Reports of Montecito Being Exclusive to the Newly Wed and Nearly Dead Turn Out to Have Been Greatly

SERVING MONTECITO AND SOUTHERN SANTA BARBARA

Reports of Montecito Being Exclusive to the Newly Wed and Nearly Dead Turn Out to Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Editorial by Gwyn Lurie

Last week I wrote about the long demise of the Santa Barbara News-Press and the poignance that the final chapter of its tortured story turned out to be Chapter 7. And I touched on the irreplaceable role local news plays in a robust, functioning democracy.

A recent piece in the notably not-local New York Times on the “meaning” of Montecito entitled “What Is It About Montecito?” is a cautionary tale illustrating the perils of a distant media giant attempting to define our narrative versus home-grown, boots-on-the-ground local reporting.

As of today, The New York Times has issued four (and counting) corrections to their “What Is It About Montecito” story, which was forwarded to me by essentially my entire contacts list. The NYT reporter, Amy Larocca, didn’t even get Montecito’s geography right, to give you some idea of the

Editorial Continued on Page 54

First Responder

Montecito Fire Chief

David Neels and his team are our friends, neighbors, and smiling sentries. Our leafy, occasionally beleaguered village is in good hands, page 8

Stand and Be Counted

Steve Postell and a company of blue-chip musicians take the Lobero stage to pay musical homage to the late, great David Crosby, page 18

The Webster X Nahmias - clothing collection – comprising cotton T-shirts, hoodies, and sweatpants –sets up shop at Rosewood Miramar Beach, p. 36

The Granada presents a new Synergy Series and relaunches Roar & Pour, p. 43

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

5 Editorial – Gwyn Lurie’s response to Amy Larocca’s recent piece on our fair village in The New York Times

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Montecito Miscellany – National YMCA Chairman George Leis; Music Academy’s summer fest; and more

Valorous Village – Montecito Fire Chief David Neels and his team are our friends, neighbors, and smiling sentries

Community Voices – Jeff Giordano delves into the maddening in-custody death of a woman named KC, while Gail Osherenko peels back the layers of SB County jails

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Letters – Readers sound off about the demise of newspapers, including the defunct Santa Barbara News-Press

Village Beat – Montecito Association discusses future of ring nets and Four Seasons Biltmore to reopen next fall

Montecito Moms – Kristen d’Offay becomes clothes-minded and finds her mid-40s passion in fashion with a collection known as “Montecito”

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On Entertainment –Tribute concert for David Crosby on August 20 at Lobero; concert series Roar & Pour; MA’s Summer Festival ends

In Passing – Philanthropist and intellectual Don Bushnell – a former radio Quiz Kid who helped lay the groundwork for the computer age

Ernie’s World – For fragile Ernie Witham, a visit to the sky-high Space Needle was a windswept pain in the glass

Our Town – Camerata Pacifica hands the reins of executive director to Music Academy stalwart Ana Papakhian

Society Invites – It’s flamenco, food, and fun at the annual La Merienda gala

Reel Fun – Monica, follows the intimate path of a woman whose family disowns her for transitioning

Body Wise – Author Karen Roberts explores New Mexico and Northern California, then emerges with The Blossoming of Women

Village Vibe – Ed Carty of Carty & Carty Antiques speaks about his family’s origins

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Brilliant Thoughts – Take a trip through Ashleigh’s past and the act of coming back to where we’ve been before On Education – Annika Wagner earned the Merci Award for community service five times, a 4.85 GPA, and college credits

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Far Flung Travel – Ready “oar” not, here comes Chuck Graham working his way down the Russian River

On Fashion – The Webster X Nahmias clothing collection sets up shop at Rosewood Miramar

Your Westmont – The college hosts an education and technology conference and the women’s soccer season kicks off

The Giving List – The Granada presents a new Synergy Series and relaunches Roar & Pour

Calendar of Events – Out of This World film series; Moneluv performs for Music at the Ranch; Mighty Cash Cats; and more

Classifieds – Our own “Craigslist”

47 Mini Meta Crossword Puzzles Local Business Directory

fundamental nature of the things the Times got wrong about us. When it comes to reporting on Montecito, the Times reporter literally couldn’t get her bearings.

At the end of the piece, the Times asks if they got the story right and if they didn’t, please send a correction. I have so many corrections I have decided to print them here. Because I’m pessimistic the Gray Lady (as the NYT refers to itself and my kids sometimes refer to me) would give me more space for my corrections than they used for their anything-but-pithy reportage.

One of my biggest problems with the Times’ piece on Montecito is the prism through which they chose to look at our riviera – the prism of celebrity. No one I know came here to be near celebs, who are far better viewed free range in their natural habitats, in places like Malibu, Calabasas, and the Not-So Hidden Hills. People come here to avoid tabloid culture. But not Larocca. She was combing our shores for celebs like a beachcomber with a metal detector looking for dropped change.

If you haven’t read the Times’ piece, even though all your friends and relatives have sent it to you by now, the reporter, whose main hustle is as a “fashion editor-at-large” for New York Magazine, focuses so much on the famous who live in this town, one can only assume her story mostly reflects her own personal obsession with celebrity culture. Clearly Larocca understands that today, celebrity mentions are clickbait gold.

Larocca mentions a litany of local celebs, including “Katy Perry’s dad,” whom she mockingly describes more like a cartoon than as a person, “endlessly bopping around town dressed in a psychedelic mashup of Chrome Hearts and Ed Hardy, an aesthetic that borrows equally from ‘90s O.C. skaters, Elton John, and Flavor Flav.” Poor Katy Perry’s dad. The NY Times didn’t even give him a name other than “Katy Perry’s dad.” For the record his name is Maurice Hudson (but known by locals as Keith).

“The New York Times reporter was combing our shores for celebs like a beachcomber with a metal detector looking for dropped change.”

Larocca says “a driving tour of Montecito’s elaborate and forbidding gates and lined driveways suggests that only Madame Tussauds has more celebrities per square foot.” Really? So, a driveway with a gate means Casa Celebrity? Live and learn, I suppose. Larocca makes driveways sound like castle moats stocked with alligators. And I suppose she leaves her door in NYC open to anyone who’d like to come by and kibbitz? We happen to keep our moat stocked with ducklings and mermaids.

The Times’ piece does its darndest to tie everything here to one famous person or another with language like: “More than a third of Montecito residents are over 65 and this tally includes Carol Burnett.” I’m surprised Larocca didn’t say she enjoyed breathing the air here knowing that even a microscopic amount of it may have once been exhaled by Gwyneth Paltrow. Maybe this was the breath she used to blow out one of her signature candles!

In all seriousness, however, in addition to the article reading more like Deadline Hollywood or TMZ than what I used to know as the paper of record, lost in Larocca’s celebrity-packed prose, the real omission from “What Is It About Montecito,” is what is truly special about this place: its people (famous and unfamous alike), its culture, its human capital, and most of all its spirit.

When our family first moved here, we were surprised by the warm welcome we received by locals. My husband joked that this place seemed filled with people who had never been hurt. I think it was our second day here when someone in a giant Mercedes SUV drove up to our home and returned a wallet I had left at the Coffee Bean. “I saw your address on your driver’s license so I figured I’d just drive it over.” And that was far from the last time something like that happened.

We so appreciated that conversations here included topics other than someone’s next movie deal. It was refreshing that folks here hailed from diverse professional backgrounds, countries, artistic and intellectual endeavors. Though 400 times the population of Montecito, the L.A. we lived in was much more of a monoculture.

When our kids attended Montecito Union School, we were surprised to

Gwyn Lurie is the CEO and Executive Editor of the Montecito Journal Media Group

Montecito Miscellany

At the YMCA, Leis is More

by Richard Mineards

George Leis, president of Montecito Bank & Trust, is having a new lease on life!

George, who is also a board member of Santa Barbara Zoo, the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, and the Channel Islands YMCA, becomes chairman of the national YMCA in February, succeeding CiCi Rojas , the first Hispanic to hold the position in the organization’s long history.

“I learned to swim at the Y on Long Island, when I was six or seven years old in Deer Park in Suffolk County and have been part of the Channel Islands Y since 2008, serving on the committee and the board,” says George, who is also a regular at the Y on Hitchcock in our Eden by the Beach.

He joined the national board in 2019 and will serve a two-year term as chairman.

The organization, founded in Boston in 1851, has 2,700 clubs across the

Lintu the Groove

Montecito’s Music Academy wrapped up its 76th Summer Festival in splendid style when Hannu Lintu conducted the Academy Festival Orchestra at the Granada.

The entertaining show featured Richard Strauss’ 1898 “Ein Heldenleben” and Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet” with Lintu, 55, conductor of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet, at the top of his game.

The conclusion of the eight-week-long festival with nearly 200 performances of one kind or another on the Miraflores

campus and the Lobero also marked the end of president Scott Reed’s tenure after 14 years.

I wish him well...

On the Waterfront

Social gadabout Rick Oshay and La Boheme Dancers founder Teresa Kuskey really put the “ship” in sponsorship as the tony twosome hosted a harborside bash for 75 guests on the 100-foot replica of the 1542 Spanish galleon San Salvador

country with 200,000 staff and 500,000 volunteers in 10,000 communities nationwide.

Miscellany Page 374

George Leis becomes chairman of YMCA of the U.S.A. in February

Music Academy’s festival farewell concert a cracker (Photo: Zach Mendez)

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Valorous Village

Montecito Fire Chief David Neels is Taking the Fight to the Fire

Montecito Fire Chief David Neels poses by his ride, which is handily painted Fire Engine Red (photo courtesy Montecito Fire Department)

by Jeff Wing

Montecito Fire Department’s (MFD) Station 91 is an understated, red-tiled building in the foothills above Montecito – at a glance more “stately hacienda” than Command Center; though the hacienda’s 30’ aerial somewhat gives the game away. Fire Chief

given to sudden grins, he is holding court in the station conference room. As if to keep the mission top-of-mind, large windows frame the gorgeous Santa Ynez Mountains, which as a matter of record occasionally catch fire.

“We have a challenging area here on the South Coast,” Neels says, “from Gaviota to the Ventura County line. The mountains have a very steep grade,

access. There’s no road system that we can easily get to.” When a fire emergency is afoot, regional responders quickly come together with no jurisdictional murmuring to complicate rollout. “We have a really strong mutual aid plan in this county,” Neels says. “CarpinteriaSummerland, the City of Santa Barbara, the County Fire department, and the Los Padres National Forest – we come together quickly on any fire ignition on our front country.” He recalls one such ignition that still causes locals to shudder

in remembrance.

“The night the Tea Fire started, I was coming back from a place called South OPS in Riverside County – the Southern California Coordination Center for all the region’s fire agencies. The wind and the weather and the temperature that night – it just didn’t feel right.” Feeling indefinably uneasy, Neels jumped off the northbound 101 at San Ysidro, his intuitions at full boil. He drove to his then-home in Valorous Village Page 344

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Community Voices

Santa Barbara: The Tragic and Unfortunate Death of “KC”

by Jeff Giordano

This is a story about the death of a troubled 34-year-old woman, “KC.” A death that led to a Grand Jury investigation and a scathing Grand Jury report. A difficult story that you will not read nearly enough about. Allow me to explain:

Last week’s Montecito Journal did a great job digging into the recent demise of the Santa Barbara News - Press and, more importantly, explaining why the loss of investigative journalism matters – especially in a county as ethically challenged as ours. Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post punctuated the loss of local news best: “ When you lose local investigative journalism, corruption can flourish, taxes can rise, and public officials can indulge their worst impulses .” Sound familiar?

Against this backdrop comes a series of deeply disturbing Grand Jury reports that could themselves form the basis of an investigative series. Discussed by the supervisors on July 18, these reports follow an eight-month investigation into four in-custody deaths (KC, EEA , KP , and JT ) that occurred in the Main Jail and the new $120M Northern Branch Jail, i.e., our $42M ($42 million!!) over-budget Jail Mahal.

KC was classified as Severely Mentally Ill (SMI) in 2018. Then in March 2022, she was arrested for burglary, incarcerated in our North Jail, and on May 3 was found Incompetent to Stand Trial

(IST). She was ordered into a treatment facility within 28 days but because there were no beds available, she languished “ primarily kept in isolation and (at various times) deprived of visitation, commissary, and other privileges. ” Yeah, shocking as it may be, SMI folks don’t follow rules all that well. Anyway, four months later KC was found dead in her cell, a victim of a Fentanyl overdose. Just 31-days later EEA, who had also been judged incompetent, fell victim to a Fentanyl overdose. In June there were 52 inmates deemed IST in our Jail system, one of the very highest in the State.

As a former Prosecutor, this investigation was personally disappointing as it called into question the competence – on a variety of levels – of our Sheriff’s Department (no, our multi-million-dollar outsourced Wellpath contract does not provide for mental health intervention between 11 pm and 7 am), Sheriff Coroner’s Office (no, an outside and independent coroner was not retained), and the District Attorney’s Office who, based on our sheriff-coroner findings, declined to prosecute (a State Attorney General review was recommended).

The mental health of each inmate framed the investigation which, with respect to data, was completely stonewalled. Let’s start with the fact that it costs $25.4M to operate our North Jail (again, well over what had been anticipated) yet over an 11-month period our Grand Jury was not provided any

data concerning what percentage of the approximately 250 North Jail inmates may be suffering from mental health disorders. Left to dig on their own, the jury found that the sheriff’s own website stated that between 15% and 60% (how’s that for exactitude) of their calls involve mentally ill subjects.

The jury noted that while the Sheriff’s Department finally did hire a “statistician” in July 2022, by June 2023 the Grand Jury still had yet to receive the information. Is this a joke?! Thirty-two percent of our annual $1.4B budget –$456M! – goes to Public Safety yet we are all now waiting on the findings of a single hire? Let’s get real, this is less about the facts and more about the complete lack of respect (hubris) that certain Departments have for our Grand Jury’s watchdog function. NEWS FLASH: Every County employee, whether elected or appointed, is accountable!

Oh, one more bit of news: Because our IST referral rate is so high, we may be paying $6M ($6M!) in IST Solution penalties. Funny, I didn’t see this number in our budget, though I guess we can just tack it onto the $76M jail expansion pod that was approved just before this report was issued. The whole thing sort of makes me lament the fact that California no longer allows private jails because, let’s be honest, when it comes to custody-related planning/budgeting, I think we’ll need more than just one “statistician” to cure what ails us.

One can’t help but compare Ventura County who, in May, after “years of thought and planning,” opened a 64-bed facility (90% state-funded) to house SMI inmates. To build the facility, Ventura spent $6M (the size of our IST penalty). Yes, when budgeting, using trend data to understand your inmate population matters.

MONTECITO TIDE GUIDE

The deaths of KC, EEA, KP, and JT needed to be investigated. And I, for one, sincerely hope that Sheriff Bill Brown , newly elected District Attorney Savrnoch and our five County Supervisors use the always solid work of our County Grand Jury (thank you) to make improvements. That said, I am a cynic, so I fear that what happened with the Cannabis Grand Jury recommendations (e.g., a County Code of Ethics) will happen with these – nothing. Here’s hoping I’m wrong, but either way please take a few minutes to review the reports that this year’s Grand Jury produced; it’s important: SBCGJ.Org.

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Executive Editor/CEO | Gwyn Lurie gwyn@montecitojournal.net

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VP, Sales & Marketing | Leanne Wood leanne@montecitojournal.net

Managing Editor | Zach Rosen zach@montecitojournal.net

Art/Production Director | Trent Watanabe

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Administration | Jessikah Fechner

Administrative Assistant | Valerie Alva

Account Managers | Sue Brooks, Tanis Nelson, Elizabeth Nadel, Bryce Eller, Bob Levitt

Contributing Editor | Kelly Mahan Herrick

Copy Editor | Lily Buckley Harbin, Jeff Wing

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Contributors | Scott Craig, Ashleigh Brilliant, Kim Crail, Tom Farr, Chuck Graham, Stella Haffner, Mark Ashton Hunt, Dalina Michaels, Sharon Byrne, Robert Bernstein, Christina Atchison, Leslie Zemeckis, Sigrid Toye

Gossip | Richard Mineards

History | Hattie Beresford

Humor | Ernie Witham

Our Town/Society | Joanne A Calitri

Travel | Jerry Dunn, Leslie Westbrook Food & Wine | Claudia Schou, Melissa Petitto, Gabe Saglie

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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

Deaths in Our County Jails Reveal Serious Failures & Incompetence

by Gail Osherenko

This summer, the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury investigating four deaths in our jails concluded that the death of JT was not “accidental” as determined by the sheriff-coroner, but needed to be investigated by the California Attorney General as a homicide.

The jury concluded: “JT died in a jail cell while suffering from a mental health crisis. The criminal justice and health care systems offered numerous opportunities to provide JT with effective mental health crisis intervention.” Each of those opportunities was missed for preventable reasons, including lack of awareness, miscommunication, inadequate training, and lack of mental health professions on duty 24/7 at the Jail,” i.e., lack of basic competence.

Back in January 2022, The League of Women Voters of Santa Barbara together with Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) had organized a vigil to shine a light on the death of John Paul Thomas (labeled JT in the civil

Grand Jury report). At the time, we knew that a man died face-down and naked in a “safety cell” only  20 minutes after he was booked into the south county jail on January 12, 2022.

We learned that JT had mental health issues and had told officers that he wanted to commit suicide. We knew he had been evaluated at a local hospital emergency room after being apprehended, and that he wasn’t admitted to the hospital but instead was booked into the jail. Months later, the sheriff-coroner deemed the death “accidental.”

On June 23, 2023, the jury reported, “within reasonable medical certainty, the custody staff applied on-stomach-prone restraint and JT’s vigorous resistance to it was the direct cause of JT’s cardiac arrest.”

Our joint LWV/CLUE Criminal Justice Reform group has been alerting the Board of Supervisors and the sheriff to the need for increased training for law enforcement officers and custody deputies as well as for more mental health treatment in our community as well as in our jails.

The Grand Jury, in its findings and recommendations, provided the County with a roadmap that calls for on-site Community Voices Page 314

Letters to the Editor

Required Reading

Gwyn Lurie’s Editorial, “Wreck-Quiem for the Santa Barbara News-Press” (MJ August 3-10) should be required reading for every high school Civics class in the land.

