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JOURNAL

See inside for report highlights!

13 – 20 AUGUST 2026 | VOL 32 ISS 33 www.montecitojournal.net

Voice of theV illage

SERVING MONTECITO AND SOUTHERN SANTA BARBARA

The Grape Escape – Jada Vineyard has the hills, the oaks, the altitude, and the seriously good wine. Gabe Saglie finds plenty worth raising a glass to in Paso Robles, P.20

The State of Nonprofits in Santa Barbara County

Scan Here to Read the Full Report

The Comeback Stars – After disease nearly wiped them from the Pacific, sunflower stars are staging a comeback – two spectacular arms-full at a time. Meet the Sea Center’s newest stars, P.36

Back to COOL PENCILS, PAINTS, ROBOTS, AND BUTTERFLY GARDENS DON’T GROW ON TREES. WELL, ONE OF THOSE MIGHT. TEACHER’S FUND TAKES CARE OF THE REST. (STORY ON PAGE 5)

Silver Streak

Delta Defence galloped away with the Whittier Trust Silver Cup, capping three weeks of high-goal polo with silverware and champagne, page 8

Glove Actually

The Santa Barbara Foresters pitched, ran, and fielded their way into Eleventh Heaven with yet another NBC World Series title, page 18

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13 – 20 August 2026

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13 – 20 August 2026

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Sporting Life – The Foresters celebrate urator’s Choice – Engraving from the 1771 38 Cbook INSIDE THIS ISSUE 18 an The11th national championship, polo’s Pacific Deliciae Naturae Selectae

5

he Teacher’s Fund – The Teacher’s Fund School T Supplies Drive helps educators turn classroom ideas into reality without reaching into their own pockets

eings and Doings – Socialism is having a 6 Bmoment and the gulag gates are swinging wide.

Next stop, boiled grass for supper in a charming Siberian pied-à-terre.

Montecito Miscellany – The polo battle for the 8 Whittier Trust Silver Cup, plus Fiesta enjoyed five ways over the festive week

Coast Open gets underway, and Kenny Loggins brings pickleball back for charity

anta Barbara by the Glass – A visit to Jada 20 Sreveals why this boutique Paso Robles winery has become the crown jewel of the Riboli family’s expanding California wine portfolio

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he Giving List – Hidden Haven library T programs, SB High’s Wellness Center, and empathy-building field trips are taking the Grace Fisher Foundation’s inclusive mission beyond the clubhouse

Pup Culture – A new book for the Dogs of News Bytes – From Pride Festival and local 26 Monte 10 ceramics Vista Park, plus one political puppy to youth programs and music grants, this week’s News Bytes spans the community

Your Westmont – Landmark book features 30 short plays developed at the college, and Our Town – Two photography exhibitions – the

12 Channel City Camera Club at the downtown

library and Patricia Houghton Clarke in Carp – put local artists in focus

14

he Society Edit – The SB Women’s Club T celebrates 98 years of La Merienda Fiesta, bringing together colorful traditions, flamenco and dance

women’s soccer players share their hearts in Kenya

ontecito Health Coach – A search for a 32 Msustainable workout leads to The Bar Method,

where tiny movements, light weights, and plenty of shaking deliver surprisingly powerful results

Sunflower Stars – Two rare sunflower stars On Entertainment – Dillon Yuhasz’s Disney36 16 inspired have arrived at the Sea Center, offering visitors animatronics tell The Story of War, Ghostlight Theatre debuts Skylight, and Joe Spano stars in a new one-man play

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a close-up look at a species scientists are working to save from extinction “Play is the highest form of research.” – Albert Einstein

Stories Matter – Magic, mystery, murder, 40 family secrets, and unforgettable heroines fill this month’s recommended reads

lizabeth’s Appraisals – What do German 41 Ewaltzes and Missouri Ragtime have in common?

One remarkable Symphonion music box holds the answer

Big Questions – What deters crime?

42 RIsobert’s it the certainty of being caught, or the

severity of the punishment?

An Independent Mind – Harding contrasts democratic socialism with free-market capitalism in a sharply argued look at competing visions for America’s economic future

43 Sheriff ’s Blotter Calendar of Events – Bronzed whimsy at the 48 Maritime Museum, the SB Greek Festival returns, Marjorie Luke celebrates 50 Years of Fabulous, and other happenings

Classifieds – Our own “Craigslist” of classified 50 ads, in which sellers offer everything from summer rentals to estate sales

ini Meta Crossword Puzzles 51 MLocal Business Directory

13 – 20 August 2026

The Teacher’s Fund Because Teachers Have Enough Homework

The planning committee at last year’s event: Brianna Johnson, Sheela Hunt, Alyssa Jones, Dianne Johnson, Angel Speier, Renee Grubb, Marcy Bazzani, Natalie Grubb, and Vince Caballero (courtesy photo)

by Zach Rosen

T

here are certain things teachers should reasonably be expected to bring to school. Patience, for one.

A working knowledge of long division.

The supernatural ability to detect chewing gum from thirty paces.

What they should not have to bring is half the contents of Staples, purchased with their own money.

And yet, back in 2002, Santa Barbara community leader and Village Properties owner Renee Grubb noticed that local teachers were regularly dipping into their own paychecks to buy the supplies their classrooms needed. Pencils. Paper.

Art materials. The everyday stuff that makes a classroom actually work.

So she did something about it.

Teacher’s Fund was born with a refreshingly simple, chalkboard-clean idea. Give teachers the resources they need to teach, and let them decide where those resources will make the biggest difference. More than two decades later, that idea has grown into an organization that has invested more than $2.5 million in Santa Barbara-area classrooms.

Which buys rather a lot of pencils… but pencils are only the beginning.

Teacher’s Fund grants have helped bring robotics into classrooms, launch science experiments, grow butterfly gardens and support music programs, alongside providing notebooks, art supplies and all those less glamorous essentials without which even the most inspirational lesson plan quickly becomes a fairly inspirational conversation.

The point is not really the stuff. It is what teachers can do with it.

A box of paints is just a box of paints until somebody puts it in front of a child with an idea. A robotics kit is a collection of mysterious little components until a student discovers they can make something move. A packet of seeds can become a garden, a science lesson and, quite possibly, an argument about whose turn it is to water the thing.

13 – 20 August 2026

That spirit sits behind the annual Teacher’s Fund School Supplies Drive, the organization’s signature fund raiser, and the source of the majority of the money used to award classroom grants throughout the year.

And because fundraising is considerably more enjoyable when pizza and ice cream are involved, the campaign culminates with the Donor Celebration on Tuesday, September 1, from 4.30 to 7 pm at the Village Properties Courtyard on State Street.

There will be food from the Lucca Pizza Truck, treats from A La Carte Ice Cream Truck, drinks courtesy of The Bottega Bar, live music, a silent auction and a photo booth. In other words, considerably more entertainment than you generally associate with buying notebooks.

Individuals, families and businesses can support the drive through monetary donations, sponsorships or contributions of items, services and gift cards for the silent auction. Every contribution feeds back into grants for local classrooms.

There is something pleasingly direct about the whole enterprise.

Teacher’s Fund is not pretending it can untangle every knot in education funding. In fact, its own materials acknowledge that it cannot solve budget constraints at the federal, state or district level. What it can do is make a difference one classroom at a time.

And sometimes that is exactly where change ought to begin.

With one teacher who has an idea but not the materials. One classroom that could do something brilliant with a little help.

One student who discovers they love science because somebody found the money for an experiment, or a student who discovers art, and themselves as an artist, because there happened to be paints on the table.

Big ideas, after all, often begin with very small supplies… and preferably ones the teacher didn’t have to buy themselves.

Visit www.supportteachersfund.org for more information

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Beings and Doings Ice Cream Social

by Jeff Wing

R

ecently the bored and sated West has directed its gnat-like attention to two truly stomach-churning stories: 1) the intestinal assault of the grotesque but well-meaning cyclosporiasis parasite, and 2) increasingly bold public utterances of the soul-vaporizing S-word, if you can

“We have no paupers. The great mass of our population is of the middling class, and we have more of the middling class than any other country. …

Can any condition of society be more desirable than this?”

– Thomas Jefferson in a letter to James Madison, 1787

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Montecito JOURNAL

capitalist model may be built – one that makes itself pointedly distinct from transparent grift, full-frontal corruption, Stalinist silencing of dissension, and the program of filial enrichment that self-respecting (and respectable) conservative capitalists would once have declaimed from the rooftops.

Instead of constructive capitalist self-reflection at this arguable nadir of the docile Grand Old Party, we get fulminations on the gulag archipelago that comes bundled with “socialism,” on the stripping away of Liberty by socialism’s lively spirit of oppression. We are told that anyone with the temerity to cursorily investigate “socialism” is an a-historical, ignorant child – that working people weary of struggling to feed the family three squares a day are the new Khmer Rouge. You have to be a deeply incurious and doctrinaire capitalist to not even ask the question, “…why all this sudden interest in socialism?!” Must be for the Free Stuff.

At the same time, we must remember that in the vastness of Creation (an enormous frozen vacuum sparsely decorated with rocks and gas and thought leaders), any animate form possessed of the inexplicable Spark of Life is an absolute wonder, statistically and possibly otherwise.

If the wonder of cyclosporiasis should manifest explosively and traumatically, know that it signals a greater glory. Your youth group leader may be wielding his “emotive eyebrows” while delicately plucking the second verse of “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore” when suddenly he is hollering through a spontaneous caboose geyser. Neither the gut-burrowing cyclosporiasis nor the self-perpetuating natural mechanism itself can be thought capricious or cruel in the episode. For all we know, nature thinks “ostracize” is just another size.

Pinkos The modern intestinal daisy chain. Thank you, cyclosporiasis (courtesy Hmehlers23)

imagine. Two quick comments: neither the flaw-expunging rigors of longgame Darwinism nor the prospect of Intelligent Design can explain to any reasonable person what benefit “explosive diarrhea” is to either the natural order or the Grandeur of Humankind.

As for the S word third-rail; the terrors of “socialism” have, for 100 years or more, been liltingly kneaded and baked into the American narrative by an army of singing Donna Reeds in gingham aprons. The current plena voce street corner discussions of “socialism” by voters is a gasping canary to which informed capitalist defenders are utterly failing to respond. This is a watershed moment from whose elementary lessons a new

G*d of the Gaps Is Liberty a byte or a sliding scale?

Private enterprise and free markets are meant as moral instruments, where the morality of human “freedom” is inherent in the unfettered navigability of the

Beings & Doings Page 464 464

13 – 20 August 2026

The Best Weeks Are Still Ahead

On the California coast, August and September finally feel like summer.

The evenings are still long and the fog has lifted. These upcoming weeks are perfect for outdoor entertaining. If your space isn’t quite there yet, there’s still time. We can help.

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13 – 20 August 2026

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Montecito Miscellany Polo’s Silver Sunday

Delta Defence captured the Whittier Trust Silver Cup (courtesy photo)

by Richard Mineards and Friends

S

unday brought championship silverware to the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club, where Delta Defence captured the Whittier Trust Silver Cup following the three-week tournament, which ran from July 19 through August 9.

The winning foursome of Jared Zenni, Segundo Bocchino, Costi Caset, and Ivan Weiss stepped forward to collect the trophy, while Caset was named Most Valuable Player, presented by Whittier Trust Assistant Vice President Carter Thicke.

Caset comes from a long line of high goal players including Sapo Caset, a 10-goal elite player. Costi didn’t disappoint, with fast furious scoring and relentless ride offs that came over the boards. Whittier Trust held a champagne reception where guests noshed on grilled bites and chilled drinks on ice, toasting Carter for his hospitality.

Monjita Atonita, played and owned by Zenni, earned Best Playing Pony honors.

With Fiesta filling the streets not far up the road, Sunday afternoon at the fields offered its own sort of pageantry – ponies, polo, and plenty of silver.

by Lisa Duncan

Fiesta, Five Ways

F Explore Our Ocean’s Wonders on Stearns Wharf!

Learn more

Get up close with sharks and sea stars at the Sea Center’s interactive exhibits.

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Montecito JOURNAL

or one week each summer, Santa Barbara slips into Fiesta mode – flamenco skirts swirl, horses take to the streets, and seemingly everyone finds a reason to dance. This year, Old Spanish Days unfolded everywhere from the grand terraces of Bellosguardo to the Courthouse, the Zoo and the waterfront, before one last turn around the dance floor at historic El Paseo. There were tacos and tiaras, little red wagons and plenty of familiar faces. Some came for the dancing, some for the horses, some for the tacos – but everyone came for Fiesta.

... more on page 44

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” – George Bernard Shaw

13 – 20 August 2026

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13 – 20 August 2026

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News Bytes

The eight-physician dermatology team offers care ranging from treatment of acne, eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea to advanced skin cancer surveillance and surgery. A centerpiece is the Mohs Micrographic Surgery Program, which uses a specialized tissue-sparing technique to treat many skin cancers while preserving healthy tissue.

The team also includes a fellowship-trained pediatric dermatologist, expanding specialized care for younger patients.

Sutter officials say consolidating the dermatology team will improve coordination and make specialty care more convenient for Central Coast patients, while connecting local physicians with Sutter Health’s broader network of more than 200 dermatologists.

by MJ Staff

A

ugust 15: Montecito youth and her friends raising funds for the Dream Foundation August 22 and 23: Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation To sign up your organization: www.montecitocountrymart.com

Summerland Citizens Town Hall Held in the Summerland Church on Lillie Ave. on August 18, at 5:30 pm. Regular town hall meetings for residents and business members in Summerland.

SBMNH and Sea Center News August 29: Geology of SB Field Course with Sabrina Thomas PhD Sept. 21 – Nov. 9: Birding classes with Rebecca Cloutier Sept. 23 – Nov. 11: Birding Classes with Sophie Cameron

411: www.sbnature.org

Cottage Health Earn National Nursing Honor The emergency departments at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital have received the 2026 Emergency Nurses Association Lantern Award, a national recognition honoring excellence in emergency nursing. The two facilities are among just 126 emergency departments selected for the distinction this year.

The Lantern Award recognizes emergency departments for innovation, evidence-based practices, patient safety, staff engagement, and a commitment to continuous improvement. Cottage Health credits much of its success to empowering frontline staff to identify opportunities, share ideas, and help shape changes that make emergency care more efficient while improving the patient experience.

Cottage Health provides 24/7 emergency care in Santa Barbara, Goleta, and the Santa Ynez Valley. All three emergency departments have also been reaccredited as Geriatric Emergency Departments, while Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital holds verification as a Level I adult and Level II pediatric Trauma Center.

Sutter Health Opens New Dermatology Center Sutter Health has opened its new Hollister Care Center in Goleta, bringing all of its Greater Central Coast dermatologists together under one roof. Located at 5383 Hollister Avenue, the purpose-built facility spans more than 10,000 square feet and includes 21 exam rooms, three treatment rooms, dedicated Mohs surgery spaces and laboratory, plus phototherapy and laser treatment areas.

Housing Authority Celebrates Graduates of Summer Youth Program The Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara recently celebrated 14 local teens who completed its free, four-week Preparación, Bienestar y Cultura (PBC) summer program. Designed for HACSB residents entering grades 9 to 12, the program combines college and career preparation with social-emotional wellness and cultural awareness. Since launching four years ago, PBC has served 65 students.

Throughout the summer, participants took part in college tours, educational field trips, community service projects, and interactive workshops, while earning service hours and receiving backpacks filled with school supplies for the upcoming year. Students also explored social justice, civic engagement, social movements, and family and cultural traditions, encouraging a stronger sense of identity and community connection.

The program is supported by numerous community partners, including CalSOAP, Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation, AHA!, Santa Barbara Public Library, Mental Wellness Center, Pacific Pride Foundation, and The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, which provide mentorship, instruction, and resources to participating students.

