Tag archives: covid 19

One of the handful of go-to real estate agents for Montecito, Dan Encell has been studiously observing the ebb-and-flow of the crown jewel of Santa Barbara’s luxury housing market for more than three decades. He’s seen it all, but even Encell was surprised by the insistent ringing of his cell phone at a time when […]

The answer this season in Montecito clearly is, “Don’t give up, dig in.” With winter’s rains nurturing a robust planting season, home gardeners, garden designers, and professionals have been eagerly cultivating throughout spring and into summer. Sheltering-in-place during COVID has only accelerated this trend. Drive around any corner, you’ll see raised beds or garden walls […]

As we wrestle with the evolving ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, Santa Barbara’s commercial real estate world is learning how to conduct business at a distance, leaving previously on-site activities on the sidelines. MJ recently caught up with Santa Barbara native and real estate appraiser Greg Brashears to discuss navigating through a pandemic and all […]

We grew up in and around Montecito. We were given so many opportunities to learn and explore and grow. This community invests so much in us, and we want to keep in touch to let you know how and what we’re doing. Mine is the first letter in a series of letters from Montecito Kids […]

From the olden days fast forward to the current days for the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM). I remember when it first began and now is the 20th anniversary. With the pandemic, the Hawaiian themed party had to be cancelled. Instead supporters browsed and bid on online auction items to support SBMM children’s education program, […]

What Brought You to Montecito? My husband grew up in Carpinteria and always loved the area. We looked here in Montecito, then Hope Ranch and downtown before deciding that Montecito had all the things we were looking for. Such as, hills for hiking, beaches for surfing, ease of walking and riding bikes for our children […]

With the Fall 2020 school year rapidly approaching, Santa Barbara High School (SBHS) is finalizing its plan for how to bring as many of its roughly 2,200 students back to campus as safely as possible. The key word here is, you guessed it, “safely.” Right now, the school is awaiting official rulings from Governor Gavin […]

COVID-19 has certainly crushed a lot of dreams since forcing a shutdown back in March. But it’s also had a silver lining or two: After having closed its doors, supposedly forever, just a little more than a year ago, the Westwind Drive-In movie theater reopened a couple of weeks back, and immediately became a desired […]

The unprecedented stay-at-home orders because of the pandemic have been a double whammy for service nonprofits such as the Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, whose mission is to provide services for preventing and treating alcoholism and drug abuse to youth, adults, and families throughout Santa Barbara County. Not only has 70-year-old CADA had to […]

After spending more than a quarter century happily ensconced at the campground halfway up the San Marcos Pass that gave the festival its name, the Live Oak Music Festival that takes place over Father’s Day weekend every year packed up to return to its roots in San Luis Obispo two summers ago. Now, in the […]

A lot of things seem impossible to produce during a pandemic, most assuredly a parade, especially one as perennially popular as Santa Barbara’s Solstice Parade and Festival, which draws crowds of more than 100,000 participants and spectators from town and all around. Held at high noon on the Saturday closest to June 21, Solstice (as […]

What Flying During a Pandemic is Like from Santa Barbara Airport As you might expect, I had mixed feelings about flying during a pandemic. Thankfully, the Santa Barbara Airport eased pre-flight nerves before I entered the building. For example, there are separated entries for Alaska and American Airlines on the North end, United and Delta […]

Lesley Drucker, a sophomore at Cate School, recently started SB Sunshine Tutors, a tutoring service to support students who are struggling with homework during the pandemic. Lesley saw how students were no longer able to meet with their teachers after class for help. “I really relied on getting help from teachers after class, but all […]

Though you can’t hug your friends and extended family, doesn’t mean you can’t dance with them. Just ask sisters-in-law Vicky Harbison and Jill Dyruff who co-celebrated birthdays on May 16. (Vicky’s is the 16th while Jill’s is the 17th.) Thanks to Vicky’s daughter Sarah, a socially-distanced tailgate dinner was arranged in her grandmother’s driveway on […]

Calling all Montecito business owners and employees! Clothing boutique Johnny Was is seeking to donate hundreds of face masks to local business owners and workers as part of a larger donation program taken on by the retailer. “Like many retailers, we began to pivot when the pandemic began, and started manufacturing face masks,” said Montecito […]

It was announced earlier this week that after a second round of disbursements to hourly workers in Montecito, the 93108Fund will go back into hibernation, now that businesses have been permitted by the State and County to reopen their doors. The 93108Fund, a non-profit started after the 2018 debris flow, distributed a first round of […]

Every Sunday evening at 7 pm Gordon Morrison, bagpiper, husband, father, and VP of Engineering at Freedom Photonics, steps onto the porch of his family’s Summerland house and plays the bagpipes as the sun sets. It’s a comforting lament during these difficult times. I asked Morrison our usual “People of Summerland” questions. I also sat […]

The theater at Crane Country Day School is dark, but that hasn’t stopped production of its annual Upper School musical. In fact, the school has barely missed a beat as it continues with nearly all of the spring traditions that have come to define the K-8 school. “Our spring culminations are still happening, just not […]