It captures the infinite value of “The Third Estate” (sic), as journalists and newspapers were once called. It describes in fearsome detail what happens when there are no gatekeepers watching over the local happenings – the polluted drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan, being a perfect example.

JeanineJ.Burford SeniorVicePresident FinancialAdvisor

1111CoastVillageRoad Montecito,CA93108

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I had also read the article in The New Yorker about the McCurtain Gazette, in Oklahoma, “A small-town paper sizes up the county sheriff.” I applauded its courage and determination to get to the truth of a story and the ugly croneyism/ corruption that would have gone undisturbed had it not been for this amazing short-staffed local paper. And I wonder about the deceit, the duplicity, the human-interest stories, the “shared set of facts,” that hundreds of towns have missed without a daily paper.

Mr. Buckley notes that the failure of a newspaper is a matter of indifference. It’s much worse. It’s a matter of ignorance with years and years of underfunded public education! Critical thinking, that invaluable skill of an educated person, is not only rare, but is now under attack! Too many people are simply unconscious of what is lost when their news is what they read at the end of a 30-second thumb scroll. And too many are perfectly content to submit to the masses of misinformation that flood the internet. Depth of content, fact-based analysis, and nuance are increasingly rare commodities.

When my family arrived to Los Angeles in 1947, one of the first things they did was to subscribe to The Herald Express and to the South Gate Press, in a suburb of L.A. At age 9, I don’t remember reading much more than the funnies, which was a great way of learning English, but I remember my parents reading these papers daily when their English language skills were far from proficient. It was understood that you couldn’t learn to become a citizen without being informed, even before they became citizens!

I hope Mr. Roberts’ guarded optimism about post-daily newspaper organizations comes true and that honest journalism, critical thinking, and a more informed citizenry can still emerge. I fervently hope that the “dangers of living in a world where power goes unchecked” does not come to pass.

Josie Levy Martin

Difference of Opinion

For years, Santa Barbara News-Press had a regular Guest Opinion commentator. His long columns appeared frequently, except last year’s when the opinion section of the paper was only on Sundays. His opinions dealt with politics be it local, state, national, or international, and always leaned heavily to the right. I read his opinions and mentally always disagreed.

One column dated December 2014 dealt with Michael Brown and Eric Garner and obedience to government authority. This time, I wrote a letter to the editor strongly disagreeing with his logic. OMG! A few days later, he wrote a long essay questioning my wisdom and patriotism. He also involved my husband and used our names freely. My friends and family thought it was amusing and I was going to reply, but my husband said, “Do not pick a fight with someone who buys printer ink by the gallon,” so we just canceled our subscription that we had since 1970.

Danute Handy Santa Barbara

Good Time for Growth

Journalism is a guardian of the public interest. ‘Nuff said.

Maybe the former News-Press building can be converted into a combination transition center for the homeless and an “annex” office for the police department? Hmm... Crazy, no?

And maybe both the Journal and the Indy can hire the Press’s veteran reporters to fill the void in local news, and as a result become a twin-liaison reaching out to the larger

Village Beat

Montecito Association Discusses Ring Nets

Pianist

by Kelly Mahan Herrick

Pat McElroy was at the Montecito Association Board of Directors on Tuesday, giving a report on the six steel debris flow nets that were placed in the canyons above Montecito in 2018. Recently, the citizen-led group that spearheaded the installation of the nets, The Project for Resilient Communities, filed an application with the County of Santa Barbara to extend the five-year emergency permits for the nets to remain in place. If the application is rejected, the nets will have to be removed by November of this year, prior to the start of the rainy season.

According to McElroy, this year’s storms in January impacted all of the nets in the community, and filled one to the top in San Ysidro Canyon, which was critical in containing a debris flow. “The nets’ benefit have now been proven,” McElroy said, adding that the nets are all on private land. All landowners have granted a five-year extension, and insurance has been secured for the next five years. The group is seeking a five-year extension to the permits from the County, and are also seeking to discuss the possibility of the nets being managed and maintained by the County moving forward. The group is seeking to donate the nets system as part of an overall strategy for Public Works infrastructure becoming more robust for the community’s protection.

The group has applied for an extension with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, an extension with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and has FEMA evaluating funding for 94% of the costs to clean out the full net in Upper San Ysidro Canyon. That net has not been able to be cleaned out earlier because of the closure of the back country. “This support by FEMA indicates proof of concept that the nets clearly work,” McElroy said.

The National Weather Service is predicting a strong El Niño for the upcoming winter. Since the year 1820, more than 41 debris flows, debris laden flooding, and floods have occurred in the South County drainages. The nets were installed after the debris flow of 1/9/2018, as part of an overall disaster mitigation plan. This was done with essential support from private citizens and with county, state, federal, and environmental support, when the county was focused on other critical areas of recovery.

The group is seeking monetary support to help fund the project through the end of the year, as well as vocal support of the nets via letters and contact with the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. “After natural disasters, people forget, and we have to let the people in power know that we remember,” McElroy said, adding that there are many new residents in Montecito who were not present during the 1/9 debris flow disaster. To get involved, learn more, and contact the County, visit www.tprcsb.org. If the permit is not extended, it will cost $600K to remove the nets, which will be paid for by a previously-secured grant from California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The Montecito Association Board of Directors pledged support, and will be sending out further information to the community in their weekly newsletter.

During community reports, Nick Turner from Montecito Water District reported that the equipment has now been installed for smart readers, and numerous

formerly of Wonderland

The

of Willesden Lane

The steel ring nets in the canyons above Montecito are slated for removal unless a permit extension is granted by the County

Montecito Moms

Kristen d’Offay: Fashion That Is Functional and Fabulous

by Dalina Michaels

Kristen d’Offay grew up loving all things sparkly. She was raised in Houston with a grandmother who was a fashion designer and who loved sequins and dresses. But the idea to do something with fashion stayed locked up in a closet for years – while she worked! After years in corporate recruiting and raising three kids (Luc, 15; Violet, 13; and Poppy, 10), d’Offay was ready to try on something she was truly passionate about: clothing.

D’Offay’s journey to creating a sustainable fashion brand began with a profound life shift. After getting divorced, she re-evaluated her life and decided to pursue her passion for fashion. She had always wanted to start a fashion line, and she thought, “I am in my mid-40s; if I don’t do it now, I am never going to do it.” She wanted to create a brand that empowered women and made them feel beautiful. She started going to trade shows with six basic pieces she created.

The first round of designs was not what she envisioned: “To be honest, they were awful, terrible,” says d’Offay. “I realized there were so many mistakes; it took me two more years to just get my signature pieces figured out and cut the right way.”

After those two years, she had her first collection: a slip dress, a cami, a pant, a wrap dress, a leather jacket, denim jogger, and a body suit. She aligned herself with women and worked on a film that got nominated for best clothing and jewelry!

Her newest collection is called (appropriately enough) “Montecito” and she did it in conjunction with Lotusland: “I wanted to use the beauty of Lotusland – the colors and bright images – to be part of this next set.”

She hand-picks each fabric to ensure it feels good against the skin and drapes effort-

lessly against the body. Her pieces are designed to feel uncomplicated, elegant, and timeless. In this article, we take a closer look at the story of d’Offay and its mission to create beautiful garments while promoting sustainability.

The pieces are made in California with one of the top female-led fashion production houses located in downtown Los Angeles. The brand believes strongly in slow fashion and choosing quality over quantity. The d’Offay woman embodies the spirit of exploration, wonder, and experience. She is magic at every age, full of fire, and always ready to discover more of herself and the world around her. The brand’s extra-small to large pieces are priced from $400 to $1,200 and are designed to make women see the best versions of themselves through their garments.

Sustainability is at the core of d’Offay’s mission. She explains, “I rely on deadstock fabrics in faux fur, wool, and recycled fibers that would otherwise be waste, yet they are also luxurious textiles from some of the most renowned mills in Italy and France!” The brand uses discarded textiles to create pieces in small runs, which fits perfectly with her business model. Her collection consists mostly of silk, which is a natural fiber and can biodegrade. The brand is exploring additional textiles that afford greater ecologically sound options, such as pineapple and mushroom leathers. It’s important to try to work with fibers that are renewable, can biodegrade, and use less water.

One of the things that d’Offay loves is offering private fittings in her showroom in downtown Santa Barbara for women who want to make a personal appointment. She shares why this is important: “When the fabric is cut correctly, it can celebrate your curves instead of making you feel frumpy.” She works hard to ensure the draping process on all her silks and pieces work in harmony so that each item fits properly.

To check out her collection and learn more, visit doffaycollection.com, or stop by the store in person. It is located at 814 State Street, Suite 37, in downtown Santa Barbara.

— Charles Bowden

Kristen d’Offay wearing one of her signature outfits: black jacket, black satin tank top, and black pants at her showroom (courtesy photo)

D’Offay with her kids having a meal (courtesy photo)

Dalina Michaels former television news producer and writer. She is a Montecito native and graduated Westmont College with a degree in Communication Studies and Theatre Arts.

Montecito Ocean Views

1038 Ladera Lane

$4,495,000

Montecito Ocean Views

1038 LADERA LANE, MONTECITO | CALIFORNIA

3 bdrm | 3.5 bath | 4,039 sq. ft. | $4,995,000

Unrivaled, breathtaking panorama from a romantic Montecito Mediterranean retreat. An architect’s dream home in a serene 5-acre paradise with floor to ceiling glass doors and windows; many customized details added by current homeowners to further enhance numerous features. All 3 bedrooms and living areas connect to the outdoors with open or private patios. An airy, open kitchen, with gorgeous Golden Canyon granite counters, top brand appliances and adjacent family room and fireplace, seamlessly blend with the expansive entertainment view terrace. Abundant storage throughout, and in the 3-car garage plus wine room. Bask in a peaceful resort-like setting with a 55-foot solar heated lap pool, lush gardens with fruit trees, library, sauna, room to add tennis court or vineyard.

S TEVE S LAVIN , Estates Director

Breathtaking scenery from a Montecito Mediterranean retreat on 5-acre paradise; floor to ceiling glass doors/windows; great details and character. All 3 bedrooms and living areas connect to nature with open or private patios. Airy, spacious kitchen, family room with fireplace, seamlessly blend with the view terrace. Lots of storage, 3-car garage + wine room. Serene, private resort setting: 55-foot lap pool, lush gardens, fruit trees, library, sauna; room for tennis court or vineyard.

Luxury Property Specialist

STEVE SLAVIN, Estates Director

Coldwell Banker Realty - Montecito

DRE: 00493760

Luxury Property Specialist, Coldwell Banker Realty - Montecito 805.886.3428

Cell: 805-886-3428

Steve@SteveSlavin.com

www.santabarbaraluxuryhomes.com

On Entertainment Stand and Be Counted: A Tribute

by Steven Libowitz

Just before he passed away at his home in Santa Ynez, David Crosby was in the midst of rehearsing with a new band that was slated to make its debut at the Lobero Theatre last February as part of the venue’s milestone 150th anniversary. Next weekend, the members of that band and a handful of special guests are coming together at the Lobero to play a tribute concert in honor of the iconic folk-rock singer-songwriter-guitarist who was twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Dubbed “Stand and Be Counted” after a song Crosby co-wrote with his son, James Raymond, as well as his book and TV documentary project about the history of activism, the band is spearheaded by Raymond and veteran singer-songwriter-guitarist-composer-producer Steve Postell , who had co-conceived of the project with Crosby back in early 2022.

“We were sitting around one day at his house, just hanging out, and we’d usually take out our guitars and play a little,” recalled Postell, who grew up listening to Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) records and taught himself some of their songs while still in high school, then later found himself connected professionally and eventually becoming friends with Crosby. But the rock star told Postell that he had recently had surgery on his hand, and it had gotten worse.

“He said, ‘I’m retiring. I’m not gonna play anymore. I’ll write and sing and make records, but I just can’t play guitars long enough to do shows. I’m done,’” Postell said. “I was surprised because it wasn’t something he had publicized at all.”

That’s when Postell offered to learn Crosby’s guitar parts, figuring that they had similar styles and with Postell handling the intricate string work, Crosby could still sing at shows.

“I just sort of threw it out there. I didn’t expect anything to come of it,” Postell recalled.

But six months later, Crosby called and suggested they give it a try, with no promises that he’d be satisfied with just singing.

“I think he got really antsy sitting in his house watching everybody else go on tour [after the pandemic],” Postell said. “He wanted to revisit some of the classic CSN material. I told him I’d be honored to learn everything, and even if we never took it out in public, it would be fine with me.”

Postell tutored himself on the complicated open tuning guitar riffs by filming Crosby, then spent a couple months learning how to play the parts exactly how Crosby did. “They take a pretty high level of precision, and he just couldn’t play them himself for a whole night anymore. But I was thrilled to learn them.”

When he was ready, Crosby, Postell, and keyboardist-singer Raymond got together so the icon could see how it felt to sing while someone else played his guitar riffs.

“We played about six or seven songs, and he was getting more and more excited with each one,” Postell said. “When we were done, he said, ‘OK, let’s do this. Let’s put a band together.’”

Crosby hand-selected the members for the Lobero show and beyond with input from the others, tapping longtime associates Steve Distanislao (drums/vocals), Dean Parks (guitar) and James “Hutch” Hutchinson (bass), plus guitarist-singer Chris Stills, son of CSN’s Steven Stills, the latter Postell’s suggestion.

“When I mentioned Chris, David just lit up. He’d known Chris his whole life of

course, but they’d never really played together. This was an opportunity to make it happen. Everybody said ‘yes’ right away, so we had the band together in two days.” The band began rehearsals on a set list dominated by CSN songs, not just those written by Crosby.

“With Chris and I singing with [Crosby] up front, we were gonna be able to really recreate the CSN harmony sound,” Postell said. “Chris sounds a lot like Steven, and I’ve got that high Graham Nash stuff covered. The plan was to truly honor some of the CSN history, playing songs that people hadn’t heard in many, many years.”

Crosby’s death made that specific approach impossible, of course. But Postell, Raymond, and the others decided to re-form the group and add a bunch of other artists to step in as guest singers and more. The line-up for the Lobero show will feature Shawn Colvin, who caught Postell’s eye when he saw a video of a tribute she did to Crosby, as well as Colin Hay (of Men at Work fame) up front in featured roles along with Lara Johnston (vocals), Ken Stacey (vocals), Nathan McEuen (guitar/vocals), and Raymond’s daughter Gracie Ray (vocals). Andrew Ford will also be subbing in for the unavailable Hutch.

“It’s a phenomenal band, all people connected with David over his career,” Postell said.

The group will play the set list originally intended for the David Crosby & Friends concert’s February date, plus extra material chosen by Postell and Raymond from the late singer-songwriter’s catalog and CSN material.

“We’re honoring David, and we’re honoring his need, his desire to heal, to mend the relationships and to honor the music,” Postell said. “I think people are going to be blown away.”

While Crosby is gone, the updated Stand and Be Counted band will live on, if Postell has his way.

“We don’t want this to just be a one-off thing,” he said. “The original plan with David was to go on tour in the fall, timed to spread the word to get out and vote, go stand and be counted, make a difference in whatever way you can. It’s more important now than ever. James and I are thinking we can still do that. That’s what David would’ve wanted.”

And while Postell and the rest of the band, like many music lovers throughout the world, still feel the loss of Crosby, Postell said he has no regrets whatsoever about launching the project with the iconic rock star even if they never got to perform it together in public.

“At this point, what I mostly feel is really grateful that we had the idea, that I learned the songs and guitar parts, and that we saw it through, had a couple of gigs booked, made the set list and had a rehearsal with the full band. I’m glad it got as far as it did because that will always live on for me as something that was real, not just an idea.”

Steve Postell (courtesy photo)

David Crosby and Steve Postell (courtesy photo)

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In Passing

Don Bushnell: January 7, 1927 - June 19, 2023

Don Bushnell was born January 7, 1927, as an identical twin. Both he and his twin brother, David, were radio Quiz Kids, and both were awarded scholarships to the University of Chicago at age 16. Their adult lives followed very similar educational and professional paths.

Don was devoted to social issues his entire life, starting at an early age. He worked in political campaigns and was deeply engaged in early two-way computer exchanges, the forerunners of today’s social media platforms and tools. His early focus on arts and computers was featured in The Saturday Review of Literature.

He wrote papers, secured grants, and worked on the federal level with programs evaluating the use of computers in education. One of his favorite early projects was founding Mafundi Institute in South Central Los Angeles, a community project offering introspection and life-evaluation for gang members engaged in violent confrontations.

An acquaintance once asked Don how he got started in social justice projects and the academic work to support them. He said, “I was working with a group of colleagues. We were pulling folks out of the rivers of social problems. We decided to hike upstream and find out who was throwing them in – and why.”

Throughout his more than 50 years in the field, many nonprofits in Santa Barbara and Prague benefited from his huge social conscience. He was a one-man band. He would design a consulting program, invite organizations to apply, raise the funds from his loyal donor pool, hire a team of consultants, select the recipient, head up the team, execute meaningful work, evaluate, and eventually present the successes as fodder for his next project. In his late 80s, he formed Bushnell Consulting Group, which continued to inspire positive change in Santa Barbara nonprofits.

Don was a collector of delightful peculiarities. He had a garden full of brilliant, technicolor neon signs, which sometimes challenged the household electrical capacity.

The stairway walls to his office were home to his extensive egg collection ranging from the mundane to the exquisite – and then there were his favorite unanimated friends – Advertising Food dolls: The Pillsbury Dough Boy, Campbell Soup Girl, Ronald McDonald, Mr. Peanut, and many others.

Don was especially proud of his role in the early founding of Fielding Graduate University, then known as The Fielding Institute, which was designed to support adult students who were furthering their degrees while working full time. At age 40 while founding the Human and Organizational Development (HOD) program of study and working full time, he earned his own PhD. As chair of the emerging HOD department, he recruited and hired some of Fielding’s most outstanding and significant academic contributors.

