12 Thursday, September 21, 2017
Coastal View News • Carpinteria, California
Summerland’s dwindling downtown
Carp-a-Cabana 2017 Annual Benefit for Carpinteria Unified School District Honoring Clyde & Diana Freeman
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the summerland shore f r a n d av i s Special thanks to artist Mel Zeoli for cover art
THANK YOU to all of the generous businesses,
individuals and attendees listed below We are honored to have your support!
Volunteers and in kind donors
Adam Lent - FFA Annalisa McGee Ashley Watkins - FFA Audrey Lent - FFA B.J. Lent - FFA Barbara Menne Becky Gonzalez Brian Yamaoka Briana Balch Cameron Gralewski - Water Polo Carlos Castillo - Water Polo Casey Balch Cate School Charlene Rodriguez, The Cake Stand Curtis Lopez Cyndi Connolly Dale Collins Debra McCarty Island Brewing Company J.R. Hadjucko - Water Polo
Jack Gay - Water Polo Jamie Collins Janie Foley Jeannine’s Bakery Jenny Cota Jessica Clark Jessica Isaac Kai McCarty - Water Polo Karina Dayka - FFA Laura Roth Liam Slade - Water Polo Lizette Hernandez - FFA Louise Newman-Sanchez, The Sugared Clover Luke Nahooikaika - Water Polo Mary Francher Max Brown - FFA Mia Able - Culinary Arts Mike Isaac Myles Morgan - Water Polo
Alan and Carol Koch BEGA Christina Clayton Debbie Murphy Dick Carty E.J. Harrison & Sons Grace Young Griffith & Thornburgh, LLP Janice and Rob Thomson
JB and Taffy Balch John Madden Construction Katherine and John Culbertson Kathryn Henry Mac Brown Excavating Marschewski Insurance Matson Industrial Finishing Maximum Nursery Montecito Bank & Trust
Albertson’s of Carpinteria A-Frame Surf Shop Beachside Bar Café Best Western Plus Carpinteria Inn Beth Cox Beth Schmohr Bikini Factory Bill’s Coins Boat House at Hendry’s Beach Bonita Summerland Borello’s Pizza and Pastaria Botanik Brophy Bros. Bryant & Sons LTD Jewelers Burton Snowboards Cambria Pines Lodge Carol Nichols Carpinteria 7th St. Beach Cottages Carpinteria Athletics Department Carpinteria Community Pool Carpinteria Cotton Company Carpinteria Nails Carpinteria Wine Company Casitas Skin Sanctuary Channel Islands Outfitters Channel Islands Surfboards Chocolate du CaliBressan CHS Boosters Club Chuck’s Waterfront Grill Cliff House Inn On the Ocean Columbia Sportswear Condor Express Whale Watching Convivo Restaurant & Bar Cyndi Connolly Danny’s Deli, Bait, Tackel & CarWash Delgado’s Mexican foods Dos Carlitos Restaurant & Tequila Bar Dr. Kimani Williams El Capitan Canyon Empower Fitness Evolutions Medical & Day Spa Fess Parker Wine Country Inn & Spa Fiddlehead Cellars First & Oak At the Mirabelle Inn Foxwing Fitness/CrossFit Carpinteria Gallup & Stribling Orchids Giannfranco’s Trattoria Giovanni’s Pizza Glenn Annie Golf Club Gonzo’s Cycles Grant Cox Enterprises, Inc. Harper Fine Art Photography
Harry Harteck Head To Toe Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Carpinteria Hollister Brewing Company Hurley Optical Ice in Paradise Goleta IHOP Restaurant Indian Summers Boutique Island Outfitters on Linden Jack’s Bistro Catering & Famous Bagels Jazzersize/Theresa Till Jessica Isaac Jump On The School Bus Karen Clancy Karen Fedderson Fine Art Killer B Fitness Center L’Salon - Laura La Cumbre Golf Club Laughing Buddha Thrift Shop Los Agaves Mexican Restaurant Lucky’s Steakhouse Luxury Nails & Spa Marie Krause Melville Vineyards & Winery Mirame Beauty Salon/ Angelica Mirame Beauty Salon/ Keiser Mission Linen Supply Montecito Family YMCA Mountain Air Sports MOXI, The Wolf Museum Mr. Mel Zeoli Mrs. Lorena Estrada Nikki Yamaoka Oaxaca Fresh Mexican Grill Olio E Limone Ristorante and Olio Pizzeria Pacific Conservatory Theater Pane e Vino Trattoria Paradise Café Patricia Alpert Petit Valentien Restaurant Pierre LaFond Market & Deli / Wendy Foster Porch Rebecca Stebbins Artist Reynoldo’s Mexican Bakery Rincon Brewery Risdons Auto Care Center Roblar Winery Rockwell Cleaners
Sponsors
Donations
Nancy Garrison Nico Kalin - Water Polo Nikki Yamaoka Oaxaca Fresh Mexican Restaurant Paul McCarty Robin Sawaske Rachel Zick Ryan Zick Sally Green Sandi Prather Sarah Smith Shea McCarty Silvia Escheverria Solomon Nahooikaika - Water Polo Steve Poulos - Water Polo Sue Harrison Susan Everett Theri Sotelo Tiffany- Culinary Arts Tyler Powell Mr. and Mrs. Edward Wittwer Mrs. Betty Brown Mrs. Diana Rigby Mrs. Sally Boughton Pacific Health Foods Ruthie Tremmel Smart & Final Charitable Foundation Stanley & Ellen Froyd Toine and Kandi Overgaag S.Y. Kitchen Sandcastle Time Santa Barbara Foresters Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club Santa Barbara Sailing Center Santa Barbara Wine Tours Santa Ynez Inn Santa Ynez Valley Marriot Sarah Smith Sea Rose Salon - Brandee Sea Rose Salon - Danielle Saragosa Seastrand Clothing and Beachwear Shoreline Beach Café Siam Elephant Thai Restaurant Sly’s SOAP State & Fig Sue Harrison Summerland Beach Café Summerland Winery Surf N Suds Beer Festival Susan Willis Ltd. Sushi Teri Terre Furado The Four Season’s Resort/ The Biltmore The Gym Next Door The Harbor Restaurant The Hearst Castle The Nugget Bar and Grill/ Carpinteria The Painted Cabernet The Palms Restaurant The Tennis Shop The Upham Hotel & Country House Thomas Van Stein TidePools Tinker’s Burgers Toma Restaurant & Bar Tre Lune Ristorante Tyler Powell Uncle Chen Restaurant Via Vai Trattoria Pizzeria Westerlay Orchids Wilson Family Winery Windsor Capital Group Inc. Zodos Bowling & Beyond Zookers Restaurant
Many thanks, we couldn’t do it without you!
