Monthly Archives: December 2022

A Cracking Good Show

Everybody was clearly going nuts about State Street Ballet’s colorful production of The Nutcracker at the Granada with hardly a seat to be had to watch Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece. Accompanied by the Opera San Luis Obispo Grand Orchestra under substitute conductor Lee Mills, as well as State Street Ballet Academy students and professional track trainees, the […]

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The Summer Solstice Six

Six new board members were announced when the Summer Solstice hosted its winter solstice fundraiser at the Anchor Rose restaurant on the harbor. The new additions are Geoffrey Barber, Lesley Bronson, Justin Gunn, Ron Burd, David Machacek, and Amisha Zuber. “We’re excited to have so much talent and expertise on our team!” gushed Stacie Bouffard, […]

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A Present Under Turner’s Tree

Christmas came early for Montecito’s Turner Foundation when president Dean Wilson was presented with a check for $175,000 by polo playing Farmers & Merchants Bank president Dan Walker at the financial institution’s annual Yuletide fête at its East Carrillo Street branch. The 100-guest bash, which featured Dickensian-costumed carol singers and comestibles from Rincon Catering, attracted […]

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A Ray of Holiday Cheer

Scientist, inventor, and real estate investor Ray Winn, 88, and his partner of 34 years Peter Kavoian, 66, pulled out all the stops when they hosted their first Christmas bash for 100 guests in five years at their magnificent Birnam Wood home. Peter used his gleaming red Bentley convertible as Santa’s sleigh with six reindeer […]

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A Christmas Choral

Santa Barbara Choral Society, under veteran conductor Jo Anne Wasserman, was in fine form with its eighth annual Hallelujah Project at the Lobero, which also included Sing! program choral students from the Music Academy and pajama-clad president Scott Reed in a rocking chair reciting ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Accompanied by an orchestra, the enthusiastic […]

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Hillside’s 6th Annual Shining Light on Abilities

Just about everything Hillside does is for its residents, the 59 people who live at the facility that have developmental disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, autism, and epilepsy. That includes everything from the intensive medical support and empathetic caregiving to things like its annual Shining Light on Abilities event, a festive display of holiday […]

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Faye Levy on Jewish Cooking: A Diaspora of Flavors

On a recent afternoon I received a random phone call from a senior woman who lived in Hope Ranch. She introduced herself as Vibeke Einhorn. She said she had a box of cookbooks, and that she was moving into an assisted care facility, and would I want them. Her kind, dignified voice and fondness for […]

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The Sleeping One

Descending San Miguel Hill at a feverish pace, I’d just left a freshly soddened Green Mountain to the west in my rearview mirror. San Miguel Island always delivering a diverse mix of unpredictable weather patterns. Green Mountain was cloaked in dewy fog and swept in 20 mph northwest winds. It felt like sideways rain as […]

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Trimming Montecito’s Tree

Last week, the usual crew of Montecito locals gathered to decorate the giant pine tree near the Manning Park tennis courts. It’s a festive tradition that goes back many decades, and we retell it here each year to keep the memory alive.  As the story goes, in the early 1960s, then Montecito Fire Chief Don […]

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A Golden Eagle Gala

The eagle has landed! After a major nine-month restoration that used 12 books of 22 karat gold leaf, equal to 312 individual sheets or 5.3 grams of gold, by local expert Chris Bailey, a most impressive golden eagle, which used to hang above the stage at the Lobero Theatre at the turn of the last […]

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A Champagne Tea

Lobero Theatre Associates, an auxiliary supporting the historic theater’s foundation, celebrated its 50th anniversary with a champagne-soaked tea for 75 guests at the Santa Barbara Club, which raised $5,000 as Swedish pianist Fredrik Rosvall serenaded the cultured crowd with traditional carols. Among the supporters at the bash, co-chaired by Leslie Haight and Emily Johnson, were […]

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A Homer Run

Good things do indeed come in small packages as fashion entrepreneur Terry Pillow, 70, amply proved when he opened his 200-square-foot bijou boutique Homer Montecito on Coast Village Road, a tiara’s toss from Tre Lune, selling beautiful bridle leather bags ranging in price from $2,600 to keyrings for just $85. Terry, who formerly worked for […]

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