Lobero Theatre Associates, an auxiliary supporting the historic theater’s foundation, celebrated its 50th anniversary with a champagne-soaked tea for 75 guests at the Santa Barbara Club, which raised $5,000 as Swedish pianist Fredrik Rosvall serenaded the cultured crowd with traditional carols. Among the supporters at the bash, co-chaired by Leslie Haight and Emily Johnson, were […]
Good things do indeed come in small packages as fashion entrepreneur Terry Pillow, 70, amply proved when he opened his 200-square-foot bijou boutique Homer Montecito on Coast Village Road, a tiara’s toss from Tre Lune, selling beautiful bridle leather bags ranging in price from $2,600 to keyrings for just $85. Terry, who formerly worked for […]
Even composer Tchaikovsky would have blushed when social gadabout Rick Oshay and Teresa Kuskey hosted their second annual Christmas bash at the Carriage and Western Art Museum for 150 guests with a decidedly risqué version of The Naughty Nutcracker, featuring the colorful and camp La Boheme dancers and ubiquitous KEYT-TV reporter John Palminteri as the […]
It was a double header at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum when the august institution hosted its annual holiday party for 275 guests, as well as opening its latest exhibition, “Clarence Mattei – A Portrait of Our Community.” Mattei, whose parents owned the eponymous Mattei’s Tavern, was sponsored to attend the prestigious Mark Hopkins Art […]
It was a case of going from top to bottom at the Canary Hotel when the Anti-Defamation League of Santa Barbara Tri-Counties hosted its 21st anniversary celebration for 110 people raising $110,000. The gala affair, co-chaired by Brook Ashley, Gayle Eidelson, Andee Gaines, and Sissy Taran, was originally scheduled to be on the hostelry’s rooftop, […]
The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, hosted lunch at the Hilton for 250 guests to recognize donor and volunteers, after cancelling two previous lunch events in response to the pandemic. Featured speakers included Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons, an infectious disease physician and past foundation recipient, and Arturo “Cheech” Raygoza, a […]
What could be more festive for Yuletide than Charles Dickens’s classic ghost story A Christmas Carol? It is a show dear to my heart as it was the first-ever theater production I saw at the tender age of eight at the Northampton Repertory Theatre in England with a group of classmates from my local prep […]
The full arsenal of Westmont College’s musical talent was on display at the Granada for the 18th annual Christmas Festival. Always a great start to Yuletide, the concert “Prince of Peace” was the second year at the venerable State Street theater after years at the First Presbyterian Church. Ruth Lin, chair of the music department, […]
After more than two decades as the public face of the Unity Shoppe Executive Director Tom Reed, 76, hosted a retirement bash at the Kenny Loggins Pavilion, where much of the 105-year-old charity’s work is based. “It’s time to enjoy some new activities with my wife and grandchildren,” says Tom, who joined the popular organization […]
The American Institute of Architects Santa Barbara hosted their annual Design Awards gala at the Cabrillo Pavilion honoring the achievements of local architects and architecture. The award program recognizes design excellence in architecture, residential architecture, restoration-renovation, and urban design. Among the honorees was the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and Kupiec Architects, with the Cabrillo […]
The Rosewood Miramar was flooded with Yuletide illuminations, as well as dozens of miniature trees, when Managing Director Rick Fidel, accompanied by a very jolly Santa Claus, lit the tony hostelry’s Christmas tree in the grand lobby watched by dozens of parents and their children. As guests quaffed hot chocolate, apple cider, and prosecco cocktails, […]
It was music to everyone’s ears when the Santa Barbara Symphony hosted a fundraising bash at the State Street eatery, The Red Piano, with syndicated radio host Jim Brickman, who has two Grammy nominations and 21 Number One albums, tickling the ivories magnificently for two hours as part of his 28-stop A Very Merry Christmas […]
Santa Barbara playwright, director, and producer Rod Lathim has been hitting the Big Apple with his latest art exhibition Let There Be Light at the Kate Oh Gallery, just a tiara’s toss from the Ralph Lauren flagship store at the historic Rhinelander Mansion. The three-week debut show opened last month and Rod tells me they’ve […]
