Taking a Chance

Easter at the Ranch – The Easter Bunny was at San Ysidro Ranch – and so were the crowds, an Easter egg hunt, and a lush brunch, P.6

Stone’s Throw – Emily Stone has crossed the pond to Oxford to study how ecosystems affect the pond and much more, P.20

From local theater companies to touring internationally, 10-year-old Chance Challen is headed east to perform in The Sound of Music with Broadway Asia (Story starts on p.5)

Spring Storm

The recent rains brought hail, sinkholes, and more to Montecito – read which areas were affected inside and check out local photos of the downpour, page 10

Postel-ate Art

The colorful, enamoring art of Diana Postel at Art & Soul with her “kids,” esteemed rocker Steve Postell and Broadway singer sister Suzan, to perform at the opening, P.16

there.

18 Your Westmont – Actor Tony Hale shares comedy and faith, and film festival honors student visionaries

20 Dear Montecito – Emily Stone discusses her graduate studies on biodiversity and the peculiarities of Oxford life

24 Brilliant Thoughts – The school experience may leave you a little better learned, albeit with some scars

26 An Independent Mind – Jeffrey is promoting a new political ideology –the WhatWorksocrat – to alleviate Social Security and other economic challenges

27 Elizabeth’s Appraisals – A tin rocking horse brings back memories of early childhood and the history of tin toys

30 Petite Wine Traveler – Oysters and the prickling picpoul wines grace the Languedoc region in southern France

31 The Giving List – Catholic Charities is turning 100, and they still have work to do in the community

32 The Optimist Daily – The Yurok Tribe is helping co-manage the Redwood National and State Parks in a monumental move in favoring indigenous peoples’ rights

33 The Water Column – The Montecito Water District is checking around for lead in water pipes, and may be visiting your home soon

40 Calendar of Events – 1st Thursday happenings, Fiesta auditions, the return of the Doppelgänger, and more events

42 Classifieds – Our own “Craigslist” of classified ads, in which sellers offer everything from summer rentals to estate sales

43 Mini Meta Crossword Puzzles

Local Business Directory – Smart business owners place business cards here so readers know where to look when they need what those businesses offer

Taking a Chance

Local Student Set to Shine on International Broadway Tour

by Dalina Michaels

Santa Barbara is alive with the sound of music… especially for one young performer! Chance Challen is preparing to leave our cozy community to join the international Broadway tour of the beloved musical, The Sound of Music. This incredible opportunity showcases the talent and dedication of Chance, who has continually demonstrated outstanding ability and passion for the performing arts.

Chance has been honing his skills for years – and he is only 10! He has already performed with nearly every performance company in town: Ensemble Theatre Company, Santa Barbara Revels, Stage Left Junior, Showstoppers, Young Singers Club, SING!, Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara School of the Performing Arts, and Out of the Box Theatre Company.

“Chance’s passion for the stage was evident early on.” says Brian McDonald , Director of Education and Outreach for Ensemble Theatre Company. “Chance has been part of the ETC’s Young Actors Conservatory programs over recent years and has consistently showcased his exceptional talent. What truly distinguishes Chance is his fearless approach and relentless commitment to perfecting every scene and song he takes on. It is with immense pride that we at ETC celebrate Chance’s debut in a professional role!”

Others have echoed these sentiments. SING! Musical Director Erin McKibben shares, “Chance has participated in SING! for two years, including a performance of La Bohème at the Granada Theatre with Metropolitan Opera star and Music Academy alumna, Michelle Bradley. He quickly became a singer chosen for special performances and features, not only because of his natural ability but he is also a joy to be around and lifts up his colleagues!”

Indeed, Chance has captured the attention of industry professionals with his exceptional talent and commitment to his craft. Now he is set to embark on a oncein-a-lifetime journey, sharing the stage with seasoned performers and bringing the timeless story of the von Trapp family to audiences around the world.

“I am so excited to be joining the international tour of The Sound of Music,” says

Chance. “This is a dream come true for me, and I want to thank everybody for the support they have given me so far!”

So what was it like to get that call from Broadway? Chance breaks it down: “Everything happened really quickly! I flew to New York City for the audition, which lasted over four hours. I got to meet a lot of other kids who also love to perform. We left the audition room and five minutes later my mom got an email saying I got the part! I can’t believe I am actually leaving for Asia in less than two weeks!”

With thousands of kids auditioning from all over the country and, actually, the world…Chance will now be joining the cast playing Kurt, the youngest brother in the von Trapp family.

Directed by Tony winner Jack O’Brien and produced by Broadway International Group and Broadway Asia, the international tour of The Sound of Music promises to captivate audiences with its unforgettable music, heartwarming story, and stunning production values. From the soaring melodies of “Edelweiss” to the spirited antics of the von Trapp children, this timeless classic continues to enchant audiences of all ages.

“We couldn’t be prouder of Chance and all that he has accomplished,” says

Taking a Chance Page 334

Chance Challen is taking to the big stage (courtesy photo)

Society Invites

Easter Sunday at the San Ysidro Ranch

by Joanne A Calitri

CEO Ty Warner, known for his talent of blending elegance into family centered hospitality at his properties, did not disappoint at the San Ysidro Ranch Restaurant Easter Sunday Brunch. This reservation-only event was sold out, even with the flux of sun and showers throughout the afternoon. Guests in their Easter best with their children were happy to be immersed in the egg-celent décor throughout the property offering many opportunities to indulge in the Ranch’s provisions. The Easter Sunday Brunch featured a two-course formal sit-down brunch menu and dessert bar, Easter-themed coloring pages and crayons at the tables, and the Easter Bunny pop-

ping by to say hello and take photo ops. The garden area by the Hacienda House was set for the Easter Egg Hunt with a pink pop-up cart serving beverages. Eggs of all colors had goodies inside and there were prized golden eggs hidden as well.

Executive Chef Matthew Johnson’s selections for the First Course were Grilled Carpinteria Avocado, Pan Seared Scallops, Chilled Spring Split Pea Soup and Chanterelle Mushroom & Black Truffle Tart. The Second Course selections were Butter Braised Maine Lobster Benedict, Prime Filet of Beef Wellington, Alaskan Halibut, and Braised Petite Lamb Shank. La pièce de resistance of course was

Society Page 284

The Costa family enjoying Easter Brunch at the San Ysidro Ranch with the Easter Bunny and Andrew Caine, Director of Food and Beverage (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

Director of Food and Beverage Andrew Caine creating Strawberry Flambés (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

San Ysidro Ranch entrance décor for Easter Sunday (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

We have square, octagon and rectangular umbrellas in stock. Our selection includes aluminum and teak umbrellas as well as center pole and cantilever styles. MINIMALIST DESIGN.

Montecito Miscellany

Paws for Thought

by Richard Mineards

Meghan Markle is going to the dogs!

The Riven Rock resident’s new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, has listed a range of items in documents sent to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which includes dog food, bath soaps and blankets.

The 42-year-old Duchess of Sussex also wants to market fragrance sachets, hand soaps, bath oils, body lotions, and other cosmetics.

So slightly misquoting a regular pet food TV advertiser, “If your dog could talk, it would say Markle!”

Paws for thought, indeed.

Caruso’s Cuisine

To Caruso’s, the five-star Forbes Travel Guide-rated oceanside eatery at the Rosewood Miramar, named after the Los Angeles billionaire and developer Rick Caruso, to try out a new three course menu for gourmands in a hurry.

Although why you’d rush given the idyllic location and culinary excellence of Chef Shibani Mone is quite beyond me.

Emilie Plouchart, the Valentino-clad public relations director of the ritzy hostelry, says it takes about two hours to

deal with the eight-course menu, so the three-course – antipasti, primo and second – menu for $145 was introduced (with an optional fourth, dolci dessert course), where patrons can be in and out in 90 minutes.

Wine pairings can be added for another $125.

I started my handsome repast with chilled mint pea soup with the king crab salad, peas, and fennel salad accompanied by 2022 sparkling Tuscan rosé and a 2021 Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs.

Accompanying this was homemade two-grained bread with Périgord truffle butter.

Then it was on to the seven-year-old Acquerello risotto with nettle, Catalina scallops and oro blanco, with my final selection the dry aged Liberty Duck with orange, fennel, lavender sugo, and leg battuto with a 2021 Montrachet and 2022 Montclair Bordeaux.

A glorious culinary experience and perfect locale. And, thankfully, we weren’t in and out in 90 minutes!

Joining me at the fun feast were my Journal editor Zach Rosen, travel writer Leslie Westbrook, Ottocina Ryan, editor-in-chief Santa Barbara Life & Style

Meghan Markle is entering the cosmetics and dog food market (photo by Fuzheado via Wikimedia Commons)

Travel and

writers checking out

menu at Caruso’s at the Rosewood Miramar (photo by David Mendoza III)

Storm Watch

Sinkholes,

My!

by Zach Rosen

While heavy rains are not unfamiliar to locals these days, this past storm came with a few surprises, including hail at the Sheffield Drive undercrossing and a sinkhole on the 2400 block of Sycamore Canyon that led to a gas line break. As well as a slump in the road on Barker Pass.

The areas most heavily impacted were east of San Ysidro Road, lower areas of Butterfly Lane, Channel Drive, Sheffield Drive, and Ortega Hill Road. From the start of the storm on Saturday night into Sunday, Montecito Fire Department had 74 calls dispatched with the South Coast Dispatch Center fielding approximately 250 calls.

MFD Public Information Officer, Christina Atchison, commented: “We had 20 Montecito Fire personnel working and we were greatly assisted by our partners from Carpinteria-Summerland Fire, Santa Barbara City Fire and Santa Barbara County Fire. We are very grateful for their help throughout the storm event.