Healing Justice at Dos Pueblos HS Healing Justice SB is proud to announce that a new Ethnic Studies class will be coming to Dos Pueblos High School! Per the HJSB press release, “Black Student Alliance students advocated for this class and several other demands at Santa Barbara Unified School District’s June board meeting. Students specifically called out the district’s and high school administrations’ treatment of Black students and lack of transparency or follow-up when reports of anti-Black harassment and bias are reported. The students’ comments ranged from the description of discrimination in the classroom, antiblackness expressed by peers, and what one student called “the district’s systemic

JOURNAL

Montecito Country Mart Lemonade Stand

Executive Editor/CEO | Gwyn Lurie gwyn@montecitojournal.net President/COO | Timothy Lennon Buckley tim@montecitojournal.net Managing Editor | Zach Rosen zach@montecitojournal.net MoJo Contributing Editor | Christopher Matteo Connor Art/Production Director | Trent Watanabe Graphic Design/Layout | Stevie Acuña Administrative Assistant | Jessica Shafran VP, Sales & Marketing | Leanne Wood leanne@montecitojournal.net Account Managers | Sue Brooks, Tanis Nelson, Elizabeth Scott, Joe DeMello, Thomas Mock Features | Jeff Wing Proofreading | Helen Buckley

News Bytes Page 434 434

Contributors | Scott Craig, Chuck Graham, Mark Ashton Hunt, Dalina Michaels, Robert Bernstein, Christina Atchison, Leslie Zemeckis, Sigrid Toye, Elizabeth Stewart, Leana Orsua, Jeffrey Harding, Houghton Hyatt

Montecito Tide Guide Day

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“Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.” – Diane Ackerman

Arts and Entertainment | Steven Libowitz Gossip | Richard Mineards History | Hattie Beresford Humor | Ernie Witham Our Town/Society | Joanne A Calitri Health/Wellness | Ann Brode, Deann Zampelli Travel | Jerry Dunn, Leslie Westbrook Food & Wine | Melissa Petitto, Gabe Saglie, Jamie Knee

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4.7 04:36 PM 1.5 10:41 PM 6.3 4.9 05:26 PM 1.4 11:26 PM 5.7 5.1 06:19 PM 1.3 4.9 6:30 AM 0.7 12:58 PM 5.1 07:17 PM 4.1 6:56 AM 1.4 01:35 PM 5.1 08:25 PM 3.4 7:19 AM 2.1 02:16 PM 5.0 09:53 PM 2.9 7:35 AM 2.6 03:10 PM 4.9 11:31 PM 4.8 4.9

newspaper

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How to reach us: (805) 565-1860; FAX: (805) 969-6654; Montecito Journal, 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Montecito, CA 93108; EMAIL: tim@montecitojournal.net

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Our Town

Two Photography Exhibitions on View Now

by Joanne A Calitri

T

he Channel City Camera Club’s (CCCC) August photography exhibit is on view now through August 31 at the SB Downtown Library during normal business hours.

Putting her PR hat back on for the CCCC is Katrina Carl, former head of marketing and communications at the SB Museum of Art. Katrina reached out to me about this headliner event for the CCCC. Having known her during her SBMA tenure, she has always had a penchant for photography and became a member of the CCCC. Here are the details for our readers so they can stop by and enjoy and support the exhibiting photographers: This print show features 101 prints by 28 Club members, continuing its 18+ year tradition of presenting at least one annual exhibition. Exhibiting photographers are:

Patricia Houghton Clarke’s opening reception for Out of the Blue will be on August 29 Saturday, from 3-6 pm

David Auston, Jim Balsitis, Judith Barat, Dave Basso, Pat Birdsell, Katrina Carl, Spencer Dean, Andrew Flanagin, Bill Hallier, Steven Kaplan, Kent Karnofski, Linda Kavanagh, Cena Kregel, Steven Lewis, Ken McKaba, Dana Morrow, Ed Northup, Ken Pfeiffer, Dennis Power, Zoltan Puskas, Gary Robinson, Chris

on view through November 21.

The related press release states, “Patricia Houghton Clarke’s newest body of work, Out of the Blue, has been one of the experiences I will remember most as curator,” stated Curator Bonnie Rubenstein. “It began with a few images she took in the early morning hours, as the sun started its ascent, but not yet daylight ... It was clear that these photographs were important work. We decided to take a look at the collection to see if an exhibit was taking form. The answer is on the walls at Patricia’s studio. The landscape photographs were taken winter 2025 – spring 2026 during the hours of dusk to dawn.”

Exhibit proceeds benefit Clarke’s newest Facing Ourselves project titled, An

American Girl.

Seaton, Brian Seitz, Jeffrey Sipress, Cynthia Slade, Carrie Topliffe, George Welik, and Ron Williams.

CCCC has been active locally since 1939 and strives to advance the knowledge and skill of photography in the Santa Barbara community. Exhibits are hosted annually, and membership includes field trips and educational presentations by professional photographers. The CCCC welcomes anyone in the community with an interest in photography. The CCCC meets nine months of the year, and meetings are open to the public. Members may submit images for professional critiques during monthly juried exhibitions and participate in group efforts such as this print show. For those seeking to develop their photographic skills, the Club provides education, mentorship, and camaraderie. Annual dues are $60; anyone may become a member at any time.

411: Patricia Houghton Clarke: pcphotog@ gmail.com or (805) 452-7739; Bonnie Rubenstein: bonnie_rubenstein@ yahoo.com or (301) 379-4669

411: http://cccameraclub.com

‘Out of the Blue’ Exhibit at Patricia Clarke Studio

Joanne A Calitri is a professional international photographer and journalist. Contact her at: artraks@ yahoo.com

Patricia Houghton Clarke’s latest works, curated by Bonnie Rubenstein (formerly director of the Silo 118 Studio in the Funk Zone SB), are slated for an exhibition titled, Out of the Blue, with an opening reception on August 29 Saturday, from 3-6 pm, at 410 Palm Avenue, Suite A-18, aka The Palm Lofts Carpinteria. It is

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13

MORE THAN A PLACE TO LIVE, IT’S A PLACE TO COME ALIVE.

The Society Edit

98th Annual SB Women’s Club’s La Merienda Fiesta Event chair Pat Haro, SBWC Executive Director Peggy Welik and Jessica Haro (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

by Joanne A Calitri

Ybarra on flamenco guitar on stage, his performance today – and recognition of his having performed at this event for 25 consecutive years – earning him a standing ovation I arrived early, of course, to organize the important photographs of the 2026 Old Spanish Days El Presidente Colin Hayward with the 2026 Saint Barbara Julie Herrera Foley, a 10th generation Californian; and of course I posed with SB Mayor Randy Rowse. Next, I met with SBWC 2026 President Peggy Welik, the 98th Annual La Merienda Fiesta Event Chair Pat Haro, and Pat’s daughter Jessica Haro who emceed the dance performances. Pat Haro was recognized by Welik for her dedicated three years of heading the event and ensuring all went as planned.

Haro was tasked by her event committee to handle the many aspects of the event, from flowers to table settings, catering, and performances. Event committee members included Cevin Cathell, Valerie Banks (catering chair and cookies), Linda Alderman (fiesta themed fans for attendees), Debbie Aceves, Liz Badillo, Maureen Killian, Julie Morrow, Leanne Saar, Marilyn Ramirez, Pat Hooser,

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Call to book a tour or RSVP for our special event.

ello Loves!

On Wednesday, August 5, the Santa Barbara Women’s Club (SBWC) held its 98th Annual La Merienda Fiesta celebration, on the opening day of Fiesta in Santa Barbara.

This longstanding tradition resides deep in the club’s history and is truly a part of SB history, as well.

Back in the daze, think 1927, a group of very strong headed and strong hearted women came together to purchase what is now known as the SB Women’s Club house and property on Mission Canyon Road. Indeed, their remarkable independent can-do spirit rose to save the property from being partitioned off, and the historic house from demolition. Lest we forget, they marched in the cause of suffrage, as well. When the women formed the now renowned club, they hosted a tea and cookies event for SB newcomers to celebrate Old Spanish Days and to introduce them to the town.

In looking out at the 160 attendees of today’s 98th Annual La Merienda Fiesta, the guests were in such colorful fiesta themed attire it brightened up the entire room. The event started with Tony

Society Edit Page 384 384

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14 Montecito JOURNAL

“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.” – Carl Jung

13 – 20 August 2026

Kathy, Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital

Generations of

For 20 years, Kathy has been a calming presence in the ER – the person patients trust during their most difficult times – and the team member the next generation of caregivers turn to so they can learn from the best.

Imagine what we’ll do next.

13 – 20 August 2026

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Montecito JOURNAL

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@NIGHT

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2026

IT F OR WA R

D

Play Play it forward.

Join us for an evening of celebration, purpose, and play.

Together, we can open doors to brighter futures, giving more children and families the opportunity to learn, explore, and thrive.

Come play with us.

Become a sponsor / buy tickets to champion vibrant local education.

Visit moxi.org/give/moxi-at-night to learn more or contact development@moxi.org.

Special thanks to Co-Chairs Lily Hahn Shining + Belle Hahn and our generous early sponsors.

On Entertainment

Dillon, Disney, and Deranged Characters Tell ‘The Story of War’

by Steven Libowitz

D

illon Yuhasz played the fairly deranged title character in Young Frankenstein last year at SBCC Theatre Group. He was perhaps the sanest of the bunch in the overthe-top comic take on the famous monster movie.

But as out there as that might have been, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Yuhasz’s current show, The Story of War, may sound staid, but the oneman show he created and wrote is anything but. Yuhasz portrays 17 different characters in the show, which gets an encore weekend run August 14-16 at the Community Arts Workshop following its premiere last March. What’s so weird about that? Well, almost all of them are Disney-esque animatronic The old trope of Disney animatronics telling The robots, save for their creator, Wathel Story of War comes to CAW (courtesy photo) Rogers – the inventor of animatronics – who has separated from Disney in order to create “the greatest animatronic show of all time.” The concept of the absurdist comedy is that the characters sequentially share the long history of war, the violent pursuit of power from cave man days to modern times. But it’s all meant to be fun and entertaining.

Got that?

Well, Yuhasz hasn’t completely wrapped his head around how to explain it to others yet himself. But let’s back up a moment.

The Santa Barbara native, who majored in a new area of ‘Theater and Community’ at UCSB, actually honed his on-stage skills performing with the student troupe Improvability, and later appeared in several community theater productions including Circle Bar B Dinner Theatre and Out of the Box prior to the SBCC gig.

But after a lull in work handily offered Yuhasz breathing space while “waiting around for someone to come up with something that I wanted to do,” he decided to take matters into his own hand.

“I suddenly realized that I should just put on something that I would want to see,” he recalled. “It was a huge wake-up call.”

Yuhasz created a pair of one-man shows to perform in his backyard, the first called Faces of Magic that required him to, well, learn how to do magic. All My Actors Are Dead was the follow-up.

“It was an accomplished actor who was putting on a career retrospective, but all of the people who were supposed to be doing the scenes with him died on the way to the theater, so I had to use audience members to come in and play those parts and draw on my improv experience.” Yuhasz explained.

“I like the challenge,” he said. “And I wanted to really challenge myself for this next show because a typical one-man show is really just a monologue, which can be dull.”

A trip to Disney’s EPCOT Center in Florida was just the thing to inspire The Story of War. “They had a show called The Spirit of America, which was a very patriotic show about the founding of America, all told through animatronics. That’s when I got the idea of me being an animatronic (robot) for the entire show. When the idea started to morph into something, I drew on the fact that I have loved history since watching The History Channel as a kid and even taught history for a couple years. It was perfect, because I didn’t even have to do any research.”

The characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney were also part of the inspiration, despite the hokeyness and almost eerie feeling they can evoke. Or maybe because of it.

Entertainment Page 244 244

16 Montecito JOURNAL

“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

13 – 20 August 2026

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The Sporting Life

Eleventh Heaven for Foresters

by Steven Libowitz

O

n August 1, the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to acquire reigning two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers in a blockbuster trade in a bid to increase their championship streak to three years, once again prompting complaints that the SoCal team, which has the highest payroll in history, was ruining baseball. That was also right around the time the Santa Barbara Foresters played their last game of the year in the collegiate summer season.

The Dodgers proceeded to lose six straight games after securing Skubal’s services, proving that money isn’t everything in baseball.

The Foresters? All they did on August 1 was claim their 11th National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series, which brings together most of the best summer baseball leagues (outside of Cape Cod) for a weeklong tournament. Twenty years to date after the Santa Barbara nine won their first of (what is now) 11 NBC World Series,

18

the Foresters not only beat the similarly undefeated six-time champs Alaska Goldpanners, but set records during the world series itself, including the lowest recorded earned run average of any tourney winners in the National Baseball Congress’ 92-year-history.

“This might be the best team I’ve ever coached, outside of the pandemic, when half of the players would have been on Team USA if not for COVID,” said Bill Pintard, the Foresters longtime coach who has led every team that has played in the NBC. “We had a remarkable team that ended up having four or five first round picks in the MLB draft.”

Pintard said the 2026 team was the most talented other than 2020, noting the Foresters dropped only four games in its division, six overall out of 33 games during the summer. At the world series, they dropped none, hurled four shutouts, and only gave up four runs total in six games.

“Our pitching was really deep,” he said. “But we also had tremendous team speed, which we utilized a lot, and very good defense. Mostly what I feel is so much gratitude, not just for their ability,

ANACAPA

STREET

The Foresters claim their 11th National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series (courtesy photo)

Now it’s time to step back for a moment and enjoy the spoils of victory. Pintard said the Foresters are arranging a team celebration for the City of Santa Barbara – home games have been played at SB High’s Eddie Matthews Field for several years – with details still to be ironed out, while the city council will present a proclamation during one of its Tuesday meetings, tentatively slated for August 18.

“I also received a phone call from the County Supervisors’ office who want to honor us, too,” Pintard said.

because the most rewarding part was their work ethic and their willingness to buy into our philosophies of playing the game.”

Still, winning the series wasn’t a foregone conclusion, as Pintard and the ‘Sters had failed to finish first for four years running, prior to 2026. And having two of his starting pitchers and a closer leave the team after being drafted or forced to return to college early added to the questions. Which made setting the ERA record all that much sweeter.

“The guys we still had really stepped up,” Pintard said.

AT

THE

Sporting Life Page 344 344

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18 Montecito JOURNAL

13 – 20 August 2026

13 – 20 August 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

19

Santa Barbara by the Glass A Crown Jewel: Jada Elevates Paso’s Wine Scene, and One Family’s Legacy

by Gabe Saglie

T

he Jada estate is stunning. Its 95 acres are sloped and terraced, tucked into steep hillsides, and the towering oaks dappled across the rolling ridges of the woodland floor, with their twisting branches and dense green canopies, cast constant shadows. It all coalesces to mirror beautifully the dramatic, rugged charm of the Paso Robles wine growing region itself.

If it feels like time has come for your next wine country escape, this is the place for you.

The undulating terrain, of course, which elevates to more than 1,100 feet above sea level, becomes part of the way wine is grown in this pretty pocket of the Willow Creek District AVA. Vines are planted to follow the natural pitch of the hillsides rather than the valley floor, creating a patchwork of micro-exposures where vines catch sunlight at different angles throughout the day. The soil – a subterranean grid

of chalk, limestone and shale – invigorate a root system that spreads out across 55 acres. And maritime winds, driven through the Templeton Gap from the coastline shores just 17 miles away, create a diurnal cadence of highs and lows that galvanize the grapes.

What’s become obvious in the years since the 55 acres of grapes were planted here in 1999 is that these conditions, as a whole, become a perfect habitat for Rhône and Bordeaux varieties: syrah and grenache, as well as cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec and petit verdot. Two specialty red varieties also grow here – graciano and tannat, both rarities in California – with remarkable results each vintage.

Jada was founded by the Messina family, second-generation Sicilian immigrants via New York City. The name, Jada, blends Hebrew and Eastern symbols – “ayden,” or “thankful one,” and jade, a sign of perfection.

When the Riboli family acquired Jada in 2021, it became a bespoke addendum to an impressive global portfolio. The

The Jada vineyard estate (courtesy photo)

County, the estate features a full-time culinary program and a diverse menu of wine-and-food pairings, with vineyard vistas to match. San Simeon wines, all estate-grown from certified sustainable vineyards and made by Winemaker Brian Benson, are a remarkable value: most bottles sell in the upper teens and twenties, with a couple of reserve gems, like the Stormwatch ($70), a high-scoring Bordeaux blend.

Bringing Jada into the fold five years ago represents a deliberate move by the Ribolis to go single-estate and highend, and it’s become the family brand’s crown jewel since. Despite the corporate

family’s viticultural footprint is rooted in the historic San Antonio Winery, founded in 1917, today a thriving destination winery in downtown L.A. And their primary revenue engine is Stella Rosa, the semi-sweet, semi-sparkling Italian line that remains the No. 1 selling imported wine brand in the U.S. To these, the multi-generational enterprise has recently added several premium vineyard holdings, to the tune of more than 1,000 acres across Paso Robles, Monterey and Napa. Of newsy note this summer is San Simeon, which just this week opened the gates to its Paso estate – just a five-minute drive from Jada – to the public. The latest perfect excuse for a culinary escape to SLO

SB by the Glass Page 384 384

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20 Montecito JOURNAL

13 – 20 August 2026

More than 50 live events.

One extraordinary season.

