A Bewitching Debut at the Santa Barbara Club

By Maria McCall

Last Friday evening, the Santa Barbara Club hosted a magical inaugural Halloween party that would have enchanted even the ghosts of Montecito’s high society. Candlelight flickered off champagne flutes as members mingled, enjoying a decadent buffet of tenderloin with autumn vegetables, pumpkin bisque, an arugula and butternut squash salad, and desserts that vanished before midnight.

The costumes were stunning: Viking Queen and SB Club Director Linda Spann presided over the event consulting with DJ Katherine Bradstreet, while Wizard of Oz Keith Moore chatted with Glenda the Good Witch (Contessa Diane Brighton) about the fabulous Portuguese ceramic black cat he purchased on their recent journey. The Phantom of the Opera, played by John Brinker, made a dramatic entrance (as one does), and Mary Hobson dazzled as the Green Witch. Brent Anderson and his entire family arrived as a raucous crew of Pirates of the Caribbean, complete with swashbuckling flair. Mark and Susie Tautrim’smatching skeletons, and Ellen Robinson as a wizard all added to the magic. Linda Rosso brought color and joy as a Flower Power Girl, and Brendon Twigden and Danuta Bennett brought whimsy as Alice in Wonderland characters.

But the real showstopper? A single outdoor table on the lawn, designed by the ever-creative Bejeweled Purple Witch Beverly Cavaliere, the table was a masterpiece of mystical elegance – part séance, part art installation – complete with a glowing crystal ball, witch finger candles, floating eyeballs, a bubbling cauldron, Keith Moore’s black cat, and framed spells that seemed to hum with mischief. One guest whispered it looked “straight out of a Tim Burton fever dream” – and he wasn’t wrong.

As the DJ spun the Bee Gees, Earth, Wind & Fire, KC and the Sunshine Band, the dance floor transformed into a ‘70s disco of the undead. Sequins flashed, capes twirled, and at one point, even the Phantom was seen doing the hustle (though he’ll surely deny it).