“We would also like to thank the Miramar for stepping up at a moment’s notice when our firefighters showed up on their doorstep with four people who had to abandon their vehicles on the 101 amid the rising floodwater. Later, we brought a family of four to the Miramar after they had to evacuate their home due to flooding. The Miramar staff immediately welcomed all of them inside, gave them towels to dry off and encouraged them to warm up by the fireplace. It allowed our firefighters to get back to answering emergency calls and gave them peace of mind knowing that those individuals had a safe place to wait out the storm.”

MONTECITO TIDE GUIDE

Larry Nobles, GM of Lucky’s, mentioned that the restaurant and street flooded mid-shift with the staff choosing to self-evacuate. Guests could not reach the valet station without treading into the mini river forming outside of the restaurant. Nobles and the staff began carrying customers, the elderly, and families out of the restaurant in their arms and with piggyback rides – now that’s service.

On Entertainment Centennial Celebration

by Steven Libowitz

YThe Granada’s Centennial Festival celebrates all eras of the historic entertainment house (photo courtesy of The Granada Celebrating 100 Years of the Arts in Santa Barbara)

esterday, Today, Tomorrow worked well as a title for a 1990s greatest hits album by Santa Barbara’s still thriving singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins, and no reason why it shouldn’t serve superbly as a way to celebrate the Granada Theater’s big anniversary over a single weekend April 12-14.

Looking back at the iconic venue’s history, pausing to take note of the present and looking forward to the future through a variety of entertainments and performances; that is the idea behind the Granada’s Centennial Festival Weekend: Celebrating 100 Years of the Arts in Santa Barbara.

“This building has such a valuable history to Santa Barbara and the region, and at the same

On Entertainment Page 384

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Our Town Women Leaders of the Central Coast Public Lands

by Joanne A Calitri

The Los Padres ForestWatch (LPFW) nonprofit organization announced their 2024 Women Leaders of the Central Coast Public Lands. The LPFW selection focuses specifically on each woman’s groundbreaking work protecting public lands and waters.

The women are Gloria Brown, Marlene Braun, Lois Capps, Jan Hamber, Kathleen Goddard Jones, Linda Krop, Mary Looby, Janine McFarland, Anne McMahon, Joy Parkinson, Sally Reid, Nancy Sandburg, Julie Tumamait, Anne Van Tyne, Violet Sage Walker, and Patricia Weinberger.

From this list, the MJ salutes the women from Santa Barbara County as follows:

Gloria Brown (1951-2021) was a Supervisor of the Los Padres National Forest and the first Black woman forest supervisor in the agency. She held a B.S. in Journalism and Communications from the University of Maryland and studied forestry at Oregon State University. She co-authored Black Woman in Green: Gloria Brown and the Unmarked Trail to Forest Service Leadership with Donna L. Sinclair. Brown started her career with the forest agency in 1974 as a transcriptionist in Washington, D.C. From there, she became a supervisor of the Siuslaw National Forest, Oregon and at the Los Padres National Forest in California, where she retired in 2007. During her tenure in SB County, she scaled back a proposal by her predecessor to expand oil drilling in the forest, approved the removal of a defunct dam on a tributary to the Sisquoc River, and imposed a policy calling for environmental assessments before timber and vegetation could be removed (a policy that has since been revoked). Her remarkable work and her book

bring into focus much needed valuable insight into the roles that African Americans have in the field of environmental policy, public lands management, and the outdoors.

Lois Capps served as the U.S. representative for California’s 24th congressional district from 1998 to 2017. She introduced legislation that established the Carrizo Plain National Monument, banned oil drilling in the Los Padres National Forest, stopped the Adventure Pass, and expanded the network of wilderness areas and wild and scenic rivers in Los Padres National Forest.

Jan Armstrong Hamber was one of the founders of the SB Chapter of the Audubon Society. She volunteered with the SB Museum of Natural History working as an associate curator of vertebrate zoology. She accompanied Dick Smith on a U.S. Forest Service expedition to study California condors in the San Rafael Wilderness. After

Our Town Page 344

Gloria Brown riding the Los Padres Forest Trail (photo courtesy of LPFW)

Beings & Doings

“An Artist from Day One”

Diana Postel’s First Thursday

by Jeff Wing

Deepest childhood is sometimes recalled as a shadowy dreamscape daubed with startling bursts of color. From that protean sub-basement “mother” ascends the stairs into the light, smiling that smile, and so forth. It’s complicated, as they say. We think of Mom and language fails, obliging us to fall back on gauzy flowers and little heart-shaped candies. “There was zero desire to fit in or to kiss anyone’s ass,” Steve Postell says of his own mother, lifelong artist and light-bending dynamo Diana Postel. “She was an artist from day one. She was a true free spirit. She did not suffer fools. She didn’t try to be something she wasn’t. She lived a very pure kind of existence, with a lot of integrity and on her own path. It was very inspiring for us. Yeah.”

Diana Postel: Celebrating a Life in Art

I’m talking to Steve and his sister Suzan, both of them celebrated artists – and present-day emissaries of the worldview their mother gifted them by simply living it with an unfussy clarity that gave them both an unerring magnetic north. The occasion is the opening reception of Diana Postel: Celebrating a Life in Art – a monthlong exhibit in the Funk Zone’s inimitable gallery/communal living room Art & Soul (116 Santa Barbara St., Santa Barbara, CA) – itself a mother-daughter partnership and an airy, light-filled nexus of color, creativity, gab, and comfy chairs.

The reception runs from 5 – 8 pm on the evening of Thursday, April 4th; better known as TONIGHT, dear reader; *IF you had the wherewithal to pick up the only news and arts journal that matters on the very day it hit the stands. Steve and Suzan

will be performing at the reception, which will also feature libations, canapés, and other augments to an evening of right brain effulgence. There, I said it. And somewhere beyond the ceiling, the stars – distant bales of fire, if you can believe it – will be doing their thing. The light and color suffusing the evening will incandesce from many sources – an incandescence that was Diana Postel’s raison d’être, and her nourishment. She was pure expression.

“She was such a consummate, pure artist,” Steve says, “that the idea of promoting herself – I just think in her mind it was ‘sure, I’ll have a show once, but it takes away from my painting.’ It really wasn’t what she was about. And so Sue and I are here with these hundreds and hundreds of just spectacular pieces of art. She wasn’t going to really make this push, but we feel like people should see this work and own it and put it in their walls.” Her work suggests Matisse in the warmth and forward frankness of its palette. But the work is uniquely and utterly Diana’s in its spirited sense of contained

Diana Postel, the consummate artist (courtesy photo)

OUT NOW SPRING 2024 ISSUE

Your Westmont Hale Shares Comedic Highlights

by

Three-time Emmy-award winning actor Tony Hale spent an afternoon with Westmont theater arts students before sharing humorous stories and insights with a large crowd in Porter Theatre. Colorado actor Heather Ostberg Johnson (‘11) facilitated the event, Comedy and Faith with Tony Hale , on March 19th that students said helped them visualize a career in the industry. The event was co-sponsored by the Martin Institute and Westmont Theater Department.

Bluth in Arrested Development. “Another not-all-there character,” he said.

He advised student-actors to invest in community before investing in career. “In my business, you’re pretty much signing up for a career in rejection,” he said. “If I didn’t have my community of really strong friends, who saw me beyond what the business saw me as, I wouldn’t have lasted. So, I’m very thankful for that foundation.”

Hale, who grew up in a military family that moved often, said he struggled to find his way until his parents introduced him to theater in Tallahassee, Florida, as a seventh grader. “It was a place where I felt seen, where I could be silly and accepted,” he said. “I’m a huge advocate for arts education, not only for those pursuing a career, but because it’s an environment that certain personalities need to thrive.”

He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism at Samford University and completed graduate studies before moving to New York to become an actor. He first appeared with the not-so-glamourous Shakespeare in the Parking Lot of New York’s East Village. He worked in catering, waited tables, and held other odd jobs to make ends meet before he started getting hired for commercials.

“In acting, you’re sometimes referred to as a particular type, and my type was the guy who’s not all there, checked out and wide-eyed,” he said to laughter.

After eight years in New York, he auditioned for and landed the part of Buster

When he started in New York, his ultimate goal was acting in a sitcom. “That’s all I wanted, and even though I was making commercials, I was getting frustrated,” he says. “And when I got the sitcom, one that really hit – Arrested Development was a zeitgeist with great actors and the cream of the crop – I wasn’t satisfied. It really freaked me out. I got my dream, and it didn’t satisfy me.”

That experience, and “a lot of therapy,” led to his writing Archibald’s Next Big Thing, a children’s book about a chicken who gets a card in the mail that says, “Your big thing is here.” “That’s a huge lesson of contentment,” he said. “If you’re not practicing contentment where you are, you’re not going to be content when you get what you want.

“To this day, that was one of the most joyful experiences I’ve had. I’m very grateful for all the jobs I’ve had, but to do something that meant that much to me was great.”

Hale won two of his three Emmys on HBO’s Veep as the personal assistant to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character.

“Veep was so life-giving,” he said. “I love the people I worked with. We

Scott Craig, photo by Brad Elliott

Tony Hale and alumna Heather Ostberg Johnson

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Dear Montecito

by Stella Haffner

This week I met up with Emily Stone, an MUS alumna and current graduate student at the University of Oxford. After earning her bachelor’s degree at Barnard College, Columbia University studying Environment Sustainability and Human Rights, Emily made the move to the U.K. to pursue her passion for conservation science. In our conversation, Emily introduced me to life as a student at Oxford, misconceptions people have about conservation science, and I finally learned what the term “carbon sequestering” means.

Q. What do you study as a graduate student in biodiversity and management?

A. We focus on conservation at large and the biodiversity crisis. It’s very different from the climate crisis, which I didn’t even realize when I began this course. The key issues in biodiversity aren’t necessarily linked to climate change; they’re linked to agriculture, urbanization, and all the things people do that literally destroy ecosystems. Obviously, climate change plays a role in everything, but it’s not one of the top sources, and I think that’s something important to know to understand this area.