Everyone loved Don. He was the quintessential PLAY-Mate! He didn’t need expensive equipment, and his games were of universal appeal to young and old alike. He was the “bubble man,” croquet king, flyer of exotic kites, and emcee of The No Talent Show.

Don was a devoted atheist, agnostic, and humanist member of the Unitarian Society. He was responsible for the Covenant of Good Relations, which is still practiced. Years before the current environmental crisis, he initiated solarizing the building – and paying it forward to other faith-based organizations. He ran the Ecology Club, sang in the choir, enjoyed several men’s clubs, served on multiple committees multiple times, and in his decades of membership created dozens of fund-raising projects.

Don’s charm and playful nature often overshadowed his keen intellect. He was an intellectual in the broadest sense. He understood complex abstract concepts. His playing of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” will be remembered by many. He had classical piano training and knew both the music and life stories of the composers.

Don is survived by son David (Annette), son Jeff, granddaughter Corinna (Stephan), great-grandsons Louis and Flynn, stepdaughters Claire and Nora, and his life partner, Julie, her daughter Jennifer, son Nick (Stacey), and her grandchildren, Ronan, Mila, and Jesse

A friend and colleague wrote: “I will always be profoundly grateful to Don for his mentorship, wisdom, intellect, music, humor, Renaissance vision and intuition, generosity, commitment to social justice and education. I can’t imagine a world without Don Bushnell.”

A memorial service was held on Saturday, August 5, 2 pm at the Unitarian Society.

Those choosing to make contributions, please contact:

Don Bushnell – January 7, 1927 - June 19, 2023

4956 5 th

Ernie’s World

Glass Ceilings, Glass Floors, Wine, and Hot Dogs

by Ernie Witham

“Wow, what a view, huh?” my wife said.

“Nice,” I said, leaning against the wall as far away from the tall glass panels that slanted outward at a disturbing angle and had a gap on either side large enough to put your arm through. A family walked by, a little kid climbed up onto the bench, which also slants outward, and looked down through the gap.

“How cute,” the mother said, taking a photo. Several people watched and smiled.

“Great, if they draw a crowd and everyone up here comes to this side, the thing will probably topple over and we’ll all die.”

“We are not going to topple over,” Pat said reassuringly. I wanted to believe her. I really did, but then a very big guy climbed up on the bench and laid back against the glass in a spread eagle while his girlfriend took photos. This, of course, caused other macho-type guys to repeat the feat.

Pretty soon, there were people leaning against the glass everywhere. I was sure now that I felt it lean. Suddenly, our trip to the top of the Space Needle in Seattle seemed like an excellent opportunity for a population decrease, including me.

“Says on the website the Space Needle was built to withstand two-hundred-mileper-hour winds and nine-point-o earthquakes.”

“It was built in nineteen-sixty-two, that’s more than fifty years ago. I didn’t topple over as much back then either.”

My wife walked closer to the glass. I thought I should ask to hold her purse with the car keys and her Neptune Society cremation card in it. Instead, I took a few steps closer to the glass remembering the famous words of FDR: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” That and 201-mile-an-hour winds, apparently.

I was finally close enough to look down at stuff, mostly roofs and food carts, including the one that sold Seattle Dogs, which had cream cheese and grilled veggies. Seriously! I opted for plain, then smothered it with three different kinds of mustard, relish from a two-gallon can, and 25 or so jalapeños. Those jalapeños were now rebelling.

The other thing I could see now that my vertigo was subsiding was the huge studio glass building built by Dale Chihuly housing one of his many amazing glass sculptures. Earlier, we visited the Chihuly Museum, which contains tons – literally – of sculptures, including a room with a blown-glass ceiling and – I hadn’t broken a single thing. Now looking down, I realized that when we toppled I would no doubt crash right through the one-of-a-kind glass house becoming, for an instant, part of the art exhibit.

Pat suggested we go inside for a glass of wine, which is how we probably should have

started this adventure. That’s when we saw the sign for the stairs that take you to the next floor down, which revolves.

“Gotta see that,” Pat said.

We found an area near the bar with small tables. Pat bought us some wine and when I put my camera bag down I noticed one of the other features of this level. It has glass floors. Now I could see the garden area of the Chihuly exhibit, blocked out only by my two feet. “What does it say on the website about one-hundred-and-eighty-pound guys being on the glass floor.”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” said Pat, stomping on the glass. “See?” She smiled.

“I feel much better now. We should take a selfie, send it to the kids. They can see how much fun we were having on our last day. Perhaps they can show it at the memorial service.”

Pat went for another couple of glasses of wine. I took a minute to look around and count the other people on this level. “Let’s see... one hundred fifty pounds... two hundred at least, one twenty pounds times four...”

“You’re missing the view,” Pat said.

Sure enough, we had rotated all the way around, so we were now looking at the city. Mount Rainier loomed above it, but you could only see the top, so it appeared to be floating in the sky.

“Seattle sure is an exciting place,” said Pat.

I gulped my wine, watching a large family walk heavily by. “Yes. Exciting.”

Bottoms up: Wine was the order of the day at the Space Needle, where the author was literally floored by glass

Ernie Witham has been writing humor for more than 25 years. He is the author of three humor books and is the humor workshop leader at the prestigious Santa Barbara Writers Conference.

Jacob Collier, Oct 1

Herbie Hancock, Apr 17

Audra McDonald, Nov 30

Renée Fleming, Feb 1

Turn It Out with Tiler Peck & Friends, Oct 25

Jeff Goodell, Oct 17

Samara Joy

A Joyful Holiday, Dec 8 Nickel Creek, Oct 8

Abraham Verghese, Feb 21 in Conversation with Pico Iyer Kristin Chenoweth, Nov 5

Our Town

Will you be introducing new outreach and educational events?

Ana Papakhian

Appointed Executive Director of Camerata Pacifica

by Joanne A Calitri

In announcing its 2023-24 and 34th season programming, Camerata Pacifica’s founder and Artistic Director Adrian Spence delightedly shared the appointment of Ana Papakhian as its new executive director.

Papakhian is well-known in the classical music world here, and I would add nationally as well, with 27 years of experience in the field, most recently as the chief marketing and communications officer for the Music Academy (MA) in Montecito since 2014. Her pedigree background starts with a BA and MA in vocal performance from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. After performing at the New Orleans Opera, she joined the Piatigorsky Foundation in NYC and was the personal assistant to Marilyn Horne

In 1997, Papakhian found her way to our town when Horne became the Music Academy’s Vocal Program director. She moved here permanently in 2014 to work for the MA. In between Horne and the MA, she was the director of communications for the Cleveland Orchestra and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Her nonprofit work includes the Association for Women in Communications – Santa Barbara Board Member, the Interlochen Center for the Arts Engagement Council vice president, and a member of the Santa Barbara Behavioral Wellness Commission. Having known Papakhian since 2000, I called to congratulate her on her new position. We met at her office and talked:

Q: How did the position for executive director at Camerata Pacifica come about?

A: I heard that the position had become available in January this year. Adrian Spence is a friend and neighbor, so I called his cell phone immediately to inquire. I had been to many Camerata Pacifica concerts in the past and knew some of the musicians. I respect Adrian’s sensibility about music so much. He has an innate way of articulating what’s relevant about music to others. And their quality spoke to me – I wanted to be a part of presenting frequent concerts of the highest professional echelon. The idea of expanding my orbit to more communities (Thousand Oaks, San Marino/Pasadena, and Downtown Los Angeles) was really appealing. After Adrian told me about the dedicated board members from all the different locations, I was hooked! I’m very grateful for the opportunity.

What is your primary focus for the organization?

My laser vision is on fundraising to support these incredible musicians. When they are playing chamber music with artists they connect with, there is nothing more spectacular. It’s a feeling you’ll never get from watching your phone – the sound waves in the room and being with other people – it’s in some ways a spiritual experience. We need more wonder and awe in the world to uplift us and set our imaginations on fire.

The astounding thing that Camerata Pacifica has already significantly invested in is called The Nightingale Channel. It’s a video channel set up for streaming in hospitals. There have been years of curating the greatest concerts with brilliant video and audio, so that patients and visitors can access them anytime they want solace, comfort, entertainment, or just to be soothed. This program is already in several major hospital systems, and we get inquiries often to implement it. If you want to see some of the videos that are on the channel, check out our YouTube page – we have over 2.5 million views!

Your thoughts on the future of music performance?

During the [Covid] lockdown, we streamed music performances for our patrons while I was at the MA, and Camerata Pacifica was doing the “live at home” concerts as well. We all learned that the digital medium in music is here to stay. It is something that we will continue to focus on, and Camerata Pacifica has invested in quite a bit.

And access to classical music…

It is really important to me. Our tickets are an expense for people because it is used to pay our musicians, the venues, programming, and operating costs. However, I always extend invitations to people and groups relative to the performances being held. We work with senior living communities. We have a complimentary ticketing policy for people to try a performance for free!

How about Adrian Spence’s pre-concert educational talk?

He has a gift to articulate the relevance of the music for the audience and explain why the music is programmed together for each performance and how it is relevant to our society right now. He is brilliant at programming and why it is programmed together. When you unlock that for people, it is fascinating and makes it an informed experience.

What is the coolest thing about your job?

It will be getting to hear some of the greatest chamber music performances in the world and meeting lots of new people. After the pandemic, it feels like such a luxury to make new friends!

How did music find you?

My love of music starts with my dad, a composition major in college who played the clarinet. My mother played violin. They got me started on piano lessons when I was 9, and I joined a children’s choir. I loved singing with other kids, and we got to perform in local operas. Being around senior opera singers, I began emulating them, studied opera in high school, in boarding school, and then did my BA and MA in it. I am a lyric soprano. One of my favorite opera parts was performing Esmeralda in The Bartered Bride.

What do you listen to at work?

Occasionally I like to listen to new classical music recordings on Spotify. I discovered the Aizuri Quartet that way, who have become a favorite, but mostly stream compositions that are coming up on our season. Flutist Emi Ferguson is the music director of our Baroque series, so if I need to be motivated with high-energy, virtuosic playing, I play her Bach recording. Wow!

What are you looking forward to in your new position?

It’s a real honor to have entered into the realm of leading a nonprofit, especially in Santa Barbara, where there are so many. I’m finding a lot of joy in learning how to manage an organization. There are so many questions to ask yourself: “How can I positively impact the culture?” “How can I help improve communication and motivate others?” But most of all, I’m grateful to be working in the field I love – classical music. Once you are bitten by that bug, there is nothing like it.

411: https://cameratapacifica.org

Ana Papakhian at her Camerata Pacifica office

(photo by Joanne A Calitri)

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Society Invites Santa Barbara Woman’s Club

93rd Annual La Merienda

El Presidente David Bolton with Sue Ziliotto and El Primer Caballero

Gonzalo Sarmiento (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

by Joanne A Calitri

The Santa Barbara Woman’s Club held its annual gala celebrating Fiesta, called La Merienda, on Wednesday, August 2, at their Mission Canyon Rockwood club. This soirée was established in 1928, and its event chair is Sue Ziliotto

The event was seriously double sold-out with ladies arriving in brightly colored flamenco dresses, and men in their Sunday best ranchero outfits. There was a catered Mexican luncheon and homemade desserts served buffet style.

The event started promptly at 11:30 am with the introduction of Fiesta dignitaries, Old Spanish Days El Presidente 2023 David Bolton, and El Primer Caballero 2023 Gonzalo Sarmiento. Bolton welcomed everyone and acknowledged the event chair Ziliotto and St. Barbara 2023 Lisa Osborn. Bolton shared that Fiesta brings the community together in a tradition that started in 1924.

The first performer was the Junior Spirit of Fiesta, Olivia Nelson, a 10-yearold 4th-grader at Roosevelt Elementary School. Next was the Spirit of Fiesta Jack Harwood, who received a standing ovation. Harwood rehearsed five to six hours daily in preparation for the Old Spanish Days performances. He and Nelson left after performing for the SB Woman’s Club to prepare for the Old Spanish Days opening event at the Santa Barbara Mission later that evening. They were followed in performance

1st District Supervisor Das Williams, Paula Lopez, St. Barbara 2023 Lisa Osborn, and SB Woman’s Club President Cevin Cathell (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

by the best local dance teams from their respective dance academies in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles.

Also seen at the event were former KEYT television anchor and Emmy Awardwinning journalist Paula Lopez, Santa Barbara County First District Supervisor Das Williams, Santa Barbara Woman’s Club President Cevin Cathell, and Montecito BFFs Diane Pannkuk, Sofie Langhorne, and Linda Butterwick.

This fun and festive event is one for the books. The Santa Barbara Woman’s Club was founded in 1892, with the mission of cultivating friendship and an interest in fine arts, world travel, civic affairs, and other current topics.

411: https://sbwomansclub.com office@sbwomansclub.com

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

Linda Butterwick, Sofie Langhorne, and Diane Pannkuk (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

Reel Fun

‘Monica’ Explores Deep Wounds With Mother and Daughter

by Christopher Matteo Connor

Monica’s mother is dying. Monica hasn’t seen her mother in years. In fact, Monica’s mother doesn’t even recognize Monica. And that’s because she hasn’t seen her daughter since she fully transitioned and was cast out from the family. It’s been a long time. And a difficult one.

In Andrea Pallaoro ’s latest film, Monica, Trace Lysette plays a lost woman desperate to reconnect with her estranged family. But more importantly, to make peace with her mother ( Patricia Clarkson ), who is living her final days dying of cancer. A reconciliation is in order, but deep wounds present deep problems.

Pallaoro’s visual language is precise. It’s a familiar style, one he’s worked with in previous films. The camera is static, rarely moving. He

opts to position his characters in ways that only give us partial access to them. Fragmented bodies. Heads cutoff by the frame. Faces obscured, backs turned to us. We see Monica in reflections; in mirrors or through the window, sometimes fractured, sometimes translucent. As if these are only versions of her, what she allows the world to see. To show her full-on for too long would reveal too much. And yet, there is a real intimacy to the film. The use of the 1:1 aspect ratio forces us to be close to Monica. She fills up the frame. She literally bursts out of it. There is the constant struggle of allowing herself to be vulnerable and remaining guarded. Being too vulnerable opens up the possibility of continued pain and disappointment. But being guarded could dash any hopes of reconciling with her mother. Can Monica overcome the pain and finally reveal her true self?

The film doesn’t sensationalize Monica’s transness. Her identity plays a crucial role in the film, but it isn’t used to shock. Monica already knows who she is. But after years of abandonment, will her mother finally accept her, especially at such a dire moment, where every passing second is magnified by her looming death?

In Monica, what’s left unsaid is just as important as what is said. The film is restrained, never delving into melodrama. It’s quiet, with long moments of silence. It allows itself to unfold at its own deliberate pace, but when it does, it’s a reward worth waiting for.

Monica is a sensitive film. A beautiful one about forgiveness, reconciliation, family, and finding your place in it.

Unfortunately, Monica just left Santa Barbara theaters. But we’re in luck! It is now available to rent on most major streaming platforms. And, as of this writing, it is still showing in Los Angeles.

Matteo Connor is a writer and filmmaker. When he isn’t writing, watching movies, and working on projects, you can be sure he’s somewhere enjoying a big slice of vegan pizza.

Christopher

Body Wise

Staying Creative and Engaged Later in Life: A Conversation With Author Karen Roberts

by Ann Brode

Recently, I sat with author Karen Roberts on the Bonnymede deck listening to the soft sounds of surf nearby and talking about her new book, The Blossoming of Women – A Workbook on Growing from Older to Elder. Always curious about the experience that inspires the writing, I asked Karen to share a bit about herself and her journey.

With degrees from Wellesley and Berkeley in economics and management, Karen landed a job on Wall Street as director of research for a French-owned firm. It seemed as if she was well-suited and positioned for a successful life in finance. A decade later, however, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) and her life took a decidedly different course. She’d been so certain of her future and now she felt uprooted and scared. Her arms didn’t work, she couldn’t even sign her name, and, at that time, there were no medicines for her condition. To deal with her loss and find a way forward, Karen looked for alternative ways to heal.

Over the next couple of years, Karen’s search took her on a wild, transforma-

tive journey – trance dancing with Sufis in New Mexico and doing shamanistic healing rituals and plant medicine in Northern California.

Since this was about as far from mainstream as you could get, I asked Karen to say more about her participation in these extraordinary experiences. She responded: “We were in the middle of nowhere, living in tents and not being intellectual about our lives anymore. Coming from Wall Street, this was a huge, huge change.” Over and over, she was challenged to get out of her “mind” and listen to her internal knowledge. For her, this knowing was a kind of spiritual sensibility, coming more through her senses than from her senses. As Karen learned to trust this spiritual sensibility, as well as her intellect, it changed the way she saw and lived in the world.

“It is the blending and the balance between spirit and the material that makes life fulfilled and complete.”

– Shaykh Adnan Sarhan, one of Karen’s teachers

A gentle wind and pelicans in flight reminded us to pause and savor our lovely connection on this beautiful summer day. After a few moments, Karen reflected, “My healing crisis was such a gift for me – although, at the time, I didn’t know it.” Although she still manages money, it’s not life’s sole purpose anymore. Now, she finds time to care for herself and her loved ones, spend time in nature, and share what she’s learned and continues to learn with others. As part of her PhD research into the spiritual journeys of women, Karen interviewed creative women who’d continued to grow and evolve spiritually well into their later years. Inspired by these women and wanting to invite others into the conversation, Karen decided to write a book rather than a dissertation.

Recently published, The Blossoming of Women – A Workbook on Growing from Older to Elder encourages us to embrace the unknowns of becoming older and see them as opportunities to continue growing and becoming. Full of valuable information about how to change your assumptions and the steps to personalize your experience, this is a guide book for discovering the beauty and wisdom of your inner elder. It doesn’t have to be esoteric. When you shift your expectations and tune in, a sense of elderhood can infuse a walk on the beach, a talk with a friend, or a casual encounter at the grocery store. You become an elder when you listen without judgment, volunteer to help others with an open heart, and prioritize time for quiet reverie. It happens when you soften to love yourself –flaws and all.

CONTINUES....

