Issuu

JOURNAL

The Giving List

25 DEC 2025 – 1 JAN 2026 | VOL 31 ISS 52

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SERVING MONTECITO AND SOUTHERN SANTA BARBARA

Deck the Hulls – From caroling crews to towering candy-cane masts, the Parade of Lights turned the harbor into a festive holiday stage, P.12

Hualālai Haven – Spacious villas, personal concierge service, and full resort privileges redefine Hawaiian luxury along Hualālai’s sunlit Kona-Kohala coast, P.14

Making Housing Works, page 23

Chukkers to Construction – Fresh off a sevengoal MVP performance, Patrick Uretz transitions from polo star to rising construction professional, P.18

Year in RE-View From mid-century gems to mega-estates, Montecito’s 2025 real estate market showcased big prices, brisk sales, and vanishing inventory… (Story starts on page 5) A Very SYR New Year

Prestige bubbles, signature keepsakes, candlelit ambiance, and a speakeasy finale make SYR’s New Year’s Eve irresistibly festive, page 10

New Year’s Pops

Expect humor, Hollywood classics, and whistle-worthy tunes as Stuart Malina conducts a festive Symphony pops program to close the year, page 20

a little more holiday cheer at the ranch Our festive decor is still up... cocktails and food are still delicious too!

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25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

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25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Real Estate – Montecito’s 2025 market hits record Elizabeth’s Appraisals – Exploring Camel 5 highs with low inventory, big sales, and surprising 16 Cash culture, banned mascots, and the over-ask standouts

surprising market value of a Joe Camel pup tent

eings and Doings – ‘Tis the complicated season. Your Westmont – National polo champ rides 6 BMenorahs commemorate Maccabean reclamation 18 into a new career, and new co-director leads of a beloved Temple, a pine tree is moved into the living room, and the past quietly issues a summons. It’s not just another month.

Montecito Miscellany – Unity Shoppe’s legacy 8 shines, Catholic Charities honors Chris Toomey, and holiday boutique cheer fills the Santa Barbara Club

etters to the Editor – Saving our cattle, and L the human impact of regionalization of services News Bytes – NYE at San Ysidro Ranch, Raising Our Light ceremony, Lucky’s 25th Anniversary, and other upcoming happenings Tide Guide

college into a greener future

On Entertainment – A pops-perfect New 20 Year’s Eve with Stuart Malina plus comedic

chaos at Kerfuffle and star-powered laughs for CommUnify

Far Flung Travel – Teetering atop Iceland’s 27 Latrabjarg Cliffs, chasing midnight sun and photographing fearless puffins in wild solitude

Foraging Thyme – Discover chayote 28 squash’s antioxidant power and a creamy,

mint-kissed soup topped with caramelized onions

Choice – Rare kākāpō lithograph at 31 Ctheurator’s Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

Calendar of Events – ZooLights, concerts, Ernie’s World – Ernie survives sheep shearing, 36 comedy, 22 whip-cracking, drag pageantry, and New Year’s Eve and a flirtatious llama on his “scholarly” New Zealand adventure

celebrations light up Santa Barbara’s festive week ahead

List – How Housing Works sustains 23 Ta he97%Giving housing-retention rate amid rising need, 38 Classifieds – Our own “Craigslist” of classified deep trauma, and looming funding cuts

ads, in which sellers offer everything from summer rentals to estate sales

– Thirty boats and caroling crews 12 OforurtheTown In Passing – Remembering the life and impact 39th annual Parade of Lights, plus the 24 of Jean Svoboda 39 Mini Meta Crossword Puzzles community menorah gets a light

Travel Buzz – Luxury meets aloha at Hualālai, 26 14 where its moral compass when violence is celebrated private villas blend homey comfort with

Robert’s Big Questions – Can a nation preserve

full Four Seasons indulgence

Montecito JOURNAL

instead of condemned?

“Life’s persistent and most urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” – Martin Luther King Jr.

Local Business Directory – Smart business owners place business cards here so readers know where to look when they need what those businesses offer

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

Real Estate

The Year in Review and Notable Sales by Mark Ashton Hunt

ell, if this fall has been a hint of what winter will be like, I’ll take it as often as I will summer. These past weeks (Thanksgiving week to December 21) have been lovely, and with fewer crowds (the town secret), amazing sunsets, warm days and even some warm nights… those few weeks after Thanksgiving, a calm before the holidays and end of year are always a special time in Montecito. Heading into the last half of December, we see rain on the horizon (perhaps while you read this) and we do need rain. Always, as my grandfather, Bill Hunt (for those over 70 from Santa Barbara) and his brother Robert Hunt (if you are over 70 and from the Santa Ynez Valley), when the family gathered, the main topic was often rain, water, and lack thereof. So I’m grateful for rain as much as it limits outdoor fun. And besides, the clouds and mystical life-giving aspects of rain make things smell so good, especially here in Montecito. Not to mention the “over the ocean” Sunsets of December to February. Enjoy! On the Real Estate front, 2025 was a strong year for sales and sale prices in Montecito’s 93108, on par with recent years past in terms of volume (15+ sales a month on average), though the price ranges and averages have gone up dramatically since 2019. As much as we see an active market, there are many homes remaining on the market longer than I’d imagined they would, some for months or years even… (mostly in the under $10M range but a few larger estates that seem like prime gets). While many homes have remained on the market, I can report that our available housing inventory may be at the lowest point I’ve seen in 20 years. I’m talking only 65 listings in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in Montecito’s 93108 when inventory of recent years would feature near 100 homes for sale, and pre-pandemic numbers were much higher, giving buyers more choices and creating a more competitively priced market. Below is a quick look at sales in Montecito and the greater 93108 over the past year, January 1 to December 20, 2025, with very few closings likely in the coming last 11 days of the year. There were 195+/- closed escrows listed in the MLS and an astounding statistic emerged; there were more homes sold over $10M than under $3M (which used to be 50% of Montecito’s market just eight years ago, when we would only see five or so homes sell over $10,000,000 in a year).

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- 2025 SALES IN MONTECITO – 195+/- homes sold according to the MLS history data. - 33 homes sold for over $10,000,000 (from a beach front Miramar shack to hilltop mansions) - 20 sold between $8M to $10M (a prime price range for achieving pool, tennis, privacy goals) - 66 changed hands between $5M and $8M (Montecito’s sweet spot, offering a wide variety of options) - 47 closed between $3M to $5M (What we now consider entry level for a home in the 93108) - 29 listings sold for less than $3M (many condos, smaller fixers, etc.) Of all ACTIVE LISTINGS on the market in the MLS as of December 20th, the price range inventory of the roughly 65 available homes on the market breaks down as follows.

Real Estate Page 254 254

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25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

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Beings and Doings Bishop of Myra Meets the Arrow of Time by Jeff Wing

ecember is the month we remember (among other things) the good deeds of the well-off Bishop of Myra, a 4th century do-gooder named Nicholas. The guy slipped his considerable inheritance under the doors of many a despondent maiden, that she might find companionship in that day’s dowry-driven lovefest. Much later we would recast Nick as an oddly jovial ectomorph swaddled in red velveteen with white fur trim – a color scheme handily mapped to that of the Coco-Cola can for whose commercial benefit the good bishop would be wildly repurposed. Whew! December is also the temporal endcap on another “year,” the approximate time it takes our wet rock to career like a tipsy fool around the fireball that paints it with energy. As arbitrary as the human construct “the end of the year” may be (our planet’s rotary waltz around the sun is, after all, a circle without beginning

or end), this “year end” notion offers a handy benchmark against which to measure one’s individual life-and-love infused journey. Time (the columnist mused in his dinner jacket, drawing thoughtfully on his bubble pipe) – what is it? It’s the subject of much Philosophy of Science jibber jabber, for one thing. Quantum physics earnestly poses the question why can’t we remember the future? – quantum Confucianism so seemingly moronic it makes the non-physics dimwit feel briefly superior. In fact, in quantum principle time is reversible, but entropy’s increasing cosmic disorganization thataway carries us along with it. And so we find ourselves hurled forward through time on a seeming rocket sled, hair blown back (or in my case blown pretty much completely off the head) by the crazy velocity. Thousands of remembered moments are strung like beads behind us, those moments accruing emotional power as we move ceaselessly away from them

Patrick Wing, Warren AFB, Cheyenne ca. 1967

– famously counseled us to Be Here Now. It took an infusion of psilocybin to part Alpert’s curtain. Why? Why is the incomprehensible value of a moment so often couched as retrospection? It’s more than a little nutty, this piercingly temporal hayride, its component moments infinitely precious.

and they become less and less distinct in memory, viewed as through an increasingly frosted pane of glass. Love (of course) centers the fugue state – love for our families, for our friends present and absent, a yearning love for the past’s weighted seconds and minutes themselves; deepening love for what they were to us. Ram Dass – the former Harvard professor Richard Alpert

Beings & Doings Page 344 344

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25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

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25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

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Montecito Miscellany

A Dash of Holiday Cheer and Unity by Richard Mineards & Friends

ontecito Bank & Trust’s MClub gathered in the Kenny Loggins Community Room at Unity Shoppe for an uplifting afternoon to learn about one of Santa Barbara’s most cherished charities. Executive Director and CEO Angela Miller-Bevan delivered an informative presentation on the organization’s fascinating history, and how today this community cornerstone serves more than 52,000 residents each year with groceries, clothing, job training, and essential support. Unity Shoppe’s roots reach back to 1917, when civic leader Pearl Chase founded the Council of Christmas Cheer to support mothers whose husbands were serving in World War I. Decades later, in 1972, Barbara Tellefson joined Pearl Chase and pledged to carry the mission forward. Tellefson’s dedication led to the first of a series of permanent buildings in downtown. It’s transformation to Unity

Shoppe in 1987 was energized by entertainer Kenny Loggins and KEYT’s annual telethon. Tom Reed signed on in 2002 for 20 years to help Barbara Tellefson grow the organization into a sustainable year-round charity, providing not only food, clothing and toys, but also job training, school supplies, disaster relief, and special gifts for seniors. Tellefson’s insistence on preserving every client’s dignity remains the heart of the organization today. Angela Miller-Bevan continues the legacy and works with stars Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Duane Henry, Jeff Bridges, and country singer Brad Paisley who are all devoted to the mission. In 2012, Brad Paisley and his family volunteered at Unity Shoppe while visiting Santa Barbara and were so taken by how the mission was executed, they committed the next few years to replicating the model in their hometown of Nashville, calling it The Store. Guests included Karen Poythress, Monica Cruz, Anne Luther, Keith Moore, Brenda Blalock, Barbara

LOVE, PEACE & JOY

BELROSE

Montecito Bank & Trust’s MClub in the Kenny Loggins Community Room at Unity Shoppe (photo by Priscilla)

Burger, Judith Green, Marian Jean, Diane Galvan, Robert Luria, Christine Holland, and Dirk Brandts. by Maria McCall

Honoring Chris Toomey at the Mistletoe Ball Catholic Charities’ 33rd Annual Mistletoe Ball, held at Birnam Wood, paid warm tribute to honoree Chris Toomey. Bishop Slawomir Szkredka delivered the invocation and special message from Pope Leo XIV. Martin Bell emceed with his signature charm, opening the program by introducing Irishborn Rev. Maurice O’Mahony with a playful limerick. Father O’Mahony reflected on Toomey’s decades of generosity, including the creation of the Adopt-a-Student program 25 years ago at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. Chris Toomey expressed heartfelt

Catholic Charities’ 33rd Annual Mistletoe Ball was held at Birnam Wood (photo by Priscilla)

Miscellany Page 354 354

WISHING A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON.

ESTATE JEWELERS (805) 966 - 1707

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Chris Toomey (third from right) was honored during the evening’s events (photo by Priscilla) “Always give without remembering and always receive without forgetting.” – Brian Tracy

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

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25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

villagesite.com | 805.969.8900 | DRE 01206734

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Letters to the Editor

News Bytes NYE at SYR

OC (save our cattle) from horrible inhumane slaughter. Every time I drive up in the country, I enjoy seeing all the free-roaming cattle with their cute calves on the hillside. It’s nice to see happy cows while they are alive, knowing that eventually they’re going to end up on someone’s dinner table. I have an attorney friend in Arizona that has not eaten beef for over 50 years. When he lived in Philadelphia, he went to a slaughterhouse and what he witnessed traumatized him so badly he never ate beef again… he would not tell me what the monsters did to those poor cows, it was that horrible. After reading the article “Where’s the beef?” wanting to send cattle to criminals to be slaughtered is horrific. I can’t imagine the type of person that would line up for that job? There really should be a gentler, less traumatizing way to execute these animals for consumption. I’m really, really hoping that animal welfare, animal activists, and the animal Humane Society steps up to the plate here and does something on behalf of these animals. Danielle Loveall

The Human Impact The recent article describing the transition of Montecito Fire Department’s dispatch services to the Regional Fire Communications Center outlines operational changes. What it does not address is the human impact of that transition. I was a dispatcher at the Montecito Fire Department, and I was the only employee laid off when the South Coast Dispatch Center was shut down. I am not of retirement age. While other employees were able to retire, I lost my job as a direct result of this decision. During my tenure, I served this community during some of its most devastating moments, including the Thomas Fire and the January 9 debris flow, for which I was the dispatcher on duty. Like many dispatchers, my role required calm, clarity, and intimate knowledge of the community during life-threatening emergencies. Regionalization may* bring efficiencies and expanded resources, and those benefits deserve acknowledgment. But this transition did not simply relocate dispatch services — it eliminated a local dispatch center and resulted in a layoff. Public safety systems are built on people, not just infrastructure. The community deserves transparency about both the operational benefits and the human cost of this change. Respectfully, A devastated former employee.

YOUR LETTERS MATTER! The Montecito Journal thrives on community input… Have thoughts on a local issue? Comments on one of our articles? Contact us at letters@montecitojournal.net

by MJ Staff

an Ysidro Ranch invites guests to welcome 2026 with an evening that blends classic elegance, culinary artistry, and warm Montecito charm. The New Year’s Eve Gala begins at 5 pm with Prestige Champagne and an amuse-bouche, setting the tone for a refined four-course dinner paired with exceptional wines, including a Grand Cru red to complement the main course. Flickering fireplaces, twinkling lights, and soft candlelight create an intimate setting throughout the night, capturing the Ranch’s storied ambiance. Each guest will also receive a special SYR-branded keepsake – a thoughtful memento of the celebration. Ring in the New Year at San Ysidro Ranch As the evening winds down, the (courtesy photo) festivities continue with an optional Speakeasy After-Hours Lounge from 10 pm to midnight. Guests can enjoy live music, handcrafted cocktails, and celebratory magnums leading into the countdown. At $500 per guest, reservations are required by calling the Stonehouse at (805) 565-1720.

