Tag archives: Christmas tree

Trimming Montecito’s Tree
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   December 20, 2022

Last week, the usual crew of Montecito locals gathered to decorate the giant pine tree near the Manning Park tennis courts. It’s a festive tradition that goes back many decades, and we retell it here each year to keep the memory alive.  As the story goes, in the early 1960s, then Montecito Fire Chief Don […]

Holiday Festivities in Montecito
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   December 14, 2021

It was a welcome sight, two years in the making: the usual crowd of Montecito locals gathered this past Saturday to trim the giant tree near the Manning Park tennis courts on San Ysidro Road. The tradition took a hiatus last year because of the pandemic; the tree was trimmed quietly by a skeletal crew […]

Holiday Party at Paseo Nuevo! Impressive Lineup Will Put You in the Holiday Spirit
By Nick Masuda   |   November 22, 2021

Mary Lynn Harms-Romo readily admits that at 5:30 pm every day, she plans to step away from whatever she is doing to take in the snow. Yes, the snow. It’s a holiday benefit to her role as senior marketing director and local leasing manager with Paseo Nuevo — and a welcomed sight after the pandemic […]

The ‘Resilience Tree’
By Richard Mineards   |   December 24, 2020

Montecito accountant and inveterate travel writer Frank McGinity is raising the Christmas spirit! Frank, a longtime resident of Riven Rock, the new home of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, has continued a long-held tradition and erected a 120-foot-tall Yuletide tree on his estate. “Stanley McCormick, who lived here for forty years, always had […]

The Christmas Tree Has Arrived
By Sharon Byrne   |   December 17, 2020

Hospice Santa Barbara has installed our Christmas tree in the Upper Village for the third year in a row, and Light Up A Life takes place December 16 at 6 pm. We will be well into Hanukkah, and closing in on the Winter Solstice on December 21, the longest night of the year. Light Up […]

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 […]

Caltrans Updates
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   December 6, 2018

Earlier this week, Caltrans released updates on the major construction projects currently underway in Montecito, all related to repairs following the 1/9 debris flow.   According to project manager Jason Kline, the project to replace the bridge rails on the Highway 101 overcrossing at Olive Mill Road is nearing completion; the installation of bridge rails on […]

Let There be Light
By Richard Mineards   |   November 29, 2018

The imposing lobby of Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner’s Biltmore was packed with parents and children when the Four Seasons hotel held its colorful annual Christmas tree lighting by two of its front desk staffers, Laura Bae and Matthew Escarcega. A dozen members of the Santa Barbara High School Madrigals, suitably attired in Dickensian costume, […]

Christmas at the Casa
By Lynda Millner   |   December 21, 2017

Casa del Herrero Board of Trustees invited one and all to Christmas at the Casa, a celebration of preservation. This 11-acre estate was completed in 1925, the day of the great Santa Barbara earthquake. It sustained no damage, and Carrie and George Steedman moved in. It is now a National Historic Landmark and preserved for […]

Plank Goodness
By Richard Mineards   |   December 7, 2017

Champagne and apple cider were flowing freely when the Ritz-Carlton Bacara threw a socially gridlocked reception for the lighting of the tony hostelry’s Christmas tree. The 11-feet-high fir was stunningly decorated by in-house designer Rosie Neely for the occasion, when Goleta mayor Paula Perotte threw the switch, watched by the 195 guests, many of them […]