Tag archives: community
Last Saturday, something amazing happened in Montecito. A community got on its feet and spread care and love into the world. It was Beautification Day — and the impact was powerful. The day unfolded with two ensemble casts that had never rehearsed together taking on two big projects. The first team consisted of Montecito Fire, […]
Escrow closed earlier this week on a 6.84-acre property at the top of Temple Street in Summerland; the property has been the subject of much community discussion over the years, as its fate was uncertain until about two months ago, when the Carpinteria/Summerland Unified School District, which has owned the property since 1955, accepted a […]
This community seemingly has a heart of gold, from massive fundraising projects that save farms in Summerland (read Kelly Mahan Herrick’s piece on page 8 this week) to the San Marcos Foothills. This holiday season, a new project is making the goal far more personal — the Santa Barbara Education Foundation wants to shower teachers […]
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, UCSB Arts & Lectures, like every establishment across the country, was forced to close and cancel all its programs. But the 62-year-old organization — still the largest and most influential arts and lectures presenter not only in the Santa Barbara region but in the several hundred- mile […]
Peruse the list of RAINN supporters online or in the 2020-21 inaugural The Giving List book and you’ll find a whole lot of famous names. There are singer-songwriters Tori Amos and Kesha, entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, and the actresses Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino, among many others. That’s because, unlike virtually all […]
Montecito always was a place of talent, care, resources, and community. There are a lot of smart, accomplished people making this beautiful place their home. It has also suffered its share of disaster, with the biggest fire in California history at the time — the Thomas Fire in December 2017. That fire has now dropped […]
In its short 13-year history, Leading From Within — which was founded in 2008 as the Courage to Lead program that was created to offer renewal to experienced nonprofit executive leaders while also offering leadership development — has already had quite an impact in town. More than 60 executive directors have participated in the year-long […]
Dear Mr. Rosenfield, I’m writing to ask you to please reconsider renewing the lease for Little Alex’s. Your website says the “Montecito Country Mart is a place for the entire family and the best way to experience Montecito — as a local would.” So please let’s keep a very local and beloved place open for […]
Just a few weeks after Cava leaving its longtime post on Coast Village Road, another community cornerstone is being shown the door by its landlord, as Little Alex’s has been told it needs to vacate the Montecito Country Mart by November 22. Jim Rosenfield, the retail center’s landlord, delivered the news via a letter, with […]
The right to vote is one of our most foundational rights as Americans – we have the right to be equally and fairly represented. Our county is redistricting, which means that we are assessing current Supervisorial district boundaries and redrawing all five districts based on the federal 2020 Census to account for changes in the […]
The Citizens Independent Redistricting Commission, which is comprised of 11 commissioners representing all five supervisorial districts in Santa Barbara County, is seeking input from the public regarding redrawing our district map, which will be in place for the next 10 years. “We’ve been working on this for over a year, and we are now at […]
Molly’s a grand pooch – astute, alert, intuitively obedient. So, I immediately took umbrage when we found ourselves confronted by a masked stranger over the simple act of taking an afternoon stroll together. The two of us often take walks around the cliffs overlooking Coal Oil Point. It’s a safe, bucolic, and familiar environment, and […]
A couple of months ago, we published a column with the intent to educate newcomers to our community on being a good neighbor, adapting to the Montecito lifestyle, and respecting what makes this community such a wonderful place to live. Part of that “wonderful” are the businesses and local staff that help keep our restaurants […]
For many nonprofits in Santa Barbara and around the nation, the height of the COVID pandemic was a time to retrench, perhaps scale back operations or even temporarily close their doors. Pacific Pride Foundation (PPF), on the other hand, not only kept nearly all its services available, but also expanded some of its programs in […]
Congratulations and a big thank you to all of those (whose many names are too numerous to list here) who worked so hard to get the Hot Springs Neighborhood Trail completed. We have lots of wonderful hiking trails in our local hills and mountains, but safe paths through our community are sorely lacking. Let’s hope […]
Imagine a kid. He’s your son, and he has big plans. He wants to attend college, launch a startup, and make it big. He wants to change the world. He’s always been like this. He always aims high, and he usually succeeds, even when the odds are stacked against him, which they always seem to […]
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held this week on the newly completed Hot Springs Neighborhood Trail, which connects Olive Mill Road from Casa Dorinda to East Valley Road. Since the debris flow in January 2018, the Bucket Brigade, led by Abe Powell and a committed team, has worked to restore many areas of the community, and […]
The Lobero Theatre is by far the oldest performing arts venue in Santa Barbara. In fact, it’s actually the longest operating theater in all of California, dating back just a couple of decades after California became the 31st state admitted to the union. The Lobero also ranks fourth in seniority among all performing arts buildings […]
For a local cancer patient, the alarm bells rang loudly — while recovering from an outpatient surgery at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, she received a call. A member of the patient’s medical treatment team had tested positive for COVID-19. The patient has been unable to get vaccinated due to their ongoing treatment. Already dozens of […]
Montecito Union School’s Nature Lab, its interactive 2.5-acre space that’s beginning to take shape on the Upper Village campus, has been serving as a learning laboratory even before ground was broken on the project. The students at the enviable elementary school were a big part of the process about how to use the land adjacent […]