2026-2027

Single Tickets on Sale Now! The Joffrey Ballet, Feb 27 & 28

Punch Brothers, Oct 7

Michael Pollan, Feb 19 In Conversation with Pico Iyer

Bernadette Peters, Oct 15

Akram Khan Company, Oct 6

José González, Sep 26

Kara Swisher, Apr 8

Ballet Folklórico de México , Feb 4

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Feb 24

Circa, Duck Pond, Oct 18

Margaret Atwood, Apr 23 In Conversation with Pico Iyer

Lang Lang, piano, Oct 9

Scott Galloway, Sep 25 Notes on Being a Man

View the full 2026-2027 lineup at ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu 13 – 20 August 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

21

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22 Montecito JOURNAL

by Steven Libowitz

around town (as well as inside of our 2026 Giving List book).

“I’ve always been artistic and creative, but after a life altering event that takes a lot of things away from you, I realized that art and creativity can morph with you,” Fisher said. “For me, it definitely doesn’t look the same as it used to, but it keeps my head afloat when there’s just a lot of challenges going on in life.”

The clubhouse was meant to spread that life-affirming practice, showing how creativity can come in many forms for the organization’s members who comes from all walks of life and are often connected through the foundation’s nonprofit partners.

“The physical and medical side of things is always unpredictable,” Fisher said. “But I believe everyone can relate to the arts. For me, it was a way that I could focus my energy on something positive while the clubhouse became a way of being able to give back. The arts can specifically grow with you no matter what stage of life you’re in.”

Inclusive Arts Clubhouse celebrated its third anniversary last April and – like Fisher herself – it shows no signs of slowing down. Indeed, after being open Wednesdays-Saturdays for its first three years, the clubhouse recently added Tuesdays to the calendar, now covering six days a week. And the foundation’s clubhouse keeps adding new programs as well.

“Some of the programs are our own, ones we created,” said Fisher. “We’ll source the teachers and the programming and everything. But then we also

G

race Fisher’s story has been shared frequently in Santa Barbara and beyond, but it bears repeating as it relates to her remarkable accomplishments and perseverance. The locally-raised Fisher was just about to graduate from high school and very active in a number of areas, including as a classically-trained multi-instrumentalist and dancer. But her goal of creating a career in music performance never even had a chance to materialize as she was suddenly struck with Acute Flaccid Myelitis, a rare, polio-like condition that affects the spinal cord, and in her case caused paralysis from the neck down at the age of 17.

But rather than give in to despair over the devastating diagnosis, Fisher not only continued her pursuit of the arts once she had initially reached stasis with her physical problems, she also turned the situation into an opportunity to help others reach their potential through community and the transformative power of the arts. The Grace Fisher Foundation’s Inclusive Arts Clubhouse was created as an enchanting space that hosts the GFF’s diverse array of programs, providing an inclusive and whimsical yet results-based environment for individuals of all abilities to unleash their creativity, a positive pursuit no matter what the disabilities are.

For Fisher, that meant painstakingly composing music one note at a time with her mouth stick, and also using a brush attached to the device to take up visual arts, with a number of her paintings displayed

“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” – Kay Redfield Jamison

Giving List Page 394 394 13 – 20 August 2026

T H E

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This does not constitute an offer to sell real property. Offers to sell property may be made and accepted only at the sales center. Information is intended to be informative only and does not constitute a warranty with regard to any homes or neighborhoods or any products or services provided by The Chadmar Group or its selected business partners. Home and community information, including pricing, features, terms, availability and amenities, are subject to change and prior sale at any time without notice or obligation. Illustrations, photographs, square footages, floor plans, elevations, features, colors and sizes are approximate for illustration purposes only and will vary from the homes as built.

13 – 20 August 2026

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Montecito JOURNAL

23

Entertainment (Continued from 16 16)) “There is a serious charm to those old animatronics,” he said. “They were technology innovative at the time, but with AI of course, they’re very basic. But I think people are starting to crave things like that, and it’s not just nostalgia. Animatronics are a real tangible thing that’s got movement. It’s trying to be a person but of course it’s clearly not, but we still want to believe that they are. Which means [in the show] I’m a human playing machines who are trying to be human.”

To that end, Yuhasz and his two helpers – his wife Brittany Ragan and neighbor Rebekah Hofberg – are employing shifting, frequent costume changes with other elements, everything handmade with vintage styling.

“The goal with the show is for it to feel like you are on a ride at a theme park, sitting in one of these janky little cars going around and experiencing all the scenes and animatronics,” he said. “We are poking fun, but we are also trying to be as real as possible and pay homage.

Yuhasz also portrays Wathel Rogers, the early Disney imagineer. Rogers operates as a carnival barker trying to sell the audience on his vision and his show because he wasn’t getting enough credit at Disney; which brings extra stakes beyond loosely tracing war over many thousands of years.

“He was the engineer genius behind the scenes, top-notch in the field and coming up with this crazy technology,” Yuhasz says.

Drawing on his improv experience, Yuhasz also breaks the fourth wall in War, calling on the audience for suggestions or even stepping into a character, making the show a different experience every performance and upping the engagement.

“To just do the script straight through every night isn’t challenging enough,” he said. “I need more of a risk factor, because you never know what’s going to happen.”

Yuhasz has also partnered with Characters Unlimited and Zoltar from the movie BIG who will be giving out fortunes and sharing his wisdom after being fed a dollar bill before the show. The pre-show party in the CAW courtyard also features a carnival popcorn cart, a concession booth selling snacks and desserts, plus other animatronic-inspired surprises.

In branching out into a more public venue than his backyard, Yuhasz had to come up with a new name for his company, settling on Not Half Bad Theatre Co. This is not surprising given his sense of humor.

“We also just added a tagline: ‘We take stupid theater very seriously.’”

A bit like, dare we say, Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein.

STATE STREET BAL L ET ANN U AL GAL A SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2026 THE MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST Step back in time, into a world of gothic glamor and dark opulence as State Street Ballet invites you to celebrate 32 years of artistry, community, and imagination.

Scan for sponsorships, tickets, and more information

Visit www.nothalfbad.org

By the Boards: ‘Skylight’ Illuminated The first adult production from the teen-centric Lights Up! Theatre Company’s new offshoot Ghostlight Theatre makes its debut this weekend at Center Stage Theatre. Company Founder Amy Love directs David Hare’s Olivier and Tony Award-winning 1995 play Skylight, his funny, intimate and emotionally charged three-hander acting tour de force that explores a love triangle and much more, with performances set for August 14 & 15.

Spano Spans the Counties Rubicon Theatre Company brings both the old and the new to its Laurel Street space on August 16, when Emmy & L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award-winning actor and longtime RTC member Joe Spano (Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue) stars in a

Lobero LIVE, KTYD and Panda Man present...

Entertainment Page 284 284

Saturday, August 29 Showtime 6:52 PM – Doors Open 6:22 PM Much of this rarely seen filmed concert footage has remained buried … until now.

Join Hale Milgrim (former President/CEO of Capitol Records) and music lover/archivist Richard Salzberg (aka “Music Maniac”) as they uncover and share inspired, spontaneous performances capturing raw, unfiltered artistry from a wide range of musicians. @loberotheatre

LOBERO.ORG / 805.963.0761

24 Montecito JOURNAL

Join Joe Spano on August 16 for a staged reading of the new one-man play by John Romano… and an 80th birthday celebration! (courtesy photo)

“Play is the work of the child.” – Maria Montessori

13 – 20 August 2026

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13 – 20 August 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

25

A Pawsome Page-Turner

C

Pup with a Purpose

H

i Amy! I’m Olof (w/ an “O” per Swedish). I attend most every local rally. The unconditional love of dogs ripples out to everyone. Dogs can unify us all. My protégé Mikaela Schlesinger just moved here from Colorado to take a job at Direct Relief.

Have something to HOWL about? Please send your dog questions to Amy at pets@montecitojournal.net

arpinteria’s canine community has something to bark about. The Carpinteria Dog Owners’ Group (C-DOG) has unleashed Dogs of Monte Vista Park, a new book celebrating the four-legged regulars of the city’s temporary off-leash dog park – and helping make a permanent park a reality.

Featuring 108 full-color photographs of Monte Vista’s most fetching faces, the book is a love letter to the dogs, humans and community spirit behind the campaign for Carpinteria’s first permanent off-leash dog park. Photographer Robin Karlsson captures the park’s furry personalities in all their tail-wagging glory, while broadcaster John Palminteri contributes the Foreword and C-DOG President Van Fleisher the Preface.

The project couldn’t have arrived at a more paw-fect moment. Plans for the permanent park recently received approval from the city’s Architectural Review Board, bringing C-DOG one step closer to its ulti-mutt goal. Proposed features include separate spaces for big and little dogs, drinking fountains, benches, landscaping, and puppy-protective fencing.

There are still a few hoops to jump through, with Planning Commission and City Council approval needed before grant applications can begin. C-DOG has pledged to raise $50,000 toward the project, and the book is already proving a fetching fundraiser, bringing in almost $2,000 in its first two days.

Available in paperback for a $35 donation or hardcover for $45, Dogs of Monte Vista Park is more than a coffee-table treat. It’s a chance to put your best paw forward and help give Carpinteria’s dogs the permanent play ground they deserve.

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26 Montecito JOURNAL

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” – Richard Lingard

13 – 20 August 2026

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13 – 20 August 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

27

Entertainment (Continued from 24 24)) benefit staged reading of King of the Wild Frontier, a new one-man play by Emmynominated writer, producer and playwright John Romano (The Lincoln Lawyer, Hill Street Blues). The reading will be directed by RTC’s longtime Artistic Associate Jenny Sullivan, who will also lead a post-reading conversation with Romano and Spano covering the play, storytelling, artistic lives, and their enduring relationship through the decades. The staged event will be followed by an optional 80th birthday celebration for Spano, with proceeds benefiting the theatrer.

Just announced is that the show will be repeated here two weeks later in Santa Barbara for Ensemble Theatre Company at The New Vic on Sunday afternoon, August 30, with the same threesome on hand. ETC also shared more about King of the Wild Frontier, which is set in a New Jersey country club in the 1960s and described as a funny, suspenseful and deeply moving meditation on family, faith, organized crime and the moral choices that shape a life. A Q&A-style discussion of the play, its development, and the stories behind the work follow the performance; but there will be no special birthday party for Spano.

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It was a summer of truly spectacular performances across chamber concerts, recitals, orchestral evenings and more. That’s to be expected every summer at the Music Academy. There were also several special programs in the “American Mosaic” season, clearly meant to elevate our experiences of democracy and contemplation of the perhaps dwindling American Dream for many in such challenging times.

But what I didn’t expect was to be moved to overflowing emotions and actual tears at the West Coast premiere of Christopher Cerrone’s “The Only Way is Through” in Anne’s Garden on the Miraflores campus. I can’t quite explain what got me so choked up experiencing the minimalist meditation, composed largely of the Sing! Children’s Chorus intoning almost exclusively the words in the title, with literally dozens of percussion instruments and a few harmonicas providing the texture. The young vocalists almost endlessly repeated the word “through” propelled by the vastly different sounds emitting from the four percussion fellows in each corner of the garden.

Maybe it was sitting front and center, able to discern the intricacies of the slowly albeit ever-evolving elements. More likely some unresolved issues from my past (and present?) in the areas of both surrendering and persevering, which Cerrone cited as his inspiration for the piece via the challenges of his first year of fatherhood. But as the piece washed over me in the gorgeous setting, I had to bite my lip from bursting out in tears during the performances – especially when the young singers filed out for a few minutes to hug and/or sit with their parents.

Now, more than ever, I know what they mean when they say music is much more than just a sensory experience. Thank you, Chris Cerrone, Sing! Vocalists, and MAW…

Mariposa Beckons With the Summer Festival behind us, the Mariposa Concert Series again takes center stage at Hahn Hall. The four-concert series features at least one MAW alum in each performance, starting with an October 8 date with violist Richard O’Neill (‘98, ‘99)

Entertainment Page 394 394

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Wake up to a good cup of news!

Thank you, Music Academy, for another wonderful Summer Festival (photo by Phil Channing)

“Almost all creativity involves purposeful play.” – Abraham Maslow

13 – 20 August 2026

13 – 20 August 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

29

Your Westmont

Professor Publishes Book of Short Plays

by Scott Craig

A

longtime Westmont theater professor helped create a process encouraging college students to develop short plays. In the past 13 years, the Hive has yielded 120 plays by MFA playwrights from various universities, providing eclectic and diverse material for Westmont’s annual Fringe Festival.

Mitchell Thomas, who has taught acting, voice, and movement for more than two decades, has now edited a landmark volume featuring 20 of these works, The Future is Short. (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026).

“The plays feel contemporary, alive and accessible to a new generation,” Thomas says. “I hope this collection makes it easier for theater students and their teachers to discover eclectic, diverse, and exciting new plays for reading and performance, as well as inspire them to create and develop their own generative work and voices.”

Hundreds of students and staff welcomed the team to Miracle and Victory Children’s Center in Kibera (courtesy photo)

of them loving others really well. Sometimes it looked like sitting with someone, playing, or extending a hand to hold.”

The Warriors engaged in daily meal programs, home visits, school outreach, and soccer instruction. While the schedule brought daily emotional highs and lows, Matthias notes that the athletes maintained a consistent focus on compassion.

For player Mia Stuart (’27), a standout highlight occurred at the Miracle and Victory Children’s Center in Kibera.

Hundreds of students and staff greeted the team with songs and dances before the group shared lunch and taught dances.

“There was so much laughter and joy,” Stuart says.

Visiting homes in the Kibera slums allowed players to hear residents’ stories firsthand and witness everyday economic challenges. The experience provided student-athletes with a renewed perspective on global communities and personal opportunities.

Beyond service work, the trip strengthened internal team bonds. Nightly gatherings provided a dedicated space for players to debrief, process emotional moments, and discuss shared experiences.

Matthias notes that players consistently stepped up to lead devotions, organize clinics, and coordinate food preparation.

Although the team returned to Santa Barbara, the profound impact of the journey continues to shape players and coaches, reinforcing the lasting value of global connection, empathy and com munity service.

Mitchell Thomas (photo by Chris Orwig)

During a recent sabbatical, Thomas narrowed the number of scripts and submitted them to publishers. “This anthology specifically focuses on high school and college actors and features a delightful mix of comedic, dramatic, thrilling, political, silly, coming-of-age, and just plain strange plays,” he says.

Reconnecting with playwrights from the last 13 years proved to be rewarding for Thomas. “The anthology seeks to amplify the writers and their work – sharing some of this wonderful material with other theater programs and students across the world,” he says. “It’s also allowed me to reflect on a generation of Westmont theater students and the remarkable contributions they’ve made to contemporary theater in our annual Fringe festival.”

Westmont celebrates the publication in October by featuring six plays from The Future is Short, staged across a variety of locations in and around the theater spaces at Westmont. “The evening will highlight the past, present and future of Westmont theater arts and our ongoing commitment to developing bold new work,” Thomas says.

Players say the greatest impact of the trip was the relationships they formed (courtesy photo)

Warriors Bring Heart, Soccer to Kenya Westmont women’s soccer players returned home from a service trip to Kenya with memories extending far beyond soccer clinics and athletic drills. Through a partnership with Sports Outreach International, the team spent two weeks serving children and families in Nairobi and Kibera, building international relationships and engaging in community outreach.

For head coach Lauren Matthias (’16), the most rewarding aspect centered on watching her players intentionally connect with others.

“What made me proudest was the way they loved others,” Matthias says. “I got to see these sweet little glimpses and moments

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31

Montecito Health Coach Raising the Bar: Why this local fitness studio has everyone shaking

with warmup stretches before we moved into a series of exercises. After about 15 minutes, we moved to the barre (the term for the handrail used in ballet) where we began another series of moves focusing more on the lower body. Don’t let the “barre” fool you; these classes don’t require any prior dance experience or the suppleness of a feline in Cirque du Soleil. While it isn’t an intensive cardio experience, this 45-minute class left me feeling truly stretched, worked, and energized, walking a bit taller as I made my way to my car.

by Deann Zampelli

I

n the last few years, it has become increasingly more important to me to find workouts that are sustainable as I am getting older. Swimming, weight training, walking and yoga continue to be leading contenders, but I felt that something was missing from my repertoire. Something fun.

Like always, I started doing some research and that is when I found The Bar Method on Anacapa.

