Here Comes the Fun

JOURNAL

The Giving List

1 – 8 OCTOBER 2026 | VOL 32 ISS 40 www.montecitojournal.net

Voice of theV illage

SERVING MONTECITO AND SOUTHERN SANTA BARBARA

Finding Shelter – A weekend inside a simulated disaster zone gives local student Lola Keech a firsthand lesson in shelter, teamwork, and listening before acting, P.20

Heart to Heart – After receiving One805’s Heart of the Community Award, Nina Terzian directs the spotlight back onto the first responders and those who sustain them, P.24

E R E H

S E M CO

The healing power of nature and Olive Crest Hope Refuge, page 18

Baik for More – Just 14 months after his MAW fellowship, pianist-composer August Baik returns to Hahn Hall with Richard O’Neill and a world premiere of his own, P.26

Who Is the Top Dog!?

N U F E H T TWO BEATLES ALBUMS MEET STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK, THE ARCHIES, JAY & THE AMERICANS, AND A SMALL ARMY OF MUSICIANS FOR ONE VERY CROWDED TRIP THROUGH THE ’60s (STORY STARTS ON PAGE 5)

The Top Dog Photo Contest has a winner, along with a fashionable pack of runnersup who brought smiles, style, courage, and plenty of good hair, page 23

faLL Tastes like New OrLEANs New SPeaKEasY MeNU OcT 6 saN YsiDrO RAnch

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1 – 8 October 2026

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1 – 8 October 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

3

Fall, in a Cup

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B R E A K FA S T | L UNC H | DI NNE R

Santa Barbara by the Glass – Santa Barbara Robert’s Big Questions – Artificial intelligence 16 30 Vintners Festival moves back to Firestone revives an old debate over progress, disruption, INSIDE THIS ISSUE Vineyard, bringing together more than 70 resistance, and whether rapidly evolving winemakers, 20 chefs, and plenty of bubbles technology can realistically be regulated Sixties Sensation – The Tribe reimagines two 5 Beatles Your Westmont – Downtown talk explores albums with orchestration and guest AI and robotics, swim team shares talent in singers, then adds a second set packed with classic The Giving List – Olive Crest Hope Refuge 18 focuses on what happens after rescue, helping Thailand, and alumna offers paintings on wood ’60s hits eings and Doings – Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 6 BSaint Augustine, Tolstoy, Jeff: in the category “world-altering confessions” I’m in good company

trafficking survivors heal, rebuild trust, continue school, and reclaim their futures

Feeling SAFE – After growing up with 20 Montecito’s Debris Flow history, a local student trains with ShelterBox to understand what happens after disaster strikes

Moments – The Granada’s gala honors 8 its Montecito Legends, plus designer Margaret O’Leary comes

23 ews Bytes – The Country Mart hosts a pie Community Voice – Nina Terzian gives 10 Nbake-off, art out of marine debris, MClub at the 24 gratitude to the whole community after

Top Dog – Which pup will be named Top Dog!?

to Coast Village Road

Dodgers, and other tidbits Sheriff ’s Blotter Tide Guide

Town – Gerard van Belle takes the helm at 12 OLasurCumbres Observatory with plans for new

telescopes, deeper community ties, and possibly observatories in space

14 4

he Society Edit – Belle Hahn marks the end of T her philanthropic journey at MOXI@NIGHT, even as the museum reaches its $400,000 fundraising goal Montecito JOURNAL

receiving the 2026 One805 Heart of the Community Award

25

NE805LIVE! – Pat Benatar, The Temptations, O George Thorogood, Slightly Stoopid, and more perform as ONE805LIVE! puts first responders center stage

On Entertainment – August Baik and 26 Richard O’Neill open the Mariposa Series

with “Tradition Transformed,” exploring hidden melodies, shared heritage, and musical reinvention

“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Health Coach – Injectable peptides 34 are Montecito gaining traction among teens, promising bigger muscles, faster recovery, and better tans while carrying potentially serious health risks Curator’s Choice – This clam isn’t boring…

Elizabeth’s Appraisals – A modest Chinese 35 camphor chest carries something far richer than its price tag: the protective symbolism of the Eight Immortals

Calendar of Events – 1st Thursday, the Botanic 40 Garden’s centennial, Opera Under the Oaks, and more happenings

Classifieds – Our own “Craigslist” of classified 42 ads, in which sellers offer everything from summer rentals to estate sales

ini Meta Crossword Puzzles 43 MLocal Business Directory – Smart business owners place business cards here so readers know where to look when they need what those businesses offer

1 – 8 October 2026

Sixties Sensation

The Tribe Goes Beatles and Beyond by Steven Libowitz

B

eatles tribute bands are not uncommon. Heck, one of them, simply named Yesterday, performed at SOhO in mid-September, and another one known as Sgt. Pepper will be playing this Sunday afternoon, October 4, at the Avocado Festival in Carpinteria. But make no mistake, the “Orchestrated Tribute to The Beatles” benefit concert at the Arlington Theatre on Saturday, October 17, is nowhere near your run-of-themill tribute to the British band many still consider the greatest of all time. For one thing, nobody will be dressing up in Beatles outfits, and nobody on stage will be trying to sound like John, Paul, George or Ringo. Indeed, the show is the second annual event largely put together by The Tribe, a collective of Los Angeles-based professional musicians featuring a rotation of stellar singers and guests. The Tribe plays artist-or-era-specific concerts all around the region in support of nonprofits, and their upcoming appearance will be formatted similarly to last year’s wildly successful, sold-out Brian Wilson tribute at the Granada last September. Just like last year, The Tribe serves as the house band behind a slew of special guests, who will join the group’s singers and musicians in performing nearly all of the songs from two iconic Beatles albums: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which always gets lots of attention, and Magical Mystery Tour, which generally doesn’t get this degree of love. “It’s actually one of my favorite albums,” explained The Tribe’s drummer and the concert’s producer, Kevin Wachs. “It was the album I remember most from when I first started getting into pop music. Most of those tracks from Magical Mystery Tour were singles – “Strawberry Fields,” “Penny Lane” – so I’d hear them all the time on KHJ Boss Radio.” Perhaps even more significantly, the songs on Tour map well to the varied current iteration of The Tribe (co-producer Lauri Reimer, Christena Rich, et al.) and guests, which include several female singers, among them Carly Smithson (American Idol) and Jean Fogelberg (Dan’s widow, who grew up in Lompoc), as well as Santa Barbara locals David Pack (the original lead vocalist and guitarist with Ambrosia) and Justin Fox (Dishwalla), among others, including special surprise guests. “They are really interesting songs and diverse in style for our singers to make their own,” Wachs said. “This is not a Beatles impersonation band. We want our singers to have a certain amount of liberty. Just the fact that half the songs are being sung by women immediately means that it’s going to have a different spin on it.”

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Sixties Sensation Page 224 224

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Prepare for one ‘60s psychedelic night at the Arlington Theatre on Saturday, October 17 (courtesy photo)

1 – 8 October 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

5

Beings & Doings

An Open Heart is Occasionally a Ghastly Wobbling Lump of Gristle Viewed Through a Framework of Surgical Steel Clamps and Springs by Jeff Wing

T

his week I join the ranks of Saint Augustine, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Tolstoy. Like these towering, culture-affecting giants, I offer my Confessions to a waiting world, to posterity. You see, we great thinkers must ultimately unburden ourselves. What choice have we, huh, Tolstoy? By opening our hearts in this act of generous self-abnegation, we defang our detractors, bestride human history, and speak to an audience of millions, more or less. I shall confess all the hidden secrets of my wounded heart, all those terrible thoughts and acts I have hitherto concealed from a frankly disinterested readership. What, did you think I got these sterling journalistic creds by being a duplicitous jackanape? Well, think again. I mean… think again later so I can get on with the confessing. Here are my manifold disclosures, intermingled here and there with

philosophical affirmations and other verbose products of my overactive Islets of Langerhans. Take these, and may they serve you in your own pilgrimage to healing truth and verity.

What Captain has bangs like that? (Public Domain By CBS Television)

Confessions

O

ften when I am verbally eviscerating Big Oil I am behind the wheel of my car.

W

hen I discover a tiny spider, comfortable and cozy in a gossamer web stretched across our condo patio in a manner clearly designed to introduce the little fella to my wife’s screaming face, I will gently bat him over the hedge and onto the lawn with a broom. Sorry, little guy. I mean no harm, and I hope you are as dumb as you look.

I

once minutely peeped my eyes open during prayer and saw our Bible Study leader staring at the shag carpet with a haunted expression.

I

A I

do believe the detailed UFO abduction story of Barney and Betty Hill (1961) was largely true, but for one element: I believe the Zeta Reticuli “Star Map” famously and uncannily reproduced by Betty under hypnosis was not a portrayal of that binary system’s cosmic neighborhood, but an aerial night shot of Poughkeepsie.

s a child I was always troubled by Captain Kangaroo’s bangs.

n third grade my friend Bruce and I were sent to the office, where we were paddled by the school principal,

Beings & Doings Page 384 384

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Montecito JOURNAL

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” – Albert Camus

1 – 8 October 2026

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1 – 8 October 2026

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Montecito JOURNAL

7

Montecito Moments Legends Take Stage by Lisa Duncan

“I

came here 45 years ago to this community, and I’ve always been amazed at the quality of all of you and how you keep this place special,” Bo Derek said. “Thank you so much for keeping this place beautiful and keeping it going.” It was an appropriately heartfelt note for the Granada Theatre’s 10th Annual

Legends Gala, where black tie met bright lights for an evening honoring Derek, philanthropists Merryl Snow Zegar and Chuck Zegar, and the Santa Barbara Bowl. With Andrew Firestone as master of ceremonies and Palmer Jackson Jr., Granada chairman and CEO, welcoming guests, dinner was served high above the theater seats as the historic Granada itself became part ballroom, part stage.

Palmer Jackson Jr. and Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation honorees (photo by Baron Spafford)

Lois Mahalia with the Locals and Legends band (photo by Baron Spafford)

Merryl Snow Zegar, Palmer Jackson Jr., and Chuck Zegar (photo by Baron Spafford)

The honorees were celebrated not only with speeches, but with performances. State Street Ballet danced Ravel’s “Boléro” in tribute to Derek; Will Breman performed James Taylor’s “Carolina in My Mind” during the tribute to the Zegars; and Lois Mahalia, backed by the Locals and Legends Band, sang “Shower the People” for the Santa Barbara Bowl. “Both Chuck and I are so proud and grateful,” Merryl said, calling the honor “one of the high points” of becoming part of the Santa Barbara community. “It is important to be a part of this community, and it is important to

contribute,” Chuck added. Their giving runs deep. Through the Zegar Family Foundation, founded in 2006, the couple has supported education, science, conservation, and the arts. Chuck was also a founding partner of Bloomberg LP, helping develop the original Bloomberg Terminal. Accepting for the Santa Barbara Bowl, Rick Boller emphasized that the beloved venue is more than a place for music – it is an institution that reinvests in the community it serves. Ten years into the Legends Gala, the

2026 2027

Moments Page 394 394

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1 – 8 October 2026

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1 – 8 October 2026

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Montecito JOURNAL

9

News Bytes

Ecologist Dr. Rae at SBMNH

Montecito’s First Annual Pie Baking Contest!

T

he Montecito Country Mart is hosting its First Annual Pie Baking Contest at the mart on October 17. Pie drop off time is 11 am, and winners announced at 12:30 pm. All homemade pies to be submitted with categories for adults and kids. First prize takes home $100, with gift cards for second and third place. Pie baking demo by Miette.

411: www.montecitocountrymart.com/events

Friday Night Movies at Montecito Country Mart Free, and in the center courtyard, starting at 6 pm. Food and beverages to go. 10/16 – Finding Nemo 10/23 – Finding Dory 10/30 – Coco

411: https://sbnature.org/

Marine Debris Finds New Life in Art The Chrisman California Islands Center in Carpinteria will present Current Findings, an exhibition featuring artwork by Cal State Channel Islands students created with artifacts collected through a marine debris research project in the Northern Channel Islands. Since 2016, the Santa Rosa Island Research Station has removed and cataloged more than 21,000 pounds of marine debris from Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa islands. Some of that waste, including lobster buoys and Mylar balloons, has been repurposed into multimedia artworks exploring the effects of debris on island ecosystems. A free opening reception will be held Friday, October 9, from 5-8 pm at 4994 Carpinteria Avenue, with drinks, artist discussions, research conversations, and guided tours.

M SHERIFF’S BLOTTER Minor Child Surfing Injury / Rincon Beach Monday, September 14, at 17:14 hours While under the father’s care, a 10-year-old victim suffered laceration on the head from a surfing accident. The father failed to take his son (the victim) to the hospital for medical treatment. Ultimately, the victim’s mother took the victim to urgent care, where he received eight stitches. Forward report to Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office for review.

North American Chumash Intertribal Powwow In its fifth consecutive year, on October 3 and 4, the SY Band of Chumash Indians will have its annual Powwow held on sacred grounds in Santa Ynez, at the corner of Meadowvale Road and Highway 246 in Santa Ynez. The event is $5, kids free, parking free, and open to the public. Leading the event are Native American tribes from throughout North America who gather to celebrate Indigenous heritage and culture. The powwow features dancing, singing, drumming, arts, crafts, food, and artisans. Frank Dominguez’s original design is the winner of the annual Powwow Art Contest for its logo. The tribe’s first powwow was held in

Missing Person Suspect / 600 block San Ysidro Road Tuesday, September 15, at 18:37 hours Deputies responded to the area regarding a suspicious male possibly casing residences. Deputies contacted the subject, who was found to be a resident of Lompoc who had been reported missing. The subject was transported to Isla Vista. Lompoc PD was notified that the subject had been located, and he was removed from MUPS. Drugs and Firearms Threats / 1200 block Channel Drive Friday, September 18, at 11:28 hours Deputies conducted a stop regarding a male subject -- who appeared to be under the influence of drugs -- making firearms threats to bystanders. Subject was identified and shown to be on active probation with full search terms. A search was conducted and paraphernalia was found in his vehicle. The subject was cited and released.

JOURNAL

9/25 – Luca 10/2 – Lilo & Stitch 10/9 – Ratatouille

Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant will read You Belong in the Wild at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s Storytime on October 3, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm, in the museum’s backyard area. Her connection with the museum grew after she was photographed there for the cover of the Summer 2026 issue of Montecito Journal Magazine, helping spark a relationship that now brings her back for this special community event. The reading encourages children from all backgrounds to see themselves involved in nature and science. The first 50 participating families will receive a free copy of the book, provided by the Cheeryble Foundation in memory of Steve Hicks. WynnGrant is a wildlife ecologist specializing in research on how human activity influences carnivore behavior and ecology. She co-hosts Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom: Protecting the Wild on NBC and hosts the PBS-produced podcast Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant.

