‘Our Cosmic Coast’ – Blast off into discovery as the Museum’s new space exhibit mixes rocket science, black holes, and starlit wonder, P.24
Clutter-Free Confidence – With Montessoriinspired wisdom, TOPE guides families toward intentional spaces and encourages joyful independence, P.26
Mary Sheldon’s zig-zag from Cold Spring Creek to Tecolote is a story we can all embrace. But what’s this about the Treaty of Paris? (Story starts on page 6)
Legacy in Bloom – Forty years strong, Gainey embraces fresh labels, new plantings, and sparkling ambitions while honoring deep vineyard roots, P.28
“Born to Be Wild”
Steppenwolf’s thunder shakes the Lobero with a rare U.S. screening, fresh stories, and a rekindled friendship, page 5
Gold for Good
A night of gold and giving, the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation Gala raises hope, love, and life-saving support, page 12
Mr. Whistle is on his third glass... Now served during Stonehouse breakfast
ro ranch call to reserve a table
Where California’s Santa Ynez Mountains meet the golden shores of Carpinteria Beach, a coastal legacy with no equal has arrived. We invite you to be among the first to experience this one-of-a-kind way of life. It’s an exclusive opportunity to tour the model homes set amidst the storied grounds of the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club. Welcome to the Santa Barbara Polo Residences, a private collection for only forty families. Grand Opening Event | Saturday, August 30th RSVP: Scan the QR code or call 805-565-4000 | SBPoloResidences.com Join us from 2:00–6:00pm | 135 Polo Way, Carpinteria, CA 93013
Beings and Doings – Alighting in Montecito in
Your Westmont – Local partnerships and support help create college dreams, and a Botero sculpture arrives
An Independent Mind – Why are younger generations feeling more despondent and less job satisfaction… is Capitalism to blame?
Our Cosmic Coast – The sky (and beyond) are the limit at the SB Museum of Natural History’s newest exhibit
Appraisals – An iconic actor’s African mask collection resurfaces, as well as the meaning of and market for these pieces of art
Community Voices – Jeff Giordano looks at Glasshouse and Jean Marie Driskel explains The Organized Prepared Environment
Santa Barbara by the Glass – At 40 years young, Gainey is just getting started and preparing for the next gen of oenophiles
Calendar of Events – Events for your pride, docs for the coast, poems for justice, and other happenings
Classifieds – Our own “Craigslist” of classified ads, in which sellers offer everything from summer rentals to estate sales
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
It’s almost unbelievable. It’s been nearly six decades since Steppenwolf scored its first hit single with the generation-defining rock anthem “Born to Be Wild,” and only now is there a documentary film about the band. As it is, the 2024 film Born to Be Wild: The Story of Steppenwolf won’t yet be available at cinemas or streaming anywhere online in the USA. That’s because the 2024 movie, a co-production of Germany and Canada, doesn’t yet have American distribution.
But locals only have to saunter over to the Lobero Theatre to watch the movie in a special screening on Saturday, August 23 – only the fourth time the film will have been shown, and just the second showing in the U.S. Credit Earl Minnis and John Kay, the latter the band’s legendary frontman. Steppenwolf gave the world “Born to Be Wild,” two more Top 10 hits in “Magic Carpet Ride” and “Rock Me,” and 10 additional Billboard Hot 100 singles. John Kay and his wife, Jutta, have lived in Montecito for almost 15 years.
Born To Be Wild covers expected territory, such as how “Born to Be Wild” was already a massive hit even before it appeared in the opening scenes of the cult classic film Easy Rider, launching the band to bigger fame and launching the song into legendary status. NASA made notable use of “Born to Be Wild” – with its revved up first line of Get your motor runnin’. The song was used to awaken the space shuttle crew, and as the accompanying soundtrack to launching the Mars rover on the red planet. Born to Be Wild has appeared in around 100 movie soundtracks over the years.
The song was also among just five that were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 in the new singles category called “Singles that Changed the Course of Rock Music.”
But the film is also a lot more than a traditional rock doc as it traces Steppenwolf’s journey from World War II-torn Germany
John Kay tending to one of Steppenwolf’s many roadies (courtesy photo)
to Toronto and then Los Angeles, where the band brought the heavy metal thunder to psychedelic rock in the late 1960s, scoring hit after hit. Beyond the inclusion of a dozen of the band’s iconic songs, there are interviews with Steppenwolf members Kay, Nick St. Nicholas, Michael Monarch, and their families; “Born To Be Wild” songwriter Mars Bonfire; and a number of contemporaries and those influenced by the band, including Alice Cooper, Taj Mahal, writer-director Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous), Klaus Meine (Scorpions), and Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), among others. There is also never-before-seen Super 8 mm footage amid other gems from the deep-dive archives.
“[Director] Oliver [ Schwem ] did extraordinarily well,” Kay said. “I was expecting a straightforward linear telling of the Steppenwolf story. But there were a lot of things that totally took me by surprise, which made the film far more than I had reason to expect it to be. It’s very accurate, and really engaging and enjoyable to watch.”
Kay has another reason beyond the movie itself to be thrilled that it was made. The creation of Born to Be Wild: The Story of Steppenwolf led to a reunion with Nick St. Nicholas, the band’s former bassist, who Kay hadn’t spoken to in more than 50 years.
That happened when the frontman fired the bassist after St. Nicholas appeared at a gig wearing nothing but rabbit ears and a jock strap, his flamboyant stage attire flying in the face of Kay’s leather-clad image.
“We were very different personalities, but that held us up to ridicule, turning Steppenwolf into a circus act. So I decided that was his last show with the band,” Kay recalled. “We never spoke again.”
The band broke up shortly afterward. Kay moved on and only returned to performing under the Steppenwolf banner in 1980 – rescuing the moniker from the bad
Entertainment Page 144
by Jeff Wing
Tecolote Bookshop? Our flagstone-wrapped salon in the Upper Village? This year the place turned 100. Yeah, as in “years old.” This means [holds fingers aloft like a savant and moves them algebraically] … Tecolote Bookshop opened in 1925. There’s more.
“My mother would drop me off at Cold Spring Elementary School every morning and I would walk home. Every once in a while – if he’d been out on errands – Ganna Walska’s chauffeur would see me walking after school and give me a ride.”
Okay. Every mildly eccentric (you know it’s true) forested village idyll boasts a singular persona who embodies the place’s spirit. In the case of our deciduous little hamlet, that would be Mary Sheldon; Head Bibliophile and Literary Den Mother of the aforementioned paper-and-glue sanctum known as Tecolote Bookshop.
“We moved here from San Fernando in 1953, and we’d had a very rural life there,” Mary says. “I always tell people I didn’t live on a paved street until I moved to Montecito.”
The weird gyrations that planted Tecolote in our bipolar burgh’s fabled Upper Village, and then brought Mary Sheldon into the shop’s bookish embrace? Let’s talk. First, a sidenote about Tecolote’s tether to the very founding of the Republic. Yeah. Do bear this deeply rooted factoid in mind next time you’re wondering where to pluck your next beach read. And best you set down your Caramel Macchiato at this point, lest you do a spit take all over Josh Brolin.
Our village bookshop is strangely freighted with history. Tecolote’s first true owner – an acerbic wit and bibliophile named Roger Sherman Gates Boutell, Sr. – was a former attorney and Law Librarian at the Library of Congress. In the early 1920s, Boutell fled the rigors of Washington, D.C. and retired to bucolic Santa Barbara with his fam. He bought a lovely house in the foothills, and immediately began seeking an outlet for his page-turning predilection – a bookstore, say (see sidebar). In an essay published in the Spring 1948 issue of the Quarterly Newsletter of The Book Club of California, Boutell wrote of his own bookselling acumen. “I did try, more or less in vain I am afraid, to overcome the tendency of a number of book buyers to judge books as they would biscuits; by how long they had been out of the oven, rather than by their intrinsic merit.”
As it happens, Boutell was (and in genealogical fact remains) the great-great-great grandson of a certain Roger Sherman; a Founding Father of our country and the only person to have signed all four great state papers of our once-scrappy Republic – the Articles of Association, the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution – a signatory whirlwind that speaks well of the man’s ball point pen (in my experience likely a Blue Medium Point Bic).
Boutell’s bewigged and busybody ancestor, Roger Sherman, was also an early member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut and a signer of the Treaty of Paris (which ended the Revolutionary War). And it was Roger Sherman who – as the nascent breakaway U.S.A. was being formed in the womb of Liberty (so to speak) – proposed the dual system of congressional representation; a legislative filtration system that we now call the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.
Not to be alarmist, but it’s arguable that – through blood lineage – this Founder,
by Richard Mineards
Santa Barbara Humane Society, which was founded in 1897, truly had paws for thought when three rescue dogs were brought to the 3.98-acre site to break ground on a new $18 million addition, the first since the 1960s, which
will include a new behavior center. In two years’ time, Phase Two will begin, which will quadruple the size and cost $46 million. Kerri Burns, CEO, said the impact on the community would “be amazing, helping more people and their pets. We can provide everything they’ll need. They’ll never have to worry.”
Among the animal lovers turning out were Lois Capps, Cliff and Crystal Wyatt, John Thyne III, and David Edelman
How appropriate that Don Bellisario, the creative force behind some of TV’s biggest hits, should celebrate his 90th birthday in true Hollywood style at his
Montecito estate, a tiara’s toss from the San Ysidro Ranch.
Guests in tuxedos and glamorous gowns for the Hollywood Legend-themed bash were met with a vintage Jaguar parked in the driveway with host Don in white tux jacket and his wife Vivienne in a pink floral Oscar de la Renta gown welcoming guests past flashing paparazzi.
Miscellany Page 334
Thestudy of insects was growing in popularity during the 18th century when physician and entomologist George Panzer published this small-format reference work with his own brief scientific descriptions. Jacob Sturm engraved the more than 2,600 life-size insects, which, despite their size, were exquisitely detailed. It was issued as a serial publication over a number of years, a common practice for natural history works in the 18th and 19th centuries. This particular piece of artwork is housed in the Museum’s collection of antique natural history prints at the Maximus Gallery.
Butterfly from Faunae insectorvm germanicae or Elements of the insect fauna of Germany, George Wolfgang Panzer, Nuremberg, 1796-1813, hand-colored engraving
Remember Butterflies Alive! only runs at the SB Museum of Natural History until Sept. 1, so be sure to get out and experience the magic before they disappear for another season
Iam urgently writing to alert citizens of Santa Barbara about a threat to the Battistone Foundation Complex, unique housing in the 1300 block of Chapala Street. These properties, home to nearly 200 low-income seniors ages 63 to 98, are up for sale, but there are no written covenants to insure they will remain affordable.
A dear friend is a resident and would have to move out of Santa Barbara if this sale goes through. She, like all of her neighbors, is on an extremely limited income, cannot afford moving costs, and could certainly not afford other housing in Santa Barbara, if forced out. Sale of this complex would be disastrous for her and the many other seniors who have lived and thrived here for many years.
Please raise your voices to keep this affordable living complex for our many valued seniors.
With sincere thanks,
Carol Roe
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 | Kassidy Craner VP, Sales & Marketing | Leanne Wood leanne@montecitojournal.net
Account Managers | Sue Brooks, Tanis Nelson, Elizabeth Scott, Jessica Sutherland, Joe DeMello
Contributing Editor | Kelly Mahan Herrick
Proofreading | Helen Buckley
Arts and Entertainment | Steven Libowitz
Contributors | Scott Craig, Ashleigh Brilliant, Chuck Graham, Mark Ashton Hunt, Dalina Michaels, Robert Bernstein, Christina Atchison, Leslie Zemeckis, Sigrid Toye, Elizabeth Stewart, Beatrice Tolan, Leana Orsua, Jeffrey Harding, Tiana Molony, Houghton Hyatt, Jeff Wing
Gossip | Richard Mineards
History | Hattie Beresford
Humor | Ernie Witham
Our Town/Society | Joanne A Calitri
Health/Wellness | Ann Brode, Deann Zampelli
Travel | Jerry Dunn, Leslie Westbrook Food & Wine | Melissa Petitto, Gabe Saglie, Jamie Knee
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Montecito Journal is compiled, compounded, calibrated, cogitated over, and coughed up every Wednesday by an exacting agglomeration of excitable (and often exemplary) expert edifiers at 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Montecito, CA 93108.