Raising Our Light

JOURNAL

Save Our Cattle

The Montecito community will come together on January 9, 2026, for Raising Our Light, an annual ceremony honoring the 23 community members lost in the 1/9 Debris Flow. The event begins at 6 pm outside Montecito Union School, where attendees will hear brief remarks and a solemn reading of the names of those who died. In a symbolic tribute, 23 bells will ring simultaneously from local churches and schools, followed by 23 candles lit by Montecito firefighters and a shared moment of silence. Afterward, guests are invited into the school courtyard for fellowship and refreshments generously provided by

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

News Bytes Page 314 314

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

Montecito Tide Guide Day

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Thurs, Dec 25 Fri, Dec 26 Sat, Dec 27 Sun, Dec 28 Mon, Dec 29 Tues, Dec 30 Wed, Dec 31 Thurs, Jan 1 12:28 AM 2.3 Fri, Jan 2 1:24 AM 2.3

1:54 AM 2:34 AM 3:15 AM 3:56 AM 4:39 AM 5:24 AM 6:10 AM 6:58 AM 7:47 AM

3.8 4.1 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 6.8 7.0

6:24 AM 7:57 AM 9:38 AM 11:02 AM 12:06 PM 12:59 PM 01:48 PM 02:34 PM 03:19 PM

2.8 2.6 2.1 1.3 0.4 -0.5 -1.2 -1.6 -1.9

12:03 PM 01:08 PM 02:41 PM 04:31 PM 06:10 PM 07:26 PM 08:26 PM 09:15 PM 10:00 PM

10 Montecito JOURNAL

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“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill

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Published by: Montecito Journal Media Group, LLC Montecito Journal is compiled, compounded, calibrated, cogitated over, and coughed up every Wednesday by an exacting agglomeration of excitable (and often exemplary) expert edifiers at 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Montecito, CA 93108. How to reach us: (805) 565-1860; FAX: (805) 969-6654; Montecito Journal, 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Montecito, CA 93108; EMAIL: tim@montecitojournal.net

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

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25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

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Montecito JOURNAL

Our Town

39th Annual Parade of Lights is a Candy Cane Cove Spencer MacRae’s 1st Place winning Commercial Other boat, Parade of Lights 2025 (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

by Joanne A Calitri

he 39 th Annual Parade of Lights was held on Sunday, December 14, from 3 pm through to the 7:30 pm holiday fireworks display. The boat entries were the best yet this year, with their interpretation of the 2025 contest theme, “Candy Cane Cove.” Indeed, there were lights shaped like candy canes, some as high as the mainsail. Santa and elves were

dressed in candy cane colors, two boats were singing carols to the judges with a call and response – “when I say Merry you say… Christmas!” – and there were more unique takes on the theme, providing strong competition for the coveted Grand Prize and First Place wins. Parade of Lights Committee Chair Captain Skip Abed, who is the SB Harbor Merchants Association President, is in charge of the awards ceremony and gifts for the winners from event spon-

Celebrate the Season, Savor the Moment.

The Parade of Lights event is organized by Angela Rodriguez, the City of SB Waterfront Administrative Analyst II and Public Information Officer, who does a stellar job. Assisting with duties for over 15 years are Captain Dave Bacon with his wife Cathy as emcees, and tallying the scores were Angela, Damian Gadal, and Karina Arroyo. Each year, I am honored with a VIP pass to join the official judges’ perch to take great photos for our readers and get the full BTS insider info. The judge’s party is hosted at The Moby Dick Restaurant by Karl Hutterer, Treasurer of The Stearns Wharf Business Association. The announcement of the winners took place at Gracie Restaurant in the SB Harbor. The 2025 Parade Judges were Moby Dick Operations Manager Logan Goldberg who stepped in for Mayor Rowse, Jaime Diamond of Santa Barbara Landing/Coral Sea Sportfishing/ Stardust Sportfishing, President of Stern’s Wharf Business Association and G.M. of Celebration Cruises Rebecca Buel, Harbor Commission Chair Adam Stanowick, and the 2024 SB Yacht Club Commodore Jeff Berkus. Their job is to score each boat entrant based on the vessel’s lights and decorations fidelity to the parade theme, their effective use of lights on the vessel, and their vessel’s overall wow factor in the parade. Big shout outs to the local businesses that provided the prizes for the boat entrants: Sponsoring Businesses for Parade Competition Prizes: Boat Launch Mini Mart, Brass Bear, Brophy Bros., Celebration Cruises, Channel Island Expedition, Dive Santa Barbara, Harbor Marine Works, Harbor Market, Harbor

sors. He announced at the award party that this year the cash prizes doubled, bringing $500 for first place, $200 for second place and $100 for third place, in addition to gift cards, wine, and more from sponsoring merchants. The judging of boat parade contestants starts at 3 pm for the Human Powered category, the daylight hour a safety consideration as they paddle along the SB Harbor. They shared the scene with a “Winter Wonderland” across from Brophy’s Restaurant. Here kids of all ages met Santa, Mrs. Claus, and their elves in 10 feet of snow. Happy kids received brown gift bags filled with coloring books, toys, and more. The boat contest for the power and sail boats starts at 5:30 pm. The parade route, led by the SB Harbor Patrol, has the boats cruise east along Leadbetter Beach to the Cabrillo Pavilion, turn around and go west to Stearns Wharf, passing on the right side for the judges who are perched on the outside deck of the Moby Dick Restaurant. From there, they return to their boat slip in the harbor to clear the waterways for the fireworks show. Total entrants this year was over 30 in the power and sail categories and 10 contestants in the human power category. Grand Prize and 1st Place Power Boat Winner: William Hahn, boat #31 Blue Haven 1st Place Commercial Fishing Boat: Bernard Freidman, boat #24 Perseverance 1st Place Commercial Other Boat: Spencer MacRae, boat #14 Kelpie 1st Place Sailboat: Ryan McCord, boat #27 Rascal 1st Place Human Power boat: Shawn Hughes

Candy canes and light filled the night (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

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Our Town Page 304 304

Angela Rodriguez, Mayor Rowse, and the Parade of Lights 2025 judges Logan Goldberg, Jaime Diamond, Rebecca Buel, Adam Stanowick and Jeff Berkus (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

“Every charitable act is a stepping stone toward heaven.” – Henry Ward Beecher

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

C alc a gno & Ha m ilto n Re a l Estate Gr o up MONTECITO & SANTA BARBARA’S #1 REAL ESTATE TEAM*

2025 Year-to-date | 80+ Transactions | $210M+ Sales Volume At this time of year, we’re reminded that a house is so much more than a place to live — it’s where we gather, laugh, and make memories with the people we love. Helping our clients find those cherished spaces is truly the heart of what we do. This year, we were grateful to facilitate over 80 transactions totaling over $210M in sales volume, guiding buyers and sellers throughout Montecito, Santa Barbara, Carpinteria and the Santa Ynez Valley. Thank you for trusting us to help you find home.

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©2025 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties (BHHSCP) is a member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates LLC. BHH Affiliates LLC and BHHSCP do not guarantee accuracy of all data including measurements, conditions, and features of property. Information is obtained from various sources and will not be verified by broker or MLS. Buyer is advised to independently verify the accuracy of that information.

*Per SB MLS: #1 Team for Units Sold | ** Santa Barbara South County: Goleta through Carpinteria

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

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Travel Buzz

Great Room in the Ka’ulu Villa 111A (courtesy photo)

Hualālai Villas & Homes for a Luxurious, Private, Big Island Escape Puka Pa 4 at twilight (courtesy photo)

by Leslie A. Westbrook

y dear friends, artist and UCSB professor emeritus Gary Brown and his partner, sculptor and adventurous sportsman Rob Smart, have long debated their ideal vacation style. “I like a hotel – with room service and turn-down linens,” Gary says, adding “Rob likes a house.” On the Big Island of Hawai‘i, I believe I found the perfect compromise: the Hualālai Villas and Homes managed by the Four Seasons and offering the space

and privacy of a home – and access to surf and foiling spots – with the polish and services of a world-class resort. Guests enjoy daily housekeeping, high-quality linens, and full access to the adjacent Four Seasons Hualalai Resort, including its pools, spa, restaurants, fitness facilities, and beachside activities. Many of the residences feature private pools and outdoor showers – luxuries I know Gary and Rob would both appreciate. Situated along the sun-drenched KonaKohala coast, Hualālai has matured gracefully over its two decades. With roughly 300 homes and villas – 65 of them man-

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14 Montecito JOURNAL

aged by Four Seasons and another 25 in the high-end rental program – the community is known for its island style elegance and sense of privacy combined with classic aloha friendly. Multi-generational families, couples, and return guests value the ease of having their own home paired with the convenience of resort amenities. Golf carts are included, making it effortlessly fun to cruise around the beautifully landscaped property and golf course.

A Resort at Your Fingertips What makes these residences particularly appealing for travelers like Gary and Rob is that, while you benefit from the space and privacy of a luxury home, you can still tap into the full energy and amenities of the adjacent Four Seasons Hualalai Resort via a daily access fee. The options are abundant: several pools, including King’s Pond – where guests can snorkel among tropical fish – and the serene Quiet Pool; an expansive fitness center; tennis courts; and what my colleague and longtime Big Island travel writer Jeanne Cooper calls “the island’s best spa.” Dining is equally enticing. Miller + Lux offers an elevated culinary experience, while the oceanfront Residents’ Beach Club remains a guest favorite for its relaxed ambiance. ‘ULU Ocean Grill has recently reopened after enhancements, and Beach Tree Restaurant continues to impress with its much-loved breakfast buffet, as well as lunch and dinner. During my visit, my friend Lenna, dining with her husband Gabriel while visiting from France, declared the pork chop at Beach Tree “the best of her life.”

Distinctive Homes Where Details Matter Each residence and villa has its own personality, and part of the experience is discovering the one that matches your aesthetic. Once you master the intuitive (and sometimes not-so-intuitive in my case) touches – ceiling-fan controls, automatic shades, ambient lighting panels, sound systems, and even the unlocking of the Wolf stovetop – your temporary Hawaiian home becomes a welcoming retreat. Small luxuries – like a milk steamer for the perfect morning coffee – or major ones, like a lava-rock spa suitable for a moonlit or morning dip, reveal how thoughtfully these homes are designed and equipped. Among the properties I toured was a chic three-bedroom home dressed in crisp black-and-white with vibrant accents – a modern Palm Springs vibe set against the island’s natural backdrop. It rents for $5,000 to $6,000 per night depending on season. A bright, upper-level two-bedroom villa – spacious, breezy, and elegant – falls into the $1,400 to $2,500 nightly range, while units in this category can sell for $3 million to $4 million when they come on the market. Larger luxury homes start around $8 million and rise from there. One standout was PukaPa 4, a serene, minimalist masterpiece where glass doors retract fully to reveal an infinity pool overlooking the Pacific, with Maui shimmering in the distance. With five outdoor showers and an atmosphere of refined tranquility, it rents for $7,000 to $8,000 per night. My stay was in an estate villa valued around $10M, set near the 15th hole of the golf course. Guests enter via a lotus pond and gentle waterfall; an ohana (guest house) offers airy, Zen-inspired serenity and privacy for guests. The pool and spa were well used and appreciated from dawn to dusk by all. I didn’t tour Laueki Estate, but it comes highly recommended as a “favorite” by those in the know.

“A holiday is an opportunity to journey within.”– Prabhas

The Art of Outdoor Living Of all the luxuries, the outdoor shower at my villa – a sanctuary framed by orchids, fragrant tropical plants, and an Indonesian rain drum – may have been the most memorable. Paired with the private pool and spa, the scent of plumeria in the air, the rhythmic crash of the Pacific, and gentle breezes through the palms, the setting offered a pure, restorative calm. Hualalai’s Residences and Villas provide an effortless blend of seclusion, comfort, and world-class service – an ideal escape for travelers seeking the soul of Hawai‘i without sacrificing refined luxury. Oh and did I tell you? The pièce de résistance is a personal concierge who helps and guides with all the details! Visit www.hualalaivillasandhomes.com Whenever visiting the Hawaiian Islands, be sure to take the Island of Hawai’i’s Pono Pledge which translates to “One’s love for the planet is an inseverable relationship.” For more info and to pledge to be pono (righteous) on the island go to: www.PonoPledge.com

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

THE FINEST MONTECITO & SANTA BARBARA HOMES

Warmest holiday wishes to you and yours. As the season of gratitude and celebration arrives, I find myself especially thankful for the relationships, trust, and sense of community that make Montecito and Santa Barbara such remarkable places to call home. This time of year is a gentle reminder of how meaningful “home” truly is—where traditions are honored, memories are made, and new chapters take shape. I wish you a holiday season filled with joy, peace, and time well spent with those you cherish, and a New Year ahead marked by health, happiness, and possibility. It is a privilege to work with you, and I look forward to what the coming year brings. With heartfelt thanks and holiday cheer,

Cristal Clarke

C R I S T A L C L A R K E | 8 0 5 . 8 8 6 . 9 378 MONTECITO-ESTATE.COM | CRISTAL@MONTECITO-ESTATE.COM | DRE 00968247

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25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

I II

MOVING

Iii

Elizabeth’s Appraisals

cloth bundle bag, by the 14th century closely associated with thievery. In Queensland, “swaggin’ it” means hauling stuff. Will Shakespeare included ‘swagger’ in a 1580 play where it meant (and still means) “to strut defiantly;” and fast forward to Hip Hop culture, which discovered in the word “swag” that blend of hipness, coolness, and defiance embodied by exaggerated, flashy accessories, also known as bling. In the 1960s the word was reinforced by the knowledge that s-w-a-g was in fact a hidden acronym – “Stuff We All Get” – and was paralleled in the scientific community by “Scientific Wild Ass Guess.” Jay-Z and Soulja Boy included the word in songs in the 1990s. The Urban Dictionary likens the word to cool self-assuredness and rizz, also freebies stolen or otherwise bagged by materialistic opportunists. The king of swag in the 1980s -1990s was Joe Camel himself, mascot for the oldest branded cigarettes in the U.S. (1913). Joe himself was based on a real camel named Old Joe, a featured performer in the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Old Joe’s stately photo graced early R.J. Reynolds brand-establishing campaigns for their Camel cigarettes, before devolving into the swinging mascot of later years. Why a camel? The tobacco used in the cigarettes was Turkish. Never mind that camels are not native to Turkey and those typically seen by tourists there are imported for the historic Camel Wrestling, a ticketed battle between two male camels during the mating season. Although a camel was used on the cigarette packaging since its first design in France, it wasn’t until the 1960s when American advertising firm McCann Erickson NY designed a camel who looked like a combination of (Humphrey) Bogart and (Gary) Cooper. When it became evident that 1970s smokers really didn’t know Bogart and Cooper, Sean Connery and Don Johnson features were added to make Joe Camel’s face a winner. Now to TT’s question: is there a market? The 1993 catalogue for Camel Cash pictured sells for $15, and you will see Smoking Joe in a tuxedo on a motorcycle, holding winning playing cards, with adoring females in the background. The value of TT’s tent to nostalgia-collectors of 1980-1990 swag? $400.