Executive Editor/CEO | Gwyn Lurie gwyn@montecitojournal.net President/COO | Tim Buckley tim@montecitojournal.net Managing Editor | Zach Rosen zach@montecitojournal.net MoJo Contributing Editor | Christopher 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 364 364

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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Thurs, Oct 1 Fri, Oct 2 Sat, Oct 3 Sun, Oct 4 Mon, Oct 5 12:35 AM -0.1 Tues, Oct 6 1:21 AM -0.2 Wed, Oct 7 2:00 AM -0.1 Thurs, Oct 8 2:34 AM 0.2 Fri, Oct 9 3:04 AM 0.5

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6:01 AM 6:47 AM 8:53 AM 11:07 AM 12:27 PM 01:25 PM 02:13 PM 02:57 PM 03:39 PM

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Arts and Entertainment | Steven Libowitz Gossip | Richard Mineards, Lisa Duncan 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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“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” – L. M. Montgomery

newspaper

Published by: Montecito Journal Media Group, LLC Montecito Journal is compiled, compounded, calibrated, cogitated over, and coughed up every Wednesday by an exacting agglomeration of excitable (and often exemplary) expert edifiers at 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Montecito, CA 93108. 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

1 – 8 October 2026

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1 – 8 October 2026

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11

Save the Date

4TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Our Town

LCO’S New President & Observatory Director by Joanne A Calitri

T Join us at our open house from 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm. Come by anytime to celebrate with us.

Thursday, October 22, 2026 SPECIALS • GIVEAWAYS • NEW TREATMENTS CHAMPAGNE • PASSED APPETIZERS • AND MORE

More details coming soon. We look forward to seeing you.

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Westmont Downtown Lecture Series Presents

Having Fun with Everyday AI and Robotics: Life Implications

At this free presentation, Dan Jensen and Kristin Wood, Westmont professors of engineering, lead an interactive exploration of AI and robotics with hands-on activities, practical tools for creativity, and insights on technology and Christian theology. Bring a smartphone to participate.

Thursday, October 8 | 5:30 p.m. Westmont Downtown | Keith Center Check out our NEW Santa Barbara downtown building!

29 W. Anapamu St. Westmont Downtown Lecture Series Conversations About Things That Matter

SPONSORED BY THE WESTMONT FOUNDATION

he newest space event in our town is the appointment of Dr. Gerard van Belle as president and observatory director for the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO). He fills the role previously held by Dr. Lisa Storrie-Lombardi who retired in September. Leading the search committee for Storrie-Lombardi’s successor was Chair Michael Skrutskie, University of Virginia. On Monday, September 21, I met with Dr. van Belle, his co-pilot “Goose” – a three-year-old husky mix dog – and former LCO Development Director, Dr. Sandra Seale, owner of Phocus Dr. Gerard van Belle, President & Observatory Consulting, who informed me regardDirector, LCO, with his dog Goose in the teleing Dr. van Belle’s appointment. scope building room (photo by Joanne A Calitri) We did the photo ops first and sat down in Dr. van Belle’s office for the interview. Topics covered were LCO’s strategic plans; NASA’s newly launched Roman Space Telescope; the growing concern of “satellite constellations” aka “dark skies” by scientists and environmentalists; right down to Dr. van Belle’s ZWO Seestar S50 telescope and his favorite sci-fi flicks. Q. How did your taking on this role come about? A. I heard about it from a colleague of mine. The astronomy community is quite small, about 5,000 worldwide, so there’s a lot of word-of-mouth about upcoming possible positions, in addition to one central job board. I had been shopping around for executive-level jobs in astronomy. I knew a lot about LCO, and it spoke to me as being a good fit. I’ve done positions that are very technical, administrative, facility development, building telescopes and observatories. The instrumentation work I was doing – my fellow astronomers refer to as black magic in terms of the level of technology involved and the amount of things going on – was challenging with the widgets you have to build. So tech-heavy LCO was a natural fit. What areas of expertise are you bringing to the role? I’ve had a very broad-based background – which includes instrumentation jobs, facility development roles, spanning all the way over to more administrative-heavy roles overseeing fellowships, and telescope time allocating. I was also previously at a small observatory, and it carried with it the attendant roles of donor engagement and fundraising. This wide-ranging set of experiences is especially useful in stepping in and wearing the many hats you put on at a small nonprofit research institution – you have to be a bit of a polymath. What is LCO’s strategic plan going forward – telescope network development, relocating the field office, adding staff and post-doc students? My first focus is day-to-day operations and our customers. I like to think about that in a very entrepreneurial way, both internally and externally. Our customers are the people that use our telescope network, and have been very eager to use them. I’m interested in making sure they are happy and expanding that customer base, because the existing network of telescopes is something special and unique in astronomy. One of the mandates I’ve been handed is to think strategically and expansively; what does LCO look like in 5, 10, and 20 years, and how to get us there? What big things in astronomy are going to be happening, and how does LCO fit into those discoveries and serve a special role? That may take us in directions we don’t know about yet, like new telescopes, new telescope sites. Something that Wayne [Rosing] and I have been talking about is putting telescopes in space. There are a lot more possibilities of doing that right now.

12 Montecito JOURNAL

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” – Jim Bishop

Our Town Page 284 284

1 – 8 October 2026

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1 – 8 October 2026

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Montecito JOURNAL

13

The Society Edit

9th Annual MOXI@NIGHT & Belle Hahn’s Adieu to Her Philanthropy Journey by Joanne A Calitri

direction of the science museum field, and work alongside colleagues at ASTC

H

ello Loves! Happy to be reporting just for you on the 9th Annual MOXI@ NIGHT celebration held on Saturday, September 25 at the museum. So much news! First is the public announcement by Belle Hahn on her decision to end her philanthropy career, and second is the new MOXI Director of Marketing and Communications, Karen Rodriguez, on board following her latest work at Pal 8 Media, Montecito. I arrived and immediately met with MOXI President/CEO Robin Gose. We journeyed to the step’n’repeat to capture the event committee photos. I asked Gose about serving another three years on the Board of Directors for the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC). She replied, “Serving on the ASTC board gives me an opportunity to share what we’re learning at MOXI, help shape the strategic

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their invitation to contribute generously to the MOXI? Their statement to attendees beckoned, “Welcome to an evening of possibility, purpose, and play. We’re grateful to share this evening with you and to be part of a community that believes every child deserves the chance to wonder, create, and enjoy a brighter future. Together, let’s Play It Forward.”

to strengthen the role science museums play in their communities. I’m equally excited to bring fresh ideas back to Santa Barbara as we continue to grow and serve our community.” Happy to connect with yours truly was none other than the elegant Lily Hahn Shining, who, alongside her sister Belle, was the event co-chair. Big hugs were all around. With these indelibly philanthropic sisters, who could resist

Society Edit Page 384 384

MOXI@Night 2026 Event Committee (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

I N N I S p re s e n t

p i r T T ake An other Nir Kaba

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a n d A r t i s t i c D i re c t o r

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November 2026

14 Montecito JOURNAL

1 – 8 October 2026

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Montecito JOURNAL

15

Santa Barbara by the Glass

who haven’t heard of our brand and encourage them to come visit our winery and, in that same breath, also hopefully visit other wineries in our area,” says Presqu’ile winemaker and native South African, Dieter Cronje. “This is a symbiotic industry in many ways, and if people don’t get to taste and drink our wine, we won’t be able to keep making it.” This Santa Maria Valley winery is a destination all its own, offering mezze lunches with sweeping views, horseback riding through the vines and an expanded showcase of contemporary art in partnership with LAND, the Los Angeles Nomadic Division. For the festival, though, they’re bringing Cronje’s award-winning wines to the people. “We will be pouring our classic Presqu’ile estate chardonnay and estate pinot noir, as well as the newest additions to our lineup – the chillable Gamay and Aligoté,” says the winery’s sales and hospitality director, Tim Wanner. Larry Schaffer, owner-winemaker at

Pouring it Forward: Santa Barbara Vintners’ Biggest Fall Feast Returns by Gabe Saglie

S

anta Barbara’s biggest wine party of the fall is back on the calendar. With more than 70 winemakers and 20 chefs set to attend, the 42nd annual Santa Barbara Vintners Festival returns Saturday, October 17, 2026. The impending El Niño season, with its increasing chance of heavy rains and coastal erosion, drove a last-minute change of venue to Firestone Vineyard. “With the increased likelihood of early-season rain associated with this year’s El Niño conditions, relocating the 2026 Vintners Festival was the best decision to ensure an exceptional experience for

our guests,” Alison Laslett, CEO of Santa Barbara Vintners, announced a few weeks ago. The original location, the Folded Hills Winery ranch in Gaviota, just about four miles from the shore, is one of the closest vineyards to the Pacific Ocean, elevating the threat of rain-related disruptions. Firestone, a historic estate founded in 1972 by the Firestone family, is located along Foxen Canyon, a comparatively safer distance inland. But the property is no stranger to hosting this much-anticipated event, which is held rain or shine: it was the venue of choice in the 1990s and early 2000s, before the festival began rotating to other county spaces in cities like Lompoc, Solvang,

Come enjoy a day of vino, food, and fun along the Firestone Meadow (courtesy photo)

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and Buellton, and most recently hosted the Vintners Festival in 2022. I have many fond memories of attending this delicious event at Firestone in the past, and I’m excited to bring my taste buds to Firestone Meadow once again! For we consumers, the great thing about this festival is the quantity, yes – a mouthwatering plethora of wine, representing dozens of grape varieties. But it’s the quality that always wows, introducing budding oenophiles to labels that are making an industry buzz at a global level, and allowing them to mingle with the men and women who make them, often behind the scenes. The Vintners Festival “provides us the opportunity to meet new customers

SB by the Glass Page 324 324

The 2026 Santa Barbara Vintners Festival, hosted at historic Firestone Vineyard, takes place on Saturday, October 17, from 1 to 4 pm (courtesy photo)

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• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

17

The Giving List

Olive Crest Hope Refuge by Steven Libowitz

W

hen it comes to sex trafficking, everyone wants to talk about rescue – the dramatic swooping in and saving of teenage girls from the clutches of men who are abusing them. But that’s merely the beginning of the girls’ road to recovery. “Olive Crest Hope Refuge Campus focuses on what happens next,” said Sally Cook, co-founder of the facility in the hills of Santa Barbara that provides the necessary resources for healing and reentry into society. “Hope Refuge exists because rescue is only the beginning,” said Cook. After having attended an event where she learned about both the magnitude of trafficking in the state, and the lack of facilities to support the girls who have suffered from the experience, she essentially left a Hollywood career – which included time at DreamWorks Animation – to create Hope Refuge. “Hope Refuge is not an emergency shelter. Once a child is recovered from trafficking, where does she go to heal, rebuild trust, return to school, and learn she has value beyond what was done to her? How does the family heal and build for a brighter future? Hope Refuge Campus was created to answer those questions.” The answer at the Hope Refuge Campus is a residential healing environment designed specifically for girls who have experienced trafficking and exploitation “because true healing requires safety, time, specialized care, and unwavering relationships,” Cook said.

The 214-acre ranch-style mountaintop facility near Santa Barbara encompasses oak woodlands, rolling hills, and stunning ocean views, but these features, however glorious, are not just aesthetic baubles. The safe, peaceful, and nurturing environment is essential to the girls’ recovery. “Being at Olive Crest is an opportunity for them to fully decompress and detox off the life that they’ve been in and the grooming they’ve experienced, in just such a setting where they’re safe physically and they’re safe emotionally,” Cook said. “Nobody has access to this site except those who are part of the programs. And being as remote as we are, it makes it hard for the girls to run away, which is often the first reaction. “The first month at Olive Crest is difficult because the girls are still in fight or flight mode, with the sex trafficking victims accustomed to fighting their way through things that they don’t trust. But given where we are, they can’t go off. They stay onsite and get the real decompression time, which is also a time to bond very healthily with healthy adults and the other girls,” explained Cook. “That’s when they’ll start to embrace the program, embrace therapy and their rehabilitation. They start to re-wire, realizing there are people they can trust.” Those programs, led by experienced, trauma-informed personnel, provide intensive care and support for the girls – a maximum of 16 at a time – for a minimum of six months, providing enough space, time, and professional support for the girls to heal and forge a path for a new life. Each girl at the center receives individualized counseling,

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The 214-acre ranch-style mountaintop facility near Santa Barbara provides a safe, healing space for up to 16 girls who have experienced trafficking (courtesy photo)

a thoughtful time out and experiencing authentic, grounded love. Sexual abuse has a very deep impact on the soul and the body. So we’re looking at their mental health and their progress in education. How are they communicating? How are they feeling about themselves? How are they feeling about others?” Olive Crest’s program has proved very successful, as indicated by the testimony and video clips on their website and the numbers of “graduates” integrating back into society. “When our girls leave here, they’ve got options, they’ve got hope, they’ve got a future,” Cook said.

mental health support, on-site education, and skills in independent living and relationship-building. One of the more effective opportunities is working with other survivors of trafficking who are now leading happy, productive lives, Cook said. “It’s a very important part of recovery to have a survivor-led program where other survivors who are now mature and leading in the community run a program here with our girls,” she said. “They’re the ones who can really highlight the ‘game’ that they got caught up in and share about their own situation and their recovery, speaking from experience.” Olive Crest consistently evaluates the success of the programs – ones that are specifically designed around the highly complex level of trauma associated with having been groomed – using clinical assessment for adolescents to make sure they’re reaching the goals, Cooks said. “Has therapy worked? That’s what we’re constantly looking at. Are we dealing with the trauma? If you don’t fully address the trauma, their behaviors will continue. They will not stop. For sex-trafficked minors it’s all about taking

Visit www.olivecrest.org/santa-barbara.

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

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1 – 8 October 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

19

Feeling SAFE

What Shelter Means When Everything Else Is Gone by Lola Keech

I

n Montecito, a disaster is not an abstract idea. Our community remembers the 2018 Debris Flow and the neighbors whose lives were lost. I grew up knowing that an ordinary day can change without warning. This month, I began to understand what it takes to help a family in the days that follow. I’m a junior at San Marcos High School in the AAPLE Academy and began interning with ShelterBox USA during my freshman year. I learned about SAFE, the ShelterBox Ambassador Field Experience, a training exercise where participants sleep overnight in tents and go on a simulated catastrophe. I wanted to attend SAFE to experience as closely as possible what it would feel like to be on the front lines and to learn more about an organization I care about. The response simulation is usually attended by adults, and my parents agreed to train with me.