How to reach us: (805) 565-1860; FAX: (805) 969-6654; Montecito Journal, 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Montecito, CA 93108; EMAIL: tim@montecitojournal.net
by MJ Staff
Gerry Spence , the legendary Wyoming attorney whose folksy style and relentless advocacy won him every criminal jury trial he ever argued, died Wednesday at his Montecito home. He was 96.
Over more than five decades, Spence built a reputation as a “country lawyer” who took on some of the nation’s most powerful institutions. His high-profile cases included a $10.5 million verdict against Kerr-McGee Corporation in the Karen Silkwood case, a $26.5 million libel judgment against Penthouse magazine, and a $52 million award for a Wyoming ice cream maker in a contract battle with McDonald’s. He also successfully defended clients ranging from former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos to Randy Weaver after the Ruby Ridge standoff.
Spence passes (courtesy photo)
Known for his buckskins, Western drawl, and storytelling, Spence remained unbeaten in civil trials from 1969 until his retirement in 2010. In 1994, he founded the Trial Lawyers College in Wyoming,
News Bytes Page 164
Burglary / Romero Canyon Road
Monday, August 4, at 10:30 hours
Victim called to report a burglary at his home which he believed occurred on or around 7/25-7/26. While he did not have info helpful in identifying a possible suspect, he believed the burglar may have been someone who had worked at this home in the past.
Burglary/Damages / 3000 block Gibraltar Road
Tuesday, August 5, at 11:01 hours
Victim reported unknown suspect(s) broke into his home between 7/28 and 8/3. They broke a window and then kicked the door in to gain access to the home.
Social Media/Phone Money Scam / El Rancho Road
Tuesday, August 5, at 19:00 hours
The victim was on Facebook and began to experience pop-ups on her screen. Someone who claimed to be from Microsoft Word then messaged the victim, saying she needed to shut down her computer. The suspect then called her, claiming to be from Apple, and advised the victim that she had been on the dark web and her social security number was exposed. Shortly after, she received yet another phone call from the suspect, pretending to be from the Chase Bank Fraud Department. The suspect then convinced the victim to withdraw $45,000 in cash from her account and then advised the victim to meet with a U.S. Treasury agent and give him the $45,000 cash. The suspect was described as a 30-year-old 5’10 160-pound male with black hair. The suspect was wearing a COVID mask with blue jeans.
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received a request to attend a demo of a personal flying vehicle at the Santa Barbara Polo and Racket Club
The flying vehicle is all electric and Pivotal, now based in Palo Alto, California. The company was previously called SkyKar, and OPENER.aero. The company’s history shows that Pivotal was founded in 2011 in Warkworth, Ontario, Canada and is backed by Larry Page
The single seat personal use electric Our Town Page 274
reputation it had acquired over time as a growing army of bad musicians sullied the Steppenwolf name through rampant unauthorized use of it. Kay permanently put “Steppenwolf” to bed in 2018 after a 50th anniversary tour.
But not long before the documentary premiered in Canada, Kay decided to bury the hatchet and ring up St. Nicholas, who lives in Ventura.
“I called him a week before and told him I’d been very angry for a long time. But we are both 81 years old, so it was time to let bygones be bygones. Whatever time we have that remains, let’s rekindle our friendship that went way back to the beginning of The Sparrows, the Canadian band that later morphed into Steppenwolf. He was very happy.”
The two saw the film for the first time together in Munich, then went up on stage, arm in arm, for the Q&A to thunderous applause, Kay said.
“It really reignited our friendship. So all is well in Steppenwolf World again.”
Not that there will be any musical reunion. Kay has stayed true to his commitment to retiring the band and hasn’t performed any full-set John Kay & Steppenwolf band gigs – save for two. These were early, and lucrative, Legends of Rock cruises, where
by Steven Libowitz
Energy medicine advocate Deborah King, a speaker, author and founder of LifeForce Energy Healing, is coming to the American Riviera to lead a special weekend retreat this fall. “Walk with the Master: Restore Your Soul,” which takes place November 18-21, brings King and her team to town for several days of deep spiritual work, healing transmissions, and energetic renewal.
The retreat is geared toward those who, as her website suggests, “feel the shift coming” and are seeking structure, teaching, and real tools to support their growth. “You’ve touched your own power but need guidance to hold it. You’re ready to walk with others who take the path seriously.”
The retreat is for those who are just beginning or deep in the work, as the gathering will meet participants where they are. More information and registration at King’s website at https://deborahking.com under the events tab.
– in front of 5,000 people – they shared the floating stage with the likes of ZZ Top, Gregg Allman and others.
Kay has appeared at a few more cruise gigs, but they’re one-offs with the singer-guitarist fronting a house band for just five of Steppenwolf’s Entertainment Page 294 Entertainment (Continued from 5)
Attendees will participate in experiences to learn advanced energy healing practices and tools, release deep energetic blocks that are ready to move, participate in transformational healings for self and others, experience guided meditations that shift your field, move and stretch with optional yoga in the stillness of the morning, and discover new dimensions to your intuition.
Nonviolent Communication (NVC) was developed starting in the late 1960s by clinical psychologist Marshall Rosenberg, who continued to evolve and teach the approach for many decades. His weekend workshops were popular here in Santa Barbara through the adult education program in the 1990s and early 2000s. The process is using communication skills to find common ground with anyone, anywhere at any time, both personally and professionally – perhaps needed more than ever in our politically, culturally, socially and otherwise divided times.
The concept involves listening with empathy, compassion, and a desire to understand both the words being shared and the needs behind them. NVC is for anyone who wants to improve the quality of
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training attorneys to represent “the poor, the injured, the forgotten, the damned.” He also authored more than a dozen books and became a familiar face on CNBC, offering candid commentary during the O.J. Simpson trial.
“He dedicated his life to fighting for the rights and freedom of ordinary people,” said Joseph H. Low IV, Vice President of the Gerry Spence Method. “No lawyer has done as much to free the people of this country from the slavery of its new corporate masters.”
Spence is survived by his wife of 57 years, LaNelle “Imaging” Spence, six children, 13 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Services are pending.
On August 18th at approximately 5:20 am, Santa Barbara Police Officers were dispatched Code 3 to the Ospi Montecito Restaurant, 1809 E Cabrillo Blvd on a call of an unconscious male inside the restaurant. Santa Barbara Fire Department and AMR Paramedics were also dispatched to the location.
When Officers arrived, fire and medics were on scene and providing medical aid to the male located inside the restaurant. The male succumbed to the medical emergency and passed away.
The death was investigated by the Santa Barbara Police Department and there were no obvious signs of foul play during the initial investigation. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department responded and conducted the coroner’s investigation. The exact cause of death is still under investigation. The name of the deceased is being held until next of kin have been notified.
The MJ contacted SBPD Public Information Office Raquel Zick regarding this, who commented that there is no foul play suspected.
For Friday’s recap, Montecito Fire Department Chief Neels celebrates Firefighter/Paramedic Trevor Oakley who recently completed his probation period; congrats! Oakley arrived at Montecito Fire in 2024 via his hometown Buellton neighbor, Montecito Firefighter Evan Hamaker. Oakley, “Personally, I’ve always gravitated toward the Montecito area. My wife Alexis and I spend a lot of time at Butterfly Beach, and I proposed to her on the Romero Canyon trail. Serving this beautiful community alongside such dedicated professionals is an honor.”
After high school, Trevor completed the EMT and Fire Academy programs at Allan Hancock College. In 2007, he moved to San Luis Obispo and worked as a paid-call firefighter at the SLO County Airport fire station for two years. He worked five summers as a Cal Fire seasonal firefighter in northern CA and spent the off-seasons in paramedic school. In 2013, he joined San Luis Ambulance as a paramedic. He joined Santa Barbara County Fire Department in 2015 as a firefighter/paramedic. Over nine years there, he served in a variety of specialty roles including Urban Search & Rescue, Water Rescue, and as a SWAT medic with the Sheriff’s Office. Trevor spent four years assigned to County Fire’s Air Support Unit at the Santa Ynez Airport as a flight medic and helicopter crew member conducting water drops during wildfires.
Fridays in August at 6 pm – free family movie night with popcorn!
- August 22: Toy Story
- August 27: Up
Back to School recommendations: kids backpacks and school supplies by State Bags at Poppy Store; Smythson planners from The Trading Post; and for busy moms on the go it’s the Clare V. crossbody handbag.
News Bytes Page 294
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by Ashleigh Brilliant
Cultivated plants and human babies both require great care at their earliest stages – which is why the word “nursery” can apply to the facilities provided to either form of early life. But, when it comes to literature, it is our species whose nurseries have produced by far the more celebrated rhymes. And when several children are in the care of one woman, she is, or at least was, generally known as “Nurse.”
One of my own favorite nursery rhymes says:
“Hey diddle diddle, The Cat and the fiddle, The Cow jumped over the Moon, The little Dog laughed to see such fun, And the Dish ran away with the Spoon.”
Here, in just few words, we have a musical Cat, a jumping Cow, a laughing Dog, and some amorous Kitchenware. And notice that each is distinguished as being not just one of its kind. So, it is not simply “a” cat or “a” cow, who do these amazing things, but it is “The” Cat and “The” Cow.
So much going on, and such talented creatures! But a very different situation, and a much more moralistic message, is conveyed in the Rhyme about “Georgie Porgie Pudd’nie Pie,” who not only “kissed the girls,” but “made them cry.” Georgie, though, is about to get his comeuppance. Because “When the boys came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away.” But There is something sinister about this whole narrative: What did he do that made the girls cry? Why was he so afraid to be confronted by the boys? Why is so much left to the reader’s imagination?
But this literary genre seems to be particularly fond of unpleasant situations. Where else would we immediately look for Bridges Falling Down, Houses demolished by wind, fire, and flood, people being frightened by harmless spiders, birds
entrapped in pie, or (in the days long before plastic surgery) having one’s nose pecked off in vengeance by such critters?
This mystery brings us to another: the strange story of Jack and Jill. Why would they be going up the hill for water, when everyone knows (or should know) that water is far more likely to be found at the bottom of a hill? But they are punished for their stupidity by both suffering a disastrous fall on the way down.
Yet one more puzzling narrative is the one which celebrates the black sheep, and its supposedly black wool. In the rhyme, that wool is apparently as precious as any provided by a white sheep. Yet anybody referred to today as being “the black sheep” of their family is stigmatized as unacceptable by the other family members.
And not only sheep, but, again, black birds have a questionable reputation – since long before Edgar Allan Poe made a Raven the villain of his most celebrated poem. Why else would 24 of them be baked into a pie? It’s hardly surprising that, when released, they burst into an exultant song. (They must have had special training, since the ones I hear in my neighborhood can apparently produce nothing more musical than a monotonous “CAW.”)
That same Rhyme gives an interesting view of Royalty enjoying a life of luxury. The King, apparently, has little to do but count his money in his own counting-house, while the Queen’s preoccupation is little more demanding than to sit in her parlor and eat bread and honey. But the black birds get their revenge, if only on a poor Maid of the Royal Household. While she is in the garden, hanging out the clothes, along comes a Blackbird, who pecks off her nose!
It’s not only in standard children’s verse that we find what would normally be considered horrifying plights. One of the worst – incredible as it seems – is depicted in what is possibly our culture’s best-loved lullaby, “Rock a Bye Baby.”
We are not told the particular species of tree, or how this whole bizarre situation came about – but somehow a baby, in its cradle, has been placed at the very top of a tree. Obviously, this is a very precarious position, and the tree’s branches are subject to breaking in a strong wind. The song says nothing to reassure us. To the contrary, it seems to celebrate the possibility of such a disaster occurring, with the baby, still in its cradle, plunging to the ground – where we leave it. We can only hope that this particular fall ended up being one of those miraculous survival stories.
by Steven Libowitz
The halcyon days of Hollywood moviemaking have been showing up in unusual places recently, including as the setting for the Music Academy of the West’s grand opera production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. This iteration of Don Giovanni – a morality tale centered on the legendary libertine whose unbridled desire and hypocrisy eventually led to his downfall – is set in the century old mecca of Golden Age Hollywood. This is an understandable reframing of the story, as the Santa Barbara connection to Tinseltown isn’t just about proximity or the frequent presence of movie stars as residents or visitors – our little seaside berg was the hub of filmdom early in the 20th century, after all. That was when Santa Barbara’s Flying A Studios was the largest movie production house in the country, cranking out an estimated 1,200 silent films in Santa Barbara through 1921; at which point the business moved about 90 miles south. In any case, MAW’s Don Giovanni explored classic Hollywood’s moral darkness to thrilling effect.