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by Elizabeth Stewart

sends me a piece of 1980s-1990s swag, a Joe Camel Pup Tent, and wonders how a tent was associated with Camel cigarettes. An RJ Reynolds Tobacco advertising campaign of that period leveraged their hip, branded cartoon character, Joe Camel, placing into each pack of Camel cigarettes one note of “Camel Cash,” redeemable for a host of material goods. These tchotchkes included ash trays, camping tents, Zippo lighters, sleeping bags, a very rizz Joe Camel leather bomber jacket (with a camel shaped zipper pull and Joe Camel posing with a pool cue on the back), neon Joe Camel bar signs, pool cues, sweatshirts, a Joe Camel inspired jukebox, a blow torch lighter, matchbooks, windbreakers, fanny packs, a Camel Lotus watch, Camel Vans, shower curtains, a favorite camel thermidor tin, and keychains – to mention a few of the great items you could claim by redeeming Camel Cash (see www.camel.com). Ironically, Camel Cash didn’t come in the packs of non-filtered cigarettes, only the filtered packs. (As we’ll see, the Joe Camel campaign had been occasionally accused of targeting the youth market, who likely had little overlap with the filterless hard core smokers.) Other cigarette brands had their own swag promotional reward campaigns, such as so-called Marlboro Miles (included only in packs of Marlboro Reds). Not to be outdone, Virginia Slims offered promotional materials to their target demographic; the ladies – whose tastes the R.J. Reynolds marketers presumed to include lined trench coats and daily diaries. Marlboro had a different “take” on coolness. The outdoorsy macho Marlboro Man was a free spirited loner, so promotional commercial stuff was targeted to the rebel: a Marlboro Fuji folding mountain bike, sleeping bags, wheeled duffle bags, fleece coats, hammocks, Swiss

How much Camel Cash does it take for a tent?

watches, cameras, a Marlboro Man guitar, matching jean jackets, and leather backpacks. All this merch could be perused in the glossy paper catalogue that came in the U.S. Mail in the 1990s. Essentially Green Stamps for smokers, Marlboro Miles came in packs of Reds; unlike Camel Cash, with Marlboro Miles you could save 100 Miles and buy a carton of Special Lights. It seems like yesterday; Marlboro Miles were discontinued in 2006. Camel Cash did not have that kind of longevity, due to the seductive nature of Joe Camel. Reporting in the NY Times on March 10, 1992, Clinton Administration Health officials and the FTC abolished the use of the cartoon character Joe Camel, as children identified with Joe Camel alongside their favorite Disney characters. The claim was made that the anthropomorphic Joe Camel enticed kids and teens to smoke. (Other cartoon characters were similarly banned: KOOL cigarette’s Penguin mascot, 2004 Bud-Weis-Er frog, and even Ronald McDonald who promoted junk food to kids. Do you remember the great “Adbusters” of the 1990s? In 1996 they pictured a dying bedridden Camel titled “Joe Chemo” to hammer home the point. Before 1980 the only swag I knew was Mom’s orange tassel curtains. It turns out the history of the word is multi-leveled, its etymology the Swedish “svagga:” to sway. What things sway? A

“What is Christmas? It is the tenderness of the past, courage for the present, and hope for the future.” – Agnes M. Pahro

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

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

As we approach eight years since the 1/9 Debris Flow, our community is invited to gather at Montecito Union School to connect and remember the 23 lives we lost.

Friday, January 9, 2026 Montecito Union School 385 San Ysidro Road 6:00 p.m. SPEAKERS

READING OF THE NAMES

BELL RINGING

COURTYARD RECEPTION

Need someone to talk to? Santa BarbaraCounty Department ofBehavioral Wellness is here to support you. Contact the Community Wellness Team at 805-699-6001. WATCH ONLINE AT KEYT.COM/livestream-2

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARCO FARRELL

Thank you to the Raising Our Light Event Coordinators & Sponsors

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

Your Westmont

National Polo Champ Trades His Helmet for a Hard Hat by Scott Craig, photos by Brad Elliott

atrick Uretz (‘14), who won two national championships with Westmont’s club polo team in 2013-14, is leaving professional polo for a career in construction. But until he rides into the sunset, he remains a formidable opponent. Patrick contributed seven goals in USA’s triumph in the II Federation of International Polo (FIP) Arena World Championship in Virginia and earned recognition as the Most Valuable Player. Fellow alums and friends Alex Willson (‘14) and Ky Koebele (‘14) showed up to cheer for Patrick and Team USA, which defeated Argentina 16-14 in the championship. “I made some of the best friends of my life at Westmont – I’ll have them forever,” he says. “The Westmont community is small but mighty, and the education I received helped me get where I am and prepared me for life with and without polo.”

Coach Billy Sheldon (left) celebrates with Patrick Uretz, Jarod Sheldon, Kareem Rosser and FIP CEO Alex Taylor (photo by Oana Moore)

Patrick Uretz shows his mallet skills (photo by Oana Moore)

Patrick and his three brothers, alumni Wiley (‘12), Tony (‘16), and Hank (‘19), share a love for horses, learned, perhaps, from their parents, who met

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18 Montecito JOURNAL

He and his wife, Emily Kasprowicz, live in Calabasas and prepare to welcome their first child in 2026. “Westmont creates a community of people who love and rely on each other,” Patrick says. “I’ve made many connections with Westmont alums because we went to the same school and share a common faith.”

during a riding lesson. “My mom says a family that plays together stays together, so we’ve always played polo as a family in Santa Barbara and Palm Springs,” he says. Hired to play polo in Canada during his sophomore year, Patrick earned enough money to buy three horses. His stature continued to rise after he graduated, competing in the 12 Goal season and the Pacific Coast Open in Santa Barbara. Chosen to play with Team USA in the FIP World Polo Championship, Patrick first qualified in the Dominican Republic and then competed in the 2015 finals in Chile, losing 12–11 in overtime to the hosts. “Losing that match stung,” he says, “so it meant a lot to win one and receive that gold medal.” Patrick acknowledges some truth in the stereotype of polo as the sport of kings, the elite and the wealthy. “But behind the scenes, countless people – the groomers, trainers, breeders and support staff – work tirelessly to care for the horses and make the sport possible,” he says. “Many come from more modest backgrounds.” An economics and business major, Patrick studied real estate investment and development with adjunct professor John Tynan, which encouraged him to consider a career in construction. “Case studies on development got me excited about it,” he says. “I’d always thought about construction and then I had the opportunity to pursue it.” Patrick works for Western Built Construction and oversees construction of a 24-unit commercial and residential development in Carpinteria. The firm’s owner, Justin Klentner, happens to be an accomplished polo player. “He understands my situation and allows me to take advantage of opportunities, such as flying to Virginia and playing in the World Cup,” Patrick says. “I plan to keep polo a part of my life while continuing my development work in Santa Barbara and Carpinteria. The housing shortage here offers significant opportunities.”

“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.” – Hamilton Wright Mabie

Seibert Leads College into a Greener Future Christine Seibert, Westmont’s new assistant director of environmental studies, brings a rare blend of scientific training, deep Christian conviction, and a contagious enthusiasm for helping communities care for God’s creation. Her journey into sustainability began unexpectedly in high school, when she encountered a small booklet, Loving the Least of These, published by the National Association of Evangelicals. It articulated a biblical call to protect creation, especially because environmental degradation so often harms the world’s most vulnerable. For Seibert, who loves science but knew medicine wasn’t her path, this was a revelation. Environmental work, she realized, could be a powerful expression of Christian love: a way to serve neighbors, witness to her faith and join God’s work of reconciliation.

Westmont Page 254 254

Christine Seibert

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

“[Michael V. Drake] has used his decades of experience to advocate for better access to higher education for all Californians and has always fought for academic excellence.” – Governor Gavin Newsom

One of The New York Times’ 10 Best Books of 2024

UC President Emeritus

An Evening with

Miranda July

Dr. Michael V. Drake

Tue, Jan 20 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall

In Conversation with Dr. Susannah Scott

“By tangling explicitly with reality across mediums, July pushes autofiction to new limits.” The Guardian (U.K.)

Thu, Jan 22 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall

“In Compagnie Hervé KOUBI’s Sol Invictus, the dancers’ extraordinary moves are integrated into a poetic vision.” The New York Times

A Next Generation Jazz Legacy

Compagnie Hervé KOUBI

Terence Blanchard and Ravi Coltrane

Sun, Jan 25 / 7:30 PM / Granada Theatre

Tue, Jan 27 / 7:30 PM / Granada Theatre

California Premiere Dazzling Hip Hop Choreography From France

Sol Invictus

Miles Davis and John Coltrane Centennial

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

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

On Entertainment Popping Off the New Year with The Symphony by Steven Libowitz

he thing about symphonic pops concerts is that while you need to be super serious about how the orchestra performs the music, you also have to recognize that pops concerts are supposed to be fun. This isn’t Mahler, after all. That’s no issue with Stuart Malina, who will be making his local debut wielding the baton for the Santa Barbara Symphony’s annual New Year’s Eve with The Symphony concert on, of course, December 31. The longtime music director of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra is a pops promoter who early on not only saved that ensemble’s pops program right after he was hired, he made it thrive through five monthly performances every year – outings that coexist alongside the more classical regular program. Determining just how long he’s been at Harrisburg is where his sense of humor showed up early in our conversation. That’s because while the Harrisburg Symphony’s website has him in his 26th year at the helm, the Santa Barbara press release pegged it as 25 and Malina’s own website boasted about 24. “Oh, God, that doesn’t surprise me at all,” he said. “I haven’t really been on top of updating it because I’ve wondered whether a lot of people other than my dad and my brother ever looked at it. But now I will fix that forthwith.” Harrisburg, by the way, is located about an hour or so away from New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. Which begs an even more important question: which city’s baseball team does Malina root for? “That’s easy,” he said. “I’ve been a New York Mets fan from birth. I was born the same year that they were born, and my dad was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, so he couldn’t be a Yankees fan. So that’s been my fate in life.”

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20 Montecito JOURNAL

Ring in the new year with The Symphony (courtesy photo)

A guy who uses ‘forthwith’ in a casual conversational sentence and is also a big baseball fan? Now we’re getting somewhere. After I offer my condolences about his team’s pitiful collapse last season, not to mention losing three core members of its team in recent weeks, I tell him that I’ve been a Red Sox fan for as long as he’s been alive, so we share a hatred of the Yankees. The next 10 minutes are all about baseball, specifically Game Six of the 1986 World Series, the one between the Red Sox and the Mets that so transcends the sport that it even formed the basis for an episode of Seinfeld. I relay my tale of woe at that unbelievable turnaround that I watched unfold in a New Jersey bar – where the patrons roared back to life as my heart sank when Boston’s 99.9 percent chance of winning turned to zero, which led to the Mets claiming baseball’s title the following night. Malina has a topper. “I was at that game,” he said. “My brother gave me his ticket after going the night before. So God bless him for life. Some fans got up to leave early when there were two out in the bottom of the 10th, but the people around them screamed at them and shamed them into staying.” Even though the team has had its issues ever since, Malina hasn’t wavered. “I am very proud of my Mets,” he said. “Even when they stink, I still love them.” Malina’s credentials as a conductor and musician are even more considerable. His education includes degrees from Harvard University, the Yale School of Music, and the Curtis Institute, while his experience at the dais runs to conducting the New York Pops in an all-Gershwin tribute at Carnegie Hall, leading from the keyboard for Rhapsody in Blue, two concert tours of Russia sponsored by the U.S. Russian Embassy; performing frequently as a pianist both as soloist and in chamber music; and, oh yeah, winning the Tony award for orchestration with Billy Joel for the musical Movin’ Out, which Malina helped create with director-choreographer Twyla Tharp. Malina also played the pianist in the seven-week pre-Broadway run of Terrence McNally’s Master Class at the Kennedy Center, where he coached Zoe Caldwell on her Italian diction before she won the Tony as Maria Callas in New York. “She actually thanked me in her Tony speech, which was really cool,” he said. Broadway musicals were Malina’s first love, so it’s no surprise several selections from the Golden Age will be performed at the Santa Barbara concert, one of which has an All-American music theme for the last night of the year. “We’ve got a rich tradition of music here, and it always made zero sense to me to do European waltzes and polkas on New Year’s Eve in the United States,” he said. “We’re focusing on music of Hollywood and Broadway, ranging from Richard Rogers to some of the hits from the 1950s and ‘60s, plus a couple of pieces by John Williams. It’s going to be a lot of things that people will whistle on their way out that also show off the orchestra.” As for whether there’s a thrust through the concert, Malina said it’s more about pacing. “It’s pops, but there are still hills and valleys in terms of energy. It can’t be fireworks all the way, so there are ballads and more lyrical numbers where you sit back and smile in order to make the others come to life. But everything is really terrific.” That includes guest vocalist Madison Claire Parks, who is also making her Santa Barbara after, most recently, 700 performances as Glinda in Wicked’s national tour, and numerous appearances with other musicals and symphony orchestras over the years. “Madison is an amazing, fantastic singer,” said Malina, who previously worked with the vocalist. “The audience is going to love her.” Malina, too, I’d say.

