Real Housewives of New Jersey, have splashed out nearly $16 million for a five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath home in our rarefied enclave. Originally built in 1994, the Tuscan-style home on 0.76 acres was designed by local architect Marc Appleton and last […]
The Montecito Journal is now by royal appointment, I can exclusively reveal. This illustrious organ is now being read by none other than King Charles III – super singer Katy Perry’s mother, Mary Hudson, informs me. When the former Dos Pueblos High student sang at His Majesty’s coronation concert at Windsor Castle last month with […]
After nearly a decade, Santa Barbara’s Momentum Dance Company celebrated with an energized, colorful show at the historic Lobero Theatre. The company marked the occasion with a Glow Gala, lighting up the stage with more than 100 dancers, premiering two hours of dance fun. The entertaining ninth anniversary performance combined tap, ballet, jazz, hip hop, […]
More than 600 guests turned out for the 15th anniversary of Fiesta Ranchera at the 151-year-old Rancho La Patera gardens in Goleta raising in excess of $30,000 split equally between Old Spanish Days and the Goleta Valley Historical Society. The fun fête, chaired by the tony triumvirate of Janice Howell, Paula Bottiani, and Jenna Verbryke, […]
The Fund for Santa Barbara hosted its spring grand awards celebration handing out checks totaling a record $330,000 at the Lobero Theatre Courtyard, including $230,000 in racial equity funds. “The money has come in fast,” says Patricia Solorio, associate director. “The recession has been a bit of a wet blanket, but I think the future […]
The Music Academy’s 76th annual festival Summer of the Artist got off to a glorious start with two major sold-out concerts at Hahn Hall on the Miraflores campus. Kicking off the eight-week event, which ends on August 5, was the ever-popular Takacs Quartet with violinists Edward Dusinberre and Harumi Rhodes, cellist András Fejér, and violist […]