Tag archives: celebration

Upcoming Holidays Hold Meaning for Us All
By Joanne A Calitri   |   October 1, 2024

This is the time of year when the focus is on spiritual rituals, celebrations and reflections across all religions and beliefs. Starting in October with Rosh Hashana on October 2-4, we can look forward to Navratri on October 3, Yom Kippur on October 11-12, Sukkot on October 17-23, Samhain [All Hallows] on October 31, and […]

Maryan Schall’s Celebration of Life
By Montecito Journal   |   February 6, 2024

Friends of Maryan Schall are invited to join her family in a celebration of her life on April 18th at 4:30 pm at Birnam Wood Country Club. Seating is limited, so please RSVP at: celebratemaryan@gmail.com.  

Birthday Boy Mineards
By Richard Mineards   |   August 1, 2023

It wasn’t quite the exotic occasion I envisaged when I celebrated the 20th anniversary of my half century last week, but a fun event nevertheless at Ca’Dario on Coast Village Road. Having not been able to fly to Marrakech, Morocco, for the past few years because of pandemic restrictions, my plans were to join an […]

Bon Anniversaire Mineards
By Richard Mineards   |   August 2, 2022

It wasn’t quite the exotic Moroccan city of Marrakech where I had been scheduled to celebrate the 19th anniversary of my half century, but our rarefied enclave’s newest eatery Local on Coast Village Road served as a suitable replacement locale to celebrate. I joined good friends, animal activist Gretchen Lieff and her fiancée Miles Hartfeld, […]

Celebrating (?) 2021 Remembering an Incredible Year
By Rinaldo Brutoco   |   December 28, 2021

This is one very difficult column to write. It is the end of the year, a time typically filled with Holiday cheer — whether Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or just Santa Claus and family. We pause to celebrate the happiness of the season, complete with the exchange of gifts, and to bask in the warm embrace […]

Catching Some Fiesta Fever
By Richard Mineards   |   August 12, 2021

Fiesta fever was palpable at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum when Tablao Museo, an energized flamenco show for 230 guests, took place under the stars. The pulsating event on a sultry summer night was organized by museum director Dacia Harwood and featured musicians and dancers from our Eden by the Beach to Spain who shared […]

‘Nothing Could be Finer’ Than This Birthday Bash
By Richard Mineards   |   July 29, 2021

It was a super sunset birthday soirée by degrees when yours truly marked the 18th anniversary of his half-century with a boffo bash at the University Club hosted by Gretchen Lieff and her beau, Miles Hartfeld. Having been scheduled to wing to an old friend Cat Pollon’s home outside Marrakech for the past two years, […]

Juneteenth: A Holiday that Matters
By Rinaldo Brutoco   |   June 25, 2020

We are writing this piece on June 19, 2020, and wanted to wish everyone Happy Juneteenth! For many of our readers, this might be the first year you’ve heard about the holiday called Juneteenth, but it’s been celebrated around parts of the United States since 1886, with more and more people celebrating it each year. […]

Sibilant Surprise: Santa Barbara’s Safe Social Distance Summer Solstice Celebration
By Steven Libowitz   |   June 18, 2020

A lot of things seem impossible to produce during a pandemic, most assuredly a parade, especially one as perennially popular as Santa Barbara’s Solstice Parade and Festival, which draws crowds of more than 100,000 participants and spectators from town and all around. Held at high noon on the Saturday closest to June 21, Solstice (as […]

Flowers by Request
By Ashleigh Brilliant   |   April 30, 2020

You’ve probably heard Ogden Nash’s immortal observation on the relative merits of two different methods of seduction: Candy is dandy, But liquor is quicker. Unfortunately, he omitted a third well-known amatory aid, which I now offer you as a suggested last line: And FLOWERS HAVE POWERS. I myself have never been particularly susceptible to those […]

Offbeat Outings to Ojai
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 27, 2020

After 10 years at other area locations, the Ojai Mardi Gras celebration marks its 30th anniversary back at the Ojai Valley Woman’s Club fittingly on Leap Day, February 29, as the venue hosted the first public event on Leap Day in 1992. This year’s Masquerade Ball carries the theme “Naughty Gras… Leap into your Fantasy,” […]

Chinese New Year Celebration
By Richard Mineards   |   February 20, 2020

Gung Hay Fat Choy – Wishing You Prosperity and Health – was the motto during the Arthritis Foundation Central Coast’s Chinese New Year dinner at the China Pavilion. The event is the official kick-off for the organization’s popular Taste of the Town on the Riviera being held on September 13, with the Connoisseur’s Circle dinner […]

Super Party
By Richard Mineards   |   February 13, 2020

Animal activist Gretchen Lieff and fiancée Miles Hartfeld opened the doors of their charming Arcady home for a Super Bowl LIV bash. As guests noshed on comestibles by caterer Elena Wagner, Miles mixed lemon drop martinis as the Kansas City Chiefs clobbered the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Miami on a Fox TV show watched […]

Vulnerability and the Heart
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 6, 2020

Jennifer Sommerville leads a special pre-Valentine’s Day workshop at Unity of Santa Barbara in which all are invited to come celebrate love with an exploration of what it means to be vulnerable through conversation, heart math and creative expression using multimedia arts and craft. The free 11:30 am workshop takes place in Unity’s community room. […]

Noël at the Nesbitts’
By Richard Mineards   |   January 2, 2020

Summerland was turned into a winter wonderland with real snow when polo playing hotel magnate Pat Nesbitt and his wife, Ursula, threw a spectacular holiday bash for 200 guests at Bella Vista, their sprawling polo ranch. The bustling beano, catered once again by the Biltmore, featured ballerinas from Los Angeles dancing to the Nutcracker, eight […]

The Steedman Silver
By Lynda Millner   |   December 19, 2019

The “Christmas at the Casa” gala this year was all about silver. Silver cloths on all the tables with greens sprayed silver and lighted cabinets on display filled with pieces of silver George Steedman had made in the ‘30s and ‘40s. He’s known to have made about one hundred pieces between 1927 and 1940, when […]

Hearts & Hugs For Heroes
By Lynda Millner   |   November 26, 2019

Friendship Center held their first veterans’ celebration with lots of red, white and blue, a hug line and applause for each veteran attending. If you gave a hug you were rewarded with a home baked heart shaped cookie. Lt. John Blankenship from Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation was there with a color guard, Deborah Bertling sang […]

Happy Birthday, Hillary
By Richard Mineards   |   September 19, 2019

Heal the Ocean founder Hillary Hauser celebrated her 75th birthday in style at the Person Ryan Gallery at the Summerland Center for the Arts. Hillary, who is marking the occasion by flying to Normandy, which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, also exhibited a number of her colorful fish paintings, with all […]

University Club Centennial Celebration
By Richard Mineards   |   June 13, 2019

Santa Barbara’s University Club allowed the public to have a rare glimpse of the charming property, built in 1880 as a private estate and purchased by the club founders in 1923, for its lavish centennial gala, which welcomed more than 130 guests. “It’s a celebration of not only the club, but the community it’s in, […]

Crane Celebrates 90 Years
By Ann Pieramici   |   May 16, 2019

Crane Country Day School’s strong sense of community was palpable at the aptly named “Crane Coming Home” 90th anniversary celebration, which felt like a huge family gathering on the school’s beautifully transformed fields. Those in attendance included current and past teachers, four Heads of School, parents and alumni of all generations, and even one alumnus […]