As with any new class, I searched for video snippets to see what I was getting into. The workouts looked engaging and accessible but what was with the shaking legs? They actually bragged about it. They looked like my 10-year-old Golden Retriever when I run out of his glucosamine supplement. But this kind of shaking is good, I was told. It is what the teachers and students alike strive for. According to The Bar Method themselves, “The shake we all love to hate starts deep in the muscle fibers and is a result of the type of exercises and challenges we use in The Bar Method. In most physical activities, your muscles are able to turn on and off as they contract and relax through a cycle of movement; however, in The Bar Method we challenge the muscle endurance by holding sustained contractions for longer periods of time before coming out to change positions or stretch. This sustained stress causes the muscle to burn through its reserves of fuel to the point of exhaustion. Once that local fuel store is almost depleted, the muscle starts relaxing and contracting at a high rate of speed to conserve the remaining energy and help you remain in positions for those last 20 or 30 counts.”

Honestly, none of that makes sense until you experience it firsthand.

I decided to jump right in so I signed up for a class and I was immediately hooked. The atmosphere is unlike any class I have ever taken. Every instructor is open, kind, friendly, and very knowledgeable. And the students it attracts were as much a part of the appeal for me as the class itself. Everyone I spoke to was very warm, welcoming and represented a broad age span ranging from 17-80. As a newbie, I was a bit intimidated going in but that was dispelled the minute I picked up my three-pound weights (don’t judge). The instructions are easy to follow. Unlike yoga, when you totally miss or fall a little behind on how to do a particular exercise in The Bar Method, the move isn’t over before you can get the hang of it. The idea behind Bar is that the sheer focus and repetition of these tiny moves is what leads to the changes in our bodies.

We started in the mirror lined studio, each of us armed with light weights in our hands and grip socks on our feet (mine have dogs on them). The instructor began

HELP THEM START THE SCHOOL YEAR

I left wanting to know more about The BM (no, not that kind), so I reached out to the owner of the Santa Barbara studio, Jenna Shahak.

Jenna started doing bar in 2011 after realizing that sitting at her desk job for eight hour stretches at a time was beginning to take its toll on her body. “My posture was compromised, my energy level was consistently low, and I had random aches and pains. I had never enjoyed ‘gym life’ as I found it difficult to stay motivated and would often feel bored. A friend of mine was training to become a Bar Method instructor and invited me to one of her classes. I loved the attention to detail, the small movements, the targeting of various muscle groups. I was hooked from day one! As someone with a chronic knee injury, I also found that the Bar Method was not only safe, but extremely effective in changing my body-and my mindset.”

With so many studios here in town, I asked her what sets this apart from other workouts, “The Bar Method is a sustainable workout for the long-term and designed to promote longevity, no matter what stage you’re in on your fitness journey. The Bar Method exercises are also developed with input from physical therapists, ensuring that there are always modifications available. Results go beyond the physical to mental conditioning as well. Just ask our instructor Amy, a professional physical therapist, or our instructor Kara, a professional psychotherapist! I also think it’s important to highlight that The Bar Method is such a great complement to so many other workouts – because Bar Method works consistently on your stabilizer muscles, improving balance, reaction time, posture and flexibility, it pairs well with other activities like running, hiking, surfing, martial arts, pickleball, and more. Our exercises build functional strength for everyday activities like walking on the beach, reaching into cabinets overhead, and lifting heavy objects safely outside the studio.”

Health and humor in the MJ. Shahak is an active participant in National Board Certified Health her business. You will often find her and Wellness Coach trained at in the studio greeting customers by Duke Integrative Medicine, name, offering community classes or Deann Zampelli owns supporting local organizations like Montecito Coaching & Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation. Her Nutrition. She also enthusiasm is contagious and is one has a Masters in Clinical of the many reasons it made a believer Psychology and has been out of me. a resident of Montecito So what are you waiting for? Sidle up

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Sporting Life (Continued from 18 18)) Coast Open, which gets going this Friday, August 14, and continues through Sunday, August 30. Games are played every Friday at 1 pm (just polo, no commentators, on an outer field) and 4 pm (part of the new happy hour format with a live play-by-play announced, but still casual), and Sundays at 3 pm, when the stands are packed and lots of folks are there to be seen as much as watch polo.

But the combination of speed and precision on the huge field, which is about 10 times the size of a football gridiron (and that’s just talking about the horses, teams of thoroughbreds who are bred and raised for their ability to play the game) makes the sport spectacular. The players themselves have a lot of wiles, wit and, sometimes, brawn about how they go about their business. But even if you don’t have any idea about the rules that result in fouls – which can be as complicated as calls in the World Cup, even with polo’s version of VAR – a day at the SBPRC is always a blast.

The ‘Sters annual benefit golf tournament takes place in November, and the annual Hall of Fame induction dinner is set for February a week before the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Pintard is already thinking about putting together another championship team for next summer.

“We already got a phone call from one of the college coaches about their players today,” he said. “It’s not even September.”

Visit www.santabarbaraforesters.org.

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Time was that the very venerable Santa Barbara Polo Club fielded 20-goal teams that competed in high-goal season, meaning the total handicap (a high number is better) could not exceed a total 20-goal rating among the four players. That’s what allowed the then-consensus best player in the world Alberto Cambiaso to grace us with his truly grand game several years back.

Now the limit is 16 goals, seemingly a 20-percent cut back, but the truth is, nearly all of the seven teams competing in Carpinteria this summer actually have players who add up to 17 goals due to a recent rule that allows for a one-goal rating bonus if the team sports an American player. (Hey, America first, right?) Either way, the action has been spectacular this summer, with many close games and several that have been decided in the final minutes, or even in overtime.

That includes last weekend’s final of the Silver Cup, the penultimate tournament of the season and one of the most prestigious on the polo calendar.

Now comes the most coveted tourney played in Santa Barbara, the Pacific

Visit www.sbpolo.com

Paddle Raise in Montecito They’ll be serving up some fun at the 2nd Annual Kenny Loggins “Pickleball in the Danger Zone” tournament, a massive benefit weekend bash that supports local nonprofit Unity Shoppe. The high-energy weekend features competitions in men’s, women’s and mixed doubles, with age brackets ranging from ages 15 to over 65, all held over three days from September 11-13. The highlight for observers is the Pro/Celebrity Tournament on Saturday, where top pickleball pros and familiar faces take to the Muni courts for serious play and serious fun.

The first 300 players to register will receive a JOOLA paddle, while each participant will also receive a gift bag filled with fun and useful items to enhance the experience. Other activities include fresh tacos from The Taco Guy, groovy beats from ubiquitous Santa Barbara DJ Darla Bea, and a vibrant vendor village featuring top pickleball gear, apparel,

shoes, sunglasses and more.

Visit https://tinyurl.com/Unity-LogginsPickleball-26

Open Saturday 8/15 & Sunday 8/16 12PM - 4PM Hosted by Sheela Hunt 805.698.3767

Steven Libowitz has covered a plethora of topics for the Journal since 1997, and now leads our extensive arts and entertainment coverage

PATRICIA GRIFFIN Santa Barbara Native Selling Dream Homes for Over 40 Years 805.705.5133 | patricia@villagesite.com PatriciaGriffin.com | DRE 00837659 All information provided is deemed reliable, but has not been verified and we do not guarantee it. We recommend that buyers make their own inquiries.

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Get ready for the Pacific Coast Open at the polo fields (photo by David Lominska)

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Sunflower Stars

Hope Shines at the Sea Center

Another star of the tank

A camera-shy sunflower star

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36 Montecito JOURNAL

Maxwell Rudelic and Dylan Otte at the Sea Center

Director Reuven Bank, “they switched from passively grazing on drift kelp to decimating vast swaths of kelp forest.”

Unfortunately, the bacteria that caused the star-killing outbreak is still present today.

The Sunflower Star Laboratory (SSL), located in Moss Landing, California, at the edge of Monterey Bay, raises these colorful animals in their laboratory in collaboration with nationwide partnerships. The mission of SSL, a nonprofit organization, is to bring the stars back from the brink of extinction for eventual reintegration into the ecosystem. In an effort that parallels the

K LUC

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magine looking down into a tide pool and discovering a creature that seems to have come from another universe with dozens of arms and hundreds of “feet” – a creature that moves with surprising speed across the sea floor. This resident of the diverse world beneath the waves, known as the sunflower star, is one of the ocean’s most extraordinary animals. Once blanketing the sea floor in glorious shades of pink, purple, orange and gold, the sunflower star is presently fighting for survival! What happened to these spectacular creatures? And what efforts are underway to return them to their natural habitat?

What could be a better place to discover the answers than the Sea Center on Stearns Wharf and the new home of two thriving and active sunflower stars!

Invited to a personal tour by Maxwell Rudelic, senior aquarist and collections

manager, and Dylan Otte, naturalist and volunteer manager – how’s that for service? – I quickly learned why these colorful out-of-this-world animals have been functionally extinct: A 2013 outbreak of a sea star wasting disease killed five billion in the wild – plus those in aquariums in unsterilized seawater. This tragic ecological event altered the entire marine environment up and down the western coastline of North America.

Sunflower stars, known to grow as large as almost four feet, dined on a menu of sea urchins, a species of voracious kelp grazers. With the sunflower stars’ disappearance, the urchins devastated much of the kelp forests, home to a host of diverse marine life. With the dwindling of kelp, so essential to a healthy underwater environment – biological, cultural, and economic ecosystems were thrown out of balance. “When the sea urchins stopped smelling sunflower stars nearby,” explains Sunflower Star Laboratory Executive

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successful White Abalone Restoration Consortium, the Sea Center – a member of the Consortium since 2006 – hopes to play a similar role in educating the public about sunflower stars here in Santa Barbara. In collaboration with the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla, California, where the new residents were raised from fertilized eggs and later transported, to the Sea Center where I, along with a host of fascinated viewers, were able to see them.

My guides directed me to the stars in the darkened environment of the mezzanine floor of the museum. How beautiful they were, looking much like their botanical namesake. I stood awestruck for a time, just watching. Anxious as I was to get a picture, it soon became obvious that the sunflower star considered me (and my cell phone) an invasion of privacy and slid to the side. My guide, Dylan Otte, laughingly noted, “They have their own personalities, as all creatures do, and these guys have only been here since June 15th so they’re just getting used to all the attention!” I still got pictures of the sibling stars (even as they dined) thanks to my guides.

What a wonderful visit that was! And I encourage you to visit these spectacular animals and support the ongoing efforts to

return them to their natural habitat.

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Montecito JOURNAL

37

Society Edit (Continued from 14 14)) Linda Alderman, and Publicity Chair Cindy Gracey.

Welik provided the welcoming address and announced that the SBWC has begun preparing for its centennial. She introduced Old Spanish Days El Presidente 2026, Colin Hayward, whose remarks included, “Viva la Fiesta! My theme is ‘Fiesta is Forever,’ meaning everyone should enjoy Fiesta.

This our 103rd year.”

Hayward was followed by Rowse who added, “Thanks for inviting me.

Everything I come to at the SBWC is always packed so I am grateful to be here. We started Fiesta to the largest crowds we’ve had in years. And Erin Graffy Children’s Strolling Chorus tours around and sings traditional songs throughout Fiesta to honor the late Erin Graffy de Garcia.”

Other dignitaries attending were past El Presidentes Maria Cabrera with Francisco Cabrera, and Roger Aceves with Debbie Aceves. Also attending was City Council person Eric Freedman.

SB by the Glass (Continued from 20 20))

Old Spanish Days El Presidente Colin Hayward, Saint Barbara Julia Herrera Foley, and SB Mayor Randy Rowse (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

Following lunch there were performances by the Spirit of Fiesta Jenna Ramirez, the Junior Spirit of Fiesta Penelope Hernandez. Catering was done by Chef 805 Ray Swanson.

Keep your Viva! Till next week loves!

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Curator’s Choice

T

his elegant group of insects is a detail from an engraving by George Wolfgang Knorr from the 1771 book Deliciae Naturae Selectae, coauthored with Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller.

Knorr’s illustrations are based on specimens found in European cabinets of curiosity and other Dutch and German natural history collections of his era. In this view, a praying mantis of some sort is flanked by two views of what appears to be a jewel beetle in the genus Chrysochroa, from southeast Asia. The book’s text in Dutch makes use of obscure common names no longer in use, so the identity of the small green insect is mysterious. The rare book was given to the Library at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History by the Irene McCulloch Foundation. The Museum currently has two exhibits featuring winged wonders – The Collectors: A Life in Lepidoptera in Maximus Gallery and Butterflies Alive! in the Sprague Butterfly Pavilion (both through September 7).

Engraving from the 1771 book Deliciae Naturae Selectae

38 Montecito JOURNAL

The Riboli family acquired Jada in 2021 (courtesy photo)

The 2021 Hell’s Kitchen ($72) is a silky syrah-graciano-grenache blend that critic Jeb Dunnuck scored 98 points; it has dark red fruit notes and a long finish. And The 2022 Jersey Girl ($72), a 95-pointer from Dunnuck, is a syrah-leading blend that’s rich and dark, rounded and refined.

A friend tasting along suggests “this would go great with a paté, or some foie gras!”

The 2021 SawBones ($82) is a nearly 50-50 cabernet-syrah, and is both intense and elegant. The name’s a nod to founder Jack Messina’s original career as a cardiothoracic surgeon.

And the 2021 “Passing By” Cabernet Sauvignon ($92) is gritty and expressive.

Some wines, like a 2021 Tannat ($82) and a 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon ($120), fall under Jada’s WCS category, or Wine Connoisseurs Series; limited-production specialty bottlings pulled from barrels, and showcasing exceptional intensity and expression.

And just launched – Jada’s new ultra-luxury wine line, Empire. With a name that’s another NYC nod, and a label inspired by Gotham’s Art Deco architecture, the wines were launched just this spring and are only produced in exceptional vintages. The Grand Vin, a Bordeaux blend, is aromatic, extracted and textured; there’s also a Syrah ($130) and a Cabernet Sauvignon ($150).

And one last note: Jada’s also home to an orchard with seven Italian olive varieties that are only poured at the Paso property; the estate extra virgin olive oil is featured in their charcuterie options and sells for $30 for a 375ml bottle.

ownership change, and intent on building out Jada’s small lot focus and boutique cachet, the Messina family’s General Manager, Josh Messina, remains at the helm. And Nate Hall, who joined Jada as assistant winemaker in 2017, remains in the cellar; the Riboli family promoted him to head winemaker in 2024.

I joined Nate recently for an introductory tasting of the Jada portfolio. We considered sipping at the Tree House, perched on a hillside, with an indoor tasting bar, covered outdoor deck, and sweeping views. But we ambled toward the Oak Lounge instead, a breezy, relaxed outdoor space under the oaks, with private table seating and, for coziness’ sake, firepits and ambient lighting.

Nate’s journey to the winery was atypical. The ‘06 Cal Poly SLO grad earned his bachelor’s in ecology and biology, and he went on to teach marine biology at his alma mater. He pivoted to wine in 2013 – at Sextant, another Paso powerhouse – and joined Jada four years later.

To hear Nate speak about winemaking, though, is to gain insight into a balanced and comprehensive approach – a method informed by a broad-view understanding about connectivity in the natural world.

The caliber of the grape on the vine is directly linked to the health and vigor of the environment around it. Nate was a leading force, in fact, behind eco-friendly initiatives that earned Jada sustainable certification from the California Sustainable Winegrowers Alliance in 2022, and full organic certification the following year.

Nate tells me his goal is to make wines that are “finessed yet approachable,” and “restrained yet alive.”

The 2025 “1149” Rosé ($38) is aromatic, zingy and fresh; a nod to the estate’s pinnacle elevation of 1,149 feet, it’s all-grenache.

The 2024 Lotus Eaters Sauvignon Blanc ($65) is one of only two Jada wines sourced off-estate; these grapes come from acclaimed Vogelzang Vineyard in Santa Barbara’s Happy Canyon AVA, and the wine is vivacious and clean.

The red wine lineup includes nods to the founding Messina family’s Big Apple roots.

“Play is the exultation of the possible.” – Martin Buber

Find out more and schedule your visit at jadavineyard.com

Gabe Saglie has been covering the Santa Barbara wine and food scene for more than 20 years through TV, radio and print. He’s founder of Traveling Pants Media, a travel content production company, and is a leading expert on consumer lifestyle trends.

13 – 20 August 2026

Giving List (Continued from 22 22)) partner with groups like the Down Syndrome Association, who put on a couple different classes, and the spinal cord injury support group through Cottage Rehab, who do a support group each month.”

Recently, the foundation also started offering music therapy programs both at the Inclusive Arts Clubhouse and in local schools, introducing the musically focused approach to Santa Barbara. The programs let participants experience the healing benefits of music, which include reducing stress, improving communication, enhancing motor skills, and fostering emotional well-being – all while increasing connection and joy through making music together. Meghan Downing, who is still in her teens, provides the service.

