Pastabilities – Pasta Santina’s Sergio Chierego serves up fresh flavors, Italian tradition, and plenty of food for thought at Hudson Grace, P.14
Hold on Caulfield – Maxwell Caulfield brings his acclaimed one-man drama Pilate: The Lost Gospel to Carpinteria’s Alcazar Theatre for one night only, P.20
It’s a girl! And a Torah…, page 12
An Open Door – The legacy Sally Hall leaves behind is found in countless shared meals, handwritten letters, warm embraces, and lives changed for the better, P.30
Mariachis! Dancers! Swirling Taffeta in Primary Colors! Fiesta arrives with a bang on Coast Village Road (Story starts on page 6)
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts brings his gripping gothic thriller
Elizabeth Cree to town for a murderous weekend at the Music Academy’s opera, page 5
Martha Stewart, Jane Lynch, and Oscar de la Renta help turn Lotusland’s Botanical Splendor gala into Montecito’s most stylish summer celebration, page 8
Enjoy an immersive musical experience offering a feast for the senses! Acclaimed Music Conductor Heiichiro Ohyama (viola) and Chamber Orchestra musicians Timothy Durkovic (piano), Elizabeth Hedman (violin), and Trevor Handy (cello) will prepare the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, K. 478, followed by an engaging Q&A guided by Concert Navigator Miho Ito. During intermission, enjoy complimentary dessert on the Esplanade before returning for a full performance of all three movements of the evening’s musical entrée.
This event made possible by the generosity of Mahri Kerley.
ticket includes exclusive pre-show on-stage reception.
– Steven laments the end of the World Cup yet looks forward to the more local futbol and highlights The Foresters’ successful season
On Entertainment – This week’s lineup spans Maxwell Caulfield’s intimate solo show, the Ojai Playwrights Conference, and the return of Colors
22 Meet the Doctor – Director of Hematology Oncology Maira Campos, MD
Robert’s Big Questions – What were the ideals embodied in the first 250 years of the country? How about the next 250?
27 Elizabeth’s Appraisals – Colorful, and even tacky… the Memphis Milano movement is back in full ‘80s tasteless glory 28 Foraging Thyme – A fragrant plum and almond cake celebrates the simple pleasures of fresh-picked fruit and home baking
29 Travel Buzz – A little expert guidance transformed a complicated Japan itinerary into a seamless journey filled with cultural shows, temple visits, and local insight
30 In Passing – Remembering the life and impact of Sarah “Sally” McKinstry Hall
Curator’s Choice – The speckled clusters of whale barnacles
36 Calendar of Events – La Bamba in the Sunken Gardens, Wolves in the Lobero, the M.O.B. in SOhO, and more happenings
38 Classifieds – Our own “Craigslist” of classified ads, in which sellers offer everything from summer rentals to estate sales 39 Mini Meta Crossword Puzzles
Local Business Directory – Smart business owners place business cards here so readers know where to look when they need what those businesses offer
by Steven Libowitz
The Music Academy of the West’s astonishing guest composer series reaches its crescendo with this pair of weekend performances of Kevin Puts’ annually produced opera Elizabeth Cree, from MAW’s Lehrer Vocal Institute.
The one-act opera Elizabeth Cree is a macabre gothic thriller adapted from Peter Ackroyd’s similarly titled book. Set in Victorian times, it serves as both crime story and psychological probe into the mind of a murderer and mob mentality. Never mind its being a vehicle for the spectacular score from Puts, whose work was heard (and seen) in town just this past January via his somewhat staged setting of poems by Emily Dickinson, Emily — No Prisoner Be…starring Joyce DiDonato and award-winning ensemble Time for Three at the Granada. (We also were blessed with one of his early instrumental works called “Legions Will Rise” at Hahn Hall last week.)
The prolific Puts has come a long way since merely tolerating childhood piano lessons, preferring instead to spend his time “just messing around on the piano coming up with my own stuff,” he recalled last week. Eventually I got serious about piano and composing sort of happened alongside performing, an extension of my love of cinema and film music, which is where I learned how to tell a story through music.”
Indeed, his first opera, Silent Night, a collaboration with librettist Mark Campbell, won a Pulitzer Prize, and Cree, which premiered in 2017, is their third major work together. The opera still brings him a lot of joy, including hearing it at a rehearsal when he first arrived at MAW early last week.
“I was listening and the thought came up that this is really some of the best stuff I’ve written,” Puts said.
The composer was immediately intrigued when Campbell brought the project to him, not least because of its compact nature. That attraction lasted throughout the process.
“There’s a relentless driving pace and I could imagine it moving very quickly,” he said. “There’s a lot of complexity, but also simplicity and serenity in a lot of the scenes. I like the way that those two things are juxtaposed, and how the scenes flow together… And I like what the orchestra is doing. It’s very involved. (I wrote) a lot of color contrasts that really work.”
Puts said that in a way his music for Cree serves as an improved update on what he came up with for Manchurian Candidate, the least successful opera in his canon.
“It’s a similar work, but I don’t think I was as successful in that piece. So I feel like I sort of exorcised my demons or corrected my wrongdoings.”
Demons and wrongdoings, of course, are at the heart of Cree, with both the story and Puts’ music designed to keep audiences on the edge of their seats throughout the opera’s fast-paced 90-minute duration.
“There are three murder scenes and they’re described as graphically horrific murder scenes. We wanted each one to feel crazier than the last, to keep escalating. It helped me when the (original) director said he thought of them less as horrifying than passionate because it’s being told from the point of view of the murderer. So I almost thought of them romantically, lovingly. It was really, really, really strange, but that helped me to go deeper psychologically into his point of view, which is maybe even more harrowing and scary for the audience.”
Nearly all of Puts’ vocal works focus on dark stories. Then again, so do most operas throughout history.
“People like dark stories for opera. Nobody wants to commission a comedy. People always have to die. I think people like to go to opera to feel heavy emotions of drama and tragedy, something powerful that hits hard… But some of my favorite operas are comedies by Mozart.”
He’ll get his chance to emulate or at least pay tribute to the composer in a new commission to complete Mozart’s unfinished German Singspiel Zaide, a political and romantic drama with just a solitary comic antagonist.
“I don’t know how much Mozart will be in there when I do it, but I’m excited to take it on,” Puts said.
Elizabeth Cree , conducted by Benjamin Manis and stage directed by
Week at MAW Page 254
by Jeff Wing
Old Spanish Days. Possibly you’ve heard of this adorably sleepy little Santa Barbara tradition. Horses feature in the thing, I think. There is a little dancing. Some of the more intrepid participants don period costumes and wander about. But for the influx of an estimated 100,000 visitors for the five-day celebration, you could blink and miss it. Not.
“Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara,” 2026 El Presidente Colin Hayward says with an air of mild wonder. “As you know, it’s over a hundred years old, and major events like the El Mercado de la Guerra and the Fiesta Parade, and La Pequeña at the Mission; these are iconic events.”
Pacific Ocean, if you can imagine. Santa Barbara’s annual Fiesta, as it is colloquially known, really is the darndest thing.
The whole of Santa Barbara’s Old Spanish Days melee, a celebration of the town’s historic beating heart, is in fact an unrivaled eruption of color and melody and laughter and dance and mercados absolutely thronged with community and life. Santa Barbara lets her hair down in a controlled sunburst of self-celebration which, just incidentally, features one of the largest equestrian parades in the United States, these huge animals – living symbols of the country’s onetime frontier adventurism – prancing alongside the sparkling
“One of the main objectives every year,” El Presidente Hayward continues, “is to provide a forum and venues for our young people who are doing the dancing, the singing, the music. The Flamenco community in Santa Barbara is a huge partner of ours and we want to strengthen that all the time. But the ties with Old Spanish Days and the history, from Spain and from Mexico and from the local indigenous Chumash community… over the years, all parts of the community come together.”
For all that, if you reside in an unreasonably enchanted woodland village called Montecito, around August every
year it can seem like the party is largely happening in the neighbor’s apartment.
“David Bolton has had a vision of coming back to Montecito for many years,” says El Presidente Hayward with a grin. “This has been a long time coming. The history of Fiesta in Montecito – we’re rekindling those embers that have long been glowing underneath the surface. We’re excited to be bringing Fiesta to Montecito!”
The launch of a brand-new community tradition is a marvelous thing, one whose inaugural significance can be overwritten
Beings & Doings Page 334
Join us for a FREE virtual conversation introducing the new Cottage Center for Women’s Health.
Thursday, July 30 4 – 5 p.m.
Register at: cottagehealth.org/womenshealth
Join Dr. Jane Varner, Medical Director for Cottage Center for Women’s Health, and a panel of women’s health experts for a special online event introducing a new approach to women’s care in our community.
TOPICS:
• The vision behind the new Cottage Center for Women’s Health and what it means for our community
• Continuum of care for every stage of life
• Brain health, menopause, Ob/Gyn, rheumatology, urogynecology and oncology
• Physician Panel Q & A in a confidential setting
by Richard Mineards & Friends
“Icome for the garden, and to see the outfits,” laughed Jane Lynch, surveying a sea of floral prints and botanical-inspired couture. “Nobody has let me down today. Everybody looks great! And I’m wearing Oscar.”
The Emmy Award-winning actress and Montecito resident perfectly captured the mood at Lotusland Celebrates: Botanical Splendor, Montecito’s most anticipated gala of the summer, where honorary chair Wendy Schmidt and Co-chairs Jeanne Anderson and Julie Morley graciously welcomed supporters and Guest of Honor Martha Stewart. Guests were greeted by CEO Rebecca Anderson and Board Chair Mari Mitchell, whose leadership continues to guide Lotusland’s extraordinary reputation.
“Now, Ganna Walska and I have some things in common,” smiled Martha Stewart. “She started this garden in 1941. I was born in 1941. She was Polish. I am 100 percent Polish. She was beautiful...” she laughed, “... I hope I follow. She loved the color green. I obviously love the color green also. And thank you, Oscar de la Renta, for dressing me in this amazing dress today.” Returning to Lotusland for the first time since featuring it in her magazine in 2012, Martha reflected on how dramatically the gardens had evolved.
“The garden is... twice as beautiful as it was then,” she said, praising CEO Rebecca
Anderson, the horticultural staff, and the dedicated gardeners. She also applauded the partnership with Oscar de la Renta, whose floral-inspired elegance felt perfectly at home among Lotusland’s collections.
“We really love gardens! We love flowers and nature. It fits so well,” said Eliza Bolen, executive vice president of Oscar de la Renta and stepdaughter of the late legendary designer. Eliza explained that flowers and gardens have always been central to Oscar’s creative vision. The fashion house was a premiere partner for the gala dinner that beautifully reflected Oscar’s timeless aesthetic.
“I’ve been the highest bidder on Madame’s bathtub for days,” laughed Lotusland patrons Michael Loftis and Erik Nickel. “If we win, we’ll restore it and bring it up to our house in Napa.” The couple did indeed win the coveted piece of Lotusland history, proving that even Ganna Walska’s bathtub can inspire a spirited bidding war.
That same generosity blossomed throughout the evening. Spectacular floral centerpieces, sponsored by Tom Sloyan, graced every dinner table, while Jill Taylor and Ray Link sponsored the evening’s photography. A premiere showing of Rooted in Vision was presented with production sponsored by Eric and Wendy Schmidt; Maria and Mark Schmidt sponsored the cocktail reception; Joseph Marek and John Bernatz sponsored DJ Amara; Abacus
Miscellany Page 324
by Joanne A Calitri
Casa del Herrero invites community to their fundraiser, Casa in Bloom, a garden party on Saturday, July 25, 2026, from 3:30-6 pm. Tickets are required. Event includes garden tours, house tours, and Chris Fossek on Spanish guitar. Refreshments. 411: www.casadelherrero.com
Wednesday, July 29, 6 pm, Men’s Summer BBQ, hosted by Brian Delshad Sunday, August 9 at 2 pm: Hachnasat Sefer Torah, “A joyful historic community celebration welcoming a new Torah scroll. There will be music, delicious food, a beautiful procession under the chuppah, and a warm, festive atmosphere for the whole family as the Torah is brought to its new home. Thanks to the Ruimy family for sponsoring the Torah.” 411: www.jewishmontecito.org
July 23, for six weeks: Astronomy Classes with Krissie Cook in Gladwin Planetarium. July 23, 5:30 pm: Happy hour at the Sea Center August 4: Kids camps 411: https://tickets.sbnature.org/events
One of the culinary world’s most celebrated names is making a rare stop in Santa Barbara this summer. On Saturday, July 25, downtown lifestyle boutique domecíl will host a one-day NOMA Projects Pop-Up & Tastings, featuring the pantry and fermentation company created by the team behind Copenhagen’s world-renowned NOMA restaurant.
Fresh from a residency in Los Angeles and before returning to Denmark, members of the NOMA Projects team will be on hand to introduce visitors to the brand’s acclaimed line of pantry staples through complimentary tastings and conversations about flavor, fermentation, and the inspiration behind their products. Guests will also have the opportunity to shop a curated selection of NOMA Projects offerings throughout the day.
The free event runs from 11 am to 6 pm at domecíl, 1223 State Street, and is designed for everyone from seasoned cooks to curious food lovers looking to bring a little Nordic culinary creativity into their own kitchens.