When getting older means becoming an elder, your understanding of being alive expands. This changes the way you think about your body; the way you approach a healing crisis (yours, theirs); the way you feel about the past and future. Each day, whether engaged in a hum-drum routine or out on a bucket-list adventure, includes the possibility of being at one and at peace – of blossoming beyond your imagination. Hearing Karen’s story reminded me that our lives so often don’t follow a predictable course. A health crisis, death in the family, loss of house or job, a natural disaster, or just the process of aging asks us to find the courage to be bigger than our small selves. The Blossoming of Women encourages us to stay creatively engaged as we live into our 60s, 70s, and 80s. Then, perhaps, you’ll discover that becoming an elder is “the crown achievement of your life.”

Karen Roberts lives on her ranch in Santa Ynez and near the sea at Bonnymede. She’s the author of three books: Passions and Patience – Fostering Earth’s Future through Unlikely Partnerships (2004); Journeys –Healing through Nature’s Wisdom co-written with Dana Jaffe (2015); and The Blossoming of Women – A Workbook on Growing from Older to Elder (2023), also co-written with Jaffe.

Author Karen Roberts

Ann Brode writes about living consciously in the body. She is the author of the book A Guide to Body Wisdom. Visit bodywisdomforlife.com for more information.

Village Vibe Edward “Ed” Carty

Ed and his twin sister, Anne Carty, co-own and manage Carty & Carty Antiques in Montecito’s Upper Village, where their business serves as a resource for historical expertise. With the help of their mother’s early savviness, their establishment has become a hub of knowledge within the community.

“We’ve been in Santa Barbara since 1865, came here from Burlington, Vermont, and then my grandparents came to Montecito and lived here. This was a storage unit for my mother who did antique appraisals, so she was like, the go-to person for appraisals. It’s mostly a service more than anything else. People come to us, invite us over to see what they have and if there’s anything. Like we went to an estate where there was a big punch bowl and the lady was going to sell it for $150, and I said, ‘Well, but this is better than $150. It’s Sterling; it’s by Clarence Rydell; it’s early for a California silversmith,’ and so we ended up taking it to sell for her and today it’s at the Boston Museum of Art in their American Wing and they paid $50,000 for it.”

We know that finding the right senior care for your mom or dad is a big decision. That’s where A Place for Mom comes in. Our senior living advisory service ensures you’ll get a full understanding of all the options in your area based on your loved one’s care needs and budget.

You’ll get more than just expert advice and recommendations. You’ll also get peace of mind.

Start the conversation with one of our expert Senior Living Advisors today. Our service comes at no cost to your family. Connect with us at 866.333.4907.

The Santa Barbara Neuroscience Institute Brain and Spinal Tumor Program

SERVICES INCLUDE:

Brain and Spinal Cord Tumor Management

Open and M inimally Invasive Craniotomies

Skull Based and Spinal Cord Surgery

Surgical Epilepsy Management

For more information, please contact the Santa Barbara Neuroscience Institute’s Nurse Navigator at 805-450-8820.

NEUROSURGERY TEAM:

Thomas Jones, MD, Medical Director, SBNI

N. Nicole Moayeri,MD, Medical Director, Neurosurgical Oncology Program

Richard Chung, MD

Akinwunmi Oni-Orisan, MD

Alois Zauner, MD

SPOTLIGHT ON THE NEWEST NEUROSURGEON AT COTTAGE

N. Nicole Moayeri, MD, FAANS

SPECIALIZING IN: Brain & Spinal Tumor, Epilepsy Surgery

MEDICAL DEGREE: Stanford University Medical Center

RESIDENCY: Massachusetts General Hospital

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENT: Harvard Medical School

EXPERIENCE:

Over 25 Years as a Neurosurgeon

There’s a perfect place for your mom or dad. And we’ll help you find it.

ASSISTED LIVING MEMORY CARE INDEPENDENT LIVING HOME CARE

Brilliant Thoughts On Education

Coming Back Annika Wagner

by Ashleigh Brilliant

There was a time in my life – not lately – when I used to enjoy re-visiting places where I had previously lived. There were quite a few of them – towns, neighborhoods, even countries, going back to my childhood. Nowadays, when people in general are much more mobile, it’s not unusual for your family to be moved and transplanted several times while you are growing up. But as a child, when this happened, I had no choice but to go with them, even if that meant leaving behind all my friends, and practically everything else that was familiar.

For me, probably the biggest change came right at the beginning of my teenage years. It was just after the end of World War II. Having left England before its beginning, when I was five years old, and then spent the entire war years on this side of the Atlantic – two years in Canada, and the next five in the U.S. – I had become thoroughly Americanized, although England (which I could hardly remember) was still supposed to be my “Home.” But changing countries in 1946 (because my father’s job took us back) meant going from what, even in wartime, had been a land of plenty, to a land of shortages and “austerity.” England, though never invaded, had suffered severely in the war, including bombing raids, of which the scars, such as ruined buildings, or empty spaces where they used to be, were visible for years afterwards.

Another enduring vestige of the war was the system of rationing, which persisted for most of a decade. I well remember how, when the rationing of candy was finally lifted, there was such a rush to buy “sweets” that rationing actually had to be re-imposed.

Meanwhile, I spent my entire teenage years, and on, up to the age of 21, going through the equivalent of High School and College in the British education system. At first, it was hard to readjust, and I was teased about being a “little Yank.” In order to communicate, I had to acquire something of an English accent, at least to the extent of pronouncing words like “can’t” and “dance” the English way, with a broad “a.”

Nevertheless, we had “come home,” and our house was still there – but alas! we couldn’t live in it again, because, being empty, it had been “requisitioned” for a bombed-out family, who were still legally in possession. We had to buy another house in a strange new district.

But my sister and I could never forget

the country we had left behind, and, as soon as we were able to, we both “emigrated” back to the U.S.

Over the years since then, having acquired strong new roots in California, I returned occasionally on visits, seeing again my old school and college, and some of the family and friends who still remembered me, and whom I still remembered.

It was the same in Washington, D.C. –not the famous parts, but my old neighborhood – where the building in which we’d had an apartment for five years of my childhood was still there, seeming, at least from the outside, unchanged. Other spots evoked both happy and sad memories, such as the house converted to a synagogue where I had attended Hebrew School, but been unable to have my Bar Mitzvah, because we left a few months before my thirteenth birthday.

But, apart from my own experience, history and literature are full of famous returns. One that comes immediately to mind is that of Homer’s Ulysses, coming back from the Trojan War, after twenty years of wandering, to his home island of Ithaca, where his wife, Penelope, is besieged by suitors (everyone, of course, assuming, by this time, that he is dead) and, touchingly, not recognized by anyone but his dog.

Much more recently, we have Scarlett O’Hara, the heroine of Margaret Mitchell’s novel Gone with the Wind, returning to her family’s home plantation of Tara, after the enemy army has swept through, to find her mother dead, her father demented, and all the slaves freed and gone, except for her faithful old housemaid, Mammy.

It does seem to take wartime and postwar situations to create the most experiences of returning home – as indeed it was in my own case. And, although I came back, to live most of my life in America, something in me is still English. And I will always feel a very personal resonance, when I hear the expression, “You can’t go home again.”

by Stella Haffner

Most high schools in California require around 60 hours of community service in order to graduate. What does it mean when a student does 40 times that amount?

Eighteen-year-old Annika Wagner is a 2023 graduate of Dos Pueblos High School. During her junior high and high school years, she completed more than 2,000 hours of community service, for which she received the Merci Award (most hours volunteered) from the Santa Barbara Chapter of the National Charity League in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

When asked what has motivated her to stay so involved, Annika cites her family: “I guess I just really like just being active in my community. When I was young, my mom was really instrumental in taking me to places and getting me involved,” says Annika. “I have been a part of Girl Scouts since I was six, I got my Gold Award last year, which was also a really awesome project to work on, and my brothers were both Boy Scouts, so I would say it’s a pretty big part of my family.”

But Annika’s achievements aren’t limited to volunteering. In addition to her community service, Annika has maintained a stellar academic record, earning a 4.85 GPA including 34 college credits through AP exams, Santa Barbara City College dual enrollment courses, and summer classes at University of Southern California. Annika is an all-star student, but she is especially driven in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects.

Annika was excited to attend Dos Pueblos because of the school’s Engineering Academy. But her interest in science started long before then. At 14 years old, Annika received a grant from NASA to start an astronomy club for her Girl Scouts chapter. As part of the award, Annika was invited to Washington, D.C., to tour the NASA facilities and talk to the operatives on the Cassini Mission.

“We spent a week learning from Professor Lou Mayo and got to see all the operation desks like in the movies. It was really fun to see. They taught us so much about the work they do at NASA,” she says.

Annika has continued with her passion for science through her volunteer work at Cottage Hospital. She says this,

like all her experiences, has played a big role in informing what she wants to do for a career.

“I have been considering going into the medical field because you see a lot there and being at Cottage has been pretty meaningful – just the aspects of humanity you see. And I really enjoy that.”

The newest feather in Annika’s cap is a $2,500 scholarship from the P.E.O., a national women’s philanthropic educational organization. Annika was awarded this scholarship for her excellence in leadership, academics, extracurricular activities, and community service.

“It was really nice – a big honor. I know they choose from a big pool of very talented young women, so it was just really nice to have my achievements awarded with that. It felt really special.”

Annika will be using this money to start her college journey this fall. She will attend the University of California, Los Angeles as a pre-psychology major and says she is excited for the independence of this next chapter in her life.

Ashleigh Brilliant born England 1933, came to California in 1955, to Santa Barbara in 1973, to the Montecito Journal in 2016. Best-known for his illustrated epigrams, called “Pot-Shots,” now a series of 10,000. email: ashleigh@west. net. web: www.ash leighbrilliant.com.

Annika Wagner recently received a scholarship from the P.E.O. Sisterhood, a national women’s philanthropic educational organization (courtesy photo)

From the shores of Scotland, Stella Haffner keeps her connection to her home in Montecito by bringing grads of local schools to the pages of the Montecito Journal

mental health services in both jails from 11 pm to 7 am (not just the current daytime services) and for all medical staff contracted to work in the jails to have had 40 hours of advanced mental health crisis response training. Additionally, they recommended that the County Sheriff’s Office and all city police departments should provide the 40-hour mental health crisis response training to all patrol co-response teams and custody staff (this is normally provided in law enforcement academies, but many deputies hired before 2023 have not had the training).

The report called for all cities in the County to provide funding for advanced mental health crisis response training for patrol officers and supervisory personnel (at least 40 hours instruction and eight hours of annual refresher training). Remember, these are recommendations, so it remains to be seen whether they will be implemented.

The jury’s final recommendation calls on the County and the Sheriff-Coroner’s Office to request an independent review of JT’s death from the California Attorney General. Each of the deaths in the jails were investigated by the sheriff-coroner rather than calling in an outside/independent coroner. Some counties have a coroner’s office that is not under the sheriff. We should, but do not, so there is inherent bias and a conflict of interest. We will be watching for required responses to the jury’s reports by the sheriff and the District Attorney (in August) and by the Board of Supervisors (in September).

Final reports of the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury are available at: www.sbcgj.org

The New Yorker. Nonetheless, he continued, the death of the Eagle was an occasion to mourn rather than celebrate, for there was always a chance it would become a good paper someday.

Losing the Santa Barbara News-Press is even sadder because the paper has a rich history. In the wake of a declaration of bankruptcy by publisher Wendy McCaw, media historians remembered that the paper had won a Pulitzer Prize in 1962 when publisher Thomas Storke took home the honor for his editorials about the John Birch Society.

Storke’s commentary was backed up by first-rate reporting about how the Birch Society was undermining the civic life of Santa Barbara. The News-Press was then a family affair with Storke’s father running the editorial page and his son the daily operations.

Under the Storkes, the News-Press was also involved in mundane controversies. A co-worker of mine at the San Jose Mercury knew the family and said Thomas Storke was inordinately proud of keeping parking meters out of the city. Storke reportedly called them the “work of the devil.”

Local newspapers often become editorially involved in such civic controversies, as I know from experience. Before having the good fortune to work 28 years for The Washington Post, I spent most of two decades at weeklies and a twice-a-week newspaper in the San Francisco Bay Area and at dailies in Merced and San Jose.

Routine work was punctuated by edifying moments. At the Merced Sun-Star I discovered that a county supervisor was circumventing the law requiring construction and repairs on public buildings above a certain amount to be put to bid. The supervisor had work broken down into multiple “cost-plus” repairs that did not require bidding and funneled the contracts to a relative who owned an electrical business. Other supervisors turned a blind eye to what was happening.

Lost Opportunity: Some Thoughts on the Passing of the News-Press

By Lou Cannon

When the Brooklyn Eagle, a circulation leader among afternoon papers, closed its doors in 1955 after 114 years of publication, few tears were shed outside of Brooklyn.

The Eagle was not much of a newspaper, observed press critic A.J. Liebling of

My publisher, a conservative Republican, liked my stories, but they didn’t seem to be producing results. So the publisher conferred with my editor, and the two of them concocted a plan. They had a reporter interview a former county counsel about the mechanics of filing a taxpayers’ suit against the supervisors and put the story on page one.

This was in the nineteen-fifties, a less litigious time, and such relatively mild pressure was sufficient. The supervisors rescinded pending cost-plus contracts, one for construction of a hospital. The subsequent new bids saved Merced County thousands of dollars.

My stories didn’t always have such happy endings. At the San Jose Mercury a decade later, the publisher suppressed

a series written by me and the political editor about a Republican state senator who had, among other things, accepted bribes for advancing legislation.

This publisher, also a conservative Republican, did not explain the reason for his action, but a friend of his told us he didn’t want to help the Democrats in a swing district.

Years later, I interviewed Katharine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post, for a book I was doing on reporting. When I complimented her for publishing the Pentagon Papers and sticking with the Watergate investigation until it bore fruit, she responded: “What else could I have done?”

As Gwyn Lurie has shown in these pages, quoting the experienced journalist and activist Annie Bardach, McCaw’s withdrawal from serious news coverage has come at great cost to the community.

I said that every publisher wasn’t like her and as an example told her the story of how our series had been suppressed.

“That was scurrilous,” she said. “It’s a wonder you stayed with journalism.”

She touched a nerve. I had considered quitting after our series was spiked, but had a young and growing family, and journalism was all I knew. So I soldiered on and had the good fortune to be hired by Graham’s paper when nearly 40 years old.

I spent the rest of my daily journalism career covering politics, three presidencies, and the West for The Washington Post. Journalistically, they were the best years of my life.

My wife Mary and I have been additionally fortunate to live in Summerland for the past 33 years. We fell in love with the Central Coast during the eight years of the Ronald Reagan presidency when I was the Post’s senior White House correspondent. Reagan escaped the confines of the White House whenever he could to fly west and ride at his nearby ranch.

At the time I wrote a column that had begun in the Post as “Reagan & Company” and was syndicated by The Washington Post Writers Group. The News-Press ran the column.

The News-Press was then owned by The New York Times, which meant it was generally high-minded. But I was aware that

some Santa Barbarans thought the paper had become remote from its readers and was not alarmed when it was sold in 2000 to Wendy McCaw. I cheered when she hired as editor Jerry Roberts, whom I knew as one of the most trusted and reliable political reporters in California.

How little any of us know about the future.

The cheering stopped as McCaw, instead of tackling the challenging issues that face Santa Barbara, battled her newsroom on the appropriate role of a newspaper. The conflict came to a head in July 2006 when Roberts and four other newsroom employees resigned in protest to two McCaw decisions they believed violated journalistic integrity.

Since then, and particularly recently, the News-Press has operated with a skeleton staff too small to cover the news even if McCaw wanted to do so.

As Gwyn Lurie has shown in these pages, quoting the experienced journalist and activist Annie Bardach, McCaw’s withdrawal from serious news coverage has come at great cost to the community.

Since California legalized marijuana, cannabis growers have rooted themselves in Santa Barbara County, supplanting a well-established (and harmless) flower-growing industry in Carpinteria and environs.

The cannabis growers were aided by excessively friendly legislation passed by the county board of supervisors that allowed growers to determine their own taxes.

According to Bardach and a Los Angeles Times story, the supervisor who wrote the legislation received significant campaign contributions from the cannabis industry.

I’m retired now, but this is a story I would love to have covered when a California journalist. Who knows? Done right, under the direction of Jerry Roberts or another capable editor, it’s the sort of story, replete with heroes and villains, that might have earned a fully staffed Santa Barbara News-Press a second Pulitzer Prize.

Gail Osherenko is a member of the Board of the League of Women Voters, Santa Barbara (LWVSB), and chair of the League’s Criminal Justice Reform Task Force.

NOTICE OF APPLICATION AND PENDING ACTION BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT TO:

WAIVE THE PUBLIC HEARING ON A CDP HEARING APPLICATION AND APPROVE, CONDITIONALLY APPROVE, OR DENY THE CDP HEARING APPLICATION

This may affect your property. Please read.

Notice is hereby given that an application for the project described below has been submitted to the Santa Barbara County Pla nning and Development Department. This project requires the approval and issuance of a CDP Hearing application by the Planning and Development Department.

The development requested by this application is under the jurisdiction of the Director and therefore a public hearing on the application is normally required prior to any action to approve, conditionally approve, or deny the application. However, in compliance with the , the Director intends to waive the public hearing requirement unless a written request for such hearing is submitted by an int erested party to the Planning and Development Department within the 15 working days following the Date of Notice listed below. All requests for a hearing must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Request for Hearing Expiration Date listed below, to Soren Kri ngel at Planning and Development, 123 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara 93101 2058, by email at kringels@countyofsb.org, or by fax at (805) 568 2030. If a public hearing is requested, notice of such a hearing will be provided.

WARNING: Failure by a person to request a public hearing may result in the loss of the person’s ability to appeal any action taken by Santa Barbara County on this CDP Hearing Application to the Montecito Planning Commission or Board of Supervisors.