Entertainment Page 264 264

“There’s something about a Christmas sweater that will always make me laugh.” – Kristen Wiig

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

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MONTECITO JOURNAL 25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026 NETFLIX: FRANKENSTEIN PUB DATE: 12/25/25

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• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

Ernie’s World I’m Feeling Sheepish by Ernie Witham

know a lot of you have “sheep shearing” high on your bucket list. Totally understandable. We all want to see where those twenty-bucks-a-pair Bombas socks come from. And, of course, the origins of our beloved shag carpets. A great place to witness our wooly friends becoming unwooly is New Zealand, a country with far more sheep than people. No one knows exactly how many, because every time residents try counting sheep, they fall asleep. But, according to the latest statistics, there are about 4.5 sheep per person. Which means for a family of five, you need a very large apartment with really good ventilation. I learned a lot about sheep on “A New Zealand Odyssey” a 16-day Road Scholar trip. I know what you are thinking, how did I qualify for a scholar trip? Simple, I lied on the application. Our coach pulled up to Real Country Farm just outside Queenstown and we hopped off into bright sunshine. Then we hopped back on to put on more clothes. If Mark Twain had ever visited New Zealand, he might have said: “The coldest winter I ever spent was early summer on the South Island.” Which is why you want 4.5 sheep to cuddle with at night – even if they do monopolize the TV remote. “Oh, come on! ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ again!” Our Real Country Farm instructors told us all about being in the sheep industry, which is even harder than being a writer. For instance, all sheep need to be sheared, so large ranches

have to hire groups of professionals. Otherwise the sheep get so large you can only fit three to a paddock and the sheep herding dog keeps disappearing. There are two main types of sheep in New Zealand, leaders and followers. Just kidding, they are all followers. The two kinds are Merino (sweaters) and Romney (carpets). Today, we were going to witness a Romney getting sheared. Our instructor went to get a sheep. We sat there expecting her to lead it back in with a rope, but instead she dragged the sheep in on its butt, her arms under the front legs and the hind legs splayed out behind it. “If I keep its legs off the ground, it knows it can’t move so it stays calm. Then I can quickly shear it.” I asked if it hurt. “No, it’s just like you shaving.” I looked at my wife, who’s always been curious as to what I look like without my moustache. She was writing this technique down on the back of our itinerary and drawing a picture of me with my legs splayed out. There were other couples on our Road Scholar tour and several of the wives were also writing this down. The shearing went well, and we all got to grab a handful of the future throw rug, as our instructor dragged the much thinner sheep away. Next we had a hands-on whip-cracking demonstration. They explained, as we lined up with copious space between us, that rather than leather at the snapping end, it was just cloth, because you didn’t need to hit the animals, just scare them into moving. Again, Pat wrote this down with a sketch of me doing housework. “The other reason the whip end is cloth is so if you accidently hit yourself, it won’t

Learning the proper way to relax and shear a sheep

with a llama named Dolly. We thanked the instructors, boarded our coach, and headed to lunch. Being part of a working sheep farm for an hour sure builds an appetite.

hurt as much.” Immediately after she said this, I hit myself. True enough, the welt on my arm was far less than other welts I had accumulated over the years. One of the wives in our group quickly mastered the technique and was cracking the whip every time. I looked at her husband and he was mopping his brow, even though it was about 16 degrees Celsius. We also got to watch a sheep dog work a small herd, rounding them up and quickly bringing them from the far end of the pasture to much cheering and baa-ing. Finally, they put us into a pen with a bunch of animals and gave us handfuls of pellets to feed them. I really hit it off

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

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“The darkness of the whole world cannot swallow the glowing of a candle.” – Robert Atlinger

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

The Giving List Housing Works by Steven Libowitz

“I

’ve been reflecting deeply on what it means to show up,” Housing Works’ Executive Director Celina Alvarez writes in her welcome letter for the organization’s just-released annual report. The document explains the org’s work, housing and sustaining the homeless, at every level. “[But] not as a case manager or nonprofit professional, but as a human being. In this work, our staff hold incredible emotional and moral responsibility. They walk alongside folks through trauma, relapse, complex mental health challenges, violence, and more often than not, death. They listen to stories of pain that most people could not bear to hear, and then they get up the next morning and do it all over again.” Indeed, the nonprofit continued to grow and support 454 once-homeless people across Los Angeles County while also sustaining its trauma-informed and wellness-centered efforts. Housing Works also created deeper partnerships with hospitals, housing developers, and peers in the fight against the homeless issue while also training its staff in reflective supervision and restorative practice. The organization has a four-pronged approach to create housing opportunities for those facing the challenges of homelessness. Its Scattered Site Housing program provides effective, flexible, accessible, and comprehensive services so that tenants can sustain their housing, develop the skills to manage their own lives, and build the confidence and personal resources to invest in their individual futures and genuinely thrive in their home and community. The Single Site Housing program forges partnerships with property developers to be the on-site provider of supportive services to tenants who were formerly experiencing chronic homelessness. The nonprofit now counts 11 single site buildings in the program, including Bungalow Gardens, which specifically houses formerly incarcerated individuals. Housing Works’ MIST (Mobile Integrated Services Team) assists chronically homeless individuals and families in locating Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) units acquired through partnerships with nonprofit housing developers and private landlords. Once they’re housed, MIST provides to these tenants comprehensive, supportive services to help new tenants sustain their housing – from transitioning, to building a safe, inclusive and healthy community, to following an individual path of 25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

In its most recent fiscal year, Housing Works served a total of 1,174 PSH households and aided more than 400 others through housing navigation (courtesy photo)

recovery – while also providing housing retention and eviction prevention services to at-risk households. The organization’s Special Projects Team works with local medical providers throughout Los Angeles, connecting in this way with people experiencing homelessness who frequent hospitals. The goal is to match them with housing. In its most recent fiscal year, Housing Works served a total of 1,174 PSH households, delivered 9,400 bags of supplemental food to those in need, aided more than 400 others through housing navigation, and conducted 434 enrichment events. Its systematic, whole person approach has resulted in an enviable 97% success rate of housing retention, up an additional four percent from last year’s lofty figure. But Housing Works faces mounting challenges to effectively continuing its mission. Not least of these concerns; pending reductions in funding due to changes in governmental support. “In the coming year, L.A. County’s homeless services sector is facing unprecedented fiscal challenges,” Alvarez said. “We are anticipating cuts at every level – federal, state, and county – even as the housing and homelessness crisis continues to deepen. These cuts will test the very foundation of our work.” Nevertheless, the organization is doing its best to become as effective, efficient, and purpose-oriented as possible. Which included updating its set of guiding principles that center dignity, humanity, and possibility. “We believe housing is not a reward, but a foundation – one that makes recovery, stability, and growth possible,” the report states. “From creating safe and

empowering environments to showing up with compassion, accountability, and flexibility, our approach honors each individual’s lived experience. We lead by example, respond without judgment, and remain adaptable to meet people where they are. At the core of everything we do is a belief in second chances – the willingness to try again, together, and give success room to take hold.” Housing Works also refocused its strategic planning process, centering on the belief that the people doing the work every day should help shape the future of the organization. Over the past year, the nonprofit expanded efforts to gather meaningful staff input through surveys, listening sessions, full staff retreats, and direct feedback opportunities across all departments. Moving beyond its own offices, another innovative approach found Alvarez and LAHSA’s Senior Advisor for Workforce Development Vanessa Rios playing a pivotal role in advocating for and co-creating the Homeless Service Work Certificate Program at Santa Monica College. The school offers a curriculum for students’ seeking to make an impact in service and advocacy for Los Angeles’ unhoused neighbors. This certificate program is the first of its kind in California, offering a structured pathway to the student’s frontline roles in the homeless crisis. Housing Works also participated in the 2025 Housing California

• Voice of theVillage •

Conference in Sacramento, where five of its staff performed The Frontline Mind – spoken-word monologues written by Bikbaye Inejnema that shed light on the real experiences, pressures, and financial challenges faced by frontline workers. Attendees shared validating feedback, underscoring the urgent need for leadership support, fair compensation, and meaningful systemic change. This work is part of a commitment to advocate not only for the people served, but for the people doing the serving. “Housing Works cannot continue to provide ethical, trauma-informed support if members of its staff are struggling to afford rent and other basic needs,” Alvarez said. “We can’t sustain the quality of engagement that defines Housing Works if we don’t protect the well-being of the people doing the hardest human work there is.” All of which leads to an appeal to donors that is transparent in its understanding that taking care of the people who take care of their clients is of paramount importance. “When donors invest in Housing Works, they aren’t just funding housing units or case management hours,” Alvarez said. “They are investing in the radical power of authentic human engagement. Meaningful and intentional relationships CAN build and restore trust.” Visit www.housingworksca.org

W W W. D H R H C O N S T R U C T I O N . C O M (805) 439-9015

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Montecito JOURNAL

In Passing

Jean Svoboda: 1930 – 2025

ean Svoboda was born September 19,1930 in Plevna, Montana, as the youngest child of five to William (Pat) and Gladys Kaiser. In 1949 following high school, Jean attended the University of Montana in Missoula, where she began her studies in Home Economics. She pledged Delta Gamma and that commitment formed lifelong friendships. Jean met Bob Svoboda who was also attending the University following his service in the Navy. In June she accepted Bob’s proposal, and they were married in Missoula on September 11, 1949. Shortly after, they moved into their first custom-built home designed by Jean. Bob moved the family to Honolulu, HI, in 1962 as he began working for American Factors in developing Kaanapali Beach. Jean was actively serving on the Board of Fashion Group, International, representing Hawaii and the South Pacific. She designed clothing and participated in the annual Fashion Week in Los Angeles. Simultaneously, she was a business owner and operator of a resort clothing shop in Kaanapali, Maui. Often the family had holidays and summer breaks together at Kaanapali. Bob and Jean moved to Santa Barbara, CA, in 1971 with the intention of it being their final move. They had built six custom homes throughout the years, and Jean was instrumental in the design and architecture of each home. Jean’s passion for English and Williamsburg styles shaped the design of their last residence in Montecito. After Bob’s passing, Jean continued to live on her own in this residence until November 2024. From the early days of marriage throughout her life, Jean held a heart for volunteering. She was committed to the Junior League wherever they resided, and with that a special interest in volunteering with the blind, and supporting Guide Dogs of America. In Honolulu, Jean served at Tripler Hospital, assisting wounded service members from the Vietnam era. And, years later in Santa Barbara, Jean’s passion for those in need of recovery led her to support and serve on the Board of the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission. She believed in the hope of reconciliation and change. Together, Bob and Jean were actively involved and financially supportive of Christian ministries, Christian education, and politically conservative organizations. Travel was a great desire and significant for both Bob and Jean. They traveled yearly to Honolulu as a break from Montana winters. In 1989 they purchased an apartment on Waikiki Beach. It was a perfect location to see the beauty of the ocean, Diamond Head, and brilliant sunsets. And it was a wonderful means of reconnecting with friends from their years in Hawaii. It was also an ideal place for their three grandchildren to come and visit them. In 1982 Bob and Jean traveled to London. They toured Country Inns located in England, Scotland & Wales. As a result, for years following, London became the annual base for six weeks of travel. Jean deeply enjoyed and appreciated London, the history, the art, and the beauty of the gardens. In 1987 she attended summer school

at the Royal College of Art in London. She studied English houses and interiors. It was a rich time of learning, and the results were in the designs she created for their home in Montecito. Bob and Jean provided a trip in 1976 for the family to travel to Europe which included 13 countries in seven weeks, west and east of the Iron Curtain. Jean, known for her note taking and details, kept a daily journal which was a wonderful keepsake for years later. It was an impactful trip together as we grew to understand our blessings of freedom living in America, while seeing people existing without the privilege of freedom. And in 2000, with their married adult children, Bob and Jean provided a trip with a personal guide on a two-week teaching journey throughout the Holy Land. A primary commitment of Bob and Jean, wherever they lived, was to be a part of a church. Jean served in various capacities and as a deaconess. In Santa Barbara, they were members of Trinity Baptist Church for many years and when they moved to Montecito, they became members of El Montecito Presbyterian Church. Jean’s legacy of faith comes from a lifetime of commitment to personal Bible study and through Bible Study Fellowship, Home Groups, and her cherished weekly Bible study with women rooted in deep faith, committed to Bible studies, and sharing their lives together for over three decades. Jean is preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Robert; her sisters, Kathryn and Ruthie; and her husband of 60 years, Robert Svoboda, who passed away in July 2009. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Arlin Clester, Monroe, GA, and son and daughter-in-law, Tom and Marlene Svoboda, Hoschton, GA. And blessed by granddaughters, Katie (Alexis) Lomeli, Santa Maria, CA, Jalene (Nick) Kaylor, Santa Maria, CA, and grandson, Patrick (Brittany) Clester, Monroe, GA, and eight great grandchildren. Memorial Service will be held on January 9, 2026, at 11 am at Welch-Ryce, 15 East Sola Street, Santa Barbara. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Santa Barbara Rescue Mission.

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24 Montecito JOURNAL

“We light candles in testament that faith makes miracles possible.” – Nachum Braverman

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

Real Estate (Continued from 5)

Westmont (Continued from 18 18))

25+/-% of market is asking over $10M 20+/-% is on the market for $7M to $10M 25+/-% is listed in the $5M & $6M range (a lot of inventory in this prime, narrow price range) 30+/-% of the market is priced from $1.6M to $5,000,000 I have shared in the past that our market is one that can be affected each month by just a handful of sales. When 15+/- homes per month is the average (not including the pandemic buyers Gold Rush years), if there were for instance 14 sales one year in Montecito in November and 18 sales the next November, that is a seemingly big jump, though it’s just a couple of buyers, it is a roughly 32% jump in reported sales. It is a rollercoaster statistically, mainly because of the small tally each month, not necessarily because of big shifts or movements in the overall market. It takes many months of down sales in a row to become a trend toward a slowing market. That is why we don’t always notice a slowing market until we are in it. With sellers asking top dollar or more for homes and then reducing over time, it makes the market appear to be slowing or going down, but ultimately, sales prices tell the story. Where we are now feels, to me, like a leveling off. We saw many homes start out with astronomical asking prices, many of which reduced multiple times in 2025 before finding a buyer. That said, others went over-asking, much to the astonishment of many agents. That old saying is so true; there is a buyer for every home. Congratulations to those who found their dream home this past year in Montecito. What follows is a gallery of homes that sold in 2025, in Montecito and the greater 93108 zip code. While many gems are not mentioned it is only due to space and the potential limitations of your patience for my appreciation of the Real Estate available here in Montecito. We truly love living and working here and appreciate your time. And for those choosing to work with us, we appreciate your business as well. Without you we could not live here. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Mark & Sheela Hunt

Select Sales in 2025 in Montecito 1220 Coast Village Road #104 – $1,275,000 This was the lowest priced recorded sale in Montecito in 2025. Entry level, two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo near shopping and the beach. Buy a condo like this, join the Montecito Club and – boom! – instant lifestyle.

Real Estate Page 294 294

The Westmont garden

That conviction followed her through her undergraduate years at Gordon College, working for AmeriCorps, and serving as a sustainability coordinator at Williams College and eventually to Harvard, where she completed her master’s degree in sustainability. Her capstone project at Harvard’s Salata Institute focused on ensuring that climate research reached the people who could turn it into action. “I learned about principles of community-engaged research, ways to connect a university to the broader region, and how to make sure voices from ‘the least of these’ are heard,” she says. The institute later hired her as a project manager, an experience she now hopes to bring into her work at Westmont, especially strengthening ties between the college, local organizations and Santa Barbara’s vibrant environmental community. Seibert’s arrival at Westmont feels, in her words, “full circle,” since it was her dream college following a campus tour at age 17. She visited again last fall, curious

about Westmont’s sustainability efforts, and toured the Westmont Garden with her predecessor, Janell Balmaceda, which made joining the college this fall feel providential. Seibert’s primary role is to support the new environmental studies major. She’ll begin teaching and advising this spring, along with managing the campus garden and orchard. She will also advise operational sustainability across campus, and lead a national sustainability ranking and assessment project in the spring. In her first months, Seibert has become a familiar presence on campus, hosting a host of garden activities, including offering freshly harvested produce each week at the garden farm stand. On Dec. 9, she dedicated a new prayer labyrinth at the garden, a collaboration with Balmaceda and alumna Olivia Knapp (’24) to connect the campus community with God through nature, reflection and quiet prayer. “We have such a great opportunity to tend and keep the earth that God has entrusted to us, and help partner with Him in his work of reconciliation,” she says. “I’m also excited for the opportunity to help develop Westmont students into sustainability leaders who can take what they learn here and become effective change-makers in their own communities.”