It was a spectacular start to Yuletide when Montecito Bank & Trust held its 20th annual Community Dividends awards lunch, which normally divides $1 million among myriad local charities. But this year the Hilton event for 300 guests was one with a decided difference as the bank, founded by the late Michael Towbes, awarded a […]
Local award-winning architect Robert Ooley, who spent 30 years researching and writing his first book, Butterfly Wood, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie House West, hosted a boffo bash at the University Club for 70 guests to celebrate the occasion. The 4,500-square-foot property at Hot Springs and Summer Road, the home of writer T.C. Boyle, is the […]
David Fletcher, head food service specialist at the Rescue Mission, certainly had his hands full on Thanksgiving Day, not only preparing for more than 300 homeless guests, but three other local organizations, adding another 100 recipients. David, who started on the job last year, says it has gotten easier as time goes by, with 25 […]
Just 24 hours later I was at the Santa Barbara Veterans Memorial Building where 500 homeless turned out for a third Thanksgiving dinner organized by Adam’s Angels, a nonprofit founded by local Douglas Elliman realtor Adam McKaig and fellow resident Crystal Iverson. As they tucked into 400 pounds of turkey and 100 pumpkin pies, they […]
Digital design and marketing professional Monica Kunz is the recipient of the 2022 AWC Chapter Star Award for lending her talents and expertise to the local chapter of the Association for Women in Communications. “Monica has a keen eye for design and branding,” says Lisa Osborn, president of AWC-SB. “For years she has generously shared […]
The Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County has added two newcomers to its team. Camille Agnello has joined as an attorney for the Family Violence Prevention and Immigration Program. She attended law school at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law, and was admitted to the Colorado Bar in 2019. Brianna Locatelli recently […]
On a personal note, I remember inveterate Montecito car and art collector Michael Hammer, who has died at the age of 67 after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. Michael, the son of Julian Armand Hammer and grandson of Occidental Petroleum industrialist Armand Hammer, was also a generous philanthropist, donating millions of dollars to local […]
Oriental art expert Keith Moore celebrated the tenth anniversary of his half-century with a boffo bash in The Pickle Room, formerly Jimmy’s Oriental Garden belonging to the Chung family, where Keith’s father used to play saxophone. Keith, a sixth-generation Santa Barbarian, as well as a life member of the Society of California Pioneers, even brought […]
Italian pianist Alessio Bax, a frequent visitor to our Eden by the Beach, who performed with the Santa Barbara Symphony at the Granada playing Schumann’s “Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54,” gave a private concert 48 hours earlier for VIP supporters in the second of its Concert Aperitif series at the historic APS aerie […]
Social gridlock reigned when Ralph and Diane Waterhouse celebrated the 38th anniversary of their eponymous art gallery in La Arcada. The popular establishment, just a tiara’s toss from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, was founded in 1984 by Diane. It moved to its current location in 1991 and represents some of the city’s finest […]
It was back to nature for Camerata Pacifica when it hosted its monthly concert at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History rather than its usual venue at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall, which is undergoing renovation. But the dynamic duo of percussionist Ji Hye Jung and pianist Soyeon Kate Lee were both in fine […]
Local fashion designer Catherine Gee has opened her eponymous 2,400-square-foot flagship boutique in La Arcada. Around 150 guests turned out for the opening bash, which showed off a host of all-silk wares she has been designing since 2015. Catherine became known for her core slip dress style and has since grown the brand into full […]
After staging Puccini’s triumphant work Tosca at the Granada, it was time for Opera Santa Barbara to turn to comedy for its latest production, Rossini’s La Scala di Seta – The Silk Ladder – at the Lobero, a one-act vintage work from 1812. Home-grown soprano Jana McIntyre, who sang in Handel’s Semele last season, was […]
Santa Barbara Empty Bowls celebrated its 25th anniversary at the Foodbank’s Hollister Avenue warehouse when 800 supporters and 50 volunteers, including Congressman Salud Carbajal and Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte, turned out to help raise around $100,000 for the cause. Soups From the Heart provided a selection of liquid refreshments, including Asian noodle, Tuscan whole bean, […]