On October 18 the Movieland theme will receive a more joyful treatment when Hillside – a residential service facility for people with moderate to severe intellectual and developmental disabilities – holds its
annual gala at the Santa Barbara Club downtown with a theme of (yes) The Golden Age of Hollywood. This is not a random thematic choice. The groundwork for Hillside began with the help of famed Hollywood director George Cukor, renowned for such classics as Little Women (1933), Dinner at Eight (1933), David Copperfield (1935), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Adam’s Rib (1949), A Star Is Born (1954) and My Fair Lady (1964) – which earned the Best Picture Oscar and handed Cukor the Best Director statuette.
Now Hillside is celebrating its 80th anniversary. The nonprofit’s origin story not only aligns with Hollywood’s mid1940s heyday, legendary Golden Age director George Cukor actually had a hand in launching the nonprofit.
“He was a founding visionary of Hillside,” explained Angela De Bruyn, Hillside’s director of marketing and events. “He had a niece with cerebral palsy who he brought over from England. He became frustrated with the lack of resources available for her support and care in the area, and realized how valuable it would be to have a dedicated facility to provide care for children with cerebral palsy.”
Hillside opened its doors in 1945 with a small 15-bed facility on North Ontare Road, and relocated to its present location on Veronica Springs in the unfortunately named Hidden Valley neighborhood. The nonprofit made the transition to serving adults with cerebral palsy and other intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities (IDD) about 30 years later.
The majority of the 59 current residents, whose ages range from early 20s to 70s, are non-ambulatory with additional medical challenges. Providing intensive medical support and empathetic caregiving is paramount to extending and enriching their lives. Despite the hurdles the residents experience every day, Hillside’s programs focus on what they can accomplish and various ways to eliminate obstacles that prevent residents
ing with IDD, its mission to make sure its residents’ abilities are fostered and that every member of its staff is dedicated to supporting residents in living a life of purpose, connection and dignity in an environment where they can thrive, and every person is seen, heard and valued.
“We focus not only on care but also enriching opportunities for our residents,” De Bruyn said. “We believe that every person deserves to live fully and freely with support that meets their personal needs. We’re one of the only places like this on the Central Coast.”
The funds raised at the October gala, Hillside’s largest such event of the year, are essential to supporting its residents on living their fullest possible lives, as the nonprofit needs to raise more than $800,000 each year to cover therapies, programs and services beyond what Medicare and Medi-Cal cover, De Bruyn said.
“The gala is the community’s invitation to learn more about Hillside and be a part of a future built on dignity,” she said.
But the Gala also promises to be a lot of fun. Dinner and dancing to a live band, both with a nod to the Hollywood theme, are part of the evening, with the promise of a high glitz and glamour quotient. Among the items up in the live and silent auctions is the coveted prize of two Platinum Passes to the 2026 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. These Platinum Passes provide priority access to all films, celebrity tributes and industry panels, as well as admission to the Festival Pavilion, which hosts daily happy hours and evening parties. (SBIFF is also screening the Cukor-directed classic Gaslight at its Riviera Theatre the week before the gala.)
Also, in connection to the movieland theme, the gala will feature a screening of Hillside’s new anthem video, a three-minute piece used for promotion, PR and grant applications.
“It’s the world premiere!” De Bruyn said.
Much more than a care facility, Hillside -
To learn more about Hillside or buy tickets to the October 18 Hillside Gala, visit https:// hillsidesb.org
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by Scott Craig
Westmont’s expanding role in local college-prep programs has led to a noticeable increase in local student enrollment over the last three to five years. This momentum was clearly on display at two recent events hosted by the Santa Barbara Unified School District’s Program for Effective Access to College (PEAC) and the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara where more than 50 Westmont students – including both current students and incoming freshmen.
Irene Neller, Westmont’s vice president for enrollment, marketing and communications, says the number of students earning PEAC Scholarships and Nursing Fellowships has tripled in recent years, underscoring the value of community partnerships and growing support for these students and programs.
“It’s hard to stay dry-eyed at these awards ceremonies and events where students receive scholarships in front of their
families and significant mentors and teachers to attend some of the nation’s top colleges and pursue their dreams,” she says.
“It’s inspiring to see how Santa Barbara’s investment in education extends its reach far beyond our community. Westmont’s scholarships always exceed $25,000 for each student, so the financial investment is profound in making college affordable.”
Neller credits much of Westmont’s success in recruiting students, especially those from Spanish-speaking families, to the dedication of Brenda Tirado, an Ojai native who joined Westmont’s admissions team in 2019, and Araceli Espinoza (’21), assistant director of admissions. Espinoza, who grew up in the Central Valley, began working at Westmont shortly after graduating with the dream of strengthening partnerships with Santa Barbara college-bound programs to help marginalized students afford private college.
Tirado served as a guidance counselor at Santa Barbara High School while earning her master’s degree. Espinoza also began
outreach to develop strong pathways from high school programs to Westmont, while earning her master’s degree in leadership in higher education. Both lead Westmont’s partnering programs with PEAC and Resilience, Education, Adventure, Community and Health (REACH), act as liaisons to regional high schools, and establish programs to bring prospective students to campus. “Sharing their own stories of pursuing their college dreams resonates with the students and families in our community,” Neller says. “The power of shared stories elevates hope and changes lives.”
ambassador. “I love being at Westmont and am beyond blessed to be here,” he says. “I have learned a lot about myself and seen so much growth in my time here.”
The first-gen college student and son of Mexican immigrants hopes to pursue a career in entrepreneurship and own his own construction company.
This year, the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara awarded Westmont junior psychology major Dacia Romero Acosta a Ben Rockwell Jr. Memorial Scholarship. The PEAC and REACH alumna hopes to pursue a career in child/adolescent psychology or clinical psychology.
One such program, Trailhead – part of Westmont’s Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts – has seen growing participation from local high school students. This weeklong immersive college experience encourages students to explore God’s call to a life of deeper purpose.
The Gaede Institute’s Liberal Arts Ambassadors program employs first-generation college students to work with Santa Barbara-area schools and nonprofit organizations, such as PEAC and REACH, helping students discover all the ways a liberal arts education can strengthen their professional skills as tutors and mentors while making a meaningful impact in their community.
Westmont junior Niko Gutierrez (’27) of Carpinteria, an economics and business major who works as an intern in the college business office, serves as a liberal arts
“My time at Westmont has not only pushed me in my studies, it has also helped me grow spiritually in so many ways,” she says. “I’m extremely thankful because I found a place that not only cares to see me succeed professionally but, first and foremost, cares that I’m pursuing my God-given talents and purpose.”
Aldo Becerril Garcia (’24), an alumnus of Dos Pueblos High School and PEAC, graduated from Westmont with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology after playing midfield on the men’s soccer team for four years.
“I am the first person in my entire family, on both sides, to graduate from college,” he said at the PEAC Scholars Award night. “That diploma
by Jeffrey Harding
This is a follow-up to my recent articles (“The Kids Don’t Know…” and “Barbarians at the Gate”). The “Kids” article decried the fact that critical thinking skills are not being taught to our children which has led to fuzzy thinking about socialism. “Barbarians” was the political manifestation of that fuzziness with a Democratic Socialist receiving the Democratic Party’s nomination for mayor of New York City.
This article is about rampant unhappiness of young people in their jobs which leads to unhappiness in their lives. I’ll give you the punchline: many blame capitalism for their unhappiness.
There is a lot of data about generational job satisfaction. Older workers (55+) have the highest rate of job satisfaction (72% in one survey). As you descend the age ladder the satisfaction rates decline. When you reach the youngest workers (18 to 29) the satisfaction rate dropped to 44%. As you can imagine, the data varies a lot, but the overall trend in all surveys reveal younger workers have higher job dissatisfaction rates. Even a January 2025 survey by the Conference Board which showed the highest single year overall increase in job happiness, the exception was workers under 25.
Younger workers say the reasons for this are: stress and burnout; loneliness; being undervalued and underappreciated; devaluing their ideas; lack of connection and belonging; a lack of understanding of work expectations. This all adds up to detachment from their work and unhappiness. Many look for someone to blame and capitalism is emerging as the culprit.
This leads to the question of why young people feel that way and why older workers are happier. Jobs are just one reason for their unhappiness.
I think the main reason for job dissatisfaction is a mismatch of expectations: what young workers expect from work are at odds with the reality of work, plus a lack of understanding of the purpose of work. They haven’t accepted the fact that life is not always fun, fun, fun.
At one point in my involvement with Santa Barbara City College, I started a law club to introduce students to a career in law. Each year I would ask them why they were interested in becoming lawyers. Invariably the answers were: I want to right wrongs; I want to save the environment; I like to argue. As most lawyers know those lofty goals are rarely achieved in actual practice, except perhaps lawyers’ proclivity for arguing. The result of these lawyerly expectation mismatches? Associate attorneys (young non-partners) have the highest job dissatisfaction rate of all professions.
What got me going on this topic came from a brilliant essay by the Reason Foundation’s Emma Camp. Her article “Capitalism Isn’t Why You’re Unhappy” revealed an emerging social media meme is that capitalism is responsible for your melancholy. I urge you to read the article(https://tinyurl.com/ ReasonCapitalismArticle). It is very revealing. Here’s a sample:
“Are you feeling bad? Sad? Lonely? Despondent about your life? Anxious about politics? Angry about the state of the world? The gurus and influencers and deep thinkers of the internet have identified the culprit, the reason, the overarching explanation for why everything, everywhere sucks all the time.
“‘Do you feel horrible? That’s capitalism, baby!’ says the wildly popular mental health influencer TherapyJeff in a TikTok with nearly 50,000 likes. ‘Is your self-worth based on who you are or what you do? If it’s what you do and the value you create, that’s internalized capitalism.’”
It goes on with examples of sad, frustrated, lonely young people who blame “capitalism” for their problems. Why take responsibility for your action. Be a victim! They don’t actually understand capitalism or socialism, but it’s a handy scapegoat. Their main discontent is with work (thus the association with “capitalism”). They don’t see work as a noble endeavor, but rather a mindless, soul-sucking, oppressive, victimizing activity spawned by exploitative capitalism. Why get up in the morning to just make a buck? It’s not fun. That is a bleak view of the world we live in.
Camp says that the assumption that work will be “a major source of meaning and fulfillment in your life” is overstated. Most jobs she says are not so fulfilling or interesting. There are other things that lead to happiness. According to various data, one thing that will give you the most happiness is a very happy marriage. And this gets to the root of the problem: these unhappy young people are becoming more insular, self-centered, and lack purpose. They are lonely, socially averse, and lack good friendships.
Earning a living, having a family, and social engagement are the fundamentals of being human and they are a path to success, satisfaction and contentment, if not happiness. Capitalism provides freedom of choice and opportunity enabling people to take control of their lives. As Camp says, “Building a fulfilling life requires effort and risk.”
by Tiana Molony
If you live in Santa Barbara or the surrounding area, you’re likely no stranger to the thunderous boom that follows late-night rocket launches at Vandenberg Air Force Base. While the noise can be jarring, watching those rockets streak into the night sky is undeniably thrilling. If you’re like me, those launches have probably sparked your curiosity too, leaving you wondering how it all works.
Luckily, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s new permanent Space Sciences exhibit, Our Cosmic Coast, has simulations and displays that break down the science behind rocket launches and other space phenomena in an approachable way.
“What we wanted to do was make the science of our galaxy and our planet a little more approachable for our guests,” reflected Exhibits Director Melinda Morgan-Stowell on the exhibit.
Morgan-Stowell and the rest of the exhibits team wanted to present concepts straightforwardly and answer the “why” questions, particularly for younger children, without using excessive jargon or overly complex scientific details.
“Really, the idea is to be able to present the natural world in as interesting a way as possible and for a multitude of different types of learning experiences and families,” she said.
