11 Nov 2025
Saving Grace: A Community’s Mission to Rescue Stained Glass
Rescue and return with care. That was the mission when nearly 150 sacred stained-glass windows from the former St. Mary’s Seminary on Las Canoas Road faced an uncertain fate. These weren’t just any windows. Each one, luminous with Biblical imagery and rich with symbolism, once illuminated the chapel of the Vincentian Fathers, spiritual teachers whose […]
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Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux
Enlightenment intellectual Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, undertook to describe and classify the royal collections of France and to relate his findings to the broader laws of nature. His book Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux was a landmark in the science of ornithology and helped broaden contemporary interest in natural history. François-Nicolas Martinet engraved the plates […]
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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 […]
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Witchfest at the Historic Alhecama Theatre
by Robert F Adams A ghoulish spectacular was held at the historic Alhecama Theatre on Saturday, November 1. Organized by Teresa Kuskey and Rick Oshay, the event, La Boheme Presents: A Happy Halloween Dead Dance and Cabaret Show, welcomed spooked visitors to the front courtyard to mingle among costumed guests. The witchy crowd was able […]
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Sips and Nibbles: A Tasteful Evening or a Worthy Cause
By Maria McCall The old-world charm of El Paseo set the scene for a delightful evening as the Grassini Family Vineyards Tasting Room hosted Sips and Nibbles, a benefit for Food From The Heart. Guests enjoyed Grassini estate wines and Chef Aaron Casale’s sumptuous bites while singer/guitarist Kylie Butler’s smooth tunes set the mood. For […]
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Island Reverie: MClub’s Glamorous Getaway to Avalon
By Maria McCall “Twenty-six miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is a-waitin’ for me!” sang The Four Preps in their classic 1958 hit. Though the song says 26, it’s really just 22 miles from the mainland. Traveling in style in the Commodore Lounge aboard the Catalina Express, Montecito Bank & Trust’s MClub adventurersenjoyed ocean views, […]
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The High Cost of “Affordable” Housing
Jeff Harding’s recent column in the Montecito Journal brings up one of the hottest topics facing City Council currently. “Rent Control” surfaces periodically as a solution to the relatively high cost of living in a city where demand for affordable housing has traditionally out-paced supply. Due primarily to our high-functioning Housing Authority, Santa Barbara actually […]
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An Unlikely Story
Once upon a time, an English lad named John Holman was sojourning in Australia some 10,000 miles away from his home village of West Grinstead in the U.K. Searching for himself, really, John had incautiously entered a passageway provided by his family’s wartime past. At Tecolote Book Shop this coming Saturday, November 8, from 3 […]
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Pages of November
‘Future Boy’ Michael J. Fox relates his journey through the space-time continuum in Future Boy, a jaunty look back at making the iconic film Back to the Future while starring in the hit TV show Family Ties. This one isn’t just for fans of the BTTF franchise, going on 40 years, but for anyone interested […]
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The Sound of Silence: Montecito Retreats Access the Peace Inside
Bruce Davis wrote his first book, The Magical Child Within You, back in the mid-1970s, in the process penning one of the earliest works exploring how accessing the inner child can lead to greater peace. It was the start of a lifetime journey into meditation and stillness. “Once you start rediscovering your inner child, you […]
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Justice or Vengeance?
On September 20, Trump posted a lengthy demand on Truth Social that Attorney General Pam Bondi prosecute former FBI Director James Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and New York Attorney General Letitia James. “They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,” he claimed, adding, “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing […]
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Punch and Judy Politics
American politics has devolved into a meaningless Red and Blue Punch and Judy show. You know, the puppet show where all Punch and Judy do is argue and beat each other with sticks. Look at it as a metaphor for contemporary politics. Politicians at the state and federal level can’t get beyond their need to […]
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Montecito Beautification Day and Other News Bytes
Montecito’s 40th Annual Beautification Day takes place Saturday, November 8, from 9 am to 12 pm at Montecito Union School. Hosted by the Montecito Association and chaired by Mindy Denson, the event begins with breakfast from the Rosewood Miramar, followed by community cleanup projects, awards, and a celebratory lunch by San Ysidro Ranch – a […]
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Little Mountain: Plating the Village
When local investment empath (and healthy hair exemplar) Graham Duncan bought Pierre Lafond’s beloved and fallow Wine Bistro space in the Upper Village, local eyebrows arched as one. There were whisperings in the woods. A jewel in the Upper Village crown, the cozy retail oasis perched above the miraculous Corner Green has long been a […]
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Brat Pack is Back in New SBHS Show
Considering how many 1980s movies have been turned into Broadway musicals – from Footloose, Heathers, and Little Shop of Horrors to Fame, Xanadu, and even Back to the Future – it’s almost shocking nobody has adapted John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club for the stage. After all, the iconic film praised for its authentic portrayal of […]
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Lookout: Laurel Canyon Comes to Lobero
Veteran musicians James Raymond (keyboards/vocals) and Steve Postell (guitar/vocals) were mainstays of both the David Crosby tribute concert at the Lobero months after the legend passed away in 2023, and the “Our House: Music of CSNY” tour that played the theater a year later. Now, the two have come together again to both further expand […]
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MAST-erful Art and More
The Mesa Artist Studio Tour reaches of-age status with its 21st annual event, a much more compact and community-focused little sibling to the Santa Barbara Studio Artists Tour every Labor Day weekend. Just eight studios encompass the tour around the neighborhood, although two are the site of two artists, meaning a more intimate and personal […]
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Dialogue on Wheels
Since six blocks of State Street closed in spring 2020, e‑bike usage has risen steadily, and the resulting increase in accidents has alarmed residents and local politicians. The Westmont Center for Dialogue and Deliberation decided to tackle this thorny issue at a community roundtable event with more than 50 people on October 23 at the Community […]
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Fall Choral Festival Concert
More than 200 high school singers come to campus on Friday, November 7, for a day of coaching from Westmont’s choral and vocal faculty before the Fall Choral Festival at 6 pm in First Presbyterian Church of Santa Barbara. The performance is free and open to the public. The Westmont College Choir and Chamber Singers […]
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