The party animals were out in force when the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network hosted a fun fête at the venerable Santa Barbara Club with the 240 guests raising around $200,000 for the popular organization, which has an annual budget of $1.8 million. The boffo bash, A Wild Night Out, had a host of colorful […]
It was the storm before the CALM when the charity, which helps with childhood trauma, hosted its 11th annual Calm at Heart lunch for 250 guests at Los Sueños, the Montecito estate of uber legal eagle Robert Lieff and his wife, Susan, which raised $370,000. Fortunately, a large marquee was erected before the heavens opened […]
A tsunami of supporters turned up at the FisHouse for a Heal the Ocean sunset soirée to thank donors for helping raise a most impressive $227,000 from its third consecutive imaginary gala. “It’s the perfect kind of event,” enthuses Hillary Hauser, president and executive director of the popular charity. “Very little overhead and very generous […]
Montecito author and illustrator Bill Dalziel has published his second children’s book Charlie’s Dream, a sequel to his first Ulma, the Kidnapped Tree, which he will help launch at Tecolote in the Upper Village on December 3, with 10 percent of the book purchases at the bash donated to Storyteller Children’s Center, a local nonprofit. […]
Jeanette Fantone, a Japanese Filipino animator from Carpinteria, has won a 2022 Princess Grace Award. Her work largely stems from cultural nostalgia and gravitas towards the manipulation of textures and tactility as a way of invoking impressions of memory. Fantone received her BFA in Experimental Animation from CalArts this year and competed three films in […]
On a personal note, I remember Michael Butler, Tony-winning producer of Hair on Broadway, who has died in our Eden by the Beach aged 95. Butler was an international celebrity in the ‘60s and ‘70s with friendships with such global figures as the Shah of Iran and the Maharaja of Jaipur. Above all, Butler was […]
There were seedy goings on at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden when the 98-year-old 78-acre gem hosted its first Forage & Feast event for 64 guests, raising $60,000 for its conservation and research programs. The sunset soirée at the Pritzlaff Conservation Center featured creative culinary delights using native plants from the garden from Chef Julian […]
Exuberance and energy were the order of the night when the 20-year-old three-time Grammy-winning Soweto Gospel Choir sang at a concert at UCSB’s Campbell Hall, part of the popular Arts & Lectures program. The singers, long associated with late South African president Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, impressed with a variety of South African […]
American Cancer Society hosted its second annual Riviera Luncheon at the Hilton, attracting 80 guests and raising around $100,000. The boffo bash, chaired by Denise Sanford, was emceed by Drew Wakefield with Dr. Daniel Greenwald of the UCLA Health Cancer Care Center in Santa Barbara, Karina Kulangara, associate vice president of research and development of […]
Evelyn “Evie” Sullivan is the recipient of the 2022 Dorothy Shea Award from the Breast Cancer Resource Center of Santa Barbara, the greatest recognition by the organizationof a volunteer. The award is named for Dorothy Shea, who was a founding mother and gave the BCRC its start by providing a home rent free for several […]
Sheryl Zimmerman, a distinguished professor of social work and public health, has joined the board of the Dream Foundation. She will work closely with staff, serve as a valuable advisor to program services, and bring awareness of end-of-life, palliative care, and long-term care organizations based on her extensive knowledge and networking. Zimmerman co-directs the program […]
It was a spooktacular Halloween weekend when the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History hosted a fearsome fundraiser for adults with all 250 of the $120 tickets being snapped up for a spine-tingling bash, with ghostly halls and spooky woods. Creatively costumed guests met frightful and delightful curiosities around each and every corner and at […]
Prince Harry’s polo playing pal Nacho Figueras is now part of a Neiman Marcus Christmas present – for a price! For $295,000 the legendary Texas emporium – known as Needless Markup by Dallas denizens – is offering a two-night stay at the St. Regis in Aspen, Colorado, with a private Argentinian Asado dinner by chef […]