Tag archives: Christmas

Holiday Wrap Up: Wrapping Up the Home
By Zach Rosen   |   December 20, 2022

With the holidays upon us, here are a few places for putting those finishing touches on the home, last-minute local gifts, or just spots to go get some fresh air and holiday cheer. During the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it’s easy to let things slip through the cracks and this week is […]

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 […]

Christmas at the Casa 
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 20, 2022

A wet and windy evening did not derail the annual Christmas at the Casa fundraising event at Casa del Herrero on December 10, as guests were chauffeured from the El Montecito Church parking lot to the event. There we were greeted with elegantly dressed staff who escorted us with umbrellas to the host desk and […]

A Westmont Yuletide
By Richard Mineards   |   December 13, 2022

The full arsenal of Westmont College’s musical talent was on display at the Granada for the 18th annual Christmas Festival. Always a great start to Yuletide, the concert “Prince of Peace” was the second year at the venerable State Street theater after years at the First Presbyterian Church. Ruth Lin, chair of the music department, […]

Christmas Kicks Off
By Richard Mineards   |   December 13, 2022

The Rosewood Miramar was flooded with Yuletide illuminations, as well as dozens of miniature trees, when Managing Director Rick Fidel, accompanied by a very jolly Santa Claus, lit the tony hostelry’s Christmas tree in the grand lobby watched by dozens of parents and their children. As guests quaffed hot chocolate, apple cider, and prosecco cocktails, […]

Welcome to December! We’re very excited to announce our Second Annual Montecito Holiday Magic Parade December 17!
By Sharon Byrne   |   December 6, 2022

We’ll have the coolest classic cars, lit up to brighten the night sky (briefly). We’ll have dancers, singers, and so much fun! The route starts from the Upper Village, and heads down Hot Springs to Coast Village, and then back up Olive Mill to the end. We encourage you to support our local merchants and […]

Caroling to a New Tune
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 6, 2022

The veteran actor, director, and choreographer Jamie Torcellini is no stranger to Ensemble Theatre Company (ETC), having performed at ETC in The School for Lies and The Mystery of Irma Vep, and directed both Tell Me on a Sunday and The 39 Steps. It’s the latter play that’s most germane, as Torcellini has been enthralled […]

Love for the Lower Village: Home for the Holidays Continues Along Coast Village
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   December 6, 2022

The second in a four-part series on shopping locally in Montecito, we’re shining a light on the Lower Village: Montecito’s Coast Village Road and beyond, which has long been a shopping and dining destination for locals and visitors.  Many shops along Coast Village Road are gearing up for the holiday season, decorating their windows and […]

A Holiday Circus
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 29, 2022

Santa Barbara’s regular traditional holiday shows such as The Nutcracker and Christmas Revels will be arriving next month, along with sing-along Messiahs and holiday parties. But the highlight of the season just might be taking place even before the calendar flips to December as American Theatre Guild’s Broadway in Santa Barbara series presents A Magical […]

Upper Village Unwrapped: Holiday Shopping Along Montecito’s Upper Side
By Zach Rosen   |   November 29, 2022

The turkey has been put to rest (or maybe it put us to bed), and the holiday season is underway. With so much around our beloved town, it is easy to shop and support local. This is part one of four articles featuring the local stores that make our area so distinct.  This week features […]

Holiday Gift Ideas
By Montecito Journal   |   November 21, 2022

A four-carat Colombian emerald set in platinum with diamonds accenting the emerald cut. Silverhorn Design Studio1235 Coast Village RoadMontecito, CA 93108805.969.0442https://www.silverhorn.com/ Unique and luxe Dakota Wine and Picnic Tote, quality made in the U.S. out of cork from Portugal. Paula Parisottohttps://paulaparisotto.com/ Proenza Schouler Dia day bag in leopard print Italian calf-hair with a detachable strap […]

Christmas Festival Returns to Granada
By Scott Craig   |   November 8, 2022

The 18th annual Westmont Christmas Festival, The Prince of Peace, returns to Santa Barbara’s famed Granada Theatre Saturday, December 3, at 7 pm and Sunday, December 4, at 3 pm. Tickets, which cost $22 each, go on sale Thursday, November 3, at 5 pm at westmont.edu/festival. For ticket information or to purchase tickets by phone, […]

Equinox Revelry
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 20, 2022

In recent years, Santa Barbara Revels has used the season change from summer to fall to offer its annual Equinox Concert, with a wide-ranging selection of music that marks its own transition from last year’s to this year’s productions of The Christmas Revels, the organization’s biggest event of the year. To that end, the Equinox […]

Christmas Get Together
By Lynda Millner   |   January 25, 2022

The Glen Annie Golf Club was the venue for the Santa Barbara Courthouse docents’ annual holiday luncheon. This was one of the first times they have met together since the pandemic when all the courthouse doors were locked. I had just completed a docent training course and passed the final when eight other students and […]

An Irish Christmas
By Lynda Millner   |   January 11, 2022

This was an all-things Irish Christmas party in a lovely downtown venue. You don’t have to be Irish to belong, but most members have some connection. It began with an Irish Christmas toast by Frank McGinity of the American Irish Historical Society. “May peace and plenty be the first to lift the latch on your […]

A Time-Tested Treasure
By Lynda Millner   |   January 11, 2022

The Lobero Associates, led by President Mindy Denson, held their annual Christmas Tea during holiday time, but instead of the usual Biltmore it was at an unusual place – the stage of the Lobero Theatre. The theatre looked stunning with giant snowflakes projected over the auditorium walls. The grand piano, which was a gift from […]

Christmas at the Casa
By Lynda Millner   |   December 28, 2021

Once upon a time, Carrie and George Steedman journeyed from their town of St. Louis with his diabetic brother to Santa Barbara. They brought him to see Dr. Sansum because in the early 1920s, he was the only doctor who had insulin in the whole United States. Carrie and George fell in love with Santa […]

Forgiveness or Justice?
By Robert Bernstein   |   December 28, 2021

Christianity is all about forgiveness and I am writing this during the Christmas season. Could a society function with nothing but forgiveness as an ethical code? Astronomer and 1981 Humanist of the Year Carl Sagan wrote a brilliant essay about this for Parade Magazine in 1993. Here is a link to a copy: https://swt.org/sagan. It […]

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 […]

Our Town’s 19th Annual Celebration of School Holiday Concerts
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 21, 2021

‘Tis the season to celebrate the plethora of annual holiday concerts at schools around Montecito, with many restricted in-person events held outside due to ongoing concerns over COVID-19. Here is Part I of our roundup from Santa and me: Cate School Cate School’s motto is “Servons” (we serve), which is noted in its holiday tradition […]