What is the biodiversity crisis?

Ecosystems are very complex things. We can think of it at the most basic level: You have the grass that grows, the mice that eat the grass, the bigger cats that eat the mice. These are the most obvious connections, but everything fits together in nuanced ways. When parts of those start to fall away, maybe because a species has very specific habitat requirements and loses that habitat, then all the implications that species has – all the things it eats, all the things it feeds, the diseases whose spread it prevents, the water it cleans – all of that falls apart and makes it so whole ecosystems could dis-

appear. That is bad not only because of the intrinsic value that nature has (some people disagree about that), but also it is bad from a utilitarian perspective. We rely on forests to give us oxygen and trees to filter air and water. If these species start to disappear, we lose all these ecosystem services.

You can start to see how this gets complex really quickly. Is it hard to talk to people about the issue of biodiversity? What sorts of misconceptions do you run into?

When people think about the climate crisis, they think plant more trees and we’ve fixed it. But no. Obviously planting trees is great, we need to sequester more carbon and restore a lot of the forest we have degraded. There are two primary problems with this, however. The first is that lots of times when trees are planted, it is 1,000 of the same tree. That doesn’t do anything for biodiversity. Birds often need the specific trees that they live in, and different trees need to work together to regulate nutrient levels in the soil. The second major problem is that some environments are not meant to have trees. We just examined a paper in class that was published by a group of forest ecologists. Their argument was that if we transitioned grasslands into forests these areas would be more productive. They argued that we could sequester more carbon and increase biodiversity. But grasslands already have a lot of biodiversity. If you read further in the paper, you see that they measure biodiversity as tree biodiversity, while natural grassland diversity was completely overlooked.

Dear Montecito

Emily Stone at Oxford

Apr 10

U.S. Premiere of Thomas Adès Commission

Danish String Quartet

The Doppelgänger Project, Part IV

Wed, Apr 10 / 7 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall

Tickets start at $25 / $15 UCSB students

In the eagerly-anticipated capstone to their international Doppelgänger Project, the Danish pairs Schubert’s String Quintet, frequently cited among the greatest of all works of chamber music, with a new piece by renowned British composer Thomas Adès.

Apr 23

2023 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Music

Rhiannon Giddens

You’re the One, with special guest Charly Lowry

Tue, Apr 23 / 8 PM / Arlington Theatre (note new venue)

Tickets start at $40 / $19 UCSB students

MacArthur fellow and Grammy winner Rhiannon Giddens’ iconic brand of folk music spotlights people whose contributions to American musical history have been overlooked and advocates for a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins through art.

Event Sponsors: Jody & John Arnhold, Kath Lavidge & Ed McKinley, and Laura & Geof Wyatt

Apr 26

A Celebration Fusing Spirituals and Dance

Alonzo King LINES Ballet

Deep River

Alonzo King, Artistic Director

Fri, Apr 26 / 8 PM / Arlington Theatre (note new venue)

Tickets start at $35 / $19 UCSB students

Choreographer Alonzo King’s newest creation, Deep River, uses spiritual music from Black and Jewish traditions alongside original compositions by Jason Moran to assert the power of hope in the face of seemingly impossible odds.

Dance Series Sponsors: Margo Cohen-Feinberg, Donna Fellows & Dave Johnson, Barbara Stupay, and Sheila Wald

“There are simply two kinds of string quartets: the Danish, and the others.” Boston Classical Review

“One of the most important musical minds currently walking the planet.”

American Songwriter

“King is one of the few bona fide visionaries in the ballet world today.” San Francisco Chronicle

Apr 9

Lauren Groff in Conversation with Pico Iyer

Tue, Apr 9 / 7:30 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall

Tickets start at $20 / $10 UCSB students

“A gifted writer capable of deft pyrotechnics and well up to the challenges she sets herself.” New York Times Book Review

Speaking with Pico Series Sponsors: Martha Gabbert, Siri & Bob Marshall, and Laura & Kevin O’Connor

Apr 18

Pop Culture Icon RuPaul

The House of Hidden Meanings

Thu, Apr 18 / 7:30 PM / Arlington Theatre

Tickets start at $50 / $20 UCSB students

Includes a copy of RuPaul’s new book, The House of Hidden Meanings (pick up at event)

International drag superstar RuPaul offers a personal philosophy that testifies to the value of chosen family, the importance of harnessing what makes you different and the transformational power of facing yourself fearlessly.

“RuPaul is almost like a prophet. He’s constantly flying a little higher than everybody else.”

– Isaac Mizrahi

Apr 21

Chef, Restaurateur and Humanitarian José Andrés

Changing the World Through the Power of Food

Sun, Apr 21 / 4:30 PM (note special time) / Arlington Theatre

Tickets start at $20 / $10 all students (with valid ID)

$50 ticket includes a Chef José Andrés cookbook (pick up at event; one per household)

“A tireless advocate for humanity.” Time magazine

“Build longer tables, not higher walls.”

– José Andrés

Premier Sponsor: Eva & Yoel Haller

Brilliant Thoughts

School Scars

by Ashleigh Brilliant

From the ages 13 to 18, I went to school in Hendon, a London suburb. It was just after World War II, and in the field behind the school were several surface air-raid shelters; recent wartime relics which were now being used for storage. They were not locked. Once, when during a holiday I had been up all night hitchhiking with a friend to a different part of the country, we got back only just in time for school. I was too tired even to attend class, so I went into one of those structures, lay down on a bench, and fell asleep. What seems remarkable to me, remembering this episode, is how unusual it all was – the hitchhiking, the air-raid shelters – and the school itself.

As to the hitchhiking: this had been my very first trip – of many I made while still in my teens – all over Europe, in the Middle East, and across America. Most people in those days – and probably even more today – considered hitchhiking a risky business. But I’m glad to say that, in all my hundreds of rides, I never once had a bad experience. On the contrary, this seemed to be a good way of meeting good people. And I learned that the best way of thanking them for giving me a ride was to get them talking about their own lives and interests.

But another part of this memory which seems of particular significance were the air-raid shelters which, at that time, were still very common; sometimes even built on the paved roadways.

With my family I had been, for the seven years of war, safely “over here”; first in Canada, then in the U.S. Meanwhile, “over there,” the British people went through a terrible time. Although no invasion ever took place, there were years of raids by bombers and, towards the end of the war, by pilotless “buzz-bombs” (which could sometimes be shot down), and “rocket bombs” against which there was no defense. (They were so fast that the noise of their coming was heard only after they struck.)

APRIL 4-21

While we had been spared all of that, the evidence of it, in the form of ruined buildings, or just gaps where houses and buildings had once been, were everywhere to be seen.

And there were the horrifying first-person accounts, from our relatives and friends, of what it had been like, night after night, when the bombs came down. This was all part of the so-called “Battle of Britain,” in which Hitler, like Napoleon – having conquered the rest of Europe – attempted to eliminate his last Western enemy before turning East, against Russia.

And that memory of the shelter incident, also made me think of the school itself. One unusual thing about it was that it was “co-educational,” in an era when most British schools were still exclusively either for boys or for girls. But separation persisted to some extent. E.g. in Assembly, we stayed on opposite sides of the hall.

Another striking feature was the personality of our Headmaster, Mr. E.W. Maynard Potts. He was tall, with a ringing voice and piercing eyes. He always wore a black academic gown. Most of us were to some extent afraid of him. In those days, “corporal punishment” in schools was still permitted, and it was the “Head” who administered it – once upon me in his office, with a cane, on my buttocks, bending over his desk. That was for having dared to criticize my English teacher’s methods on an examination paper. My parents had to go and beg him not to expel me.

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY

BY Stefano Massini

ADAPTED BY Ben Power

DIRECTED BY Oánh Nguyên

Remarkably, this man kept in touch with me for years after I graduated, writing me sometimes long personal letters. At one point, after I made a commercial success in America of selling my own epigrams, he wanted to become my British business agent!

Another aspect of the school, during my time there, was that about one third of the students were Jewish. This reflected a fairly recent change in the nearby communities. Since Christian prayers were said in the regular Assembly, we had our own separate “Jewish Assembly,” meeting in a classroom.

One big event of the school year had been an annual Christmas Carol Festival. But with the difference now in the school population, it was decided to cancel this event. This brought a great outcry from all the non-Jewish families. Mr. Potts’ job may have been in jeopardy. At any rate, the cancellation was cancelled.

Ashleigh Brilliant born England 1933, came to California in 1955, to Santa Barbara in 1973, to the Montecito Journal in 2016. Best-known for his illustrated epigrams, called “Pot-Shots,” now a series of 10,000. email: ashleigh@west. net. web: www.ash leighbrilliant.com.

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An Independent Mind

by Jeffrey Harding

With elections on the horizon I’m often asked who I’m voting for, Trump or Biden? My answer is that I can’t stomach either candidate. I don’t think I’m unique.

Biden may or may not be cognitively challenged, but what he definitely is, is a Progressive. You will recall that in his inaugural speech he said he would represent all Americans which meant he would be slightly left of center. Either he lied, forgot, or thinks his welfare statist policies (what Bernie Sanders calls “democratic socialism”) are centrist. These folks pushed through a massive $740 billion spending bill that is mis-labeled “The Inflation Reduction Act.” It should be labeled the “Inflation Increase Act,” which is exactly what will happen.

If you ignore Trump’s ADD, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and the January 6 thing, his policies were only marginally better than Biden’s. He

too was a very big spender. He is also anti-free trade. Tariffs are just another tax on American consumers and help only a very few union workers (we can argue about this when I write about free trade). His immigration policy of disparaging Latino immigrants as criminals, rapists, and moochers was despicable. Before you throw this in the trash, I am not for open borders, and I believe our present policy is chaotic and wrong. We need workers, but we just can’t have an open door to the world for those fleeing corrupt dictatorships. We need to let qualified people in, laborers, and techies. His isolationist foreign policy is naïve and harmful. We aren’t Fortress America anymore. The world is too small and interconnected. And yes I support our efforts to help Ukraine.