“She’ll do classes for anyone afflicted with any type of paralysis,” Fisher said.

“And also for caregivers, who often don’t get a lot of support.”

Also introduced relatively recently are some other offsite programs, including Hidden Haven satellite locations in libraries as well as Santa Barbara High’s Wellness Center, while Fisher also leads field trips where children can learn to experience just a moment of what Fisher does by painting with their mouths, which helps to build empathy.

Entertainment (Continued from 28 28)) Fisher is often the impetus for new programs to emerge.

“A lot of times I’ll have the general idea and then it’s up to the people around me to make them happen, of course,” she said. “They’ve been helping to get me out in the community more through the schools and field trips. The sensory rooms have been really fun to curate. It’s been a fun journey.”

Next up is another more substantial growth project – finding a new location as the future of La Cumbre Plaza, which houses the 3,500 square foot Inclusive Arts Clubhouse, is very much up in the air.

“We are looking for a building, a permanent location that we could move into to have more room as well as provide sustainability,” Fisher said.

“We’ll be launching a capital campaign probably in the fall.”

Another way to connect to Fisher and support the foundation is through the nonprofit’s annual Winter Music Showcase at the Granada each December, where a number of community groups perform, all of the funds going to the foundation. Inclusivity

and inspiration are the ideas.

Visit www.GraceFisherFoundation.org

and pianist-composer August Baik (‘25). The pair will play a deeply personal program about heritage, memory and the music that lives beneath the surface, including Baik’s new work that draws on Korean folk songs as well as Britten’s “Lachrymae” and Rzewski’s folk song transformation “Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues.”

November 10 brings cellist and filmmaker Nicholas Canellakis (‘01) and pianist-composer Michael Stephen Brown in a program dubbed “Humor & Harmony.” The January 14 concert teams the Maple Quartet, the Music Academy’s 2026 Emerging Artists String Quartet, with sisters/alums Julie and Rebecca Albers with the program including a world premiere by Maple violist John Crowley, before the series concludes February 12 with an unusual evening titled “Not Too Sweet” featuring flutist Annie Wu (‘15, ‘16) and pianist Markus Kaitila and boasting both music and chocolate pairings.

Meanwhile, there’s MAW’s big annual Music Note gala on August 14, held this year at Bella Vista Estate in Summerland and featuring an intimate performance by Broadway soprano legend Audra McDonald. She’ll be joined by a jazz trio and a special guest appearance by the Music Academy’s Sing! children’s choir for a program drawing on the Great American Songbook. Proceeds support the Academy’s full scholarship program for every fellow as well as expanding access to music education throughout our community. While tickets are sold out, a waiting list is available.

Then it’s just four short months before the 80th Summer Music Festival & School launches June 14.

Visit https://musicacademy.org

Focus on Film: SBIFF on Sale The Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s annual mid-summer sale takes a full 25 percent off the top for all passes and packages for the 2027 festival, which takes place February 3-13. Prices range from $169 for the Intro Package – which includes two tickets to both the opening and closing night films and two four-film MiniPaks during the festival run – up to $2,063 for a Platinum Pass, which offers priority admission to all screenings, panel discussions, and tribute events, as well as

the daily happy hours plus some SBIFF shwag. The sale ends August 16.

Visit www.sbiff.org

J O I N U S F O R A N I N AU G U R A L

I N V I TAT I O N A L CONCOURS HONORING EXCEPTIONAL AUTOMOBILES C E L E B R AT I N G T I M E L E S S D E S I G N NOVEMBER 7-8, 2026 S A N TA B A R B A R A P O L O & R A C Q U E T C L U B T I C K E T S & S P O N S O R S H I P S N O W AVA I L A B L E L R @ S B I N V I TAT I O N A L . O R G | S B I N V I TAT I O N A L . O R G 13 – 20 August 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

39

Stories Matter

‘The Witches of Cambridge’

soon revealed. Will Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon be able to save the other young girls Henry sets his eyes on? The story is about female friendships, patriarchy, and the vengeance of wives who had no say in whether they wanted to marry the wretched, sick old king. This feminist retelling had me rooting for Anne and Catherine and the four wives that followed. Again, a few too many points of view, but worth the read.

Booked Solid for Summer

by Leslie Zemeckis

T

he Witches of Cambridge from Alice Hoffman is everything you want and expect from the writer of “The Practical Magic” series.

The story mixes magic and longing as two friends attending Radcliff navigate their burgeoning power in a buttoned down 1950s Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ava, a beautiful redhead who has always felt she didn’t belong, and Lauren, from a wealthy family and filled with anger, are invited to join an organization of witches.

What follows is a story about friendship, love, and betrayal set against the shadow of the McCarthy-era “witch hunts,” the more distant memory of the Salem witch trials, and the unsettling ways history seems doomed to repeat itself.

(the novel’s protagonist) comes from a line of female ancestors who have a strong tie to water. Two of her relatives “drown,” only to remerge later with spectacular careers in vaudeville. There are grifters and performers, recluses and keepers of many secrets. It’s witty, heartfelt, and unique.

I’ve heard it compared to Geek Love (a personal favorite from author Katherine Dunn, who was kind enough to endorse my sideshow film Bound by Flesh) which I think is a big sideshow stretch of the imagination.

This feels more intimate and grounded.

At its heart is a story about women in trouble and the complicated ways in which they survive.

‘Hot Girl Murder Club’

‘The Responsible Party’

‘The Great Wherever’

variety of themes and characters, from a Civil War heroine to a drunken flight attendant, has written another compelling drama with a complicated protagonist. The Amateur is – as I suspected and confirmed by asking – his most personal to date, and concerns a damaged girl possessed of such hope until a terrible accident changes everything for her, her family, and the small Westchester community she lives in. It is 1978 and Mira is a young tennis protégé, having a secret fling with an older man when one fateful day on the golf course forever marks her. What follows is a gripping tale of loss that becomes a courtroom drama with a twist.

S

hannon Sanders The Great Wherever begins with a death. We don’t know why our narrator died at such a young age, but she becomes the storyteller of her family history, told from Wherever she is. Along with other dead relatives who are relentless gossips, our narrator follows the hapless Aubrey Lamb, a young woman struggling after a breakup and barely able to pay rent, despite numerous jobs. When Aubrey discovers she is part inheritor to a sprawling piece of land in Tennessee, she meets the other heirs who must decide to keep the land in the family or sell. This one caught me from the beginning; a unique voice, a magical story. A bunch of gossiping dead relatives spy on Aubrey as she navigates cousins who want to keep the land and those that want to sell. Sanders has written an emotional epic of family and land. It is funny and heartbreaking and absolutely a must-read for your final

weeks of summer.

‘Henry Tudor Must Die’

A

C

laire Carusillo makes a spectacular debut with her novel The Responsible Party. Honestly, it took several dozens of pages to hook into her quirky prose, and I hope you will stick with it too, because the payoff is great.

It is a story – and a style – that will ask much of your concentration. Claire

40 Montecito JOURNAL

pop singer who organizes a group of revenge killers? It sounds fantastical, but Ashley Winstead makes it work in her sizzling summer read, Hot Girl Murder Club. The story is a fun romp through a jungle of predatory men in Hollywood and the women seeking justice. A series of mysterious deaths links pop singer Scout Sage, and her close-knit group of gals with a detective secretly investigating her sister’s disappearance years ago. The novel features a dual timeline, and what has become the trend in fiction; an abundance – I think an overabundance – of shifting points of view, with more characters weighing in as the complicated story unfolds. Still, I think readers will eat this one up.

C

‘The Amateur’ hris Bohjalian, a prolific writer who continues to explore a wide

Leslie Zemeckis is an awardwinning documentarian, bestselling author, and actor. The creator of “Stories Matter,” co-sponsored by SBIFF, and the co-founder of the Santa Barbara Literary Festival.

H

enry Tudor Must Die by Jillian Laine is a page-turning hoot of a wish-it-had-happened story. When King Henry’s first and second wives team up to stop his head-slashing ways, magic, mystery, and court intrigue are

“A little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest men.” – Roald Dahl

13 – 20 August 2026

Elizabeth’s Appraisals Symphonion Music Box

by Elizabeth Stewart

LB

has an 1898-1902 Symphonion crank-operated tabletop music box whose spinning, perforated 7 ½-inch steel discs play on a double-comb movement patented in Leipzig

by Symphonion Musikwerke. The photograph shows a bound album beneath the player which originally contained twelve discs. It is the music played by these discs which tells the story of an era – a sentimental era of marches, waltzes, traditional hymns, and more!

Researching the titles of these discs, I find German folk songs, operatic melodies, and – astoundingly – American ragtime. What drove the manufacturer of this Leipzig music box to commercially market uniquely American ragtime, popularized by Black musicians centered in St. Louis and Missouri?

I was brought up by two parents with roots in Germany and could speak German as I learned English. I can still read the Gothic German script stamped upon these discs. My eyes widened when I read titles such as “I’se Gwine Back to Dixie,” “Plantation Song,” “Little Alabama Coon Dog,” “Oh Honey, My Honey,” “It’s a Great Big Shame,” “Smokey Joe’s Cakewalk,” and “Where Sweet Magnolias Bloom” (the latter two identified by ragtime scholars at the Library of Congress as dance music), alongside discs entitled “Von Herzen zu Herzen” (“From My Heart to Your Heart”) and “Klosterglocken” (“The Monastery Bells”).

Ragtime’s syncopated rhythms bound together with Strauss waltzes? Yes – because by the end of the nineteenth century ragtime had swept both Europe and America as a commercial sensation. The craze began in the mid-1890s with the booming market for ragtime sheet music, which in turn fueled sales of upright pianos. At first, ragtime was viewed with suspicion by many older Americans while enthusiastically embraced by younger audiences in both Europe and the United States.

These tabletop music boxes sold for about $12 in 1900. In St. Louis, where three generations of my family were raised, a middle-class salary ranged from roughly $600 to $1,200 per year, while working-class families – our forebears were police officers – earned about $400 to $600. A music box was truly the jewel of the parlor.

Some of the discs in LB’s album contain ragtime melodies with the characteristic “ragged” or broken melody line played over an insistent rhythmic 13 – 20 August 2026

The mechanical music box patented in Leipzig by Symphonion Musikwerke

bass. At the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair bands, minstrel shows, cabarets, and popular performers introduced millions of visitors to what became known as the Missouri ragtime style, with its staggered foot-thumping beat. Nearly 27 million people attended the exposition.

When played today, these angelic-sounding steel discs still capture the energy of ragtime’s irresistible propulsion in 2/4 time, with a looseness founded on its “short-long-short” feel; I think of it as a limping rhythm. That swing became immensely popular in the high-stepping Cakewalk, often the finale of a minstrel show. Not every American paterfamilias wanted to see his daughters dancing to such rhythms!

Young Americans danced in their parlors when their parents were safely out of the house.

The Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room reports that music boxes became vehicles through which families discovered music as diverse as German Lieder and Missouri ragtime.

Once the box and discs had been purchased, additional discs could be ordered – although at thirty cents each in an era when a loaf of bread cost a cent, they were hardly inexpensive. The era delighted in attaching “time” to musical

forms: Waltz Time, March Time – and, of course, Rag Time – underscoring a rhythmic beat as the marker of musical time; a signature whose heirs include jazz and eventually rock.

Conservative early 20th century listeners associated ragtime with saloons, brothels, minstrel shows, and the bustling “Gateway to the West,” St. Louis, where north-south river commerce fostered an extraordinary cultural melting pot. My St. Louis grandmother, who lived under Bevo Mill, regaled me with stories of shows along the levee.

Some of America’s greatest ragtime composers emerged there, bringing with them a new rhythmic language that soon crossed the Atlantic. Listening to the delicate tinkling of LB’s music box today, it takes some imagination to hear the thumping syncopation of a ragtime piano. The Leipzig engineers captured its spirit on a spinning steel disc.

Because LB’s Symphonion is a mechanical device; the steel discs are susceptible to rust; values vary considerably. A restored music box with 12 or fewer original discs generally commands between $350 and $1,500. Yet, to me, the real value lies in hearing German Romanticism and American Ragtime share the same music album – a reminder that when my grandmother was born in 1901 in St. Louis, music was becom ing an international language.

Elizabeth Stewart, PhD is a veteran appraiser of fine art, furniture, glass, and other collectibles, and a cert. member of the AAA and an accr. member of the ASA. Please send any objects to be appraised to Elizabethappraisals@ gmail.com

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Montecito JOURNAL

41

Robert’s Big Questions

An Independent Mind

by Robert Bernstein

by Jeffrey Harding

Punishment: Certainty vs. Severity?

I

f there were cameras in every public space, it might lower the prison population. How? Fear of being caught is an effective deterrent. That concept comes from Italian criminologist Cesare Beccaria’s 1764 publication On Crimes and Punishments: Certainty of punishment is more important than severity of punishment.

Researcher Daniel Nagin refined this claim in his 2013 paper Deterrence in the 21st Century: It is actually “certainty of apprehension” that reduces crime. A burglar isn’t deciding between a 10-year sentence and a 20-year sentence. He’s deciding whether he’ll get away with it.

Doubling the chance of being caught is more effective than doubling a rarely imposed punishment.

Can we all agree that we want less crime, regardless of political affiliation?

The left has mostly been about prevention: Providing economic opportunity so that people don’t have to turn to crime to survive.

The right has mostly been about “getting tough on crime.” What does that even mean? Many countries have abolished the death penalty and impose shorter maximum sentences than the U.S., yet experience lower homicide rates.

Consider the case of police officers breaking the law. As more people owned video cameras (then smartphones) we started catching police misconduct. The Rodney King beating in 1991 was an early example. The police murder of George Floyd in 2020 was part of a turning point where the public demanded widespread use of police body cameras.

Liberals and civil libertarians are happy to use cameras to reduce criminal behavior by police. But they are reluctant to give government the authority to invade the privacy of regular citizens.

Perhaps we can distinguish between two uses of cameras. Consider the case of journalist Savannah Guthrie’s mother being abducted. A few more cameras might have caught the abductor and/or captured a license plate number. Knowing this could happen might have prevented the abduction.

The other use is scarier: Trolling for crime the way we troll for fish in the sea.

Harvey Silverglate’s Three Felonies a Day argues that most of us unknowingly commit crimes every day. If we increase the chances of catching crimes, we need to be a lot more careful about defining what a crime is. Not long ago, possessing cannabis or practicing gay sex could put you in jail.

42 Montecito JOURNAL

Is there a way to have the good use of cameras and avoid the bad use? The courts have recognized one distinction: Using a camera at a fixed location to catch someone, versus using a network of cameras to track someone.

If someone is suspected of ongoing criminal activity, a court issued warrant should be required to track them.

Lawless, warrantless immigration sweeps must stop. And camera data should be deleted unless used in a matter of weeks.

In the places suffering most from crime, people are afraid to cooperate with police. This reticence derives from lack of trust in the police and/or fear that they will be targeted by criminals as snitches. Allowing anonymous tips can help. But so can cameras. Cameras can’t be threatened as snitches can.

Cameras are not the only way to increase the chance of being caught.

Increased use of DNA can help. And increasing trust of police can help.

Many people join criminal gangs for self-preservation. Boston did an experiment called “Operation Ceasefire.”

Police met with gangs and gave their direct phone numbers. They said to call them if they felt threatened, instead of resorting to violence. It was quite successful. Until the program lost systemic support.

Crime can also be reduced by reducing opportunity. Lighting, alarms, and good locks do help.

It should be noted that violent crimes of passion are difficult to deter even with high apprehension rates. Early intervention before a crisis can help, including mental health and alcohol addiction treatment. Reducing access to firearms can also help.

I will add one more point: “Equal Justice Under Law” is the Supreme Court motto. Yet Trump’s Supreme Court has ruled that the president can commit many crimes with impunity, giving the president more unilateral power. How long can a country survive if the most powerful figure can commit crimes with no accountability? Accountability matters

from the street to the Oval Office.

Robert Bernstein holds degrees from Physics departments of MIT and UCSB. His passion to understand the Big Questions of life, the universe and to be a good citizen of the planet.

Visit facebook. com/questionbig

Don’t Know Much About History* revelations in Hegelian nonsense. He believed that utopia could be achieved through socialism.

The DSA actually believes in utopia.

Here is what they say a typical day would be like under socialism where you could just take a day off from work whenever: “It [work] might not feel as badly needed as it does now. You enjoy your work; it’s interesting to you, and you’re well trained for it. You work as much as you are able and no more than needed, and you would control your own labor and see it going to good use. It’s not just a job to pay the bills.