Organic Soup Kitchen is highlighting the growing reach of its signature SoupMeals, announcing that the Santa Barbara nonprofit now offers more
than 25 handcrafted, medically tailored varieties designed to support wellness through nutrient-dense, organic ingredients. Prepared in small batches, the SoupMeals are rooted in years of research into the role nutrition can play in improving health and quality of life. What makes the program unique is that the exact same SoupMeals available in Organic Soup Kitchen’s retail store are also delivered to local seniors, cancer patients, and individuals living with chronic illnesses through the nonprofit’s charitable nutrition programs. Every retail purchase helps fund meals for neighbors experiencing food insecurity or serious health challenges, creating a
News Bytes Page 244
Executive Editor/CEO | Gwyn Lurie gwyn@montecitojournal.net
President/COO | Timothy Lennon Buckley tim@montecitojournal.net
Managing Editor | Zach Rosen zach@montecitojournal.net
MoJo Contributing Editor | Christopher Matteo Connor
Art/Production Director | Trent Watanabe
Graphic Design/Layout | Stevie Acuña
Administrative Assistant | Jessica Shafran VP, Sales & Marketing | Leanne Wood leanne@montecitojournal.net
Account Managers | Sue Brooks, Tanis Nelson, Elizabeth Scott, Joe DeMello, Thomas Mock
Features | Jeff Wing
Proofreading | Helen Buckley
Contributors | Scott Craig, Chuck Graham, Mark Ashton Hunt, Dalina Michaels, Robert Bernstein, Christina Atchison, Leslie Zemeckis, Sigrid Toye, Elizabeth Stewart, Leana Orsua, Jeffrey Harding, Houghton Hyatt
Arts and Entertainment | Steven Libowitz
Gossip | Richard Mineards
History | Hattie Beresford
Humor | Ernie Witham
Our Town/Society | Joanne A Calitri
Health/Wellness | Ann Brode, Deann Zampelli
Travel | Jerry Dunn, Leslie Westbrook
Food & Wine | Melissa Petitto, Gabe Saglie, Jamie Knee
Published by:
Montecito Journal Media Group, LLC
Montecito Journal is compiled, compounded, calibrated, cogitated over, and coughed up every Wednesday by an exacting agglomeration of excitable (and often exemplary)
Camping / Butterfly Beach
Sunday, July 05, at 12:21 hours
Deputies contacted the subject who was camped on the beach and found to be a public nuisance. He was issued a citation for the violation.
Camping / Butterfly Beach,
Sunday, July 05, at 12:49 hours
Deputies contacted another subject who was camped on the beach and found to be a public nuisance. He was issued a citation for the violation.
Theft / 900 block East Mountain Drive
Sunday, July 05, at 12:02 hours
The suspect used a vehicle registered under his ex-GF to steal packages from the front gate of the residence. Deputies have attempted to contact the subject but have not been successful.
Bear Sighting / 800 block Buena Vista
Monday, July 06, at 22:30 hours
Deputies were contacted to respond to the above location due to a bear sighting. The bear had previously walked onto the property and killed all the Reporting Party’s chickens. The RP’s dogs were barking a lot, which was unusual and the RP thought the bear had returned. Deputies walked the property and were Unable To Locate. Photos were provided so notification could be made to the community. Photos and email sent to the PIO. A report was made with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) on behalf of the RP.
Camping / Butterfly Beach
Wednesday, July 08, at 11:45 hours
Deputies contacted the subject, who was camped on the beach and found to be a public nuisance. He was issued a citation for the violation.
Camping / Butterfly Beach
Wednesday, July 08, at 11:45 hours
Deputies contacted another subject who was camping on the beach and found to have four local misdemeanor warrants. Subject was arrested and transported to SBJ for a total of 10 alleged violations.
Beached Sailboat/Possible Hazard Spill / Butterfly Beach
Thursday, July 09, at 09:57 hours
A beached vessel, a sailboat with no mast, was located on Butterfly Beach below 1000 Channel Drive. Harbor Patrol verified no occupants. Coast Guard was notified of a potential hazard spill and will address potential spillage. Deputies tagged the beached vessel, and a National Response Center (NRC) report was made and notification to all necessary agencies through the NRC was done.
The greatest professional compliment a client can give their real estate agent is to use their services again (and again...)
So far I have had: 57 clients use my services twice; 34 clients use my services three times; 16 clients use my services four times; 9 clients use my services five times; 7 clients use my services six times; 2 clients use my services seven times; 4 clients use my services eight times; 2 client use my services nine times; 2 clients use my services ten times; 1 client use my services eleven times; and 1 client use my services thirteen times!
by Joanne A Calitri
On Sunday, July 19, I had the pleasure of meeting with Chabad of Montecito Executive Director, Rabbi Chaim Loschak and his wife Mushkie on the birth of their child Bracha Leah. Leah joins her brother Yosef, and sisters, Nechama, Chana, and Shaina. It also provided an opportunity to talk with Rabbi Chaim on the recent gift of a Torah for Chabad of Montecito by the Ruimy Family. A celebration of the new Torah is planned for August 9. Indeed, very mamish!
With his email announcement of their latest family member, Rabbi Chaim shared on the birth of Leah, “I think I may hold the record for the number of times a husband came in and out of a hospital in 50 hours.” Yet, let it be lauded that during our interview, he was most respectful of his wife, as both the mother of their children and her decision to have children in the first place. His views appear quite modern on the importance of the woman’s part in a marriage. However, they are in accordance with the Torah, specifically in traditional halachah (Jewish law) that establishes the roles of men and women in a marriage, protecting women, and
more. Perhaps we can all use a class on that in these modern times.
When we sapoke on the back patio, it was definitively a noted time, filled with tachles and sincerity. To say Rabbi Chaim and Mushkie are nachas about their family, is a fact found in their smiles when they look at their children and just the vibe around them.
Here is our interview:
Q. In your email baby announcement you wrote, “Where did she come from? A soul, up there, completely pure, basking in G-d’s presence. There, it had no worries, no traffic, and no parking situations. Just closeness to G-d in the most perfect way. And then G-d sends it down here. Why? Why would a soul leave that? Why would G-d take something so pure and send it into this complicated, messy world?” Rabbi Chaim and Mushkie, share your thoughts on the birth of Leah and the importance of family.
A. Bringing a child into the world is one of the greatest privileges we have. We get to take a soul that’s completely pure and give it the chance to be a light in a world that badly needs more light. Of course, that requires a lot of effort and hard work. Everything meaningful in life does. But that’s exactly why it matters so
Our Town Page 254
3 events | Save 20%
Clarice & Sérgio Assad
Wed, Oct 21 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall
Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández
75th Anniversary Tour
Thu, Feb 4 / 7:30 PM / Granada Theatre
Niladri Kumaar, sitar
The Space Between the Notes Honoring Zakir Hussain
Wed, Apr 14 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall
Save up to 25% with a Curated series, or Create Your Own series of 4 or more events and save 10%
by Joanne A Calitri
Hello
Loves!
Just imagine your new favorite pasta prepared fresh by Sergio Chierego, owner and chef of Pasta Santina, and served on lovely Hudson Grace whiteware made in Italy. The double pleasure experience tasting event was held on Tuesday, July 14, from 4 to 6 pm, at Hudson Grace, Montecito. The store was abuzz with HG devotees and Sergio fans, along with Montecito Country Mart’s neighboring store employees. Seen at the event was the district manager of Hudson Grace San Francisco, Julie Cantor, who drove down to help staff; and fans of Sergio – Ingrid Hansen and Interior Designer Ana Eschenbach
The chic concept of combining a local chef with local dinnerware was conceived by HG Store Manager, Medeighnia Westwick. We talked about her bringing Sergio in, and she explained, “Last summer I was near Sergio’s store in
Carpinteria, and basically, I tasted the pasta and now can’t buy anything else! It’s all fresh ingredients and organic. Also, I realized how involved Sergio is in the community and with a lot of our Hudson Grace customers. So, we’ve been working to get this event on the books for the past few months.”
As Medeighnia and I were talking, Sergio treated us to two pasta dishes, one an entrée for vegetarians made with his pasta, vegetables and a tomato sauce, and one pasta entrée with Italian sausage and mushrooms in a cream sauce. Both dishes were of course topped with freshly shredded parmesan cheese. It tasted amazing, given – as he politely added – that the pasta had been prepared two hours prior, their perfect al dente snap a delight. Intrigued, I asked him why the entrees were so delightfully fresh two hours after preparation. Sergio explained, “Let’s make a scenario. The best pasta from Italy gets made in February, gets boxed in March,
Society Edit Page 244
by Scott Craig, photos by Brad Elliott
When Ed Boersma (’85) attended Westmont in the 1980s, he competed in track and field yet always loved tennis. A lifelong fan, he played competitively after college in United States Tennis Association (USTA) events and eventually took a special interest in the Warrior tennis program, establishing a generous annual tennis scholarship. He noticed the college upgrading its athletic facilities, including an all-weather track and state-of-the-art grass surface at Thorrington Field. But the tennis team still competed on eight hard courts essentially unchanged since his student days. As the years passed, the avid Warrior supporter and faithful donor wondered how he could help the tennis program level up.
Ed serves as a founding principal of Cubix Asset Management based in Danville, which specializes in self-stor
age development and property management. He and his wife, Betsy Court Boersma (’87), live in Santa Barbara. Ed’s two sons, Chad and Logan, and his daughter, Kelsey, share his joy in the game of tennis. Ed wanted to make a dramatic difference for the tennis program and approached Westmont with a vision to replace the current courts and create a tennis complex to benefit players and fans.
Working with the college, Ed chose to underwrite architectural plans for what became the Boersma Tennis Complex. He also provided generous seed funding for the facilities.
As the college shared the tennis complex dream with alums, friends and donors, tennis community stalwart Greg Tebbe emerged as a powerful advocate. He became a bridge to the Santa Barbara Tennis Patrons, a nonprofit supporting tennis in the local community. Greg credits the association, the oldest in the state, for developing his game to compete for Harvard
University. Now its executive director, he helped the tennis patrons forge a partnership with Westmont allowing the association to hold several annual tournaments at the college.
by Steven Libowitz
The World Cup ended its five-week North American run with two of the most diametrically-opposed games imaginable. The final found Argentina strangely taking on the style deployed by England in the semi-final when the European side went into ultimate defensive posture after scoring a single goal, allowing the South American defending champs to once again stage a comeback with its somewhat unpredictable offense.
Argentina didn’t even wait until halftime to basically abandon a serious effort at scoring, sending only a few players forward on any possible attack, perhaps a bit understandable given Spain’s spectacular midfield defense, but predictably leading to a late goal in extra time for the Euro champs. Don’t blame Lionel Messi, who was by far the best Argentine player outside of the goaltender, but the worthy team won 1-0. I guess it’s just as true in futbol as football that, as John Madden famously said, “The only thing a Prevent Defense does is prevent you from winning.”
The day before, however, the 3rd place game was such a freewheeling sprint that the commentator on Aussie’s SBS station
said if you had watched both games, you must have wondered if they were playing two different sports. Apparently, no meaningful worries about losing led to an offensive onslaught, with 10 total goals scored – by far the most of the tournament – and a chance to enjoy the precision passing and sensational shots on goal of “the beautiful game.”
Personally, I’m full of mixed emotions at the end of the tournament – sad not to have any more games to watch, and seeing communities and diasporas come out to cheer on their teams together, but happy that I have more free hours for perhaps more productive endeavors.
Soccer fans won’t have to wait long to see matches right here in town as the heralded UCSB Men’s Soccer team launches its preseason with the annual Blue-Gold intrasquad scrimmage on August 8, followed by an exhibition (known internationally as a “friendly”) against LMU on six days later. The regular season gets going August 21 with the Gauchos hosting San Jose State, also at Harder Stadium. UCSB earned their 14th Big West Championship last year going undefeated in the conference.
On the professional front, Santa Barbara Sky Football Club is still planning to launch its inaugural season this coming March as part of the United Soccer League’s Championship Division II league, last we heard anyway. Home games for the side owned by Peter Moore, former CEO of Liverpool FC, are also slated for UCSB’s Harder Stadium, which boasted a new pitch installed last year, in time to attract Austria’s World Cup team to make the facility their training base this summer. The club would be the first to play in a professional soccer league in town in more than 35 years. But given that the club has already postponed its debut twice starting in 2024, we’ll see what happens.
Also coming to a close just two hours after the World Cup final was the Santa Barbara Foresters collegiate summer baseball team’s regular season. The campaign was once again very successful, as the ‘Sters soared to the top of the California Collegiate League early on and basically stayed there all season, finishing with a 26-6-1 California Collegiate League record overall, 18-4-1 in the Southern Division. The team notched an 11-game win streak along the way, including longtime coach Bill Pintard’s 1,200th Foresters victory. Your correspondent had some good times at Eddie Matthews Field at Santa Barbara High School, including a
one-inning stretch where he not only nabbed a foul ball that rolled down the hill behind where he was standing right into his waiting hand but then a Foresters grand slam home run. Not bad for a 20-minute investment. (I also caught one of the Foresters’ thrilling walk off victories, a bases clearing double with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. Maybe I’m not a bad luck charm after all.)
The ‘Sters success came despite losing 10 players to the MLB draft, including Kansas State shortstop Dee Kennedy, who went to the St. Louis Cardinals fourth round, and the two UCSB pitchers, Calvin Proskey and A.J. Krodel, taken by the Cincinnati Reds and the New York Mets, respectively, in the 10th and 11th rounds.
The Foresters are now on their way to the NBC (National Baseball Congress) World Series in Wichita, Kansas, for the 35th consecutive year facing teams in the tournament from many of the nation’s top summer leagues. The team has notched 10 championships in a span of 20 years, although there’s been a fouryear drought. Pool play begins on July 23.
“I think this team can win,” Pintard said on Sunday after the last game of the Foresters, who led the CCL in hitting, stolen bases, walks and other offensive categories. “(We’re a) little light on pitching (but) our offense is insane.” You can watch the NBC World Series live and free online streaming NBC World Series YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/@nbcws/streams).
From foundations and flatwork to patios, driveways, and hardscape, we deliver quality concrete solutions with precision, reliability, and craftsmanship. Our goal is simple: exceed expectations on every project
ajprecisionconcrete.com aj@ajprecisionconcrete.com ajpc_official (805) 455-2290
by Steven Libowitz
How often do you get the chance to see a veritable decades-long star of stage and screen perform a one-man play in a nearly 100-year-old theater that seats barely 200 people?