The Keech family: Helene, Lola, and Mike (photo by Dave Malkoff)

Lola in front of the ShelterBox tents (photo by Helene Keech)

For one weekend in Echo, Oregon, we entered a fictional disaster zone called Cascadia. ShelterBox Response Team members, with experience in a range of disasters from Iraq to recent calamities in Venezuela and beyond, briefed us as though we were deploying with ShelterBox. They gave us information quickly, assigned us to teams, and sent us into villages representing communities affected by the disaster. We had to work through uncertain needs, language barriers, safety and security issues, and the logistical challenges of delivering human-

family slept. The tent kept us dry and warm. We had privacy, a place for our few belongings, and room to be together. It began to feel like our home. I also knew we would go home after the simulation. Families displaced by a real disaster may have no idea when they can return, or what they will find when they do. That difference stayed with me. The ShelterBox tent showed me what shelter can offer during an uncertain time: a safe place to sleep, a measure of privacy, and space for a family to face the next day together. The response team members spoke honestly about their deployments. They

itarian aid. Because resources were limited, we also had to decide which people were most vulnerable and should receive priority assistance. I had expected to learn how ShelterBox delivers shelter. I had not understood how much listening comes first. In each village, we had to find out what families needed and who was most vulnerable. We could not learn that by walking in with assumptions. We had to pay attention to what people told us, ask better questions, and rely on one another to make careful decisions. Over the weekend, 24 people who had arrived as strangers became partners. That night, a significant rainstorm fell around the ShelterBox tent where my

Feeling Safe Page 394 394

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“Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.” – Samuel Butler

1 – 8 October 2026

See Akram Khan Company in its Final International Tour

Akram Khan Company Thikra: Night of Remembering

By Akram Khan and Manal AlDowayan

Tue, Oct 6 / 7:30 PM / Granada Theatre “One of the most influential choreographers of his generation.” The Guardian (U.K.)

Tony Award-winning Broadway Legend

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Created by Yaron Lifschitz and the Circa Ensemble

Sun, Oct 18 / 4 PM / Granada Theatre ★★★★ “Graceful aerial solos. Jaw dropping lifts. Superhuman balances. Swan Lake as you’ve never seen it before.” The Times (U.K.)

Visit our website to view the full 2026-2027 lineup 1 – 8 October 2026

(805) 893-3535 | www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu Granada event tickets can also be purchased at: (805) 899-2222 | www.GranadaSB.org

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

21

Sixties Sensation (Continued from 5) To be clear, The Tribe isn’t turning “All You Need is Love” into a reggae groove. The changes are just enough to make things interesting. “You’ll recognize them, but it’s definitely not sounding exactly like the records. We don’t want them to.” Speaking of “All You Need is Love,” that song will have “a cast of thousands” serving as the singers, as the full slate of performers on stage will be accompanied by the audience, who will be specially invited to sing along on the repetitive chorus of the joyous tune. “Actually, we hope everybody sings along to everything that they know, which is going to be almost everything when you think about it,” Wachs said. Adding to the attraction, as the title of the show indicates, The Tribe has also arranged for a large majority of the Beatles tunes to be orchestrated, adding all the flavors you’d expect to the big The star-studded night includes local Justin Fox hits (piccolo and flugelhorn on “Penny of Dishwalla (courtesy photo) Lane;” clarinet on “When I’m SixtyFour”), and strings all over the place. As with last year’s Wilson tribute, a subset of about a dozen musicians from The Folk Orchestra of Santa Barbara will be the orchestra, with Adam Phillips not only conducting but, new this year, stepping to the front of the stage to offer lead vocals on a song or two. “Last year, we didn’t know he sang,” Wachs explained. “He’s got a great voice!” Further setting this year’s concert apart from 2025’s Wilson tribute, there will be an entirely separate set that gives the show its subtitle “Plus Hits of the ‘60s,” a dozen or so additional songs from the era that many folks are also certain to recognize. But it won’t just be The Tribe playing them. The show opens with a four-song set from the ‘60s psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock, including, of course, “Incense & Peppermints.” Also on the bill: Jay & the Americans (“This Magic Moment”), Ron Dante of The Archies (“Sugar, Sugar”), Dennis Tufano, the original lead singer of The Buckinghams (“Kind of a Drag”), Tom Garrett of The Classics IV (“Spooky”), Darren Dowler of Paul Revere & the Raiders (“Kicks”). Each will offer up at least two songs, and some of them will also be part of the Beatles tribute portion. Turns out all of them are American bands, serving to offset the British Invasion Beatles sections. “I didn’t even realize that,” Wachs said. “I just knew even with two Beatles albums, it was only about an hour’s worth of music.” Meanwhile, the evening will be co-hosted by Santa Barbara radio personality Catherine Remak (K-LITE 101.7), and Chris Carter of Los Angeles radio’s “Breakfast with the Beatles.” Wachs took pains to put a lot of attention on the concert’s beneficiaries, as the whole reason for the organization is chiefly fundraising efforts for local nonprofits. The largesse from this year’s concert will be split between Adam’s Angels – a compassionate group of volunteers extending help to our community members in need, including those experiencing hardship, homelessness, or high-risk isolation – and Santa Barbara Humane, a nonprofit animal welfare organization offering pet adoption, low-cost vet care, behavior training, and more. “They’ll both have some time to talk about what they do and where the money goes,” Wachs said. “We have a lot of fun doing the show, but the object of the game here is to raise money for the nonprofits. Which is why there’s also a silent auction whose unique items include a guitar signed by locally-raised star Katy Perry, and another autographed by global superstar Taylor Swift. You won’t find those at the Avo Fest.

Earl Minnis, in association with Rock Cellar Productions and the Get Together Foundation, presents “An Orchestrated Tribute to The Beatles, plus Hits of the 60s” at the Arlington Theatre at 8 pm on Saturday, October 17. Visit www.arlingtontheatresb.com for tickets, and https://rockcellarproductions.com/orchestrated-beatles for more information.

Ron Dante Pours a Little Sugar on it The Archies never existed as a real band, but only as a studio session ensemble co-created by Don Kirshner and Jeff Barry. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t have

22 Montecito JOURNAL

an actual lead singer, even if nobody knew Ron Dante’s name. The Staten Islandborn Dante was the flesh-and-blood lead vocalist for all the songs heard on the animated comic strip-based TV show’s multi-year run, singing on more than 100 tracks overall, often overdubbing his voice multiple times for both lead melodies and lush background harmonies. That includes “Sugar, Sugar,” a massive global smash that spent four consecutive weeks at the top of Billboard’s Hot 100, overtaking hits by the Beatles and Rolling Stones along the way to being named the No. 1 overall song of 1969. “Sugar, Sugar” also had a honey of a time overseas, enjoying an eight-week run at the top in the UK. What’s even more incredible is that “Sugar, Sugar” – written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim (“Rock Me Gently) – became so popular without anyone ever having performed the song live on a stage, a record that still stands. And the song remains an actual golden oldie known to all, no matter what generation you come from; probably even more recognizable than some of the Beatles’ hits. “Yeah, I mean it’s crazy,” said Dante, who in ‘68 got a last second audition for the gig through already knowing both Kirshner, who had signed him as a teenager for his music publishing company, and producer Barry, who he knew from singing background on Neil Diamond’s first record. Tracks had been recorded, but they hadn’t yet found someone to sing lead when Dante checked in at the studio, laid down the vocal for “Bang-Shang-A-Lang,” and got hired on the spot. “‘BangShang-A-Lang’ was the first single, but “Sugar, Sugar” was a huge hit all over the world. Every Top-40 radio station was playing it every hour. It was quite a kick as the singer.” The Archies were the epitome of what was pejoratively referred to as “Bubblegum Pop,” although “Sugar, Sugar” was also distributed/printed on an actual cereal box, Post Super Sugar Crisp. (Cereal Pop just doesn’t have the same ring.) Dante doesn’t care. “I embrace it! We were making music for young kids, nine to 13-year-olds. That was the market. We weren’t trying to compete with the other big rock groups at the time, the Stones or Led Zeppelin or Jimi Hendrix or anybody like that. So we were very happy to do that kind of music ,and I was overjoyed that it was a success. And for a lot of kids, the first rock and roll song they ever heard was when they cut that cardboard record out and played “Sugar, Sugar.” It was on 10 million boxes.” Also, Dante pointed out, the musicians recording the tracks in the studio were no slouches but among the biggest session players in New York, and Barry – the co-songwriter behind “Be My Baby,” “Hanky Panky,” “Da Doo Run Run,” and dozens of other absolutely iconic hits of the era who has lived in Montecito for decades – was a consummate producer. “I watched him working for hours on “Sugar, Sugar” just on the tempo and the bass and drums,” Dante said. “There’s that different rhythm part and he caressed it.” The Archies wasn’t the only ‘60s hit Dante sang. He also was the only vocalist on the song “Tracy” attributed to a different studio-only band called the Cuff Links, with the producers overdubbing his vocals and having him add harmonies to make it sound like a group. “I did it as a lark. I was trying to imitate the Grassroots or the Association. I guess I did a good job because it was a pretty big hit.” Indeed, the two songs were on the chart simultaneously in 1969, neither of which Dante ever had a chance to sing live in front of an audience until decades later, long after he produced Barry Manilow’s first nine studio albums with many hits, including “Mandy,” and went on to work with many other big names as a studio singer and/or producer. (The Gold Record hangs right next to the one he has for “Sugar, Sugar.”) The last quarter-century has seen Dante out on the road with oldies shows, including the “Happy Together” tour where he does double duty as one of the lead singers in The Turtles. He’ll be singing both “Sugar, Sugar” and “Tracy” at the Arlington – which will, remarkably, represent his city of Santa Barbara debut – in the “Hits of the ‘60s” portion of the concert. He’ll also serve as lead vocalist with The Tribe for “Penny Lane” during the main “An Orchestrated Tribute to the Beatles” set. “It’s such a fun song. It’s going to be a Montecito-based Ron Dante will be giving his Santa Barbara debut at the event (courtesy photo) blast,” Dante said.

1 – 8 October 2026

Coast Village’s Top Dog Top Dog: Milo

Forget sitting at the head of the table. A true Top Dog belongs smack dab in the middle of the family. And Milo clearly knows his place. Surrounded by his people and sporting a grin almost as big as theirs, he captures what being a Top Dog is really all about. It isn’t about pedigree or being leader of the pack. It’s about being the furry heart of it. This photo has personality, plenty of smiles, and one very happy pup holding court. For proving that every family portrait is better with a dog at its center, Milo takes Top Dog. About Milo from those who know him best: “Milo is a rescue; he is six years old and the center of the family!! Milo loves Blanco Smile Studio on CVR because they have treats. We walk to Coast Village every day and sometimes go to the beach for sunrise, but Milo insists we stop there. Sometimes it is not open and we have to negotiate to get him to continue on. He is a very kind dog and when we foster other dogs he calms them down and shows them it is okay.” Sounds like a Top Dog to us! Congratulations Milo and the whole Moe family! You win a custom sketch of your pup by artist Peter Horjus, valued at $750. Presented by Montecito Journal and Coast Village Association.

The Moe Family: Susan, Gigi, Milo, Mattias, and Linnea

Runners Up

Honorable Mentions

Most Fashionable: Tabatha

Most Playful: GiGi

Top Hunter: Beau-Dacious: Seen in the sea of CVR stores, searching for anywhere with cookies

Top Socialite: Wally: An attentive art aficionado at his favorite Caldwell Snyder Gallery

Best Passenger: Benita

Best Smile: Cowboy

1 – 8 October 2026

Best Hair: Crouton & Toast

Most Courageous: Uno

• Voice of theVillage •

Although there can be only one Top Dog… Each of these pups are the Best Dog! Scan here to see the full gallery!

Montecito JOURNAL

23

Community Voice by Nina Terzian

I

The Heart of the Community

’m still a little stunned to have received the 2026 One805 Heart of the Community Award, and I’m very grateful for it. I want to thank the people who made the September 25 event such a success, and to tell everyone in Santa Barbara who couldn’t be there what the award means to me. Thank you to our host, Kevin Costner; Sheriff Bill Brown; our new Fire Chief, Brian Fallon; the event sponsors; the One805 team, Nina accepting the 2026 On especially Kirsten Cavendish e805 Heart of the Community Award (court Weston-Smith and Richard esy photo) Weston-Smith; and the volunteers, artists and crew who worked behind the scenes. And now I can add one more name to the list: Flash, a German Shepherd who is One805’s newest K-9 first responder. It meant a great deal to have Oprah, my friend of 40 years, introduce

BETTER HEARING BEGINS WITH BEING HEARD GRAND OPENING OF MONTECITO’S FIRST AUDIOLOGY OFFICE Conveniently located on Coast Village

me. Thank you, Oprah. I love you! Everyone loves you! And I love my personal support team, my daughter Kristy, my grandson Trevor, and Eddie, my love. When I learned I would receive the award, I realized I couldn’t accept it for myself. The heart of our community isn’t one person. It’s all of us who stand behind the men and women who have made protecting Santa Barbara their life’s work. When we are hurt or frightened and don’t know what to do, we can count on our first responders to show up. They are our firefighters, sheriffs, police officers, EMTs, paramedics, 911 dispatchers, public works crews, law enforcement officers and emergency services staff, along with the mental health professionals who care for them. They have stood with us through earthquakes, wildfires, the 1/8 Debris Flow, floods, and more emergencies than anyone can count, often running toward danger while the rest of us run from it. They will be there for the next one, too. But they need us to be there for them, and One805 gives us a way to do it. One805 moves money fast, paying for urgent equipment and support that government budgets can’t always cover in time. That can mean rescue and medical gear, specialized vehicles and technology, operational help and training. It also pays for something harder to see. First responders don’t leave the job at the station when a shift ends. They carry what they’ve seen home with them, and they and their families may need confidential therapy, PTSD counseling, or peer support from people who have been through the same things. One805 funds that care as well. So, I’m asking everyone in our community to turn gratitude into action and give generously all year long. This is about taking care of our own. When we support our first responders and our community, we strengthen the whole community, and all of our lives are better for it. I give personally to four organizations that stand behind our first responders: One805, Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital, the Santa Barbara Police Foundation, and the Santa Barbara South Coast Firefighters Association. That’s why this award doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the first responders who put themselves in harm’s way, to their families, to the people who help them heal, to everyone they serve and protect, to the One805 team, volunteers, sponsors, artists and organizers, and to every person who chooses to give. A community’s heart is its people showing up for one another. When the next call comes, and it will, I want the people racing toward that emergency to know without a doubt that their community is running toward them. To our first responders: We see what you sacrifice. When you need us, we’ll be there. Let’s give together and take care of the people who take care of all of us. With Love and Gratitude, Nina Terzian

