Tag archives: Katy Perry

Remembering Gene
By Richard Mineards   |   January 24, 2019

To Solvang for the memorial service for the late Gene Sinser, former board member of the Santa Barbara Symphony and ex director of the Montecito Fire District, who left us last month at the age of 85. The German Holocaust survivor, whose birth name was Gunther Zinser, was a longtime member of our rarefied enclave […]

Stand Up Film
By Richard Mineards   |   January 23, 2019

As the Santa Barbara International Film Festival celebrated its 35th anniversary, the Anti-Defamation League marked the occasion with a reception in the courtyard of the Lobero Theatre as a rainstorm raged outside. The 120-guest fifth anniversary bash, chaired by Marina Stephens, raised nearly $50,000 towards funds and, as is tradition, honored the film Liberté: A […]

Seeking Light
By Richard Mineards   |   January 16, 2019

The late Santa Barbara artist and poet Margaret Singer, who died at the age of 98 last year, is the focus of a new documentary by local director and documentary maker Louise Palanker. The 20-minute short “Margaret Singer: Seeking Light” tells how the Frankfurt-born citizen fled Nazism and lost her family in the Holocaust, moving […]

It’s a Glamourous Life
By Richard Mineards   |   January 9, 2019

An old New York friend, international interior designer Geoffrey Bradfield, sends me his latest hefty 288-page tome Stage Set, which chronicles in lavish detail the past 50 years of his glamorous life. Geoffrey details his unlikely ascendance from a farm in a remote South African province to a glittering career that has earned him worldwide […]

Making Scents
By Richard Mineards   |   January 2, 2019

Santa Barbara Polo Club player and Ralph Lauren Polo model Nacho Figueras has praised his good friend Prince Harry for his “realness” and says Queen Elizabeth‘s 35-year-old grandson is “serious about improving life for kids” who’ve not had the same advantages in life. Argentinian Nacho, 42, tells Town & Country magazine: “What I like most […]

Fêting the Firefighters
By Richard Mineards   |   December 13, 2018

After inviting Montecito firefighters to her home a year ago during the Thomas Fire, former Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres followed up by having them come to her Burbank based studio for her popular eponymous TV talk show. “It was quite a day,” says local realtor Diana MacFarlane, whose son, Dan is pictured third from the […]

Hands up: Jimenez is All Ears
By Richard Mineards   |   November 8, 2018

City College student Timothy Jimenez is displaying all the signs of success! The 20-year-old former Carpinteria High School student, who lives on the Mesa, has signed up for a four-year course to learn sign language, spurred on by his friendship with deaf football teammate Guillermo Tavira. “I really wanted to communicate with him and really […]

Gift Keeps Giving
By Richard Mineards   |   October 11, 2018

Christmas came early when Chris Toomey threw a pre-Mistletoe Ball pizza party at his Carpinteria aerie, complete with Yuletide carols, for supporters of the Catholic Charities of Santa Barbara, our Eden by the Beach’s oldest social services agency, which helped more than 12,000 people county-wide last year. The festive fete, which has been held at […]

Bountiful Harvest
By Gabe Saglie   |   October 4, 2018

The lunar-tics were out in force when society doyenne Beverley Jackson hosted a delightful dinner for more than 40 guests at the China Palace on Coast Village Road to mark the Harvest Moon, China’s second biggest celebration after New Year. “The custom is traced back to the Zhou dynasty in 256 BC,” Beverley, former society […]

From the Ashes
By Richard Mineards   |   September 6, 2018

The tangible results of One805’s Kick Ash bash at Bella Vista in Summerland in February, starring Katy Perry, Kenny Loggins, Wilson Phillips, and David Foster, among others, were on show when the first of three $200,000 mobile command units was presented to the city fire department chief, Lee Waldron, in a ceremony at the C.L. […]

Two for One
By Richard Mineards   |   August 23, 2018

A unique work of art is underway in our Eden by the Beach. A 50-foot long mosaic, illustrating our tony town’s history, is being created by two clients from Women’s Economic Ventures, Robin Elander and Betsy Gallery. Elander, manager of the project, graduated from WEV’s Smart Entrepreneurial Training course, while Gallery, a mosaic artist, took […]

Sip-Top Condition
By Richard Mineards   |   August 16, 2018

Santa Barbara Polo Club hosted its first Sip and Shop event for 250 guests next to the hallowed Holden Field. With seven vendors and a stall providing Moet & Chandon’s new champagne – with a slightly higher sugar content that can be served over ice – the fun fest was the brainchild of Kathryn Lenihan, […]

$50K is A-Okay
By Richard Mineards   |   August 9, 2018

It was certainly a night on the tiles when the Polo Training Center, a charitable organization which supports youth polo, held a sunset soirée on the Mirador roof of the Hotel Californian, courtesy of the ritzy hostelry’s manager, Carlos Lopes. The reception for more than 50 guests was the precursor for a golf tournament the […]

Helping Hands
By Richard Mineards   |   July 26, 2018

Social gridlock reigned when the Arthritis Foundation hosted a reception at the sleek BMW Hope Avenue showroom to publicize the 37th annual Taste of the Town at Riviera Park on September 9. The popular 800-guest event is expected to raise more than $200,000, which helps 200,000 sufferers in the tri-counties, according to executive director Michael […]

Two of a Kind
By Richard Mineards   |   June 7, 2018

Barbara Burger and Susan Aberle have been elected to Opera Santa Barbara’s board of directors. “Both Barbara and Susan have many years of service to the community and will be a great asset to our organization,” says Kostis Protopapas, artistic and general director. Barbara has a lengthy career in public relations and marketing primarily in […]

Changing of the Grau
By Richard Mineards   |   May 17, 2018

After 10 years as film commissioner for Santa Barbara, Geoff Alexander is moving on to pursue a career in real estate sales. He is being replaced by Ryan Grau – whose title is director of film and special events – who grew up in Ventura and moved to our Eden by the Beach in 1995. […]

Hotel Hello
By Richard Mineards   |   May 3, 2018

Loquacious Los Angeles hotelier Michael Rosenfeld sure knows how to throw a party! More than 500 guests turned out at his new luxury 121-room hostelry, the Hotel Californian, for his Fellini-esque Alice in Wonderland fete to celebrate the opening of the multi-million dollar Moorish-style project designed by Martyn Lawrence Bullard. Champagne flowed and eclectic comestibles […]

Crab Take
By Richard Mineards   |   April 12, 2018

After myriad delays Frankland’s Crab & Co, described as a modern American shell shack, opened its doors at the 90-year-old Montecito Inn, formerly owned by silent film star Charlie Chaplin. The bustling Coast Village Road nosheteria, part of the Los Angeles-based restaurant group Scratch Restaurants, is run by chef-owners Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee, […]

Let’s Examine the Science
By Montecito Journal   |   April 5, 2018

I have been in science my whole life, and as I age I realize it rarely has needed a Newton or Einstein; it has just needed information and common sense. As an example, I realized in recent weeks after witnessing the current hysteria over rain and flooding, there is a simpler explanation to our freak […]

Ham It up
By Richard Mineards   |   April 5, 2018

Our tony town’s Rescue Mission hosted its annual Easter Feast for our community’s more impoverished residents, and for the 11th year my trusty shutterbug, Priscilla, and I volunteered our services as waiters. Kitchen director Wesley Jones served 320 pounds of ham, 200 pounds of potatoes, 360 pounds of carrots, and 75 pounds of peas to […]