If you’ve picked up your paper on publication day (July 23), head over to the Alcazar Theatre where acclaimed actor Maxwell Caulfield –will present a single performance of Pilate: The Lost Gospel, written by British playwright Michael Punter. The play portrays Pontius Pilate in 36 AD, when he’s been recalled to Rome to answer for his political excesses as governor of Judea. But the work is not a simple retelling of history, rather examining the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ from a perspective challenging assumptions.
The piece is also described as part thriller, part memoir and part moral reckoning – a work that explores the fragile, morally ambiguous human behind the historic notoriety –wrestling with power and accountability for a choice that is still infamous 2,000 years later.
Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.
“The play is largely devoid of religiosity,” Caulfield said in a press release. “Rather, it is about accountability, doubt, and the stories people tell themselves in order to live with the consequences of their actions.”
It’s a far cry from the role that made Caulfield famous not long after meeting Mills while both were starring in the touring production of The Elephant Man in the early 1980s. The actor’s starring turn came in Grease 2, when some said he was the next John Travolta, as well as Empire Records. He’s had innumerable opportunities embodying iconic characters on stage and screen ever since.
“The play is a very original take on the story, with Pilate in the witness box where he begins to peel the layers of his own life…,” Caulfield told Britain’s Beyond the Curtain. “They say all theater is politics, and I don’t promote the idea that this is a political play (but) the subject matter will never lose its pertinence.”
Pilate: The Lost Gospel performs at 7 pm on July 23 at the Alcazar Theatre. Visit www.thealcazar.org
Meanwhile, back in Caulfield’s hometown, the 29th annual Ojai Playwrights Conference (OPC) New Works Festival presents five even newer works than 2025’s The Lost Gospel over four days (July 30 to August 2), the culmination of a twoweek conference that includes workshops, panel conversations, and other events open to the public.
OPC is among the most respected play development programs in America, a place that has nurtured numerous Broadway, off-Broadway and/or Pulitzer Prizewinning plays since its founding in 1998. Among the notable works developed or workshopped at the conference are the Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home, Pulitzer finalist Other Desert Cities, and Olivier Award Best New Musical Caroline, or Change. This year’s entries include three dramatic works in Jaclyn Backhaus’ The Collectivists, Keith Bunin’s The Loyal Opposition and Harrison David Rivers’ Except That It Is God plus two comedies in Mat Smart’s The Last Nun at Lake Leaf Monastery, Grace McLeod’s Closing Costs Visit www.ojaiplays.org for details and tickets
The one-man play sold out this spring in Ojai – where the actor has long lived with Juliet Mills, his wife of 46 years – and is heading across the pond to the
Ojai is also at the heart of Crazy Mama: A True Story of Love & Madness, Ojai realtor Sharon Scott Williams’ one-woman autobiographical play about growing up in a small Southern town with a mother suffering from severe mental illness, and learning to find resilience, understanding and hope. Williams’ husband, famed Happy Days star and veteran TV Director Anson Williams, helped shape the script and directed the premiere at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura in spring 2025, which starred veteran actress Linda Purl. Now the three are taking the piece to the East Coast where it will be featured as part of an official congressional briefing in Washington, D.C., highlighting the role of the arts in reducing stigma around mental illness on September 10 before it makes its Off-Broadway debut a week later.
Visit www.RubiconTheatre.org
Yulia Maluta has been performing, producing, and teaching dance in town for decades, and is also the creative force behind a multicultural dance and music variety show called Colors of Love at Center Stage Theater at least twice a year since well before the pandemic. The summer show – “dedicated to Women’s Empowerment Honoring Mother Earth, Diversity, and Unity” – takes place on Saturday, July 25, with a list of performers including 17 separate acts. Among the styles represented are Argentine Tango, Samba, Belly Dance, Latin, Flamenco, Irish and modern, with a number of live musicians and singers providing much of the soundtrack. Beth Amine, who among other endeavors produces and stars in dance shows at Santa Barbara’s Wildcat Lounge on a regular basis, serves as emcee.
What makes this iteration important?
“The shows are always fantastic,” Maluta said in a chance encounter last week at Elings Park. “But we could all use more love right now.”
Visit https://centerstagetheater.org
What drives someone to spend a life in medicine? In this Q&A series, a group of leading local physicians share the moments that set them on their path, the breakthroughs shaping their fields, and the realities behind the work. Their answers are candid, occasionally surprising, and grounded in experience. Together, they offer a clear-eyed look at the people delivering care in our community and what continues to motivate them every day.
Q. What inspired you to pursue a career in medicine? How did you select your specialty?
A. I wanted to become a physician for as long as I can remember because I have always loved caring for people. During medical school in Brazil, I had the privilege of training under an extraordinary mentor, Dr. Auro Del Giglio, who completed his training at MD Anderson Cancer Center. His compassion, leadership, and dedication to oncology deeply inspired me.
While working and shadowing in oncology clinics during medical school, I became passionate about the unique relationship between oncologists and patients. Oncology is not only about treating cancer – it is about walking alongside patients during one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. Helping patients feel supported, respected, and never alone became my calling. For me, quality of life, compassion, and human connection are just as important as treatment itself.
Can you share a moment in your career that profoundly impacted you?
I continue to be humbled by the resilience of patients and families facing cancer. In breast oncology, which represents much of my practice, I care for many women
GIA Certified and untreated. Experience the glow of the Paraiba tourmaline: an electrifying, neon greenish-blue, even better in person, and found nowhere else in the gem world.
who continue supporting their children, partners, and loved ones while undergoing treatment themselves.
Watching patients maintain their dignity, strength, and compassion through unimaginable challenges profoundly impacts me every day. Seeing families remain united and hopeful throughout treatment is one of the greatest privileges of my profession.
What is one misconception people often have about oncology?
When people hear I am an oncologist, they often say: “That must be such a sad field.” While oncology certainly includes difficult moments, I do not see it that way. I see oncology as an incredible privilege and one of the most meaningful fields in medicine.
In a close-knit community like Santa Barbara, it is an honor to earn the trust of patients and families during such an important time in their lives. Whether we are helping patients recover, prolonging survival, or improving quality of life, our work is rooted in hope, compassion, and partnership.
What medical advancements or innovations are you most excited about?
The field of breast oncology has advanced tremendously in recent years. At RidleyTree Cancer Center, we are proud to offer innovative therapies for patients with breast cancer, including treatment options for triple-negative breast cancer and access to clinical research opportunities close to home.
We have also seen major advances in surgery and radiation oncology, allowing treatments to become more precise and less invasive while minimizing long-term side effects.
One of the most exciting developments in medical oncology is the expansion of oral therapies, which allow many patients – even some with stage IV disease – to receive highly effective treatment while maintaining independence and quality of life.
We are also proud to offer Paxman cold cap therapy, helping many patients preserve their hair during chemotherapy and maintain a sense of confidence and normalcy throughout treatment.
What is the most rewarding part of your work, and what is the most challenging?
One of the greatest challenges in oncology is navigating the limitations that exist within every healthcare system, particularly delays in access and waiting times that can increase stress and uncertainty for patients during an already overwhelming time.
At the same time, the most rewarding part of my work is the opportunity to care for some of the most resilient and inspiring people I have ever met. I feel deeply honored to walk alongside patients and their families throughout their cancer journeys.
In a community like Santa Barbara, there is something especially meaningful about seeing patients return to their daily lives after treatment – spending time with their families, returning to work, and thriving again. Being trusted to care for patients during such an important chapter of their lives is one of the greatest privileges of my career.
If you could change one thing about the healthcare system, what would it be?
I believe healthcare can sometimes feel fragmented and isolating for patients, especially after a cancer diagnosis. Too often, patients feel overwhelmed trying to navigate complex care on their own.
At Ridley-Tree Cancer Center, we have worked intentionally to create a more integrated and supportive model of care. Through nurse navigation and close collaboration between medical oncology, surgery, radiation oncology, genetics, nutrition, and supportive care teams, we strive to ensure patients feel guided and supported every step of the way.
Our goal is not only to provide excellent medical treatment, but also to ensure patients feel heard, respected, and hopeful throughout their journey.
What inspires you every day as a physician?
I love my family, and I love this Santa Barbara community, which welcomed me with open arms. Every day, I walk into clinic hoping to give my patients all the compassion, energy, and support I can.
My goal is always to listen carefully and create a treatment plan that respects each patient’s values, goals, and quality of life. While we cannot always control every outcome, we can always make sure patients feel cared for, embraced, and never alone.
If a patient leaves feeling more hopeful, informed, and supported than when they arrived, then I know we have done something meaningful together.
travels in a container to New York and then to Los Angeles. So from the pasta actually being produced to its appearance on a retail shelf takes six months. The pasta I have here for this tasting was made three weeks ago, and the flour was milled two months ago. So it’s the freshest dried pasta you’ll ever have, and holds up for several hours after being prepared. It is still tender, not tacky or dried out. My pasta is made with 100% organic American ingredients, no GMO, and handmade in Carpinteria by me. When we expand our shop, we will be milling our own flour. We also want to make long shaped pasta, like linguini, and spaghetti.”
I asked him how he makes his pasta, and what makes his pasta different. Sergio said, “Usually, Italian pasta is two ingredients, water and semolina. But if you do that same recipe in America, your stomach will bloat because the quality of wheat in America carries a lot of gluten. What we do at Pasta Santina is we use organic spelt, which is from the same family of semolina but has the lowest glycemic index. To that we add organic whole wheat to boost the fiber, making it much easier to digest and easier on your stomach.”
Next, we talked about pasta nutrition. He was happy I asked, as he shared that, “...compared to other Italian pasta brands, Pasta Santina has 20% more fiber and 20% more protein. One serving has 11 grams of protein because we use spelt.”
Sergio mentioned that on July 23, he and Chef Dom Crisp, the co-owner of Dom’s Taverna DTSB are doing a
community pasta event. Details are found in Chef Dom’s Instagram video, where he is holding bags of Pasta Santina and says: “Chef Sergio is making a special trumpet pasta to honor Santa Barbara, and we’ve put it on the menu July 1. And we are doing a special à la carte menu with him on July 23. We are serving up a featured menu of unique Pasta Santina pastas, available in both pintxo (small bite) and plato (full plate) sizes so you can try them all. These will include Fusili; a summer chilled pasta salad with poached potato, txistorra (chistorra) sausage, caramelized shallot, green bean, piquillo, sambal aioli, and a poached egg. Lumache: Anderson Valley lamb belly ragu with black garlic Manchego and chive. Vorti-Cee: Cacio e pepe with morcilla de cebolla and broccolini. Shells (Plato size only): Three-cheese al forno with cheddar, jack, Basque cheese béchamel, and pimentón breadcrumbs. We will also have retail bags of the featured pasta available to purchase during the event so you can take some home. Can’t make the event?” he asks rhetorically. “That’s okay! We have Pasta Santina Trumpets on the menu now. Reservations suggested.”
Which led to my next interview question to Sergio, “How about cooking classes?!” He laughed and said at this time his shop is not licensed for that. However, he is open to giving them... just needs a proper location. Anyone reading have a suggestion?! And don’t forget to invite me! Till next week my loves! Xx JAC
sustainable model that pairs healthy eating with community impact. By expanding its SoupMeals collection, Organic Soup Kitchen continues to make its clinically inspired recipes accessible to anyone looking for nourishing, ready-to-enjoy meals while supporting its mission to improve health across Santa Barbara County.
Richie’s Barber Shop Montecito has joined in the YMCA SB’s 7th Annual Backpack Give back. The drive asks for donations of new or unused backpacks for kids ages 5 to 18. Drop off your donations at Richie’s Barbers Shop on Coast Village Road during business hours.
Saturday & Sunday, August 8 & 9: Legends Futbol Academy U14 girls’ team and their families are raising money for equipment and more for their team.
Saturday, August 15: The Dream Foundation
Saturday, August 22: SB Food Bank
To sign up your organization: www.montecitocountrymart.com
Alisal Ranch is marking a remarkable milestone this summer, celebrating 80 years of welcoming guests to its iconic Santa Ynez Valley retreat. Since opening in 1946, the historic ranch has become synonymous with classic Western hospitality, and the anniversary will be commemorated with a series of exclusive experiences, limited-edition products, and a beautifully illustrated history book chronicling its rich legacy.
Among the highlights is the luxurious 1946 Legacy Package, featuring a private stay at the Jackson House, curated dining experiences, horseback riding, falconry, and a sunrise hot air balloon flight. Guests can also enjoy a special Chapter & Hearth Dinner this November, sip the new 1946 Alisal Beer crafted in partnership with M.Special Brewing Co., and shop an anniversary collection of apparel, artisan ceramic mugs, and keepsakes.
The anniversary celebrates not only Alisal’s storied past but also the generations of families who have made the ranch one of California’s most enduring and beloved destinations.
Fundraising event for the Ojai Studio Artists on Saturday, August 1, is selling tickets now due to limited seating. The event is at Sulphur Mountain, a remote and exquisite garden setting where one can enjoy handcrafted cocktails, appetizers, a delicious paella cooked over the open fire, fresh seasonal salad, and homemade ice cream prepared for attendees by the OSA. The evening begins with cocktails and appetizers accompanied by the mellow jazz of Brian McCann, whose music will be heard throughout the event and meeting with the OSA. The event benefits arts programming in Ojai and helps ensure that creativity continues to flourish in our community.
411: www.ojaistudioartists.org
Open Office Hours: Saturdays, 9-10 am, at Red Kettle Coffee on Lillie Ave. Town Hall meetings: Tuesdays (Aug. 18. Sept. 15, Oct. 20), 5 to 6 pm at Summerland Church.
Louisa Muller, who both are making their MAW debuts, performs at 7:30 pm on July 24 and 2 pm on July 26 at the Granada Theatre.