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40 years, Opra Nina and her friend of (courtesy photo)

1 – 8 October 2026

ONE805LIVE! If You Build It… by Lisa Duncan

“H

e’s my security,” Kevin Costner joked, smiling as he gave Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown a friendly pat on the back. It was a lighthearted moment at Costner’s oceanfront “Field of Dreams,” where nearly 4,000 guests gathered over two nights for ONE805LIVE! – a weekend of music, philanthropy, and appreciation for the men and women who protect Santa Barbara County. Under pink sunset skies and a rising harvest moon, first responders mingled with familiar Montecito faces and some very famous ones. “Happy to help,” Rob Lowe said, posing with a group of Santa Barbara County first responders near the concert stage. The longtime local’s words captured the spirit of the weekend: plenty of celebrity wattage, but the uniforms mattered most. “They take care of us, so we take care of them,” said One805 Co-Founder John Thyne III. Sheriff Brown traces One805’s beginnings to the aftermath of the Thomas Fire and Debris Flow, when three couples created the Kick Ash Bash as a giant thank-you to the firefighters and

law-enforcement personnel involved in firefighting, evacuations, and rescues. Four founders carried the effort forward into One805LIVE! Brown credits Richard and Kirsten Cavendish Weston-Smith, John and Olesya Thyne, longtime musical supporter Alan Parsons, and Costner, who continues to open his “Field of Dreams” estate to the cause. Friday featured The Temptations, The Four Tops, George Thorogood, Alan Parsons, The Plastic Harpoons, and DJ Samantha Ronson; Saturday followed with Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Slightly Stoopid, The High Kings, and host Kevin Costner & Modern West. All of the musicians waived their talent fees, donating their performances. “Every year, we are humbled by the passion and generosity surrounding ONE805LIVE!” said co-founder and CEO Kirsten Cavendish Weston-Smith. Much of that generosity is now focused on the One805 Mental Wellness Endowment Fund, approaching $3 million toward its $10 million goal to provide lasting menta health and wellness support for first responders and their families. Brown said One805 has also helped provide the Sheriff ’s Office with a mobile command post and critical equipment for its Air Support Unit and

Kevin Costner with the real celebrities of the night (courtesy photo)

Lt. David Morrell, John Thyne III, Olesya Thyne, and Lt. Juan Camarena (courtesy photo)

1 – 8 October 2026

Motown and mo’ filled Friday evening (photo by Kim Byrnes)

Dive Team. But he considers the organization’s support of mental wellness even more important. “The stress, the burden, and the trauma of those emergencies doesn’t just vanish when the shift ends,” Sheriff Brown said. The effect of a critical incident can follow the first responder home, he explained, where the experience may have what he called “a corrosive effect on the human soul.” “That’s why the peer support and mental wellness programs funded by One805 are so absolutely vital,” Brown said. “They’ve established an endowment fund that once fully funded, will ensure that these services are available to every first responder and their family members in perpetuity.” Former Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig also spoke about One805 stepping in when funding for confidential, culturally competent counseling was at risk – an immediate need that helped inspire the larger endowment goal. “We are really touched by the community’s interest in supporting the well-being of our firefighters,” said Montecito Fire Chief Brian Fallon, “and appreciate One805’s efforts to help care for our men and women in uniform.” Mike LoMonaco, Fire Marshal for Carpinteria-Summerland Fire, saw that community support playing out all around him. “What they do really well is they bring the community together,” LoMonaco said, noting One805’s increased focus on mental health. Making his way across Costner’s lawn was proof. “I see people I know from all over Santa Barbara, Ventura,” he said. “It’s nonstop. It’s like every two feet I have to stop and talk to somebody.” Mike grew up here, graduated from UCSB, and has over 20 years of service as a first responder. Then came his perfect description of the evening: “It’s just like a homecoming. It’s like you’re back at your high school reunion. Everybody’s here.”

• Voice of theVillage •

The weekend delivered its share of memorable celebrity moments as well. Oprah Winfrey presented the One805 Heart of the Community Award to Nina Terzian, honoring her philanthropy and community service. Later, Josh Brolin introduced Kevin Costner & Modern West, sharing Costner’s own early experience as a volunteer firefighter. “I don’t actually think we can do enough for our first responders,” Costner said generously. Pat Benatar brought another heartfelt moment, dedicating “Heartbreaker” to her late friend Dolly Parton, with whom Benatar and Neil Giraldo had reimagined the song for Parton’s 2023 Rockstar album. That may be what makes ONE805LIVE! feel so distinctly Santa Barbara: glamour and generosity sharing the same patch of lawn, legendary music drifting over the Pacific, and a community gathering not simply to celebrate its first responders, but to stand behind them. What began as a thank-you after disaster has grown into something designed to last – mental-wellness resources, peer support, equipment, and a promise that the people who take care of Santa Barbara County will be taken care of, too. At Kevin’s field, perhaps the old line deserves a new ending: If you build it, a community will come.

The singular Alan Parsons (photo by Kim Byrnes)

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On Entertainment Baik Is Back at MAW by Steven Libowitz

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usic Academy of the West fellows don’t normally return to the Miraflores campus as professionals just 14 months after finishing their residency at the summer festival. But that’s exactly what will happen when young pianist-composer August Baik, a 2025 MAW fellow who just turned 21, performs with violist Richard O’Neill, who was a fellow back in 1998-99 before returning as a faculty member more than a decade ago and joining Takács Quartet in 2020, in the initial concert of this year’s Mariposa Series at Hahn Hall on October 8. The program, which includes the world premiere of a composition for the two of them by Baik, is one that’s investigative as well as deeply personal for the two musicians. This examination of music that lives beneath the surface bears the intriguing title “Tradition Transformed.” Speaking from his family home in Seattle, Baik talked about his time here, working with O’Neill, and the upcoming program. Q. Anytime I talk to an alum, I always start out by asking about their time here. Given that you were here just 14 months ago, let’s just talk about the highlights of your summer last year. A. It was a huge opportunity for me. I was really grateful to work with the astounding piano faculty of Conor Hanick and Jeremy Denk, mentors who just in that summer pushed me to grow a lot and change my perspective as a pianist and as a musician. The people that I met there, the piano cohort, are all my friends still, and we’re all still supporting each other. It was a really special time. Can you say a little more about how your perspective changed? [Conor Hanick and Jeremy Denk] are both such amazing artists with their own unique perspectives. Playing the same piece for both of them and hearing their feedback let me find a balance between their ideas and harmonize them, no pun intended, with my own playing. Nowadays, few composers work as professional pianists, and vice versa. How did that happen for you, and how is it working? I think both of them inform each other quite a bit. Being able to create music as a response to what you’re doing is very important to me in my process of performing. I got into composing basically when I started playing piano, because I realized that it would sound like I was practicing if I was just sort of improvising things, which was more fun. Then I got into the Seattle Symphony Young Composers’ program in my last two years of high school, which was huge. What MAW did for my piano playing, that program did for my composing in terms of finding my voice. But I keep them separate. Composing needs to happen in its own sphere. Turning to the Mariposa concert, I understand it was Denk who put you together with Richard. You’ve worked together since the festival in Washington. How has that gone so far? I had no clue what to expect in that first rehearsal with him. But he’s incredibly kind, always creating a dialogue with you about the music, and he’s very open to new ideas and new ways of playing things. He has no ego at all when it comes to taking in suggestions. How did the two of you create the Mariposa program? The first piece we thought of was Britten’s “Lachrymae” [Op. 48. subtitled “Reflections on a Song by John Dowland”] which has this feeling that you are searching for the theme, but it only happens at the end when you hear John Dowland’s song. Then we worked with Indigo [Fischer] at MAW to build a program around the idea of the hidden melodies. That’s why I’m also playing Rzewski’s “Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues” (which transforms a folk song made famous by Pete Seeger), because that worker song melody comes out right at the end, with a feeling of catharsis. One of my earlier pieces is also like that, but I wrote a new one for this concert. Yes, the world premiere is at this concert. What can you tell me about the piece? I understand it’s based on Korean folk songs, reflecting on your shared heritage with Richard. Without using Korean characters, it’s called “Square Cycle.” It grew out of the Seattle composer program where we had a guest who draws on Hindustani classical music and incorporates it in her own work, which breathes a different sort of life into it. That was new for me, and I was intrigued because I want to play music that

26 Montecito JOURNAL

August Baik returns only 14 months after his summer residency at MAW to open the Mariposa Series (courtesy photo)

is more representative of me as a Korean American. It’s a way to reconcile my own heritage and find ways to make sense of it because what I do is very Western in playing classical piano music. The only way for me to do that would be to write it myself. For this piece, I took a transcription of a recording I found of Pansori, which is Korean folk opera with just a vocalist and a drummer. The music is only passed down orally, and the singers who can do it are considered national treasures. It’s very different from classical music, where we’re trying to harmonize with each other. There’s nothing that you can really latch onto in Pansori. My understanding is that you’re harmonizing with nature. I based the theme on that transcription I did, and the variations sort of converge at a certain point and then move away. There’s also a surprise at the end as with the other pieces, a very recognizable Korean theme. The goal in my compositions is trying to recontextualize something unfamiliar, like Korean folk music, and turn it into something recognizable to create conversations about it. I think as long as people are talking about, “What did I just listen to?” Even if they don’t like it, that’s what I’m after. My main goal in any concert is for people to learn something new or be inspired to listen more or create their own art. The program winds up with Sergei Rachmaninoff ’s “Sonata in G Minor,” which I’m told has special meaning for both of you. I know that Richard first played it when he was a fellow at MAW studying with Donald McGinnis. I guess he started creating the arrangement for viola back then. But what’s your relationship with it? Actually, I think he was just playing the transcription then, but I know he’s been working on it ever since. For me, I think it’s one of the greatest instrumental sonatas ever written. It was the first one that I learned because one of my best friends is a cellist. It’s an amazing piece and I’m very excited to play it with viola because I’ve never heard some of the registers that this music could be played in with only the cello. It’s really exciting to be coming back to Santa Barbara, bring back all those memories of my summer there, and to play with Richard at Hahn Hall. OK, this is tongue in cheek: Seattle is the grunge capitol of the world. How did you end up in classical music? Well, actually, I think much of music is connected. I bet if you give me a day to sit down, re-listen to some Nirvana and Pearl Jam and really think about it, I’m sure I’d find a lot. Those Romantic composers, they loved all that dark and moody stuff.

“No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face.” – John Donne

1 – 8 October 2026

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• Voice of theVillage •

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Our Town (Continued from 12 12)) Dr. Gerard van Belle, President & Observatory Director, LCO with his dog Goose in an attitude of repose (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

Other mandates include expanding the development and philanthropy here, the community engagement. And we will take a look at restarting Astronomy on Tap, and other things. As far as the home office location, we’re really happy here in our Santa Barbara area home. I’d like to see us get even more integrated with the community here, there’s such palpable, broad support for the arts and sciences here. For all interested grads and post-doc students, jobs are posted on our website. What are the challenges with increased satellites in orbit now, and those planned for the near future? Dark skies is indeed an area of concern on a couple of fronts. First, local governments have an opportunity to create dark skies – and save money for consumers through improved energy efficiency – with thoughtful lighting ordinances that encourage lighting to be directed downwards at the areas that need it, not scattering upwards into the sky. Then, with those helpful dark skies over our homes, preserving the natural beauty of the heavens above without a parade of bright orbiting satellites intruding on our views. This goal is of both aesthetic and scientific value. Right now we’re seeing a huge proliferation of those satellites, and not only do they interrupt our viewshed, they can corrupt some of the astronomical observations of our network. The larger astronomical community has been trying to engage with satellite network operators to mitigate this problem, and there have been some corporate citizens such as Starlink that have been constructively engaging with us to reduce their impact – but new, more ambitious plans of substantially larger data centers in orbit are a lurking threat that could dramatically impact the sky. Are you projecting an expansion of LCO in its global role? LCO occupies a really commanding position in time-domain astrophysics – we can observe almost anything at any time, and our expansive external subscriber base shows the existing appetite for that capability. We’d like to build on that, and one of the mandates for me in the new job is to be thinking strategically about that. Things under consideration include everything from new cameras to new telescopes to new sites, as well as opportunities for taking advantage of the new high ground and putting observatories in space. All of that requires resources, of course, and another mandate of mine is to look for opportunities for investment in LCO. We are already quite good at proposing for and competitively winning federal and independent foundation grant support, which I’d like to do more of – and I’m also looking to get philanthropic donors excited about investing in our research and education. LCO gives a lot of return on investment in both of those areas. What is the latest astrophysics news? The Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile is the new ground-based telescope jointly funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science and operated by NSF NOIRLab and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. It started full survey operations in July 2026. NASA’s newly launched its Roman Space Telescope, focused on discovering new planets around stars using microlensing technology. It’s going to open a big new window into humanity’s cultural adolescence and the questions that come with it, such as, “Are we normal?” [laughs] “Do other stars have architecture like us [our Solar System] or unlike us?” If you could travel anywhere in the galaxies this week, where would you go and why? So right here in our solar system is the moon Titan orbiting the gas giant Saturn.