If a request for public hearing is not received by 5:00 p.m. on the Request for Hearing Expiration Date listed below, then the Planning and Development Department will act to approve, approve with conditions, or deny the request for a CDP Hearing application. At this time it is not known when this action may occur; however, this may be the only notice you receive for this project. To receive additional information regarding this project, including the date the CDP Hearing application is approved, and/or to view the application and plans, or to provide comments on the project, please contact Soren Kringel at Planning and Development, 123 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara 93101 2058, or by email at kringels@countyofsb.org, or by phone at (805) 568 2046.

PROPOSAL: D & P OF CALIFORNIA LLC ALTERATIONS

PROJECT ADDRESS: 1506 MIRAMAR BEACH DR, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93108 1st SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT

DATE OF NOTICE: 8/1/2023

REQUEST FOR HEARING EXPIRATION DATE: 8/22/2023

PERMIT NUMBER: 23CDH 00008

ASSESSOR’S PARCEL NO.: 009 345 006

ZONING: 7 R 1

PROJECT AREA: 4.00

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Applicant: Tai Yeh

Proposed Project:

APPLICATION FILED: 3/21/2023

The project is for a Coastal Development Permit with Hearing to allow for the construction of reinforcement of 2 wood pilings due to 30 percent failure and threat of full damage with a high tide. Proposing 6' tall 4" thick concrete jackets to wrap two existing wood piles. Reinforcement to include new stainless steel brackets and anchor bolts. Concrete to be served by tube at street side o f property. No equipment at any time of day to be used on beach front. No grading is proposed. No trees are proposed for removal. The parcel will continue to be served by the Montecito Water District, the Montecito Sanitary District, and the Montecito Fire Protection District. Access will continue to be provided off of Miramar Road. The property is a 0.04 acre parcel zoned 7 R 1 and shown as Assessor's Parcel Number 009 345 006, located at 1506 Miramar Beach Drive in the Montecito Community Plan Area, First Supervisorial District.

APPEALS:

The decision of the Director of the Planning and Development Department to approve, conditionally approve, or deny this CDP Hearing application 23CDH 00008 may be appealed to the Montecito Planning Commission by the applicant or an aggrieved person. The written appeal must be filed within the 10 calendar days following the date that the Director takes action on this CDP Hearing application. To qualify as an "aggrieved person" the appellant must have, in person or through a representative, informed the Planning and Development Department by appropriate means prior to the decision on the Coastal Development Permit of the nature of their concerns, or, for good cause, was unable to do so.

Written appeals must be filed with the Planning and Development Department at either 123 East Anapamu Street, San ta Barbara, 93101, or 624 West Foster Road, Suite C, Santa Maria, 93455, by 5:00 p.m. within the timeframe identified above. In the event that the last day for filing an appeal falls on a non-business day of the County, the appeal may be timely filed on the next business day.

For additional information regarding the appeal process, contact Soren Kringel. The application required to file an appeal ma y be viewed at or downloaded from:

https://ca santabarbaracounty.civicplus.pro/1085/Planning and Building Permit Application

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Information about this project review process may also be viewed at: https://ca santabarbaracounty.civicplus.pro/1499/Planning-Permit-Process-Flow-Chart Board of Architectural Review agendas may be viewed online at: https://www.countyofsb.org/160/Planning Development

Published August 9, 2023

Montecito Journal

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Pacific Passion Co., 7375 Freeman Pl #B, Goleta, CA 93117. Melanie R Bray, 7375 Freeman Pl #B, Goleta, CA 93117. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 12, 2023. 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. 2023-0001730.

Published August 9, 16, 23, 30, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Mind-Body Thrive, LLC, 228 Cooper Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93109. Mind-Body Thrive, 228 Cooper Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93109. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 24, 2023. 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. 2023-0001825.

Published August 9, 16, 23, 30, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: The Inquisitive Canine; Joan Hunter Coaching, 1187 Coast Village Road 1-290, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. Summit Road Enterprises, LLC, 1187 Coast Village Road 1-290, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 28, 2023. 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. 2023-0001861.

Published August 9, 16, 23, 30, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: California Heating and Rain Gutters, INC, 4193-3 Carpinteria Avenue, Carpinteria, CA 93013. California Heating and Rain Gutters, INC, 4193-3 Carpinteria Avenue, Carpinteria, CA 93013. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 3, 2023. 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. 2023-0001663.

Published July 26, August 2, 9, 16, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Memory Garden Memorial Park & Mortuary; Utter McKinley San Fernando Mission Mortuary; Lafayette Development Company, 1525 State Street, Suite 203, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. The Lafayette Corporation, 1525 State Street, Suite 203, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 13, 2023. This statement expires five years from

2023 Puzzle 8: “Hope Springs Eternal” Solution

August’s MMMM challenged solvers to find a famous rock song. The larger-than-average grid contains no obvious theme entries. Where to start?

The key to cracking this meta was to notice the linked clues for 33-Down, HESIOD [Famous Greek poet], and 37-Across, BOX [Container associated with a famous poem by 33-Down]. The box in question (actually mistranslated from the Greek word for a large storage jar) is the famous Pandora’s box, which also connects to the puzzle’s title, “Hope Springs Eternal.” Hope was the last thing left in the box.

As shown in the diagram to the left, the grid contains seven boxes composed of the letters in PANDORA in order, starting in one of the eight box squares, and then proceeding either clockwise or counterclockwise. Each of these boxes contains a single letter. Taking them in order spells DR-E-A-M-O-N, or Dream On, the famous hit by Aerosmith (which can be found on their compilation album “Pandora’s Box”).

Pete always does a cover version related to the meta answer (usually with his band, the Kindred Souls). You can watch the video and see this month’s full write-up here: https://pmxwords.com/august2023solution

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. 2023-0001744.

Published July 26, August 2, 9, 16, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Mastershine Auto Spa & Mobile Detailing, 502 Casitas Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93103. David I. Tenorio Andrade, 502 Casitas Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93103. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 17, 2023. 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. 2023-0001768.

Published July 19, 26, August 2, 9, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AAER Enterprises, 1060 Colleen Way, Santa Barbara, CA 93111. Adam Rennie INC, 1060 Colleen Way, Santa Barbara, CA 93111. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on June 20, 2023. 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. 2023-0001540.

Published July 19, 26, August 2, 9, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Cruz Landscaping, 1028 Cramer Rd Apt A, Carpinteria, CA 93013. Rodrigo Cruz Cortez, 1028 Cramer Rd Apt A, Carpinteria, CA 93013. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 3, 2023. 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. 2023-0001654. Published July 19, 26, August 2, 9, 2023

ORDER FOR PUBLICATION OF SUMMONS OR CITATION: CASE No. 23CV01669. Notice to Defendant: Joseph S. Foster: You are being sued by Plaintiff: Jordan Schulhof. You and the plaintiff must go to court on the trial date of October 17, 2023 at 9 am. If you do not go to the court, you may lose the case. If you lose, the court can order that your wages, money, or property be taken to pay this claim. Bring witnesses, receipts, and any evidence you need to prove your case. The plaintiff claims the defendant owes $10,000 for unpaid personal loan. Name and address of the court: Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93121-1107. Filed June 20, 2023, by Gabriel Moreno, Deputy Clerk. Published July 19, 26, August 2, 9, 2023

NOTICE OF PENDING ACTION BY DIRECTOR OF THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT TO AMEND A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT

DATE OF THIS NOTICE: August 10, 2023

CASE NUMBER: 21AMD-OOOOO-00003

PROJECT NAME: Laguna Blanca Amendment

PROJECT APPLICANT: Laguna Blanca School

PROJECT ADDRESS: 4125 Paloma Drive

ASSESSOR’S PARCEL NUMBER: 063-092-012, 063-092-013, 063-092-014

ZONE: REC and 3.5 EX-1 Residential APPLICATION FILED: March 12, 2021

DATE OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR ACTION: On or after August 22, 2023, the Director of the Planning and Development Department intends to approve this Amendment to a Conditional Use Permit for the development described below, based upon the ability to make all of the required findings and subject to the attached terms and conditions

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The proposed project is an Amendment to the Laguna Blanca School’s Conditional Use Permit, 03CUP00000-00035, to increase enrollment from 330 students to 385 students and increase the number of teachers on campus by 12 from 80 to 92 at the campus in Hope Ranch. An estimate increase of 102 AADT (annual average daily trips) will result from the project. The increase in trips will not result in unacceptable levels of service at nearby intersections and will not reach the VMT threshold of significance. In addition, the project proposes to connect the entire campus to the Advanced Treatment System that exists onsite within 24 months of project approval. No other structural development is proposed. The School and associated parcels will continue to be served by the La Cumbre Water District, a private septic system and the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. The project is located at 4125 Paloma Drive, APNs 063-092-012, -013, -014, and 063-141-029, in the Eastern Goleta Valley Community Plan Area. The project parcels are a total of 27.64 acres and zoned E-1 and REC.

PUBLIC COMMENT: A public hearing will not be held on this matter. Anyone interested in this matter is invited to submit written testimony in support or opposition to the proposed project (Case No. 21AMD-OOOOO-00003). All letters should be addressed to Planning and Development, 123 East Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, CA, 93101, Attention: Chris Schmuckal, for Travis Seawards, Deputy Director, Planning and Development. Letters, with two copies, should be received in the office of the Planning and Development Department 24 hours prior to the date of Planning and Development Director Action identified above. For further information please contact Chris Schmuckal at 805-568-3510 or cschmuckal@countyofsb.org.

MATERIAL REVIEW: Plans and staff analysis of the proposal may be reviewed at the Planning and Development Department, 123 East Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara a week prior to the date of Planning and Development Director Action identified above.

APPEAL PERIOD ENDS: August 21, 2023

This final approval may be appealed to the County Planning Commission by the applicant, owner, or any aggrieved person advers ely affected by such decision. The appeal must be filed in writing and submitted with the appropriate appeal fees to the Planning and Development Department either at 123 East Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara or 624 West Foster Road, Suite C, Santa Maria, prior to 5:00 p.m. on the APPEAL PERIOD ENDS date identified above.

CHALLENGES: If you challenge the project 21AMD-OOOOO-00001 in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised in written correspondence to the Planning and Development Department.

Published August 9, 2023

Santa Barbara via Mountain Drive. “It was so concerning how that day felt, I just wanted to take the opportunity to refamiliarize myself with Montecito.” He got home and switched on the TV. KEYT had breaking news. “There was a fire above Montecito,” Neels says. “Seeing the ignition on TV, I knew we were going to have a major incident.” 2008’s Tea Fire, fanned by relentless sundowner winds pouring down the front of the Santa Ynez range, would create absolute havoc. As the news cycle ramped up to get its arms around the narrative, Neels and his fellow responders quickly and quietly organized without fanfare and swarmed the oncoming cataclysm. “Firefighters, you know,” Neels says with a mordant grin. “We stay engaged even when off duty.”

David Neels – former MFD Division Chief of Operations – was sworn in as Montecito’s new Fire Chief in April 2023, succeeding outgoing Chief Kevin Taylor What was that journey like? “I was at Cal Poly majoring in agricultural engineering, but I’ve always had friends that work for the fire service. Having discussions or spending family time with them got me interested in that as a possible profession.” When he dove in, the route was circuitous. “I started in ’89 as a paid call firefighter in San Luis Obispo County and did that for six years while completing my degree at Cal Poly, as well as the fire academy at Allan Hancock College. Then I became a paramedic both in the Bakersfield area and here in Santa Barbara County. But I always knew I wanted to get back to the fire service. I was hired by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department back in 1998.”

In the First Responder ecosystem, fluidity of movement is everything. Juxtapose that, for instance, against the perennially evolving Highway 101 widening project. “We’ve been in meetings for years preparing for the roundabouts at both Olive Mill and San Ysidro,” Neels says of MFD’s tactical approach to meddlesome roadwork in general. “Construction projects that threaten to slow our routes of travel are inevitable.” When the 101 work presented a potential hindrance for responders, Neels and his team effectively planted a new sta-

tion on the other side of the obstruction.

“We started talking,” Neels says avidly. “Could we actually place a resource south of the 101 corridor? There are well over 200 homes in that area. We also have the Rosewood Miramar, All Saints-by-the-Sea, the Friendship Center...” When developing responses to seemingly intractable problems, it helps to have engaged citizen-partners in high places. “We coordinated with Ty Warner, who very graciously said ‘… Of course you can use a piece of our property here to put a temporary fire station in place!’” Neels smiles. “That engine has responded to more than 37 calls for service,” he says. The episode highlights a particular character of the Montecito environs, and the question of access.

“The way our community has developed over the years, it’s not easy to gain access. Our operators have to be very alert in low light situations all the time, especially at night. We have a lot of trees and vegetation, and that makes for some very narrow access at times. Of course, it’s also what makes the area unique.” Picture in your mind’s eye a huge red fire engine wending its way along Montecito’s charmingly demure neighborhood roads. The degree to which community members share the “firefighting” mission can’t be overstated.

“We live with the threat of wildfire,” Neels says plainly. “Vigilance about fuels reduction is critical in a community like ours.” When responders are stretched to the

limit, the homeowner having minimized their own vulnerability is a huge part of the equation. “Creating defensible space around your home is so vitally important, because it does take time to get all those resources on site. That’s also why partnering with an institution like Westmont makes really good sense. It allows us to show them what right looks like.”

2008’s Tea Fire swept onto Westmont’s forested campus with a wind-driven vengeance. Fleeing through the woods was impossible. Per the school’s and the MFD’s wildfire planning, around 800 people scrambled into the campus’ Murchison Gymnasium where they sheltered in place, the raging fire later found to have made its closest approach about 10 feet from the building. “We always have to keep reminding ourselves of these events,” Neels says. “Just recently I met with President Beebe from Westmont to review some of those things.” Given Montecito’s woodland terrain, the MFD knows where to put its resources. “We have two Wildland Fire Specialists, Nic Elmquist and Maeve Juarez,” Neels says. “Their primary mission is to continue community involvement in fuels reduction. We’re grazing over 30 acres with sheep this year alone in three different project areas.” Westmont spokesperson Scott Craig picks up the thread. “The college has been working with Maeve to map and then reduce the number of dead and dying trees in the barranca to the west of campus between our faculty homes. They started last week, dramatically clearing out the creek area, and it looks great. The vegetation had been quite dense. Maeve said they hope to keep a smaller crew available for additional clearing in the area through the summer.”

From strategic sheep grazing to computer modeling of optimal evacuation routes, MFD transparency brings locals into the planning process, as Chief Neels explains. “People want to know – as they should – that decisions are being thoughtfully made with real data, and they want to know how we make our decisions,” he says. “Those decisions are reviewed, approved, and implemented at the direction of the department’s elected, five-member Board of Directors whose decision-making matrix is guided by the best interests of the community. So it’s important to us that our fire stations and facilities are open and welcoming to the community. We hold monthly Board meetings here at Fire Station 91 and we encourage the community to attend.”

The devastating mudslides of 2018 are an example of private and public synergies interweaving to rescue, repair, and rehabilitate. “The debris flow was a corner-turning moment here,” Neels says. “Each member of our community experienced the tragedy differently. We

also saw a unity of government involvement from the federal, state, and county levels. My memories of that night of the event – engaging with heavy equipment, trying to get access – one of my personal commitments as Fire Chief is the responsibility of making sure we don’t forget, that we remain aware of the potential, especially after the 2023 storms in January and the saturation event.”

Recruitment to the cause remains an ongoing effort. High school students –hopeful, seeking, too often bewildered by the ill-fitting advice template offered by well-meaning sponsors – are increasingly privy to the First Responder family as a career. “The fire chiefs from all the agencies are committed to increasing outreach to our local schools and recruiting young people from our communities to join our profession. We are actively looking for opportunities to engage with the local school districts to make that a reality.”  Interfacing with and recruiting from the community is everything, and the Montecito Fire Department is an open door. “We get a lot of people from the area walking up the drive with their kids, and we encourage that,” Chief Neels says. “Our firefighters enjoy showing our equipment, explaining to community members of any age what our day-to-day looks like, and hopefully providing them with a better understanding of their fire department.”

Some of those young people walking the halls of Montecito Fire Station 91 in barely concealed awe – they just might have their imaginations spurred. Something like that happened once upon a time to a young boy named David with a dream to serve his neighbors. It seems to have worked out.

“If you think back to the night of the Tea Fire,” Chief Neels says with visible pride, “every station on the South Coast and in the adjoining counties responded.” Who needs caped crusaders? For his part that evening, Neels walked into the house, had his intuitions confirmed on KEYT’s newscast, and didn’t break stride. Still holding his car keys, he picked up the phone and dialed out with a strategically critical message. “I called my wife,” he says with an almost apologetic grin. “’Hey, I need to head back

“The grill is the summer equivalent of a fireplace; everyone gravitates to it.” — Katie Lee

into work…’”

David Neels at his desk job (photo courtesy Montecito Fire Department)

David Neels’ mother/lifelong #1 fan ceremonially pins the inevitable Fire Chief at his swearing in (photo courtesy Montecito Fire Department)

Jeff Wing is a journalist, raconteur, autodidact, and polysyllable enthusiast. A longtime resident of SB, he takes great delight in chronicling the lesser known facets of this gaudy jewel by the sea. Jeff can be reached at jeffwingg@gmail.com.

Far Flung Travel

Peaceful Paddling on the Russian River

by Chuck Graham

The little North Coast town of Jenner was still asleep as I slid my kayak off the boat ramp and into the glassy waters of the Russian River, a couple hours north of the San Francisco Bay.

I had a solid head start, maybe 90 minutes of paddling before sunrise would light up the tallest of the redwoods. Already though, the runnel was alive with river dwellers feasting on its plentiful aquatic bounty, fish and invertebrates teeming in the shallows and throughout its driftwood-strewn riverbanks. Wispy, low-lying fog drifted upriver, gradually wafting skyward as summer temps warmed the river wild.

Paddling beneath several ospreys gazing across the broad river from various lofty vantage points, I watched in amazement their steely eyesight garnering them one fresh take after the next. It seemed too easy for them as their continuous chirping resonated up and down the winding river.

As I continued my paddle upriver, three curious, spotted harbor seals kept pace with my steady stroke while drafting off my stern three miles beyond the mouth of the river. However, their

attention was easily diverted at the second hard bend in the runnel. A gentle eddy swirled in the bend where several opportunistic double-crested cormorants efficiently knifed through schools of fish. The harbor seals joined their seafaring counterparts, that curvature in the river providing sustenance for two species normally seen in the ocean.