Composer Jasmine Arielle Barnes most deservedly received that enthusiastic standing ovation at the Lobero – and hugs from star singer Sasha Cooke – following the world premiere of her orchestration of American Lament, her celebrated song cycle. The suite centers around a (somehow) still incredibly timely 1935 Langston Hughes poem “Let America Be America Again”; a lamentation and protest over the reality of life in the United States juxtaposed against the promise of the American Dream. It’s a very smart piece, with Barnes’ own poem “The River Remembers” serving as a perfect internal respite from Hughes’ exhortations. The work is splendidly orchestrated (and brilliantly played by the Gemma Newconducted Academy Chamber Orchestra) and is especially clever and evocative in the multiple musical references to the Star-Spangled Banner’s penultimate phrase “O’er the land of the free…” that was left hanging each time.
Narrator Christopher Lloyd and the ensemble also received a standing ovation for what was a very fine reading (in every sense) of Aaron Copland’s opening “Lincoln Portrait,” which quotes so many of the revered 16th president’s haunting democracy-promoting speeches, which,
once again, couldn’t be more timely given our current political situation.
Cooke must concur, I imagine, given her Instagram post on Monday, where she wrote about inspiration from the words shared about the state of our democracy and the hope for freedom and unity. The short video finds her next to Montecito resident Lloyd, who utters his famous line from Back to the Future (“Great Scott!”), followed by a smiling Cooke who urges “Come see Elizabeth Cree!”
‘Nuff said.
Friday, July 24: Back in the days when the full series of Picnic Concerts routinely sold out before the season began, Music Academy fellows would also perform weekly in free afternoon concerts at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. That was before the vast majority of MAW staffers even began working at the Miraflores campus, so the institutional memory might be missing. But they were popular events and a chance to see the fellows playing self-chosen works in the museum’s auditorium. Now, it’s back for a three-event series in a new and improved version that utilizes the museum as more than a place to play in public. “Beyond Conversation: Dialogues in Music through Art” is a onehour mini-concert held in a gallery setting, where select fellows will perform chosen repertoire inspired by SBMA’s new exhibition, As if in a Dream: History, Fantasy, Week at MAW Page 314
much. The things worth doing are the ones that ask the most of us and give the most back. And it’s usually those selfless things that end up bringing the most light, to us and to the universe.”
Can we expect your family to grow more? I feel that is a question you have to ask my wife, she is the one having the child not me.
[Mushkie]: Children are one of life’s greatest blessings. There’s really nothing that compares to bringing a new life into the world and watching a child grow into the unique person they’re meant to become. We hope to be blessed with more children when the time is right. Chaim and I talk a lot about how raising children is one of life’s greatest responsibilities, and how our children need the love, attention, and care they need, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And if you ask our kids? They’re already asking for more.
Tell us about the gift of a Torah to Chabad of Montecito? You had been borrowing a Torah and now have one of your own.
Yes, thank you for asking. The Torah is the blueprint of the Jewish people and Jewish life. It’s G-d’s wisdom in bite-size pieces that we can access. It’s so connected to our identity that it’s also the reason us Jews are still here. It wasn’t our own strength that kept us alive all these centuries, it was our devotion to that book. So it’s not an exaggeration to say it’s the most important thing to the Jewish people. It has been our guide to living a good and fulfilling life at all times.
And that scroll is no small thing to produce. A Torah scroll is handwritten by a scribe on parchment, and it can take about a year to write. Every letter has to be written with intention, in a very specific script. One mistake invalidates the entire thing!
I don’t know if, in the history of our community, Montecito has ever had a Torah of its own. Now we’ve been gifted one by a very generous local family, the Ruimys. It’s a huge milestone for
us. We’re still a budding Jewish community here in Montecito, and having our own Torah, one we get to truly call our own, is a big piece of that puzzle. When a community receives a Torah, you welcome it with a procession. There’s a chuppah (a wedding canopy), we dance with the Torah, and afterward we have food and celebration. We’re doing that on Sunday, August 9th, starting at 2 pm, and everyone is invited. You don’t have to be a member of Chabad of Montecito to join us.
The procession starts on the street outside and goes down the driveway to the house. Leading the way is someone playing music on a keyboard on the back of a truck(!). In the middle is the chuppah, with someone holding the Torah, and then the rest of us following behind.
The Torah is like the emotional center of our community. When people see it, there’s a real sense of pride, something that makes you feel alive. There’s a Jewish word for that feeling, mechaieh, it means a deep sense of pleasure and feeling enlivened. That’s exactly what having our own Torah gives us. It’s the heart of who we are as a people.
Can the community look forward to the Torah being at the public celebrations of the Jewish holidays in Montecito? That’s a great question. Think of things in our own lives that we consider holy and sacred, do we always display them to the public? No. The Torah, as a sacred item, has its own designated times when it’s used. It’s read in the synagogue during services, like during morning prayers and on the High Holidays. So we’re not planning to read from it at the celebration itself or other celebrations that are not part of a prayer service. It’s a certain form of respect and proper usage.
Mazel tov to our whole community!
For more information and to RSVP for the upcoming Torah celebration visit: http://jewishmontecito.org/
LAW
Working with the Montecito Law Group was like being wrapped in a warm blanket, all the while addressing serious life issues. Stefanie is kind and extremely knowledgeable, addressing life’s difficult decisions and suggesting an opportunity for a safer plan. If you are pondering the necessary task of setting up a Trust for your loved ones, do not hesitate, as you will be more than satisfied with the excellence offered by the Montecito Law Group.
- Nancy and Brian F.
STEFANIE HERRINGTON ATTORNEY 559 SAN YSIDRO RD., STE. J MONTECITO, CA 93108 (805) 293-6363
MONTECITOLAWGROUP.COM
by Robert Bernstein
Much was written for America’s 250th birthday. But some points bear viewing from a new angle.
First, the U.S. was the first country that established a secular government, not tied to any religion or supernatural-adjacent authority. Past monarchs claimed their power derived from a sky god.
The Founders were a product of the Enlightenment. They saw the power of scientific observation, experimentation, and research. They wanted to apply these principles to governance. Try something, and if it doesn’t work try something else.
Second, the U.S. established a government of self-rule by the people. The Declaration of Independence declared: “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” A new and radical idea at the time.
Third, the U.S. established its government around a written Constitution. One that could be updated by people. Another new and radical idea.
Fourth, being an American was not about origin. It was about accepting a set of ideals and principles embodied in the Constitution and subject to updates.
Did the U.S. live up to these ideals? Clearly not for the millions of Black Americans who were enslaved. And various religious factions regularly try to claim that their sky god text is the only one true basis of being American. But there has been progress toward “a more perfect union” that does live up to our ideals.
While the U.S. was a pioneer, we have been left behind by countries with newer constitutions. The U.S. Constitution is fiendishly difficult to update. It mostly established negative rights. Freedom from rather than freedom to. Other countries established affirmative rights: housing, healthcare, employment, and education.
But maybe the U.S. could again be a pioneer. I have written previous articles revealing flaws in democracy. Our system fails two distinct tests: It fails to reflect the will of the people. And it fails to produce the best outcomes.
Our democracy uses these specific techniques: Media free of government control. Debate. Communication between citizens and elected representatives. Elections.
Does anyone think this has produced ideal governance? Our ssystem is highly controlled by those with money and power. The Supreme Court “Citizens United” decision bizarrely claimed that money is “speech” and cannot be limited.
Our current president openly flaunts taking bribes and selling favors, including pardons.
“Debate” often is one side trying to “beat” the other rather than trying to find truth. We are organized into tribes that we are loyal to. We rarely talk to members of other tribes.
Problems like the Climate Crisis require long-term thinking and shortterm sacrifice. We need deep understanding, not pithy populism.
Modern technology offers solutions if we are willing to use them. My friend Dan Kimball has developed software called Collaboration Cafe that could be very helpful.
Consider a typical conference. Perhaps 2,000 people come to present and hear talks. You may meet and talk to a dozen or more people. But you never meet most people and have no idea what they might offer you.
Collaboration Cafe would be able to glean what all 2,000 people can offer and what each needs. It could match people up who otherwise never would discover their mutual benefits. Imagine if this were applied to the entire country!
It can also facilitate conversations among people with a range of agreements and disagreements. It can summarize diverse views and find common ground, and find as well specific areas of disagreement that might be resolved through dialogue. The Habermas Machine – an AI system developed by Google DeepMind to help human groups find common ground – is a related tool.
The democracy of the future can be facilitated by such artificial intelligence tools. Decisions would still be by people, but the tools can help us find better common ground and better outcomes. I plan to write more about these tools as they are tested and proved in the real world.
The U.S. has a “go its own way” attitude. At worst, this means that the U.S. fails to learn from other places. That’s one reason we lack modern health care and transportation systems found in other industrialized countries. But at best it can mean that we are willing to use innovative tools to build an even more perfect union for our next 250 years.
What do you wish patients better understood about your clinic and the care you provide?
At Ridley-Tree Cancer Center, we truly function as a team. Our physicians, surgeons, radiation oncologists, nurse navigators, genetics specialists, nutrition teams, and infusion staff work closely together to provide comprehensive, patient-centered care. Patients often feel the warmth of our center from the moment they walk through the doors. Everyone – from security staff to front desk teams to nurses and physicians – is committed to creating a welcoming, compassionate environment where patients feel safe and supported.
What do you enjoy doing outside of medicine?
I love spending time with my family and supporting my children in their activities, including music performances and recitals through the Youth Symphony of Santa Barbara. I also enjoy gardening, creating outdoor spaces, and working with plants. Gardening brings me peace and perspective, and it reminds me daily of patience, growth, and resilience.
Who has most influenced your life and career?
I have had wonderful mentors throughout my career, but my greatest role models have always been my parents, especially my mother. She inspires me daily to advocate for others, fight for what is right, and continue growing both personally and professionally. Their support and values gave me the foundation to pursue a career that requires compassion, resilience, and emotional presence every day.
How has your cultural background influenced your approach to patient care?
I grew up in Brazil, where warmth, compassion, and human connection are deeply valued. That upbringing strongly shaped the way I practice medicine.
I approach every patient as if they were a member of my own family. I believe patients deserve not only excellent medical care, but also honesty, empathy, dignity, and kindness throughout their journey.
What causes outside of medicine are important to you?
I am deeply passionate about supporting women in leadership and helping create opportunities for women to thrive both professionally and personally.
As more women enter leadership positions in medicine, I believe we have an opportunity to create meaningful change for future generations. I am passionate about mentorship, advocacy, and ensuring women feel empowered to succeed while also maintaining fulfilling family lives.
If you were not a physician, what career would you pursue?
I would probably own a large garden center focused on cultivating and propagating rare plants. Gardening brings me joy, creativity, and grounding.
In many ways, gardening balances oncology for me. Medicine often involves uncertainty and circumstances we cannot fully control, while gardening reminds me to appreciate patience, growth, and resilience.
What is one goal you still hope to accomplish?
One of my biggest goals is to help improve access to mental health support within oncology care, particularly for underserved and minority communities. Cancer affects not only physical health, but also emotional well-being, and I believe every patient deserves comprehensive support throughout their journey.
How do you define success?
To me, success means going to sleep knowing that you gave your very best to others that day – with compassion, honesty, and integrity – and waking up willing to do it all over again the next morning.
I also believe success means recognizing when to ask for help, continuing to grow, and never losing sight of humanity in medicine.
What is the greatest lesson your patients have taught you?
My patients constantly remind me to stay present and never take time for granted. They teach me daily about resilience, gratitude, courage, and the importance of human connection.
I learn something from every patient I care for, and those lessons continue to shape me both as a physician and as a person.
As Sansum Clinic begins a new chapter as part of Sutter Health, we remain united by a shared mission: to deliver compassionate, high-quality care to the communities we serve. Together, we are shaping the future of healthcare on the Central Coast.
by Elizabeth Stewart
Tacky? Bad Taste? Or a nice change from beige, black, and taupe? High or low culture? A serious work of art or a frightening mess from the 1980s?
HG’s pseudo vase is all of the above. It is not functional; it is just hilarious.
It is an Art Glass piece (20” h), likely by Ettore Sottsass, the founder of the Memphis Milano Group, Italian designers active from 1980 to 1987. If you lived through the ‘80s, you would have experienced this style, meant to be a slap in the face to tonal, overly tasteful, aesthetically pleasing design of the 1960s and 1970s.
Memphis Milano was anything but subtle and refined. It is characterized by asymmetry, neon colors offset with pastels, geometric totem-like shapes, abrupt and jarring color blocking, an emphasis on random spheres, cones, and cylinders – as un-classic as a piece of design could possibly be.
Why? An Italian taste shifting rebellion of course.
In 1980, in the living room of glass artist Sottsass, 22 hip Italian designers congregated and hated on the rarified styles of Danish Modern, Eames, Gropius, and all the other aesthetes. They wanted to make rooms fun again: a mix of Art Deco, Pop Art, and Op Art – surprising, loud, and based on plastic laminate.
The theme?
LESS IS BORE! As opposed to the 1960s dictum, Less Is More.
In HG’s vase, we see the tasteless electric yellow, the magenta, the foil cobalt floating in the column. The work has no purpose but to shock (it cannot hold water or flowers). The piece is a creative approach to an everyday object but literally functionless; a contrarian pushback to the 1960’s dictum Form Follows Function… get it?
Other objects from Memphis Milano included a table lamp with bulbs arrayed along a vividly colored semi-circle; a chair whose diagonalized circular tube – onto which orbiting spheroids have been fastened – comprises the back and arms (impossible for comfortable seating); and the classic Carlton 303 bookcase for wine storage and books (one supposes), its laminate surfaces so redolent with trashy colors and mismatched patterns that none other than David Bowie owned one.
Another adherent of the style was Karl Lagerfeld, who used the aesthetic in his Monte Carlo summer house.
The American studio Ibex noticed the style as it expanded from Italy, and you might wonder why the style was named
Memphis after our U.S. city. There are two main places called Memphis: one in Tennessee and one in Egypt (in fact, the ancient dynastic capital), a fitting tribute to a design movement which is lowbrow and highbrow at the same time.
Furthermore, at the main meeting of the 22 Italian designers in 1980, someone played Bob Dylan’s “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again,” and they, under Dylan’s influence (the record stuck on auto play) all agreed to present a whole new look at a meeting three months in the future. That cohort’s approach would embrace and loudly exemplify the postmodern aesthetic.