Businesses on Summerland’s west end are booming. Red Kettle Coffee; eateries Tinker’s, Summerland Beach Café and the Nugget; the four clothing shops; antique stores and the winery all seemed to have snagged a piece of annual summer liveliness. The Beach Café had to literally put benches in the street to accommodate waiting breakfast crowds. Many, if not most, of the folks swelling the crowds were out-of-towners—tourists stopping for the easy on and off freeway access. But more and more, as in Carpinteria, many of the people wandering our streets were Airbnb visitors. Neighbors complain to each other about loud parties, crowded streets and driveways, strangers peering into their yards. Summerland, with its close beach and amenities, is now a hot destination. Just Google Airbnb Summerland and you get 36 offerings. Admittedly, some of those listings are for places “near” Summerland. Still, that’s a lot for such a small town. Maybe all those strangers passing through town are good for local business, so that’s a plus. On the downside, vacation rentals remove from the market housing that can be used by permanent, stable residents. It’s a problem all South Coast municipalities are struggling with. While a section of downtown Lillie Avenue is doing just fine, the east end is suffering a case of the doldrums. Empty buildings vacated by Stacky’s, Just Folk, Waxing Poetic and Café Luna are casting a ghost town aura over that part of town. Farther on, the storefront occupied by the vet is vacant. And now there’s a big For Lease sign at Cantwell’s. It will be a sad day in town if our market folds up and moves away. With its deli, breakfast and lunch service and wide array of food items, it’s been a great resource for residents of both Montecito and Summerland as well as tourists.
Just Folk’s treasures
Fans of Just Folk, the fabulous former now-closed folk art gallery may be interested to know that the Just Folk owners donated pretty much their entire inventory (minus the art) to Alpha Resource Center. Alpha’s programs support children and adults with developmental disabilities. The folk art pieces, including the quilts, are selling at greatly reduced prices (75 percent off) from a storefront at 532 State Street where Hotel Santa Barbara is located.
Treasure in a closet
Summerland’s latest pop-up store opened in the small shop adjoining Sand
Piper Liquors. I know pop-ups are supposed to be short-lived, usually for a season, but so many businesses have popped in and out of that diminutive space in the last couple of years that they seem to fit the pattern. The last one I remember was a cat museum. Before that there was a realtor, an art gallery, a beach shop and—I’ve lost track—maybe something else. The Treasure Closet should have more staying power if owners Judy Haller and Helga Harris have anything to say about it. Since both women work other jobs, the shop has no set hours, but seems to be open pretty often. You can tell the open or closed status by whether there’s the rack of sale clothes outside. That’s what drew me in for a chat with Judy, who also works as office coordinator for Summerland School. The store sells women’s, men’s and kids’ clothes that Judy describes as “new, used and vintage.” The tiny space was well-stocked, shelves and clothes racks full of clothing as well as shoes, purses and accessories. “A little of everything,” Judy says. I went in looking for information and came out with a nice brown scarf. Now if only we can get some occupants for some of Summerland’s other empty spaces!
Waze and ways around it
With 101 traffic a never-ending snarl, lots of folks resort to the phone App Waze to help them outsmart the crowds. Waze may or may not be responsible for morning rush-hour traffic exiting the jammed freeway to zoom through Summerland in search of a faster route, but it gets blamed anyway. Now that school is in, increased traffic trying to navigate our narrow streets creates hazards all around. This summer the Summerland Citizens Associate invited county traffic engineers Gary Smart and Chris Snedden out for a chat about the problem. Summerland is what Smart called a “special problems area.” We talked one-way streets (big enforcement problems), stop signs and traffic calming devices such as speed bumps, which Smart said residents might take upon themselves to install after further study. An unlikely scenario. What the county did was post signs reading “No Right Turn between 7 and 9 a.m.” on Lillie Avenue at the corners of Olive and Valencia. The idea is to keep commuters from filtering up to the narrow through streets in an attempt to speed through town. No word on how this is working so far, but there are bound to be scofflaws. Like me. Returning from the Carp gym every morning a little before 9 a.m., I have to turn up Olive to get to my house. Hmm…may have to dawdle on the elliptical exerciser a little longer. One good thing: Not the fully lighted fake Christmas tree already up at Costco, but our early rain, sunsets moving toward the sea, a few fallen leaves crackling underfoot. Fran Davis is an award-winning writer and freelance editor whose work appears in magazines, print and online journals, anthologies and travel books. She has lived in Summerland most of her life.
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