Scott Craig is manager of media relations at Westmont College

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25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

Robert’s Big Questions Who Are We? by Robert Bernstein

rump has ordered the military to blow up boats in international waters based on a claim that they are part of a drug “war” against the U.S. He has presented no evidence for this claim. A debate began after a September 2 attack when the U.S. military destroyed a boat and then killed the survivors. The U.S. Law of War Manual states, “… orders to fire upon the shipwrecked would be clearly illegal.” This all worried me because the bigger issue is that killing people without being in an actual war is simply “murder.” Abraham Lincoln famously said: “How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg? Four. Saying that a tail is a leg doesn’t make it a leg.” This is not a war. The Coast Guard can search boats suspected of carrying drugs. But they can’t just blow up the boat and kill people. If it were a war, Trump has violated the War Powers Act by exceeding its 60-day limit without Congressional approval. And if Trump cares about drugs, why did he pardon the convicted major drug runner Juan Orlando Hernández? Again, all of this is irrelevant: Killing civilians is murder, even if it is war. But Marine Corps veteran Phil Klay raised a bigger issue in the New York Times: Trump isn’t just murdering people. He is showcasing his murders. Just as he showcased the horrific Salvadoran prison he lawlessly sent people to. And ICE abducting grandmothers. Klay’s point: Trump is deliberately trying to change our American narrative of who we are. During the W. Bush war on Iraq there was much hand wringing about the torture at Abu Ghraib. Much ink was spilled claiming “This is not who we are.” I grew up watching the horrors of the U.S. war in Vietnam. And the widespread revelations of torture by the CIA and by the dictators they propped up. But deniability – the notion that this is not really who we are – was somehow still possible. These things were done in secret and/or far away. But Trump is forcing us to watch. To fundamentally change who we are. Klay told a story from St. Augustine of a good young Roman named Alypius who abhorred the

26 Montecito JOURNAL

violence of gladiator games. But he was dragged to a match by fellow students. Alypius kept his eyes closed. Until the crowd roared at a gladiator being brutally wounded. Alypius took a peek. Alypius was horrified…until he was transformed by having “imbibed madness” and found himself enjoying the mayhem Trump isn’t just ordering murder and torture. He wants to transform us in the way Alypius was transformed. Not only to tolerate it, but to seek it out. “Cruelty Is the Point” is a frequent anti-Trump protest sign now. Megyn Kelly said of our targets in the Caribbean, “I’d really like to see them suffer. I would like Trump and Hegseth to make it last a long time, so they lose a limb and bleed out.” As a child I was with my father in the beautiful Hains Point park in D.C. (where we lived). Nearby, a family was having a barbecue. The father squirted lighter fluid on the already lit coals. The lighter fluid can exploded and I watched in horror as the father was burned all over. When we got home I told my mother what I saw. She warned me that it is easy for humans to go from being horrified to being attracted to such things. I took it to heart that I would never allow that to happen. Trump has been on a mission to destroy the most valued institutions of our country. From science and technology to international relations. I worry how difficult it will be to repair that damage. But now I wonder: How can we resist changing who we are? Conservative NY Times columnist David French added his concern: What is this doing to the military? “The laws of war aren’t woke.” The military depends on our allies and enemies knowing the bounds of our actions. It is why Germans rushed to surrender to Americans at the end of WWII rather than be captured by Soviets. Can we remember who we are? Robert Bernstein holds degrees from Physics departments of MIT and UCSB. His passion to understand the Big Questions of life, the universe and to be a good citizen of the planet. Visit facebook. com/questionbig

Entertainment (Continued from 20 20))

A Kerfuffle of a Caper at CAW With family in town for the holidays, what could possibly be more apropos in theater than a family and friend fueled farcical fusion of Agatha Christie murder mysteries, the Clue board game, and popular British drama television series like Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs? That’s the premise behind WHODUNIT?, the first fully original new production by Kerfuffle Theatre. Kerfuffle is marking its one-year anniversary, having premiered a scant 12 months ago with Peter Spam, founding director Emma-Jane Huerta’s update of another mash-up show she first created years ago for her Upstarts Youth Theatre. Huerta set WHODUNIT? in the English countryside at Christmas in 1945, when young couple Nigel and Caroline Plum are entertaining friends Clayton Barry plays Professor Nigel Plum in and family at their home known as WHODUNIT? (courtesy photo) Mediocre Manor. The intrigue intensifies when everybody gets snowed in. “I took all those Agatha Christie tropes and stereotypes, and mashed them up with the characters from Clue. We’re also parodying the dramatic stereotypes that we see on all those PBS period dramas,” Huerta explained. “Put those three things together with a flavor of the old art of pantomime – which is different in England than here – and that’s a Kerfuffle theater show. It’s a righteous romp for this time of the year.” Everyone in WHODUNIT? is named for a character in the board game, and the writer-director said they do indeed mirror the personalities of their namesakes. “The Reverend Green is the naïve, well-meaning, but hopeless vicar. And there’s the blustery braggart Colonel Mustard and the femme fatale Miss Scarlet,” Huerta said. “But the murder mystery is all my own.” Including skewering the class consciousness and sexism of the time period right after the end of World War II. “People carry on in front of that butler as though he’s not even human, just blurting their utter secrets to each other,” Huerta said. “We parody the sexism and chauvinism of the era, and there are allusions to xenophobia, because our uninvited guest is actually a foreigner, which sends a tremor of terror through and amongst our characters because they’re still very frightened after the war.” “Pantomime” as it’s defined across the pond calls for oversized everything, including some of the props, Huerta said. “We have a lot of surprises, including a few outlandishly large things in this play, but for spoiler alert reasons I can’t tell you more than that,” she said. While Huerta chose the week between Christmas and New Year’s last year partly due to scheduling issues, the choice to produce the new play in that same time frame was deliberate, as is the move to the Community Arts Workshop, where Huerta has helped put together the Solstice parade floats and puppets every summer for years. “It’s a great time for audiences because people are around with not much else to do,” she said. That goes for the actors, too. The cast includes experienced Montecito actor Clayton Barry, as well as other familiar names in Ali Javanbakht, the chief medical officer for Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics who also happens to perform regularly in improv shows, and longtime Rincon Broadcasting producer and news anchor Jim Sirianni, publicity/social media and ticketing manager at Center Stage. The comically energetic cast includes as well one of Huerta’s former Upstarts players, Emma Tracewell. “They’re bloody amazing actors,” she said. “This is theater in the wild – guerilla theater – which is a very different experience where all of the cast arrives with ideas and are very collaborative. Everybody works with me putting the whole thing together, from the scripts to the props to the costumes. They’re wearing their own shoes, because we are on a shoestring budget.” That approach hits home with Barry, who plays Professor Nigel Plum in the show – not long, it must be said, after portraying a seemingly brave and bloodthirsty

Entertainment Page 334 334 “Christmas isn’t a season. It’s a feeling.” – Edna Ferber

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

Far Flung Travel

Teetering Atop the Bird Cliffs by Chuck Graham

t was an aerial assault of the avian variety on the westernmost point of Iceland and all of Europe. Squadrons of aerodynamic Atlantic puffins, razorbills, northern fulmars, kittiwake, and common guillemots, seafaring birds all, were returning from another busy day of feeding in the teeming North Atlantic. Their landing spot was the daunting Látrabjarg Cliffs (Bird Cliffs), vital nesting habitat for thousands upon thousands of hardy seabirds during Iceland’s brief summer months of June and July. I had positioned myself in a precarious alcove just below the edge of one of the sheer cliffs to photograph the colorful, photogenic puffins. The view was lofty. The cliffs are 400-to-1200-feettall. However, I quickly discovered all the other seabird species were equally impressive as they reared their young in one of the most weather-beaten and wave-battered corners of Mother Earth.

Sleepless Nights Iceland was sensory overload. Virtually everywhere I turned was breathtaking, and because Iceland sits high in the

Northern Hemisphere, summer months never get dark. My best moments in Iceland were from 9 pm to 4 am. The light was stunning, and for three weeks my sleep patterns were all over the map. I slept when I could. After leaving the Vestmannaeyjar Islands off Southern Iceland at the beginning of my trip, I realized those hours were the best with minimal crowds. Truth be told, I took solitude for granted during that time. Even though it wasn’t dark, life slowed to a crawl. The sun sat low on the Nordic horizon, and the Icelandic landscape was otherworldly. Towering waterfalls, deep fjords, steaming geothermal plumage, cute and curious Arctic foxes, and kayaking among icefloes and glaciers filled lengthy days between epic car camping locales. By the time I reached Látrabjarg Cliffs, my internal clock was used to short stretches of sleep. I was averaging about three to four hours of snooze time each day. It seemed like the most remote locations had two things in common, a church and a lighthouse. The Látrabjarg Cliffs were no different. There was a church resting all by its lonesome near where I car camped, and just a short walk away from Breidavik Beach. It’s

known as one of Iceland’s finest beaches. Pinkish pearly white sands curved into a crescent moon-shaped beach where it appeared the only footprints were my own… and a lone Arctic fox. Just before the bird cliffs was an unmanned lighthouse. It made sense that the westernmost portion of Europe, and the wave-battered coastline below, was also a graveyard of sunken ships. The North Atlantic has always possessed the ability to wield a heavy blow against the sturdiest vessels. Teetering on the edge of those cliffs, and peering down below, I saw there wasn’t a lot of room for error if the sea conditions grew perilous.

The Bird Cliffs Every night I spent on the Bird Cliffs, I was alone for most of it. I waited each day for buses full of tourists to vacate the cliffs. By 7 pm, everyone was gone. One late evening, sometime after midnight, I ran into a cool young American family backpacking the cliffs en route to more stunning beaches eight miles to the south. The mom and dad looked like they were in their late 30s. Their three kids ranged from eight to 13 years old. They all donned backpacks, fully loaded for an epic Icelandic adventure. I was envious of their family excursion, but the birdlife was mind-blowing, and I was drawn to it. Of course, I had to be mindful of where I stepped and placed my hands. I didn’t want to do

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a Peter Pan into the deep, cobalt blue Atlantic. Still, the proximity of where I hunkered down in relation to the nesting seabirds was more than I imagined. On elbows and knees, I belly-crawled right up to inquisitive Atlantic puffins, which had zero fear of me. They flew in off the frigid Atlantic, directly into their subterranean burrows to tend to their young. The towering cliffs were like a seabird condominium. I’m not saying there was a pecking order, but the puffins nested at the top of the cliffs. Below were majestic razorbills, and further down were football-sized common guillemots. On the fringes of the tallest cliffs were kittiwakes and Northern fulmars. All the species had active nests, doting parents arriving with freshly caught baitfish. The puffins held beaks full of tiny baitfish delivered directly to their chicks. Fulmars and kittiwakes consumed their fish on the water. After arriving back at their nests, these seabird species regurgitate what they’ve consumed to feed their ravenous broods. Sunset on the Látrabjarg Cliffs was at 5 am. I mostly made it until then every evening and during my entire three weeks in Iceland. Even though sleep was minimal, it was the natural wonders of Iceland that kept me charged through out those memorable nights.

Chuck Graham is a freelance writer and photographer based in Carpinteria, where he also leads kayak tours and backpacking trips in Channel Islands National Park No one ever leaves a star. That’s what makes one a star.

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

The poor dope – he always wanted a pool. Well, in the end, he got himself a pool

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

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ecito

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Chayote Squash

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Wake up to a good cup of news!

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hayote Squash, also known as mirliton, choko, christophine, and guisquil, is a member of the Cucurbitaceae gourd family. Daniel Moua Farm has some fine-looking ones right now and these beauties are smooth, light green, and mild in flavor. Most people don’t know what to do with these gourds. They can be eaten raw in salads, stir-fried, sauteed, roasted, or added to soups and stews. This squash is notably high in folate, which is essential for a healthy pregnancy and promotes healthy cell division. Many of chayote’s health benefits can Chayote can be eaten raw in salads, stir-fried, saube attributed to its high antioxidant teed, roasted, or added to soups and stews (photo content. Antioxidants such as querceby Prathyush Thomas via Wikimedia Commons) tin, myricetin, morin, and kaempferol are all found in this gourd and they offer amazing anticancer, antidiabetic, and anti-inflammatory properties. Chayote is a good source of both soluble and insoluble fiber which not only helps to regulate blood sugar levels but also is associated with a reduced risk for heart disease. Another notable health benefit of eating chayote squash is its vitamin C content. This antioxidant, along with its ability to slow down the shortening of telomeres in human cells and vitamin C’s ability to produce collagen, make it excellent for reducing the visible signs of aging. Let’s make something delicious with this gourd.

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28 Montecito JOURNAL

2 tablespoons olive oil 1 jalapeno, diced (seeded for less heat) 1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped 4 chayote squash, washed, seeds removed and roughly chopped 1 Yukon gold potato, peeled and roughly chopped 1 cup water 4 cups good quality vegetable broth 1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped 1 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt Caramelized Onion Topping 2 teaspoons vegan butter ½ cup sweet onion, finely sliced 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, freshly chopped

Directions: 1. In a large stockpot over medium heat, add the olive oil. Once hot, add the jalapeno and garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or until fragrant. 2. Add the chayote squash, potato and water and toss with the oil to coat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender. 3. Transfer to a high-speed blender and add the broth, mint and salt. Blend on high until smooth and creamy. Taste for seasoning. 4. In a sauté pan over low heat, add the vegan butter or olive oil and the Melissa Petitto, R.D., is an onion. Cook on low for 20 minutes executive chef and co-founder or until the onions are caramelized, at Thymeless My Chef SB, tender and sweet. was a celebrity personal chef 5. While the onions cook, return for 16 years, just finished the soup to the large pot and heat her 10th cookbook, over low heat until hot. and is an expert 6. To serve, ladle the hot soup into on nutrition and bowls. Top with caramelized onions wellness. and fresh cilantro to serve.

“Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing, but of reflection.”– Winston Churchill

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

Real Estate (Continued from 25 25))

on larger lots fetch more like $7M to $20M and up. Pool, tennis, guard gated, the community at Ennisbrook offers a complete lifestyle and all homes are within the Montecito Union School District.

2165 Veloz Drive – $4,000,000

1319 Plaza Pacifica – $6,450,000

One of the more enticing listings of the year, in a great area, quiet low traffic street in the Montecito Union School District. A spacious mid-century home with upside on an acre. Land value here is around $3M so the home in place provides huge potential for making it your own as an owner/user. One of the only home sales that I feel had enough upside potential for a profitable flip if reimagined tastefully and with attention to budget.

2775 East Valley Road – $4,477,900

This was a huge sale for a condo at the desirable, Bonnymede community at Butterfly Beach. Proof that well-done listings, do sell. While there are only side window ocean views (at a head-on view price), there are rare three bedrooms with over 2,000 square feet of living space, and this unit was widely considered by agents to have been remodeled with utmost care and taste. Someone agreed and paid the price. Tennis, pool, guard gated community at the beach and close to town all in the Montecito Union School District… what’s not to love?