Hovering above the eddy was a belted kingfisher. I hardly ever see them sitting still, as they typically swoop from one leafy perch to the next. Yet, killdeer and dowitchers, mostly frenetic shorebirds, let my blue kayak drift right up to the gravelly shoreline, as they never paused from probing their beaks into the soft, gooey mud.

Thirty yards across from me on the adjacent riverbank, three young coyotes jostled. Oblivious along the shoreline, they chased one another back and forth, nipping at their exposed flanks. All that separated us was a sturdy gravel bar. Sitting low on the water in my kayak was an advantage. For 10 minutes, they chased one another to exhaustion, their breaths swirling upward into the redwoods standing tall over the Russian River.

Further upriver, it was getting crowded.

One hundred tranquil yards ahead, I was soon wading through Canadian geese, mallard ducks, and preening American white pelicans in my blue kayak. Barely dipping the blades of my paddle into the serene river, the avian aquatic hardly paid me any attention as they foraged and preened the morning away.

I’d never seen so many common mergansers in one location until those several serene hours on the Russian River. During my solo paddle, I counted more than 100 of them, mostly huddling atop storm-ravaged driftwood wedged in the mud or resting along the riverbank. On the water, they remained close. They never flew off or dove beneath. Instead, they distanced themselves by running on the surface of the water.

After paddling eight miles upriver, it was time to redirect and head back to Jenner. The downriver current made paddling a low-impact cruise. At certain spots along the river, I merely floated with the downriver current. I’d drop the blade of my paddle into the crystal-clear waters and use a rudder stroke at each bend in the runnel.

At the last bend in the river, I did just that, which enabled me to float toward a bobcat hunched on a downed tree above the riverbank. It could see me coming, but it didn’t seem to mind my presence as I was silent and motionless in the kayak.

The bobcat was more focused on finding food. I suspected there was a diverse menu readily available along the river.

Once past the lurking bobcat, I paddled toward the mouth of the Russian River where it converged with the ocean.

Big, sandy berms steepened from the water’s edge on either side of its wave-battered mouth. There, throngs of harbor seals lounged on the warm sand, seemingly performing planks on the steep berm. Also present were juvenile California brown pelicans bathing in the shallows.

It was here where the diversity of life thrived between river and ocean, waves crashing in the mouth but tranquility reigning supreme on the Russian River.

Chuck Graham is a freelance writer and photographer based in Carpinteria, where he also leads kayak tours and backpacking trips in Channel Islands National Park

national outlets like the Times

Sometimes two living heads are better than one dead one. Growth in local journalism, by way of something lousy dying – it isn’t such a bad thing, is it?

LeeAnn Morgan Montecito

Receptionist Revolution

On Wednesday, when you and your cohorts compile, compound, calibrate, cogitate over, and eventually cough up your next edition of the Montecito Journal by an exacting agglomeration of excitable (and often exemplary) expert edifiers, may you consider including the following in your cough:

I have an idea that will increase the health and well-being of Americans and bring down the cost of healthcare as a result: Create a fund (I haven’t figured out by whom yet – small detail) to help out all of our poor, money-strapped corporations pay to reinstate that frontline position they eliminated oh-so-many years ago in the name of progress: the receptionist. The living, breathing, thinking, talking, sometimes even chuckling humanoid who could answer your question or transfer you to someone who could.

Think of it: No more hours spent with the robotic “Chat Assistant” who has 10 programmed answers, none of which pertain to your question at hand. No more hours spent on the phone, lost in voicemail hell, listening to what must be the favorite tune of the Devil himself for the 23rd time. No more scaring the children with expletive-filled screams after being cut off shortly after you got a real person to talk to. And for me, no more calls like the one yesterday to my insurance company, where I was put on hold, transferred, put on hold, transferred... for 3 and a half hours – the time it takes me to fly nonstop from L.A. to Minneapolis – and my issue still wasn’t resolved! I would happily sit in a middle seat in coach with a crying baby next to me, a kid kicking my seat from behind, and my dinner of five mini-pretzels over another experience like this any day. Give us back living, breathing people who answer the phone, and I swear blood pressures, heart attacks, and strokes nationwide would go down, insurance rates would go down (certainly!) and everyone’s happiness level would go up. Here’s to the Hallowed Human Hello!

Caryn Schall Montecito

Tomato, Tomato

I read a very interesting article recently in the MJ about tomatoes. In the article, the author touched on a few of the cultural aspects of tomatoes that might be of interest to the home gardener.

Stores buy unripe tomatoes and expose them to ethylene gas to “ripen” before they sell them. The result is a red fruit that is not physiologically ripe and has little taste. Home gardeners have the chance to harvest tomatoes at their peak of ripeness and flavor. Gently tug on a tomato that appears to be ripe and ready to eat. If it comes off easily, the tomato is ready to eat or store on the counter for a couple of days. In warm weather, do this procedure every two or three days.

Tomatoes are botanically a fruit – a swollen fertilized ovary containing one or more seeds. If tomatoes, squash, peppers, and many other summer vegetables are classified as a fruit, then what is a vegetable? There are many definitions of vegetables. Select the one that suits you best.

Santa Barbara County Master Gardeners are volunteers and agents of the University of California that extend to the public research-based information, verified by UC experts, about home horticulture, pest management, and sustainable landscape practices. There is no charge for this service. Visit our homepage at Santa Barbara County Master Gardeners to learn more about our activities. Check out our free home gardening helpline and newsletter.

John Cookson MG

On Fashion

Paint It Pink: The Webster X Nahmias collaboration kicks off at the Rosewood Miramar Beach

by Sofia Fouroohi-Martin

The Webster store at the Rosewood Miramar Beach launched an exclusive collection with luxury menswear brand Nahmias, marking the second time the two have collaborated. The collaboration also commemorates the threeyear anniversary of The Webster’s opening at the Rosewood Miramar Beach.

The Webster also opened a pop-up shop in one of Rosewood’s two-room bungalows. The first room was composed entirely of Nahmias. The second room featured widely available items from The Webster, such as womenswear from high-end brands like Chanel and Gucci. The luxury retailer is known for its creative curations. According to director of communications at The Webster, Annica Litavis, The Webster separates out a brand “only during special events and installations.” Speaking about the Nahmias pop-up, Litavis stated, “We wanted to give the brand a moment to highlight and celebrate it.”

The Webster has consistently carried pieces from Nahmias since the brand’s launch. Nahmias is currently one of the fastest-growing luxury menswear brands and has been spotted on many high-profile celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Kodak Black, and Charles Leclerc.

The Webster X Nahmias collaboration consists of cotton T-shirts, hoodies, and sweatpants. It also includes a knit crewneck. All of the pieces feature “SUMMERLAND.” The brand’s designer and founder, Doni Nahmias, often draws inspiration from Santa Barbara, Montecito, and Summerland, where he grew up. Fusing comfort with looking stylish, Nahmias’ pieces celebrate his hometown. In January, he unveiled his latest runway collection in Paris, France, titled “California Poetry.”

Most of the items in the collaboration use Webster pink – a shade of bubblegum pink named after The Webster Hotel in Miami. This Art Deco venue was built in 1939. The hotel was designed by Henry Hohauser, who is most known for his Art Deco architecture in South Beach, Miami. Eventually the hotel closed, and in 2009, The Webster’s flagship store was opened in the three-story building, keeping the original name.

Pink, a consistent element in Art Deco design, is also the color of The Webster’s logo. Acclaimed fashion editor and illustrator Michael Roberts designed the store’s iconic flamingo logo. Webster pink is The Webster’s official Pantone color. The store has previously done other collaborations

using their Pantone pink, including a pink phone case with Case Scenario and a pink ink fountain pen with Montblanc.

The Rosewood Miramar Beach pop-up also kicked off a larger collaboration between The Webster and the Rosewood. Next, The Webster will be opening a pop-up at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, Texas. This will run from September 27 to October 1 and feature a similar curation to the Miramar pop-up – minus the room with exclusively Nahmias pieces.

The Montecito pop-up began at 6 pm on Friday. From 6 until 8, attendees were offered complimentary champagne and water. By 6:30, the bungalow was bustling as people mingled and browsed the clothes. A mannequin stood just outside the entrance, decked head-to-toe in Webster pink clothes from the exclusive collaboration.

Later in the evening, before the event closed, sugar cookies were also available for guests to enjoy. The treats were decorated with icing that read “Rosewood X The Webster” and infused with a hint of lemon. “It wouldn’t be the Rosewood without that special touch,” Litavis noted. Nahmias was present at the event. Among the attendees were Nahmias’ friends and family, including his parents and brother, Eytan. Some of the attendees had driven up from Los Angeles specifically for the pop-up.

I spoke to Ryan Northrop again, who I initially spoke with in June 2022 while covering the Nahmias Spring-Summer 2023 runway show. He discussed the brand’s upcoming plans to expand globally. At the pop-up, Northrop sported a silk shirt featuring a painting of Butterfly Beach –which hit the runway in Nahmias’ SS23 show. Nahmias is partnering with retailers around the world. Soon, items from the brand will be available to purchase at stores in Tel Aviv, Doha, and London.

All of the items from the collaboration with Nahmias are only available for purchase on The Webster’s website or at the Rosewood Miramar store.

Visit luxury menswear brand Nahmias’ popup shop at the Rosewood Miramar Beach (source: Nahmias.com)

In

On

near to the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, which also co-sponsored the visit with Old Spanish Days.

The impressive ship was launched in September 2015 after five years of construction by the Maritime Museum of San Diego, where it is permanently docked.

The original was captained by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and was the flagship with two other vessels, La Victoria and San Miguel, exploring the West Coast.

Among the guests at the sunset soirée were Joan Rutkowski, Adam McKaig, Peter Hilf, Chris and Mindy Denson, Peter and Kathryn Martin, Donna Reeves, Larry Gosselin, Erin Graffy, Richard Payatt, and Mike Stoker

Foundation Fiesta Fundraiser

It was the perfect spot to view Las Noches de Ronda in the nearby Sunken Gardens when the Courthouse Legacy Foundation hosted a sold-out Fiesta bash for 150 guests that raised around $50,000 in the historic Mural Room.

The fab fête, co-chaired by Angelique Davis and Rodney Baker, featured classical guitarist Chris Fossek, the Spirit of Fiesta Jack Harwood and Sofia Chicote, folkloric dancers Xochipilli de Santa Barbara, and paella prepared by Benjamin Schuster

Supporters included Ian and Denise Burrows, Bill and Gloria Hallier, Patricia Schrader, Erik Davis, Paula Farrington, John and Bobbie Kinnear, Ed and Marcia Lenvik, Julia Lowell, Miscellany Page 384

the tight captain’s quarters are Jim Garcia, Kathryn Martin, Bonnie Buzick, and Mac Wheeler (photo by Priscilla)

The La Boheme crew with founder and hostess Teresa Kuskey greeting and entertaining on the Santa Barbara Harbor (photo by Priscilla)

the docked San Salvador are hosts Teresa Kuskey and Rick Oshay (photo by Priscilla)

DJ Joseph Souza and guests on board the San Salvador (photo by Priscilla)

Greg Corso, Renee Fairbanks, guitarist Chris Fossek, Rodney Baker, and Angelique Davis (photo by Priscilla)

Erik and Angelique Davis with Ben Schuster from Santa Barbara Catering (photo by Priscilla)

Alice Zajic, Jane Frederick, and Angie Cisneros enjoying the cool breeze and conversation (photo by Priscilla)

2023 Spirit of Fiesta Jack Harwood and Sofia Chicote dancing a Sevillana (photo by Priscilla)

A Piece of the Rock

You too can become a neighbor of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle!

A 1.52-acre building plot in upper Montecito, just a tiara’s toss or two from the tony twosome’s estate, has just come on the market for $4,100,000.

It is being sold by the Marsha Kotlyar Estate Group.

Wild Life

The party animals were out in force for one of Fiesta’s most popular parties, Celebration de Los Dignatarios, when a record 1,600 guests converged on Santa

Barbara Zoo to raise more than $100,000 split equally between Old Spanish Days and the charming 30-acre menagerie.

KEYT-TV weather anchor Christa Kurkjian was on hand to do a series of forecasts from the boffo bash, while the Spirits of Fiesta Jack Harwood and Olivia Nelson entertained with their dazzling flamenco.

The hilltop hoopla featured 45 food and drink vendors to sate the appetites and thirsts of the hungry hundreds.

It was all too beastly for words with supporters including fun-loving Franciscan Friar Larry Gosselin, David Edelman, Lynn Kirst, Brenda Blalock, Wilson Quarre, Gini Dreier, George and Laurie Leis, Rebecca Brand, Stephanie Petlow,

Prince of Polo

Prince Harry is winging it to Singapore to take part in his charity Sentebale’s annual charity polo match this week.

The Duke of Sussex, 38, co-founded the charity in 2006 to help vulnerable children in Lesotho, Botswana, and Malawi, including those affected by extreme poverty and the HIV-AIDS epidemic.

The charity’s Instagram account, which boasts nearly 29,000 followers, reveals the travel plans include a brief stop in Tokyo, Japan, to participate in a summit.

King Charles III’s youngest son will head up the Royal Salute Sentebale team with Argentinian polo ace and local Nacho Figueras, also a Sentebale ambassador, who will play for the Singapore Polo Club team.

Over the past 13 years, the annual polo event has raised $15 million to support children and young people in southern Africa.

Then next month, he and wife, Meghan Markle, will be in Dusseldorf, Germany, for the Invictus Games, a Paralympic-style event for servicemen and veterans founded by Harry. It will be their first official public appearance since May.

Moon Glance

The lunar-tics were out in force when bubbly Brenda Blalock hosted a twohour trip aboard the 70-foot cruiser Azure Seas to catch the rare SuperMoon, when the planet is at its nearest point to Earth due to its elliptical orbit, creating an awe-inspiring sight.

Thirty friends turned out for the fun coastal fête launching from Stearns Wharf, which Brenda had won in an auction held at the Santa Barbara Boys & Girls Club Rally4Kids gala at the Hilton in April. Among those putting the naughty into nautical were Terry Pillow, Dana Hansen, Howard Cannon and Ashley Blevins, Brian Jacobson and Kate

“Summer is singing with joy, and the beaches are inviting you with dancing waves.” – Debasish Mridha

Charles and Eileen Read , and Gary Simpson and Jill Nida

Fritz and Gretchen Olenberger, and Rich Block

Miguel and Norma Hidalgo enjoying the Courthouse Legacy Foundation event (photo by Priscilla)

Jim Jackson, Cathy Stribling, Lisa Wilson, and Chana Jackson (photo by Priscilla)

Mayor Randy Rowse and his daughter Lauren Rowse with Santa Barbara Zoo President & CEO Rich Block (photo by Priscilla)

El Presidente David Bolton and Primer Caballero Gonzalo Sarmiento with Rich Block (photo by Priscilla)

Marybeth Myers, Michelle Bischoff, and August Lubinski at the Santa Barbara Zoo (photo by Priscilla)

John Bridgewater and friend with Howard Cannon (photo by Priscilla)

Maryanne Brillhart, Brenda Blalock, and Della Cook (photo by Priscilla)

Cate Wilkins, Brian Jacobson, and Terry Pillow (photo by Priscilla)

Alan Porter and Brenda Blalock (photo by Priscilla)

Williams, Della Cook, Alan Porter, John Bridgewater, and Joan Kent

On the Spot

An interesting read in The New York Times in an article about our Eden by the Beach by Amy Larocca

“If wellness were made manifest by a single dot on an enormous world map, that dot would land neatly on Montecito,” she proclaims.

“It’s where wealthy people who have succeeded in becoming their best selves go in order to maintain the exalted state.”

Larocca adds: “With the Santa Ynez Mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west, and air that smells faintly of lavender and eucalyptus, Montecito is one of the rare places that looks even better in real life than it does on Instagram.”

The article lists the obligatory boldfaced-named residents, including Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Rob Lowe, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, Adam Levine, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom , and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Larocca describes the community as “a dizzying combination of old wealth, new wealth, and outrageous physical beauty that has begun to attract an ever-wider range of dreamers.”

But she warns: “...Too much desirability, too many people wanting a piece of the spectacular pie.”

All in the Family

Musette Profant is the new Women’s Board president for Community Arts Music Association (CAMA), succeeding Deborah Bertling after four years, who is now chair of the organization’s board.

Profant continues a proud family tradition as her grandmother Mabel Profant was a founding member of the CAMA Women’s Board and served on the board of directors for more than 50 years, an

unbroken record to this day.

For a century, the Profant family has supported the Santa Barbara cultural community, in particular CAMA, Old Spanish Days, and the Music Academy, and were members of the Santa Barbara Woman’s Club and the University Club, among other organizations central to the community.

The family home in Mission Canyon has been the site of numerous music and dance soirées since 1924.

Air She Goes

Gwyneth Paltrow has partnered with Airbnb, offering one of her two guest houses at her $4.9 million “eco mansion” for one night for one lucky fan and a guest as a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

The Oscar winner, who bought the 14,000-sq.-ft. four-bedroom, four-bathroom property in 2016, has shown a visual tour of the impressive, renovated pad, “inviting you to come stay at my Montecito guest house for a night.”

The Goop founder revealed Airbnb had the idea to do it in a bid “to make the world a little less lonely.”

The listing will go live August 15 at 10 am PST on AirBnB’s website.

Paltrow says she might also join the winners for dinner....

Prime Time

penthouse in Santa Monica.

He enrolled at Stanford aged 24 after graduating from Oxford University and working as an analyst at Goldman Sachs.

In 2009, while setting up a new hedge fund, Theleme Partners, which launched a year later with $700 million under management, they settled down to live in our Eden by the Beach. He also joined the board of the Boys & Girls Club, a popular charity for needy children.

Before and AFTRA

As a longtime member of SAGAFTRA, like my fellow TV commentators and correspondents, as well as actors, I am officially on strike and unable to do TV appearances and broadcasts.

However, Maison Mineards Montecito has been busy with interviews on my royal neighbors, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Riven Rock, with People magazine and the London Sun.