These designers hated Brutalism, the horrific facades of postwar concrete buildings, and machine-made objects, uniform in their style and shapes and bland colors. But by 1987 the designers bickered, and the aesthetic faded.
Faded, until today.
Portuguese design house Hommés Studio has stated that Memphis is back, indeed as a reaction (as it was in the beginning) to overly tasteful and
restrained mid-century modernism, which they consider boring (so do I). Indeed, post-postmodernism is in the throes of a revival. They point to a 2005 show at LACMA of Ettore Sottsass’s work in glass and furniture; Christian Dior’s Memphis-based clothing collection of 2011; the 2016 Supreme skateboard decks in Memphis designs; West Elm’s product line of Memphis fabrics; and the 2022 Triennale Milano show called 200 Objects 1981-1986, celebrating Memphis design. In fact, as of this past May, the high-end design world has rediscovered Sottsass’ work, with the top price paid at Phillips in New York reaching $385,388 for brightly colored plastic laminate “school-type” lockers.
Just in the last three months, the auction world has gone Sottsass-crazy in Europe. The German house Koller will be auctioning his works soon, with estimates around $35,000 for a really good piece of tacky furniture. Also in play are the Italian house Piasa, the Japanese house Mainichi, the Chicago house Wright, Palm Springs’ Leonard Joel, Christie’s New York, Artcurial Paris, and even Britain’s Lyon & Turnbull. So, game on, you midcentury modern purists. Memphis is bad taste, but I like it.
Yes, it is clown furniture, but it is coming back to challenge “good taste, 2026” and I, for one, applaud. Less is indeed boring.
Elizabeth Stewart, PhD is a veteran appraiser of fine art, furniture, glass, and other collectibles, and a cert. member of the AAA and an accr. member of the ASA. Please send any objects to be appraised to Elizabethappraisals@ gmail.com
The Largest Selection of Previously Loved Home Furnis hings in the Tri..-Counties! Moving Miss Daisy Downsizng & Relocation
Total Estate Clearance t Packing t lnventoryt Movingt Floor Plans &- New..-Home Setup.
Privatet respectful, low..-impact-no invasive crowds or parking issuest no rushed two..-day sales. no leftovers-just fairt competitive bidders from local and national buyers.
by Melissa Petitto
Burkdoll Farm has an abundance of stone fruit right now, and the plums are divine. As much as I try not to favor one season, summer has always held a special place in my heart. Memories of Alabama summers – juicy stone fruit, fireflies, sprinkler runs, and slow childhood days – come rushing back with every bite. Beyond their nostalgic sweetness, plums are rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Their polyphenols help protect cells from oxidative stress caused by free radicals, which may lower the risk of chronic disease. They also provide potassium and anthocyanins, the antioxidants responsible for their beautiful color, which may help support healthy blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and lower LDL, or “lousy,” cholesterol. With dietary fiber and sorbitol, a naturally occurring sugar alcohol, plums can gently support regularity and relieve constipation. They also offer bone-supporting nutrients, including potassium, magnesium, and vitamin K. Let’s take these plums into the kitchen and create something wonderful.
Yield: 8 serving
4 tablespoons salted vegan butter, room temperature, plus extra for greasing the pan
6 tablespoons whipped aquafaba
5 ripe plums, about 1 ¼ pounds
2/3 cup organic cane sugar
1/3 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup spelt flour
1 cup superfine almond flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
2 ½ tablespoons plum preserves
1 teaspoon crème de cassis (blackberry liquor) optional
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the inside of an 8-inch cake pan with a little extra vegan butter. Line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit the pan and then grease the paper as well.
2. Wash and dry the plums, remove the pit and slice into thin slices.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar with a handheld mixer on medium low for 3 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the foamy aquafaba and beat until incorporated.
4. Add in the almond milk, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat for 1 minute on medium low until incorporated.
5. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the spelt flour, almond flour, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on low speed until incorporated, approximately 1 minute.
6. Layer plum slices in a concentric circle, starting on the outside and moving into the middle. Sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons sugar.
7. Pour the batter onto the top and transfer to the preheated oven. Bake for 50 minutes and up to 65 minutes or until the cake is slightly puffy and browning on top. Toothpick should come out with a few crumbs clinging to it. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
8. While the cake is cooling, mix the preserves with the liquor in a small bowl.
9. Turn the cake over and peel off the parchment. Brush the top of the cake with the liquor mixture and serve warm or room temperature.
Melissa Petitto, R.D., is an executive chef and co-founder at Thymeless My Chef SB, was a celebrity personal chef for 16 years, just finished her 10th cookbook, and is an expert on nutrition and wellness.
by Leslie Andrea Westbrook
It’s difficult enough to try and navigate travel in Japan on one’s own, and while doing so offers an ongoing element of surprise – both good and not so great – I finally cried “Uncle!”
After weeks of planning, booking, worrying, I’d just about given up on planning our Japan travel itinerary, when MacKenzie McNeill of Audley Travel came to the rescue.
I was ready to depart the sweet neighborhood where I’d blindly booked an Airbnb for five nights (which had its own high and low points) and follow the advice of the travel agency and slip into the luxury of The Celestine Kyoto Gion for three nights.
Audley Travel, well-known in London, also operates in the U.S. I was curious to see how they might help me in my tangled web of Japanese travel planning. They pulled through superbly, coming to my rescue in record time. Fantastic in helping me fill in the gaps, their experts showed me a completely different side of Japan.
Before I left, an initial itinerary consult was arranged, then travel was planned and there was a follow-up Zoom call to answer general questions. These covered everything from customs (“it’s okay to slurp noodles”) to there’s no tipping, to cultural hallmarks like “early is on time.” The world could certainly learn from that tip!
My airport pick up in Tokyo was incredibly smooth. “The first cherry blossom has bloomed,” my greeter Toshi gushed upon arrival. From those first seamless moments to my welcome packet at my first hotel – which included Kyoto-Tokyo train tickets with seat reservation for myself and Olivia, SICA card, confirmation of my tours (including a geisha performance our last night in Kyoto), and even a Wi-Fi router ($10/ day) – Audley Travel took care of both the broad sweeps and the tiny details.
I knew I was in good hands from the warm welcome upon arrival/check-in at the well-designed and conveniently located Celestine hotel. Olivia and I were escorted to comfortable leather chairs in the spacious-yet-intimate two-story high lobby overlooking a garden before checking into our room. I immediately went to check out the hotel’s onsen (in the women’s private bathing area) for a shower and dip in the lovely hot soaking pool. There’s a separate onsen for the guys, as well.
Our room was beautifully designed –modern with lots of drawers, a tea kettle and fridge, super bathing/wet room with soaking tub, and shower and excellent lighting, including footlights for nighttime trips to the loo. The beds and pillows were top notch, and the staff could not have been nicer. A complimentary happy
hour – behind a secret door opened with your room key, and a restaurant popular with Japanese businessmen who wine and dine geisha that leave their fans as a sign of approval of the meal – rounded out the hotel’s amenities.
The Celestine was a great base for exploring this delightful part of Kyoto. The hotel is set near the heart of the bustling Gion district, yet just a one-minute walk to a quiet garden and temple, Kennin-ji; a historic Zen Buddhist temple and head temple of its associated branch of Rinzai Buddhism, considered to be one of the so-called Kyoto Gozan or “five most important Zen temples of Kyoto.”
Apple Founder Steve Jobs preferred Saihōji, widely known as Koke-dera (the Moss Temple) and Ryōan-ji with its Zen garden of 15 stones, which I also visited, along with a zillion other tourists!
The next day, Audley arranged for us to tour the neighborhood with a knowledgeable and personable guide. Before our meeting, I had emailed photographs my father had taken while serving in the U.S. Army in Kyoto during the Occupation of Japan in 1947. Using those images and a bit of detective work, our guide Duncan was able to identify the location where my father had been stationed. We visited and had lunch at the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art – the very place where my father had once been based – adding an unexpected and deeply personal dimension to the day. Thanks to Duncan’s warmth, knowledge, and enthusiasm, the experience not only showed us “his” Kyoto but uncovered a family mystery.
Audley had also sent us to Kyoto with tickets for a 90-minute cultural performance at Gion Corner that offered a
A room in The Celestine Hotel Gion, complete with one’s own tea set (courtesy photo)
taste of traditional Japanese culture. This included an ikebana demonstration, a theatrical sampling, and musical performances – Koto music, Bugaku dance, Kyōgen comedy, and play, Hagoromo (“The Robe of Feathers”).
Our days in Kyoto were filled with lessons, visits to temples, a wonderful Japanese acupuncturist, shopping, finding places to eat, lots of walking, and more. On our last day, I took a morning stroll across the river to the shopping district; a stationery store there recommended by Duncan, where I treated myself to a few writing journals.
Our train tickets from Kyoto back to Tokyo from our welcome packet made life infinitely easier in the scramble to navigate and board Japan’s efficient-yet-confusing train stations, including the Kyoto station.
Oddly, Pico Iyer in his forward to the novel The Gate by Japanese novelist Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916) notes that when Sōseki “...traveled to England, he complained that he couldn’t even ‘trust myself to a train or cab … their cobweb system was so complicated.’”
One can only imagine what Sōseki would have thought more than a hundred years later about train stations in Japan today!
Audley Travel – www.audleytravel.com/ The Celestine Kyoto Gion –www.celestinehotels.jp/en/kyoto-gion
Leslie A. Westbrook is a Lowell Thomas Award-winning travel writer and journalist who loves exploring the globe. A 3rd generation Californian., Leslie also assists clients sell fine art, antiques, and collectibles via auction.
www.auctionliaison.com
Among Sally Hall’s carefully organized papers, her family discovered a note she had written years before her health declined. It was tucked beside a stack of addressed and stamped envelopes, ready to be mailed.
“Dear Friends, Our beloved mother, Sally Hall, has died very peacefully. Thank you for your long and happy friendships. Gratefully, The Hall Family.”
Even in preparing for her own death, Sally was thinking first of others.
Sarah “Sally” McKinstry Hall died peacefully in her own home surrounded by members of her family on June 28, 2026, at the age of 97. Born in Santa Barbara on August 27, 1928, to General and Mrs. Charles Hedges McKinstry, one of three daughters who remained close throughout their long lives, she grew up during the Great Depression and World War II, experiences that shaped a lifetime of gratitude, thrift, and quiet generosity.
She attended the Howard School, Laguna Blanca School, and Mills College. She graduated in Philosophy and Religion and was the speaker at the Graduation Ceremonies, before studying at St. Andrews University in Scotland as a Fulbright Scholar. Her many academic awards over the years prove what the provost there believed. She was a brilliant scholar.
In 1952 she married the Rev. Dr. George J. Hall, rector of All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Montecito. George was a widower with two young children,
If this curious pattern looks familiar, perhaps it reminds you of something you’ve seen at the Sea Center on Stearns Wharf. The life-size model of an adult Gray Whale is speckled with clusters of whale barnacles. These are small invertebrates that hitch a ride on the world’s biggest vertebrates. As the whale swims, they filter-feed planktonic food floating in the passing water. The rostrum – snout, so to speak – of the whale at the Sea Center is especially barnacle encrusted, based on the appearances of Gray Whales studied by curators at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. The barnacles in this picture are specimens preserved in alcohol in the Museum’s Collections and Research Center, which houses millions of specimens for scientific research. The barnacles were salvaged from a dead whale – and still adhere to a small piece of whale. So, does this jar belong in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology or the Department of Vertebrate Zoology?
and before their wedding Sally gently told his daughter, Virginia, “I know I can’t replace your mother, but I hope I can be someone you turn to when you’re in trouble.” Sally shared an abiding, enduring love with George, who predeceased her in 2002 after 50 years of marriage. They were an inseparable, inspirational pair.
Together Sally and George built a family of six children: Dr. James Hall (Jean), Virginia Yanoff (Rick), Julia Parish (Will), the Rev. Frances Hall Kieschnick (Michael), Sarah Gordon (David), and Brad Hall (Julia), along with twelve grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Sally delighted in each of them. They were at the center of her life.
Hospitality was Sally’s spiritual gift. The rectory door was never locked. Neither was her heart. Parishioners, college students, neighbors, travelers, and strangers all found a place at her table. Sunday breakfasts after church were legendary, as were her chocolate chip cookies, which seemed to appear wherever comfort, celebration, or encouragement was needed.
Sally taught at Crane School before her marriage and later served for ten years as office manager for the Visiting Nurse Association, now VNA Health. She also volunteered with Hospice, the Montecito Union PTA, the Junior League, St. Michael and All Angels Church, and many other organizations that strengthened the Santa Barbara community.
A lifelong and lively learner, Sally loved books, music, travel, tennis, dancing, and every furry creature she met. Her children established a music scholarship at Mills College in her honor. She belonged to the same book club for decades, welcomed Music Academy of the West students into her home, and remained devoted to concerts and master classes even after losing much of her hearing. She and George delighted in dancing together throughout their marriage, and even in her final years she would reach for the nearest hand and sashay around the living room whenever music began.
She was also George’s trusted editor, theological conversation partner, and faithful encourager. She wrote letters daily – thank you notes, birthday cards, words of comfort, and witty limericks – making sure people knew they had not been forgotten. Her children, their children, and their children were the enthusiastic beneficiaries of ongoing, detailed correspondence.
Dementia never diminished her capacity to love. Even when she no longer recognized a visitor’s name, she would invite them in, offer a cup of tea, and ask about their lives with genuine warmth and curiosity. Memory faded, but kindness never did.
The family offers heartfelt gratitude to Sally’s devoted caregivers whose tenderness, patience, and expertise allowed her to live her final years with dignity and grace.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Friendship Center, 89 Eucalyptus Lane, Santa Barbara, CA, 93108, whose work George and Sally championed for decades and whose mission of caring for older adults was close to their hearts.
The Hall family is profoundly grateful for the friendships that filled Sally’s long and beautiful life. If you knew her, chances are you felt welcomed, well fed, and deeply loved.