Titan is super cold but has a really thick atmosphere of nitrogen, so you’d need lots of insulation and a scuba tank but no pressure suit. That thick atmosphere and low gravity means you could simply strap on wings and go flying. Do you have a personal telescope? We just bought a ZWO Seestar S50. It’s a nice little unit – fits in a briefcase-like container – and when you turn it on, it gets oriented and just knows where to point. And then you can have it take pictures of stars and galaxies and planets and pull up the pictures on your phone or tablet. Your top two Sci-Fi movies or TV shows? I’ve been recently watching For All Mankind, and it’s been a lot of fun. It’s an alt-history romp that assumes the ‘60s space race never ended. I was sitting in on a panel at World Science Fiction Convention down in L.A. a few weekends ago, and creator Ronald D. Moore described it as “the space program we were promised but never got.” It’s a pretty real-to-life portrayal of what would have happened if we had just kept on going full-tilt in the ‘70s and ‘80s and beyond. And I’ve always been super impressed with 2001: A Space Odyssey – it was made in 1968, for goodness’ sake, and still holds up today from a visual effects standpoint. And the portion of the story that veers into artificial intelligence is once again quite timely. Your favorite quote about astrophysics and space? A friend of mine likes to quip, “There’s a lot of beachfront property out there.” And there’s a lot wrapped up in that statement. Over the last couple of decades, we’ve been finding a whole pile of planets orbiting nearby stars. And of those planets, we’ve been looking for those that are not-too-hot, not-too-cold. These “Goldilocks” planets aren’t ice-balls or saunas but would have liquid water on them. And wherever we find liquid water here on Earth, we find life. Anything you would like to add that we haven’t touched on? LCO really stands on the threshold of a magical decade of discovery – much of what the observatory has been building up to has finally been set in motion, both in the materials used for telescopes and in computer technology. AI is a wonderful new tool and LCO has been using it in the past year. It’s not going to replace any of us, but it is letting us do things faster and quicker, another blade in the Swiss Army knife. It’s going to be really exciting! And Santa Barbara is an equally magical place to be located in. I’m looking forward to settling into this community and sharing the new view on the universe that LCO helps reveal. Dr. van Belle served as Director of Science at the Lowell Observatory, where he was a tenured astronomer. He worked four years in Germany at the European Southern Observatory on telescope instrumentation for ESO’s site in Chile. He holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Wyoming; MA in Physics from John Hopkins University, and BA in Physics and Astronomy from Whitman College. Originally from Seattle, WA, he came to Santa Barbara from Flagstaff, AZ, the world’s First International Dark Sky City. 411: https://lco.global/user/gvanbelle

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1 – 8 October 2026

Lang Lang, piano Fri, Oct 9 / 7 PM / Granada Theatre “Lang the magician is slowly transforming himself into Lang the musician… his playing was so raptly beautiful that one was afraid to breathe for fear of missing anything.” Chicago Tribune Program includes Mozart, Beethoven, Albéniz, Granados and Liszt

Clarice & Sérgio Assad

CelloGayageum

Wed, Oct 21 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall

Thu, Oct 29 / 7 PM / Hahn Hall

Legendary Brazilian guitarist and composer Sérgio Assad joins his daughter, the pianist, vocalist and Grammynominated composer Clarice Assad, for an evening showcasing the warmth, rhythmic vitality and rich musical inheritance of one of Brazil’s great artistic families.

Bridging the soulful resonance of Western classical music with the elegance of Korean gugak tradition, CelloGayageum engages in a dialogue across musical traditions, evoking a sound that is both ancient and modern.

Visit our website to view the full 2026-2027 lineup 1 – 8 October 2026

(805) 893-3535 | www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu Granada event tickets can also be purchased at: (805) 899-2222 | www.GranadaSB.org

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

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Robert’s Big Questions

Progress and Artificial Intelligence? by Robert Bernstein

C

urrent battles over Artificial Intelligence (AI) are tied to the idea of “progress.” For the past century or so we have taken it for granted that progress is a thing. Progress is the idea that we can build on past knowledge to create new technology. Which in turn allows us to acquire more knowledge and more technology. This led to the idea that each generation would be better off than the previous generation. But this is a very recent idea. For most of human existence, quality of life did not change much with each generation. People awaited the afterlife for a better life. Elders were revered for remembering what little was really known. Ancient Greek philosophers Hesiod, Empedocles, and Demosthenes felt that society was actually in steady decline from a previous golden age. Some societies kept calendars with long term cycles. Calendars have monthly and annual cycles governing planting, harvesting, and cultural festivals. But the Mayan calendar had a long cycle of about 5,125 years. The Hindus had nested “yugas” – discrete units of time equaling 4.32 million years. 1,000 of these comprise a mahāyuga – one daytime in the life of the creator god Brahma – accruing all the way up to Brahma’s entire lifetime (Maha-Kalpa) of 311 trillion years. They could conceive of vast time periods while maintaining the idea that there is no actual progress. Many cultures have the idea of this historical cycle: Order ➝ prosperity ➝ decadence ➝ disorder ➝ replacement ➝ renewed order. With progress comes pushback. The Luddites famously smashed weaving machines in a vain attempt to protect the jobs of hand weavers. I have been mystified about why religions don’t seem to show progress. Some new religions deliberately seek to return to “traditional” values rather than move forward. Think of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) cult. The key word is “Again.” As if there was some time in the past where everything was Great. And we just need to restore that past. Oddly, they are trying to “restore” laws like abortion bans that never existed in most of human history. Progress is disruptive. People lose jobs. The question is how to solve these real problems and not create imaginary enemies and even bigger problems.

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There is much talk now of regulating AI. And the far right and the far left openly express Luddite views of destroying data centers. I have been following the up and down progress and dead ends of AI since I was a teen in the 1970s. For the past 25 years I have followed Ray Kurzweil’s roadmap of how AI will affect society. His predictions have been very accurate and we are on track for far more dramatic change. I very much doubt that traditional “regulation” of AI can be much of a thing. Past technology could be regulated in visible ways. Nuclear materials and nuclear refinement can be tracked. Enforcing rules is still a challenge, as North Korea and Iran have shown. But at least we know what it means to have a regulation. In the case of AI Large Language Models (LLMs), massive data centers are needed in order to “train” them. But it does not take a lot of processing power to use them. The “weights matrix” (functional core) of a major AI can be stored on a thumb drive. And the model can then be run locally on a laptop. How can you regulate that? Some fear that AI will be used recursively (a continually perpetuating self- improvement loop) to write new code for better AIs. Is this a bug or is it an essential feature? Kurzweil sees this as the key feature that transcends the idea of exponential growth. We will now have double exponential growth: exponential growth begetting exponential growth. This leads to his repeated talk of a “singularity” where this rise becomes so steep that it literally changes everything. There is talk of banning this recursive code writing. How is that possible? Again, we are already to the point where these models can be run on a laptop. Major AI companies can be held liable for harms, but this has limits. Talk of AI Optimism or Pessimism is not helpful. We need to face AI Reality and guide it toward the best possible human outcomes. No, it won’t be easy. 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

Your Westmont

Talk Explores Fun, Practical Uses of AI, Robotics by Scott Craig, photos by Brad Elliott)

E

ngineering professors Dan Jensen and Kristin L. Wood lead an interactive Westmont Downtown lecture, “Having Fun with Everyday AI and Robotics: Life Implications,” on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 5:30 pm at Westmont Downtown | Keith Center, 29 W. Anapamu St. The event offers a hands-on exploration of artificial intelligence and robotics. Attendees should bring a smartphone or smart device to participate. The talk remains free and open to the public, with limited seating available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please call (805) 565-6051. “The world today presents a labyrinth of challenges,” Jensen says. “Our mission connects the rapidly changing world of technology with people where they live and work, offering a positive, safe outlook for the future.” The presentation demystifies the inner workings of AI, explores tools that boost personal and organizational creativity, and examines how artificial intelligence intersects with Christian theology. The speakers open the floor for audience questions throughout the talk and conclude with a list of top 10 practical ways to explore AI and robotics. Jensen, Allder professor of science and technology and director of the Westmont engineering department, earned a doctorate in aerospace engineering science from the University of Colorado Boulder. He served as a professor of engineering mechanics at the U.S. Air Force Academy for more than two decades. An expert in engineering design and innovation, Jensen directs

Dan Jensen

an engineering consulting firm, holds numerous patents, and has secured about $10 million in research and consulting funding. Wood, professor of engineering at Westmont, completed master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering and applied science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He previously served in faculty and leadership roles at the University of Texas at Austin, the U.S. Air Force Academy, Singapore University of Technology and Design, and the University of Colorado Denver. A fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Wood has published more than 600 peer-reviewed articles and books and has mentored over 25 startup companies. He is the founding head of engineering and product development and director of the SUTD-MIT International Design Center. The Westmont Foundation sponsors the talk, part of Westmont Downtown: Conversations About Things That Matter.

Warriors Teach Life– Saving Skills in Thailand Summer training gave the Westmont women’s swimming program a profound new purpose this year. Head Coach Jill Lin, her nearly five-year-old son, Caden, and 10 swimmers, including three recent graduates, traveled to Northern Thailand for a historic outreach trip from July 30-Aug. 16. “Paladin Rescue Alliance reached out to our team, and once we learned more about them, we felt called to participate,” Lin says. “The leading cause of

Westmont Page 374 374

Kristin Wood

“Wild is the music of the autumnal winds amongst the faded woods.” – William Wordsworth

1 – 8 October 2026

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Pours from 70 winemakers, tasty bites, and plenty of bubbles fill out the Santa Barbara Vintners Festival (courtesy photo)

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Tercero, with an airy and cozy tasting room in downtown Los Olivos, echoes Cronje: “As a winemaker, I try never to lose an opportunity to get out in front of our brand with as many consumers as possible. As a brand, it’s important to us to show camaraderie and support our region as a whole, so that we can hopefully elevate it in the eyes of trade and consumers.” Schaffer will be bringing his signature out-of-the-box varieties to this event like Picpoul blanc and Counoise, as well as his popular pinot noir and rosé wines. “We may even pour a preview of one of our new sparkling wines,” he teases. Beyond the crowd interface, this festival becomes a rare social hour among vintners. They’re in the throes of harvest, their busiest time of the year, after all. And after a historically early pick this year – by many weeks, actually, with some early ripening grapes pulled off the vine as early as June 30 – a chance to party among peers is a treat. And the palpable buzz that results spills across us consumers, too. “This is the one time of year that all of us make an effort to get together,” says winemaker Ryan Carr. “Most winemakers spend most of their time trying to promote their brand. We rarely get the opportunity to get together with so many winemakers, in one afternoon, and taste each other’s creations.” Carr Winery, a passion project for Carr and his wife, Jessica, runs two tasting rooms, the famously unique working winery and entertainment space inside a 1940s Quonset hut in Santa Barbara’s east side, and a comfy walk-in locale in the historic township of Santa Ynez. I think Carr makes the best cabernet franc in Santa Barbara, which he will be pouring at the Vintners Festival, along with “a few new releases that we’re going to sneak into this event – our first ever GSM [blend] and a 100% Mourvèdre.” Pali Wine Co. winemaker Aaron Walker says that “the festival is a great opportunity to reconnect with other fellow winemakers and people in the industry,” and, noting the face-to-face time he gets with both colleagues and guests, “the timing of the festival is really nice in that respect… because, especially during harvest, I don’t get any of that interaction.” At the wine table, Walker will be showcasing their estate bottles – wines produced from their 50-acre Pali Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. And he’ll be doing double duty, also pouring at the Bubble Lounge, a pop-up feature with close to 20 sparkling wine producers. “We’re playing around and experimenting with new techniques or using new varieties, like our new sparkling chenin blanc, which we’re just releasing now,” says Walker. “These are all important wines for us, especially being in Sta. Rita Hills, where the grapes just want to be made into the sparkling wine. It’s just got

“Autumn wins you best by this, its mute appeal to sympathy for its decay.” – Robert Browning

the perfect conditions… so it’d be negligent of us to not take advantage of the conditions to make great sparkling wine.” The Bubbly Lounge will also feature Alma Rosa Winery, which bottles no fewer than three distinct sparklers each vintage. “We’ve always felt that Sta. Rita Hills has a lot of potential for producing exceptional sparkling wines, and we are seeing more and more beautiful wines come out of the region,” says winemaker, and Bosnian native, Samra Morris. “Our El Jabali Estate has incredible natural acidity and minerality, which gives us a great foundation for sparkling… and who doesn’t love bubbles?” Wine tastes better with food, which will be doled by talent from Solvang’s The Gathering Table, Santa Barbara’s Lucky Penny, and The Historic Santa Maria Inn. The 2026 Santa Barbara Vintners Festival, hosted at historic Firestone Vineyard, will run from 1 to 4 pm on Saturday, October 17. Tickets are $125, with Early Entry at noon for $175 and access for designated drivers and non-alcohol guests for just $35. And, as part of the broader Vintners Festival Weekend, wineries throughout the region will also host exclusive din ners, tastings, and special events. Find out more at sbvintnersweekend.com – and see you there!

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.

1 – 8 October 2026

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 NOVEMBER 7-8, 2026 S A N TA B A R B A R A P O LO & R A CQ UE T C L U B BENEFITING SANTA BARBARA CITY COLLEGE AUTOMOTIVE PROGRAM AND LOCAL YOUTH CHARITIES T I C K E T S A N D 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 1 – 8 October 2026

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Montecito Health Coach

Injecting the Algorithm: Inside TikTok’s Dangerous Peptide Craze by Deann Zampelli

T

he week before we dropped our son off at college, we had the great joy of being at a dinner with a large group of his friends and their families. One of his friends made a joke about someone’s summer tan peeling and teasingly suggested he should have injected it instead. I needed clarification. These boys are always happy to enlighten me, knowing that I am not only insatiably curious, but horrifically clueless. Peptides. He patiently explained. Wait, what? I take collagen peptides every day, like those? No, not like those. And they proceeded to explain what they were talking about. For those of you who might be as in the dark as I was, the peptides they were referring to are the injectable peptides currently being marketed primarily to teens wanting to build muscle, speed up recovery of healing, and even for tanning. Yes, tanning. The products being sold are being touted in what is known as a “gray

Curator’s Choice

A Boring Clam (Not in That Way)

T

his piece of Monterey Shale reveals the work of our local boring clams, so called because they bore into the rock to create a secure home. Curators at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History who study bivalves (clams, oysters, scallops, and mussels) don’t find these animals boring at all. The mollusks have a rough surface on the front of their shells that acts like a drill bit when they rock minutely back and forth. They also secrete a substance that softens the surrounding rock without degrading their shell. The Central Coast region has a great diversity of boring clams because of how warm currents and cool currents meet at Point Conception, and because of the abundance of Monterey Shale. Shale is a favorite rock for these clams because it is relatively soft. This rock and clam specimen is among the millions of marine invertebrate specimens preserved in the Museum’s collections.

A (not) so boring clam

34 Montecito JOURNAL

market” and conveniently forget to mention the side effects, of which there are many. Driven by algorithms and designed to capture teen attention, TikTok has become a hotbed for promoting these unregulated, experimental substances. Many of these videos bypass safety guidelines by using coded language or labeling the products “for research purposes only.” This massive digital push has created a distinct, troubling disconnect between what kids see on their screens and actual clinical medicine. Commenting on this unregulated surge of self-experimentation, Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California, cleanly cut through the online noise, warning that the underground peptide trend is “unfounded and reckless.” While a teenager scrolling through social media might view these injections as a harmless “biohack” for a quick tan or faster muscle recovery, medical experts see a dangerous gamble with unproven, potentially toxic chemicals.

