Tag archives: Dolores Johnson

Pup Party
By Richard Mineards   |   September 6, 2022

Billionaire Rick Caruso’s Rosewood Miramar went to the dogs when dozens of canines invaded the tony hostelry’s Great Lawn to celebrate International Dog Day. With pet owners paying $250 to enter, all proceeds benefited the local animal shelter, Santa Barbara Humane – which has two campuses in Goleta and Santa Maria – with judges looking […]

Sunset Soirée
By Richard Mineards   |   November 30, 2021

Condor Express owner Hiroko Benko made sure everyone had a whale of a time when she hosted a sunset cruise for her good friend Dolores Johnson, organizer of the Montecito Motor Classic at the Santa Barbara Polo Club, which attracted more than 200 exotic and luxury cars.  “It was a truly wonderful event,” gushed Hiroko, […]

Quite the Collective Fleet
By Lynda Millner   |   November 16, 2021

Instead of polo ponies, the polo fields in Carpinteria were recently covered with classic cars — more than 200 worth in excess of $400 million. Founder Dolores Johnson was expecting 4,000 car lovers to attend the ninth annual Montecito Motor Classic (MMC) and I think they did. It began 10 years ago on Coast Village […]

The Engines Were Revving
By Richard Mineards   |   October 19, 2021

Horsepower of a very different kind took over the Santa Barbara Polo Club when the 9th annual Montecito Motor Classic, with more than 200 exotic and luxury cars on display, was staged on the expansive fields. “We could have had a great many more but had to cut off the applications given fire regulations,” says […]

What a Concept
By Richard Mineards   |   October 12, 2021

More than 200 exotic and historic automobiles will be participating in the ninth annual Montecito Motor Classic at the Santa Barbara Polo Club on Sunday, which founder Dolores Johnson tells me is a record. This year’s theme for the free-admission event, presented by the Armand Hammer Foundation, is “The Concept Car,” which will focus on […]

Montecito Motor Classic: Celebrating Heroes
By Sharon Byrne and Dolores Johnson   |   August 9, 2018

This year’s Montecito Motor Classic on Coast Village Road will be celebrating two kinds of heroes: our first responders and our military veterans. As Dolores Johnson, one of the founders of the Classic, notes, “My mother, Alexandra, worked for Boeing as one of the many Rosie the Riveters, my father, Martin Morelli, served in WW2, […]

Misty-Eyed
By Richard Mineards   |   November 23, 2017

Montecito philanthropist Michael Hammer‘s wife, Misty, was feted at a bridal shower hosted by Dolores Johnson at the home of Condor Express owner, Hiroko Benko. After lunch overlooking the ocean and the Channel Islands, a tea ceremony presented by Tom Craveiro and Yuki Nakamura, wife of Nobel Prize winner Shuji Nakamura. Guests included police chief […]