Bottom line on Trump: you have no idea what he’s going to do. Biden: I know what he’s going to do.

Let me suggest we start a new political party: the WhatWorksocrats. Let me explain.

Presently each side of the political spectrum proposes policies that promise beneficial outcomes. They are usually politically expedient policies – i.e., they are short-term solutions that either don’t work as promised, and/or are wasteful and inefficient, and most often result in unintended negative consequences.

I believe policies should be adopted that actually work as promised. Using economic science to examine a program before it is implemented would save we taxpayers trillions of dollars. Why economics? Economics is the science of determining which social policies work and which don’t.

Of course it isn’t that easy. Most legislators believe that since the ends are noble, then surely the means employed to achieve those ends will work. It doesn’t work that way. Most of these plans use top-down means which ignore human nature and usually fail or result in unintended consequences.

Take Social Security (SS) as an example. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) they will not be able to fully pay beneficiaries by 2034.

The shortfall is because (1) benefits are indexed to inflation requiring ever higher annual payouts, (2) people are living longer, (3) a declining workforce means there are fewer workers to support beneficiaries, especially as Baby Boomers reach retirement age, and (4) present tax rates will not be enough. Basically they give away more than they can afford.

Every dime you now pay into Social Security goes to pay current beneficiaries. In 1940 there were 42 workers for every beneficiary. Today it’s about 2.8 to 1. If the worker ratio continues to decline it may be politically difficult to put the funding burden on the few. There is also the problem with the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) future inflation projections, which I believe will be higher (~5%) and which will increase benefits and funding requirements.

The government’s solutions: raise SS taxes even more, and/or raise the retirement age, and/or cut benefits (by about 25% per CBO data). My guess is that the retirement age will be climb to 70 and SS taxes will increase. Politicians love to hand out money and yet they promise to not touch benefits.

State pension funds are even worse.

But there is a solution. Many municipalities and states are changing their retirement funds from defined benefit plans (you get $X no matter what), to defined contribution plans (you get a return based on the amount you paid in). This is something that free market economists have been advocating for years and it works. The Reason Foundation has successfully advised municipalities and states whose defined benefit plans were driving them into bankruptcy.

In other words, there are economic solutions that work to achieve desired results. Before expensive legislation is enacted, the economic consequences should be independently analyzed to see if the results claimed will occur. It’s something we WhatWorksocrats will advocate on our political platform.

Perhaps this is just a fantasy, but economic analysis, what we call the economic way of thinking, does work. Perhaps our new party will bring attention to solutions that work and voters will demand reform. At least this is my dream.

Jeffrey Harding is a real estate investor and long-time resident of Montecito. He previously published a popular financial blog, The Daily Capitalist. He is a retired SBCC adjunct professor.

Elizabeth’s Appraisals

Tin Rocking Horse

by Elizabeth Stewart

HRsends me a tin children’s ride-on rocking horse that has been living in his garage for years; he THINKS it belonged to his mom but he is not sure. I believe this horse was his mother’s mom’s or her dad’s, as I think this toy dates from the late 19th early 20th c.

These tin toys were stamped and shaped out of thin sheets of tin and were hazardous but adorable; I remember a flying saucer made of stamped tin owned by my brother Paul in the 1960s that he could pump to make spin. Eventually the tin seams loosened, and disaster occurred in a little sharp cut to Paul’s hand. Regulations have ramped up over the years, but when this horse was made there were NO regulations, and the market decided what toys were sold.

The horse figure has been a beloved pull-toy and rocker forever, and up till the early 1900s every child was familiar with a real live horse. My grandmother Ruth’s father had a stable of horses he used to pull his ice carts around St. Louis. Some of the first horse drawn toys were horse and wagon combinations, and the wagons were painted to advertise coal, or ice, or a fire brigade. The platform horse toys were horses upon a platform with four wheels and a rope; a child would be delighted to see the horse rising and falling as the tin body was attached to one of the axles. Germany in the late 19th c. was an innovative manufacturer of these mechanical wonders, and often attached ringing bells

Dogs were also popular on these platform pull toys, such as a full bodied Spaniel of tin that was hand painted. A leader in the production of hand-painted tin toys, and who may have made RH’s rocking horse, was James Fallows and Sons of Philadelphia, maker of painted and stenciled tinplate toys of the late 19th c. He produced horse-drawn wagons, carts, trains, riverboats, dogs, pairs of horses on platforms, and many different mechanical systems for movement of the horse ON the platforms. He also made goats and horses together, elephants, dog sleds, combat supply trains, trollies, locomotives, and tall, tin Christmas candle supports. Fallows began his business when he discovered he could do better than his job as a foreman at the East Coast tin toy company Francis, Field, and Francis. He founded his own business, C.B. Porter, in 1873. When his sons Henry, Charles, and David joined the business, he changed the name to Frederick and Henry Fallow Toys in 1894. The brand was stamped “IXL” meaning “I Excell,” and the Roman numerals for “61,” supposedly the date Fallows immigrated to the U.S.

to the platforms. German inventors came up with a horse glider, a ride-on toy that could be coaxed by the rider to lurch back and forth: this horse was carved of wood with real leather tack and a red felt saddle blanket and cantle, a braided horsehair mane, leather ears, and embossed tin hooves. These, like all horse toys, are highly collectible and can fetch $2,000, according to the collector’s site Fabtintoys.

One of the best articulated tin hand-painted toys is a pair of golden racehorses in full stride, neck-to-neck, on a green platform. A rod is attached to each of the horses that goes through the metal platform, and is attached to an axle, which makes each horse go up and down, similar to a Carousel horse. There’s also a pair of bells in a half circular shape with metal clappers that ring as the horses are pulled – perfect for a rich little boy wearing his knickers and a cap in 1890.

Another version of the large articulated hand-painted tin horse is the late 19th c. clockwork toy horse and rider. On this toy, an inserted key would be turned to increase the tension of a wound steel spring which, as it unwound, would initiate forward movement by means of a cogged balance wheel. These can sell for thousands. George W. Brown & Company of Forestville, Connecticut was a leading maker of tinplate clockwork toys circa 1855 to 1880; one of his clockwork 8” horses sold recently for $1,700. Germany, however, lead the clockwork toy world, creating such toys as a waltzing couple, an acrobat bear, a man and a pushcart, and a clown riding a goat.

The business faltered with the invention of the chromolithograph, a printing process which negated hand painting. I would estimate the value of RH’s rocking horse to be $1,200.

Elizabeth Stewart, PhD is a veteran appraiser of fine art, furniture, glass, and other collectibles, and a cert. member of the AAA and an accr. member of the ASA. Please send any objects to be appraised to Elizabethappraisals@ gmail.com

RH’s tin rocking horse that may have been his mother’s or grandparents’ childhood toy

the Dessert Buffet, handcrafted by the SYR’s Executive Pastry Chef Yannick Dumonceau. Here one was treated to Strawberry Flambés over puff pastry and crème, Chocolate Crème Brûlée, Orange Fromage Blanc, five flavors of macarons, Tomato and Strawberry Shots, Brioche Diplomat, blueberry and chocolate cupcakes, and a large chandelier facsimile made of gold covered chocolate eggs in the dessert buffet room.

San Ysidro Ranch

Executive Pastry

Chef Yannick

Dumonceau with his Easter Brunch dessert selections

(photo by Joanne A Calitri)

Amada Cruz

(photo by Joanne A Calitri)

On my arrival, I met with Adrian Caine, Director of Food and Beverage for SYR. Together we toured the festivities. While talking about the Easter Sunday brunch he shared, “Each year, San Ysidro Ranch welcomes the arrival of spring with over-the-top Easter festivities. As the adults indulge in gourmet delights and sip on fine wines, children excitedly hunt for hidden Easter treasures across the picturesque gardens. It’s a time-honored tradition that brings laughter, smiles, and cherished memories to all who gather at the resort.”

Check the 411 for upcoming events and specials.

411: www.sanysidroranch.com/

Art à la Carte with the SB Museum of Art

The Santa Barbara Museum of Art Women’s Board held its first of two fundraising soirées, titled, “Art à la Carte,” at the University Club on Monday, March 25. The lovely event featured an in-depth artist talk with Iraqi American abstract artist Vian Sora, and the museum’s Contemporary Art Curator James Glisson, PhD.

The opening cocktail hour in the club’s comfy living room with lit fireplace and live piano music saw guests connecting with SBMA Women’s Board members, Trustees, and SBMA Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Director and CEO Amada Cruz

Following the reception, guests were ushered into the dining room for the one-hour discussion and art presentation. SBMA Women’s Board President Isabel Wendt welcomed everyone and introduced Director of Development Susan McLean who thanked

The SBMA Women’s Board

Art à la Carte event committee

(photo by Joanne A Calitri)

the guests for their funding support of the board’s events in this, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s 74th year. Cruz spoke and referenced the image of Vian Sora’s art on the cover of the evening’s program, thanking Sora and her husband Jed Hayden Glisson seamlessly led the presentation of Sora’s artwork and asked her keynote questions. Sora’s willingness to be vulnerable and share about her life experiences as expressed in her art was everything.

Sora spent most of her adult life relocating, moving from Baghdad to Istanbul, Dubai, London, and in 2009 to Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband. In 2023, she began her representation by the David Nolan Gallery, NYC, with a major exhibit there.

The first art image presented at the University Club gathering was her work titled, Landscape with a Moth (2016), which was the turning point in her art to create a new direction. She said it originated from having a hysterectomy, “I woke up and it changed painting for me. Before that my work was political. I am interested to pull in the viewer and not give you the answer, I’m trying to reach the sublime.”