Much like any unregulated market (buying pharmaceuticals without a prescription, or a supplement you buy online, for example) there is no oversight to guarantee either its safety or its efficacy. According to Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center, “While the immediate side effects of these unregulated injections can include nausea, intense headaches, and severe injection-site infections, the deeper peril lies in how they disrupt a teenager’s still-maturing endocrine system. Introducing synthetic peptides – especially growth hormone secretagogues meant for fast muscle gains or melanotan for tanning – forces external, unverified chemicals into a body that is supposed to be managing its own delicate, natural hormone feedback loops. For an adolescent whose bones and organs are still growing, this hormonal interference can have devastating consequences. Pediatric and endocrine specialists warn that these compounds can trigger accelerated bone maturation, which paradoxically forces growth plates to close prematurely and stunts ultimate adult height. Even more alarming is the potential for unpredictable glucose intolerance and organ stress, meaning these young ‘biohackers’ are trading long-term metabolic health for a fleeting, algorithm-driven aesthetic.” In addition to the side effects, there is a real concern of contamination. Because of the lack of regulation in this market, not only could the vials themselves be contaminated, they could also contain unwanted and dangerous additives such as lead and arsenic, and may not even be what the consumer believes they bought. Much like any unregulated market (buying pharmaceuticals without a prescription, or a supplement you buy online, for example) there is no oversight to guarantee either its safety or its efficacy. Many of the distributors avoid legal prosecution by labeling their products – “For Research Purposes Only. Not For Human Consumption.” – which should be your first clue that you should not, as a human, consume it. Once our children move out of the house these issues can be more difficult to navigate, but in the meantime, here are a few helpful tips to get you started. 1. Talk to your children. Kids as young as 12 and 13 are doing it. These are key years during puberty so even if you don’t think they are at risk, have the conversation to educate them as to the reality of what is going on and to encourage them to ask questions. 2. Look out for small boxes being delivered. At the risk of invading their privacy (I wanted to put that in quotes), open the box to double check what they are having delivered. I used to open things “by mistake” (don’t judge). 3. Keep an eye out for any medical paraphernalia such as alcohol pads and of course syringe parts. 4. Be on the lookout for any noticeable physical changes. Yes, drinking protein shakes and lifting weights does a lot for a growing teen body but it won’t shred them in two weeks. Follow your instincts. Ask questions. Fight for your kids. Don’t worry as much about pissing them off. They are pissed off a lot anyway all on their own. 5. Also, keep watch for any behavioral changes such as mood swings, obsession over missed workouts or over body parts, or their hyper focusing on a tan or their musculature. Lastly, share your wisdom with them. Before they let a 30-second video convince them to inject what could be a decade-long mistake, remind them that their body is their temple, not a TikTok experiment. Regardless of how many likes they might get for their newly sculpted six-pack.

“October is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen.” – Hal Borland

1 – 8 October 2026

Elizabeth’s Appraisals

Caihe with one shoe, the patron of gardeners, who carries a flower basket.

Each Immortal is special; perhaps the Carved Chests and the Eight Immortals favorite is Lu Dongbin, who was once

by Elizabeth Stewart

KG

has an early-20th century Chinese (Qing) Dynasty carved camphor chest (41” long), of little monetary value ($350400), as these are relatively common, but it bears priceless symbolism. Would I keep this or sell it? Read on. Regarding the spiritual side of this chest, I would keep it around for protection! Look at the carving on the lower panel of the trunk and you will see 10 figures carved in deep relief. These are the Eight Immortals with two attendants. The canonical group of Eight Immortals is often portrayed on these imported Chinese chests, grouped as a line of deities who are traveling together. The environment on this chest is represented by the stylized clouds and waves along the edges. Perhaps they all journey to the Peach Banquet of Immortality hosted by the Queen Mother of the West. The large dragon in the roundel at the top is dynamic, its snarl surrounded by swirls, creating a powerful image of protection. The most important function of the Immortals is to offer mortals an example of resilience and resourcefulness, because in their journeys they do not need a vessel: they rely, each one, on their unique superpower. The parable? When faced with a stormy sea (in life), each one trusts in his/her “gift,” and we all have one! Pictured on household furnishings, the combined presence of all Eight Immortals, each with a magical weapon or talisman, carries auspicious associations with protection, good fortune, longevity, and harmony. Signaling out one of the immortals is helpful as well: When unwell, call upon Li Tieguai, who, in the center of the chest’s lower panel, walks with an iron crutch and carries a medicine gourd; or call upon He Xiangu, the female, who wears a health-giving lotus symbolizing purity, enlightenment, and a zenith of health. Call upon the Immortals as a group when facing a personal trial or facing a risk. Because these folks were once mortal, they are reachable, approachable; they know what hardships we mortals endure. This sense of individual determinism is told in the fable, “The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea,” the Taoist tale of the achievements of the blessed ones who have attained Taoist perfection. I have seen such chests carved with hard-to-interpret motifs: large sailing vessels, soldiers on horseback, and, most interestingly, pagodas in gardens, and court ladies playing cards. The chests may describe a beloved folktale. 1 – 8 October 2026

The Chinese (Qing) Dynasty carved camphor chest depicting the Eight Immortals

The Eight Immortals: The female figure with the lotus leaf is the symbol of eternal and spiritual health, He Xiangu. The figure with a bamboo flute, which is magical and causes plants to grow and flowers to blossom, and is patron of gardeners, is Han Xiangzi. The figure with the long straight object is holding a tubular drum, which would suggest Zhang Guolao; if the object is instead a fan, the figure could be Zhongli Quan. Next, Lü Dongbin, a scholar, wears his cap and bears his magical sword against evil spirits, and has a special smirk on his face. Then comes the famed healer of the sick, the Iron Crutch Li Tieguai, with his walking staff, and tattered clothes, holding a magic gourd filled with potions. Now, Cao Guojiu, who gave up his position in the Imperial Palace to follow the Tao, carries the evidence of his nobility on the jade tablets over his shoulder. Then, the musician of the fish drum, Zhang Guolao (referenced above), uses his tube-drum of bamboo to tell futures and to sing Taoist ballads. Finally, the androgynous deity Lan

a mortal who enjoyed sex, romance, and material possessions. A scholar and a Tang Dynasty poet, he was immortalized as having undergone 10 trials to prove himself worthy. These trials taught Lu Dongbin that the world’s material achievements mean nothing. The Eight Immortals also entered 20th-century popular culture in some wonderfully unexpected ways. Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master famously features the “Eight Drunken Immortals” as a series of martial arts forms, each inspired by one of the legendary figures. The Eight Immortals also appear in Jackie Chan Adventures, an animated television series that featured the ancient Chinese figures turned into a modern adventure story. In the X-Men Adventures, the Eight protect China from the evil mutant Xorn. And in the Marvel Comics universe, the Eight continue their reign in “Immortal Iron Fist,” where their legendary powers are woven into the world of kung fu superheroes. So auspicious is the number eight (the infinity symbol) that the Beijing 2008 Olympics began at 8:08 pm on 8/8/2008.

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

Ellen Crowe MD Just You and Your Doctor Not...you versus some insurance

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News Bytes (Continued from 10 10)) NOTICE TO BIDDERS Bids open at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, October 20, 2026 for: MODOC MUP PHASE II LANDSCAPING AND IRRIGATION IMPROVEMENTS IN THE 2ND SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT COUNTY PROJECT No. 862462 General project work description: Landscaping and Irrigation Improvements The Plans, Specifications, and Bid Book are available at https://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=43874. The Contractor must have either a Class A license or any combination of the following Class C licenses which constitutes a majority of the work: A, B AND C-27 Submit sealed bids to the web address below. Bids will be opened and available at the web address below immediately following the submittal deadline. PlanetBids https://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=43874 Complete the project work within 95 Workings Days. The estimated cost of the project is $ 706,000 A optional pre-bid meeting is scheduled for this project on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at 10:00 AM at Intersection of Obern Trail and Modoc MUP. This project is subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). A contractor or subcontractor shall not be qualified to bid on, be listed in a bid proposal, subject to the requirements of PCC Section 4104, or engage in the performance of any contract for public work, as defined in this chapter, unless currently registered and qualified to perform public work pursuant to Labor Code (LAB) Section 1725.5. It is not a violation of this section for an unregistered contractor to submit a bid that is authorized by Business and Professions Code (BPC) Section 7029.1 or by PCC Section 10164 or 20103.5 provided the contractor is registered to perform public work pursuant to LAB Section 1725.5 at the time the contract is awarded. Prevailing wages are required on this Contract. The Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations determines the general prevailing wage rates. Obtain the wage rates at the DIR website https://www.dir.ca.gov/. Inquiries or questions based on alleged patent ambiguity of the plans, specifications, orXXXX estimate must be submitted as a bidder inquiry by 2:00 PM on 10/16/2026. Submittals after this date will not be addressed. Questions pertaining to this Project prior to Award of the Contract must be submitted via PlanetBids Q&A tab. Bidders (Plan Holders of Record) will be notified by electronic mail if addendums are issued. The addendums, if issued, will only be available on the County’s PlanetBids website, https://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=43874 By order of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Barbara this project was authorized to be advertised on 11/01/2022 Christopher Sneddon Director of Public Works

36 Montecito JOURNAL

Published Oct. 1, 2026 // Montecito Journal

1965 as a fundraiser to bring running water to the Santa Ynez Reservation. More than 60 years later, the annual event continues to unite tribes from across North America while providing an opportunity to share Chumash culture, traditions and heritage with the local community. 411: https://chumash.gov/powwow

MLK Poetry & Essay Contest Submissions The Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Santa Barbara is proud to present the 2027 Essay and Poetry Awards Program (EPAP). This annual initiative invites students to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through original essays and poems that reflect his timeless values. The theme for this year’s application is a quote from The Wisdom of Martin Luther King Jr. (Ayres, 1993): “It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people.” Entries must be a single essay of 1,000 words or less. Poetry entries must be 50 lines or less. Maximum of two essays and/or poem entries per person. All entries MUST include student’s name, grade level, and poem/essay title.

411: https://mlksb.org/essay-poetry-program

Organic Soup Kitchen Expands to Lompoc Organic Soup Kitchen is expanding its medically tailored meal program to Lompoc this October, bringing the service north for the first time. The move follows more than a year of requests from Lompoc-area residents living with serious chronic illnesses who previously could not access OSK’s meal delivery program because of geography. Working with Lompoc Valley Medical Center and DoorDash, OSK will establish a weekly delivery day, with client orders transported north and distributed directly to the community. Enrollment and intake processing began September 18. The expansion comes after the closure of another meal delivery provider in the area. Lompoc residents on Medi-Cal who are living with serious chronic illness can apply for the program through Organic Soup Kitchen.

A Perfect Day at Dodger Stadium A convivial group of MClub and Santa Barbara Club members headed south aboard a luxury motorcoach courtesy of Montecito Bank & Trust for the Dodgers-Giants showdown, enjoying a lively day of baseball, history, bus games, and plenty of Dodger spirit. On the ride down, Gary Simpson entertained us with Dodgers standings and history, recalling the team’s move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958, around the time his family moved to L.A. He also told us about the making of Dodger Stadium and the staggering amount of dirt moved to carve out the ballpark. Then Brent Anderson turned the bus into a guessing contest: What time would we arrive to the stadium? What time would the crowd sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame?” How many fans would be there? How many strikeouts would we see? And, so forth! At the stadium, we had marvelous, shaded Field Level seats under the loge just beyond first base. The group enjoyed Dodger Dogs, took photos of Shohei Ohtani in the dugout, and when 47,410 fans rose to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” the stadium seemed to shimmer. It was a happy crowd. Once they hit their stride, the Dodgers ramped up their game, including a sixth inning home run by Tommy Edman, and a nine-strikeout pitching performance by Emmet Sheehan, as they defeated the Giants 3–1. This day delivered everything a Dodgers outing should! Baseball fans included SB Club President Ellen Robinson, Tim Vail, Judy Milam, Jill Nida, Hiroko Benko, Dirk Brandts, Bill Macfadyen, Mary and Bob Gates, Tim Vail, Maria McCall, and Bill Macfadyen Emily Calkins, Orfael Gomez, and (photo by Priscilla) our very own Priscilla.

“The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.” – Henry Beston

1 – 8 October 2026

Westmont (Continued from 30 30))

Caden helps bathe an elephant (courtesy photo)

death for children in Thailand is drowning – and they’re also at high risk of being trafficked.” Paladin saw the need and created an English-language water-safety and human-trafficking camp, which they run at remote schools in North Thailand. “Since we’re swimmers, we felt an immediate connection to the mission and were excited to see how the gifts and skills we’ve been given could bless others,” Lin says. The trip challenged the team with new environments and packed schedules, including running three to four 45-minute swim lessons a day in cold water. Despite language barriers and minor obstacles, the swimmers adapted easily. “We didn’t know what to expect, so almost everything surprised us,” Lin says. “I was truly amazed how they took minor inconveniences in stride. They adjusted and adapted to every challenge, and it was cool to watch them thrive in the classroom and the pool.” The lessons offered the local children a rare opportunity. With no pools within 100 miles of their school and their swimming options limited to the town river, many kids faced deep fears to take part. “I got to work with one little girl who had tears in her eyes almost the whole lesson, but she did everything we asked her to do,” Lin recalls. “Her bravery was so inspiring. She knew the cost of not learning to swim: It could mean her life one day. She didn’t let her fear prevent her from learning how to float.” The team experienced powerful moments of connection. Thirteen local

students joined the Warriors for a night of singing worship songs and exchanging random handwritten cards of encouragement. Caden also brought immense joy to the trip, playing with a baby elephant, riding a bamboo raft down a river and witnessing the team serve. The experience left an undeniable impact on the program, changing how the swimmers view their sport and their mission. “I believe it’s given us greater appreciation for the opportunity to swim, a skill we’re privileged to possess,” says Lin. “We grew so much closer by spending so much concentrated time in a completely new – and at times uncomfortable – environment. Additionally, for everyone who went, it sparked a new-found passion for mission/service trips. We’re already talking about the next one!” The team plans a return trip in May 2028, with swimmers eager to lead the charge alongside the team at Paladin Rescue Alliance. “We made such strong connections with their staff, and we want to go back and serve with them as soon as we can!”

