Tag archives: Montecito Bank & Trust

Orange Crush, Part I
By Lynda Millner   |   August 29, 2019

Seventeen Montecito Bank & Trust’s MClub members climbed aboard a Santa Barbara Air Bus charter headed for Orange County for a jam-packed 36 hours of sightseeing, art appreciation, wining, and dining with our trusty leader and MClub director, Maria McCall. En route to the Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove we munched on scones from Jeannine’s […]

Bank Fiesta
By Lynda Millner   |   August 8, 2019

Montecito Bank & Trust gave its annual Fiesta party in their historic building at 1010 State Street. According to Chairman and CEO Janet Garufis it was completed in 1921 for County National Bank and is an historic landmark. Its design is Italianate, popular at the time and related to the Medici family chapel, an extension […]

Lunch & Learn in Santa Ynez
By Lynda Millner   |   August 1, 2019

Montecito Bank & Trust (MClub) Lunch & Learn gang traveled to Santa Ynez Valley to meet with the former and pioneer pop news pundit Rona Barrett at her Golden Inn & Village. Rona’s life changed when she left Hollywood and came to the Valley to have a lavender farm. Her father came too, and she […]

Gaviota Coast Conservancy
By Lynda Millner   |   July 11, 2019

Right in our own backyard sits one of the most beautiful and threatened biodiversity hotspots in the world, the Gaviota Coast. “We should never take this 72-mile long stretch of coast for granted,” said Gaviota Coast Conservancy (GCC) board member Phil McKenna. We were gathered at the Santa Barbara Club for another Lunch & Learn […]

Lunch & Learn
By Lynda Millner   |   May 16, 2019

Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, and Joan of Arc were the subject of discussion at the Montecito Bank & Trust Lunch & Learn MClub event with author Victoria Shorr. She has a book called, Midnight: Three Women at the Hour of Reckoning. She calls it creative non-fiction. One of the blurbs reads, “I finished Victoria’s book […]

Janet’s New Venture
By Richard Mineards   |   April 4, 2019

Montecito Bank & Trust chairman and CEO Janet Garufis has now added another hat to her collection. In July Janet takes on the mantle as president of the Santa Barbara Symphony replacing current head honcho Don Gilman. Her extensive community service includes working with the Sansum Clinic, the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, the Music […]

Generous Grants from Garufis
By Richard Mineards   |   March 28, 2019

To mark its 44th anniversary, Montecito Bank & Trust hosted a grants reception at its majestic State Street headquarters when president and CEO Janet Garufis handed out checks worth $20,000 to 10 local charities. Along with the checks, the nonprofits also received a professionally produced one-minute promotional video. Employees of the bank, which since its […]

George Leis Joins YMCA Board
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   March 14, 2019

Montecito Bank & Trust President and COO George Leis will join the YMCA of the USA board; Leis is a past chair and current board member for the Channel Islands YMCA, serving seven branches from Lompoc to Camarillo, and now he will join Y-USA as a board member.  “It is an honor to be nominated […]

Pompeii
By Lynda Millner   |   January 10, 2019

Montecito Bank & Trust’s MClub, directed by Maria McCall, was traveling on one of their day trips to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library for the Pompeii exhibition to experience over 150 original, 2,000-year-old Pompeiian artifacts. Since I lived in “Napoli” for three years and visited nearby Pompeii several times, this was a must for my […]

Community Dividends Awards
By Richard Mineards   |   November 29, 2018

Montecito Bank & Trust celebrated the 16th anniversary of its Community Dividends Awards, with 188 non-profits sharing $1 million, at the Coral Casino. The program, started by the bank’s founder and philanthropist Michael Towbes, has donated $16 million since its inception. Mike, who died two years ago, used to describe it as “my favorite day […]

Fiesta Kickoff
By Lynda Millner   |   August 9, 2018

The theme of Old Spanish Days this year is to celebrate traditions. The Montecito Bank & Trust began a new one under the auspices of bank president George Leis, who says, “It’s my favorite time of the year.” They held their first Fiesta Party at the bank’s historic downtown branch on State Street for about […]

MAW or Less
By Richard Mineards   |   August 2, 2018

The Music Academy of the West’s 71st annual summer music festival is drawing to a close, with the Lobero and Hahn Hall hosting two well-attended concerts. The Festival Artists Series program featured Janacek’s Mladi, wrapping with Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence with Edward Dusinberre and Harumi Rhodes on violin, Geraldine Walther and Karen Dreyfus on viola, […]

Fun in the Sun
By Lynda Millner   |   August 2, 2018

The Music Academy of the West probably never had a more lively campus than the other day when 350 Fun in the Sun kids visited for some fun in the sun. I had a bit of a problem getting there because of a school bus stuck in the gate and driveway. It was so stuck […]

The Inn Crowd
By Lynda Millner   |   August 2, 2018

The Inn Crowd airs every Saturday night on KEYT News Channel 3. The Montecito Bank & Trust MClub headed up by Maria McCall took a gang of folks to the Carriage & Western Art Museum to watch a taping of the show and eat some pie. Chairman/CEO of Montecito Bank & Trust, Janet Garufis, cannot […]

MClub Lunch and Learn
By Lynda Millner   |   June 7, 2018

Montecito Bank & Trust sponsors the MClub, which offers various travel trips. Today we met at the Santa Barbara Club, courtesy of president/CEO George Leis, who is a member and he welcomed everyone. Maria McCall is in charge of MClub and instigates some special outings and programs. This day, it was with Ken Richardson, who […]

Bank on it
By Richard Mineards   |   March 22, 2018

To mark its 43rd anniversary, Montecito Bank & Trust hosted a grants reception at its magestic State Street headquarters when president and CEO Janet Garufis handed out checks worth $20,000 to 10 local charities. Along with the checks, the nonprofits also received a short video professionally produced by cable giant Cox to promote their work. […]