Tag archives: Abe Powell

Bucket Brigade
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 21, 2023

Back in 2018, when the Montecito debris flows left huge swaths of the village buried under hundreds of tons of mud and other detritus, the Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade (SBBB) was all over the news. The first responders had moved on, and the job of digging out was just beginning. Nearly every outlet around ran […]

Walk Montecito Trails Damaged
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   February 14, 2023

A month after a significant rain event damaged Montecito homes, roads, and trails, Walk Montecito – a project by the Bucket Brigade – is still digging out from the catastrophic damage to the neighborhood trail network. “We need the community’s support to get through this,” said Bucket Brigade founder Abe Powell.  The Olive Mill neighborhood […]

Raising Our Light
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   February 7, 2023

A community-wide event was scheduled on the evening of January 9, 2023, to commemorate the five-year anniversary of the 1/9 Debris Flow; the event was canceled by organizers a few days prior, as Montecito prepared for a significant storm event that would eventually lead to an evacuation of the entire community.  This past weekend, Bucket […]

Montecito’s 2022 Year in Review
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   January 3, 2023

Project Progress Highway 101 Widening Project  The long-awaited widening project from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara was discussed at length in 2022, with countless meetings to discuss design, construction, timing, and other details related to the addition of a third lane through Montecito.  The Montecito segment of the project (called 4D) includes widening 1.4 miles of […]

New Montecito Neighborhood Trail Network Already Benefitting Casa Dorinda Residents
By Stella Haffner   |   December 27, 2022

‘Twas the trail blazing campaign, called Walk Montecito! Seeking funds from donors, to make the project complet-o, With leadership from Geoff and our good friend Abe, We are grateful to the team at Bucket Brigade! In April of 2022, the Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade launched a campaign to address one of the ongoing health and […]

Keep on Walking
By Richard Mineards   |   May 24, 2022

American Riviera Bank in the Upper Village was socially gridlocked when Walk Montecito hosted a sunset soirée for 50 supporters with wine donated by Doug Margerum and food from Rincon Catering. The sole-searching three-year project that is costing around $2,504,000 to complete the eight-and-a-half-mile neighborhood trail, has already raised $1,400,332 with two miles finished. It […]

Walk Montecito
By Lynda Millner   |   May 3, 2022

There’s a group of folks who are changing the face of Montecito in a good way – their goal is to “Walk Montecito” safely. The Montecito Neighborhood Trail Network would allow pedestrians to feel safe to bike or walk to school, parks, beaches, and businesses. The movers and shakers are CEO and co-founder Abe Powell […]

Walk Montecito
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   April 12, 2022

The Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade is launching a new campaign this week, aimed at raising funds for Walk Montecito, a project that will ultimately create eight miles of roadside walking trails throughout Montecito. “The project reflects our commitment to long-term recovery from the Thomas Fire and Debris Flow, and our mission to build both community […]

Bucket Brigade: Building a Foundation for Local Resilience
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 13, 2022

The Santa Barbara coastal region has largely escaped any major disasters in the past year, save, of course, for the ongoing crisis with COVID-19. There haven’t been any major fires striking between Carpinteria and western Goleta, and no serious flooding despite the recent record-setting string of rainstorms.  On the other hand, some folks out by […]

Connecting the Community: Hot Springs Neighborhood Trail Complete
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   August 31, 2021

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held this week on the newly completed Hot Springs Neighborhood Trail, which connects Olive Mill Road from Casa Dorinda to East Valley Road.  Since the debris flow in January 2018, the Bucket Brigade, led by Abe Powell and a committed team, has worked to restore many areas of the community, and […]

Land Use Discusses Highways 101 & 192, and Walking Paths
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   April 15, 2021

Kirsten Ayars, rep for the Highway 101 widening project, reported on Tuesday at the Montecito Association Land Use and Transportation Committee that recent attempts at deterring the double crested cormorants in the construction area at Sheffield Drive have been negatively affecting neighbors, and that plans have shifted in order to deter the birds while not […]

Hot Springs Pathway Project
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   April 1, 2021

Over the weekend, volunteers with the Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade were out in full force beautifying a newly-built pathway on the lower portion of Hot Springs Road. The next phase of the project, which will start at Casa Dorinda and end at East Valley Road, is set to begin in early May and will take […]

Concern Over Hot Springs Trail Project
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   March 11, 2021

A newly built pedestrian pathway along Hot Springs Road has sparked some neighborhood controversy, which was discussed at the Montecito’s Land Use and Transportation Committee meeting this past Tuesday.  Bucket Brigade founder Abe Powell, who was an integral part of the County-led road enhancement project, explained to the Committee that the impetus for the trail […]

Emergency Landing at Montecito Union School
By Nick Schou   |   March 11, 2021

At 2:07 pm, Montecito resident Abe Powell was driving north on San Ysidro Road when he noticed a pair of paragliders swinging in the sky. “They were just too low,” Powell said. “I knew they weren’t going to make it to the beach, because they were coming low and towards the powerlines that come across […]

San Ysidro Bridge Ribbon Cutting
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   February 25, 2021

Last Thursday, February 11, several community leaders and nearby residents came out to a small ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the new bridge across San Ysidro Creek at East Mountain Drive. Public Works Director Scott McGolpin, First District Supervisor Das Williams, Public Works Deputy Directors Julie Hagen and Chris Sneddon, Bucket Brigade […]

Love And Light In The Darkness: The Third Annual 1/9 Commemoration
By Sharon Byrne   |   January 21, 2021

Saturday night, many of us gathered electronically to commemorate the third anniversary of the Debris Flow that claimed 23 of our community members, destroyed hundreds of homes, and shook us to our core.  It’s a day we’ll never forget.  As with all major disasters, the entire community experienced a collective trauma: shock, loss, grief, and […]

Santa Barbara’s Bucket Brigade Unveils New Trail Project in Montecito
By Nick Schou   |   December 10, 2020

If you’ve ever trekked up the walking path on the west side of San Ysidro Road between the 101 Freeway and East Valley Road, or along the north side of North Jameson Lane between San Ysidro and Olive Mill Road, then you are already familiar with Montecito’s recently established community trail network. While sidewalks were […]

Montecito’s Bucket Brigade Launches Countywide Growing Project
By Nick Schou   |   September 17, 2020

Fresh on the heels of donating and distributing 33,000 cloth masks sewed by 300 volunteers, the Bucket Brigade (as well as 16 other organizations including the Santa Barbara County Food Action Network and the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County) is taking its crowd-sourcing expertise in a new direction: launching a major campaign of community and […]

Bandit, Ann, and Abe
By Gretchen Lieff   |   August 6, 2020

When you’ve been quarantined for weeks and a tree falls on your house, at least you’ve got your friends, and your dog Ferocious winds tore through Montecito that night, leaving a wake of damage and power outages. Forecasters blamed a strengthening ridge of high pressure and weak offshore gradients for producing the scary and destructive […]

Bucket Brigade Updates
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   June 11, 2020

On Tuesday, June 2, fourth graders at Laguna Blanca Lower School held their Citizenship Event via Zoom. Usually held as a special breakfast on campus, the event is a culmination of curriculum taught in the fourth grade, focusing on good citizenship and leadership. Each year, students choose members of the community who exhibit the Six […]