155 Santa Isabel Lane – $7,550,000

In East Montecito, not in the Montecito school districts, but not far away, was this under $4.5M tennis court home on an acre. Perhaps the last time you will see a tennis court home under $5M in Montecito. This home was on and off the market over the past years and I was happy to see it found a new owner. Huge upside potential here.

454 Meadowbrook Drive – $5,200,000

One of the more surprising sales prices of the year, in my opinion, resting in a once $2 to $4M neighborhood just a few years ago, this home was listed at $6,350,000 and went for more than a million over asking in a matter of days. That said, the home has it all with nearly 3,000

Entry level Ennisbrook (gated community). Spanish style, light and bright home. Was listed well higher and yet set a high point for the lowest price one can expect to pay in the Casitas section of the greater Ennisbrook community, where homes

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25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

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Montecito JOURNAL

Our Town (Continued from 12 12)) Merchant Association, Lil’ Toot, Paddle Sports Center, Salty Dog Dive Service, Santa Barbara Fuel Dock, Santa Barbara Landing, Santa Barbara Marine Services, Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara Parasail, Santa Barbara Sailing Center, Santa Barbara Sea Center, Santa Barbara Yacht Club, Santa Barbara Zoo, Stardust Sport Fishing, Stearns Wharf Business Association, The Brewhouse, Waterfront Department Parking Division, and Whisper. This year’s Parade of Lights event is put on by the 2025 Parade of Lights Committee and sponsored by the City of Santa Barbara Waterfront Department, Santa Barbara Harbor Merchants Association, Stearns Wharf Business Association, and the Santa Barbara Yacht Club.

Chabad of Montecito 3rd Annual Menorah Lighting Chabad Montecito’s 3rd Annual Menorah lighting for all took place on Tuesday, December 16, from 5 to 6 pm at the Corner Green in front of Pierre Lafond on East Valley Road. When I arrived at 4:45 pm, the atmosphere proved uplifting, supportive and celebratory, with many community members who gathered with their friends and families representing all religious beliefs. The large menorah stand in the park was illuminated by electricity, its candles on top waiting to be lit during the program. To its right was a live music performance with keyboardist Mendy Pels and singer Yankele Friedman, managed by sound engineer and musician Maitland Ward. On the left was a large viewing screen with video feed on the history of Channukah and its traditions, and animated games for the children. There was a craft table for children to do coloring and make cutouts of Hannukah symbols and toys. Two tables with volunteers served attendees donuts, latkes, water, and milk. And if you can

imagine it, there was a human dreidel walking around making people happy. Keeping everyone safe were Lt. Richard Brittingham and his crew, including canine crew, along with Montecito Fire Department Chief David Neels’ team. Rabbis and their wives and children attending the celebration were Chabad of Montecito’s Executive Director Rabbi Chaim Loschak and his wife Mushkie Loschak; UCSB Chabad Rabbi Gershon Klein and wife Miri Klein; and SB Chabad Rabbi Mendel Loschak and wife Rochel Loschak. Rabbi Chaim founded this annual event, and shared with me for our readers, “This community event is about showing up, standing together, and sharing a moment of light.” He expounded on this theme during the evening’s program saying, “I have to be honest with everyone, after reading what happened at Bondi, people doing just what we are doing this evening, I felt broken, I lost a colleague who was there. There are people who want Jews to stay quiet and stay small. Hannukah says the opposite, it is the story of lighting a flame, light is stronger than fear. Darkness will never

Beth Sullivan from the Coast Village Association, Eric Morrison, Sully Israel, Joel Dovev, Leslie Schneiderman, Cindy Feinberg, Zach Kucinski, Montecito Fire Chief Neels and his team, the sheriff’s office, the Friendship Center Executive Director Kathryn Westland, David and Pat Wadors, Mitchell Chupack, Cindy Feinberg, Jewish Federation of SB CEO Cyndi Silverman, Lise Deinhard from Wendy Foster, Maitland Ward, and the Montecito Association’s Doug Black, Houghton Hyatt, and Mindy Denson.

have the final word. Let the lights of Hannukah bring comfort to everyone. Share the light to do good. I want to thank everyone for coming, and to those who are not Jewish, it means a lot to us that you are here, to have a community that stands together.” Speaking after Rabbi Chaim was his brother Rabbi Mendel who focused on Jewish people’s ability to feel deeply about things that happen to them, either happy or sad, in a way that brings a connection to them. Doug Black, Montecito Association Board President, spoke about the MA supporting community and the importance of everyone gathered together to celebrate Hannukah. The formal program included an animated video to guide the children in a dance, and an LED juggling performance by Ami from Firestorm Talent to the song, “Light Up the Night.” At sundown, the menorah lighting ceremony began. David Wadors, the event sponsor, lit the Shamosh (the middle “server” candle) and Rabbi Chaim lit the candles for this day in Hannukah. Traditional Hannukah candle blessings and candle lighting songs were performed by Rabbi Chaim and Rabbi Mendel. Rabbi Chaim’s thank yous went to Ari Loschak, Robert Miller, and

The event concluded with men dancing and singing traditionally in a circle, parting hugs, and photo ops. 411: https://www.jewishmontecito.org

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

Rabbi Chaim lighting the menorah (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

Cyndi Silverman, David Wadors, Laura and Mitch Chupack, Cindy Feinberg, and Mushkie and Rabbi Chaim Loschak with their kids (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

30 Montecito JOURNAL

Rabbi Mendel presenting at the Hannukah celebration (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

Lt. Brittingham SBC Sheriff’s office and his crew with partnering canine keeping everyone safe (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

“Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers.” – Kahlil Gibran

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

News Bytes (Continued from 10 10))

niques for mordanting wool, grinding cochineal, preparing the dye vat, and dying a wool scarf to take home. The museum informs that tickets for both events are selling out fast. 411: www.sbnature.org

Friendship Center’s Jolly Holiday Breakfast The Jolly Holiday Breakfast took place on Wednesday, December 10 serving nearly 45 guests at Friendship Center. It was a time of festive joy that included free breakfast for members, a visit from Santa, live instrumental music, a hot coco bar provided by La Peche events, and compassionate company. This breakfast provided a cheery, safe, and comfortable environment where seniors living with dementia and their loved ones could enjoy the holiday season.

Thieves Steal Toys from Christmas Distribution The searchlight beacon lit at last year’s ceremony (courtesy photo)

Rosewood Miramar. A searchlight will shine from MUS as a beacon of unity and remembrance throughout the evening. The event is organized by the Montecito Community Partnership Team, including the Montecito Association, Bucket Brigade, Cottage Health, and Behavioral Wellness. KEYT will livestream the ceremony for those unable to attend.

Santa Maria Police are investigating a break-in at the Knights of Columbus Hall, where thieves vandalized the site and stole toys intended for Catholic Charities of Santa María’s annual Christmas distribution. As described in a press release, seven large bicycles, toys, clothing, shoes, and blankets – many donated through Toys for Tots – were taken. Staff member Paola Oros discovered the damage and contacted police, who deployed a drone but found no suspect. “It is disappointing that wicked people would try to steal the smiles from children,” Oros said. The event serves local families who lack resources during the holidays.

Lucky’s Is Turning 25 Our town’s favorite restaurant, affectionately known as “Montecito’s Second Living Room,” Lucky’s Steakhouse is celebrating 25 years in Montecito this January. Plans will be of course a birthday bash to honor founders Gene Montesano, Jimmy Argyropoulos, and Herb Simon with their loyal long-time staff, and devoted patrons. Stay posted for more in-depth on this beloved part of Montecito history!

411: www.luckys-steakhouse.com

Annual Polar Dip at Leadbetter Beach Santa Barbara’s chilly New Year’s Day tradition returns with Polar Dip 2026, now at a new location: Leadbetter Beach. The free, all-ages community plunge takes place Thursday, January 1, with check-in at 11 am and the official dip at 11:30 am. Participants are encouraged to register in advance at sbpolardip.com, though same-day waivers will be available. Registered dippers receive a souvenir wristband, and those who fully submerge without a wetsuit earn a certificate. Leadbetter Beach offers ample parking, restrooms, and space for large crowds – making it an ideal spot to kick off 2026 with a splash.

Tree Removal Challenged

Curator’s Choice

n December and January each year, certain beaches on the Channel Islands and other protected parts of California’s coast become sites of noisy and dramatic conflict. It’s the beginning of breeding season for the Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris). During the early part of the breeding season, the huge adult males – known as bulls – battle each other for access to females. The bull’s skull is adapted for combat, not to mention threatening snorts. Here you can see the adult male’s skull contrasted with an adult female’s skull (footlong ruler for scale). What a difference! These skulls are among the 44,000+ specimens curated by the Museum’s Department of Vertebrate Zoology, overseen by Curator of Vertebrate Zoology Krista Fahy, PhD.

A Montecito environmental group is urging Caltrans to halt any plans to remove eucalyptus and other mature trees along East Valley Road (Highway 192), arguing the vegetation provides essential biological, scenic, and historic value. In a detailed letter to Caltrans Director Scott Eades, attorney Marc Chytilo – representing Save Mont Eucs – asserts that any trimming or removal requires full CEQA review, County consent, and compliance with multiple Montecito Community Plan policies protecting raptor nesting sites, monarch butterfly roosts, and environmentally sensitive habitat. The group cites past biological and arborist reports documenting active bird nests, owl use, bat activity, and century-old eucalyptus planted as part of Montecito’s early agricultural landscape. Highlighting state laws that impose penalties for unpermitted tree damage, the letter warns that unauthorized removals would constitute “irreparable harm” subject to injunction. Save Mont Eucs requests written assurance that no permits will be issued until proper environmental review and County approvals occur.

Textile Artist Porfirio Gutiérrez at Exhibit

Male and female elephant seal skulls

Zapotec-American artist Porfirio Gutiérrez will be giving a presentation about his work at the SB Museum of Natural History starting January 9, 2026. In his talk, the master weaver and curator of nature-provided color dyes will discuss such exotica as how acidity affects color when dying with cochineal insects, and the importance of the insect’s life cycle in harvesting for dye. He is a multidisciplinary textile artist who focuses on deep cultural heritage and artisanal knowledge to create his pieces. He is also doing a two-day, 11-hour intensive workshop on the art of natural dyes. It is a hands-on instruction in the traditional use of cochineal insect dye, and practice tech25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is a community supported nonprofit organization committed to connecting people to nature for the betterment of both. Please consider a year-end gift to help ensure this gem of an institution continues to fulfill its mission well into the future at sbnature.org/donate.

• Voice of theVillage •

Montecito JOURNAL

Real Estate (Continued from 29 29)) square feet of living space, four bedrooms and an office, private yard, pool, close to town, the beach and in the Montecito Union School District.

1586 San Leandro Lane – $8,125,000

788 San Ysidro Lane – $21,500,000

“Finally, she sold,” he said. This prime hedgerow Spanish style pool home had been on and off the market, rented, etc… for years, and finally found a new owner. Prime, 1.3-acre lot, move in ready, yet with upside potential, room for tennis court, etc. This $8 to $10M price range really offers a lot for the dollar and this home delivered for her new owner.

This home continues to impress, finding a new buyer within days of being on the market at any price range. It has always sold… since the early 2000s when it was in the $4’s, then remodeled, and resold at $6,350,000 then added onto and sold at $12,600,000 then selling again months later for $13,250,000 and then who knows what happened or was done to the home, but it sold again this year for $21,500,000 off market. A magical lot just a few doors down from the San Ysidro Ranch, offering style, grace and privacy.

700 Picacho Lane – $60,000,000

1366 Oak Creek Canyon Road – $12,250,000 For me, this was the estate deal of the year. Set on six, closed-in acres in the Oak Creek Canyon estates area above Picacho and East Mountain Drive, this mid-century Spanish home has history, grounds, views, an amazing guest house, pool and more. This was our lotto house and our best wishes to the brilliant buyer who saw the lifestyle and charm this home offered.

The highest priced sale in Montecito for the year once again goes to an estate on prestigious, Picacho Lane. With 3.41 acres in a prime Picacho location, private, gated, in the Montecito Union School District and with a celeb pedigree, this home has had no trouble selling over and over these past few years.

Mark and his wife, Sheela Hunt, are real estate agents. His family goes back nearly 100 years in Santa Barbara. Mark’s grandparents – Bill and Elsie Hunt were Santa Barbara real estate brokers for 25 years.

32 Montecito JOURNAL

“At Christmas, all roads lead home.”– Marjorie Holmes

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

Entertainment (Continued from 26 26)) Swiss mercenary who in fact just wants to survive and win the girl in Shaw’s biting romantic comedy/social satire Arms and the Man at SBCC this fall. “WHODUNIT? is just my cup of tea,” Barry said. “I love doing really goofy stuff, character roles, silly voices and things like that. It’s a wonderfully written piece. Emma-Jane has a great ear for exactly this type of farce.” Finding the social satire through silliness is catnip for Barry. Exploring the text also revealed the commentary on the social norms of the immediate post-war era, all cleverly couched in a murder mystery that he gets to work through in his, ahem, plum role as the professor. “It’s definitely my preferred entry point to those sorts of conversations,” he said. “In (a play) that’s styled as just something to laugh through you can get across some pretty heavy messaging without bringing the tone down.” Barry said he spent several evenings going over the lines in the script at home in Montecito with his famous father Jeff, the Hall of Fame pop songwriter. “We just laugh our heads off every time.” Huerta said the entire ensemble has been hitting their marks in recent rehearsals, no mean feat given the challenges of the mashup format. “It’s a full story, just with lots of comedy running through it. We’re agonizing over tiny little moments just to make the joke land or the visual hit hard. I’m choreographing and conducting while I’m directing.” All the audience has to do is show up for the shows that take place December 28-31, although you might want to bring a cushion as the seating at CAW is folding chairs. Visit www.sbcaw.org/upcoming.