A Celebration of Sally’s extraordinary life will be held in early spring in the new year. Tributes and updated information can be found through Welch-Ryce-Haider (wrhsb.com) under Obituaries.
and Pete Jordano and Lindsay and Laurie Parton made especially generous contributions. An anonymous local philanthropist made a significant gift honoring tennis volunteer Ethel Byers, a local legend. The completed complex will feature a plaque honoring her on a memorial stone.
The work has included renovating all eight courts, completely rebuilding two of them, installing new fencing, new Court 1 stadium seating, and upgraded seating for the other courts. In addition to updated walkways and landscaping, the grounds include a team room, two locker rooms, and equipment storage set around a central plaza.
“Westmont has been the anchor for my faith journey and graciously brought my wife and a collection of dear friends to share life with me,” Ed says. “It’s a privilege to be a supporter and see the new tennis complex completed.”
Athletic Director Rob Ruiz praised Ed and all the donors who made the complex possible. “The caliber of these facilities helps Westmont recruit student-athletes who want to benefit from a Christian liberal arts education and compete in NCAA Division II,” he said. “The Boersma Tennis Complex enhances the competitiveness of Westmont tennis and will benefit our community for years to come. We’re incredibly grateful for the selfless generosity of the individuals who made it possible.”
A liberal arts education propelled Brett Isselhardt (’03) to a career in national security science. A staff scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the East Bay Area, he specializes in analyzing nuclear materials to support nonproliferation, forensics, and energy research. He earned a doctorate in nuclear engineering from UC Berkeley after majoring in physics at Westmont. He says the breadth of the college curriculum shaped his professional approach and honed his communication skills.
“Many of my partners and sponsors come from business or international relations – not science – so I have to think carefully about how to frame our work,” he says.
At Westmont, he developed the ability to translate complex ideas, especially through his collaboration with a consortium of researchers at Michigan State University’s National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. “That’s where I got my first inkling of what big science looked like,” he says.
It also helped him land an internship at Livermore. He considers his career in nuclear physics to be stewardship of a high-stakes discovery.
“We opened Pandora’s box with nuclear energy and nuclear weapons,” he says. “I appreciate the opportunity to make an impact in the field.”
Brett helped establish a cutting-edge facility using resonance ionization mass spectrometry to analyze nuclear material more efficiently and with smaller samples. His work contributes to understanding the history and origin of nuclear materials, a key component in global security efforts.
In recent years, he has expanded his research to include modernizing laserbased isotope separation, a technology with applications in energy production and medicine. He now leads large, collaborative teams working to apply new capabilities from research to real-world situations.
Brett says his faith informs his leadership, and he cares for colleagues as people, not just scientists. He finds inspiration in the precision and complexity of the natural world. “I’m blown away by the intricacy of nature and creation and how things are made, how they work, and how we can understand and apply that knowledge for our good,” he says.
Future. Curated by James Glisson, chief curator & curator of contemporary art, the exhibition explores unconscious thoughts, dreams, and imagination across two expansive galleries – certainly food for thought for enterprising young musicians. Today’s offering features two pieces by Fauré (“Les berceaux” and “Après un rêve” from “Trois mélodies”) with soprano and harp; Katherine Balch’s solo violin piece “Iaspis”; and David Popper’s “Suite for Two Cellos, Op. 16.” In this experiential program, the audience is invited to not only listen but also reflect and engage in a dialogue between live music and the visual world. Episodes 2 and 3 are July 30 and August 4. (12 noon; SBMA, 1130 State St.; free with museum admission)… Tonight, of course, is opening night of this year’s opera, Elizabeth Cree, with a matinee on Sunday. See above for an interview with composer Kevin Puts. (7:30 pm Friday, 2 pm Sunday; Granada; $10-$125)
Saturday, July 25: It’s something-for-everyone Saturday, starting with this year’s second annual Family Concert, a performance of Benjamin Britten’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.” Britten’s famous 17-minute piece is based on the rondeau from a Henry Purcell composition, itself created as a way of showing off the tonal colors and capacities of the various instrumental sections of the orchestra. Guide is preceded by two more highly accessible works in the Overture to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, and his father Leopold’s “Toy Symphony.” Narration comes from Sara Valentine (Guide) and Michael Boudewyns (Toy), co-founders of Really Inventive Stuff, who handled the bilingual debut of Peter and the Wolf for MAW last year. The Maine-based company is known for creating playful, theatrical orchestral programs for young audiences, and the Santa Barbara Symphony Music Van will once again hold an Instrument Exploration Station an hour before the concert. But you don’t have to be of any particular age to attend. William Long conducts the Academy Chamber Orchestra. (11 am; Lobero Theatre; $10-$50.)
Tonight’s concert with violinist and Mosher Guest Artist Jennifer Koh is dubbed “Bach and Beyond” but the repertoire is actually a pastiche of those three landmark programs that strengthen the connection between Bach and current music with Koh’s more recent projects. The solo recital will sandwich Bach’s “Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003,” and “Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004,” around Philip Glass’ “Sarabande in Common Time” (written expressly for Koh in 2016), and three Koh-commissioned pieces by MAW Guest Composer Missy Mazzoli: “Hail, Horrors, Hail”; “Dissolve, O My Heart”; and “Kinski Paganini.” The evening should offer an astounding and
engaging performance that also draws parallels between eras and writers. (7:30 pm; Lobero Theatre; $10-$125)
Monday, July 27: Christopher Cerrone, the last of MAW’s impressive quartet of guest composers this season, engages in a panel discussion hosted by Conor Hanick, the faculty pianist who premiered one of Cerrone’s pieces last year. The composer will talk about upcoming premieres, commissions, and his creative perspective. Remarks will likely take in his two-piano piece “Uncanny Valleys” performed here on July 23, and the West Coast premiere of “The Only Way is Through,” Cerrone’s work exploring the fundamental human process of learning to exist in the world; a piece inspired both by his experience as a new parent, and the Robert Frost poem “A Servant to Servants” (“...The best way out is always through”). Cerrone’s moving exploration will get two performances in different spaces July 31 and August 1. (1:30 pm; Weinman Hall; $10)… Tonight brings the final Solo Piano Spotlight, with the two fellows and repertoire still to be announced. (7:30 pm; Hahn Hall; $10-$50)
Tuesday, July 28: The next installment in the fellows-powered sonata nights (pairing instrumentalists with collaborative pianists) features Schuman’s “Sonata No. 2 for Violin,” York Bowen’s “Oboe Sonata, Op. 85” and Brahms’ “Sonata No. 2 for Cello.” (7:30 pm; Hahn Hall; $10-$50)
Wednesday, July 29: Lovin’ on Ludwigs – The Salon Series, featuring fellow-forward chamber music in a more intimate setting after a glass of wine, has but two works on the program, somewhat significantly disparate. Beethoven’s “Piano Trio in B-Flat Major, Op. 97, ‘Archduke,’” which used to get performed frequently at MAW, is paired with the “Sextet for Winds and Piano in B-flat Major, Op. 6,” the most popular piece still being performed by Ludwig Thuille, a late 19th century Austrian composer better known for his choral music and songs. (7:30 pm; Lehmann Hall; $10-$65)
Life poured the evening’s wines; Emily Joubert sponsored the elegant send-offs; Rori’s Creamery created exclusive treats; and Theoni sewed custom table linens just for the occasion, all creatively orchestrated by Merryl Brown
“The more people spend time in nature, the better their health,” said renowned Cardiologist Dr. Steven Gundry. “We actually pick up microbiomes from plants, air and soil.” With a smile, he added, “So why wouldn’t we all support this place?” His remarks reminded guests that Lotusland is where conservation and wellness flourish together.
Also spotted was a veritable who’s who of society, including jeweler to the stars Neil Lane, SBMA pillars Lynn Cunningham Brown and Courtney Treut, Bravo TV’s Dina and Dave Cantin, HBO’s Simon Sutton, designer Frank Smith, Sotheby’s Jon Walburg, trustees Geoff Crane and Jeffrey Romano with new trustee Graciela Carrasco, Tesla’s JB Straubel, designer Henriette von Stockhausen (who traveled from Dorset, England), philanthropists Belle Hahn and Richard Scibird, architectural leaders Mike Phillips and
Jay Morton, design icon Penny Bianchi, business tycoon Nancy Retzer, and garden patron Marlene Veloz, among many other fashionistas enjoying the evening.
By night’s end, Lotusland had done what it does best – bringing together extraordinary gardens and extraordinary people, all in support of an extraordinary place. As Martha offered one final piece of advice, it seemed the perfect close to the evening: “Never, ever, be average.”
Madame Walska would have approved. by Lisa Duncan
“Really, it’s about his extraordinary mind,” reflected Christopher Lloyd before taking the stage at the Lobero Theatre as narrator for Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait.” “He didn’t project physically the way you’d expect, but when he opened his mouth – or wrote something on paper – it was, ‘Wow!’ It just took you aback.”
The Emmy Award-winning actor, beloved for memorable roles in Taxi, Back to the Future, and The Addams Family, lent his unmistakable voice to Abraham Lincoln’s timeless words as Gemma New conducted the Music Academy of the West Academy Chamber Orchestra in one of the Summer Music Festival’s most memorable performances.
The thoughtfully curated program celebrated both America’s musical heritage and its future, pairing Copland’s patriotic masterpiece with the world premiere of the orchestrated version of Jasmine Arielle Barnes’ “American Lament,” commissioned for and performed by two-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, co-director of the Music Academy’s Lehrer Vocal Institute. The evening concluded with Schumann’s “Symphony No. 2,” brilliantly performed by the Academy’s gifted young musicians.
Lloyd narrating Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait” (photo by Priscilla)
The concert was dedicated to Susan Lichtenstein and John Rokacz, presented in appreciation of Kandy LuriaBudgor, and supported by the John Mithun Community Access Fund.
For one memorable evening, Christopher Lloyd stepped away from Hollywood’s fictional characters to give voice to one of history’s greatest figures, reminding the audience that Lincoln’s words still speak with remarkable power. As concertgoers lingered on the terrace, more than a few could be heard echoing Lloyd’s own reaction: “Wow.” by Lisa Duncan
“It doesn’t get any better, especially for a guy like Messi,” smiled Argentine polo player Santi Wulff as families in sky-blueand-white jerseys gathered at the Santa Barbara Polo Club following Argentina’s appearance in the FIFA World Cup Final. “We are very proud. I know we all want to win, but we are very proud.”
That same Argentine spirit carried onto the polo field, where children proudly wore Lionel Messi’s iconic No. 10 shirt before Klentner Ranch defeated La Karina, 10-6. Jesse Bray and Nachi Viana led the scoring, while Jake Klentner added two goals and his father, Justin Klentner, scored one.
“We’ve been doing this as a family for more than ten years,” said Jake Klentner after being named Most Valuable Player. “This award is really a credit to my dad –to how far he’s been able to take the whole organization. It’s super special.” The championship was a fitting reward for a fatherand-son team whose years of dedication have helped build Klentner Ranch into one of the sport’s respected organizations.
Bradley Cance and Tori McLaughlin, representing corporate sponsor The RitzCarlton Bacara, presented the Robert
Skene championship trophy before the traditional champagne shower brought a joyful close to an afternoon celebrating Argentine pride, family, and polo. by Lisa Duncan
Justin Bieber celebrated into the early hours after his FIFA World Cup Final halftime performance, hosting an exclusive SKYLRK after-party at The Twenty Two in New York, where Hailey Bieber, Camila Cabello, and Tate McRae joined the festivities… Prince Harry made a surprise solo appearance at the inaugural TIME100 Sports Gala in New York, where he was honored for the impact of the Invictus Games. Greeted by TIME CEO Jessica Sibley, the Duke praised sport’s power to heal and unite… Katy Perry traded Montecito calm for roaring crowds in Nîmes and Nancy, France, thrilling fans with her theatrical tour show and a viral crowd-surf atop a giant inflatable water bottle during “I Kissed a Girl.”
From Richard and friends to all of you… Pip! Pip!
by excitement in the moment. So let’s state this as plainly as possible. From 4:30 - 6:30 pm on Thursday, July 30, our shade-dappled Coast Village Road will be transformed into an Old Spanish Days swirl of warmth and color, pageantry and celebration such as our woodland Village has never quite seen It’s a fair bet that wonderstruck 10-year-olds present at the celebration will still be talking about it years hence – as grinning grandparents themselves celebrating the 173rd annual Fiesta in 2096.
A widening embrace is a key part of El Presidente Hayward’s very intentional vision this year – a confetti-covered strategic plan that intersects nicely with a personal mission David Bolton has long had in the works. “We want to reach out to all the communities,” El Presidente Hayward emphasizes. “We want to bring people back under the tent of Old Spanish Days and really expand our reach.” The coming Fiesta on our dear Coast Village Road will be the warm and happily cyclonic Proof of Concept.
David Bolton is an imposing figure of about 7 ½ feet whose glimpsed silhouette suggests the Iron Giant in Fiesta finery. His sudden smile never fails to surprise. Bolton is a former El Presidente himself (2023), and this year’s Treasurer and Division Chief of External Relations for Old Spanish Days; a title whose OSD lanyard would have to be a foot wide. He explains Montecito’s Old Spanish Days pedigree, and what we can expect on July 30th. Our cozy village thoroughfare does seem hecho a medida for this pre-Fiesta warm-up. It’s a vision David Bolton has been fostering for quite a little while, and to which George Leis’ community-adoring outfit has added the necessary octane, and the event’s official name. Old Spanish Days, Fiesta in Montecito, presented by CalPrivate Bank
“I used to skateboard on Coast Village,” Bolton says, and one gets an immediate sense of both how personal and public Bolton’s Montecito dream mission has been. “I’ve wanted Old Spanish Days to
be in Montecito again for many, many years. In the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, and into the ‘80s, Montecito became involved with Noche de Gale de Coral Casino. That was the event. Dignitaries, local residents, and the community gathered for a night of Fiesta elegance, dancing, music. It was something very special to Montecito. From the mid ‘90s on, though, it no longer continued. Fiesta as an official Montecito event went away.
