Tag archives: beautification

CVA Communiqué: Paving the Way to Progress
By Beth Sullivan   |   March 26, 2024

The City of Santa Barbara and Coast Village Association (CVA) are paving the way for a better district… literally!  Over the past eight years Montecito and Coast Village Road have endured many challenges. We have experienced droughts, rain events, winds, the Thomas fire and subsequent devastating debris flow, as well as the pandemic. As a […]

Another Successful Beautification Day!
By Houghton Hyatt   |   November 14, 2023

We had more than 100 volunteers come out to beautify Montecito. The Rosewood Miramar hosted a beautiful breakfast with coffee, teas, pastries, and breakfast burritos and had about 20 to 30 team members join us! Everyone got their safety vests, trash grabbers and trash bags and went out for a few hours to pick up […]

Citizen of the Year Announced
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   October 24, 2023

Save the date for Saturday, November 4, for the 38th annual Montecito Association Beautification Day. Themed “It Takes a Village,” this year’s event is shaping up to be a super successful event, after several years of COVID-induced, pared-down versions of the popular volunteer event. “We’re back! And we are thrilled that so many people and […]

A Bee-autiful Day in the Montecito Neighborhood
By Sharon Byrne   |   November 15, 2022

Last Saturday, something amazing happened. The day was gorgeous and crisply cold. A deluge of caring Montecitans amassed in the Upper Village in front of Tecolote Book Shop. They chatted with neighbors, over coffee and pastries provided by Andrea Eltinge Newquist and Jacqueline Duran. They donned neon yellow safety vests, picked up green trash pick-up […]

Bee-utiful Montecito!
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   November 8, 2022

Save the date for this Saturday, November 5, for Montecito Association’s annual Beautification Day! Sponsored in conjunction with the Montecito Community Foundation, the event will be back at the Village Green in front of Tecolote in the Upper Village. The event was canceled in 2020 and was much smaller scale last year in 2021. Hundreds […]

Beautification Day: When Montecito Takes to the Streets, With Love
By Sharon Byrne   |   October 18, 2022

The days are getting shorter and cooler. Fog is drifting in, and it feels like spooky season is rolling in with it. Everyone is craving pumpkin spice, and dreams of the Great Pumpkin lighting up Halloween steal into our children’s blissful sleep.  All of this can only mean one thing… Yes, it’s time for Beautification […]

The CBID and I: Local Businesses Talk Expectations, Issues, and Unity along CVR
By Charles Rous   |   September 27, 2022

The businesses that run up and down Coast Village Road (CVR) make up a neighborhood brimming with pride. There are old, fabled institutions like Lucky’s, generational property owners à la Jeff Harding, and small business owners who took leaps of faith and ended up with dreamy storefronts such as the folks atWhiskey & Leather. The […]

The Montecito Association Wants YOU Do you care about your Montecito village community? We’d love to have you on our team!
By Sharon Byrne   |   September 20, 2022

Whether you’re new to Montecito, or have been here for decades, you probably adore the bucolic scenery, laid-back vibe, and rural feel here.  Well, that didn’t just happen all by itself. A heck of a lot of people who cared deeply spent decades shaping the community we experience in Montecito today. The Montecito Association was, […]

Santa Barbara Beautiful
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 13, 2022

Santa Barbara Beautiful plants trees. A lot of trees. Thirteen thousand of them in its 57-year history, so far. They even name a Tree of the Month, with a photo and profile of the individual palm, evergreen, jacaranda, or other species, a series that is quite popular with locals and visitors alike.  To be precise, […]

Sonya Harris’s 101 Freeway Ramp Garden Relocated
By Joanne A Calitri   |   July 26, 2022

Summerland is blessed with the beautiful green thumb of Sonya Harris, who single-handedly created a garden scape with over 250 plants and stonework along Lillie Avenue’s sidewalk through the northbound 101 onramp.  Caltrans was ready to bulldoze through that garden were it not for a good deed message from Kirsten Ayars, PR for the Caltrans […]

Coast Village Road News
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   February 15, 2022

Last week property owners on Coast Village Road – 94 of them to be exact – received a formal petition for the proposed Coast Village Community Benefit Improvement District (CBID), an idea brought forth by the Coast Village Association (CVA) nearly two years ago. The goal of the CBID, which is funded by property owners […]

Montecito’s Beautification Day: A Huge Win for Our Community
By Sharon Byrne   |   November 16, 2021

Last Saturday, something amazing happened in Montecito. A community got on its feet and spread care and love into the world. It was Beautification Day — and the impact was powerful.  The day unfolded with two ensemble casts that had never rehearsed together taking on two big projects. The first team consisted of Montecito Fire, […]

Beautification Day, COVID Style
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   November 9, 2021

In an effort to remain as COVID-safe as possible, Montecito Association is hosting a smaller-than-normal Beautification Day this Saturday, November 7, beginning at 9 am. This year’s event will be based at a new location: the upper green on the corner of East Valley Road and San Ysidro Road, in front of Pierre Lafond. After […]

A New Path for the Revitalization of Coast Village Road
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   June 10, 2021

After more than a year helping many of their business constituents navigate through catastrophic blows to business, the Board of Directors of the Coast Village Association has one primary goal for 2021: To form a Community Benefit Improvement District, or CBID, in order to take control of the street’s aesthetics, safety, and marketing ventures.  “We’re […]

Keeping Montecito Beautiful
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   October 31, 2019

Save the date for Montecito Association’s 34th annual Beautification Day, this Saturday, November 2 in the upper village green. Garnering hefty support from the community, the special day of beautifying Montecito is expected to have a large turnout of community volunteers. “It’s the most support we’ve ever seen,” said Montecito Association Executive Director Sharon Byrne. […]

Beauty and the Beach
By Richard Mineards   |   October 10, 2019

The Music Academy of the West suffered social gridlock when Santa Barbara Beautiful hosted its 55th annual awards, co-chaired by Mark Whitehurst and Kerry Methner, at the Miraflores campus. Ubiquitous KEYT-TV senior reporter John Palminteri emceed the ceremony in the Lehmann Ballroom after a welcome by organization president Penny Haberman, who revealed SBB had provided […]

Planters Finished on Coast Village Road
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   May 2, 2019

Last week, the newly installed planters on Coast Village Road were filled with small shrub landscaping, thanks to the generosity of several local business owners and donors.  The planters were initially installed in March, at the entrance of two of the road’s parking aisles, in an effort to deter through traffic and speeding. The project […]

Hathaway Family Tree
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   December 13, 2018

Montecito beautification elves, along with Montecito firefighters, Manning Park ranger Doug Norton, and school kids from Montecito Union School, spent the afternoon of Monday, December 10, decorating the Hathaway Family Tree – also known as the Montecito Community Tree – near the Manning Park tennis courts on San Ysidro Road. The tradition of decorating the […]

Here We Go Again
By Montecito Journal   |   November 8, 2018

“It’s all Trump’s fault”! Leftists instantly reach for the “Hate-Trump Card” as a knee-jerk reaction to virtually every “crisis.” Do you remember Democrats and the seedier media blaming Robert (“F**k Trump”) De Niro for the shooting and attempted assassination of president Ronald Reagan? I don’t. A certified mental case shot at the president because, as […]

Beautification Day
By Montecito Journal   |   November 8, 2018

Montecito Association (MA) Beautification Day was a great success, drawing more than 100 volunteers who came out to help beautify several areas of Montecito. With breakfast sponsored by the Rosewood Miramar Resort, lunch donated by Montecito Village Grocery and San Ysidro Ranch (and prepared by Montecito firefighters), the event was a collaborative effort. Multiple groups […]