The Cecilia Fund is Santa Barbara’s oldest philanthropic charity founded in 1892. It was due to host “Earl Gray & Chardonnay” at the Santa Barbara Club for its annual tea and membership drive until the pandemic. It’s named after St. Cecilia but was never affiliated with any church. Its founding members all played musical instruments […]
In a time when many nonprofit organizations are struggling to raise their usual funds, Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, which assists and supports families dealing with childhood cancer along the Central Coast, has pivoted to raise much needed funds for their families. TBCF has announced a new song, “Stronger Than You Know,” is available for purchase […]
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My condolences to Santa Barbara rocker Dave Crosby whose son, Beckett Cypher, 21, has died after struggling with opioid addiction. The musician, 78, was the sperm donor for singer Melissa Etheridge and former partner, Julie Cypher, and addressed the tragic passing in several short messages on social media, saying that he’d taken an active part […]
Montecito actor Christopher Lloyd, Michael J. Fox, and Lea Thompson recited famous lines from the classic Back to the Future franchise in an epic Zoom reunion. Superfan Josh Gad orchestrated the reunion on the latest episode of his YouTube series, Reunited Apart, where he also brought on Montecito writer-director Robert Zemeckis, Elisabeth Shue, singer Huey […]
Despite the doldrums created by the pandemic, Los Angeles billionaire Rick Caruso is smiling after Conde Nast’s Traveler listed his Rosewood Miramar hotel on its 2020 Hot List, one of the hospitality industry’s most esteemed awards that honors the best newly opened and renovated properties around the world. Based on the firsthand experiences and reviews […]
Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner‘s limited edition multi-colored Hope Bear, which I wrote about in this illustrious organ last month, has been donated by the hundreds to children served by CALM and Storyteller Children’s Center, with 100 per cent of proceeds from sales going to the United Way Worldwide fund. “The world needs hope and […]
Street painting artists have been compared to masochists, in that their hobby of drawing with chalk on the sidewalk has become an obsession, back pain and sore knees ignored in a mission that is exhibited annually on the pavement in front of the Santa Barbara’s Old Mission during the I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival […]
After nearly 40 years of service, Peter Jordano, 85, has retired from the board of directors of Montecito Bank & Trust. Peter is chairman and CEO of Jordano’s, the 105-year-old Santa Barbara grocery distributorship. “He has been an integral part of our growth to today’s nearly $1.8 billion in assets,” says Janet Garufis, the bank’s […]
The financial fuel that makes nonprofits go – from earned income, government funding, private donors, and foundations – will be suppressed for months and maybe several years. Meanwhile front-line organizations are facing more need than ever, with so many people out of work. If you’re someone who cares deeply for one or more nonprofit organizations […]
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Santa Barbara has five National Historic Landmarks – the Courthouse, the Mission, the Raphael Gonzales Adobe, the Santa Barbara Club, and Casa del Herrero. The Casa is a great tourist attraction and I have been lucky enough to be a docent there for twenty years. I would like to tell you about the origins of […]
It was the little idea that could: born out of a mid-April brainstorming session – via Zoom – with Montecito business owners, stakeholders, and MJ CEO Gwyn Lurie and COO Tim Buckley.The overarching question from all: “What can we do?” Do to survive, do to help, do to show some love to the local businesses […]
On a personal note, I mark the passing of longtime Montecito resident Carter Hines at the age of 78. Carter, who was stationed in the Army in Hawaii, attended City College and Long Beach State, before starting his 55-year-old business, Carter Hines Drapery, which will be continued by his widow, Victoria. A member of the […]
Santa Barbara Symphony’s Music Education Center is now offering virtual programming through the orchestra’s Youth Ensembles programming and the private lessons Scholarship Program. The center continues to retain and employ a teaching staff of 12 local professional musicians and two conductors to lead classes and lessons. Each year the center impacts more than 10,000 students […]
Oliver’s, the Coast Village Road vegetarian restaurant that took five years to transform from the old Peabody’s space under owner cell phone billionaire Craig McCaw, 70, has been sold, says my mole with the martini. McCaw, who has moved back to Seattle, has been divesting himself of his properties in our rarefied enclave, including his […]