CommUnify’s ‘Off the Record’: Laughter is the best medicine CommUnify, the longstanding Santa Barbara County nonprofit, has provided a wide variety of important services to low-income local residents since the mid-1960s. Today, the committed servant of SB County’s most vulnerable is facing dire threats to its budget, and severe challenges to its roster of vital programs. These include the life-changing Head Start early education effort. But looming loss turned to laughter thanks to local luminaries determined to unite the community – the source of its recently re-branded name – and raise much needed funds. Members of Montecito’s movie and TV mob assembled a fearsome foursome that provided the fun via a friendly and sometimes probing conversation. With whom? Thanks for asking. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld, Veep), her husband, Brad Hall (Saturday Night Live, The Single Guy), and Jane Lynch (Glee, Only Murders in the Building, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Weakest Link) delightedly free-ranged through a swinging conversation moderated by vaunted TV producer Dante Di Loreto (Fellow Travelers, American Horror Story, Glee). We learned and laughed (a lot) at the upbeat event, not least because the focus of the event – dubbed Off the Record: Laughter Connects Us All – was on comedy, not crisis. CommUnify CEO Patricia Keelean spoke briefly about the organization, and a couple of short videos about CommUnify’s work were shown. The bulk of the time, though, was spent diving into the background of the three stars, who detailed both family and career highlights and challenges. The conversation launched by noting how the three came from very different backgrounds, though they all spent considerable time in Chicago. We learned that Lynch grew up watching TV “24-7, which is why I almost can’t watch it anymore,” and joining her parents in singing Broadway tunes and sipping cocktails at age 13, imbibing Ten High sour mash, which was “terrible – you had to go to a gas station to buy it.” (Ten High still costs less than $7 for a fifth.) On the other hand, Hall is the son of Rev. George Hall, the longtime rector at All SaintsBy-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Montecito, so “the only liquor my father ever had was communion wine.” Manhattan and Washington, D.C.-raised Louis-Dreyfus mostly got drunk on very early theater experiences as a child, teaming up with other neighborhood kids to form a company eventually called “Julia and the Umbrella People.” The troupe of pint-sized, entrepreneurial thespians would produce shows in the family basement and charge Louis-Dreyfus’ parents a dollar to see the show. “You betcha,” she said. “We made a fortune.” Maybe that wasn’t so strange: one of these diminutive Umbrella People was future playwright Margaret Edson, whose stage play Wit would be honored with the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Louis-Dreyfus and Hall met as theater majors at Northwestern, and were working in Hall’s Chicago-based Practical Theatre Company when they were both offered jobs in the cast of SNL in 1982. They almost didn’t go. But, Hall said, Second City’s head asked them incredulously, “Are you ******g kidding? This happens once in a lifetime!” They almost wished they hadn’t. The early SNL experiences weren’t anything like theater, and it took quite a while to adjust to doing sketch comedy on TV versus 25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, her husband, Brad Hall, and Jane Lynch joined CommUnify for Off the Record (photo by Ingrid Bostrom)

under a proscenium. “I’d never been on television before, and it turns out it’s a lot different than being on stage,” Louis-Dreyfus shared. “I didn’t know anything. I had no idea what I was doing… We’d been doing ensemble work and improv, and everybody was…we were all linked arms! And it was very joyful and organic ensemble work. And that was simply not the culture at SNL.” Not long after leaving, of course, Louis-Dreyfus landed the role as Elaine on Seinfeld. We learned that performing her famous herky-jerky dance at a company party in an episode was as awkward and painful for the actress as it was to watch. “It’s not a pleasant look, but you have to fully embrace it as a character,” she explained. “It required an enormous amount of confidence. And I actually couldn’t do it with music because (the dance) couldn’t be rhythmic. When we would rehearse it, they would play music and it didn’t work. [The producers eventually had her perform it without music and added it in post.] I had to come at it feeling super good about myself and really enjoying my life. There is nothing quite like a confident fool.” On the other hand, Lynch loves playing against type, from self-centered, obnoxious know-it-all Coach Sue on Glee, to hosting The Weakest Link game show. “I love awful people. I’m fascinated by ‘em,” she said. “I love the person who walks into the room like, ‘I’m the s**t, and they’re so not. I learned in therapy that when you scratch beneath the surface, there’s always some fear, some huge insecurity. [It’s] such fertile ground [to wonder] what it is that the character is scared to death of anyone finding out about them?” The folks who will benefit from the funds raised at Off the Record are typically “scared to death” of something immediately and physically challenging, which offered an interesting juxtaposition. Toward the end of the evening, the trio of stars shared what they would be doing if they hadn’t made it in the entertainment world, Lynch in particular alluding to the baseline struggles with which they would likely have had to contend. The lively conversation was preSteven Libowitz has covered sented to raise awareness and funds a plethora of topics for the for those who, for reasons beyond Journal since 1997, and now their immediate control, need a little leads our extensive arts and help from society. Point being: There entertainment coverage is just a week remaining in the calendar year – only seven days to make tax year 2025-deductible contribu tions to the cause. Visit www.communifysb.org

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• Voice of theVillage •

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Montecito JOURNAL

Beings & Doings (Continued from 6)

Senior Olympian Aloha Wing in the Day

Because I’m driving the Smith-Corona, I’m now going to foist my own enraptured backward glance on you, the beleaguered reader. Experience tells me you’ll forgive – to a degree. You do have my gratitude for your patience, per the norm.

I Remember; I remember Mrs. Petrie, my third grade teacher at Clark Elementary school in Cheyenne, bequeathing me the crepe paper crown that made me King for a Day on the last class of the school year before my family moved to Wheelus AFB in Libya; I remember my teetotal plummet to the concrete floor at a Psychedelic Furs concert in Phoenix, the naive attempt to keep up with my red solo cup-hoisting date ultimately causing me to literally faint dead away in my New Wave blazer and Doc Martens (first date/last date); I remember running around with my doomed little brother at Michigan’s Crystal Lake, the only vacation my family ever took, my dad reuniting with a cadre of his old Detroit pals and their wives; I remember getting up in the dark in my worshipped older brother’s Washington, D.C. apartment to take a boat ride on the Potomac, the radio alarm waking me with the Bee Gees song “Run to Me;” I remember my fury at my high school prom date dancing with a classmate whose dad, I knew, had been blown up by the AZ mob for his Arizona Republic

A boy and his dog. Jeff and Casey in Cheyenne

34 Montecito JOURNAL

reporting; I remember, at 7 years old, cozily following my dad and his friends around their 18 holes as they putted through a cobbled-together, impromptu course that wove throughout the Warren AFB clubhouse as it poured rain outside; I remember my terrified first-ever time on a club stage with my band at Merlin’s, a storied rock venue in Tempe, a couple blocks from the ASU campus; I remember balmy, orange blossom-scented nights playing ping-pong on our back patio in the dead of a desert night with my parents’ friends the Privozniks, our tiny kidney-shaped swimming pool underlit and glowing like topaz; I remember Saturday night Hand in Hand concerts at the non-denominational sandals and cutoffs church my pals and I attended; I remember my older brother being tearily “pinned” by my mom’s brother, Uncle Bill, who’d been one of the American soldiers present at the Elbe River linkup in Germany between the U.S. and Russian armies on their way to a collapsing Berlin; I remember a Stetson-wearing Libyan friend named Omran skating around the terra cotta tile of our Wheelus AFB quarters (4G) in demonstration of the durability of his expensive new watch; I remember my older sister blasting the Hair soundtrack out of her room in those same quarters, 1968; I remember my first disbelieving view of Santa Barbara in ’83 or so as we visited our friends at Westmont, an unimaginable college seemingly conjured in the middle of

an enchanted forest; I remember the very last time I exited my mom’s apartment with her – she happily hoisting an apple for the road – to go to the dementia care facility whose confusing, stressful environs would lead to her life-ending stroke a few months later; I remember the insane birth of my kids, the doctor hollering the Seussian “Sam I Am!” at my son’s arrival and, at the obstetrician’s later gender reveal by phone, my sprinting Paul Revere act in the rental house on Coronado Island – “I’m having a daughter!” (my life partner briefly demoted as a participant in the episode); I remember my utterly electrifying wee hours first kiss with my high school gf, brilliant desert moonlight pouring silver into my parent’s darkened living room through parted curtains, when to my abject horror my dad walked in wearing his outsized boxers: “… what’re you doing out here, Jeffry? Oh!...” followed by dear Bob Wing’s stunned march through the kitchen and back to his room; I remember a college pal memorably saying one night – at a friend’s house near 44th and Osborn in Phoenix – that fervent Christians are so fixated on faith and heaven they miss the magic of “Beethoven and first kisses”, a line I will never forget; I remember my roommate calling me to the phone to tell me my mother was crying uncontrollably the night my little brother was in a horrifying head on collision where Clarendon meets 48th street; I remember Santa Barbara’s crowded Rocky Galenti’s by the beach where my band was between sets, turning to the right to see the Dutch girl I’d been chatting with earlier, Judie – wearing a Robert Smith t-shirt, purple tube skirt, and European Chuck Taylor knockoffs, her hair out to here – standing still in the maelstrom of clubgoers and beaming me a mellow, indescribably gorgeous smile it brings me to tears to now describe, the day that began my Actual Life; I remember proposing to Juudje in our tiny “zolder” bedroom at the top of her parents’ house in Monster, the Netherlands, proffering the ring I’d wandered confusedly through the Hague to buy, using her sister Karin’s finger size as guide; I remember hours spent saucer-sledding down Wonderland Hill with my 7

year-old little brother in Boulder where we lived, our white collie Casey running around and barking, the Flatirons in the middle distance, the “future” a bus trip to school the following day.

Wide I worked for a long time at a Santa Barbara bookshop called The Earthling. At that time they were at the corner of State Street and Victoria and had a little underground office. One day I was down there with the owner, dear Penny Davies, a strongwilled Greek woman with opinions, determination, and an occasionally delicious projectile scorn. She pulled something from her slush pile of mail. “Listen to this, Jeff,” she said. She could barely contain herself. “Life is short,” she read aloud. “But it’s wide.” She threw her head back and roared with laughter so rich I began helplessly gasping with laughter, too. I’ll never forget it. But in the intervening years, I’ve understood the line as a genuine attempt to explain All This. Life does indeed fly by when we’re not looking, but on even the briefest reflection it can be almost impossible to believe the depth and breadth of love, glory, friendship and sorrow we manage to shoehorn into this eyeblink. I’ve heard of a 90-something man asking of his sonin-law, “Where did the time go?” Where, indeed. We’ve circumambulated the old fireball yet again. Happy December. Onward.

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

Bob flanked by fellow officers in the Before Time “The smells of Christmas are the smells of childhood.” – Richard Paul Evans

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

Miscellany (Continued from 8)

Just a hint of the day’s festive finds (photo by Priscilla)

thanks to clergy, volunteers, and friends, honoring the many community leaders like Fr. Virgil Cordano and Annette Carrel who shaped the organization’s legacy. He praised the staff as its “unsung heroes.” Yolanda Vasquez, Regional Director, spoke movingly about Catholic Charities’ mission, reminding guests that their presence “is an act of love.” Event chair Barbara Kummer thanked attendees and offered the ele-

gant, Christmas-themed Hogue & Co. centerpieces as drawing prizes. For the past three years, our dear friend Diane Brighton – a devoted volunteer and generous contributor – has graciously hosted us at her table, making the evening an especially meaningful tradition. Guests included: Diane Brighton, David and Louise Borgatello, Janet McCann, Jocelyn and William Meeker, Mara Abboud, Patrick Beach, Robert

Guests enjoyed the array of dazzling jewelry, handcrafted cards, and more (photo by Priscilla)

Winston, Anne Towbes, John and Mary Beth Tynan, Peter Hilf, Tish Gainey, and Barbara Kummer. by Maria McCall

A Sparkling Night at the Santa Barbara Club’s Holiday Boutique The holiday season twinkled to life at the Santa Barbara Club as members – and their equally festive friends from Montecito Bank & Trust’s MClub – gathered for an evening of stylish shop-

ping and seasonal cheer. The Club’s Annual Holiday Boutique featured a marketplace filled with local treasures: dazzling jewelry, handcrafted cards, golden local honey, fragrant olive oils, and artwork that would charm even the Grinch. Shoppers included Michele Profant, Carol Fell, Paula Bruice, Bill and Missy Macfadyen, Beverly Cavaliere and Keith Moore, Dana Mancini, Dana and Andrea Newquist, John and Tracie Doordan, and Tammy Kiesling. by Priscilla

Richard sends his thanks for your many cards and good wishes, they are deeply appreciated. He reports that he’s improving every day, though there’s plenty of therapy ahead. Please continue sending your news and updates to his ever-helpful sidekick, Priscilla (805city@gmail.com). MClub members current (and future) gathered for the festival holiday boutique (photo by Priscilla) FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BIZ IN ENGLISH; BIZ IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE SERVICES, 735 State Street, Suite 220, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. BUBEL CONSULTING, LLC, 735 State Street, Suite 220, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on November 14, 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. 2025-0002626. Published December 11, 18, 25, 2025, and January 1, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following per-

son(s) is/are doing business as: MIRAMAR MANAGEMENT, 701 Anacapa Street, Ste. D, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. MIRAMAR GROUP, INC., 701 Anacapa Street, Ste. D, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on December 1, 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. 2025-0002709. Published December 11, 18, 25, 2025, and January 1, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EDDIE’S CATERING, 1206 W Alvin, Santa Maria, CA 93458. HERIBERTO C MORAN, 1206 W Al-

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

vin, Santa Maria, CA 93458. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on December 3, 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. 2025-0002722. Published December 11, 18, 25, 2025, and January 1, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OCEAN AIRE, 125 Harbor Way, 7, Santa Barbara, CA 93109. ALLIED VOYAGE, 125 Harbor Way 7, Santa Barbara, CA 93109. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on November 24, 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. 2025-0002680. Published December 4, 11, 18, 25, 2025 AMMENDED ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: CASE No. 25CV05574. To all interested parties: Petitioner CHRISTOPHER PAUL PUGLISI filed a petition with Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, for a decree changing name to CHRISTOPHER PAUL RHODES. 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.