The new exhibit, which is free with a museum ticket, combines visual, sound, and interactive elements to bring space science to life. “We really wanted to involve all the senses for our guests,” she shared.
When you first step into the room, it may take a moment for your eyes to adjust to the surroundings. The new iteration of the space exhibit isn’t pitch black; instead, dim lighting and cobalt blue walls create a serene and otherworldly backdrop. Here, visitors can explore stations that explain the astronomical forces behind tides, seasons,
and lunar phases, and examine authentic meteorites.
The reason for the Space Sciences update was simple: the museum wanted to bring the exhibit’s content up to date. That meant incorporating the latest scientific theories, including the current understanding of the Moon’s formation – that it was once part of Earth.
The microscope station illustrates this updated scientific concept, where visitors can observe a mineral that is chemically identical to one found on the Moon. Although its appearance is slightly different due to Earth’s climate and environmental factors, it demonstrates its shared elemental composition.
In the second room, you’re met with scale models that illustrate the dramatic size differences between the rocky planets and the gas and ice giants. Visitors can even crawl into a tent to view constellations visible from Santa Barbara. There are also various listening stations, including one where you can hear the sonification of a black hole.
The true star of the show, however, is the rocket launcher, which can help children, or visitors of any age, understand the interrelationship between Earth and space exploration. By shooting off rockets, it demonstrates an object’s position at different elevations and how it might escape Earth’s gravity.
The rocket launcher is a tall, seethrough tube – about 16 feet high – designed so you can watch every moment of your rocket’s flight. You start by pumping air into the launcher, building up pressure. Once you’ve stored enough, you press a button to release that energy, and your small foam or plastic rocket shoots straight up inside the clear column. As it rises, you can track how high it goes, almost like a vertical race against yourself or friends.
Along with some new knowledge about rockets, Morgan-Stowell hopes that guests will leave the exhibit with an appreciation for the planet’s uniqueness and a desire to preserve it. “What I would love them to do is value our planet, as we are so unique and so fragile and so beautiful.”
Tiana Molony is a journalist who writes for the Montecito Journal Media Group, LLC. She has also written for Backpacker Magazine, Mountain Gazette, and the Santa Barbara Independent.
by Elizabeth Stewart
This frightening but beautiful African work of art is a wooden and polychromed (painted with many colors) carved BaPende mask from Zaire, part of a group collected by a world famous celebrity. The owner of these masks queries, “Where can these masks best be sold?” Indeed this collection is superb, and varied in age and origination.
The masks were purchased by the late wife of a Journal reader in the early 1980s in Nairobi, Kenya, from the collection of Hollywood icon William Holden. The masks were sold by Holden’s partner, Stefanie Powers, to benefit The William Holden Wildlife Foundation, which she created after his death. The foundation is still in existence and operates an educational facility in Kenya. The Academy award-winning actor amassed a world class collection of masks, one of which was donated to the Palm Springs Art Museum in 1982.
African masks collected during the Colonial era are culturally sensitive material. Many were acquired by colonial exploiters, the French, English and Belgian dealers who – in the 1920s –realized the market potential inherent in the public’s taste for the exotic, and the growing understanding of how these elements were appearing in abstract modern art as conceptualized by artists such as Klee and Picasso.
The collection amassed by Holden (1918-1981) was known for its connoisseurship. He co-founded the Mount Kenya Safari Club (1959) and established a game ranch focused on wildlife preservation. As he grew older he became increasingly concerned with various animal species declining in population.
Another mask in the group is a Baule mask from the Ivory Coast. In the 1980s I served in the Peace Corps and took long weekends in the Ivory Coast. The Baule people – a subgroup of the Akan people of West Africa’s Ghana – inhabited the east side of the Ivory Coast, having migrated there in the 17th century. The Baule are known for their gold talismans, brass castings, and wooden figural sculptures. Their masks are their foremost art form. I purchased mine in the mid 1980s and it hangs on a white wall in front of my desk.
From the last half of the 19th century to the first quarter of the 20th century, only an important individual from a powerful family would have owned such a Baule mask. When worn, the soul of the mask is transmuted through the “dancer’s” face, and he (the dancer was always a male) was transformed into the representation of the mask; he became a deity, an ancestor, or animal spirit. The mask allowed the spiritual world to interact with the physical world, facilitating communication between ancestors and heirs, humans and deities, humans and animals, low born villagers and high born, men and women, earth and sky.
Two divine beings are at the heart of Baule spirituality: the creator god Nyamien, and Asiè, the God of the Earth, lord of humans and animals. In Baule spiritual tradition the soul is immortal, and therefore beholden to its ancestors.
The mask pictured is a portrait mask and might have depicted a forebear of the dancer. This mask has the physical
features of an honorable person: the slit-eyes represent modesty, the open mouth and folds – age, the hair and beard – wisdom.
Let’s imagine this mask as it was “danced” in a ceremony in the early 1900s. Before the ceremony, this mask may have been kept “sleeping” in a personal shrine until its command performance in a “masquerade.” The masker or dancer wears a fiber costume, and danced to drums, to singing, and spoken words. The mask became the actor in a skit and the actor became the mask.
Here’s the cultural conundrum, and why the sale of these masks is a delicate topic. Although this mask is a stunning 3-dimensional work of art, the mask was not intended to be wall-hung. Why? The mask initiated movement. The mask had the power to act, and its static display on a wall belies its power. I am to blame as well; my Baule mask is on my wall as I write this. I “see” form, color, texture, and abstraction of the human face. I KNOW I should feel, as did the Baule masker/dancer in 1900, its power of action and creation.
The static, formal properties of the mask “create” value for it in the European and U.S. marketplace. The mask, if sold at auction, would realize over $2,000. I would suggest Bonhams Skinner auctions for the sale of such a mask.
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
by Jeff Giordano
What the Glass House (GH) Cannabis raids revealed were very disturbing and very obvious violations of the county’s 2018 licensing regulations. These rules require that our executive office approve signoffs by six departments before renewing a grower’s annual license. So, I filed a Public Record Request to see whether the county was following its own rules when, just 41 days before the raid, Thomas Binnebose issued GH’s 2025 license. After reviewing scores of documents (some regarding P&D that were troubling) and engaging in detailed email exchanges with our Public Information Officer Kelsey Buttitta, this is what I found.
The license was not issued to GH (Glass House) Brands Inc., which is the SEC registered entity that trades publicly. Instead, it was issued to Mission Health Associates, Inc. and while I don’t pretend to know the intricacies of GH’s corporate structure, I do know that licenses cannot be assigned. That said, with approval, they can be pulled between companies. Again, I don’t know the specifics in this instance, but it does raise concern.
ALL WORKERS, whether direct employees or third-party folks, are required to undergo a criminal background check and verification that they are 21 years of age. For direct employees the Sheriff issues photo ID Badges attesting to their age/ criminal free record. It is NOT a defense (as GH flailingly suggested in their August 4 Press Release) to use contract labor. The code is clear, and the county confirmed that GH “is required to ensure all third-party contract labor employees…have had a background check.” Further, that GH must require all “individuals to wear ID badges” because badges “indicate that an individual has been vetted to work in the industry.” And yes, the Sheriff conducted “site visits” (plural!) leading to some obvious questions: Were the 26 child/criminal workers badged? Were certain workers hidden? Were badges forged?
According to the Feds there were 14 workers that were under 21 years old (Some as young as 14; wouldn’t their underage status be obvious?) and 12 with a U.S. criminal history. Cannabis cultivation is not serving some grand social purpose and annually it results in $3M ($3M!) of losses so why do we continue to coddle this industry? NOTE: The county confirmed that not a single one of the 12 criminal workers’ names that ICE disclosed had been issued a county ID badge.
On February 2, 2025, the owner of GH signed an affidavit under penalty of perjury that the business complies “with all SB county codes and CA laws applicable to commercial cannabis.” He further acknowledged that any “misrepresentation” was cause for license revocation. Only time will tell if child/criminal labor matters to the county, but at least for now, Ms. Buttitta says it does: “In general, cannabis licensees are responsible for ensuring all applicable vetting requirements for third-party workers are met. Failure to comply with licensing requirements can result in enforcement actions, including suspension or revocation of a license.”
The GH raids thrust our county into the forefront of the national immigration zeitgeist, igniting questions about our individual and community values. And while their silence is deafening, the raids have also raised questions about our county’s suspiciously cozy relationship with cannabis. FACT: If nationally televised raids don’t result in a license revocation hearing – a due process code requirement – nothing ever will.
Supervisor Roy Lee won the election in large part due to his promise to “fix” Cannabis. Since then, P&D’s sham complaint system remains unscathed and, unbelievably, Lee’s Planning Commissioner has taken to recusing himself from Cannabis hearings. Well, this is a D1 business, and I implore Roy to demand the appointment of a Hearing Officer as the code allows. It’s what GH and the community both deserve!
Jeff Giordano, SB County Resident
by Jean Marie Driskel
In today’s fast-paced world, where families often find themselves overwhelmed by clutter and chaos, creating a peaceful and functional home can feel like an impossible task. That’s where I, Jean Marie, come in. I’m the owner of The Organized Prepared Environment (better known as TOPE). TOPE is a unique home organizing service that helps your family declutter and design living spaces that are both developmentally appropriate and deeply supportive of your family’s life.
I started this innovative way of organizing with a deep interest in connecting with the families that I work with. I’m a veteran Montessori teacher with over two decades of classroom experience, TOPE is more than just home organizing services. It’s a philosophy-driven practice rooted in Montessori principles, customized to support the modern family’s needs. I believe that when a home is organized with intention and mindfulness, it becomes a powerful environment for learning, connection, and growth.
TOPE stands for The Organized Prepared Environment, a phrase inspired directly by the teachings of Dr. Maria Montessori, who emphasized that the environment plays a vital role in a child’s development. In the Montessori classroom, everything is designed with purpose – from the height of the shelves to the flow of daily routines. I take that same approach with your home, helping your family create environments that support both the practical and emotional well-being of every member of your household.
But TOPE isn’t just about children. My process considers the entire family, ensuring that each space supports daily routines, encourages indepen-
dence, and reduces stress. Whether I’m helping parents design a self-care corner, reorganizing a shared kitchen space, designing a desk or creating an accessible play area for children of all ages, I’m here for it. My work is grounded in empathy, education, and years of hands-on experience. What truly sets TOPE apart from other organizing services is my commitment to education and empowerment for the long term. I don’t just organize a space and leave – I guide families in how to maintain it. When children are able to do things for themselves, their sense of self-worth grows. I create spaces
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vehicle is known best for its vertical takeoff and landing. It is part of a three-year release of variations of personal aerial vehicles, classified by the FAA Part 103 as Ultralight Aircraft. That means that the allowable airspace in which you can legally fly your vehicle is limited. Purchasing the flying vehicle comes with a mandatory 40-hour flight in-house training, followed by 10 actual flights, regardless of one’s status as a licensed pilot.
My research on this shows that while being sold for personal use, the company is also working with the U.S. Air Force, which is testing the Pivotal models for potential military ops, surveillance, and emergency response at a lower cost than helicopters.
I attended the August 2nd demo at the SB Polo field. There I met with Tim Lum, who told me he was the first customer that purchased the aircraft two years ago. He showed me around the aircraft, including the computerized engine and inside the cockpit.
Lum, “It is all electric, made of carbon fiber so it’s ultralight, has eight electric motors, produces 1,000 pounds of
thrust, and flies 25 miles in 25 minutes.
There are only 18 moving parts on the entire aircraft, comprised of eight propeller-like elevators, four radar altimeters that automatically do the take-off and landing, and three redundant flight computers. If anything goes awry, there is a parachute built into the nose of the aircraft that brings it down at 160 feet elevation. There is an app on the smart phone for owners.”
When I asked him what inspired him to purchase the aircraft, he explained, “I work for the U.S. Forest Service as a smoke jumper, I’m a flight paramedic in the Air Force and DOD, and I use paragliders. This is therapy for me after what
have over 34
I experienced in Afghanistan, and it’s a joy to fly. Safety-wise this aircraft will be somewhere between a car and an airliner.”