“You have no debt. You don’t need health insurance. You don’t pay a mortgage or have a landlord, because comfortable housing is a human right. Your retirement is publicly funded. Food, education, energy, medicine, and transportation aren’t for-profit businesses; they are common goods and utilities.

“OK, enough about bills. What do you do on your day off? Maybe in the morning, you walk your kids to school, run errands, or go to a doctor’s appointment.

In the afternoon, you might play a sport, practice a new skill, read, plan a trip. In the evening, you could meet up with friends or family and eat together, maybe go to the movies or down to the park.”

I don’t know who wrote this, but you would have to be soft-headed to believe this fairy tale. Mostly they would be standing in long food lines.

As everyone, except socialists, knows, socialism has failed wherever and whenever it was tried. The results have been horrific. Of course, their excuse for socialism’s failures is that “real” socialism has never been tried. Well, it has, and, because it didn’t work, it devolved into dictatorships, repression, poverty (Castro, Danny Ortega, Chavez), and massive death (Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot). There is no such thing as “democratic socialism.”

If all you have been taught or read throughout your life has been these vague socialist ideas, I guess you would fall for this stuff. Utopia and free stuff have an appeal. And it’s satisfying to demonize the rich successful who have what you don’t have. It’s how socialist leaders manipulate your anger and envy into support for their desire for power.

So here is my message to supporters of socialism: there is a whole world of ideas of which you know nothing that have propelled mankind from perpetual poverty to prosperity. It’s called free market capitalism and it’s the only thing that has ever worked. I challenge

you to learn and think.

I

have yet to encounter any Progressive or socialist with a well-rounded knowledge of history, economics, and philosophy. They don’t seem to be open to ideas other than socialism as Marx-Lenin-Marcuse-Piketty espouse it.

They have little understanding of the ideas of Aristotle-Spinoza-Locke-Adam Smith. As a result, their circular reasoning gets things wrong and, when reduced to policy, the results have been disastrous for homo sapiens.

I’m trying to not be an intellectual snob here. What I am saying is that there is a science about how to know things (philosophy). There is a discipline that enables us to organize ourselves in ways that we can thrive (economics). There is a track record of how and why certain societies thrive and others don’t (history).

If socialists and progressives knew the basics of these ideas of what works and what doesn’t, socialism would be relegated to the dustbin of history.

All this leads me to the current popularity of “democratic socialism” in America. We know about Bernie Sanders (Senate), Alexandria OcasioCortez (House), Rashida Tlaib (House), and Zohran Mamdani (NYC mayor).

Socialists have been elected in state and local offices in New York, California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and in ten other states. Socialists are currently running for offices in California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin. Most of these candidates are supported by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Bernie, AOC, Tlaib, and Mamdani are DSA members.

The current common socialist campaign themes are free stuff (healthcare, childcare, affordable housing, welfare, etc.), antiICE, anti-Israel, and tax the rich.

The Democratic Socialists of America website talks in generalities and doesn’t have a lot of specifics. They say they should run the economy and civil society – which doesn’t sound very democratic to me, in that individual liberties we enjoy from our Constitution would disappear.

They say, “Capitalism is a system designed by the owning class to exploit the rest of us for their own profit. We must replace it with democratic socialism, a system where ordinary people have a real voice in our workplaces, neighborhoods, and society.”

Most of this stuff is straight out of Marx. If you wade through his turgid prose, Marx is mostly confused and angry at the world and dresses his

“Life must be lived as play.” – Plato

*Song by Sam Cooke, “Wonderful World,” 1960

13 – 20 August 2026

failure to protect Black students.” The students made specific demands to rectify the situation at each high school. These demands included a zero-tolerance policy on the N-word, an expansion of ethnic studies classes, and a celebration of Black History Month that is on par with other celebrations that the district endorses.”

Pacific Pride Foundation Annual Fest This year’s theme is “Out. Proud. Unstoppable.” The fest will feature Pride Awards for Legacy, Community Pride Champion, and more. This is one you don’t want to miss! Headliners include the hosts Vivian Storm and Morgan McMichaels, RuPaul Drag Race All Stars, and Ada Vox (America’s Got Talent).

There will be two festival stages, plus community partners exhibiting or having a table, including SB Museum of Art, Quilt Project Gold Coast, Healing Justic SB, Location: Chase Palm Park. FREE.

411: https://pacificpridefoundation.org/summer-of-pride/pacific-pride-festival

Maker House Showcases Local Ceramic Artists Maker House is putting the creativity of its community front and center with a new exhibition featuring work by more than 30 studio members. On view through August 20, the show highlights the range and imagination of local ceramic artists working at the Goleta nonprofit arts center.

The public is invited to celebrate the artists at a free reception on Sunday, August 16, at 11 am, complete with live music and bites. The exhibition is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm at Maker House, 1351 Holiday Hill Road in Goleta.

Set on 10 acres in the Goleta foothills, Maker House features a 22,000-squarefoot ceramics studio with kilns, potters wheels, glazing labs, and classroom space, serving as both a community hub and destination for ceramic artists.

Westerlay Orchids Gives Back to Carp Schools Back-to-school shopping is blooming at Westerlay Orchids, which will donate 100% of retail showroom profits to the Carpinteria Unified School District from August 24-29. Now in its ninth year, the fundraiser raised more than $26,900 in 2025, with this year’s proceeds helping support enrichment activities and field trips for Carpinteria Middle School students.

Past funds have supported STEM programs at Aliso School, library upgrades at Canalino School, and engineering equipment at Carpinteria High School.

Shoppers can choose from Westerlay’s signature orchids and arrangements at 3504 Via Real, making it an easy opportunity to brighten the house while giving local students a boost for the school year.

PASF Awards $56,000 for Music Education The Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation (PASF) has awarded $56,000 in grants to nine Santa Barbara County arts organizations, supporting music education opportunities for young instrumentalists and vocalists. Funding will help provide everything from introductory classroom experiences and summer camps to advanced, pre-professional training.

Recipients include the Santa Barbara Symphony, Santa Barbara Strings, Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara Education Foundation, CAMA, Opera Santa Barbara, State Street Ballet, Santa Barbara Chamber Players, and Santa Barbara Choral Society. Programs supported range from youth symphony training and Keep the Beat to student opera matinees, conservatory scholarships, and in-school music appreciation.

Founded in 1982, PASF also holds an annual spring music competition awarding scholarships directly to promising young musicians for private instruction,

summer programs, higher education, and instrument purchases.

Never Miss An Issue!

13 – 20 August 2026

M SHERIFF’S BLOTTER Open Mailboxes / 800 block East Mountain Drive Sunday, July 26, at 09:36 hours Deputies responded to a Reporting Party (RP) having seen open mailboxes on E. Mountain Dr., possibly associated with mail theft. The RP found some of her mail on the ground but could not confirm if anything was taken. Attempts were made to identify/confirm prospective victims but those attempts were unsuccessful. Report for documentation purposes.

Montecito Theft, Traced to Summerland SCE Property / 2680 Via Real Wednesday, July 29, at 00:59 hours Day shift put out a Be On Lookout (BOLO) regarding a package thief in Montecito with a suspected license plate and name. Through some diligent proactive policing, Sgt. Delgadillo was able to locate the vehicle on a remote private road that accessed the SCE property. The suspect was there alone with debris (packages, packaging material, shoes, clothes, children’s books, charging cable, olive oil, medical wipes, lavender syrup, toilet paper, etc.) strewn all about his vehicle.

The suspect was alone in the back seat of his car, wearing only his underwear.

He refused consent to search his car; he was not on probation or parole. Through some patient investigation, workers were able to access his car to retrieve a pair of shorts. It just so happened that they were the same shorts he had been wearing when he was captured on camera stealing the packages. A probable cause search of the vehicle was done and several items that seemed to have been stolen were recovered. We, however, have not been able to find victims in these thefts and the victim from earlier today did not want to press charges. A search of online reports did not reveal enough to make an arrest at this time. The names on the boxes had been ripped off or scratched out so we could not see the original recipients.

Follow up to be handled by patrol.

Theft / 600 block El Bosque Road Wednesday, July 29, at 13:30 hours Victim reported pool equipment was stolen from front of property. No video surveillance exists, but due to timeline, subject from a night shifts call (regarding stolen packages) is a person of interest. Investigation continues.

Head Incident / 1200 East Mountain Drive Friday, July 31, at 09:45 hours Deputies responded to a reporting party who belatedly reported an incident – from October 2025 – wherein she was struck in the head with a rock. Two friends had been throwing rocks at each other upstream, and a bad throw struck her in the head.

Suspect with Shotgun / 400 block Monarch Lane Friday, July 31, at 09:46 hours Subject wandered about the Ennisbrook open space looking for a coyote that had come into his girlfriend’s yard. When confronted he told witnesses that he was going to shoot the coyote. He was talked out of this idea and went home. Witnesses concur there was no malicious intent, only poor judgment. All parties [apart from the actual coyote hunter] were identified. Follow-up to be handled by patrol.

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Fiesta at Bellosguardo

¡Viva la Fiesta! them,” he laughed. “Seeing them on stage fulfilling their dreams is incredibly special for me.”

Núñez also takes pride in seeing young people spend their time in the studio, studying their cultural dance and researching flamenco from Spain.

“I just strive to do the same for them” as his own teachers did for him, he said.

And beneath the Courthouse lights, another generation stepped into the spotlight, and into history.

by Lisa Duncan

Fiesta week began Tuesday evening in suitably grand style at Bellosguardo, where the storied estate opened its doors for guests to view the stunning artwork inside before flamenco, dinner, and dancing took over the terrace.

“It’s hard to absorb in one visit, it’s exquisite, and in remarkable condition.

Can we just move in?” joked the social set of friends from Birnam Woods – Barbara Wilson, Ingrid Ingram, Linda Seiter, and Kathryne Dahlman from Kathryne Designs on CVR, who all toured the mansion together in swank summer style.

“Flippin’ fantastic!” declared Lotusland board member Lisa Wolf of the tacos up on the terrace, with dinner courtesy of local favorite Rudy’s Mexican Food.

Wolf was joined by visiting friend Wendy St. Laurent, who divides her time between Portland and Sun Valley, as guests dined, mingled and danced on the terrace.

Performers from Cuba, Spain, and beyond included Timo Núñez, Talia Vestal and Jack Harwood, along with dancers from nonprofit Flamenco! Santa Barbara, led by María Bermúdez, bringing plenty of flamenco fire to the evening.

With music and dancing filling one of Santa Barbara’s most storied estates, Fiesta had found a suitably dramatic opening act – and the week was only getting started.

by Lisa Duncan

Dignatarios Gone Wild

By Thursday, Fiesta had gone positively wild as more than 1,600 revelers descended on the Santa Barbara Zoo for DIGS! (Celebración de los Dignatarios), the sold-out celebration billed as “Fiesta’s wildest party.”

“Fiesta nowadays is so much more family-oriented than in the past,” said Mayor Randy Rowse. “Now we have so many more activities and events for the little kids, and the most amazing talent I’ve ever seen in the live performances.”

Among the familiar faces on the Zoo’s hilltop were Assemblyman Gregg Hart, Congressman Salud Carbajal, Mayor Rowse, Supervisor Roy Lee, City Treasurer Kelly McAdoo, City Councilman Oscar Gutierrez, Police Chief Kelly Gordon, and Sheriff Bill Brown.

Politics took a playful turn when Randy and Salud good-naturedly posed with the Zoo puppets on the dancefloor – bipartisan Fiesta spirit at its best.

More than 60 local restaurants, wineries and breweries donated the custom bites and libations, with Brophy’s bringing their famous clam chowder, sampled

by Gregg and deemed “Delicious!” DJ Zeke and drummer Craig Tacher kept the hilltop moving. Spirit of Fiesta Jenna Ramirez performed. Zoo President and CEO Charles Hopper and El Presidente Colin Hayward were among those addressing the zoo crowd, just a tiara’s toss from the beach.

At Dignatarios, even the dignitaries knew how to Fiesta.

by Lisa Duncan

Courthouse Steps “You can feel the crowd’s energy. It’s a special thing,” said Timo Núñez, remembering the first time a Fiesta crowd went wild for him and his sister when they were young performers.

Wednesday officially opened Old Spanish Days with La Fiesta Pequeña at the Old Mission, where the Franciscans have welcomed the community for the traditional “Little Fiesta” since 1927. The dancing continued Thursday through Saturday with Noches de Ronda in the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Gardens.

Backstage at the Courthouse, Núñez was now watching from a different perspective. Director of the flamenco school he inherited from longtime teacher Linda Vega, the Santa Barbara native was seeing his own students experience the thrill he once did.

“I get all nerdy and giddy seeing

44 Montecito JOURNAL

Parade of Traditions “This is my favorite part of all of Fiesta,” said Police Chief Kelly Gordon.

“To see the smiles and joy on all the kids’ faces – it’s just the best!”

Friday brought the thunder of hooves to the waterfront with El Desfile “In play, a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior.” – Lev Vygotsky

13 – 20 August 2026

¡Viva la Fiesta!

Friedman and Father Larry – along with the four Profant sisters: Marie, Michèle, Mignonne and Musette Profant.

The foundation, created in John’s name, supports artists through scholarships, exhibits and performances while preserving Santa Barbara’s cultural traditions. For the Profant family, however, returning to El Paseo remains deeply personal.

“It’s just so intimate for us,” Mignonne said. Asked whether she could still feel her parents’ spirit there, her answer was immediate: “Oh, absolutely.”

After a week of Fiesta celebrations, perhaps the most fitting finale was right where one Santa Barbara love story began – on the dance floor.

by Lisa Duncan

Histórico, while Saturday traded horses and carriages for little red wagons and kids’ bikes as some 2,500 participants took part in El Desfile de los Niños.

Los Niños de Las Flores scattered petals and charmed folks along the route, while the new Children’s Strolling Chorus, created in memory of Erin Graffy and led

by Colleen Graffy and Erin McKibben, made an equally charming debut this year.

“Fiesta is really about families, about bringing families together in the community,” said City Councilmember Eric Friedman. “Anytime we can involve our children in our traditions, they will grow up with them and then pass them on to the next generation.”

Junior Spirit of Fiesta Penny Hernandez and Spirit of Fiesta Jenna Ramirez were among the familiar Fiesta faces, while Chief Gordon watched alongside Assistant Chief Chris Payne at the parade’s start next to the Rainbow arch.

At the finish: free vanilla ice cream for all the kiddos at Chase Palm Park – perhaps Fiesta’s sweetest tradition.

by Lisa Duncan

Sightings Princess Diana’s diamond-and-sapphire butterfly earrings stole the spotlight as Meghan Markle joined Prince Harry Friday night in Victoria, B.C, for the David Foster Foundation’s 40th anniversary, pairing the sentimental jewels with a sleek Greta Constantine gown… Eva Mendes kept things low-key on CVR, stepping out with her daughters for a casual shopping day and iced coffees – keeping cool with bucket hat and a chill chocolate flowy frock… Katy Beary, a baby black bear who’s turned a Toro Canyon backyard pool into its own Montecito swimming hole, was caught on camera paddling laps while mum lounged on the pool steps savoring summer – Coral Casino style.

One Last Dance “It was love at first sight,” recalled Mignonne Profant of the night her parents met at El Paseo during Fiesta in 1950.

Her father, John Profant, spotted the petite ballet dancer across the room and asked her to dance. At 6-foot-1 to her 5-foot-2, they made quite the pair – and an especially accomplished one: John had taught ballroom dancing to put himself through college.

“They were together forever after that,” Mignonne said.

So there could hardly be a more meaningful setting for Sunday’s John E. Profant Foundation for the Arts Fiesta Finale than El Paseo, where guests gathered for dinner, dancing and performances, including Tigran Sargsyan dancing a piece from Don Quixote.

Among those joining the finale were Dr. Mary Collier, Laurie and George Leis, Bobbie Kinnear, Katherine Murray-Morse, Sandra Stingle, Beverly Cavaliere, Diane and Ralph Waterhouse, Colleen Graffy, Kirk and Jann Greene, Bob and Mary Gates, Bill Bridge, Jenna and Avi Reichental, Gary Simpson, Jill Nida, Gretchen and Fritz Olenburger, Jeffrey Forster, Laurie Kirby, Adam McKaig, Rick and Teresa Kuskey Oshay, Dacia Harwood, Keith Moore, City Councilmember Eric 13 – 20 August 2026

From Richard and Friends to all of you… Pip! Pip! photos by Priscilla and courtesy of the Bellosguardo Foundation

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

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Beings & Doings (Continued from 6) “They have a right to acquire shelter and health care by their own means.” What if they haven’t the means? Why are we here?