• Voice of theVillage •

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 December 3, 2025 by Terri Chavez. Hearing date: February 6, 2026 at 10 am in Dept. 4, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Published December 18, 25, 2025 and January 1, 8, 2026 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: CASE No. 25CV07046. To all interested parties: Petitioner JANET MARIE NICKSIC filed a petition with Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barba-

ra, for a decree changing name to JANET VIE. 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 December 5, 2025 by Terri Chavez. Hearing date: January 28, 2026 at 10 am in Dept. 3, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Published December 25, 2025 and January 1, 8, 15, 2026

Montecito JOURNAL

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Calendar of Events

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30

by Steven Libowitz SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27 Brick Man, Not Coal, for Christmas – Sure, the big day of December 25 is already in the rear-view mirror for this year. But Jim Brickman, the pop/ New Age pianist, songwriter and longtime radio host, isn’t ready to call it quits on the holiday season as his “The Gift of Christmas” tour runs right on through New Year’s Eve. Brickman, who has earned two Grammy nominations (for his 2003 album Peace and 2009’s Faith) has put together another Yuletime tour that celebrates the gift of family, the gift of friends, the gift of peace and the gift of love, all wrapped up in sweet sounds of the season provided by his piano and personality. Audiences can expect a captivating blend of timeless holiday classics, along with Brickman’s biggest hits like “The Gift,” “Love of my Life,” “Destiny,” “Valentine” and some surprises in an evening filled with music, laughter and heartwarming stories. The tour is also meant to promote his latest release, The Gift of Christmas Around the World, which showcases holiday songs with global styles. John Trones, a beloved, constantly-touring Minneapolis-based musician and performer, serves as special guest. WHEN: 8 pm WHERE: Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St. COST: $47-$72 INFO: (805) 963-0761 or www.lobero.org Yuck it up at the Alcazar – Chilly evenings call for hot comedy, especially during the winter week between Christmas and New Year’s, when a break from family and feasting might be just the thing to raise the spirit. The monthly South Coast Stand-Up Comedy show at the Alcazar Theatre is ready for the rescue with an evening designed to deliver laughs that are not

ONGOING Illuminated Installations at ZooLights – It’s year four for the annual ZooLights production at the Santa Barbara Zoo, where visitors have the chance to see the place in – yes, we said it – a whole new light. The facility is still open during the day for its regular animal exhibitions, including Layan, a nineyear-old male snow leopard who recently migrated from Idaho Falls Zoo to our sunny burg with very good timing for the holiday season. But as darkness beckons, the gorgeous grounds just across the street from East Beach transform into a magical world of lights, featuring thousands of handcrafted, silk-covered lanterns aglow with more than 50,000 LED bulbs. A walk through the expansive environs of the hilltop haven (for humans as well as animals) becomes an immersive holiday experience that shines with the interactive light exhibits showcasing animal and nature scenes that represent wild places from around the world. Discover underwater seascapes, beautiful birds in tropical forests, wild safari creatures on the prowl and dozens of other creatures. The extinct animal showcase even throws light on fauna who have vanished from the Earth.. With most of the critters showing up in oversized proportions like someone leaned too hard on the zoom button, ZooLights clearly becomes a largerthan-life light show. To keep everybody’s tummy in tip-top shape, seasonal snacks and warm drinks are available for purchase. WHEN: 4:30-8:30 pm on 14 select dates through January 11 WHERE: SB Zoo, 500 Niños Drive COST: $22-$36 INFO: (805) 962-5339 or https://www.sbzoo.org

36 Montecito JOURNAL

‘Pageants Are a Drag!’ – Get ready to be dazzled at a special New Year’s week encore celebration filled with fierce drag performances, unforgettable drama, and show-stopping divas upstairs/downtown. Center Stage Theatre partners with Michelle Chakra, Mx. Ventura County Pride 2021, for a new version of the ultimate Diva vs. Diva Showdown Extravaganza. Expect glamorous costumes, jaw-dropping performances, and all the glitter you can handle as top drag queens battle it out for the crown with a night full of both laughter and heart. All types of pageants, cheerleading competitions, homecoming queen races, drag pageants, toddlers with tiaras, and much more will be represented at this tongue-in-cheek extravaganza. Whether you’re a longtime fan of drag or new to the scene, this event promises nonstop entertainment, laughter and heart in an over-the-top opportunity to witness drag drama at its finest and support your local nonprofit theater. WHEN: 7:30 pm WHERE: Center Stage Theatre, 751 Paseo Nuevo, second floor COST: $20-$45 INFO: (805) 963-0408 or https://centerstagetheater.org

only smart and funny but also completely clean – meaning safe for families (sorry about that for those seeking escape). The night of top-notch humor is headlined by three nationally acclaimed headliners, plus the theater’s own funny short-form comedy improv team – An Embarrassment of Pandas – who kick things off every month. Doing the “jokes thing” tonight are Mike Siegel, a veteran of The Late Late Show, Last Comic Standing, and Comedy Central who hosted TBS Movie EXTRA for nine years and has acted on 24, Prison Break, Rules of Engagement, and Mike & Molly. Murray Valeriano is also a writer whose credits include The Tonight Show, Comedy Central, NBC, and FuelTV as well as the comedy series Ridiculousness and Here’s Your Sign Awards, and host of the long running “Road Stories” podcast. Eric Schwartz is partial to musical comedy and boasts appearances on The Tonight Show, Showtime, BET, Comics Unleashed, and the Hulu special Surrender to the Blender. He also voices characters in the animated series Helluva Boss. Let’s laugh our way to letting go of 2025. WHEN: 7 pm WHERE: Alcazar Theatre, 4916 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria COST: $15 general INFO: (805) 684-6380 or www.thealcazar.org WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31 Get ready to laugh your way into the new year with live in Santa Barbara’s own Craig Shoemaker. The gentleman is a comedian, actor, author, writer and producer, was named Comedian of the Year at The American Comedy Awards, and boasts an 82-minute stand-up special, Daditude. Ring in 2026 with a night of his guffaw-extracting stand-up and nonstop fun at a New Year’s Eve bash at the Speakeasy show at Son Y Sabor. WHEN: 7-9 pm WHERE: Son Y Sabor, 409 State St. COST: $30 ($50 VIP tickets include meet-and-greet) INFO: https://sbcomedyclub.com/events/santa-barbara-new-years-eve-comedy-show-craig-shoemaker If you prefer your comedy composed right on the spot – wingin’ it like many of us have been all year! – head south for the annual New Year’s Eve show with the Venture Improv Company at Rubicon Theatre. Spend an evening with the experienced gang of actors who freely invent hilarity based on audience suggestions. Comes complete with bubbly, beer, wine, soft drinks, hors d’oeuvres and sweet treats.

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” – Muhammad Ali

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31 Sparkle and Shine at Noon Year’s Eve – The weatherman might be predicting clear skies and temperatures in the 60s, but a “Glitter Blizzard” is definitely in the forecast for this annual celebration for revelers of all ages at MOXI, the Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation. Kids and their families – or anyone, for that matter – can enjoy a museum-wide celebration throughout MOXI’s interactive exhibits, including the Seaside Sock Skating Rink on the rooftop, and new exhibits on the second floor. This year’s sparkly soirée (can a morning event be a soirée?) features a lively, all-ages countdown to 2026 with ice races, glittery crafts including creating your own noisemaker, plus a rooftop dance party with DJ Gavin Roy Presents. Try instruments at the Santa Barbara Symphony’s musical “petting zoo,” learn to sock skate with representatives from Ice in Paradise, and dance with World Dance for Humanity. It’s a chance to celebrate the new year in shimmering, glitzy style — without staying up past bedtime. WHEN: 9:30 am-12:30 pm WHERE: MOXI, 125 State St. COST: $30 general, $20 children 2-17, free under 2; $5 discount for members INFO: (805) 770-5000 or https://moxi.org/NYE

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WHEN: 7-10:30 pm WHERE: Rubicon, 1006 E. Main St, Ventura COST: $50 INFO: https://venturaimprov.com Double Dose of Doublewide Kings – Maybe you haven’t yet had enough of the Santa Barbara-based “dad” band that just keeps getting bigger and better. Rolling through sets of their uniquely tweaked blend of original music and cover tunes, their outings span roots-rock, Americana, country-blues and the glory days of ‘70s FM radio. Or maybe somehow you’ve never seen ‘em, despite numerous gigs over the last few months that included free shows at Stow House and De la Guerra plaza, chi-chi concerts at Bellasguardo and the Granada, and repeat performances at clubs and theaters in between. Either way, tonight represents the chance to check out the Kings in both of their favorite formats – via an early acoustic dinner set where harmonies and subtlety hold sway, and a rockin’ out late show to ring in the new year. WHEN: 8 pm WHERE: SOhO, 1221 State St., upstairs in Victoria Court COST: $60 late show only, $180 full evening with seating including dinner INFO: (805) 962-7776 or www.sohosb.com

IN PRINT

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31 Comedy Cavalcade – There are several solid choices for getting amped up to welcome the New Year’s, two of which will offer that inimitable downtown vibe to tickle your fancy for the final night of the year. Once upon a time (in the now-ancient-seeming pre-pandemic), Santa Barbara Comedy Hideaway fitfully hopped all around town and Goleta to keep the weekend comedy sparks flying. SBCH now only produces special events, including a return to the New Vic Theatre. The headliner heralding 2026 is Darren Carter, “The Party Starter,” from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents and Premium Blend!, while several other stand-ups seed the stage with opening sets. WHEN: 7 & 10 pm WHERE: New Vic Theatre, 33 West Victoria St. COST: $45 INFO: (805) 364-2999 www.sbcomedy.com

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

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Montecito JOURNAL

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ESTATE/SENIOR SERVICES

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PHYSICAL TRAINING & THERAPY

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CONSTRUCTION

General Building Design & Construction Contractor William J. Dalziel Lic. B311003 – 1 (805) 698-4318 billjdalziel@gmail.com

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LIVE-IN ESTATE MANAGER 35 yrs experience in luxury estates Professional, discreet, refined Real estate & contractor licensed Insured, bonded, background checked Exceptional integrity and care Call Brad (805) 350 6674

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. PET/ HOUSE SITTING

We Buy, Sell and Broker Important Estate Jewelry. Located in the upper village of Montecito. Graduate Gemologists with 30 years of experience. We do free evaluations and private consultation. 1470 East Valley Rd Suite V. 805-969-0888 ELECTRICIAN Montecito Electric Repairs and Inspections Licensed C10485353 805-969-1575 LANDSCAPE Casa L. M. Landscape hedges installed. Ficus to flowering. Disease resistant. Great privacy. Certified rootstock roses and fruit trees. Licensed & insured. Call (805) 963-6909 WATERLILIES and LOTUS since 1992 WATERGARDEN CARE SBWGC 805 682 5750

38 Montecito JOURNAL

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 AUTOMOBILES WANTED We Buy Classic Cars Running or Not. Foreign/Domestic Chevy/Ford/Porsche/Mercedes/Etc. We come to you. Call Steven - 805-699-0684 Website - Avantiauto.group CARPET CLEANING Carpet Cleaning Since 1978 (805) 963-5304 Rafael Mendez Cell: 689-8397 or 963-3117 PIANO LESSONS Openings now available for Children & Adults. Piano Lessons in our Studio or your Home. Call or Text Kary Kramer (805) 453-3481

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RENTAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

TILE SETTING

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GIFT FOR THE TRAVELER!

EXPERT GIFT WRAPPING SERVICES Delivering professional, high-quality presentations for your holiday gifts, with experience wrapping over 3,000+ presents in past years. Save time, reduce stress! Call or text 805-886-8055 to schedule your service today!

CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

SECOND FLOOR OFFICE SUITES

MACC CONSTRUCTION Building dreams Lic 949275 805 895 2852 Construct1.mac@gmail.com

1000 Block Chapala (across from Ralph’s) Two second-floor office suites with Private restroom. Great parking positioned across the street from Ralph’s grocery store Between Figueroa and Carrillo. Adjacent to parking lot number three. Near downtown shopping, art, galleries, and restaurants.

We specialize in ADU construction Kitchen and bathroom remodeling Decks PERSONAL SERVICES

Suite No. one: 14’ x7’.5” 105 sqft Suite No. two: 14’.3”x7’.6 108 sqft Restroom: 12’ x 7’.5” 82 sqft

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Rate: $1400.00 per month (negotiable depending on use) Term Minimum One Year No elevator For showings call (805) 896-6977 or email terryjryken@gmail.com

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

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”– Charles Dickens

25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

Mini Meta

Last Week’s Solution:

By Pete Muller & Frank Longo For each of the first five mini crosswords, one of the entries also serves as part of a five-word meta clue. The answer to the meta is a word or phrase (six letters or longer) hidden within the sixth mini crossword. The hidden meta answer starts in one of the squares and snakes through the grid vertically and horizontally from there (no diagonals!) without revisiting any squares. PUZZLE #1 1

1 4

7 8 9

Down 1 Old trucking watchdog gp. 2 "___ World's a Giant" (2024 country hit for Zach Bryan) 3 Costello with the 1983 hit "Everyday I Write the Book" 4 Kelly or Shearer of the screen 5 Tennis champion with a palindromic last name

GMC T R A I N WA L D O A F T E R S T A R

F R OM A R E P A L E A R N A R R A Y S E S H

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

S H E A B E E R S I N N E S B O C C E B R E T T

MEET

AGAIN

AFTER

MANY

YEARS

RECONNECT

PUZZLE #3

1 5

Down 1 Doctors' org. 2 Start of many an 8-Across 3 Ben Affleck or Alan Arkin, for 6-Down 5 Unable to reach a decision, in a way 6 Best Picture between "The Artist" and "12 Years a Slave"

Across 1 Comic characters 5 Biden : Robinette :: Garfield : ___ 7 "The same goes for me" 8 Second word of many fairy tales 9 See 2-Down

Across 1 With 8-Across, feature of an L-shaped object 6 Like a pumped-up crowd at a campaign rally 7 Co-host of a 1970s variety show with Donny 8 See 1-Across 9 Start to sneeze?

Down 1 Once lived 2 With 9-Across, "Since the topic's been brought up ..." 3 Its origin is (0,0) 4 Popular Girl Scout cookie 6 Thin ___ (popular Girl Scout cookie)

META PUZZLE 5

Down 1 See 1-Across 2 Setting of the 2022 film "The Whale" and the 2024 film "The Order" 3 Power-wielding figure associated with the dark side 4 Eggnog season 5 Emulate Earl Sweatshirt

4 6

Across 1 With 1-Down, title for many a mayor 4 Power-wielding figure associated with the light side 5 Stampede toward, say 6 Lei sporter's sign-off 7 Musical character advising Argentina not to cry for her

PUZZLE #5 3

Across 1 DuVernay who directed the 2024 film "Origin" 4 Genre of Netflix's "Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance" 7 Boxer Beterbiev whom Dmitry Bivol dethroned in 2025 8 "Layla," "Lola," or "Lucille" 9 Term before the sum?

PUZZLE #4 1

WA L S H A G A P E Y A T E S I K E N E D

PUZZLE #2 5

Across 1 News nuggets 6 Bennet who voiced Yi on "Abominable and the Invisible City" 7 Lead-in to union or unrest 8 Into Mischief, to all three Kentucky Derby winners Authentic, Mandaloun, and Sovereignty 9 Airline to Copenhagen

MA C H I G H U N I O N M I L K Y M E E T

Down 1 Spin-o-___ (evasive 360° hockey maneuver) 2 Setting of 2025's Operation Midnight Hammer 3 Keep going back for more at a buffet, say 4 Tries to stop for a ride, in a way 5 What a clearing is clear of

Across 1 Pop star who dropped the dollar sign from her name in 2014 6 "Hearts in Atlantis" co-star Yelchin 7 He said "My ambition is to hit .400 and talk 1.000" 8 Like some rial earners 9 Computer storage spaces?

Down 1 Something stuck at a food cart? 2 Target of a military operation 3 Fender fave since the '50s 4 She's the subject of the 2009 biography "Stormy Weather" 5 Nin in "Henry & June"

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STEVEN BROOKS JEWELERS Vintage & Custom Jewelry

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25 December 2025 – 1 January 2026

Santa Barbara Estate Management

Joe Boudre (805) 319-5364

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

Andrea Dominic RPh Sherry Saffarnia, PharmD Maria Winn, RPh 1498 East Valley Road Montecito, CA 93108

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Compounding Pharmacy & Boutique

Medicare

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

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

• Voice of theVillage •

WE SPECIALIZE IN CUSTOMIZED LUXURY FOR THE DISCERNING TRAVELER.

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Montecito JOURNAL

“The Cats Meow”

LUCKY’S steaks /chops /seafood /cocktails

Dinner & Cocktails Nightly, Lunch Friday, Brunch Saturday & Sunday, Montecito’s neighborhood bar and restaurant. 1279 Coast Village Road Montecito CA 93108 (805)565-7540 www.luckys-steakhouse.com