Alumna Pairs Oil Paintings with Salvaged Wood

Westmont alumna Ella Jennings (’23) presents her oil paintings on salvaged wood panels in What Remains, a joint exhibition with woodturner Don Scott at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara. The exhibition runs

Westmont swimmers offered lessons in the pool (courtesy photo)

1 – 8 October 2026

Ella Jennings at the opening reception (courtesy photo)

through Nov. 7, with an artist talk on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 2 pm at the gallery, 229 E. Victoria St. What Remains pairs Scott’s handturned wooden vessels with Jennings’ intimate interior scenes, highlighting both artists’ reductive techniques and connection to natural materials. Jennings transforms familiar surroundings into settings for memory, personal transition, and emotional reflection. “I found interiors to be a helpful visualization of moving from singleness to marriage and the associated changes of occupation, identity and home,” Jennings says. “My family has also been navigating

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE ALLEN LAW FIRM, 649 VERDE MAR VISTA, UNIT C, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93103. C.D. ALLEN WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC, 649 VERDE MAR VISTA UNIT C, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93103. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on September 10, 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. 2026-0002281. Published September 17, 24, and Oct. 1, 8, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THUIS ORGANIC DESIGNS, 3908 Foothill RD, Carpinteria, CA 93013. MAXIMUM NURSERY, INC, 3908

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my grandmother’s dementia and her loss of memory. While houses preserve the past, scenes of trees and sky reflect the difficulty of holding onto human experience in a changing landscape.” Jennings paints on salvaged wood panels, depicting pared-down domestic spaces, doorways and open windows. Luminous color, abstract light and symbols like birds and trees permeate her work, representing hope and divine connection. Growing up in a historic Spanish bungalow in Southern California influenced Jennings’ artistic perspective. Her work distills everyday interior structures into quiet, transformative spaces. The gallery opens for visitors on Saturdays from 1-4 pm. A portion of artwork sales benefits educational programs at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara.

Scott Craig is manager of media relations at Westmont College

Foothill Road, Carpinteria, CA, 93013. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on August 26, 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. 20260002167. Published September 10, 17, 24, and Oct. 1, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ROSE CAFE SALSA OF SANTA BARBARA, 834 W Sola Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. MANUEL V BAJARAS & DEBORAH D BAJARAS, 315 Meigs Rd STE A263, Santa Barbara, CA, 93109. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 30, 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. 2026-0001968. Published September 10, 17, 24, and Oct. 1, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EXTREME GROUT CLEAN; GROUT WIZARD SANTA BARBARA, 834 W Sola Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. MANUEL V BAJARAS & DEBORAH D BAJARAS, 315 Meigs Rd STE A263, Santa Barbara, CA, 93109. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 30, 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. 2026-0001969. Published September 10, 17, 24, and Oct. 1, 2026

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Beings & Doings (Continued from 6)

Abductees Barney and Betty Hill (photo John G. Fuller/Copyright University of New Hampshire)

Mr. Dykeman. We’d been caught running around the playground during class time. Bruce went first, and when the paddle hit his rump his facial expression elicited from me an involuntary laugh. This constituted an early and memorable lesson in “when to be especially careful not to emit an involuntarily laugh.”

W

hen my kindly dentist administered a whiff of calming nitrous oxide to a nervous 13-year-old Jeff, I threw up on him so violently it knocked the periodontal probe out of his hand.

I

was a teenage soccer player, and they actually named the team after me in what I later came to understand as packaged humiliation. I was a terrible and wildly ignorant player. In one key game I saw the ball rolling in at speed and ran into the goal area, where I reached down and swept

Society Edit (Continued from 14 14))

M

y high school Driver’s Education teacher, Mr. Amerson, had injured his larynx as a young man and could only speak in a whispering rasp. During my driving lesson I attempted to turn left on a red light and Mr. Amerson waved his arms and rasped with such helpless alarm his voice left him entirely and I thought he was having a seizure.

I

n fifth grade a girl who fancied me put a love note on my desk. “Dear Boy,” it began. I wrote her what I thought was a polite and thoughtful reply, declining to reciprocate. The next day she and two other girls beat me up during second recess.

A

Bible-quoting teetotaler at the time, I tried to keep up with my dream date at a standing room only Psychedelic Furs concert and wincingly drained every red solo cup she handed me. Thirty minutes into the concert I collapsed in a literal heap at her feet. A sprawled fool in a phony new wave blazer, I regained consciousness staring straight up at an inward-leaning circle of concerned concertgoers as a stranger lightly slapped my face. “Oh, no,” I thought. “Oh please no.” * This is but a sampling. I ask two things, reader: that you please consider following my lead by healing your own tormented conscience, and that these abject failures of spirit remain our little secret. I thank thee. I’m using the word “thee” because it sounds fancier.

Soccer pitch: one particular moron misunderstood the term (photo by Jeff)

38 Montecito JOURNAL

finale of her philanthropy. Belle, “As many of you may know, this is my finale, I’m done with my career as a philanthropist. And some of my last funds were given to MOXI in honor of my sister [Lily]. Truly, when she asked if I wanted to chair, I told her the only chair I want is one to sit in [laughs]. I just need to process all these years of being a philanthropist and the magic of cross-pollination. So, like the Harvest Moon, things falling away can make room for what does. I’ve worked with many nonprofits in this community. MOXI was one where I was there from day one, with the shovel and the Wolfs, I was part of the ground here. In my finale it’s about giving access to the MOXI to all.” The live auction and ask – led by Firestone – raised approximately $150,000. As we go to press the MOXI reports meeting its goal of $400,000. Proceeds are earmarked for MOXI’s accessible programs that help opens doors to children, families, and educators on the central coast. The programs include free or reduced-cost admission, field trips, afterschool engineering, free admission for SB and Ventura County teachers, community outreach and summer camp scholarships. Top sponsors included Kay and Susan McMillan, Wolf Family, Alfred E. Mann Charities, Inc., Marcia and John Mike Cohen, Mike and Shawn Duca, Belle Hahn, Lily Hahn Shining, Lead Edge Capital, Malou Foundation, Rob and Heather Hambleton, Cindy Robinson Mullen, Zegar Family Fund, and Bank of America.

the ball away with my right hand, wondering at the stunned stillness of the surrounding players. “Yesss!” I brayed internally. When the other team missed their penalty kick, coach grasped my arm and, believing I had made some tactical calculation, shouted “…thanks for using your head, Jeff!” My nitwit grasp of the rules was thus positively reinforced until sometime later when I married a European. At least by then I had the wherewithal not to ask “…why don’t they just pick the ball up?”

Jeff Wing is a journalist, raconteur, autodidact, and polysyllable enthusiast. He has been writing about Montecito and environs since before some people were born. He can be reached at jeff@ montecitojournal.net

Lily Hahn and Stewart Shining (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

Supporting the Hahn sisters was their event committee: Kelly Almeroth, Jessie Bridges, Jamie Cervantes, Devyn Gehret, Robin Gose, Heather Hambleton, Austin Lampson, Jill Levinson, Cáitrín McKiernan, Susan McMillan, Robyn Parker, Cindy Robinson Mullen, Erin Sanchez, Gabrielle Semerjian, Kate Shrout, and Sophia Taylor. With this year’s Studio 54 dress code, let’s admit it, we were all hoping to wear that vintage Halston silk gown the designer made for Studio 54 elite. Guests carried on nonetheless in sequined outfits and 6-inch platform sandals – let your imaginations roll with it! I opted for a gold silk cami and leopard print cigarette leg pants. (While pitching my editors to give me a fashion allowance!) Noted attendees were Rob Smits the sommelier and director of wine at the Rosewood Miramar Beach representing the “Miramar Magic” auction item, and Travis Shrout its top winning bidder, Stewart Shining (husband to Lily Hahn Shining), emcee Andrew Firestone and his nephew Nick Firestone, Ashley McGowan, and MOXI board members Angela Krablin, Kelly Almeroth, Cameron Goodman, and Angie McGrath. The formal program was held on the MOXI rooftop and backed by a fab live jazz band. Gose and Firestone provided the welcome remarks. The keynote speakers were Belle and Lily Hahn, a top note being Belle’s publicly announcing this event as the

“Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple.” – J. K. Rowling

411: www.moxi.org To donate: https://moxi.ticketapp.org/portal/ product/122

And that’s a wrap till next week! Xx JAC

Robin Gose and Belle Hahn (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

1 – 8 October 2026

Moments (Continued from 8)

Bo Derek and Palmer Jackson Jr. (photo by Baron Spafford)

message was perfectly Granada: Applaud the legends, support the arts, and make sure the next curtain still rises.

Kerry to Coast “I’m blown away by the amount of people and the excitement,” Margaret O’Leary said, looking around her packed new Coast Village Road boutique. From County Kerry to San Francisco to Montecito, Margaret has come a stylish distance from the single handloom she began with in a San Francisco bedroom in 1990. And apparently, Montecito wanted her just as much as she wanted Montecito. “The owner of the building called me up and asked if I would like to come into this space,” Margaret said. “I was

Feeling Safe (Continued from 20 20)) very happy to!” Asked what she loves about her new neighborhood, Margaret didn’t hesitate: “The interesting boutiques, the caliber of the stores, the caliber of the people that are around. And the restaurants! It’s a really good place to come hang out and spend the day exploring.” The Irish-born designer celebrated the opening with Teran Davis, welcoming guests for champagne, canapés and shopping at 1235 Coast Village Road. Her independent, employee-owned knitwear house now has 13 locations nationwide, blending Irish knitting traditions with California ease and small-batch pieces designed to be worn, loved, and kept. Adding sparkle to the cashmere was jewelry designer Erin Flynn, who has been designing jewelry for some 20 years and first met Margaret in Chicago before later working with her in San Francisco. The fashionable turnout included songstress Taylor Dayne with Dina Cantin, Peter Halper, Tina Moss, Shelley Powell, Gloria Clarke, Arlene Montesano, Vanessa Ringel, Alice Hampton, Carly Davis, Jesse Rosenberg of ShelterBox, Suzy Scott, and Fabienne and Tom Guerin. A percentage of the evening’s proceeds benefited Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara, with board member Helen Keech and Megan Turley enjoying the cashmere teddy bears. For Margaret, 1235 Coast Village Road appears to be a perfect fit – from County Kerry to California cool, with Montecito now woven into her story.

Helene Keech, Megan Turley from Girls Inc. with Margaret O’Leary and Erin Flynn (courtesy photo)

described meeting families after terrible losses and the pain of having to tell some people they did not meet the criteria for assistance. I could see how deeply those decisions affected them. I asked team member Reis Pearson what it feels like to come home after a deployment. He talked about the frustration of returning to everyday life after witnessing poverty and destruction, and about feeling more grateful for things he once might have taken for granted, including a meal and a roof over his head. His answer helped me understand that the people who respond carry these experiences home, too. We learned that a response depends on many people: team members, local partner organizations, Rotary partners, volunteers, donors, and the families themselves. ShelterBox provides shelter and essential supplies, but those things also carry a message. They tell a family facing one of the worst days of their lives that people they may never meet are thinking of them and want to help them find a way forward. I went to SAFE because I wanted to understand the work of an organization I care about. I came home wanting to stay involved for the rest of high school. My family came home with that connection, too. BY

JONATHAN TOLINS

Lola taking notes at the simulated disaster response (photo by Helene Keech)

Even greater connection and awareness came from a stirring reflection by Marco Farrell, dynamic ShelterBox ambassador. The Montecito mud flow destroyed his family home. Marco and his parents narrowly escaped death, some neighbors did not. “I’ve been wandering for the past seven years,” said Marco. “Yet, through my time at SAFE, connecting with the survivors in the simulation using my story, I’ve been able to flip the script on my trauma, and I’ve found my new self.”

DIRECTED BY

JAMIE TORCELLINI

STARRING

BRIAN McDONALD

OCTOBER 7-25

&

C E L L A R JEFF LORCH PHOTOGRAPHY

“McDonald ... is MAGNETIC, CHARISMATIC and UPROARIOUSLY FUNNY.” Tom Petra, Michele Marrone, Margaret O’Leary, Fabienne Guerin, and Suzy Scott (courtesy photo)

etcsb.org 805.965.5400

1 – 8 October 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

39

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Calendar of Events

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31

by Steven Libowitz FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2 This Masq(p)arade! – Pianos on State has returned, with the public art project once again placing artist-decorated pianos along State Street (and a few upright stragglers off the main drag) for the Santa Barbara community to play, listen to, look at and otherwise enjoy. The whole point of the three-week project is to have things spontaneously happen – or not – so people feel welcome THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1 1st Thursday – 1st Thursday’s entertainment arena is heating up just as the fall arts seasons get underway all over town, with a plethora of performance choices. The Granada (1214 State Street) throws open its doors in an open house featuring live music from guitar duo Dan Zimmerman and Brian Kinsella. There will be snacks and a raffle for a chance to win tickets to upcoming Granada Presents events… Friends of State Street (1219 State Street) hosts an evening of art, story, and music showcasing local artists and businesses that make Santa Barbara the place we know and love. The evening includes a screening of A Santa Barbara Story, a digital short about downtown today and the everyday people who bring it to life… Santa Barbara Museum of Art (1130 State Street) usually features Opera Santa Barbara performances in the atrium or galleries, but today moves the music outdoors to SBMA’s Front Terrace for a 5-6 pm set “Cantadores y Compositores,” featuring arias and love songs from Spanish and Latin American tradition celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month… Santa Barbara Historical Museum (136 East De La Guerra St.) also marks Hispanic Heritage Month with live music, as Mezcal Martini takes to the stage in the courtyard to play their brand of danceable salsa, cumbia and Latin music, plus free pours of wine. Also outdoors: Xangie on the 900 block of State Street, where the cleverly named power trio featuring Xander Stack, Angela Robinson, and Eugene Palmer plays good ol’ rock and roll… Back in the visual art world, highlights include the 1st Thursday debuts of Barbieri & Kempe Wines (1114 State Street #26) hosting a reception with artist Heather Ridenour from Home with Art, whose work in acrylics focuses on large, loose landscapes now available in giclée fine art prints, while The Front Space by Anacapa Architecture (1023 State Street) has the inaugural solo show for Bernard Trainor in Absorb, which investigates the immersion of artist into landscape and the pattern language which emerges from this integral connection… Old favorite Sullivan Goss (11 E. Anapamu St.) has the opening reception for Lucidity, its third solo exhibition for L.A. artist Mary-Austin Klein, plus a new Fall Salon of exciting recent acquisitions and historic masterworks ...and Patricia Chidlaw’s spectacular, stare-inducing Blue Room exhibition still on display… How about something quirky to close our roundup? Domecíl (1223 State Street) explores the wildly imaginative work of artist Dan LeVin whose assemblages of discarded objects bring lunacy and logic together in unexpected ways – balancing humor, chaos, and careful design. WHEN: 5-8 pm WHERE: Lower State Street and environs COST: free INFO: (805) 962-2098 or www.downtownsb.org/events/1st-thursday

