Tag archives: gossip

A Golden Eagle Gala
By Richard Mineards   |   December 20, 2022

The eagle has landed! After a major nine-month restoration that used 12 books of 22 karat gold leaf, equal to 312 individual sheets or 5.3 grams of gold, by local expert Chris Bailey, a most impressive golden eagle, which used to hang above the stage at the Lobero Theatre at the turn of the last […]

Christmas at the Carriage
By Richard Mineards   |   December 20, 2022

Even composer Tchaikovsky would have blushed when social gadabout Rick Oshay and Teresa Kuskey hosted their second annual Christmas bash at the Carriage and Western Art Museum for 150 guests with a decidedly risqué version of The Naughty Nutcracker, featuring the colorful and camp La Boheme dancers and ubiquitous KEYT-TV reporter John Palminteri as the […]

Celebratory Farewell to Reed
By Richard Mineards   |   December 13, 2022

After more than two decades as the public face of the Unity Shoppe Executive Director Tom Reed, 76, hosted a retirement bash at the Kenny Loggins Pavilion, where much of the 105-year-old charity’s work is based. “It’s time to enjoy some new activities with my wife and grandchildren,” says Tom, who joined the popular organization […]

Design Awards 
By Richard Mineards   |   December 13, 2022

The American Institute of Architects Santa Barbara hosted their annual Design Awards gala at the Cabrillo Pavilion honoring the achievements of local architects and architecture. The award program recognizes design excellence in architecture, residential architecture, restoration-renovation, and urban design. Among the honorees was the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and Kupiec Architects, with the Cabrillo […]

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, […]

Celebrating at Jimmy’s
By Richard Mineards   |   November 29, 2022

Oriental art expert Keith Moore celebrated the tenth anniversary of his half-century with a boffo bash in The Pickle Room, formerly Jimmy’s Oriental Garden belonging to the Chung family, where Keith’s father used to play saxophone. Keith, a sixth-generation Santa Barbarian, as well as a life member of the Society of California Pioneers, even brought […]

An Aperitif of Piano
By Richard Mineards   |   November 29, 2022

Italian pianist Alessio Bax, a frequent visitor to our Eden by the Beach, who performed with the Santa Barbara Symphony at the Granada playing Schumann’s “Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54,” gave a private concert 48 hours earlier for VIP supporters in the second of its Concert Aperitif series at the historic APS aerie […]

Waterhouse Turns 38
By Richard Mineards   |   November 29, 2022

Social gridlock reigned when Ralph and Diane Waterhouse celebrated the 38th anniversary of their eponymous art gallery in La Arcada. The popular establishment, just a tiara’s toss from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, was founded in 1984 by Diane. It moved to its current location in 1991 and represents some of the city’s finest […]

Silky Songs
By Richard Mineards   |   November 29, 2022

After staging Puccini’s triumphant work Tosca at the Granada, it was time for Opera Santa Barbara to turn to comedy for its latest production, Rossini’s La Scala di Seta – The Silk Ladder – at the Lobero, a one-act vintage work from 1812. Home-grown soprano Jana McIntyre, who sang in Handel’s Semele last season, was […]

Filling Empty Bowls
By Richard Mineards   |   November 29, 2022

Santa Barbara Empty Bowls celebrated its 25th anniversary at the Foodbank’s Hollister Avenue warehouse when 800 supporters and 50 volunteers, including Congressman Salud Carbajal and Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte, turned out to help raise around $100,000 for the cause. Soups From the Heart provided a selection of liquid refreshments, including Asian noodle, Tuscan whole bean, […]

Mystic Pirates Aboard
By Richard Mineards   |   October 18, 2022

Former Santa Barbara Yacht Club commodore Roger Chrisman and his wife, Sarah, who recently bought the 83-foot steel-hulled schooner Mystic Whaler, which boasts 110-foot masts and 3,000 square feet of sail, sailed it up to our tony town’s harbor from its Channel Islands base in Oxnard for a three-week stay, just a tiara’s toss from […]

Birds of a Feather, Ball Together
By Richard Mineards   |   October 4, 2022

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 […]

The Heroes of Hospice
By Richard Mineards   |   October 4, 2022

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 […]

A Beautiful Evening
By Richard Mineards   |   October 4, 2022

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 […]

Opera on the Ocean
By Richard Mineards   |   October 4, 2022

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 […]

Reveling in Equinox
By Richard Mineards   |   October 4, 2022

The Scottish bagpipes sounded loud and clear at the University Club when Susan Keller’s Santa Barbara Revels celebrated its seventh annual Equinox concert celebrating the changing seasons. The al fresco evening on the Sola Patio combined selections from three centuries of Spanish and Mexican music of the New World, in an echo of the Revels […]

‘USS Santa Barbara’ Cruising Along
By Richard Mineards   |   September 27, 2022

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 […]

Prayer Breakfast
By Richard Mineards   |   September 13, 2022

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 […]

Party for Priscilla
By Richard Mineards   |   September 13, 2022

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, […]

Reading Up on Irish Roots
By Richard Mineards   |   August 30, 2022

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 […]