Matt Wilkinson , royal editor for Rupert Murdoch’s Sun, stayed at the Montecito Inn to get a feel of our rarefied enclave, and Jason Sheeler, deputy West Coast editor of the celebrity glossy People, did a lengthy phone interview for a new cover story.

Unifying Force

Jennifer Macdonald is CommUnify’s new director of Children’s Services following the retirement of Lorraine Neenan, who served the organization for more than 20 years.

Effective immediately, she will oversee 23 head-start and early head-start campuses, and the 200-plus staff who work at

the locations throughout Santa Barbara County.

Macdonald has worked in the field of early childhood education for 30 years, including the past 12 years with headstart programs, and most recently as associate director for children’s services. She also worked as a master teacher at Cal State Fullerton Children’s Center and Toddler Teacher II at UC Irvine Infant Toddler Center.

In addition to holding a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from Sonoma State University and an associate degree in liberal studies from Allan Hancock College, Macdonald is currently completing coursework toward her master’s degree in education from Massachusetts Global.

On the Money

It was clearly in the cards when a Ventura resident took home $137,921 after an unforgettable hand on a four-card poker table and triggered a special jackpot at the Chumash Casino Resort.

The lucky recipient, identified as Don W., was playing a poker novel game when he achieved a rare royal flush while betting on a special $1 side wager to qualify for the multi-progressive table games jackpot.

He was seated next to his wife, who was also in the hand and won a $1,000 “envy bonus” for playing a $1 side wager. The couple says the money will be divided between their seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. It won’t be the first time Lady Luck has shone on them. The wife won a $35,000 jackpot 10 years ago!

Sightings

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry with friends at Tre Lune celebrating her 42nd birthday... Actor Steve Martin lunching at the Belmond El Encanto... Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones imbibing at the Rosewood Miramar’s Manor Bar.

Pip! Pip!

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, currently in California on his first family holiday in four years, has a strong Santa Barbara connection, I learn.

Sunak, 43, the U.K.’s leading politician since 2022, met his wife Akshata Murty, by whom he has two daughters, Krishna, 12, and Anoushka, 10, while he studied as a Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University, and also owns an $8 million

Musette Profant, new chair of CAMA Women’s Board

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak lived in Santa Barbara

Jennifer Macdonald, new director of Children’s Services for CommUnify

From musings on the Royals to celebrity real estate deals, Richard Mineards is our man on the society scene and has been for more than 15 years

Your Westmont

Education, Technology Join at Impact Conference

by Scott Craig (photography by Brad Elliott)

Westmont’s annual Impact Conference brings together leading thinkers in education and technology to discuss the development of better data systems for colleges and universities. Co-hosted by Salesforce and Westmont’s Center for Applied Technology (CATLab), the free event takes place on campus Thursday, August 10, from 8am - 1:30pm. To

register or get more information, please visit westmont.edu/impact.

Keynote speakers will challenge people in education to reimagine what’s possible using the Salesforce platform. Julia Freeland Fisher serves as director of education at the Clayton Christensen Institute, and Jonathan Maher is the principal solution engineer for Salesforce’s Education Cloud.

Westmont’s CATLab students will also present projects they pursued this summer. Four teams create and market critical technological infrastructure and digital systems that keep the college running. The data analysts and developers build these systems, and the marketing and admissions teams help tell the story of what they accomplish.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for administrators in higher education to gain valuable insights into Salesforce and network with other executives with similar visions,” says Zak Landrum, director of CATLab, CRM and data services at Westmont. “I look forward to sparking collaboration among higher education institutions, sharing with colleagues, and uniting educators through the common language of technology.”

In 2018, Westmont became the first school to create a program like CATLab, which includes the collaborative efforts of faculty, staff, and students. By working during the summer, students gain substantial professional experience that helps them find internships in Santa Barbara

and employment after graduation. “By allowing students to create our Salesforce infrastructure, we’re pioneering a model that provides low-cost technology solutions to Westmont and invaluable experience to students,” Landrum says.

Education Trailblazers Association, a new professional organization for Salesforce for Higher Education users, is the lead sponsor. Tondro Consulting, FormAssembly, Halosight, and OwnBackup are signature event sponsors.

Women’s Soccer Season Kicking Off

Westmont women’s soccer added seven recruits to its roster ahead of its first season in the NCAA Division II PacWest Conference. The newcomers include Angelina Garcia of Chicago; Kennah Shaffer of Buellton; Ellie Ludwig of Temecula; Katie Lannon of San Pedro; Sydney Reese of Campbell;

The Warriors began training camp this week and have several exhibition games lined up: August 18 at 7 pm at Santa Barbara City College; August 22 at 7 pm at UC Santa Barbara, and August 26 at 3 pm at home against Cal Lutheran University. The Warriors play at Cal Poly Pomona in their first regular-season game on August 31 at 4:30 pm.

plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” — Audrey Hepburn

Lauren Schwarz of Murrieta; and Mia Stuart from Newport Beach.

Executives from Salesforce speak at the conference in 2022

Women’s soccer head coach Jenny Jaggard

Scott Craig is manager of media relations at Westmont College

communications regarding the smart meter program will be going out to District customers shortly. Turner said a study on implementing a recycled water program in Montecito is still underway, with grant funding being pursued to help pay for environmental review and preliminary design for a potential facility. “It’s critical for bolstering our water supply and future water reserves,” Turner said. Another study, this one on the District’s potential consolidation with Montecito Sanitary District, is now published online. The study found that the benefits of consolidation are fairly limited, and the two separate governing boards will be deciding how to proceed, if at all.

Montecito Union School Superintendent Anthony Ranii reported on facility projects on campus, including a recently completed fencing project, which raised the height of fences at the school terraces. Other summer projects nearing completion include a bathroom at the Nature Lab, as well as installation of a new climbing area and purposeful play area. The school continues to be on budget and schedule for a $14M project to renovate the infrastructure in the main building. “We’re really proud to be able to do that project with in-house funds,” Ranii said, adding that up next is the renovation of the kindergarten and first grade classrooms. The first day of school at MUS is August 24, and the campus will welcome 340 students.

Cold Spring School superintendent Dr. Amy Alzina reported that fences around her campus have also been raised and repaired, and that the $2M STEM & Art building project is underway, with hopes it will be completed by the end of 2024. The school is welcoming back 184 students this year, and school starts on August 17.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Lieutenant Butch Arnoldi reported on recent crime, which included an auto burglary at Loon Point; a residential burglary on School House Road; and packages and mail stolen on Miramar Avenue. There have been 90 parking citations given out in the last two weeks at local trailheads for illegal parking.

Montecito Association Board President Megan Orloff told the Board that numerous candidates have applied for the job of executive director, and that she is hoping to hire someone by the end of the month. The vacancy was left by the departure of Sharon Byrne, who resigned last month.

Biltmore Updates

In a statement released last week, local hotelier Ty Warner confirmed that the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore will reopen in the fall of 2024, over four years after closing in March 2020, at the beginning of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Warner’s company, Ty Warner Hotels and Resorts, has been working with the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts to prepare for the highly anticipated reopening of both the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara and Four Seasons Hotel New York. “Both iconic properties are expected to reopen in fall 2024. Renovations and enhancements are planned throughout and the owner and operator look forward to ushering in a new era for both celebrated properties. In preparation for reopening, recalling furloughed employees will be a priority,” the statement reads, going on to confirm what we’ve been reporting on: that the Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club is scheduled to reopen in September 2023. The process of recalling furloughed employees for both properties will commence in the near future, according to the statement.

This new turn of events appears to be the conclusion of the legal battle that ensued over the past two years, with Mr. Warner serving notice to the Four Seasons in 2021 to terminate their long-term agreements at both the Four Seasons Santa Barbara and Four Seasons New York after accusing the Four Seasons of mismanagement of the hotel properties; he said at the time that the Four Seasons was in violation of its contractual and fiduciary duties, to the financial detriment of Mr. Warner. The filing stated that the owner has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the hotels to fund extensive renovations and perform ongoing maintenance, and to support day-to-day operations, and that the Four Seasons did not uphold its duties to maximize profits and minimize costs while operating the properties consistent with the standard of world-class luxury hotels. The Four Seasons contested the termination of the agreements, and for months the two sides attempted to resolve their dispute through arbitration.

We’ll have more on the impending opening of both the Coral Casino and Four Seasons Biltmore in subsequent editions.

Kelly Mahan Herrick, also a licensed realtor with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, has been editor at large for the Journal since 2007, reporting on news in Montecito and beyond.

The ever-busy Postell, by the way, will be back at the Lobero later this year, first on a November date supporting Bruce Cockburn, and likely yet another show with the all-star session group The Immediate Family, who are arranging a December concert to coincide with a screening of the group’s new self-titled documentary film that is set for an end-of-the-year theatrical release. Also in the works is a second annual concert tribute to the late photographer-musician Alan Kozlowski

The Stand and Be Counted tribute concert to David Crosby takes place August 20 at the Lobero Theatre. For more information, visit www.lobero.org.

Pop Notes: Roar & Pour Roars Back

The free concert series Roar & Pour featuring weekly live music from local bands playing on the plaza in front of the Granada Theatre returns for a month of Thursdays beginning this week. On tap are Grateful Dead tribute band The 192s, the Dan Zimmerman Band jazz trio, 1970s-leaning rock band Doublewide Kings, and Something This Way Magic from DeTar Music Studios. See my Giving List column elsewhere in this issue for details.

Academy Bids Adieu Twice at the Granada

Scott Reed’s brief speech at his last official public appearance as the Music Academy’s president/CEO after 12 years at the helm, which drew an instant standing ovation, set the stage for the emotional rollercoaster ride provided by the Academy Festival Orchestra at the Granada last Saturday night in the final event of the 2023 Summer Festival.

The whirlwind trip through the gamut of colors and emotions came courtesy of fiery conductor Hannu Lintu, who led the fellows through a crisp yet sensuous reading of Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life), the semi-autobiographical 50-minute tone poem that contains more than 30 quotations from many of Strauss’s earlier works. Another standing ovation was highly in order after the summer session officially ended with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s equally challenging overture-fantasy Romeo and Juliet.

The concert closed the door on the 2023 festival, but Hahn Hall won’t be dark for too long, as Camerata Pacifica launches its new season of chamber music concert at the venue on September 15 with works by Beethoven, Mozart, and Elgar, while the Music Academy has booked a second season of its Mariposa Concert Series for later in the fall. Even better news: We’re less than 44 weeks away from the next Music Academy Summer Festival plus a new crop of fellows and guest artists providing elevated performances, master classes, and more.

Discounts for Devotees of “The Dark”

The annual discount derby for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival next year is going on right now. SBIFF returns to town – or more accurately, dominates the entertainment calendar – from February 7-17, 2024, with its usual slate of celebrity tributes, industry panels, and 200 or so new independent and international films, including daily free screenings. It will be hard to top 2023’s “success rate” though, as nearly every Academy Award winner who picked up a statuette last March – including every major category winner – graced our local stage at the Arlington Theatre a month earlier. Next year’s tributes won’t be announced until the fall and early winter, but the deadline to secure a 25-percent discount on passes and ticket packages comes to a close on August 15. Visit www.sbiff.org for details.

learn that nearly half the MUS families were renters, many of them stretching to live in a place that offered a public school where the average class size was 17. A school that was as good or better than any school, public or private, that we had looked at in L.A. The thing about Montecito we most love is that it attracts people who are less socially aspirational than many of the people we knew who were living in L.A. or in NYC (my husband’s hometown). If climbing the Hollywood social ladder is your priority, you would likely not choose to live in a place like Montecito where one would have no way of knowing that the person in flip-flops at the next table at Jeannine’s actually holds the original patent for fire.

Never mentioned in Larocca’s piece is the burgeoning tech community in Montecito and Santa Barbara. Nor that this is home to some of the world’s most trailblazing entrepreneurs, many of whom are still active and working right here, locally: the founders of SONOS, the Google Quantum AI computer, Gorilla Glue, Kate Farms, Stüssy, Flying A Studio, Deckers, Procore, Sex Wax, Dr. Sansum was the first to administer insulin in a patient, Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, Tri-Tip, SIMS, Powell-Peralta, Martha Graham Dance Company, Earth Day, Kinko’s, Big Dog Clothing, Balance Bar, McConnell’s Ice Cream, Direct Relief International, SEE International, Egg McMuffin, Blue LED inventor Shuji Nakamura (won the Nobel Prize), Clénet Coachworks, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg (source: local historian Erin Graffy).

Montecito’s tragic 2018 debris flow was referenced, but nothing about the incredible way this community rallied to support each other through that tragedy. How our response to that crisis became literally a national model of resilience efforts by organizations like The Bucket Brigade and The Program for Resilient Communities, (TPRC) which worked closely with USCB’s world class Bren School to understand the moment and plan – successfully – for a more resilient future. TPRC researched and found the debris nets, a technology that was then shared with and adopted by Los Angeles for their subsequent debris flow beneath the Getty Museum.

Also never mentioned was that Santa Barbara is said to have more nonprofits per capita than any county in the country. Organizations supported greatly by Montecito’s large and engaged philanthropic community.

Another peculiarity of the Times’ profile of Montecito that gets lost in its litany of celebrity is that somehow Larocca got Montecito’s County Supervisor (Das Williams) to boast about his defiant lack of concern for his own constituents’ interests. “When people come to me and say, oh this or that will be terrible for property value, I just say, ‘Good!’” said Williams.

“I’m surprised the New York Times reporter didn’t say she enjoyed breathing the air here knowing that a microscopic amount of it may have once been exhaled by Gwyneth Paltrow.”

Really? Our elected member of the County Board of Supervisors thinks it’s good when Montecito’s property values go down? Seems a little weird considering a significant amount of Montecito’s property taxes support Santa Barbara County services – including the salaries of Supervisor Williams and his staff.

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

Meanwhile, individual tickets for UCSB Arts & Lectures’ 2023-24 slate of arts-spanning events and enlightening conversations already went on sale late last week. So the time to snap up a favorite anticipated dance performance, pop or classical concert, or other event or talk is now. You can still get discounts up to 25 percent by leveling up to one or more of A&L’s dozen curated series subscriptions that cobble together complementary events and offer other benefits, or take advantage of 10-percent savings by choosing your own package of at least four programs. Details and descriptions at www.artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.

Importantly for me, what I really missed in the NYT reporting about Montecito is what I most appreciate about this place – its quirk. The idiosyncrasies of this little village that have managed to outlast the powerful forces for growth and modernization that perpetually work against that. And all of that is found in the details. The lack of streetlights. The lack of traffic lights. The lack of commercialization. The lack of self-promotion. And, yes, the height limits and regulations on walls and gates.

With its breezily inaccurate and hyperbolic tone, Larocca’s piece most illustrates the perils of having your narrative written by a distant and flippant media giant. For whatever reason, The New York Times decided it was time to write something colorful about Montecito. But they sent a fashion reporter to do it. And Montecito has never been about fashion, being in fashion, or what’s “trending.” We’ll leave that for L.A.

And if you don’t believe me, ask Meghan Markle. Or Katy Perry’s dad.

“When all else fails, take a vacation.” — Betty Williams

“We keep our moat stocked with ducklings and mermaids.”

The Giving List The Granada Theatre

by Steven Libowitz

There’s no doubt that the Granada Theatre is one of the crown jewels in Santa Barbara’s enviable and outsized arts scene, one that after undergoing a mega-millions upgrade has become home to nearly all of the South County’s major presenting arts organizations. What’s more, the nonprofit continues to upgrade on a regular basis, most recently with the transition to a state-of-the-art sound system that makes every seat the best acoustic one in the house.

All that takes a lot of ongoing support, of course. And there are lots of ways to get involved, including the upcoming seventh annual Granada Theatre Legends Gala on September 16, one of the area’s most highly anticipated evenings that brings together inspiring honorees from both cultural institutions and individual artists with noted philanthropists on the Granada’s glorious stage in a single evening in one place to support Santa Barbara’s performing arts community. This year, it’s Ensemble Theatre Company, Fannie Flagg , and Brooks & Kate Firestone on the marquee.

But November brings a new event to the Granada fundraising fold, one with an emphasis on fun, and where black tie is definitely not the dress code. The first-ever show in the Granada’s new Synergy Series on November 11 in a concert that stars the Doublewide Kings, Santa Barbara’s popular homegrown classic rock band, with a 40-member strong contingent of the Santa Barbara Symphony, one of the

theater’s resident companies. They’re joining forces to celebrate the music of Van Morrison, with the Kings and the symphony led by Artistic Director Nir Kabaretti , offering a unique interpretation of Morrison’s platinum catalog of timeless hits.

Granada Chairman Palmer Jackson, Jr., is understandably excited about the upcoming event, not in the least because he’s the guitarist and co-lead singer of the Doublewide Kings, as well as a member of the board of Santa Barbara Symphony, although it took a little coaxing from Kabaretti to concur on the collaboration.

“We do a bunch of Van Morrison’s songs in our shows, and so many of his songs either have horns or strings on them,” he said. “It looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The Kings have hired an arranger to create charts for the symphony for the

concert as well as coach the band through fronting an orchestra.

“The symphony doesn’t need his help, because they do this all the time, as just about all of the members are regular session players on soundtracks and scores,” Jackson said. “They’ll be ready to go. The pressure is on us. But we’re super excited.”

Tickets to the concert run $31 to $156, but the event is also a fundraiser for the Granada. Sponsorship packages range from $1,000 to $10,000 and include an increasing number of premium VIP seats, early access to the show including soundcheck, as well as a post-concert meet and greet with the Doublewide Kings and the Symphony musicians. Sponsors also receive recognition in all of the promotions and programs and in theater mentions.

The concert that will feature such Van the Man hits as “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Moondance,” “Domino,” “Wild Night,” and “Tupelo Honey” also represents the first event produced by the Granada itself – rather than merely serving as a rental venue – since well before the pandemic.

“We learned a lot of lessons and now that everything’s back to full force, we’re wanting to start doing more,” Palmer said.