Next were Dilmun (2022), Hanging Garden (2022), and Subduction [2022]. Sora explained, “My new series started with Subduction. There are figures in it, it’s very spring-like, the rock turns back to magma, like California earthquakes. All these images parallel to my background, symbolism from Ancient Mesopotamia, war in Baghdad, and processing it emotionally into something better.”

The final image discussed was Abzu, (2023, 84 × 350 inches), that she said she created in eight weeks for the annual international gallery fair Art Basel. “With my current schedule I don’t have the time to obsess for a year about my work like I did before. This work contains tension, chaos, and moments of peace. It has 50 layers of bronze color paint made from recycled Ohio River toxic waste.”

Although she studied printmaking in Iraq, she said she decided to experiment and develop on her own. “I knew I did not want any influence from anyone. The way the art world works, you know they make it about something. But no one is there with the artist going through all the process. My work – think of Rothko. This is very psychological for me, it’s complicated to explain. I’m lucky to create and express myself in art and make a living at it. This is how I communicate. I’m not about guilt. I want beauty in my work.”

Indeed, reviewing her art overall, she is similar in intent to Picasso’s anti-war sentiments – in particular comparing her Abzu to his Guernica (1937). Yet where Picasso’s graphic works may make the viewer feel tense and uncomfortable, Sora’s use of bright blues, greens, yellows, and oranges amidst darker tones of the same colors, soften the deeper tension. Her signature technique – of additive painting to subtraction of the paint to adding mixed media – suggests from the whole to destruction to whole again; the life she experienced around her and to her. It causes questioning, leaving an opening for the viewer to enter, note the tension and emotion she imparts, encouraging interpretation.

This year, Sora will have a debut solo exhibition at The Third Line Gallery in Dubai.

A survey exhibition of Vian Sora’s paintings will open in 2025 at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and travel to the Asia Society Houston, TX and the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY.

Event Committee members are Chair Susan McLean, Stacey Byers, Ann C. Cooluris, Paula Farrington, Tobi Feldman, Deb Joseph, Emiko Kirshman, Pei Shu, and Isabel Wendt. Event sponsors included Laurie McKinley, Berta Binns, Laura and Geof Wyatt, J. Scott Francis and Susan Gordon, Rachel Kaganoff, Montecito Bank & Trust, Karen Sweeney, and John Alexander

Part two of the Art à la carte series is April 29th featuring Jennifer L. Mass, PhD.

Funds raised help the Museum bring world-class exhibitions and educational programming to the Santa Barbara community.

411: sbmawb.org, www.viansora.com

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”– Henri Matisse

The Easter Bunny welcoming guests to the Easter Sunday Brunch at the San Ysidro Ranch (photo by Joanne A Calitri)

Art à la Carte with James Glisson, Vian Sora, Rachel Kaganoff, and

Not to mention the fact that grasslands already sequester a lot of carbon underground. Also – there are people that live in that area. They live in a grassland. That is the environment they’ve always worked and with which they’ve long coexisted. The authors completely ignored that side of it. It may be easy to think that planting trees is the solution, but we need to steer away from one-size-fits-all answers.

Carbon sequestering is a term you see so much in this area, but I’m not really sure what it means. What do you mean when you say carbon sequestering?

It is an extremely established fact at this point that we have too much carbon in the atmosphere and that the way in which the natural carbon cycle worked (before we messed it up by burning fossil fuel) is that when plants grow, they take in carbon and build themselves with it. When they die and decompose, the carbon gets released back into the atmosphere. That’s taking out the nuance and a lot of the steps, but broadly speaking that’s what happens. Because we want to reduce the carbon that we put into the atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels, a lot of people look to plants as a solution. Because if you grow millions of trees, they are going to take up that carbon when they grow and store it in their trunks until they die. The same thing happens with algae, which is why a lot of people are talking about algae as a source of carbon sequestering – because algae is really effective at that. But all plants do it. So carbon sequestering is a way of mitigating the climate crisis a little bit. There are also some man-made solutions such as carbon sinks which pull carbon out of the air, but trees and other plants are the natural approach, which is why tree planting takes such a prominent position in so many green campaigns.

Now it is clear that some campaigns prioritize actions such as tree planting while other campaigns stress that we need to interfere in the environment as little as possible. How interventionist do you think we should we be?

My personal opinion is that we have messed things up so much that intervening is necessary. Beyond that I have no idea because intervening can mean everything from planting some seeds and letting them grow to planting seeds in a nursery, transplanting them at multiple stages, and making sure you’re bring in diversity at all different times. A lot of conservation fails at the monitoring process afterwards because it just takes so much time and effort to make sure that the things you do actually take hold. But I still think that we should be doing something.

I want to transition from asking about your program to asking you more about what it’s like being at Oxford. I know you had spent some time in the U.K. growing up because your grandparents are from here, but you moved from New York City to a small English town. It must’ve been a big transition!

Oxford is so, so different from New York! I do miss it. A lot of my friends still live there. I went to visit them over break and when I got back to New York, everything felt so surreal, like Oxford had been a fever dream. But even though Oxford has a lot of quirks and is very different to my life back in New York, it was quite a smooth shift into life in the U.K.

So what is it that’s so different about life at Oxford?

Oxford is weird! It is really its own bubble in a way that’s different from the rest of the U.K. because there are so many international students. But there are lots of things that are different from my college experience in New York. You have to dress up in your gowns for special events. There’s so much jargon to get used to – the academic terms are called Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity, for instance. There’s so much more jargon than in the U.S. maybe because of how long the university has been here. And of course the formal dinners. They are really fun. You get to sit in the grand halls in the rooms that look like they’re from Harry Potter. You have to stand up while the professors walk in to sit at the high table, they say something in Latin, and then they bang a gavel and you’re allowed to sit down again. It is a goal of mine to go to formal dinners for as many of the colleges as possible.

What is the most Oxford thing you have done since you moved here?

Rowing! I wasn’t expecting to join. I barely knew it was a thing! Because it’s such a big Oxford thing, the colleges here go heavy on the recruiting at the beginning of the year. I attended what they call a taster session where you go and spend five minutes on the water, and it’s a miracle no one gets hit with an oar because no one knows what they’re doing. It was a mess. But I’m tall, so they convinced me I should stick with it! I needed something to replace ballet, which I had done my entire life but quit this May. Now I have been rowing for about six months, and I love it!

And it is quite an intense new commitment, isn’t it? Even though I know the weather recently must be keeping you off the water.

I know! It has been so rainy – the river here has been too high and fast for most of the year. The big race next week has been canceled, and lots of our other events have been canceled too. We were supposed to have a novice race, but it had to be canceled last minute. Instead we performed it on the rowing machines – the erg’s – so we called it an “Ergatta” instead of a Regatta. And my team came in first! It was my best time ever, but I could barely breathe by the time I got to the end.

But yes, it is very intense. I love it, but I do have an obsessive personality. When I find my thing, it’s my thing. What was originally a two day per week commitment is now every day. But I think it’s great, and I’m looking forward to the Summer Eights race which will hopefully be back on because that is a very high-spirited, classic Oxford event.

From the shores of Scotland, Stella Haffner keeps her connection to her home in Montecito by bringing grads of local schools to the pages of the Montecito Journal

Rowing, a necessary part of Oxford life

Petite Wine Traveler

Picpoul de Pinet: Sipping the Maritime Charms of the Languedoc

by Jamie Knee

Embarking on a recent escapade to the sun-kissed Languedoc region in southern France was like stepping into a masterpiece painted with historic cities, awe-inspiring landscapes, and a cultural tapestry woven with richness. The Languedoc AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) wine region has transformed from a hub of bulk production wines to a powerhouse crafting high-quality gems. It’s also proudly wearing the crown for the highest production of organic wines in France.

The region is characterized by its historical significance and cultural richness. Bordered by the Pyrenees mountains to the west and the Rhône River to the east, it has served as a crossroads for various civilizations over the centuries, experiencing changes in rulers and cultural influences. This unique historical tapestry, combined with the natural beauty of the region, creates an inviting and engaging environment for travelers seeking a genuine and immersive experience.

Picture this: grenache, syrah, mourvèdre, carignan, and cinsault vines dancing across the picturesque vineyards, contributing to a ballet of robust reds and invigorating whites. Surprisingly, Languedoc even outshines its glitzy cousin, Provence, as the largest producer of AOC rosé wines. Yet, amid this palette of wines, one clandestine jewel seized my senses – Picpoul de Pinet; the name of a region within Languedoc, as well as a tantalizing must-try wine.

Lagoon, kissed by the Mediterranean Sea, intertwine to create a haven where picpoul grapes thrive.

The maritime influence is the secret sauce, offering relief to the late-ripening grapes and infusing a unique saline quality into the wine. This magical concoction of soil, landscape, and sea breeze births wines celebrated for their crisp acidity and citrusy notes. It’s like a sip of Languedoc’s maritime charm, akin to the coastal vineyards of Santa Barbara, adding an extra layer of mystique to the wine.

Distinguished in a region dominated by blends, Picpoul de Pinet is a revelation, exclusively crafted from the ancient white grape, piquepoul, also known as ‘picpoul,’ rooted in the 14th century. It’s a wine that encapsulates the essence of Languedoc, flourishing in its very birthplace. The vineyards’ mosaic of limestone and clay soil provides the perfect foundation for grapes of exceptional quality, standing resilient against the warm climate. As you meander through the vineyard-laden countryside, the connection – between the land and the wines it births – becomes palpable. Rolling hills, medieval villages, and the occasional breeze from the Thau

Indulging in the vibrant picpoul reveals a delightful combination of lively zest, citrus allure, and a distinct hint of saltiness. It’s akin to experiencing a sensory journey that transports you to the enchanting landscapes of southern France, all captured within the confines of your glass. Now, you might hear whispers of chablis and sauvignon blanc comparisons, but let me tell you, picpoul stands out with its own salty swagger, bringing a refreshing sea-kissed vibe to the party. And oh, that high acidity? Well, they named it Picpoul de Pinet, which loosely translates to “stings the lip” in French. Yep, it’s like a little lip-puckering love affair with every sip!