We then cleared the way for the flight demo with new Pivotal pilot Alexander Miller, a Certified Flight Instructor, Commercial Multi Engine Pilot Private Aircraft Pilot, and recent Pivotal Flight Instructor and pilot. Take off is nose up vertical ascent to flying altitude, while landing is rear dive vertical to landing. Watch my videos at MJ online and MJ YouTube!
The flying vehicle is piloted using a joystick with fly-by-wire control and flight panel instruments that display in-flight navigation and aircraft status. The aircraft has a landing camera, ADS-B transponder, and beacon lights. Its cruising speed is 63 mph, with maximum climb and descent rate at 500 fpm (5.7mph). Powered by battery packs, the craft takes approximately 75 minutes to charge from 20% to 100% with a Level 2 charger (240V / 50A). With a Level 1 charger (120V / 15A), the same charging process takes about 4.5 hours.
411: https://evtol.news/pivotal-helixproduction-model
by Gabe Saglie
It’s a new decade at Gainey Estate Vineyards. The stalwart Santa Barbara wine brand has a prolific 40-year history in its rear-view mirror, and a robust portfolio of world-class and award-winning wines to show for it.
But it may be more accurate to say it’s a new era at Gainey. Because while the brand remains true to its roots – thoughtfully producing high-quality, limited-production wines across multiple growing regions in the Santa Ynez Valley – something fresh and dynamic is afoot.
“The Gainey perspective spans the vast majority of this valley,” says Estate Director Stephen Janes. “So we’re focusing on educating consumers when they come here – that to understand the Santa Ynez Valley is to understand Gainey.”
Indeed, Gainey has a unique historical take on the region’s winegrowing aptitude. The Gainey family’s vision for the area’s promise actually dates back to the early 1960s, when Daniel C. Gainey and his son, Daniel J., purchased 1800 acres of undeveloped land near the intersection of Highway 154 and State Route 246. Dubbed the Home Ranch, it would see fruits, vegetables, flowers, and hay flourish for years, until the younger Gainey’s attention turned to viticulture. Fifty acres of the Home Ranch were replanted to wine grapes in 1984, a pioneering move during the nascent years of Santa Barbara’s wine
country. Dan H. Gainey, the company’s current head, joined the family business the following year.
Today, 100 acres of the Home Ranch grow grapes; multiple soil types and the warmer weather of the Valley’s eastern portion create perfect conditions for Bordeaux grapes, like cabernet sauvignon and merlot, and select Rhône grapes, like syrah. These warmer-weather wines are bottled under the Gainey label.
The Gainey footprint stretched across Highway 101and into the cooler Sta. Rita Hills AVA in 1997, with the acquisition of Evan’s Ranch, which is current-
ly planted to 55 acres of grapes. Rancho Esperanza, just a few miles west along State Route 246, was planted to 45 acres in 2009. Here, unique sandy loam and gravely soils, and weather patterns driven by maritime breezes – cool foggy morning and warm sunny afternoon – create world-renowned conditions for pinot noir and chardonnay, especially, as well as syrah and grenache. These cooler-climate wines are bottled under the Evan’s Ranch label.
This unique expanse of the Gainey footprint in the Santa Ynez Valley is what makes Janes’ take on consumer education so important. “It’s key that they know why we can make great pinots and chardonnays, and great cabs, too,” he says.
To that end, Janes works closely with the Gainey staff, including winemaker Jeff Lebard. His 14-year stint at Gainey creates consistency and reliability in the
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AND SATURDAY 7:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Head of Cate School Alex Lockett announced this week that Maude Bond will serve as Head of Admissions & College Counseling. Bond previously built Cate’s nationally recognized College Counseling program, known for its personalized, data-driven approach with an emphasis on highlighting each student’s distinct strengths. Bond’s experience prior to Cate School includes being Director of Multicultural Recruitment at Columbia University. Lockett, “This aligns two important touchpoints in each student’s Cate journey under one cohesive vision, affirming and amplifying our commitment to nurturing our students to realize their distinct and limitless potential during a transformative time of life.”
411: www.cate.org
The Los Cumbres Observatory Senior Scientist Rachel Street PhD – alongside Postdoctoral Fellows Katarzyna Kruszynska, PhD. and Carrie Holt PhD., and PhD. student Joseph Farah – will present recent updates in astronomy as evidenced by the Rubin Telescope in Chile; on Thursday August 21, at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Fleishman Auditorium, doors open at 6:30 pm. The event is free, with general seating. 411: https://lco.global/outreach/events/astronomy-talks/New-Frontiers-in-Astronomy/
The Youth & Family Services Branch of the YMCA is inviting community to The Haley St. Navigation Center (701 E. Haley Street in Santa Barbara) for a Community Resource Fair on Friday, August 30, from 11 am to 1 pm. The event brings together all in-need youth ages 12-24 with their community partners and supporters to celebrate resilience, promote resources, and foster connection. In need youth will learn about all the services provided by the center. Food, clothing, and personal essentials, and YMCA stress balls, bracelets and drawstring bags will be provided to those in need for free. There will a raffle for youth who attend whose prizes include a brand-new E-bike generously donated by a local business. 411: Call (805)963-8775 to reach our Outreach Coordinator, Ulysses Ramirez
Unite to Light, the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara (HACSB), and Deckers Brands have joined forces to support low-income students through the annual Tools for School program. This year, the initiative expanded to include solar-powered Luke Lights and phone chargers for more than 200 junior high and high school students living in HACSB housing. The effort aims to reduce barriers to academic success caused by limited access to reliable lighting and charging sources.
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Unite to Light, HACSB, and Deckers Brands have joined forces (courtesy photo)
hits. The high-paying shows help to support, alongside his wife, Jutta, his nonprofit, the Maue Kay Foundation, formed in 2004 to support individuals and organizations engaged in the protection of wildlife, the environment, and human rights. The Lobero show also benefits the foundation.
So, despite patching things up, Kay and St. Nicholas won’t be bringing along their instruments for an on-stage jam following the screening, although they will participate in a Q&A session followed by a VIP reception in the theater’s courtyard. But in less than a month, people will have the chance to hear Kay get the crowd’s motors running when he hits the stage at the 2025 One805LIVE! concert on September 20 at Kevin Costner’s Carpinteria estate.
It’s a gesture of payback for the help his family received when their Butterfly Lane home flooded during the freak 2024 rainstorm that dropped almost two inches of rain in an hour and shut down the 101.
“The first responders were in my work room, which was under six feet of water that destroyed everything in it,” Kay said. “They were with us from eight at night till three in the morning.”
Kay will be playing “Born to Be Wild” with Sammy Hagar and his band, and might also work up another song or two.
“I remember when he was in [the band] Montrose and we played shows together. Hagar had a kick ass band,” Kay said, adding, “This will be my tiny little motion of gratitude to the first responders.”
If all 30-plus shows that make up Ventura LIVE ‘25 at the Rubicon Theatre sold out the venue’s 110 seats, the total audience wouldn’t even reach the capacity of a single concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl. But the breadth and depth of talent coming to the intimate theater in downtown Ventura from August 20 to September 18 might not be matched by a whole season of concerts at our town’s jewel of an amphitheater.
The festival features performances by a whole host of Broadway stars, concerts by tribute bands, films, new play readings, comedy sets, a magic show, and even a famed ventriloquist; a smorgasbord that traverses genres and styles all over the entertainment map.
That’s the whole point, said Karyl Lynn Burns, Rubicon Co-Founder and Producing Artistic Director.
“There’s just something about a festival concept that provides total immersion, and lets the art affect you in a different way,” she said. “These one-night events allow us to offer a really great variety of programs that will hopefully bring new audiences in to the theater. We want to broaden and deepen our reach in the community and have the theater become a community hub for the arts.”
Rubicon tried out the festival with just a dozen performances last year and chose to more than double the schedule because audiences loved seeing something different every night.
No problem.
Typical RTC audiences will likely thrill to theatrical one-woman shows The Life and Times of A. Einstein, written and performed by Kres Mersky, and The Spirit of Harriet Tubman, starring its writer, Leslie McCurdy
They’ll likely love a pair of staged readings: Barbara Gural’s Franny – directed by former Ensemble Theatre head Jonathan Fox – concerns a humanoid robot created by an AI software engineer to be a companion for elderly persons; and Witnesses – a new musical based on the diaries of five Jewish teenagers whose words and dreams were captured in journals during the Holocaust – created by five different songwriting teams and Tony-winning writer Robert L. Freedman (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder).
Rubicon regulars will probably also cotton to evenings starring Tony-winning actor and theater writer Levi Kreis featuring songs from his performances in Hadestown, Million Dollar Quartet and other musicals; Lauren Patten, a powerhouse performer who brought the house down with her Tony and Grammywinning turn in the hit Alanis Morissette musical Jagged Little Pill; Double Standards from Davis Gaines, who performed the title role in The Phantom of the Opera over 2,000 times on Broadway, in Los Entertainment Page 354
Funded by a grant from Deckers, the lights and solar power banks will benefit students in Tools for School and Preparación, Bienestar y Cultura, a summer college readiness program. Leaders say the project is about more than technology – it’s about equity and empowering youth to succeed academically. The Tools for School event also provided over 450 local students with backpacks, school supplies, and connections to youth-serving organizations.
Summerland Beautiful, the nonprofit dedicated to preserving and enhancing the town’s coastal charm, has added three new members to its board of directors: Andrea Gruber, Tracy Gunn, and Crescent LoMonaco. Each brings unique professional and community experience to the all-volunteer organization, founded in 2019 to spearhead beautification projects across schools, streets, and parks. Residents can meet the new board members at the group’s annual community potluck, scheduled for September 4 at Lookout Park from 5:30-7:30 pm. The event will feature games, shared dishes, and opportunities to suggest future projects.
A new chapter in Santa Barbara’s storied surf culture begins September 3 with the grand opening of the Santa Barbara Surfing Museum at Surf ‘n Wear’s Beach House. The free public event, from 3–6 pm at 10 State Street, will celebrate the region’s rich surf history while honoring legendary surfboard shaper Renny Yater
The opening will bring together a lineup of iconic board shapers, including Yater, Marc Andreini, Cooper Boneck, Bob Duncan, and representatives from Pyzel Surfboards. Visitors will also meet local world champion surfers and explore exhibits featuring classic surfboards, vintage photographs, memorabilia, and cultural artifacts that capture California’s surf heritage.
Founded in 1962, Surf ‘n Wear’s Beach House has been a cornerstone of Santa Barbara’s surf community. The museum aims to preserve that legacy, celebrating the creativity and craftsmanship that helped make Santa Barbara a world-class surf destination.
represents so much more than just academic achievement. It’s a symbol of hard work, sacrifice, perseverance and unshakable faith.”
Garcia, whose parents emigrated from Mexico, shared stories about his hard-working parents, their long hours and family time collecting aluminum cans. This fall, Garcia begins the 16-month accelerated ABSN program at Westmont Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing and is a recipient of the PEAC and Cottage Health nursing scholarship and loan forgiveness program.
“That degree is not just mine – it belongs to my parents, my siblings and every person who poured into my journey,” he says. “And remembering where I came from, it hits me deeply. It reminded me why I do what I do and who I do it for. I want to keep serving, keep honoring my roots, and keep making a difference in my Santa Barbara community.”
South American artist Fernando Botero. The Santa Barbara Museum of Art has loaned the work to Westmont from the collection of the late Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree.
Standing about nine feet tall, the piece – in Botero’s self-definitive style of exaggerated proportions – now sits at the base of the staircase between the Whittier Science Building and the Adams Center for the Visual Arts, leading up to the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art.
Neller says these inspiring stories highlight the mission-driven work of key partners, all sharing a commitment to serving students in the Santa Barbara community. “The success of each student reflects the dedication and leadership of Dr. Patricia Madrigal, president and CEO of the PEAC Foundation, Albert Martinez, PEAC program coordinator, and the dedicated PEAC high school counselors,” she says. “We also recognize the impactful leadership of Melinda Cabrera, president and CEO of the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, along with her team, and Raúl Aguilera, executive director of REACH. Westmont is deeply grateful for the continued partnership of these outstanding community leaders.”