“Two years ago,” Bolton continues, his voice growing animated, “Old Spanish Days worked with Casa del Herrero for a private Fiesta at their location, bringing Fiesta to Montecito again. Then, in talking with George Leis at CalPrivate
Bank, the idea came up to make a public event so even more people in Montecito, even more people in our community can enjoy Fiesta. And this is really made possible by the generosity and the collaboration of CalPrivate Bank. Old Spanish Days is honored to partner with CalPrivate Bank, where flags are already up honoring Old Spanish Days.”
“The name of the event,” Bolton adds, putting a fine point on the institution’s centrality to Montecito’s new party, “is Old Spanish Days, Fiesta in Montecito, presented by CalPrivate Bank.” Reader, if you know George Leis by his habits, you will have predicted his exclamation at this juncture.
“The interior of our office is already celebrating Old Spanish Days!” George exults, as he will. “So for anybody that wants to come in and say hi, we’d love them to do that!” He calms and continues. “When Colin and David were explaining why they were so passionate about reestablishing a public presence for old Spanish days in Montecito, that struck me. Old Spanish Days is a celebration of our history, our traditions, and the remarkable sense of community here. One thing that moves me every single year is those dancers, the Spirit and Junior Spirit and the runners up. I’ve had the honor of watching the auditions, seeing the lifelong commitment of these artists. It is extraordinary. CalPrivate is all about community. So what better way to support community than supporting old Spanish days?”
Old Spanish Days on Coast Village Road – July 30, from 4:30 - 6:30 pm – will have its own Village heart and
soul; a fitting precursor to the controlled madness of the celebration that follows several days thereafter. Beginning at 4:30 pm on July 30, the Old Spanish Days stage, set up in the parklet at Coast Village and Middle roads on the ocean side of the street, will ring with the sounds of Mariachi music, a mix of colorful dance groups, the 2026 Spirit of Fiesta, the 2026 Junior Spirit of Fiesta and both respective runners-up. And there will be an actual fashion show demonstrating Fiesta clothing tips for both men and women
Prior to the staged commotion, a Fiesta poster signing will be held further up Coast Village Road at Sunstone Wine Lounge with El Presidente 2026 Colin Hayward and poster artist Pedro De La Cruz
In other 2026 Old Spanish Days news, the absolutely inimitable John Palminteri is Grand Marshal this year, and if that delightful and inevitable fact doesn’t startle you into gentle laughter you may be new to the area. The beloved and boldly mustachioed journalist is approximately as embedded in the town’s lore as is our patron saint. But with a mustache.
Old Spanish Days at the height of a Central Coast summer, and a party on Coast Village?! Here comes a heck of a time, if you’ll pardon my Spanish. July 30 begins a whole new Montecito tradition. El Presidente?
“It’ll just take a few years before everybody makes this a staple of the late summer festival in Montecito.”
¡Estate allí o Ser Cuadrado! [¡No faltes o te lo perderás!]
Bids open at 2:00 PM on Friday, August 7, 2026 for: FY 25/26 NORTH AND CENTRAL COUNTY PAVEMENT REHABILITATION IN THE 3RD AND 4TH SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICTS
COUNTY PROJECT No. 820812N
General project work description: Road Rehabilitation
The Plans, Specifications, and Bid Book are available at https://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=43874
The Contractor must have either a Class A license or any combination of the following Class C licenses which constitutes a ma jority of the work: A, C-12, C-31, AND C-32
Submit sealed bids to the web address below. Bids will be opened available at the web address below immediately following the submittal deadline.
PlanetBids
https://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=43874
Complete the project work within 35 Workings Days
The estimated cost of the project is $ 3,690,000
This project is subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR).
A contractor or subcontractor shall not be qualified to bid on, be listed in a bid proposal, subject to the requirements of PCC Section 4104, or engage in the performance of any contract for public work, as defined in this chapter, unless currently registe red and qualified to perform public work pursuant to Labor Code (LAB) Section 1725.5. It is not a violation of this section for an unregistered contractor to submit a bid that is authorized by Business and Professions Code (BPC) Section 7029.1 or by PCC Section 10164 or 20103.5 provided the contractor is registered to perform public work pursuant to LAB Section 1725.5 at the time the contract is awarded.
Prevailing wages are required on this Contract. The Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations determines the general prevailing wage rates. Obtain the wage rates at the DIR website https://www.dir.ca.gov/
Inquiries or questions based on alleged patent ambiguity of the plans, specifications, or estimate must be submitted as a bidder inquiry by 2:00PM on 07/31/2026 Submittals after this date will not be addressed. Questions pertaining to this Project prior to Award of the Contract must be submitted via PlanetBids Q&A tab.
Bidders (Plan Holders of Record) will be notified by electronic mail if addendums are issued. The addendums, if issued, will only be available on the County PlanetBids website, https://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=43874
By order of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Barbara this project was authorized to be advertised on 05/20/2025
Christopher Sneddon, PE Director of Public Works
NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF BULK SALE (Notice pursuant UCC Sec. 6105) NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a bulk sale is about to be made
The name(s) and business address of the seller(s) is/are: VIA REAL PHYSICAL THERAPY INC., A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION DBA CARP PHYSIO, 5432 CARPINTERIA AVE, CARPINTERIA, CA 93013
Doing Business as: CARP PHYSIO
All other business name(s) and address(es) used by the seller(s) within the past three years as stated by the seller(s) is/ are: VIA REAL PHYSICAL THERAPY / CARP PHYSIO
The location in California of the chief executive office of the seller(s) is: SAME
The name(s) and address(es) of the buyer(s) is/are: PRECISION REHABILITATION & ORTHOPEDIC THERAPY, INC., A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION, 701 W. CENTER AVE, VISALIA, CA 93291
The assets being sold are generally described as: FURNITURE, FIXTURES, EQUIPMENT, STOCK IN TRADE and are located at: 5432 CARPINTERIA AVE, CARPINTERIA, CA 93013
The bulk sale is intended to be consummated at the office of: STEWART TITLE OF CALIFORNIA, INC, 1200 CALIFORNIA ST, STE #120, REDLANDS, CA 92374 and the anticipated sale date is AUGUST 10, 2026
The bulk sale is subject to California Uniform Commercial Code Section 6106.2.
The name and address of the person with whom claims may be filed is: STEWART TITLE OF CALIFORNIA, INC, 1200 CALIFORNIA ST, STE #120, REDLANDS, CA 92374 ATTN: MARISOL VELASQUEZ, Escrow No.: 2965477 and the last day to file claims by any creditor shall be AUGUST 7, 2026 which is the business day prior to the anticipated sale date specified above. Dated: JULY 9, 2026
Buyer(s): PRECISION REHABILITATION & ORTHOPEDIC THERAPY, INC., A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS
NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: MULTI-FAITH HARMONY COALITION, 1129 STATE STREET, 15, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. INTERFAITH INITIATIVE OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, 1129 STATE STREET 15, SANTA BARBARA, CA, 93101. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 16, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2026-0001824.
Published July 23, 30, & August 6, 13, 2026
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS
NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: GOLETA AIRPORT PET HOSPITAL, 300 STORKE, GOLETA, CA 93117. PETVET CARE CENTERS (CALIFORNIA), INC, ONE GORHAM ISLAND, SUITE 300, WESTPORT, CT, 06880. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 13, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland,
County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2026-0001775.
Published July 23, 30, & August 6, 13, 2026
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS
Published July 23, 2026 // Montecito Journal
Published July 23, 30, & August 6, 13, 2026
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS
NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: MONTECITO PET HOSPITAL, 1252 COAST VILLAGE CIRCLE, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93108. PETVET CARE CENTERS (CALIFORNIA), INC, ONE GORHAM ISLAND, SUITE 300, WESTPORT, CT, 06880. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 13, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the
NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: SAN ROQUE PET HOSPITAL, 3034 STATE STREET, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93105. PETVET CARE CENTERS (CALIFORNIA), INC, ONE GORHAM ISLAND, SUITE 300, WESTPORT, CT, 06880. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 13, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2026-0001777.
County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2026-0001778. Published July 23, 30, & August 6, 13, 2026
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS
NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: KARLA OVALLE DESIGN, 1255 Hager Ln, Buellton, CA 93427. CREATIVE KARLA LLC, 1255 Hager Ln, Buellton, CA 93427. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 10, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby
Bids open at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, August 11, 2026 for:
MARIA YGNACIO BIKE PATH STORM REPAIRS 25STM3-2N04 IN THE 2ND SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT
COUNTY PROJECT No. 25STM3-2N04
General project work description: Concrete Retianing Wall, Concrete Path, Channel Apron, Earth works
The Plans, Specifications, and Bid Book are available at https://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=43874
The Contractor must have either a Class A license or any combination of the following Class C licenses which constitutes a ma jority of the work: B, C-8
The DBE Contract Goal is 0%.
For the Federal Training Program, the number of trainees or apprentices is 0.
Submit sealed bids to the web address below. Bids will be opened and available at the web address below immediately following the submittal deadline.
PlanetBids
https://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=43874
Complete the project work within 15 Workings Days
The estimated cost of the project is $ 620K
A optional pre-bid meeting is scheduled for this project on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at 11:00 AM at the intersection of Lassen Dr and San Simeon Dr This project is subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR).
A contractor or subcontractor shall not be qualified to bid on, be listed in a bid proposal, subject to the requirements of PCC Section 4104, or engage in the performance of any contract for public work, as defined in this chapter, unless currently registe red and qualified to perform public work pursuant to Labor Code (LAB) Section 1725.5. It is not a violation of this section for an unregistered contractor to submit a bid that is authorized by Business and Professions Code (BPC) Section 7029.1 or by PCC Section 10164 or 20103.5 provided the contractor is registered to perform public work pursuant to LAB Section 1725.5 at the time the contract is awarded.
Prevailing wages are required on this Contract. The Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations determines the general prevailing wage rates. Obtain the wage rates at the DIR website https://www.dir.ca.gov/
The federal minimum wage rates for this Contract as determined by the United States Secretary of Labor are available at https ://www.wdol.gov/. Copies are also available at the office of the Department of Public Works – Engineering Division, 123 East Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.
If the minimum wage rates as determined by the United States Secretary of Labor differs from the general prevailing wage rates determined by the Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations for similar classifications of labor, the Contrac tor and subcontractors must not pay less than the higher wage rate. The Department does not accept lower State wage rates not specifically included in the federal minimum wage determinations. This includes helper, or other classifications based on hours of experience, or any other classification not appearing in the federal wage determinations. Where federal wage determinations d o not contain the State wage rate determination otherwise available for use by the Contractor and subcontractors, the Contracto r a nd subcontractors must not pay less than the federal minimum wage rate that most closely approximates the duties of the employees in question.
Inquiries or questions based on alleged patent ambiguity of the plans, specifications, or estimate must be submitted as a bidder inquiry by 2:00PM on 07/07/2026 Submittals after this date will not be addressed. Questions pertaining to this Project prior to Award of the Contract must be submitted via PlanetBids Q&A tab.
Bidders (Plan Holders of Record) will be notified by electronic mail if addendums are issued. The addendums, if issued, will only be available on the County’s PlanetBids website, https://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=43874
01/15/2026
Christopher Sneddon
Director
of Public Works
certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 20260001769. Published July 16, 23, 30, and August 6, 2026
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS
NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DAILY NOGIN, 16 Violet Lane, Santa Barbara, CA 93117. TIFFANY S HYUN, PO BOX
6573, Santa Barbara, CA 93160. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 2, 2026. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2026-0001710. Published July 9, 16, 23, 30, 2026
NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MTG DIVORCE FAMILY LAW & AUTO ACCIDENT ATTORNEYS , 2058 Elise Way, Santa Barbara, CA 93109. MTG LEGAL GROUP, APC , 2058 Elise Way 6573, Santa Barbara, CA 93109. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 6, 2026. This state-
ment expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2026-0001717. Published July 9, 16, 23, 30, 2026
Published Thursday, July 23, 2026 // Montecito Journal
ORDER FOR PUBLICATION OF SUMMONS OR CITATION: CASE No. 26CV03857. No -
tice to Defendant: Charlotte Frost . You are being sued by Plaintiff: Tami Chambers. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons is served on you to file a written response at the Superior Court of California, Santa Barbara, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default. If you lose, the court can or-
der that your wages, money, or property be taken to pay this claim. Bring witnesses, receipts, and any evidence you need to prove your case. Name and address of the court: Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 931211107. Filed June 30, 2026 by Nicolette Barnard, Deputy Clerk. Published July 9, 16, 23, 30, 2026
by Steven Libowitz
Chase-ing the Music Away – Concerts in the Park, the popular city-sponsored series bringing pop and other bands to the lush setting of the Great Meadow in Chase Palm Park just across the street from East Beach, is coming to close. The family-friendly summer tradition has but one more concert in the idyllic setting amid sea breezes under the late afternoon skies on July 23, featuring Santa Barbara’s morethan-just-a-party-band institution Spencer the Gardener, who play an eclectic mix of Latin-flavored upbeat tunes and surf rock, including lots of originals.
WHEN: 6-7:30 pm
WHERE: Chase Palm Park, 300 W. Cabrillo Blvd.