My journey soared to new heights with a gastronomic pairing at The Oyster Farm Atelier and Co., a haven where raw and cooked oysters, ceviche, mussels, and fries seamlessly harmonized with the exquisite notes of picpoul. These culinary delights became the perfect companions, transforming a meal into a symphony of flavors. Sharing these unforgettable moments with exceptional producers such as Domaine Mas Saint Laurent, Domaine FontMars, Savary de Beauregard, Vignobles

du Château Félines, Domaine de Campaucels, Domaine de la Grangette, and Beauvignac-Caveau de Pomérols was an absolute highlight, and I am deeply grateful for the enchanting wines they presented.

Pairing picpoul wines with a variety of dishes, from oysters to grilled seafood and goat cheese salads, it effortlessly cuts through fried or rich fatty foods – even the classic French fries. The bright acidity and citrus notes not only complement but enhance every flavor, crafting a harmonious and refreshing dining experience. This versatility is a testament to the wine’s ability to elevate the overall enjoyment of different culinary delights.

Reflecting on my journey, I implore fellow adventurers to uncover the allure of picpoul, ideally sipping it in its birthplace in the south of France. However, if the journey to the Mediterranean seems elusive, fear not! You can acquire Picpoul de Pinet wines at Santa Barbara’s own Renegade Wine Shop on East Haley Street. Let its crisp notes and the enchantment of this ancient grape transport you to the heart of southern France, a true embodiment of the Languedoc’s rich winemaking heritage. Here’s to the spirit of exploration and discovery – cheers!

Some of the Languedoc terroir

The fresh catch from The Oyster Farm Atelier and Co.

Jamie Knee is a global wine communicator and travel writer, has hosted 100+ winemaker interviews, international wine judge, and holds multiple wine, sommelier, and educator certifications.

The Giving List

Catholic

Charities

by Steven Libowitz

As centennial celebrations go, the commemoration may not be as center-of-attention as that of the Granada Theatre or Old Spanish Days/ Fiesta, two beloved and longstanding institutions hitting their respective century marks this year – but Catholic Charities Santa Barbara region is also marking its 100th birthday in 2024. This storied nonprofit – whose mission it is to collaborate with diverse communities to provide services to the poor and vulnerable, promote human dignity, and advocate for social justice – reaches the 100-year milestone of life-changing service this year. While the occasion may not match the headline-grabbing allure of those aforementioned organizations, it is no less important.

For Catholic Charities, though, this 100th anniversary isn’t a catalyst for loud celebration. Indeed, rather than calling attention to itself by a big gala, the nonprofit is most assuredly putting the vast majority of its efforts into continuing to do everything in its power to reduce homelessness, hunger, and hopelessness among the most vulnerable of Santa Barbara’s residents by meeting their basic needs.

“We are facing the largest demand in our 100-year history,” said Greg Cornell, Director of Development for the Santa Barbara Region of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc., the nonprofit’s official name. “We are serving over 44,000 unduplicated county residents. The food

pantry at our Haley Street location sees between 500 to 600 people every week.” Catholic Charities directly addresses the most pressing areas in the hierarchy of human needs: food, health, shelter, and clothing. The organization’s thrift store on Haley Street, for example, not only raises much needed funds, but also serves as a source for clothing and other goods for its clients, who receive vouchers to purchase essentials there.

“Our goal is to break the cycle of intergenerational homelessness and hunger and provide the basic needs for children, teens, mothers, families, and

seniors,” said Yolanda Vasquez, Catholic Charities’ Regional Director for Santa Barbara in a statement.

What that means is coordinating care, Cornell explained.

“They come to us in an emergency when they’ve run out of money because of the pandemic, or losing their job, and are maybe just a move away from being homeless. By being a coordinated source, we help them with their rent, we help them with their utilities, we help them get a job. We help them with their health issues and a referral network, which includes the employment department, and general mental health departments. So together we take on these individuals and see that they find the help they need to break the cycle of unemployment and homelessness.”

So while Catholic Charities provides the basic needs, there’s also attention to figuring out how to interrupt the cycle and lift people to be able to find their own way in the world.

“At the Santa Barbara Center’s thrift store, we’re really focused on, for example, shoes for teens and children so they can go to school, and clothing for parents so they have something that looks good when they’re going to a job interview,” Cornell said. “It’s not just feeding them; we’re trying to nurture them and help them break that cycle. Providing groceries, providing food to their children and clothing for the family, it gives them a holistic opportunity to secure their goals.”

Where Catholic Charities can’t directly provide services, the organization is part of a countywide network of nonprofit organizations that offer various types of services, meaning its case managers can refer them to employment centers, mental health organizations, and elsewhere.

“That’s really been the saving grace over the last five to 10 years,” Cornell said. “Creating this network so we know where to advise these folks to go to and combine our efforts has really helped in making headway.”

Cornell stressed that you don’t have to be a Catholic to receive services, nor does the organization proselytize as part of its offerings.

“We are just trying to serve the homeless and the hungry, no matter who they are,” Cornell said. “If they’re an undocumented immigrant, we help ‘em. All we care about is whether they need our help, not who they are or what they believe.”

To be sure, Catholic Charities isn’t completely ignoring its 100th anniversary. The organization is launching the Legacy Centennial Capital Campaign in May to help sustain its 100 years of human services. Co-chaired by Vito Gioiello, the Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management, and Patrick Beach, CEO of Captec Financial Group, the campaign’s funds are earmarked for such non-sexy (but vital) things as parking lot refurbishment for the Haley Street location, which still has its original grounds, as well as landscaping, facilities and painting of the aging building.

“Anyone 100 years old has some fixing up to do,” Cornell said.

Catholic Charities is also preparing for its fourth annual Fiesta fundraiser in August, and actively seeking sponsors for the event held under the stars at the Santa Barbara Club and featuring mariachis followed by drinks, appetizers, dinner and dancing.

If a $1,000 donation isn’t doable, there are many other ways to support the nonprofit, including donating to its thrift store. Visit www.catholiccharitiessbc.org.

MONTECITO’S BEST BREAKFAST

The Food Pantry is one of the many operations Catholic Charities has established in their 100 years

Restoring Indigenous Stewardship: Yurok Tribe to Co-manage National Park Lands

As the Yurok Tribe makes great progress towards regaining its ancient lands, the reverberations of history may be heard in the towering redwoods of northern California. After centuries of dispossession, the Yurok people have reached an extraordinary agreement with the Redwood National and State Parks and the nonprofit Save the Redwoods League. This important agreement will see the tribe co-manage 125 acres of land near Orick, California, by 2026.

With 90 percent of their homelands seized during the Gold Rush, this compensation is a significant milestone in their continuous quest for justice.

This deal means more to the Yurok Tribe than just ownership; it represents the restoration of their proper duty as land guardians. This collaborative approach builds on millennia of Native wisdom, recognizing that indigenous peoples have significant insights into sustainable land management.

The proposed development of a traditional Yurok town and cultural center demonstrates the tribe’s dedication to maintaining their heritage while encouraging community involvement. By combining sacred relics and educational exhibits, the center will serve as a beacon of cultural resurrection, enticing visitors to embark on a voyage of discovery among the ancient redwoods.

Beyond cultural regeneration, this pact ushers in a new era of environmental responsibility. The restoration of salmon habitat in Prairie Creek represents the convergence of cultural preservation and environmental protection. Over the last three years, the Yurok have worked tirelessly to restore this crucial ecosystem, bringing life back to a stream that had been choked by industrial exploitation.

The Yurok Tribe’s journey toward co-management of National Park lands is consistent with a larger global movement pushing for indigenous land rights. Indigenous communities are regaining control of their ancestral territories, from the Musqueam people reclaiming holy burial grounds in Vancouver to the Land Buyback Program in the United States.

Despite legal complexity and historical injustices, these projects provide a glimpse of hope in the fight for reparation. The Supreme Court’s major verdict on tribal sovereignty in 2020 revealed that the tide is moving in favor of indigenous peoples’ rights. However, achieving extensive land restoration requires persistent dedication and collaboration from all parties.

As Yurok Tribe Tribal Heritage Preservation Officer Rosie Clayburn put it, “Native people know how to manage this land the best.” The Yurok Tribe’s tale is an inspiration of perseverance and rebirth in the face of hardship, and it is paving the way for local conservation initiatives.

laughed so hard. My favorite thing to watch is the blooper reel, because it shows us making mistakes and laughing. Julia and I would constantly make each other laugh.”

Curtain Call for Student Film Festival

The results are in and the awards handed out at the second annual Montecito Student Film Festival on March 23 at Westmont’s Porter Theatre. About 150 people attended the festival throughout the day to watch 41 films, pared down from the more than 500 that were submitted.

staff! You can tell they care a lot about what they’re doing and there are lots of connections to be made. A wonderful festival all around!”

Westmont senior Tamia Sanders , who produced the festival, won the Audience Award for her film His Glory. Other student-filmmaker awardees included Pawel Cichonski of Poland for Best Documentary and Sami Emad Farah of the Syrian Arab Republic won Best International Film.

SANTA BARBARA VINTAGE MAPS & SURVEYES

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Chase Olivera, an 18-year-old student at College of the Canyons, won the Critic’s Choice Award and Best Animation for his film Chihuahua Shake “It was a great honor to be a part of this festival,” Olivera says. “Amazing films, great location, high-profile roundtables, and a very personable/supportive

New this year, roundtable discussions featured Michael Swanson, senior vice president of NBC/Peacock Production; Cheryl Bayer , president of Living Popups Media, and former head of ABC Network Programming and FOX Programming; and Holly Sorensen, showrunner and writer for Step Up High Water (Starz Network), Make it or Break It (ABC Network), and Recovery Road (ABC Network).