A notable new arrival now graces Westmont’s campus: Maternity, a nearly 2,000-pound bronze sculpture by
“Botero’s Maternity explores the emotional and symbolic depth of motherhood through his distinctive, rounded aesthetic,” says Chris Rupp, director of the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. “It’s both an homage to the maternal figure and a meditation on the life-giving power of women. The theme of motherhood is universal, and Botero’s treatment makes it tender, reverent and deeply human. Personally, I see echoes of classical representations of the Madonna and Child, a theme especially fitting for Westmont.”
Born and raised in Colombia before moving to France in 1973, Botero is celebrated worldwide for his paintings and sculptures in the instantly recognizable style known as Boterismo – marked by voluminous, abundant forms. His works are held in major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., the Art Institute of Chicago and numerous museums around the globe.
The Westmont museum opens Thursday, Sept. 4 for Lines of Inquiry: Westmont Art Faculty Exhibition with a free, public opening reception from 4-6 pm.
wines’ style. But a knack for embracing evolving techniques, and for working with grapes individually, has been raising the bar in quality vintage after vintage.
“The way Jeff does whole berry fermentation with syrah creates these super aromatics,” says Janes. “But he’ll approach syrah one way, chardonnay and pinot noir one way, and then he’ll look at Bordeaux grapes another way. It’s pretty cool.”
Pretty cool, and pretty effective. I’ve attended several tastings at Gainey recently, including a futures tasting event in June that had us sipping on wines still in barrel. The 2024 Evan’s Ranch “Caitlin’s” Chardonnay ($52), the 2024 Evan’s Ranch “Morgan’s” Pinot Noir ($60), the 2024 Gainey Limited Selection Cabernet Franc ($75), and the 2023 Gainey “Patrick’s” Vineyard Selection ($90) were phenomenal. Elegant, fresh, vibrant and textured, these exceptional wines (several are named for Dan and Diane Gainey’s children) speak to the ever-evolving potential of the Gainey wines. And they represent some of the very best renditions of these wines out of Santa Barbara County that I’ve tasted in a long time.
Janes’ focus on leveraging a new decade at Gainey to elevate the brand’s image and visibility spans across the company’s ranches and labels. He joined the Gainey team 18 months ago with a special appreciation of the Sta. Rita Hills, thanks to previous stints in vineyards like Brewer-Clifton, Melville, Pence and Sandhi – so he’s got a keen eye on Evan’s Ranch for sure. He calls it, “the best kept secret at Gainey.”
Janes helped spearhead a label overhaul for the brand, and the new, darker, more striking, more complex label “finally looks like the quality that’s inside the bottle,” he says. He’s also keen on expanding the plantings of grenache in Gainey’s Sta. Rita Hills ranches – Rhône
grapes grown in cooler temps can generate Rhône wines with darker berry aromas and spicier, more savory flavors. And he’s eyeing bubbly as the next big thing in Santa Barbara winemaking, with the brand’s first sparkler slated to hit store shelves in 2027. “To make a good sparkling wine, you need time,” he says.
At the Home Ranch, with a continued commitment to sustainable farming, Janes is pushing to expand the focus on varieties like cabernet franc and sauvignon gris.
Janes, a 33-year wine industry veteran, thinks a lot about “Gainey’s staying power.” He wants to ensure that Gainey, like any accomplished brand, never rests on its laurels, and that it never sticks its head in the sand. Fact is, the wine industry is seeing sales stumble, and the drive to get people to belly up to the tasting room bar is getting more competitive. That’s where that focus on education becomes so important, along with a concerted effort to make the wine experience more approachable to younger generations.
“The image of wine as snobby –that’s really not what wine is,” says Janes. “You can drink expensive wines all day long, but the idea of drinking a $2 or a $5 beverage that good –that’s awesome!”
In the tasting room, all the currently available Gainey wines – not just a select handful – are now available to taste. The new Gainey Spritz – a mix of dry Riesling, lemonade and blood orange, all stirred with a rosemary
sprig – is a huge seller. And a fresh focus on food and music events aims to stretch the Gainey appeal as a lifestyle brand.
“A lot of people have come through here in 40 years,” says Janes, “and we’re ready to welcome them back.”
The Gainey tasting room is on the Home Ranch, the Evan’s Ranch tasting room is in downtown Los Olivos, and both are open seven days a week. Find out more at gaineyvineyard.com.
“Ms. Bark-LighTly”
For a paw-sitively awesome, pet-friendly getaway make Vinland Hotel & Lounge in Solvang, California your home base.
Take a leisurely stroll downtown with your 4-legged family members and experience all the charm of central California’s wine country. Or spend time on-site lounging around in your room with Fido.
If your fur baby decides it’s nap time, sneak away for a dip in the pool or stop by V Lounge for some light fare and signature cocktails.
Whatever pet-friendly travel you seek, your wag tested adventure awaits at Vinland Hotel & Lounge.
®
vinlandhotelandlounge.com (805)688-2018
1455 Mission Drive | Solvang | CA 93463
that are thoughtfully arranged to foster independence at every stage, from toddler to teenager. Along with reducing the typical power struggles between children and their parents as the third party.
Through this lens, organizing becomes more than just cleaning up. It becomes a way to empower families and create spaces that reflect shared values and encourage positive behaviors.
No two families are alike, and TOPE recognizes this from the start. I begin every project with a thorough consultation, learning about your family’s routines, pain points, aspirations, and values. I often observe how children interact with the space, what’s working, and challenges parents are facing. I pay close attention to how children take ownership of their space. Are they able to reach their clothes in the morning? Can they pour themselves a drink? What changes might bring more peace and ease to daily life?
TOPE helps families declutter and simplify, making decisions about what to keep, what to donate, and how to store items in ways that are both beautiful and functional.
Every detail is tailored to the family’s specific rhythm and goals, making the results not just aesthetically pleasing but genuinely life-enhancing. Children (and adults) thrive in environments where everything has its place. By designing child-sized systems – low hooks, labeled bins, open shelves and so forth – TOPE encourages autonomy and confidence from any age.
I offer ongoing support, guiding parents in how to observe their children’s changing needs, how to make adjustments to a space, and how to create rituals and routines that anchor your family life. My work is as much about parenting as it is about organizing. Many of my families report that after working with TOPE, their children become more independent, transitions become easier, and the overall mood in the home becomes more peaceful.
I also help parents explore their own habits around clutter, control, and
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS
NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Montecito Research; Wyathe Brix, 1422 Lou Dillon LN #7, Santa Barbara, CA 93103. Wyatt J Brooks, PO Box 50006, Santa Barbara, CA 93150. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on July 30, 2025. 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. 2025-0001809. Published August 14, 21, 28, September 4, 2025
chaos. For many families, the physical decluttering process becomes a metaphor for emotional letting go – of perfectionism, guilt, or the pressure to keep up. I’m here for you.
I see home organization not as a luxury, but as a form of self-care work – just as essential to a family’s well-being as good nutrition or education. We look at the emotional well-being of all involved.
TOPE’s mission is especially relevant in today’s world, where families often feel over-scheduled and overstimulated. By simplifying the physical environment, I help families reclaim their time, energy, and relationships. My work gently challenges the cultural norm of more-is-better and instead invites families to ask: What truly supports us? What do we actually need?
TOPE offers in-home consultations, full-service organizing projects, and virtual consulting for families who live outside the local area. Whether you’re overwhelmed by clutter or simply looking to create a more intentional space, I’m here to meet your family with compassion and clarity.
If interested, you can connect with me via email support@tope805 or (805) 403-2503. I look forward to connecting with you!
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: CASE No. 25CV04119. To all interested parties: Petitioner Jennifer Anne Christina Richardson filed a petition with Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, for a decree changing name of their child from Alexander Frederick Alire to Alexander Frederick Richardson The Court orders that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at
their relationships with others as well as connection with yourself as NVC may be used within – to embrace and appreciate our own inner critic.
SBCC’s Adult Education program, now known as School of Extended Learning, is still a host for NVC workshops, nowadays led by Rodger Sorrow, a certified trainer and assessor with the Center for Nonviolent Communication, which was founded by Dr. Rosenberg. Sorrow’s next series of free sessions begins at the end of the month. The series has been held primarily online over Zoom since the days of the pandemic, making access available anywhere.
Absolutely no previous experience is necessary, and all are welcome to take advantage of the class that, within the container of NVC, can help to develop the presence and consciousness that supports living a life of compassion, show how to give honest feedback without criticism, demonstrate how to hear and say “no” without conflict, respond to difficult messages, navigate difficult conversations, and make amends and repairs with “beneficial regret.” The classes include role play demonstrations and lots of practice in breakout rooms to develop and practice the skills.
The Compassionate Communication classes take place on 6:15-8:55 pm Tuesdays over two six-week sessions August 26-October 14, and October 21-December 9. The Zoom link, handouts, and syllabus will be sent the day before the class begins once registered. Visit www.chooseconnection.com/ compassionate-communication
Sorrow will also be hosting a free Meet the Trainer session with the co-organizers of the upcoming “Nonviolent Communication, Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science” CNVC online nine-day training. That takes place the weekends spanning October 17 to November 2, where he is one of the five co-leaders. This Meet the Trainer intro takes place on August 21 followed by a Q&A, also over Zoom at https://cnvc. zoom.us/j/91962449611. Visit https://www.cnvc.org/learn/iit/2025-1017-iit-online
Rodger Sorrow also continues to offer his two different in-person weekly Nature and
Self-Healing Hikes through SBCC SEL for the fall. The free classes have beginning and Intermediate levels, and both hike a different trail on the beach, foothills or elsewhere each week on Thursday and Tuesday mornings, respectively. The format calls for hiking for an hour then pausing for a 15-minute discussion of self-healing topics including journaling, forgiveness, gratitude or love. After an additional 10 minutes for meditation or sitting in silence, the return trip begins with 10 minutes of “mindful hiking.” Students in the beginning class should be able to hike two-to-three miles at a steady pace, and the same distance uphill for the intermediate class.
The schedule will be emailed to those who are registered the weekend before the class begins. Visit www. chooseconnection.com/nature-and-selfhealing for details and a registration link.
Sunburst Sanctuary in Lompoc has slated a new event for the last week of summer: A Goddess Retreat for women created to Honor Divine Mother. The September 11-14 weekend includes a ceremonial gathering with Dance of Life honoring the four elements; an outdoor sound bath in Sunburst’s redwood grove; a music circle led by Heather Grace Powers; sunrise meditation at the Wheel of Life, and other activities. Accommodations and nourishing vegetarian meals are included. The registration deadline is September 3. Visit https://sunburst.org.
Bodhi Path Buddhist Center’s next weekend curriculum course with resident teacher Dawa Tarchin Phillips takes place September 13-14 at the center’s midtown location. The focus is on The Five Aggregates, also known as the “Five Heaps” or Skandhas, which constitute the foundation of moment-by-moment human experience. During this weekend course, you will learn how misunderstanding this basis of human experience continually gives rise to suffering, while awakening a different perspective on the five aggregates becomes a key to spiritual growth and freedom. The weekend includes guided instruction, reflection, discussion and introduction of essential meditation foundations. Details and registration at https://bodhipath.org/ centers/sb.
least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Filed July 17, 2025 by Jessica Vega. Hearing date: September 8, 2025 at 10 am in Dept. 5, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Published August 7, 14, 21, 28, 2025
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: CASE No. 25CV04119. To all interested parties: Petitioner Jennifer Anne Christina Richardson filed a petition with Superior Court of California, County of
Santa Barbara, for a decree changing name of their child from Adrian Franklin Alire to Adrian Franklin Richardson. The Court orders that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.
Filed July 17, 2025 by Jessica Vega. Hearing date: September 8, 2025 at 10 am in Dept. 5, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Published August 7, 14, 21, 28, 2025
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: CASE No. 25CV04073. To all interested parties: Petitioner Angeles Natividad Avalos Borrayo and Rigoberto Sandoval Velazquez filed a petition with Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, for a decree changing name of their child from Liam Matteo Avalos to Liam Matteo Sandoval Avalos. The Court orders that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Filed July 11, 2025 by Terri Chavez. Hearing date: September 10, 2025 at 10 am in Dept. 3, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Published July 24, 31, August 7, 14, 2025
Event planner Lindsey Hartsough of Magnolia Event Design executed the glamorous theme with a sophisticated
color scheme of navy, gold and cream as guests including Scott Bakula of NCIS New Orleans, Joe Mantegna of First Monday, Catherine Bell and Steven Culp of JAG, and Gary Cole of NCIS danced the night away to a 26-piece orchestra, this following a four-course dinner of roasted filet mignon and sauteed branzino followed by a citrus birthday cake and an assortment of mini desserts.
