Let’s All Light Up a Life

Hospice of Santa Barbara (HSB) is back brightening up the holidays with its annual Light Up a Life series of events spanning Montecito, Carpinteria, Goleta, and Santa Barbara within the span of a week or so. These events bring people together to remember and honor loved ones who might be particularly missed during December’s festivities. The seasonal service, now some four decades on, comes to us from the organization that throughout the year provides professional counseling, support groups, and patient care services free of charge to individuals and families who are grieving or facing life-threatening illnesses. 

“The ideology behind Light Up a Life is that people may experience profound grief during the holidays because of poignant memories of their family members that comes from years of being with each other at this time of year,” Charles Caldwell, the nonprofit’s director of strategic advancement, has said. “Being together makes it so people don’t have to go through that isolating feeling of grief by themselves. It helps us to bear it a little bit better.” 

Each Light Up a Life ceremony is both a solemn and joyous gathering, with different community and civic leaders emceeing at each location. The activities include a spiritual reflection, as well as poetry readings from former SB Poet Laureates (this year Perie Longo and George Yatchisin) plus live music (Lois Mahalia, John Vale, Dos Pueblos Jazz Choir and the Laguna Blanca School Choir, among others) and refreshments, including cookies from Robin Himovitz and Aunt Janet’s Cookies. 

The gathering’s centerpiece is the lighting of the memorial holiday Tree of Remembrance, adorned with star-like ornaments each bearing the name of a loved one who has died and/or in honor of someone living and often personalized with a photo or personal quote. The trees, which are intended to be inclusive of all holiday traditions, are spiritedly lit at the conclusion of each event, and remain illuminated at each site through the end of the year. 

This year’s Light Up a Life ceremonies take place in Montecito’s Upper Village Green and at Santa Barbara at the Lobero Theatre at 6 pm on Saturday, December 6; on the Lobero’s front plaza on Sunday, December 7; at Carpinteria’s Seal Fountain on Saturday, December 13; and in Camino Real Marketplace in Goleta on Sunday, December 14. Each event begins shortly after sunset at 5 pm (5:30 at the Lobero) with music and additional star sales (suggested donation of $15) for those who didn’t arrange for a loved one’s star in advance, with the ceremony starting 30 minutes later. No purchase is necessary to attend. 

Visit www.hospiceofsb.org/lual