Because I lived in Napoli, Italia, for three years and my son was born there, I have a soft spot for all things Italian. Of course, Don and I said, “yes,” when invited by our Italian friends Dr. Jim Barbabella and Frank and Jean Umanzio to a Ferragosto picnic in lower Manning Park. The group […]
Montecito über philanthropist Leslie Ridley-Tree celebrated the 44th anniversary of her 50th birthday with a pizza party hosted by her good friend, Christopher Toomey. The 50 guests noshed on pies from Christopher’s pizza oven before wishing her a rousing Happy Birthday. An amazing lady.
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Despite paying a world-record price of $38.1 million six years ago for a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, which formerly belonged to British racing driver Stirling Moss, Montecito-based cellular phone billionaire Craig McCaw seems to have made a good investment. A similar model of the same year – one of just 36 in existence – just […]
Artist Tom Mielko and wife Eileen gave a summer soirée alfresco on their deck. As T.S. Eliot would have said, “Such a nice party. I can’t believe it. Such a nice party. I hate to leave it.” Tom used to be my neighbor at the Polo Fields. He had an art gallery on the pier […]
On a personal note, I remember Betty Stephens, a philanthropist and humanitarian, who has moved to more heavenly pastures at the age of 86. Betty, who came to our Eden by the Beach in 1969, would often invite me to her extravagant birthday bashes at the La Cumbre Country Club or her magnificent Hope Ranch […]
Santa Barbara Polo Club’s hallowed Holden Field was turned into an outdoor planetarium when it threw an Under the Stars bash for 200 guests with organizers from the local 63-year-old astronomical unit, part of the Natural History Museum, which does 200 events annually showing off the stars above, just two days before a full moon. […]
Jaws came alive at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) recently with the screening of shark movies by filmmakers Harry Rabin and Tom Piozet, along with Dr. Chris Lowe of the Cal State University Long Beach Shark Lab. It was a look behind the scenes of the Weather Channel’s show Into the Shark Zone and […]
Montecito’s new Magic Castle cabaret, on the site of the former Cafe del Sol, a tiara’s toss from the Andree Clark Bird Refuge, is open for business. The 11,761-sq-ft nitery, founded by Milt and Arlene Larsen, who also own the 55-year-old club of the same name in Hollywood, will initially only be open on Thursdays […]
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 […]
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It was only a matter of time before publisher-philanthropist Sara Miller McCune received the honor of being named a Granada Legend. The only question was how long it would take. After all, Miller McCune is not only one of the best-known and enduring of the Performing Arts Center’s patrons, she was also one of the […]
Social gridlock reigned supreme at the home of Montecito artist Tom Mielko and his wife, Eileen, when they hosted a sunset soirée at their hilltop aerie. “After what our community has suffered earlier this year, we thought we needed something to really cheer everybody up,” says Tom. Among the guests quaffing the Veuve Clicquot and […]
The Music Academy of the West gave its 2018 Summer Festival Gala weaving its magic to turn a parking lot into an elegant, glamorous venue. Co-chairs Regina Roney and Judy Getto called it a “Feast for the Senses”. After cocktails in the garden with a white Steinway player piano tinkling away, guests made their way […]
One last “Viva” and one last cascaron happened on August 12 at the end of Fiesta. It’s the Fiesta Finale given by the Profant Foundation at the El Paseo Restaurant – the perfect venue. This was the center of the celebration at one time. Rita Hayworth danced here in her father’s troupe. This is where […]
It couldn’t have been a more splendiferous end to the Music Academy of the West’s 71st annual summer fest when the Academy Festival Orchestra, under Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel, in his academy debut, performed with the L.A. Master Chorale, under artistic director Grant Gershon, at a sold-out Santa Barbara Bowl. Soprano Susanna Phillips […]