Bars offered specialty cocktails, including a fun Tiki bar inspired by Magnum P.I. with drinks like Sunset Over Oahu and The Red Ferrari.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have signed a new multiyear, first look deal with Netflix, following their previous multimillion contract.
The tony twosome’s new contract will include a second series of With Love, Meghan lifestyle shows, as well as a Christmas special in December.
The Riven Rock duo is also working on Masaka Kids, a Rhythm Within , a documentary about orphaned children in Uganda fighting hunger and HIV-AIDS.
There is also an “active development” slated including a novel Meet Me by the Lake
Prince Harry is thinking of launching a new African charity to rival Sentebale, from which he has recently departed, a spokesman for the Duke of Sussex has suggested.
“He remains absolutely committed to continuing the work he started supporting the young people of Lesotho and Botswana nearly 20 years ago. Now decisions have to be made…All options remain on the table, whether starting a new charity or working to support pre-existing charities operating in the same sector of the region.”
Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho co-founded Sentebale in 2006 in honor their mothers.
The production company behind Santa Barbara warbler Katy Perry’s music video has been forced to pay a hefty fine after backlash over the footage filmed in the Balearic Islands without permission.
Katy, 40, shot the footage in July last year to accompany her single “Lifetimes”.
But outrage erupted when the video seemed to show Perry filming in protected dunes in the north of the island of Formentera.
The Balearic government slapped the production company with a $7,000 fine.
Montecito’s newest celebrity resident Jennifer Aniston likes matters to be crystal clear.
Jennifer, 56, who is Vanity Fair’s September cover, says the “healing modalities” of crystals create a calm environment from the chaos of the “modern industry of the world at large.”
Her Los Angeles home has a number of crystals on the coffee table, including a rare amethyst and a white crystal for clarity.
Susan Hersberger has succeeded Cliff Lundberg as new board chair of United Way Santa Barbara County.
She brings a wealth of strategic leadership experience from a 25-year tenure at Aera Energy where she directed public affairs, community engagement, and philanthropic investments.
Susan has been on the board of directors at United Way since 2017.
Singer Justin Bieber at the Rosewood Miramar Beach Club... The Kardashian family noshing at the Harbor eatery on Stearns Wharf... Kevin Costner checking out the crowd at Lucky’s.
Pip! Pip!
From musings on the Royals to celebrity real estate deals, Richard Mineards is our man on the society scene and has been for more than 18 years
Caffeinated Signatory, early Congressman, and inventor of the bicameral U.S. Congress – Roger Sherman of Connecticut – is the great-great-great-great-great grandfather of our Tecolote Bookshop in today’s shade-dappled Upper Village. Which would explain the place’s self-satisfied grin.
Let’s begin this section with Mary, her mom, and her older sister alighting in Montecito. It was the year Dwight D. Eisenhower moved into the White House.
“I went to Cold Spring school when it was a two-room schoolhouse,” Mary says. “There were only six of us in the sixth grade there.” Before we wander too immediately into this Laura Ingalls Wilder reverie... what brought the Sheldons to Montecito?
“My mother and father got a divorce” Mary says. “My mother was a teacher, and she applied to various places for a teaching job, including Australia, Hawaii, and Alaska. Those last two were still territories. None of them would take her because she had dependent children.”
Whether her mother’s prospective employers sat in judgement of Mrs. Sheldon’s being a divorcee or simply considered her single motherhood difficult to reconcile with a teacher’s regimen, Mary doesn’t say.
Hereit comes now, written in a hurried and bulleted present tense meant (frankly) to offset the section’s brevity with a mitigating sense of telegram-like urgency. Please play ball, reader.
• Roger Sherman Gates Boutell, Sr. retires from the Library of Congress and moves to, of all places, Santa Barbara, California.
• A comfortably liquid pensioner less needful of income than of post-retirement engagement – oh, and a book nut – Boutell and wife Avis buy an established bookstore called “Tecolote” (location in SB unknown) from a demoralized “Mrs. Kelley” who…
• In the wake of the June 1925 quake that razes SB and annihilates her trinkets-and-pottery-augmented bookshop, quits both the book business and SB itself.
• Boutell occupies Kelley’s space with his own enterprise, launching Tecolote as a proper book shop and not a curio purveyor with books.
• Studios 25 and 26 become available in the newish El Paseo complex and Boutell’s Tecolote moves in.
• Roger Sr. retires in ‘45 whereupon…
• Roger Jr. and his wife Zella take over Tecolote.
• In 1954 a discouraged Zella notes “everyone seems to be watching TV now…” and the Boutell family and Tecolote part company that year, selling to Mr. and Mrs. William Tilghman, and Mr. and Mrs. John Boit Morse.
• Tilghman and Morse families sell to James Maher in the early ‘60s, who in turn sells to:
• Mr. and Mrs. Wm Watling in ‘63.
• Tecolote leaves El Paseo and moves into their present space.
• Wm Robbins and his wife Laura buy Tecolote in ‘70 and expand the hell out of it, between ‘75 and ‘78 opening Tecolote branches in La Cumbre mall, Goleta, Scottsdale, AZ, and possibly La Jolla. Ultimately all branches close except Tecolote’s in Montecito’s Upper Village.
• In ‘79 Tecolote sells to Gary and Kathy Mullins, who own The Book Loft in Solvang.
• The Mullins’ sell to Harry Sims in ‘85.
• Sims sells to Margaret “Peggy” Dent in 1990, who sells to Tecolote Manager Mary Sheldon and her backers in 2007.
• Roger Sherman Gates Boutell, Sr. dies in ‘62, Roger Jr. in ‘93.
Ultimately, after all that U.S. Territorial searching for a teaching gig, the Sheldons’ destiny lay a scant 86 miles away from their San Fernando homestead. Having spent summers beaching in Carpinteria, the Central Coast was broadly known to the roaming trio, and so Mrs. Sheldon turned her (their) attention to Santa Barbara. Mary’s mom secured a job teaching the lower grades at Lincoln Elementary (then near the corner of Cota and Santa Barbara streets) and a house was purchased off Sycamore Canyon Rd. Mary was home. And has been ever since.
I asked Mary if she wanted to discuss her Montecito teen years at all. “Nope.”
So. In due time, Mary graduated SB High School, attended SBCC and landed at UCSB. Her major was Environmental Studies with an emphasis in Botany. “I’d worked with Al Flink in the biology department at the City College. He got me started in botany. He still had connections at the university, which made it easy for me to get a job in the herbarium on campus.”
Soon after transferring, Mary began her student work at UCSB, her horticultural interests introducing a side road which would prove an unlikely route to a future in books. “At UCSB I worked for [globally renowned California botanist and classroom legend] J.R. Haller, who taught an undergrad course called Plants of California [Botany 103]. I was a plant collector for Haller.” What happened next I would chalk up to bibliotropism. Not a real word, but it should be.
Shortly after graduating UCSB, Mary found herself at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden; leveraging her botany emphasis, you see. “They needed someone to run the bookstore, which was about this big.” Mary holds up her hands to indicate a shoebox, then breaks into a smile. “I was allowed to expand it.”
That gift of autonomy would be the template for all of Mary’s future bookshop endeavors. But she didn’t know that then. The intersection of Mary’s botanical scholarship and her discovery of book buying as a vocation? This would prove a fruitful union. “The Botanic Garden said ‘Go for it’, and I did. I’m very proud of this. Visitors would comment on it, saying this is one of the best selections of natural history books that we’ve seen in California.”
After nearly a decade at the Botanic Garden, Mary’s yen for the purveyance of books generally took her to Chaucer’s Books, where for several years she worked alongside (recent former) owner Mahri Kerley. Mary estimates she’d been at Chaucer’s for some seven years – immersing herself in the minutia of bookshop best practices and, of course, books themselves – when she got The Call. It was 1992.
“Peggy Dent called me and asked me if I was interested in helping her with Tecolote.” Margaret “Peggy” Dent had bought Tecolote in 1990 (see sidebar. again.). Mary speculates Peggy, possibly while surreptitiously poaching Chaucer’s while disguised as a patron, must have witnessed Mary at work, seen something of
Mary’s expertise there, and decided to make her move. At any rate, she brought Mary aboard her recently acquired bookshop, and two years later made Mary Tecolote’s general manager. In effect, Mary would run the store. She was given free reign.
In 1998 she was joined by Santa Barbara indy bookstore avatar Penny Mast McCall, she having managed the SB Art Museum Bookstore and having worked as well in an antediluvian iteration of the dear old Earthling Bookshop when it was a wood-paneled whistlestop on E. Victoria. In 2020 came Justine Togami. “She’s much more technical than I am,” Mary says, and one has the charitable sense that is not a terribly high bar to have to vault. But Justine seems to be the Motherboard of the place. “I don’t even know where the on off switches are,” Mary continues in computerspeak. “Yeah, Justine is a great help with that. And she loves books!”
In 2007, owner Peggy Dent announced she would be retiring. Might Mary be interested in purchasing Tecolote? Well, yes and no. The purchase would be beyond Mary’s means, if not her heart’s desire. It was then a beloved regular customer, a Mary Sheldon fan, a giant in the business world, and a deeply humor-filled sweetheart of a supporter stepped up. These were not four men but one.
He knew what Tecolote meant to the community, and so Herb Simon – a wryly funny litterateur and generalized conqueror of various realms – teamed with two business partners, worked out the mechanics, and magnanimously purchased Tecolote Bookshop – effectively on Mary’s behalf. In the throes of all this transacting, Herb came strolling into the store one day with a somber expression. Before signing anything, he had one more question for Tecolote’s prospective new Proprietor.
“Mary,” he intoned, then broke into a Cheshire Grin. “Are we going to be able to have fun with this?”
At this writing, Mary Sheldon has lived in Montecito for 72 years, 18 of them as dear Tecolote’s Literary Empress (not an actual title). “My sister and I spent a lot of time in Cold Spring Creek just messing around, just kids,” she says. “I still live in the house that my mother bought.” Has the village changed? A naïve question. What doesn’t change after 72 years? Apart from memory.
“We always had books in the house, and my mother always read to us at night,” Mary says. She’s been speaking with an air of fond remembrance of a time when her world was defined by creeks and hedges and wooded acres – and whatever book she could get her hands on. Now she laughs lightly. “We had a World Book Encyclopedia,” she says with a startled expression. “And I think I read that twice.”
Angeles and San Francisco; and Katerina McCrimmon, a Cuban American performer born and raised in the vibrant heart of Miami, FL. She captivated audiences nationwide as Fanny Brice in the Broadway tour of Funny Girl, earning high praise from Entertainment Weekly, who called her “the next greatest star” with a “once-in-a-generation voice.”
But there are also tribute shows honoring John Denver, Woody Guthrie, Michael Bublé, and Van Morrison. A little further to the left: The California debut of the suddenly timely Thank You, Tom Lehrer, a tribute to the witty mathematician turned sardonic songwriter (and back), with Bobby Underwood channeling Lehrer’s sharp lyrics on such songs of thoughtful citizenry as “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” and “We Will All Go Together,” accompanied by pianist Zalmen Mlotek. Tom Lehrer passed away last month at age 97.
Then there are two comedy shows (The Book of Moron and RubiComedy) plus Frank Ferrante recreating his acclaimed stage portrayal of Groucho Marx; Magic Castle regular Jim Carney’s Carney Magic; and Country is Dead, featuring country-leaning Grateful Dead songs played by members of RatDog, Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros, Bobby & Phil [Lesh], Mark Masson, Shaky Feelin’, Cubensis, and others.
Pushing the boundaries is Jay Johnson, best known as the offbeat ventriloquist on the classic TV series Soap, who will perform his show My Two and Only. Going way out there: Desolation Center, which features a screening of the documentary chronicling the early ‘80s DIY desert show that presaged Coachella and Lollapalooza, with a Q&A with the filmmakers and a live concert by Mike Watt (Minutemen) and Stephen Perkins (Jane’s Addiction).