Boontown

A duck (courtesy Acarpentier, CC)

economic landscape by all. “Prosperity” – that lofty, indeterminate cornucopia – is a baseline measure of aspirational mortal worth here; a notion that dates to our national charter and its keynote – the primacy of the individual. When the Founders angrily raised a finger to King George and started their own country, the inviolability of the individual and her pursuit of actionable desires (or “happiness”) were top of mind and written down with fancy quills. Happiness is not guaranteed, but its pursuit is.

We Americans have been taught that “many hands make light work,” but are allergic to groupthink (at least in the abstract). But the best aspects of Republicanism see playgrounds built by the communities that surround them – Kid’s World in Santa Barbara is a terrific example of this. In the U.S., public education, roads, Social Security, Medicare, fire protection, national defense have been ceded to larger structural care and are not private concerns. We apparently accept that some necessities are better secured collectively than individually.

Why and which ones? Is it ruinously commodifying to suggest that everyone has a right to shelter, or to health care?

ORDER FOR PUBLICATION OF SUMMONS OR CITATION: CASE No. 26CV03632. Notice to Defendant: THE TESTATE AND INTESTATE SUCCESSORS OF MARIA ANTONIA LATAILLADE, DECEASED, AND ALL PERSONS CLAIMING BY, THROUGH, OR UNDER SUCH DECEDENT; THE TESTATE AND INTESTATE SUCCESSORS OF CAESAR E. LATAILLADE, DECEASED, AND ALL PERSONS CLAIMING BY, THROUGH, OR UNDER SUCH DECEDENT; THE TESTATE AND INTESTATE SUCCESSORS OF ORESTES J. ORENA, DECEASED, AND ALL PERSONS CLAIMING BY, THROUGH, OR UNDER SUCH DECEDENT; THE TESTATE AND INTESTATE SUCCESSORS OF ACACIA TERESA ORENA RICKARD, DECEASED, AND ALL PERSONS CLAIMING BY, THROUGH, OR UNDER SUCH DECEDENT; THE TESTATE AND INTESTATE SUCCESSORS OF DARIO ORENA, DECEASED, AND ALL PERSONS CLAIMING BY, THROUGH,

46 Montecito JOURNAL

Research by global inequality economists like Branko Milanović shows that the poorest 5% of the United States population still enjoys a higher real income than roughly 60% to 68% of the world’s population. Think about that. It means, among other things, that you may be in the global 68th percentile for wealth and standing in line at the food bank for nourishment.

Capitalism and a rising standard of living have seen global life expectancy rise from 52.5 years in 1960 to over 71 years by 2015. Innovative machines and electricity have liberated millions of people from difficult daily work that breaks the body down. Our globally wealthy American Poor still need food stamps to eat. Discuss.

And Liberty? Our national founding cornerstone? Money is power, and the present moment’s liquidity asymmetry hands power’s levers to the well-off. The Top 1% are now taking home more total financial benefits than the bottom 80% of Americans combined. Even if your math skills are crummy your Spidey sense should be throwing colored red squiggles. This mistribution of power means more than the comparative thread count of dime store linens. Thanks to human weakness in its presence, wealth presents as a strange kind of magic.

Whole mountains can be moved if we can just get to the Mountain Keepers, and meetings with Mountain Keepers are anymore regulated by turnstile token. The baker on the corner will not

OR UNDER SUCH DECEDENT; THE TESTATE AND INTESTATE SUCCESSORS OF ARTURO G. ORENA, DECEASED, AND ALL PERSONS CLAIMING BY, THROUGH, OR UNDER SUCH DECEDENT; THE TESTATE AND INTESTATE SUCCESSORS OF SERENA ORENA DE KOCH, DECEASED, AND ALL PERSONS CLAIMING BY, THROUGH, OR UNDER SUCH DECEDENT; AND ALL PERSONS KNOWN AND UNKNOWN CLAIMING AN INTEREST IN THE GAP AREA DESCRIBED IN THE COMPLAINT; and DOES 1 through 100, Inclusive, DEFENDANTS. You are being sued

by Plaintiff: SABINO FAMILY RANCH LLC. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons is served on you to file a written response at the Superior Court of California, Santa Barbara, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default. If you lose, the court can order that your wages, money, or property be taken to pay this claim. Bring wit-

nesses, receipts, and any evidence you need to prove your case. Name and address of the court: Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93121-1107. Filed July 21, 2026 by ROBERT MENDEZ, Deputy Clerk. Published July 30, August 6, 13, 20, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MI FIESTA LIQUOR & BEVERAGES, 833 N Milpas Street, Santa Barbara, CALIFO 93103. YOBE-HANNA, 833 N Milpas Street, Santa Barbara, CALIFO, 93103. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 13, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2026-0001779. Published July 30, August 6, 13, 20, 2026

be taking a meeting with the Mountain Keepers, despite her being in the world’s top 68% percentile for wealth. When all the world’s poor have dishwashers will they have more or less Liberty than they do at this moment?

So the governance of the U.S. is nudged by those who hold the wealth and are willing to legally proffer it for legislative results that suit and codify their holdings. Believe me, the poor would do the same thing if they could.

But they can’t.

Reflexive disdain for the fabulously liquid is as hopelessly blinkered a position as equating “democratic socialism” with Siberian cold and the trials of Ivan Denisovich. This is, though, an old story and an old question: do extreme concentrations of private wealth give some citizens disproportionate influence over political life and legislation? Does concentrated wealth undermine the democratic equality capitalism is supposed to serve?

Let’s hope not, because that would mean an asymmetry of “power” in a country whose magisterial animating impulse at creation was a kick-ass egalitarianism (see Thomas Jefferson quote above).

a system worth investigating for some relief, are they dumb, lazy naifs who simply want “free stuff ”? A democratic form of socialism argues that healthcare, housing, education, and economic security should not align with or be dependent on purchasing power.

The top 1% of Americans hold roughly 31.6% of total U.S. wealth. The bottom 50% hold just 2.5%. This means the richest 1% control over twelve times the wealth of the entire lower half of the population. Twelve times?

Meanwhile, the lowest-income families are projected to lose an average of $1,200 annually, primarily because billions of dollars were cut from public assistance programs like Medicaid and SNAP (food stamps) to help offset the price tag of the tax cuts. What an easy vote that must’ve been. Only one of the economic classes in the U.S. can steer its own destiny, inaugural guarantees aside.

Money money money, as they say.

250 years ago a British colony tore sloppily away from its retrograde oldworld master, then pioneered, codified and branded the towering Primacy of the Individual: The American. Today American Liberty is a continuum, a precious gift accessible by degrees along a tawdry and mercantile graduated scale.

We forgot. Markets are useful servants,

but they make lousy masters.

Dumb, Lazy Naifs If people are struggling so much that they turn to radioactive “socialism” as

Where the world’s wealthiest poor dine (courtesy Tyler Lahti)

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MULTI-FAITH HARMONY COALITION, 1129 STATE STREET, 15, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. INTERFAITH INITIATIVE OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, 1129 STATE STREET 15, SANTA BARBARA, CA, 93101. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 16, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2026-0001824. Published July 23, 30, & August 6, 13, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GOLETA AIRPORT PET HOSPITAL, 300 STORKE, GOLETA, CA 93117.

PETVET CARE CENTERS (CALIFOR-

“Play is training for the unexpected.” – Marc Bekoff

NIA), INC, ONE GORHAM ISLAND, SUITE 300, WESTPORT, CT, 06880.

This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 13, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2026-0001775. Published July 23, 30, & August 6, 13, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAN ROQUE PET HOSPITAL, 3034 STATE STREET, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93105. PETVET CARE CENTERS (CALIFORNIA), INC, ONE GORHAM ISLAND, SUITE 300, WESTPORT, CT, 06880. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 13, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of

the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2026-0001777. Published July 23, 30, & August 6, 13, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MONTECITO PET HOSPITAL, 1252 COAST VILLAGE CIRCLE, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93108. PETVET CARE CENTERS (CALIFORNIA), INC, ONE GORHAM ISLAND, SUITE 300, WESTPORT, CT, 06880. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 13, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL).

FBN No. 2026-0001778. Published July 23, 30, & August 6, 13, 2026

13 – 20 August 2026

“

The book has some of the very best dialogue I have ever read (think Raymond Chandler), and author Michael C. Armour paints a gorgeous story with the prose as sweeping as the Santa Barbara vistas. I hope he returns with another.

– Leslie Zemeckis

Award-winning documentarian, best-selling author, actor and co-founder of the Santa Barbara Literary Festival.

”

Now available at Chaucer’s Books, Tecolote Book Shop and Godmothers

13 – 20 August 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

47

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Calendar of Events

FRIDAY, AUGUST 14-SUNDAY, AUGUST 16

by Steven Libowitz ENDING THIS WEEK Music at the Ranch – All good things must come to an end, and such is the case with the Tuesday night concert series on the grounds of Goleta’s Stow House, aka Rancho La Patera, which offers perhaps the most picturesque environs of any of the festival sites. The tree-lined and variously shaded space with lush green backdrop is adjacent to Lake Los Carneros and boasts farm machinery and animals – at the moment a bunch of young goats eager to get a few scratches on the head as well as fed through the chain link fence.

Blankets and chairs are recommended, and food and drink can be brought or bought at food trucks and stands. This week (8/18): Like a bolt from the 610 to 670 terahertz range, Out of the Blue can sometimes surprise with its classic rock cover tunes, rock ‘n’ roll hits from the 1950s through the 1990s reaching for songs you might have already forgotten that you once knew well.

Then families might want to scurry back home, as I don’t need to remind you THURSDAY, AUGUST 13-NOVEMBER 29

Metal Magic at Maritime Museum – Alloy there! The new art show at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum is about bronze. Yes, this barnacle-repelling, seawater-sympatico mixture of copper and tin has long had an association with the maritime, as evidenced by the newish statue of the historical deep diver that looms at the entrance to the Harbor (evening time visitors are asked not to scream when they happen upon this thing by moonlight).

Pliable, all-purpose bronze becomes a medium for wit, vulnerability, and wonder in Susan Read Cronin’s sculpture exhibition entittled Play. The story-rich display (bearing the stuffy academic subtitle “Bronze Sculptures and Other Stuff”) brings together whimsical sculpture, silhouettes, and poetry to explore tenderness, mischief, humor and much more. Cronin’s figurative works unfold like visual fables, inviting visitors to slow down, look closely, and discover new layers of meaning. The exhibition also highlights bronze’s enduring connection to maritime history, noting the alloy’s being valued over centuries for its strength, beauty, and resistance to corrosion, making the 5,500-year-old discovery a longtime go-to for tools, trade goods, navigational instruments, ship fittings, diving equipment, and underwater components. Visitors can also learn about the lost-wax casting process and take part in a museum-wide bronze treasure hunt.

WHEN: Through November 29 WHERE: Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, 113 Harbor Way, Ste 190 COST: Included with museum admission INFO: (805) 962-8404 or https://sbmm.org

48 Montecito JOURNAL

It’s All Greek to You – The Santa Barbara Greek Festival was one of the anchors of the numerous cultural celebrations in Oak Park, and one of the very few surviving and thriving elsewhere. In fact, this year the festival expands to a full threeday weekend. Hosted by, and to the benefit of, the Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, the festival features a bevy of traditional Greek food, from gyros and souvlaki to baklava and other homemade pastries baked by members of the church, plus Greek beer, wine and imported sodas. Also authentically Greek are the live music offerings, which feature several Greek bands, DJ Peter Loukatos, and demonstrations of traditional Hellenic folk dancing – a representative cross-section of Hellenic terpsichore from among the thousands of regional dances passed down through generations from the Greek mainland, islands, and ancient communities. Of course, there will be plenty of lessons and participatory opportunities for the public. The festival is also fully family-friendly, with a whole section dedicated to fun things to do for (and with) the little ones, including arts and crafts, a Jolly Jump inflatable bounce house, face painting, and more. Opa! WHEN: 3:30-8 pm Friday, 12-8 pm Saturday, 12-6:30 pm Sunday WHERE: Chase Palm Park Field, 230 E. Cabrillo Blvd.

COST: $5 general, children under 12 free INFO: www.sbgreekfest.org that the first day of school for all grades in the Santa Barbara Unified School District is Wednesday, August 19.

WHEN: 5:30-7:30 pm WHERE: Stow House, 304 North Los Carneros Rd. COST: free INFO: (805) 681-7216 or www.goletahistory.org ONGOING Summer Screenings in Sunken Gardens – With 2026 Fiesta and Las Noches de Ronda now a fond memory, the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Gardens downtown is once again the destination for free Friday film buffs via UCSB Arts & Lectures’ annual series of outdoor screenings as dancing gives way to dramatic and comedic movies. Besides the spectacular setting for picnicking, pre-screening festivities include carefully curated musical playlists, which makes sense since the theme for the 15th season is Mixtapes & Misfits, focusing on offbeat coming-of-age stories with soaring soundtracks.

This week (August 14): Love & Basketball follows two childhood friends whose dreams of basketball stardom are tested by ambition, sacrifice and an undeniable connection in this film that serves as a heartfelt blend of both romance and sports drama. Next week (August 21): A huge surprise critical and commercial hit 22 years ago, Napoleon Dynamite is the quirky, offbeat, awkward (but endlessly quotable) movie that turns the misadventures of an eccentric small-town teenager into a deadpan comedy classic filled with unlikely friendships and unforgettable charm. Vote for Pedro!

WHEN: 8:30 pm WHERE: SB County Courthouse Sunken Gardens, 1100 Anacapa St. COST: free INFO: www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu

“Play is the answer to how anything new comes about.” – Jean Piaget

13 – 20 August 2026

SUNDAY, AUGUST 16

FRIDAY, AUGUST 14-SUNDAY, AUGUST 16

Entwined Histories – Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Parallel Stories program pairs art and artists with award-winning authors and performers. Now the program unites Carmen Giménez, renowned poet and Executive director and publisher of Graywolf Press, with Graywolf author, translator and Pulitzer Prize winner Cristina Rivera Garza. The pair will discuss Autobiography of Cotton, Rivera Garza’s wide-ranging hybrid of fiction, biography, sociology and philosophy, the work at once deeply personal and politically acute. In crafting a new kind of autobiography, Rivera Garza has authored an intimate, self-styled memoir that tells how a brittle land radically altered her grandparents’ lives and the territories they helped develop. In the process, Garza reveals a rich and innovatively designed social history of agricultural colonization, labor activism, environmental degradation, and cross-border migration.

WHEN: 7:30 pm WHERE: Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Mary Craig Auditorium, 1130 State St. (entrance in the rear) COST: $15 general INFO: (805) 963-4364 or https://tickets.sbma.net

Carp Film Festival – The French and Asian American film festival returned bigger than ever earlier this summer, and so does this weekend event in only its second year. With Central Coast-centric short films the area of concentration, the Carp Film Festival is also held in a historical venue – The Alcazar Theatre.

At this writing, the Alacazar is less than two years shy of the century mark, the glamorous movie house’s opening premiere The Fifty-Fifty Girl. Founded by board member and longtime area producer and promoter (Avocado Fest) Michael Lazaro, the festival aims to celebrate the art of cinema and to share with a broader audience the independent filmmakers’ work – which this year includes documentaries and a few feature-length films in addition to a plethora of shorts.

Each day will feature short films screening in the late afternoon, with a feature film showing at night, plus Q&A sessions and live music, including a set by local deities Spencer the Gardener following a screening of the documentary More than Just a Party Band. Sunday is given over to both Carp-created films and surf movies. It’s laid back and local, perfect for those lazy mid-August days.

WHEN: August 16-18 WHERE: Alcazar Theatre, 4916 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria COST: Daily admission $25 general, $20 students/seniors

INFO: (805) 684-6380/www.thealcazar.org or www.carpfilmfest.com

THURSDAY, AUGUST 13 Happy Hour at the Sea Center – The very hands-on series of exhibits at the Santa Barbara National History Museum’s Sea Center on Stearns Wharf looks like so much fun. But during normal hours, adults might be hesitant to join their toddlers and pre-teens in sticking their fingers in the touch tank and other displays. Now you don’t have to. In fact, the idea is to leave the kids at home – with proper supervision, of course – and head down to the wharf’s Sea Centered extension; that former railway spur that juts out toward East Beach. There you’ll find the Sea Center’s second summertime happy hour and, just incidentally, unfettered fun at this highly interactive regional aquarium which offers close encounters with marine animal emissaries from the Santa Barbara Channel. Get your hands wet touching friendly swell sharks, anemones, and sea stars or go upstairs to be mesmerized by the moon jellies, two-spot octopus, and mantis shrimp. You can also step outside to the center’s deck to enjoy breathtaking late afternoon views of Santa Barbara’s coastline without your (adored, of course) little ones pleading and tugging to go touch more stuff. Additional adult fun includes actually enjoying a glass of wine as you wander, as tickets include one pour of vino and a sampling of fancy fromage from Cheese Shop Santa Barbara. Now doesn’t that sound like a reason to get a babysitter?