40 Montecito JOURNAL

Botanic Garden at 100 – As the first botanic garden in the nation to focus exclusively on native plants, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden celebrates 100 years of conservation leadership and the ongoing effort to better understand the relationship between plants and people. Over the years, the garden has grown from 13 to 78 acres, boasting more than six miles of walking trails, a library, a public native plant nursery, and a Conservation Center that is home to various programs, including research labs, an art gallery, an herbarium, a lichenarium, and one of the largest seed banks in California. As part of its celebration, the garden has a special month of events, including free admission every Sunday, with each Sunday launching a themed week celebrating Music & Art, Health & Wellness, Youth & Family, and Dogs. Offerings range from silent disco in the redwoods with DJ Darla Bea to sunset yoga, a “Bond with Nature” workout with Bond Fitness, Storytime with Godmothers, a trick-or-treating family night a week before Halloween, and much more. While the free Sundays are sold out, choose a different day of the week and dive in to experience California’s native plants and habitats firsthand. Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is truly a surprising, trail-laced wonder. Have you been? Visit https://sbbotanicgarden.org to sit down and give it a whirl. Less spontaneous and just as euphoric, look for the annual Masq(p)arade! Event, a smartly created performance progressive that showcases piano-based acts at various stops along the route. As always, the sixth annual family-friendly gathering has a diverse lineup with sets every 15 minutes, following which the audience moves on to the next Pianos on State installation in the Historic Arts District. Each mini show not only pairs performers with pianos, but also encourages interaction with the audience who are invited to don theatrical masks with whatever level of creativity they desire, all in the name of adding their own playful aesthetic to the roving variety show. This year’s offerings range from opera and flamenco, to improv and aerial acrobatics, and visits the recently completed Michael Towbes Library Plaza as its final stop. The lineup: 5:30 pm, Santa Barbara Revels @ The Arlington Theatre; 6 pm, Noelle Hadsall @ 1235 State St; 6:30 pm, Isaias Audette @ 1200 State St; 7 pm, Alissa Musto @ Old Navy (1137 State St); and 7:30 pm, La Boheme @ Library Plaza (40 E. Anapamu St). WHEN: 5:30-8 pm COST: free INFO: www.masqparade.org TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6 Toad, Tamped Down – Don’t look now, but Toad the Wet Sprocket is 40 years old! Perhaps Santa Barbara most famous and enduring purely homegrown band – San Marcos High School no less – Toad earlier this year released

“Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through the mountains, a torch flung to the trees.” – Faith Baldwin

1 – 8 October 2026

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4

Punch It Up – How lucky are we that pretty much whenever Punch Brothers tours west of the Mississippi, they make a stop in Santa Barbara, where we also watched leader-mandolinist Chris Thile in all of his guises as a wildly talented and remarkably curious musician, from Nickel Creek to Bach violin sonatas on mandolin. Punch Brothers is the most fine-tuned of his projects, one that simultaneously evokes elements of classic bluegrass while pushing the genre to beautiful new boundaries with elastic forms that blend bluegrass, classical music, jazz, and indie rock. Seeing the five members huddled around a single microphone playing with such easy enthusiasm is one of the great joys of the UCSB A&L season. This time around, the band is touring behind The Unsung Adventures of Punch Brothers, their first entirely instrumental release, and the first with fiddler Brittany Haas – she of the Boston-based alternative bluegrass band Crooked Still that once played Sings Like Hell. As of 2023, Haas replaces founding fiddler Gabe Witcher. Local audiences will remember hearing Haas the last time the band came through town, as well as when she performed at Campbell Hall last year with banjoist Noam Pikelny’s side project. Yep, how lucky are we? WHEN: 7:30 pm WHERE: Campbell Hall, 574 Mesa Rd., UCSB campus COST: $27-$62 INFO: (805) 893-3535 or https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu Opera Under the Oaks – Opera Santa Barbara’s special “Cantadores y Compositores” performance at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art on 1st Thursday isn’t your only chance to hear one of our glorious resident companies sing outdoors this weekend as a quartet of vocalists head to Godric Grove at Elings Park for a first-time offering. OSB’s second Opera Under the Oaks show after last June’s performance is once again set against the natural beauty of Santa Barbara as a vista. But this time the vocalists – Oriana Falla, soprano; Alexandra Bass, mezzo-soprano; Arnold Geis, tenor; and Matthew Peterson, baritone; accompanied on piano by Catherine Miller – will be previewing its upcoming 2026-27 Lobero season with some of the greatest hits from Rigoletto, The Barber of Seville, and Riders of the Purple Sage. Pack a picnic, bring your family and friends, and head over to the event that offers a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere where music, community, and blue skies come together. WHEN: 3-4:30 pm WHERE: Godric Grove at Elings Park, 1298 Las Positas Road COST: $20 in advance, $25 at the door; free for 18 & under INFO: (805) 569-5611 or https://operasb.org/events/opera-under-the-oaks-2026 RINGS: The Acoustic Sessions, a retrospective that revisits their catalogue to shape intimate acoustic reworkings of some of the group’s most popular and best-loved songs as well as a few, well, ringers. The approach isn’t just a stripped-down version of the songs but rather a reimagining of each in a more atmospheric environment with the perspective of four decades, adding a whole different element to the music. The boys are heading back to town as part of their fall tour promoting the album with two shows at what has become their hometown regular spot, where the acoustic approach should pay even more dividends, making leader Glen Phillips vocal inflections and the intricate instrumental interplay even more apparent. The set list draws heavily from the album but also revisits some other tracks from their extensive catalog and some surprises. Singer-songwriter Willy Porter opens. WHEN: 7:30 pm WHERE: Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St. COST: $85; $259 Soundcheck Experience tickets, including preferred seating (Note: October 7 sold out) INFO: (805) 963-0761 or www.lobero.org

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6

Thikra Very Much – A defining choreographer of the 21st century, Akram Khan has been at the forefront in transforming contemporary dance through works of extraordinary emotional power and cross-cultural imagination. Now, after more than a quarter-century marked by dynamic collaborations across a variety of disciplines in the arts and award-winning productions – which include the creation of a section of the London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in 2012 – the Akram Khan Company is on its final international tour. Khan brings an immersive production called Thikra, which unites an international cast of female dancers and musicians from contemporary dance and Bharatanatyam traditions in a vivid meditation on ritual, ancestry, and collective memory. The work created with acclaimed Saudi visual artist Manal AlDowayan also marks the launch of UCSB Arts & Lectures’ first performance of its highly lauded dance series’ 2026-27 season. WHEN: 7:30 pm WHERE: Granada Theatre, 1214 State Street COST: $55-$100 INFO: (805) 899-2222 | www.granadasb.org or (805) 893-3535 | https:// artsandlectures.ucsb.edu

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. 1 – 8 October 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

41

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1 – 8 October 2026

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

P S A L O E W S A L T H O C A N O N E R A

W H E N W H E R E P E D R O M A D E T A D

F A S M O L T Y A L T A O S K A R U S S R

C A N C R OWD S P R A Y E T R E L E S S

A P T T O B R A I N F I L M S A M I E B E A

E L I A N G U S L O R C A G E E K Y A L T

WHO

MADE

STAR

WARS

FILMS

GEORGELUCAS

PUZZLE #3

PUZZLE #2

2

3

1

5

4

2

3

1

5

6

7

7

7

8

8

8

Across 1 Twist in literature, e.g. 4 You might throw it when you're being catty 6 Where Alfa Romeo is headquartered 7 Circular food items containing squares 8 "Catch ___ Fists" (2025 single by Wet Leg)

1

Down 1 Like some crowds and forests 2 The last word among Mexicans? 3 Like some crowds and forests 4 Canceler of a takeout order? 5 "The Sheep Detectives" star Jackman

Down 1 Concede 2 Concede 3 "Tarring the ___" (painting by 7-Across) 4 Cry that might make a boxer approach you 5 Cries while brainstorming

PUZZLE #4

PUZZLE #5

2

1

4

5

6

2

5

Down 1 8-Across times over, in verse 2 Leg or stomach (or brain?) problem 3 The so-called "shopping capital of the Middle East" 5 Skye of 2025's "Anaconda" 6 They're definitely not the big dogs

Down 1 "Far ___ Heaven" (2002 Julianne Moore film) 2 NBC show that aired opposite CBS's "Knots Landing" 3 Like readers of the newspaper Hamshahri 4 Spotted sub-Saharan carnivore 5 Turnover in a kosher deli

2

3

4 6

7 8 8

Across 1 Aza's affliction in "Turtles All the Way Down," for short 4 With 9-Across, tart relatives 7 Something for which you might say "Just don't do it" 8 ___ times over 9 See 4-Across

5

5

7

9

Across 1 Whip or wrist motion 6 ___ to go (fired up) 7 King whose patronymic was Tryggvason 8 Features on the backs of African 4-Downs 9 "___ Heaven on Top" (2026 #1 album by Zach Bryan)

1

6 8

4

META PUZZLE

3

4

7

3

9

Across 1 "Gift" that might irritate people who "receive" it 4 Hold stuff on an airplane 6 Police chief voiced by Thomas Lennon in a 2016 animated film 7 Painter who had a nearly identically named painter friend 8 León-to-Logroño dirección

3

2

6

6

9

Across 1 Become the other half of 4 With 7-Across, saying about green power? 6 Onetime Gulf war participant? 7 See 4-Across 8 Big name in magazine publishing

Down 1 Creation of God in Genesis 2:22 2 Younger sister of Mycroft and Sherlock 3 Landing places for naval pilots 4 Landing place for a gymnast 5 Graham who created "Silo"

Across 1 Award won by Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce on "Mad Men" 5 Keep yakking and yakking 7 Hedren of two Hitchcock films 8 Word after jam or makeout, informally 9 Word before time or place

Down 1 Passé PC part 2 "___ Miller" (Verdi opera) 3 Confident way to solve a crossword 4 Cry to a boo-boo-making baby 6 Agcy. that has the Office of Disease Prevention

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Bilingual Staff

Denise Richter

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

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

WE BUY BOOKS Historical Paintings Vintage Posters Original Prints

805-962-4606

info@losthorizonbooks.com

LOST HORIZON BOOKSTORE now in Montecito, 539 San Ysidro Road

ANDSCAPE

Nuh Kimbwala

REATORS

Certified Travel Associate-CTA

Montecito, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez

EDUARDO RODRIGUEZ (805) 617-6683 EDUARDO@LANDSCAPE-CREATORS.COM IRRIGATION INSTALLS

HARDSCAPE INSTALLS

PLANTING INSTALLS

LIGHTING INSTALLS

LICENSED LANDSCAPE CONTRACTOR: #1129976

1 – 8 October 2026

LAWN CARE SERVICE

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

43

LUCKY’S brunch menu

• Morning Starters & First Courses • Bowl of Chopped Fresh Fruit with lime & mint 14 Giant Shrimp Cocktail ...................... 36 Grilled Artichoke with choice of sauce...... 18

• Sandwiches •

choice of hash browns, fries, mixed greens, Caesar, fruit salad

Lucky Burger, 8 oz., .................... 32 choice of cheese

Vegetarian Burger, 5 oz. ............... 22 choice of cheese (burger patty is vegan)

Burrata, seasonal marmalade, prosciutto .......... 25 French Onion Soup, Gratinée ............. 20 Matzo Ball Soup............................. 18

Fried Chicken Breast Sandwich....... 28 coleslaw, Carolina BBQ sauce, pickles

NY Cheesesteak Sandwich ...........................38 caramelized onions, mushrooms

Lucky Chili with cornbread, cheddar & onions ......26 Fried Calamari with two sauces .............................24

Pastrami Reuben ......................... 32 sauerkraut and gruyere on rye

• A La Carte •

• Salads and Other Specialties •

Brioche French Toast ......................................19

Iceberg Lettuce Wedge with Bacon .. 18 roquefort or thousand island dressing

with fresh berries, maple syrup

Waffle with fresh berries, whipped cream, maple syrup ...17 Cambridge House Smoked Salmon ............29 toasted bialy or bagel, cream cheese, olives, tomato & cucumber

• Eggs and Other Breakfast Dishes •

Arugula, Radicchio & Endive Salad ............18 reggiano parmesan, balsamic vinaigrette

Caesar Salad ............................. 18 with grilled chicken breast ....... 31 Seafood Louie ............................ 56 two shrimp, 2 oz. crab, avocado, egg, romaine, tomato, cucumber

choice of hash browns, fries, sliced tomatoes, fruit salad

Classic Eggs Benedict ..................... 26 with julienne ham and hollandaise

Charred Rare Tuna Nicoise Salad ... 55

Chopped Salad ............................ 26

Home Made Spanish Chorizo Omelet ...... 22

Cobb Salad tossed w/ Roquefort dressing 29

Wild Mushroom and Gruyere Omelet ... 22

romaine, shrimp, bacon, green beans, peppers, avocado, roquefort

Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict ........... 28

Lucky’s Salad ............................. 28

California Eggs Benedict ................. 26 with spinach, tomato, avocado

with avocado

arugula, radicchio, shrimp, prosciutto, cannellini beans, onions

Prime Filet 6 oz. Steak, & two eggs any style 64

arugula, radicchio, endive and sauteéd onion

Huevos Rancheros, two eggs any style 24

Sliced Steak Salad, 6 oz., ............. 42

Corned Beef Hash & two poached eggs 26

Old School Chinese Chicken Salad .. 32

Prime Filet Steak Frites, 6 oz. ................ 64

Dos Pueblos Abalone (4pcs) ........... 58

Mixed Vegetable Frittata w/ Gruyere ... 22

Jimmy the Greek Salad with Feta ..... 20

tortillas, melted cheese, avocado and warm salsa

join us for brunch saturday and sunday 9AM-2:30PM and for lunch fridays 11AM-2:30PM reservations via OpenTable or by phone 805-565-7540 1279 Coast Village Road, Montecito