“No doubt that punk is not the first-choice genre for people who come to see Broadway style musicals in our theater,” Burns said. “It’s about mixing in some programming that’s more inclusive to bring people with different interests into the space. What made it more of a jigsaw puzzle is fitting all those events inside of a single month.”
To enhance the festival feel, Rubicon has arranged for food trucks on the street to combine with on-site craft beer, wine, and cocktails to be enjoyed while mixing with others on the theater’s outdoor patio before most shows.
“It’s nothing fancy, just a space with twinkle lights and tables and chairs,” Burns said. “It makes things more fun.”
No help is needed for the third event, starring Lauren Patten, who the theater calls its “first daughter” due to her cherished history at Rubicon. That history began when she starred at 14 as the heroine of The Diary of Anne Frank Her parents moved to Ventura for a while, but then Burns and her husband and co-founder James O’Neil officially became Patten’s godparents, as she continued to participate in many productions at the Rubicon.
Patten went on to Broadway where she debuted in the Tony-winning musical Fun Home, and, while still in her 20s, won the Tony for Jagged Little Pill
“When she thanked Rubicon in her acceptance speech, it broke our hearts,” Burns said.
Maybe one of the 30 shows at Ventura LIVE ‘25 will break yours. Visit https://rubicontheatre.org/ventura-live
by Steven Libowitz
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21
Chorus Cabaret – Local sensation The Santa Barbara Gay Men’s Chorus tries out a new venue – the New Vic Theatre, to be exact – for a special concert intended as the first of a planned annual event. The show is presented as part of the city’s Pride Week festivities, and features the choral group in a more intimate, cabaret-style format. In contrast to their normal full chorus concerts, the show offers solo and small ensemble performances, weaving together Broadway tunes, pop songs and moving classics, plus stories reflecting the diverse lived experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals. The singers each selected their repertoire and stories to share. As always, while the performance is an extension of the organization’s mission to celebrate diversity and pride through music, all are welcome – friends, family, allies, music lovers and community members of all ages and identities.
WHEN: 7:30 pm
WHERE: New Vic Theatre, 33 W. Victoria St.
COST: $30 & $60
INFO: (805) 965-5400 or https://etcsb.org/whats-on/community-events
FRIDAY, AUGUST 22
Jazz at Huguette’s Estate – The last time Jane Monheit appeared in town was only last year at the Lobero as special guest singer for the “Flying High” concert in tribute to the pioneering female vocalists of the Big Band Era. This evening’s performance focuses fully on the jazz and adult contemporary from this Manhattan School of Music-trained vocalist. Monheit burst on the scene with her debut CD Never Never Land at 22 and was soon working with legends such as Tommy Flanagan, Ron Carter, and Kenny Barron, plus touring the planet. Still driven by her deep passion for the Great American Songbook, Monheit now more frequently plays jazz clubs, but tonight will perform outside on the lawn of the historic Bellosguardo estate above East Beach. Come early for docent lead tours of the house and to enjoy cocktails, wine and hors d’oeuvres before the enchanting outdoor performance.
WHEN: 5:30 pm tours; 7 pm concert
WHERE: Bellosguardo Estate, 1407 East Cabrillo Boulevard
COST: $175 (Advance purchase required)
INFO: (805) 969-3220 or www.bellosguardo.org
Digital ‘Dog Days of Summer’ – UCSB Arts & Lectures’ annual series of free summer film screenings, which take place outdoors under the stars at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden, goes to the dogs as this year’s slate features seven canine-centric movie screenings. On tap for August 22: Marley & Me, the 2008 film based on John Grogan’s autobiographical book “Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog.” Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston star as newlyweds John and Jenny who adopt an adorable yellow Labrador pup after moving to Florida to take jobs at competing newspapers. But Marley grows into a mischievous handful and obedience-school dropout who nevertheless brings out the best in his human family. As always, please respect the lawn and your fellow filmgoers by bringing only blankets that are permeable (no plastic/nylon/tarps), and chairs that are low-backed and low to the ground. Come early for pre-screening specials that include a musical playlist curated by DJ Darla Bea, raffles and info booths dedicated to dogs.
WHEN: 8:15 pm
WHERE: Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden, 1100 Anacapa St.
COST: free
INFO: www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 22-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23
Weekend Storm Warning – Vivian Storm warms up for Saturday’s Pacific Pride Festival with the debut of her drag cabaret solo stage debut with multi-instrumentalist Andrew Manos at the Alcazar Theatre on Friday night, bringing her exhilarating energy and always extravagantly entertaining performance to the heart of Carpinteria. On Saturday, Storm serves as cohost (with drag icon Jackette Knightley) of the annual Pacific Pride Festival at Chase Palm Park field, guiding audiences through a packed schedule of performances and celebration marking 50 years of Pride on the Central Coast. This year’s theme, “Rooted in Pride: Embracing Our Past – Empowering Our Future,” honors the resilience and joy of the LGBTQ+ community past, present, and future. The free all-ages event features more than 30 stage performances, immersive art installations and community celebrations, including a headlining show by drag superstar Jessica Wild (RuPaul’s Drag Race), performances by Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles, the world’s first LGBTQ+ mariachi band, along with local ensembles Samulous, East Valley Road, Santa Barbara Gay Men’s Chorus, and live DJs. A Pride Pet Parade (think a more inclusive version of the French Festival’s beloved Poodle Parade), aerialist performances, an expanded Family Zone with a dedicated Kids Stage offering storytelling, karaoke and dancing, plus 70+ vendors, food trucks and community resources round out the activities.
WHEN: 11 am-7 pm
WHERE: Chase Palm Park, 300 W. Cabrillo Blvd.
COST: free
INFO: (805) 963-3636 or www.pacificpridefoundation.org
FRIDAY, AUGUST 22-SATURDAY, AUGUST 23
Coastal Media Cinema Premiere – UCSB’s Carsey-Wolf Center’s Coastal Media Project is a nine-week summer intensive environmental media production and documentary studies program where students from a wide variety of backgrounds beyond environmental studies work in teams to produce short documentary films that focus on our coastal environment. Designed to expand the way vital stories are told, the program trains students to be thoughtful and informed environmental media makers with knowledge of documentary modes and a toolbox of possibilities for creative intervention. This year’s shorts include Sonic Shores, which explores how the roar of rockets launched by Space-X from Vandenberg travels beneath the waves, startling seals and other marine wildlife; Coyote Coast, which investigates the ecological and social implications of coyotes utilizing our local beaches; Hydra on the Horizon, which advocates against Sable Offshore restarting operations on a corroded pipeline in the Santa Barbara Channel by tracing the legacy of disaster of decades of oil spills through the voices of activists, fishermen and longtime residents; and Society of Fearless Grandmothers, about the group of older women who reflect on humanity’s fractured relationship with the environment and seek a better future for their kin and mankind. The screening will be followed by a reception with the program participants in the theater’s lobby.
WHEN: 7 pm
WHERE: Pollock Theater, UCSB campus
COST: free (reservations recommended)
INFO: (805) 893-5903 or www.carseywolf.ucsb.edu/pollock
SATURDAY, AUGUST 23
Hither and Yorn – New Jersey-born singer-songwriter Pete Yorn debut album Musicforthemorningafter, which received both critical acclaim and strong sales, came after the multi-instrumentalist had already composed the score for the Farrelly brothers’ slapstick comedy Me, Myself & Irene in 2000. Over his quarter-century career (which has included supporting roles in film), Yorn has released a dozen albums; including two collaborations with actress Scarlett Johansson – released a decade apart and featuring original songs inspired by Serge Gainsbourg’s ‘67 and ‘68 albums with Brigitte Bardot. While Yorn hasn’t
SUNDAY, AUGUST 24
War Is Not Safe for Children… – How do we speak with our children about wars that have separated us from the places generations of our ancestors once called home? How can we explain how those wars continue to reverberate in our lives, many years, decades, or even generations after the combat has ended? Mona Damluji penned “I Want You to Know” as a poem of possibility, legacy, and hope to begin a conversation with young readers about our complex and deeply personal relationships to war, migration, identity, and family history. Damluji, professor of Film and Media Studies at UCSB, originally wrote a version of the poem for her daughter on the morning of the 20-year anniversary of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, a place generations of Damluji’s family had called home before fleeing for safety. The book pairs Damluji’s words with Ishtar Bäcklund Dakhil’s vibrant illustrations to help fill the void of that loss. Chaucer’s Books hosts the kid’s story time reading.
WHEN: 2 pm
WHERE: Chaucer’s, 3321 State St. in Loreto Plaza Shopping Center COST: free
INFO: (805) 682-6787 or www.chaucersbooks.com
quite enjoyed commercial success commensurate with his reputation as one of the best songwriters of his generation, his live shows continue to captivate, as evidenced by his having released five live albums. Expect a constellation of music from his 2024 album The Hard Way and earlier when Yorn returns to SOhO for a solo show.
WHEN: 9 pm
WHERE: SOhO, 1221 State St., upstairs in Victoria Court COST: $47
INFO: (805) 962-7776 or www.sohosb.com
SUNDAY, AUGUST 24
Prime Time at the Plaza – Prime Time Band is the community ensemble that provides entry points to music-making for adults age 40+, including those with no musical experience or those who have been inactive for a long time. Now PTB heads down to the beach for their next eagerly-awaited community concert. The group, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, inaugurated the newly-restored Plaza del Mar Band Shell in 2024, and returns to the venue today with director Dr. Paul Mori and a line-up of familiar pop, show tunes and marches. Come early to claim a spot on the lawn for the outdoor concert in the beautiful surroundings of Pershing Park with blankets or beach chairs.
WHEN: 2 pm
WHERE: Plaza del Mar Band Shell, 100 Castillo Street COST: free
INFO: www.ptband.org
MONDAY, AUGUST 25
Poets Unite for 805 UndocuFund – Art-inspired words turn into action and advocacy at the Community Arts Workshop for an evening of powerful verse and community solidarity to support the local organization that provides assistance to undocumented area individuals and families. Six Santa Barbara Poets Laureate are among the dozen poets who will create free form verse on the spot. Using the SomaGlyph Creative Prompt Deck, created by artist Adrienne De Guevara, the poets will craft and perform original works sparked by our troubled times, weaving together themes of struggle, hope and unity in an event that celebrates the resilience of our immigrant community. Proceeds benefit 805 UndocuFund.
WHEN: 7-9 pm
WHERE: SBCAW, 631 Garden St. COST: $30
INFO: www.sbcaw.org/upcoming
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PIANO LESSONS
Openings now available for Children and Adults.
Piano Lessons in our Studio or your Home. Call or Text Kary Kramer (805) 453-3481
Private Chef Eliza
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Customized meals in-home or drop-off
Special occasions & small gatherings 805.705.3618 www.chefeliza.com
General Building Design & Construction Contractor William J. Dalziel Lic. B311003 – 1 (805) 698-4318 billjdalziel@gmail.com
MIRAMAR BEACH CONDO FOR LONG-TERM LEASE
Two bedroom / two bath, furnished beach condo available September 1. Gated entry, two dedicated parking spaces. $ 11,000 / month. No pets. Call owner at (817) 307 8989
FOR SALE BY LIEN HOLDER
1994 Ford F700 Series for SALE by El Toro Holdings, LLC located at 469 Kellogg Way, Goleta, Ca 93117 on account of Cynthia Wheelon. Blind Auction will be held Thursday, August 28th at 12:00pm
CHARMING RENTAL IN HEART OF MONTECITO
Newly Built 2bd/2ba Home in MUS school district. Vaulted Ceilings, Yard, Patio, utilities included $7K/mo. Great weekend getaway too Call/text 805-453-2240
K-9 PALS need volunteers to be foster parents for our dogs while they are waiting for their forever homes. For more information info@k-9pals.org or 805-570-0415 ESTATE/SENIOR SERVICES
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
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.
It’s simple. Charge is $3 per line, each line with 31 characters. Minimum is $10 per issue. Photo/logo/visual is an additional $20 per issue. Email Classified Ad to frontdesk@montecitojournal.net or call (805) 565-1860. All ads must be finalized by Friday at 2pm the week prior to printing. We accept Visa/MasterCard/Amex (3% surcharge)
ByPeteMuller&FrankLongo
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