WHEN: 5:30-7:30 pm WHERE: Sea Center on Stearns Wharf COST: $30 general, $15 members (includes one glass of wine and fancy cheese from Cheese Shop Santa Barbara) INFO: (805) 962-2526 or www.sbnature.org/visit/sea-center

TUESDAY, AUGUST 18 Bursting with Pride – The Marjorie Luke Theatre hosts the official kick-off event for Santa Barbara Pride Week with a special screening of 50 Years of Fabulous: The Imperial Council Story. The documentary celebrates the remarkable history of one of the world’s oldest and most influential LGBTQ+ organizations, tracing the Imperial Council’s inspiring journey from creating safe spaces and building community in San Francisco to becoming a powerful force in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality. The film reflects on five decades of progress, exploring the organization’s ongoing work to protect and advance civil rights for future generations. A performance

by Santa Barbara’s Gay Men’s Chorus opens precedes the screening. The film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring film producer and 36th Empress of the Imperial Court of San Francisco, David Lassman (Chablis), social justice activist/performer Afrika America, and representatives from Pacific Pride Foundation.

WHEN: 6:30 pm WHERE: Santa Barbara Junior High, 721 East Cota St. COST: $15 general, $10 students INFO: (805) 884-4087 or https://luketheatre.org/events

NOTE TO READERS This entertainment calendar is a subjective sampling of arts and entertainment events taking place in the Santa Barbara area for the next seven days or so. It is by no means comprehensive. Please also see my feature stories elsewhere in this issue for more events.

In order to be considered for inclusion in this calendar, please submit information – including hi-res photos – by 12 noon Wednesday eight days prior to publication date. Email: slibowitz@yahoo.com.

13 – 20 August 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

49

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING (805) 565-1860

ESTATE/SENIOR SERVICES

Your Trusted Choice For Estate Sales, Liquidation & Downsizing Moving Miss Daisy’s providing comprehensive services through Moving Miss Daisy since 2015. Expert packing, unpacking, relocating to ensure your new home is beautifully set up and ready to enjoy. Miss Daisy’s is the largest consignment store in the Tri-Counties - nearly 20K sq.ft.- always offering an unmatched selection of items.

We also host online Auctions.

Glenn Novack, Owner 805-770-7715 www.missdaisy.org info@movingmissdaisy.com THE CLEARING HOUSE

PHYSICAL TRAINING & THERAPY

Stillwell Fitness of Santa Barbara In Home Personal Training Sessions for 65+ Help with: Strength, Flexibility, Balance Motivation, and Consistency John Stillwell, CPT, Specialist in Senior Fitness 805-705-2014 StillwellFitness.com

TRESOR

GOT OSTEOPOROSIS? WE CAN HELP At OsteoStrong our proven nondrug protocol takes just ten minutes once a week to improve your bone density and aid in more energy, strength, balance and agility. Please call for a complimentary session!

Call Now (805) 453-6086

Montecito Electric Repairs and Inspections Licensed C10485353 805-969-1575 TILE SETTING Local tile setter of 35 years is now doing small jobs only. Services include grout cleaning and repair, caulking, sealing, replacing damaged tiles and basic plumbing needs.

Call Doug Watts at 805-729-3211 for a free estimate.

CASA L. M. Landscape hedges installed.

Ficus to flowering.

Disease resistant.

Cactus gardens installed.

Certified rootstock roses and fruit trees.

Professional pest control installation.

State Lic. QAC79160 & insured.

Call (805) 963-6909

We Buy, Sell and Broker Important Estate Jewelry. Located in the upper village of Montecito. Graduate Gemologists with 30 years of experience. We do free evaluations and private consultation.

1470 East Valley Rd Suite V. 805-969-0888 LANDSCAPE WATERLILIES and LOTUS since 1992 WATERGARDEN CARE SBWGC 805 682 5750

50 Montecito JOURNAL

CARS FOR SALE

1981 Excalibur series IV Phaeton 17,848 miles, mint condition. $42,000

Carpet Cleaning Since 1978 (805) 963-5304 Rafael Mendez Cell: 689-8397 or 963-3117

1997 Dodge Viper GTS 28,440 miles, mint condition, blue white stripes. $91,500

PIANO LESSONS Openings now available for Children & Adults.

Piano Lessons in our Studio or your Home.

Call or Text Kary Kramer (805) 453-3481

Call Craig 661-747 8333 REVERSE MORTGAGE SERVICES

RENTAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

ELECTRICIAN

Recognized as the area’s Premier Estate Liquidators - Experts in the Santa Barbara Market! We are Skilled Professionals with Years of Experience in Downsizing and Estate Sales. Personalized service. Insured.

Call for a complimentary consultation.

Elaine (805)708-6113 Christa (805)450-8382 Email: theclearinghouseSB@cox.net Website: www.theclearinghouseSB.com

CARPET CLEANING

Reverse Mortgage Questions?

Talk to an Expert!

All Inquiries Strictly Confidential

Foothill Property Management We care for your rentals.

FoothillPM.com 805-698-4769

GAYLE NAGY – NMLS 251258 805.448.9224 gnagy@gemcorp.com Licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the CA Residential Mortgage Lending Act. 3625 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Suite 258 Westlake Village, CA 91362 NMLS 2427

PET CARE & HOUSE SITTING Professional, dependable pet lover available for pet sitting, dog walking & house sitting. Flexible schedule, great rates & references available.

Call or text: (312) 315-5035

HANDYMAN

PRIVATE CHEF ELIZA

Handyman serv. Goleta to Montecito Reasonable rates No material markup Call to discuss your needed repairs Many years serving the area 805-680-8025

Classically trained professional chef Dinner parties & special occasions Customized meals in-home or drop-off 805.705.3618 www.chefeliza.com

HEALTH & ASSISTANCE

ELITE CONCIERGE ALLIANCE ELEVATE YOUR HEALTH

Middle-age retired MD specialized in Wellness & Prevention, available for live-in or on-property personal & medical assistance.

Exchange for private accommodation & stipend. Excellent local references. Please inquire by initial text to 805-268-7876.

RN Home visits for disease/medication management, prep for surgery and aftercare, home safety, televisits with MD and family, relocation assistance, bridge to other services.

Call 805-455-4108 EliteConciergeAlliance.com

EXPERT ADU GUIDANCE Expedite ADU Process FREE CONSULTATION SB & Montecito Michael Humphrey (805) 570-3333

PET/ HOUSE SITTING Do you need to get away for a weekend, week or more? I will house sit and take care of your pets, plants & mail. I have refs if needed. Call me or text me.

Christine (805) 452-2385

ART CLASSES Mentorship in painting and drawing, practice and theory. Small group, individual guidance. All levels accepted.

805-886-6513 www.valorifussell.com

$12 MINIMUM TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD It’s simple. Charge is $0.04 per character, each line with 31 characters.

Minimum is $12 per issue. Photo/logo/visual is an additional $20 per issue. Email Classified Ad to classifieds@montecitojournal.net or call (805) 565-1860. All ads must be finalized by Friday at 2pm the week prior to printing. We accept Visa/MasterCard/Amex (3% surcharge)

“The true object of all human life is play.” – G. K. Chesterton

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED K-9 PALS need volunteers to be foster parents for our dogs while they are waiting for their forever homes.

For more information info@k-9pals.org or 805-570-0415.

13 – 20 August 2026

te

Mini Meta

Last Week’s Solution:

By Pete Muller & Frank Longo For each of the first five mini crosswords, one of the entries also serves as part of a five-word meta clue. The answer to the meta is a word or phrase (six letters or longer) hidden within the sixth mini crossword. The hidden meta answer starts in one of the squares and snakes through the grid vertically and horizontally from there (no diagonals!) without revisiting any squares.

PUZZLE #1 1 4

2

A C M E T H E Y C R A N E B I R D S A T S

T H A T W I T H O F T E N D I A R Y R E C

R E D A M I G O N A M E R K I L T S S L Y

W A S H V I N C I I N G O T I G E R I S L E

W R I S T S O D O I J O I N T T O G O S M S

S T R A D A R O A R H O B B Y I L L B E B L E A R

CHART

THAT

RANKS

HIT

SONGS

BILLBOARD

PUZZLE #2 3

5

1

2

3

PUZZLE #3 4

1

5

6

6

5

7

7

6

8

8

7

Across 1 Belly, cutesily 4 Something to "sit" in mourning 6 What some mattresses and pillows are filled with 7 Cavity filler 8 Actress Whitman of "Good Girls" and "Valley Girl"

Down 1 Our Lady or Blessed Mother, for 3-Down 2 It comprises the iris, choroid coat, and ciliary body 3 Noa Cohen played her in a 2024 Netflix film 4 Move in 6-Across, in a way 5 1985 U.S. Open winner Mandlikova

Across 1 His 2022 cover of "Old Man" was nominated for a Best Rock Performance Grammy 5 Cry on April Fools' Day 6 Put on the books 7 Like Spider-Man 8 Spider-Man, for Tom Holland or Andrew Garfield

2

3

4

Down 1 A beatnik may beat it 2 Business with a lot of customers who are surfers 3 What seasons and dishwashers do 4 McKinnon who played Weird Barbie in "Barbie" 5 It has teeth and turns

Across 1 "Number 3 ___ Number 7" (2025 song by Morgan Wallen with Eric Church) 4 Composition of some wheels 5 She tells Donkey "I'm ugly, okay?"

6 Eric Christian ___ (longtime "NCIS: Los Angeles" actor) 7 "Cheers" actor Roger

PUZZLE #5

PUZZLE #4 1

5

1

6

2

3

1

6

6

7

7

9

8

8

Down 1 Click of criticism 2 Word after "Stop," "Detour," or "Construction" 3 Wait a few moments before swallowing, say 4 Blunt of "The Five-Year Engagement" 5 See 9-Across

Across 1 Galaxy cluster?

5 Gaucho's weapon 6 "Bean" star Atkinson 7 Scrabble tournament, e.g.

8 Company with the trademarked statement "We make the world's best mattress"

Down 1 Didn't hit the snooze button, say 2 Poker pair nicknamed "Wayne Gretzky" 3 Temple leader, e.g.

4 It goes from the liver to the gallbladder 5 "Sorry I'm Here ___ Someone Else" (2025 Benson Boone hit)

2

3

4

5

8

Across 1 Weapon used by the mall cop Paul Blart 6 Popular performer of the past pulled from a pod 7 Hart of "The Five-Year Engagement" 8 Subj. of a 1997 Time cover that showed Steve Case 9 With 5-Down, walk-through

3

META PUZZLE 4

5

7

2

4

Down 1 Too good for 2 With 3-Down, Homer Simpson's workplace is one 3 See 2-Down 4 Annual team leader?

6 Abbr. after a telephone number on a business card

Across 1 Follower of em or en 5 Brasserie handout 6 Easter baby, maybe 7 Superfans, in slang 8 Mother of True and Tatum

by Tristan

Down 1 Lead-in to Maul or Sidious 2 It has a plain-Jane reputation among typographers 3 Person in a pool on "Mad Men" 4 Literature Nobelist between Mistral and Gide 5 Vineyard container

LOCAL BUSINESS DIRECTORY Residential & Business Professional telephone & gate Phone opener Systems service 805-217-8457

CorporateTelecom@Rocketmail.com opener

*Nortel/Norstar, Panasonic & all others *Telephone, line & gate connections *Installation, troubleshooting & repair *Licensed & Insured with 25+ years experience

Professional telephone & gate opener service

805 West Landscape, Inc. 1012 Pacific St., Ste. C San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 P.O. Box 6225 Santa Barbara, CA 93160

Santa Barbara Estate Management

Joe Boudre (805) 319-5364

www.santabarbaraestate.management City of Santa Barbara Business License # 984709

Medicare

Health OR Insurance Options “We make sure it works out for you”

Jordan Futch

President - Brandon West

LANDSCAPE INC

DESIGN – BUILD – MAINTAIN

BrandonW@805West.com (805) 296-3665

www.805West.com

Andrea Dominic RPh Sherry Saffarnia, PharmD Thomas Johnsonbough RPh. 1498 East Valley Road Montecito, CA 93108

Phone: 805-969-2284 Fax: 805-565-3174

Compounding Pharmacy & Boutique

MACC CONSTRUCTION Building Dreams

License # 0773817

WE SPECIALIZE IN ADU CONSTRUCTION, KITCHEN & BATHROOM REMODELING, DECKS

Bilingual Staff

(805) 895-2852

(805) 683-3636 3412 State St., Santa Barbara, CA 93105

CONSTRUCT1.MAC@GMAIL.COM | LIC 949275

STEVEN BROOKS JEWELERS Vintage & Custom Jewelry

Serving Montecito & Santa Barbara Since 1974 Graduate Gemologist Appraiser G.I.A For Appointments Call or Write

805-455-1070 sbjewelers@gmail.com

13 – 20 August 2026

Nuh Kimbwala Certified Travel Associate-CTA

Montecito, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez

Santa Barbara Branch 3712 State ST, Santa Barbara, CA 93105 805-898-2808 Direct kimbwala.nuh@ace.aaa.com www.nuhluxurytravel.com @nuhluxurytravel

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

51

Scan here for more properties!

#1

Office Globally

©2026 BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently operated subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, and a franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of Columbia Insurance Company, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. Equal Housing Opportunity. Information not verified or guaranteed. If your home is currently listed with a Broker, this is not intended as a solicitation. Santa Barbara office; award based on 2025 production of 1,361 offices in the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Global Network.

813 ROMERO CANYON RD, MONTECITO 5BD/7BA • $24,500,000 Josiah Hamilton / Brittany Arntz 805.284.8835 / LIC# 01415235 / 02055307

1502 E MOUNTAIN DR, MONTECITO 5BD/5+(2)½BA • $21,900,000 Cristal Clarke 805.886.9378 / LIC# 00968247 660 - 670 B U E N AV I S TA D R I V E . CO M

1925 JELINDA DR, MONTECITO 5BD/5+(2)½BA • $18,500,000 Cristal Clarke 805.886.9378 / LIC# 00968247

1 3 8 1 E A S T VA L L E Y R O A D. CO M

660-670 BUENA VISTA DR, MONTECITO 5BD/3½BA • $18,500,000 Marsha Kotlyar Estate Group 805.565.4014 / LIC# 01426886

468 CROCKER SPERRY DR, MONTECITO 3BD/3+(2)½BA • $12,995,000 Bartron Real Estate Group / Beth Goodman 805.563.4054 / 805.455.1909 LIC# 01005021 / 00966870

1381 E VALLEY RD, MONTECITO 7BD/5+(2)½BA • $11,500,000 Marsha Kotlyar Estate Group 805.565.4014 / LIC# 01426886

850 ROCKBRIDGE RD, MONTECITO 5BD/3+(2)½BA • $8,995,000 Marsha Kotlyar Estate Group 805.565.4014 / LIC# 01426886

1080 LADERA LN, MONTECITO 4BD/4BA • $4,500,000 Garrett McCaw / Jeff M Oien 805.252.2335 / 805.895.2944 LIC# 01457796 / 00852118

526 SAN YSIDRO RD #A, MONTECITO 3BD/2BA • $4,150,000 Cristal Clarke 805.886.9378 / LIC# 00968247

175 HERMOSILLO RD, MONTECITO 3BD/2½BA • $3,795,000 Rachael Douglas 805.318.0900 / LIC# 02024147

746 WESTMONT RD, MONTECITO 4BD/3BA • $2,825,000 Sarita Vasquez 805.729.1115 / LIC# 02232751

546 ARBOL VERDE ST, CARPINTERIA 3BD/2BA • $2,295,000 Jessica Stovall & Lindsey Densmore 805.698.9416 / 310.991.6439 LIC# 01887272 / 02162929

4024 GREEN HERON SPRING RD, CARP 3BD/2½BA • $1,550,000 Joe Parker 805.886.5735 / LIC# 01314939

1265 FRANCISCAN CT#6, CARPINTERIA 3BD/2½BA • $899,000 Felipe Castañeda 805.636.4410 / LIC# 02103365

8 5 0 R O C K B R I D G E R O A D. CO M

S A N TA B A R B A R A • M O N T E C I TO • G O L E TA • V E N T U R A • O J A I • L O S O L I V O S • PA S O R O B L E S • W E S T L A K E V I L L A G E