Tag archives: gossip
It was a case of high Cs on the high seas when Hiroko Benko, owner of the popular whale-watching vessel Condor Express, hosted a two-hour opera cruise for 70 music lovers, the first in three years. Featuring new Chrisman Studio tenor artist Kyle Rudolph from San Diego, and soprano Chelsea Chaves from Orange County accompanied […]
Social gridlock reigned at the Music Academy when Santa Barbara Beautiful staged its 58th annual award celebration with 200 guests at the Kuehn Court reception with wandering musical troubadours Ted Hoagland, Chris Judge, and Collin Richardson. The awards celebration was staged in the Lehman Ballroom, emceed by ubiquitous KEYT-TV reporter John Palminteri, with a welcome […]
Given the intense sunshine, there were so many umbrellas out at the Hilton’s Plaza del Sol for the 10th annual Heroes of Hospice of Santa Barbara lunch that it looked like a Mary Poppins convention! The bountiful bash for 260 guests, co-hosted by KEYT-TV anchors Beth Farnsworth and C.J. Ward, also featured local lifestyle strategist […]
This year’s Red Feather Ball for United Way of Santa Barbara County had a decidedly Moroccan flavor with the theme Voyage to Marrakesh, a cosmopolitan city I have visited many times, including the 70th anniversary of one of the world’s top hotels, La Mamounia, when it was owned by King Hassan II, and the 70th […]
It was one hull of a night when 50 maritime mavens turned out for a commissioning bash for the USS Santa Barbara at the Summerland estate of Pat and Ursula Nesbitt. Emcee Andrew Firestone helped raise more than $350,000 to outfit the 127-foot trimaran hulled aluminum 70-crew vessel, the third to be named after our […]
With the pandemic firmly in the rear-view mirror, our Eden by the Beach certainly has a great deal to be grateful for. More than 500 guests descended on the ballroom of the Hilton for the 63rd annual Santa Barbara Community Prayer Breakfast emceed by retiring Unity Shoppe head honcho Tom Reed with the Pledge of […]
Social gridlock reigned at Arnoldi’s, one of our tony town’s oldest eateries, when my trusty shutterbug Priscilla celebrated the 30th anniversary of her half century with a dinner for her many friends hosted by social gadabout Rick Oshay. After eclectic cocktails guests tucked into pasta, steak, and other items from the expansive menu as Priscilla, […]
Dietary concerns went out the window when the Santa Barbara Historical Museum was the venue for a 14-course dinner for 40 guests as part of a gastronomic evening of Spanish cuisine hosted by the Consul of Tourism Affairs in Los Angeles, local California missions honcho David Bolton, and Gonzalo Sarmiento. Two of Madrid’s top chefs, […]
Montecito globetrotting accountant Frank McGinity has just published his latest 246-page work chronicling nearly 40 years of the California branch of the American Irish Historical Society from its creation in 1983 through the first quarter of the 21st century. Riven Rock-based founder Frank says his work serves not only as a historical document of the […]
Teresa Kuskey Nowak’s birthday bash at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum may have had an Under the Sea theme, but there was not a flipper or snorkel to be seen when 112 guests descended on the harborside institution for the fun fête hosted by social gadabout Rick Oshay. After margaritas and comestibles on the museum’s […]
Longtime team member Juli Askew has been promoted to development manager of the Santa Barbara Symphony. Askew, who has been in charge of special events, will oversee critical donor appeals and seven distinct events celebrating the symphony’s 70th anniversary. A native of our Eden by the Beach, Askew is a seasoned development professional with expertise […]
Fiesta fever was palpable when the Santa Barbara Historical Museum hosted its La Fiesta del Museo, chaired by Sharon Bradford, for the first time in two years with 300 traditionally garbed guests helping raise 10% of the popular institution’s annual budget. A colorful variety of musical acts kept the fiesta fans entertained including Juan Zaragoza […]
This was the 9th annual “Fiscal New Year” fête hosted by Ernesto Paredes to get executive directors together for a sip and greet. He had help from a committee of Heidi Holly, Kim Olson, and Sophia Davis. It was held at the former Chuck’s Waterfront Grill near the Maritime Museum. There was even a sponsor […]
The Lobero Theatre was almost gridlocked when the Music Academy staged a concert by the popular Takács Quartet, with four Academy fellows adding to the wonderful mix as the 75th annual summer festival kicked off. The program featured works by Mozart, Beethoven, and wrapped with Mendelssohn’s “Octet in E-flat Major,” which he wrote when he […]
Oenophiles and gourmands were out in force at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History when, after a two-year pandemic hiatus, it hosted the region’s premier wine and food event, attracting 1,000 supporters to the beautiful 17-acre Mission Creek campus and raising more than $200,000 for the museum’s programs and exhibits. Around 200 VIP tickets, […]
It was an evening of high note, with many in between, when Montecito’s venerable, newly renamed Music Academy celebrated its 75th anniversary with a signature gala on its 10-acre Miraflores oceanside campus for 320 guests raising around $600,000. The boffo bash, co-chaired by the tony triumvirate of Valerie Montgomery, Kandy Luria-Budgor, and Michele Brustin, was […]
Santa Barbara rock legend Alan Parsons, who received an OBE – Order of the British Empire – in last year’s annual Queen Elizabeth Birthday Honors List, has been presented with his gong at long last after 12 months of pandemic delays. Alan, 73, tells me he received the honor from Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, […]
As Montecito’s Music Academy of the West celebrates its 75th anniversary, it’s a whole new image for the storied 10-acre Miraflores oceanside campus, I can exclusively reveal. For the past eight months, a team of academy board members, administration, and professional consultants – 21C Media Group from New York and My Brilliant Friend from Los […]
Former actress Meghan Markle “came from nothing” and “trampled on others to get to the top” like a politician or a tycoon, her acid-penned biographer has revealed. “Victims” of the Duchess of Sussex, 40, are telling all in a new book by British investigative journalist Tom Bower, 75, he claims. Bower, speaking to GB News, […]
It was a night on the tiles when Dan and Meg Burnham hosted a Crescendo bash for Santa Barbara Symphony supporters at their penthouse aerie above the Granada Theatre to celebrate the orchestra’s Fandango Picante concert under maestro Nir Kabaretti. Violin superstar Anne Akiko Meyers performed music by legendary composer Arturo Marquez during the Mexican […]