Congratulations to Wendy Jackson, festival executive director, and Jonathan Hicks (’04), festival executive producer; and their staff for a successful event.

Chase Olivera (photo by Jonathan Iyob ‘27)

NBC’s Michael Swanson (photo by Jonathon Iyob ‘27)

Living Popups Media’s Cheryl Bayer (photo by Jonathan Iyob ‘27)

Scott Craig is manager of media relations at Westmont College

The Water Column Customer Health is Top Priority for Montecito Water District’s Lead Pipe Inventory

by Laura Camp

Providing high quality water is a vital part of Montecito Water District’s responsibility and commitment to customer service. Water delivered throughout the District is continuously treated and tested to ensure that it meets or exceeds federal and state water quality standards in compliance with the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Federal Safe Drinking Water Act, and the State of California’s Water Resources Control Board requirements.

The pipelines that carry water also play a role in the quality of the water that arrives at the tap.

The Environmental Protection Agency now requires all public water systems to conduct a Lead Service Line Inventory by October 16, 2024, with the goal of identifying any potential sources of lead in tap water associated with water service lines. This inventory applies to both the District-owned portion of the service line which brings water to the meter, and the customer-owned portion of the service line that delivers water from the meter onto individual properties.

“Our customers’ well-being is top priority and the primary goal of the inventory is to identify potential sources of lead in tap water because lead is harmful to health,” says General Manager Nick Turner. No lead was identified during a comprehensive inventory of the District’s pipes completed in 2018. From March through August 2024, an inventory of customers’ pipes will be conducted by the District’s qualified staff using a State approved sampling process with an emphasis on properties built before 1986.

What Can Customers Expect?

Customers may see a Montecito Water District staff member at the water meter collecting inventory data

While qualified Montecito Water District staff are conducting the lead pipe inventory, customers may see a staff member at the water meter collecting data on an iPad and perhaps digging a small hole on the customer’s side of the meter. Customers will be notified if any lead is detected.

on an iPad and perhaps digging a small hole on the customer’s side of the meter. Customers will be notified immediately if lead pipe is detected, and may also be contacted if staff are not able to access a pipe as needed.

For questions, please contact Adam Kanold, Assistant General Manager/ Engineering Manager at 805.969.2271. To learn more about water quality, rebates, water efficiency resources, and all things water visit www.montecitowater.com.

As Challen prepares to embark on this exciting new chapter in his career, he will not be going alone; mom Betsy Challen will be traveling with him.

There are definitely a lot of logistics to figure out; namely, Chance will be stepping into a cast that has already been performing together for over a year. Mom Betsy explains. “The production team is going to work with him for a couple weeks when he arrives in Hong Kong to get him up to speed. He will have a couple rehearsals as well with the actress who plays Maria, since those characters have a special dance they do together in the show. In addition, Chance will have to learn all the lines, songs, and choreography. The nice thing is once he is fully ready – they will put him on stage.”

It is a pretty intense schedule for anyone, let alone a 10-year-old. The students all have to do three-hours of mandatory schooling a day and Chance will have an on-set teacher working with him. Once school is done, it is just enough time to have lunch and then head out to the theater. The cast needs to arrive by 5 pm for the 8 pm show, and then usually don’t get back to the hotel till after 11 pm. They stay in hotels and travel around via buses and planes – depending on what city they go off to. It will be a lot, agrees Chance’s mom, but he is up for it. “All Chance wants to do is make people happy and perform. He just loves to see people smile in the audience.”

And Chance loves making not just the audience smile, but also his fellow cast members! “He would entertain everyone during our sound checks – singing and dancing to Michael Jackson!” says Samantha Eve, Artistic Director for Out of the Box Theatre Company. “When we did Alice by Heart this past winter, Chance knew all his lines… and everyone else’s.”

His journey serves as an inspiration to aspiring performers everywhere, prov-

ing that with passion, perseverance, and dedication, anything is possible. “Chance has been studying with us for the past couple years,” says Dauri Kennedy, owner of DMK Voice Studio and also musical director at Riviera Ridge. “He comes in prepared and always ready to work hard. It is great to see his training and efforts pay off with this upcoming tour!”

In addition to his mom, Chance will have plenty of virtual support with him… as he (or rather, his mom!) will be posting updates on his Instagram page so we can all see what is going on across the globe!

And even across the globe, he still wants to make sure to stay in touch with his family and friends in Santa Barbara: “Chance is trying to savor these last couple weeks in town before he leaves,” says mom Betsy: “He definitely is a Santa Barbara kid at heart. He loves going with his friends to grab a burger from Chubbies or to play tennis at SB Tennis Club. He does Cotillion and is on his school volleyball team. We are planning to get “WhatsApp” so he can stay connected to all his friends here!”

Santa Barbara is certainly going to be smiling alongside him and can’t wait to hear about his adventures.

For more information about the international tour of The Sound of Music, including tour dates and ticket information, please visit https://rodgersandhammerstein.com/.

To learn more about Chance’s journey and follow his adventures on tour, follow him on social media (@Chance_Challen).

Dalina Michaels

former television news producer and writer. She is a Montecito native and graduated Westmont College with a degree in Communication Studies and Theatre Arts.

Laura Camp is the Public Information Officer for the Montecito Water District

Smith’s passing she continued to monitor a nesting pair he had discovered there, and she worked with the breeding of condors from birth to release. Hamber established the largest searchable database of California condors. She was awarded the Trailblazing Women in Science Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for her condor work.

Kathleen Goddard Jones (1907-2001) co-founded two local Sierra Club chapters, where she gave testimony in support of the San Rafael Wilderness, the Ventana Wilderness, and the Santa Lucia Wilderness. Her key work led to the preservation of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes. Her 13-year campaign to preserve the dunes resulted in Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) converting the land to a park in 1974.

Linda Krop is Chief Counsel at the Environmental Defense Center. She specializes in cases addressing the protection of coastal, open space, natural resources, and offshore energy issues. She defeated the extension of 37 federal oil leases offshore in Ventura, SB and SLO counties, and led efforts to pass state legislation opposing new federal offshore oil and gas leasing. She served on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council from 1998-2013 and teaches Environmental Law and Land Use & Planning Law at the UC Santa Barbara. She was appointed by the U.S. Minerals Management Service as a member of the California Offshore Oil and Gas Energy Resources committee and High Energy Seismic Survey task force.

Janine McFarland is a Chumash archaeologist who worked with the U.S. Forest Service. She identified and protected sensitive cultural sites and landscapes from damage caused by commercial livestock grazing, with a particular emphasis on the Sierra Madre Ridge. McFarland received awards from the American Rock Art Research Association and the Society for California Archaeology for her significant contributions to the conservation and protection of rock art in Los Padres National Forest.

Joy Parkinson (1924-2013) was a founding member of Santa Barbara Audubon where she served several terms as its president, notably during the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. Parkinson served on the SBC Parks Commission and was instrumental in getting Lake Los Carneros and the surrounding land dedicated as a county park. She was the first Director of the Coastal Information Resource Center. Parkinson campaigned for the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act and was invited for her input to the National Environmental Policy Act. She was the first director of the Coastal Resource Information Center, advocating for the Channel Islands as a National Park.

Nancy Sandburg was a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service for 20 years on the Mendocino, Tongass, Rio Grande, and Los Padres National Forest. She was awarded a certificate of merit from the Forest Service Chief. Sandburg reported illegal bulldozing by Forest Service employees that destroyed stream habitat and killed hundreds of endangered frogs and toads – a whistleblowing instance which led to her harassment on the job. The LPFW writes, “She left a legacy of accountability and integrity, making personal and professional sacrifices in defense of waterways and wildlife.”

Anne Van Tyne (1904-1993), named the Grand Dame of the Environmental Movement by Robert Easton, for her efforts to protect 65,000 acres of the San Rafael

Mountains in Santa Barbara’s backcountry. Her campaign as a Sierra Club member was said to prompt Congress to pass a law in 1984 to establish that area as the Dick Smith Wilderness. Tyne helped to organize the first forest land use committee for the local Sierra Club chapter in 1970 and guided a campaign to stop open pit phosphate mining on Pine Mountain. She opposed the Forest Service’s use of herbicides to clear fuel breaks, addressed damage caused by unregulated off-road vehicles, ended competitive motocross races in the forest, and worked to halt over-development at Zaca Lake.

411: https://lpfw.org/women-leaders-of-central-coast-public-lands

Carpinteria Community Services Support Program Grants Open

The City of Carpinteria announced this week the opening of grant applications for its Community Services Support Program. The deadline to apply is April 19, 2024.

The allocated budget for Community Services Support Grants for the current fiscal year was $191,350, with $133,000 already awarded. The budget for the 2024/25 fiscal year has not yet been finalized. Nonprofit organizations may apply for projects planned for the remainder of fiscal year 2023/24, which ends June 30, and/or fiscal year 2024/25, which begins July 1.

Qualified nonprofit organizations that contribute significantly to the community’s well-being and public good are eligible to apply for grants aimed at supporting projects in one of four categories. Only one application per category is accepted from each applicant.

Community Collaboration: Supporting City Council’s Strategic Goals and priorities including outreach, education, collaboration, affordable housing, equity and inclusion, and improving city services for youth, seniors, and homeless programs.

Social Services: Serving Carpinteria with a focus on needs beyond the City’s immediate scope, including Health and Human Services. (e.g., Health, Wellness, Transportation, Childcare, and others)

Community Events: Special events that align with and/or incorporate the Council’s Strategic Goals and priorities.

City Council Initiatives/Emergent Needs: Projects Requested by the City via a Request for Proposal and/or Emergent Needs, by invitation only.