COST: free
INFO: (805) 564-5418 or www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/parksrec/ recreation/events/parkrec/concerts.asp
ONGOING
Music at the Ranch – The Tuesday night concert series on the grounds of Goleta’s Stow House, aka Rancho La Patera, offers perhaps the most picturesque environs of any of the festival sites. The tree-lined and variously shaded space with lush green backdrop is adjacent to the picturesque Lake Los Carneros. The Stow House itself dates to 1873 and was the marital homestead of newlyweds Sherman Stow and Ida Hollister. The property boasts farm animals – at the moment a squad of young goats eager to be adored, pet, and fed through the
Summer Screenings in Sunken Garden – Downtown is the destination for free Friday film buffs via UCSB Arts & Lectures’ annual series of screenings outdoors under the stars at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Gardens. Besides the truly spectacular setting for picnicking, pre-screening festivities include carefully curated, period specific musical playlists, which just makes sense given the theme for the 15th season: Mixtapes & Misfits. The selected films focus on offbeat coming-of-age stories (is there any other kind?) with soaring soundtracks. This week (7/24): Be prepared to dance on your blanket with La Bamba, the biopic about teenage pop star Ritchie Valens’ meteoric rise to stardom and tragic end – the film that gave Los Lobos a big breakthrough via the title track. Next up (July 31): The early Wes Anderson effort Rushmore; a sharp, iconoclastic, endlessly startling coming-of-age comedy that precedes Anderson‘s now-inimitable visual style. An eccentric prep-school outsider navigates friendship, ambition, an unlikely love triangle, and screen time with the laconic Bill Murray. The film’s oddball antihero is played by then 18-year-old Jason Schwartzman, who went on to become a regular in Anderson’s ensemble. The film glows with style, wit, and an emotional glow that remains indefinable. It is the best-reviewed movie (both at the time and in retrospect) of the summer’s courthouse mix.
WHEN: 8:30 pm
WHERE: Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden, 1100 Anacapa Street
COST: free
INFO: www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu
SUNDAY, JULY 26
Crying Wolf – Living with Wolves Founders Jim and Jamie Dutcher are coming to town to share a rare, intimate look at the long-misunderstood creatures now making a comeback in America. The married couple’s groundbreaking documentary, Wolf: Return of A Legend, captivated an audience of 17 million television viewers and won an Emmy Award. That film, and the others that followed about the Sawtooth Pack, introduced the vitally important element of public education to the successful wolf recovery effort. The naturalists and filmmakers, who spent years living alongside the wolf pack on a 25-acre refuge in the Idaho wilderness, share captivating stories and images about the animals that are far more intelligent, social, and compassionate than originally believed. The multimedia presentation will be followed by signing of the Dutcher’s best-selling books, published by the National Geographic Society. WHEN: 6:30 pm
WHERE: Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St.
COST: $32 & $57
INFO: (805) 963-0761 or www.lobero.org
chain link fence – and possiblty a menagerie of machinery original to the Stow’s working 19th century farm. Blankets and chairs are recommended, and food and drink can be brought in or purchased at food trucks and stands. This week (7/28) Do No Harm takes the stage, a band whose dynamic, decade-spanning rollout of pop hits has been called “the soundtrack of your life.” Next up (8/4): The appropriately Goleta-based band known as The Nombres, who play rock, country and R&B with a Latin twist – perfect for the night before Fiesta opens.
WHEN: 5:30-7:30 pm
WHERE: Stow House, 304 North Los Carneros Rd.
COST: free
INFO: (805) 681-7216 or www.goletahistory.org
THURSDAY, JULY 23
Making their Bones – The Baltimore-born and based Astrodon Quartet – named for the first dinosaur discovered in Maryland – are defined by both devotion to their craft and commitment to community service, the latter via educational workshops and performances all over Baltimore and beyond. This fall, the foursome will begin a two-year Takács Graduate Quartet Residency at the University of Colorado Boulder, studying extensively with the renowned Takács Quartet who performed so thrillingly this summer at the Music Academy in founding cellist András Fejér’s swan song. But first there’s a visit to Santa Barbara for a community concert downtown, with Astrodon playing a program that spans more than two centuries of the string quartet tradition, pairing Mozart’s “‘Prussian’ Quartet in B-flat Major, K. 589,” with Schubert’s monumental “Death and the Maiden” quartet. The concert concludes with Dinuk Wijeratne’s “A Letter from the After-Life,” a contemporary work that bridges Persian poetry with echoes of Schubert.
M.O.B. Mentality – Outlets for homegrown jazz are more plentiful than ever since the opening of The Grand on State earlier this summer, but the locally beloved venue across the street still serves up its own tasty downbeats a few times a month. The M.O.B. Jazz Quintet boasts five of the finest players in town – Bruce Bigenho (piano), Sam McKinney (bass), Shaun Oster (drums), Gunnar Juergens (violin), and Ejé Lynn-Jacobs (vocals & percussion) – who find common ground in their eclectic tastes as the group’s repertoire blends Euro-Brazil progressive jazz with fusion from the 1970s ECM era. Listeners enjoy a truly global swath of jazz styles across continents and decades, all from the comforts of home(town).
WHEN: 7 pm
WHERE: SOhO, 1221 State St
COST: $18
INFO: https://sohosb.com/events/
WHEN: 5:15-7 pm
WHERE: Faulkner Gallery, Santa Barbara Public Library. 40 E. Anapamu St. COST: free
INFO: (805) 962-7653 or https://calendar.library.santabarbaraca.gov/events/upcoming
SATURDAY, JULY 25
Buellton Balladeer – Longtime local singer-songwriter Randall Lamb, who cites as influences – and has been compared to – Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, and Townes Van Zandt, pops down the 101 to Carpinteria for a special CD-release show. Lamb has performed at Santa Barbara-area open mics, San Luis Obispo’s Songwriters at Play! showcases and more recently at such venues as Lost Chord Guitars in Solvang. Lamb sings political broadsides, poignant and socially conscious ballads, and achingly good songs about enduring love and life’s gifts. His new 15-track collection is called A Painting for a Song, which he’ll perform live at, appropriately, Palm Loft Gallery in Carpinteria, a frequent favorite art venue notable for its open mic nights and more. Indeed, an open mic will kick things off before Lamb’s set – a show that also marks the closing of the art exhibition Beauty Will Save the World, a fundraiser for and featuring the paintings of Arturo Tello
WHEN: 4-7 pm
WHERE: Palm Loft Gallery, 410 Palm Ave A1, Carpinteria
COST: free
INFO: (805) 729-6029 or www.palmloft.com
Musical ‘Matilda’ – More than 60 talented young performers aged nine to 16 bring Roald Dahl’s beloved story to life with unforgettable music, high-energy dance, imaginative storytelling, larger-than-life characters and plenty of laughs. Matilda the Musical’s Tony award-winning score by Tim Minchin features such favorite songs as “Naughty,” “When I Grow Up,” and “Revolting Children” as part of the show about a little girl with an extraordinary mind that proves that even the smallest person can change the world. It celebrates courage, kindness, resilience and – fittingly for the Stage Left Production – the power of finding your voice.
WHEN: 2 & 7 pm July 25 & 26
WHERE: Santa Barbara High School Theatre, 700 E. Anapamu St.
COST: $15-$25
INFO: www.stageleftsb.com
WEDNESDAY, JULY 29
Ventura County Fair – I say this every year, because it’s true! There’s still no better bang for your buck than the Ventura County Fair, the massive 11-day event that takes place by the ocean and one of the biggest such fairs between L.A. and San Francisco. “Fair-Ever Fun” is the corny (corn dog?) theme for this year’s span, marking more than 150 years since the event’s founding. It’s also a pretty, ahem, fair description of what awaits at Seaside Park for visitors, as the VCF boasts an array of activities ranging from 4H and other agricultural/livestock competitions, to arts and crafts shows, commercial exhibits, belly-busting fair food, pig races, horse shows, and a huge carnival that puts Santa Barbara’s to shame. And oh yeah, a bunch of musical acts over three different stages. The big ones are concerts on the Grandstand Stage, which cost absolutely nothing more than the price of admission to the fair itself, unless you want to spring for special VIP reserve seating tickets. The lineup launches on July 29 with Bush (the band featuring Gavin Rossdale, not the former president, obviously), with upcoming headliners including Marshmello (July 30), Isla Vista-born reggae sensation Iration (July 31), Jake Owen (August 1), La Herencia de Patrones ft. Banda Maguey and Banda Toro (August 2), R&B icon Ashanti and rapper Bow Wow (August 3), Switchfoot and Hoobastank (August 4), and Nate Smith (August 5). Note: The Flying U Rodeo Company PRCA Rodeo shows on closing weekend, August 7-9, do carry an extra $9-$11 admission. So saddle up and sidle down the 101 to the Seaside Park showgrounds for summertime sounds and a lot more fun.
WHEN: All shows at 7:30 pm, except 3 pm on August 2; Fair open daily 12 noon–11 pm
WHERE: Seaside Park, 10 W. Harbor Blvd., Ventura
COST: $14-$21
INFO: (805) 648-3376 or www.venturacountyfair.org
This entertainment calendar is a subjective sampling of arts and entertainment events taking place in the Santa Barbara area for the next seven days or so. It is by no means comprehensive. Please also see my feature stories elsewhere in this issue for more events. In order to be considered for inclusion in this calendar, please submit information – including hi-res photos –by 12 noon Wednesday eight days prior to publication date. Email: slibowitz@yahoo.com.
Your Trusted Choice for Estate Sales, Liquidation & Downsizing
Moving Miss Daisy’s providing comprehensive services through Moving Miss Daisy since 2015. Expert packing, unpacking, relocating to ensure your new home is beautifully set up and ready to enjoy. Miss Daisy’s is the largest consignment store in the Tri-Counties - nearly 20K sq.ft.- always offering an unmatched selection of items. We also host online Auctions.
Glenn Novack, Owner 805-770-7715 www.missdaisy.org info@movingmissdaisy.com
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
Montecito Electric Repairs and Inspections Licensed C10485353 805-969-1575
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
Local tile setter of 35 years is now doing small jobs only. Services include grout cleaning and repair, caulking, sealing, replacing damaged tiles and basic plumbing needs. Call Doug Watts at 805-729-3211 for a free estimate.
Carpet Cleaning Since 1978 (805) 963-5304 Rafael Mendez Cell: 689-8397 or 963-3117
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
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
WATERLILIES and LOTUS since 1992
WATERGARDEN CARE
SBWGC 805 682 5750
Do you need to get away for a weekend, week or more? I will house sit and take care of your pets, plants & mail. I have refs if needed. Call me or text me. Christine (805) 452-2385
Seeking a guest room or guest house in Montecito or Santa Barbara in exchange for exceptional dog care, house sitting, and light property oversight. Responsible, discreet, organized, and highly referenced with excellent local references.
Monica - 805-689-8078
Openings now available for Children & Adults. Piano Lessons in our Studio or your Home. Call or Text Kary Kramer (805) 453-3481
Foothill Property Management We care for your rentals. FoothillPM.com 805-698-4769
Professional, dependable pet lover available for pet sitting, dog walking & house sitting. Flexible schedule, great rates & references available. Call or text: (312) 315-5035
Not fancy. Not complicated. Just simple meals with fresh food you’ll actually want to eat. I’ll show you how to:
• shop with confidence,
• prepare healthy meals at home,
• make your own food that tastes amazing,
• and build healthy eating habits that last. Discover how healthy eating can be simple, delicious, and sustainable. Complimentary consultation available.
Jenifer Paredes, ICF-ACC www.joyofnow.com Certified Health & Life Coach Call or Text 805-637-5066
SB CEMETERY LOCATIONS
Two sites available at the Santa Barbara Cemetery which together can accommodate either one casket & one urn OR two urns.
Central: Block D, Number 31
Valued at $21,000
Offered at $17,000
Call (805) 455-9869 – Please text this first for quick reply
REVERSE MORTGAGE QUESTIONS
Talk to an Expert! All Inquiries Strictly Confidential
NAGY
NMLS
805.448.9224 gnagy@gemcorp.com Licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the CA Residential Mortgage Lending Act. 3625 E. Thousand
ByPeteMuller&FrankLongo Foreachofthefirstfiveminicrosswords,oneoftheentriesalsoservesaspartofa five-wordmetaclue.Theanswertothemetaisawordorphrase(sixlettersor longer)hiddenwithinthesixthminicrossword.Thehiddenmetaanswerstartsin oneofthesquaresandsnakesthroughthegridverticallyandhorizontallyfrom there(nodiagonals!)withoutrevisitinganysquares.
Reprimandinamovie
Across 1 Mineoofoldmovies
4 Feelingofpeoplewhoneed moreexcitementinlife
6 BridgetwhoplaysMonica on"TheRookie"
7 Oneworthyofwearinga halo
8 NewYork s"QuickDraw" game,e.g.
Down 1 "___SheGoes"(2023Bad Bunnyhit) 2 Itmayhelpyoukeepthings
Best-casescenario
LiketheScotchwhiskies LagavulinandLaphroaig 9 Followeroftwo,three,or four,butnotone Down 1 Segmentsfrom1-Across, say 2 Occasiontotakethebullby thehorns 3 Nogroupfora benchwarmer 4 With6-Across,NewYork's 6-of-59drawgame,e.g. 5 Worthyofwearingahalo
Down 1 With5-Down,enteron tiptoe,say 2 RollingStones#1hitwhose titleisawoman'sname 3 Long-runningGregEvans comicstripwhosetitle characterissurnamed DeGroot 4 Defiblocales 5 See1-Down
Across 1 Toothinatransmission 4 With6-Across,mechanic s miscellanea 6 See4-Across 7 Theycontaintransmissions 8 WhomO Briensucceeded andthenpreceded
Down 1 Bistrohandout 2 PlaywrightJoeor quarterbackKyle 3 Plasterofpariswithgluefor useinpainting 4 Placewhoseworkersmight presstheflesh?
5 Firstnameof"thecute Beatle"
7 Fortniteanimalthat sa loot-releasingpiñata
8 Fortnightdivision
Down 1 "Shoutout!"
2 Oppositeofexacerbate
3 Noteven1%,inaway
4 Oneofmanyinanorigami object
5 Barents,e.g.
Across 1 Garmentrippingpoint,often 5 1,000kilogrammes
6 Often-dreadedbookreview 7 Featureofacavalierhat 8 Whatmayprecedeyour request?
Down 1 Charonferriesthemto Hades 2 Turnout
3 Genreof"DemonSlayer: KimetsunoYaiba" 4 Whatgivesyoufare warning?
5 Appetizerthatmight accompanycerveza