The Granada is also relaunching the Roar & Pour series that began during the Covid closures, bringing local bands to the sidewalk in front of the theater to play late afternoon concerts for free. The way to keep sound guys and music makers busy was so popular the theater is sponsoring a four-week series in August as a community service during the lull between the Music Academy concerts and the fall arts season.

That gets going at the Granada at the end of September, when Opera Santa Barbara, another of the Granada’s resident companies, reprises Carmen , the world’s most beloved opera, for the first time since 2016, spilling over into a second show in October. Then comes the onslaught of top flight touring productions presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures, with four dates offering illustrious representative of dance (Martha Graham Dance Company, New York City Ballet principal dancer Tiler Peck), progressive bluegrass (Nickel Creek), and chamber music (ThibaudetBatiashvili-Capucon trio).

The Santa Barbara Symphony kicks off its own 2023-2024 season in October teaming up with several of the city’s other musician ensembles, including the Santa Barbara Choral Society, Quire of Voyces, Westmont College Choir, and members of the Santa Barbara Gay Men’s Chorus, in a program anchored by Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. A week later, State Street Ballet, yet another longtime Granada partner, launches its new season with Giselle, also accompanied by the Santa Barbara Symphony.

Palmer said that supporting the Granada also supports all of its partner organizations.

“A gift to the Granada essentially goes to the performing arts in Santa Barbara because we subsidize the symphony, we subsidize the opera, we subsidize all of our resident companies,” he said.

The Granada Theatre

1214 State St.

Palmer Jackson, Jr. - Chairman Jill Seltzer - VP for Advancement (805) 899-3000

www.granadasb.org

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Calendar of Events

by Steven Libowitz

FRIDAY, AUGUST 11

Mighty Cash Cats – There’s something appropriate about a Ventura County band taking on the great Johnny Cash’s legacy. Cash, the multiple Hall of Famer who wrote songs and lived a life of love and sorrow, moral tribulation, and eventual redemption to a more than 50-year career, actually lived in Ventura and Casitas Springs for nearly a decade beginning in the late 1950s. The timeless early Mariachi-influenced hit “Ring of Fire” was recorded during that time (though the lyrics had nothing to do with Cash causing the Adobe Fire that burned 500 acres in the Los Padres National Forest in 1965). The Mighty Cash Cats lead singer Michael Jay hasn’t had nearly as eventful a life, but Jay has certainly dedicated himself to walking the line, i.e. making the Cash Cats a

ONGOING

Arts al fresco – After a week off for Fiesta (and a few days for clean-up), UCSB A&L summer film series Out of this World returns August 11 to the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Gardens, to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and boldly go where… oh, sorry, that’s the mission of the starship USS Enterprise. The original Star Trek crew and vessel were resurrected by director J.J. Abrams, whose 2009 blockbuster brought back the beloved original characters, albeit with new actors in place, to do battle with Romulans and ray guns with the usual blend of action, comedy, and cosmic peril. For them, that is. You get to sit back and relax on your breathable blanket or lawn chair and soak up the atmosphere under the stars at the Sunken Gardens, taking in the tailored tunes from DJ Darla Bea prior to film time.

WHEN: 8:30 pm

WHERE: 1100 Anacapa St.

COST: free

INFO: www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu….

Next up at Rancho La Patera’s lakeside site for the Music at the Ranch series is Moneluv (pronounced Money Love), the local California dance-pop alternative-rock band that offers a retro vibe with synth-bass style undertones and hypnotic vocals. The band that features famed DJ Scott Topper has a bit of a harder edge than the Stow House’s typical fare, with a set list that veers toward Maroon 5, Smashing Pumpkins. Violent Femmes, the Rolling Stones, and the like. Mony’s & Sassafrass are the food trucks on hand this week (August 15). WHEN: 5:30 to 7:30 pm WHERE: 304 N. Los Carneros Road, Goleta COST: free INFO: (805) 681-7216 or www.goletahistory.org… Next Thursday (August 17) marks the final monthly installment of Mesa Music Nites, which bills itself as a concert in the park at its new venue of Elings Park, high atop Las Positas Road. But this is a much smaller and more intimate gathering, with maybe 10 percent of the audience, though food, drinks, vendors, and a raffle, as well as room to dance (and for kids to roll down the gentle hills). Don’t let the name of the band playing on the small makeshift stage scare you, either: Hoodlum Friends is merely a cover band that plays an eclectic variety of classic rock and alternative, modern pop rock, folk rock, and surf instrumentals.

WHEN: 5:30 to 7:30 pm

WHERE: 1298 Las Positas Road

COST: free

INFO: www.sbmesa.org

SATURDAY, AUGUST 12

Think Ink After Hours at MOXI –Known mostly as a children’s museum, MOXI makes its move to a more mature museum experience at its latest Afterparty at MOXI event. As its title suggests, Think Ink! examines ink in science, art, and the natural world in an immersive celebration of ink as an artistic medium. Interactive exhibit experiences explore everything from organic dyes, to media and print, to body art. MindGarden creative studio will have screen-printing (bring your own clothing items, or purchase shirts on site). Scribble with Lotusland using oak gall ink or catch a Gyotaku activity led by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Additional activities include stamp making, alcohol ink art, henna body art, and tattoo drawing with a local artist. Apples to Zucchini Cooking School will offer squid ink risotto bite tastings, and guests can dip into food and drinks throughout the museum’s three floors, or rage it up on the rooftop dance floor with DJ Gavin Roy and eclectic reggae jams from Rey Fresco. Most of the museum’s other interactive exhibits will also be available, and if you get tired of doing stuff, the MOXI’s rooftop Sky Garden offers panoramic views of the city and ocean. Leave the kids at home, but feel free to act like one.

WHEN: 7 to 10 pm

WHERE: MOXI Museum of Exploration + Innovation, 125 State St.

COST: $35 in advance; $46 at the door (includes one drink ticket)

INFO: (805) 770-5000 or www.moxi.org

copy band that closely hews to its idol, complete with a female co-lead singer to do the June Carter Cash parts. Jay & Co. head up the 101 to settle into SOhO, bringing the Man in Black back to the stage, while opening act the Linda Ronstadt Experience does the same for its namesake.

WHEN: 8:30 pm

WHERE: SOhO Restaurant & Music Club, 1221 State St., upstairs in Victoria Court COST: $15

INFO: (805) 962-7776 or www.sohosb.com

A Nurse Who Leaves You in Stitches – Blake Lynch is Registered Nurse of eight years, one who while still at nursing school in Florida started Banned4Life, advocating to end the permanent FDA ban on gay blood donation. Lynch worked in Level 1 trauma centers around the country but also began creating Facebook videos as a way to de-stress, which went viral in the nursing community and elsewhere. Under his stage name of “Nurse Blake,” he’s found even bigger success as a comedian, touring the country with his stand-up act that skewers the medical profession and offers comedic twists of the ins and outs of being a nurse. Last season’s PTO tour sold more than 120,000 tickets, and Nurse Blake just launched his latest comedic sojourn Shock Advised. Bring out your friends, family, and favorite healthcare worker and maybe even an AED (automated external defibrillator, for those not in the profession), just in case the laughter leads to issues.

WHEN: 8 pm

WHERE: Granada Theatre, 1214 State St.

COST: $48.50 to $93.50 ($195 VIP includes Meet & Greet with Nurse Blake, an individual photo, plus assorted swag)

INFO: (805) 899-2222 or www.granadasb.org

SUNDAY, AUGUST 13

Latin Jazz at SOhO – Son Erico, the new local Latin Jazz band on the scene, gets a coveted gig with the Santa Barbara Jazz Society’s monthly Sunday afternoon show at SOhO. Pianist and leader John Douglas, well-known from his theatrical and other musical leadership around town, has assembled the group

“I love how summer just wraps its arms around you like a warm blanket.” — Kellie Elmore

Swinging Under the Stars – Swing bandleader, trumpeter, and singer Chris Norton has entertained celebrities during New York Fashion Week, played for philanthropists at the amfAR gala, performed for NFL Super Bowl events and for presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and played such iconic New York venues as Waldorf Astoria, The Rainbow Room, Cipriani, the St. Regis, the Plaza, the Standard Hotel, Le Cirque, Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Opera House, and Tavern on the Green. Norton is known for his interpretations of jazz standards such as “Pennies from Heaven” and “On the Street Where You Live,” along with energetic pop songs, R&B hits, rock classics and heartfelt ballads – all jazzed up for his octet. This evening, Norton and his eight-piece Big Band head over to Elings Park to headline the debut of the venue’s new “Music Under the Stars” series. It’s a family-friendly, outdoor show that begins in late afternoon on the park’s expansive soccer fields, with popular local DJ Darla Bea, the perennial winner in the Indy’s Santa Barbara’s Best DJ poll, opening the show, and likely playing a newly created mix of genre-appropriate songs. Bring blankets or low-backed chairs for seating, and picnics if desired – though food trucks onsite include Sassafras and Big Truck Foods with beer, wine, and soft drinks also for sale.

WHEN: 5 pm

WHERE: Elings Park, 1298 Las Positas Rd.

COST: $29 adults, free for kids 12 & under INFO: (805) 569-5611 or https://elingspark.org

featuring Andrew Martinez (saxophones and flute), Santino Tafarella (acoustic and electric bass), Gary Craigwell (congas and Latin percussion), and Elias Vasquez (drums and percussion). They’ll be featuring high-energy original and cover songs, Caribbean rumba, charango, and mambo dance standards, Brazilian jazz samba, and bossa nova.

WHEN: 1-4 pm

WHERE: SOhO, 1221 State St., upstairs in Victoria Court

COST: $25 general, $20 Jazz Society members, $10 professional musicians, singers, and full-time students

INFO: (805) 962-7776 / www.sohosb.com or (805) 687-7123 / www.sbjazz.org

MONDAY,

AUGUST 14

Whale Rider With Writer – The 2002 film Whale Rider tells the inspiring story of Kahu Paikea Apirana, a 12-year-old Māori girl who dreams of becoming the chief of her tribe despite her traditional grandfather’s belief the role should be reserved for boys. The film was critically acclaimed for its authentic and underplayed story of love, rejection, and triumph, which was written for the screen and directed by Niki Caro Whale Rider also introduced Keisha Castle-Hughes as Kahu, who became the then-youngest performer to ever be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. But the story itself came from novelist Witi Ihimaera, who wrote the 1989 book that Caro adapted. After the film is screened at UCSB’s state-of-the-art theater, Ihimaera will join moderator Nicola Daly (University of Waikato’s Education Department) for a post-screening discussion. The event is presented in conjunction with the conference Ecologies of Childhood, the 26th biennial Congress of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature.

WHEN: 7 pm

WHERE: Pollock Theater, UCSB campus

COST: free (reservations recommended)

INFO: (805) 893-5903 or www.carseywolf.ucsb.edu/pollock

ESTATE/SENIOR SERVICES

MOVING MISS DAISY

REVERSE MORTGAGES

ATTENTION SENIORS!!!

IS A REVERSE MORTGAGE RIGHT FOR YOU?

• Access the equity in your home today

• No monthly mortgage payments

• You retain title to your home

• Lump sum or monthly distributions

• All inquiries are strictly confidential

Gayle Nagy

AVAILABLE FOR RENT

Montecito, Santa Barbara, Ca

Furnished home for rent $30,000.00 per mo. with a 5yr. lease, 4bd+4ba, nanny quarters, & guest hse + pool Bob 310-472-0870

Classic Car Storage

SING PLAY ALCHEMY

To enroll in voice &/or piano, submit an inquiry via www.rachelegenes.com. Classes at Studio 8 on Music Academy campus starting September.

Thanks, RAE@rachelegenes.com 805-679-3266

Full Service SAFE Senior Relocation and Estate Liquidation Services Including: Packing and Unpacking, Estate Sales, Online Auctions and our own Consignment Shop! We are Licensed, Bonded, Liability Insured, Workers Comped, Certified by The National Assoc Of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) and The American Society of Estate Liquidators (ASEL).

Glenn Novack, Owner. 805-770-7715 info@movingmissdaisy.com

MovingMissDaisy.com

Consignments@MovingMissDaisy.hibid.com

TRESOR

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

1470 East Valley Rd Suite V. 805 969-0888

805-448-9224

Gayle@dmfsb.com

NMLS # 251258 / Company NMLS # 12007

Direct Mortgage Funding

Santa Barbara

Equal Housing Lender

Licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act

PHYSICAL TRAINING & THERAPY

Stillwell Fitness of Santa Barbara

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

GOT OSTEOPOROSIS? WE CAN HELP

Clean, Dry, Secure, storage available for your classic Automobile. Near S.B. Mission, $ 550.00 per month. Call Ken (805) 252-9780 or kguoin@gmail.com

RENTAL WANTED

Relocating to Montecito from Austin. Two adults looking for a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment, home or guesthouse that will accommodate two small dogs that will stay in Austin most of the time (dogs in Montecito two months out of the year total). Would prefer a one year rental. Contact mobile 512-988-6217. Can provide references and verification of income

REAL ESTATE WANTED TO BUY

Do You Want Out Now?? Local pvt. pty.

@ great credit seeks fixer home; @ seller finan. or lease @ option. You set your price! No agents. 805-455-1420

BUSINESS BROKER

PLAY

MUSIC NOW!

Learn to play with the author of The Right Brain Music Method. NO note reading and great results. Former LA composer and multi-instrumentalist is teaching again in the Montecito area. Lessons in piano, guitar, uke, bass, slide guitar, mandolin, voice and MORE!

James McVay 310 920 2679 rightbrainmusic@yahoo.com rightbrainmusic.com

AUTOMOBILES WANTED

We buy Classic Cars Running or not. Foreign/Domestic Chevy/Ford/Porsche/Mercedes/Etc. We come to you

Call Steven - 805-699-0684 Website - Avantiauto.group

TILE RESTORATION

Local tile setter of 35 years is now doing small jobs only. Services include grout cleaning and repair, caulking, sealing, replacing damaged tiles and basic plumbing needs.

POSITION WANTED

Trusted, Experienced Caregiver, CA State registered and background checked. Vaccinated. Loving and caring provides transportation, medications, etc.

Lina 650-281-6492

General Assistant

Outgoing Personality

Great with Public

Quick Witted

Flexible hours

Live Locally

Local References

Computer Literate

Clear communicator

Call 805-295-0017

TUTORING SERVICES

Need help with your homework? Having trouble in Computer Science, Spanish or Math? Math (Elementary school to College Algebra), Spanish conversation. Software consultant since 2000 for Truven Health Analytics, an IBM company in Santa Barbara, CA. Proud parent of graduate students of Laguna Blanca, CATE School, Stanford University. Jesús Álvarez | 805-453-5516 mytutor29@hotmail.com

At OsteoStrong our proven non-drug protocol takes just ten minutes once a week to improve your bone density and aid in more energy, strength, balance and agility. Please call for a complimentary session! Call Now (805) 453-6086

Contact me for an Opinion of Value & FREE 1 hr. Consultation.

LEARN: When to sell and what to expect How to maximize your price

Paige Esfandiari (818) 274-1150 paige@mabusinessadvisors.com DRE License# 01417096/02210926

ITEMS FOR SALE

For sale!! Priceless Lao tzu 7’x4’ Brian805smith@gmail.com

$10 MINIMUM TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD

It’s simple. Charge is $3 per line, each line with 31 characters. Minimum is $10 per issue. Photo/logo/visual is an additional $20 per issue. Email Classified Ad to frontdesk@montecitojournal.net or call (805) 565-1860. All ads must be finalized by Friday at 2pm the week prior to printing. We accept Visa/MasterCard/Amex (3% surcharge)

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

DONATIONS NEEDED

Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary Menagerie 2430 Lillie Avenue

Summerland CA 93067

(805) 969-1944

Donate to the Parrot Pantry!

At SB Bird Sanctuary, backyard farmer’s bounty is our birds best bowl of food! The flock goes bananas for your apples, oranges & other homegrown fruits & veggies.

Volunteers

Do you have a special talent or skill? Do you need community service hours? The flock at SB Bird Sanctuary could always use some extra love and socialization. Call us and let’s talk about how you can help. (805) 969-1944

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

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

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

MiniMeta

ByPeteMuller&FrankLongo

Foreachofthefirstfiveminicrosswords,oneoftheentriesalsoservesaspartofa five-wordmetaclue.Theanswertothemetaisawordorphrase(fivelettersor longer)hiddenwithinthesixthminicrossword.Thehiddenmetaanswerstartsin oneofthesquaresandsnakesthroughthegridverticallyandhorizontallyfrom there(nodiagonals!)withoutrevisitinganysquares.

4BD/4½BA • $7,700,000 Cristal Clarke, 805.886.9378 LIC# 00968247

2870 E VALLEY RD, MONTECITO 3BD/3BA; ±6.41 acres • $6,750,000 Marsha Kotlyar Estate Group, 805.565.4014 LIC# 01426886

925 EL RANCHO RD, MONTECITO 4BD/4BA • $4,500,000 Marsha Kotlyar Estate Group, 805.565.4014 LIC# 01426886

900 TORO CANYON RD, MONTECITO 3BD/3BA; ±5 acres • $5,295,000 Josiah Hamilton, 805.284.8835 LIC# 01415235 800 ROCKBRIDGE RD, MONTECITO ±1.52 acres • $4,100,000 Marsha Kotlyar Estate Group, 805.565.4014 LIC# 01426886

1903 COYOTE CIR, MONTECITO 3BD/3BA • $3,750,000 Sina Omidi, 805.689.7700 LIC# 01944430

4281 E HIGHWAY 246, LOMPOC 3BD/2BA; ±12.26 acres • $1,925,000 Joe Ramos, 805.680.6849 LIC# 02040488

839 ARBOL VERDE ST, CARPINTERIA 3BD/2BA • $1,995,000 Joel Butera, 805.448.4831 LIC# 01229404

1502 E MOUNTAIN DR, MONTECITO 5BD/7BA • $23,500,000 Cristal Clarke, 805.886.9378 LIC# 00968247

2957 E VALLEY RD, MONTECITO 5BD/7BA + GH • $17,600,000 Marsha Kotlyar Estate Group, 805.565.4014 LIC# 01426886