Timeline:

- Carpinteria Community Support

Grants Application Deadline:

April 19, 2024

- Carpinteria Finance Committee

(Application first review):

April 25, 2024

- Carpinteria Finance Committee

(Application second review, if needed):

May 23, 2024

411: https://bit.ly/3Tz0ZYF

Jan Alexander Hamber (photo courtesy of SB Museum Natural History)

Kathleen Goddard Jones (photo courtesy of LPFW)

Joanne A Calitri is a professional international photographer and journalist. Contact her at: artraks@ yahoo.com

energy; an energy Diana herself radiated, however calmly. In Steve and Suzan that energy is still on the move; they are its superconductors. In their collective childhood, their mother’s actionable notion that living is itself a creative project was always in the air. It was the air.

Breathing

“It was really just a way of life,” Suzan says of her upbringing. “She put me in dancing school when I was four years old, because she said as soon as I could walk, I kind of walked with my arms out like this.” Later, there would be family room terpsichore, mom and daughter casually communing through separate disciplines. “I was always dancing around the house and choreographing, and my mom would sit while I was dancing in the living room, and she would draw.” Suzan would surprise herself with spontaneous moves and gestures she would try to recreate. “I’d do something and go, ‘oh, what what’d I just do? I liked it.’ And my mom would say ‘… when you went over to that part of the room, your arm went up like that, and your leg made this angle...’ She always had the artist’s eye. And so she would describe my move and I’d say, ‘oh, right! okay... yeah, I remember…’ And my mother would lower her head and get back to her drawing.”

A River Runs Through It captured the world. Moving to New York, Diana had a career in journalism and publishing at Newsday and The New York Herald Tribune, and the publishing house Doubleday. When Steve and Suzan came along, she pivoted back to art, and in a cozy little art hamlet called Manhattan. “She started getting on her bicycle every day,” Steve says “and riding her bike through the city streets down to Carnegie Hall, where she had a studio for painting. And that’s where she encountered Norman Raeben.” The near-legendary Raeben is known in some circles as “the art teacher who changed the way Bob Dylan made music.” Steve will explain if you can corner him.

Diana left us in 2020. In a manner of speaking. Hang around Steve and Suzan for a minute and you’ll have your doubts about Diana having gone anywhere. Do that at the Art & Soul tonight and the Diana Effect – in song, in color, in vibrant, roiling life – will have you in its embrace.

Diana Postel’s creative empathies may have reached beatific apogee in the throes of cataclysm. “She had an exhibit that was scheduled to open on 9/11,” Suzan says, “which obviously didn’t happen that day. But when they did open it, I spent a lot of time there. It was a couple of blocks away from St. Vincent’s Hospital – which was one of the hospitals just papered with pictures of people who’d been lost. It was really a neighborhood in mourning and people walking around in a daze. They would wander into this gallery, and they would just sit – and the thing that they said over and over was, this is an oasis.” Suzan pauses. “To see that – to see that anything could lift the spirit of people in that moment, give them a feeling of tranquility at that horrendous time – that was really a powerful thing.”

Diana Postel: Celebrating a Life in Art opening reception will be at Art & Soul (116 Santa Barbara St.) tonight, Thursday, April 4, from 5 - 8 pm, and on display through April.

In last week’s feature “More to the Y than Meets the Eye,” Pope Francis was described as being Brazilian. The Pope was in fact born in Argentina. We regret the error.

Jeff Wing is a journalist, raconteur, autodidact, and polysyllable enthusiast. He has been writing about Montecito and environs since before some people were born. He can be reached at jeff@ montecitojournal.net

Over time, the Postel household vibe made it the preferred gathering place of Steve and Suzan’s pals. “Our friends really flocked to our house,” Suzan says. “I mean, they really responded to our parents.” For all that, the home vibe didn’t strike Steve as exceptional till sometime later. “When you’re a kid that’s just the way it is. You don’t know any different, you don’t question it. I think it was more when I went out in the world that I realized, ‘oh – everybody isn’t so artistic and so free thinking.”

Tranquility at Ground Zero

Chicago born, Diana Postel began her training at The Art Institute of Chicago, then snagged her master’s in philosophy and literary criticism from the University of Chicago, studying for a time under Norman Maclean; a major literary figure whose late period novella

An Abstract Landscape by Diana Postel

Impresario by Diana Postel

Suzan, who will also be performing at tonight’s opening

magazine, Lynne Andujar, editor-inchief of 805 Living, and designer turned photographer David Mendoza III

A Grinning Audience

After postponing their concert in February given a mandatory evacuation warning because of heavy rain, the charmingly named Grammy Award-winning octet Roomful of Teeth with pianist-guitarist Gabriel Kahane, performed in a UCSB Arts & Lectures show at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall. The tony troupe is dedicated to reimagining the expressive potential of the human voice. By engaging collaboratively with artists, thinkers, and community leaders from around the world, they seek to uplift and amplify voices old and new while creating and performing

meaningful and adventurous music using a continuously expanding vocabulary of singing techniques.

Recent appearances include New York’s Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, L.A.’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, and London’s Barbican. A most delightful set of implants giving a polished performance...

Soaring Speech at the MClub

Santa Barbara resident and fellow MClub member Bobbie Kinnear gave a riveting talk at the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum about her father, Col. Robert Ernest Evans, a highly decorated B-17 and B-29 pilot, who flew more than 50 combat missions over Europe and Japan in World War II.

In 1943 he famously served as British general Sir Bernard Montgomery’s personal pilot as the result of a bet between the Field Marshall and future president Dwight Eisenhower.

Nicknamed “Richard Eager” for his gung-ho attitude, Evans squired Monty through the Mediterranean Theater and had a close-up view of his complex personality, which has been recounted in myriad books and documentaries.

Afterwards he flew B-47s, B-52s and B-58s for the Air Force, retiring in 1959. From 1990 to 1993, at the encouragement of his family, he wrote down his experiences, which were published as a book Richard Eager: A Pilot’s Story from Tennessee Eagle Scout to General Montgomery’s “Flying Fortress , ” co-written with his daughter, who has lived in our Eden by the Beach since 1973, becoming Director of Nursing at the Santa Barbara Medical Foundation Clinic.

Among those turning out for the lecture after an al fresco lunch were Maria McCall , Katherine Murray-Morse , Hiroko Benko, Erin Graffy, Luke Swetland, Dan and Meg Burnham, Robert Luria, and Brendon Twigden.

A Homer Run

Terry Pillow, who runs the charming leather goods boutique Homer on Coast Village Road, now knows what brown can do for him!

Terry, former head honcho of Ralph

Dan and Meg Burnham, Carol Fell, and Michele Profant enjoying the company and program (photo by Priscilla)

Katherine Murray-Morse, Christine Holland, Robert Luria, Carla Amussen, and Michele Neely (photo by Priscilla)

Terry Pillow (right) and Homer written up in major magazine (photo by Dana Hansen)

Gabriel Kahane gave a gleaming performance (photo by David Bazemore)

John Kinnear, Maria McCall, speaker Bobbie Kinnear, Andrea McFarling, and Luke Swetland (photo by Priscilla)

Lauren, Tommy Bahama, and Coach, is headlined in an eight-page feature in WM Brown magazine, a quarterly men’s lifestyle glossy, with photos taken by Montecito’s Dewey Nicks.

The 128-page publication also features of host of classic clothes, watches, colognes and, of course, cars.

Terry is in very good company...

Sippin’ on Jazz & Juice

Santa Barbara Symphony maestro Nir Kabaretti hosted a Jazz & Juice party

Hosts Merryl and Chuck Zegar, Kristen Lee Sergeant, Ted Nash, and Nir Kabaretti (photo by Emily Gilman)

at the Montecito aerie of Chuck and Merryl Zegar.

The sunset soirée featured New Yorkbased singer Kristen Lee Sergeant, a certified sommelier working in Manhattan’s top eateries who founded a wine label with Grammy Award winning saxophonist Ted Nash, called Two Notes, now in its fifth vintage.

The boffo bash, which celebrated wine, pleasure and inspiration –and was co-chaired by the ubiquitous Janet Garufis and Palmer Jackson Jr. – featured the tony twosome along with Ben Allison on bass and Steve Cardenas on guitar.

The talented troupe of instrumentalists are modeled after reedist-composer Jimmy Giuffre’s drummerless groups of the 1950s and 60s.

Among the bijou bunch of musical fans were Todd and Allyson Aldrich, David and Sharon Bradford, Peter and Kathryn Martin, George and Denise Lilly, Harrison and Leslie Bains, Dan and Meg Burnham, Gaja Hubbard Kabaretti, and Susan Jackson. An enchanting evening hitting the right note…

Meet the Neighbors

Actress Zoë Saldaña is our rarefied enclave’s latest celebrity resident. She has bought a $17.5 million Spanish Revival home built in 1930 by architect George Washington Smith and then expanded three years later by Lutah Maria Riggs.

After being in the same family for several decades, the estate was first listed in December, 2022, for $18.9 million. The main house features two guest bedrooms and a third guest bedroom upstairs on 4.7 acres.

There is also a tennis court, a detached art studio, two three-car garages, and a staff apartment attached to the main house.

Saldana, 45 – whose films have garnered $14 billion around the globe, making her Hollywood’s second highest-grossing film actress – and her husband Marco PeregoSaldaña, also own a lavish tennis court estate in the mountains above Beverly

Hills. The estate formerly belonged to Kimora Lee Simmons, which was up for grabs for $16.5 million in the fall, but is now available for long term lease for $47,500 a month.

Welcome to the ‘hood...

YouTuber Overshares

Actor Billy Baldwin is not happy that his wife Chynna Phillips is sharing the family’s “innermost secrets.”

The Montecito resident has made it clear she should keep the personal details of their relationship off of the internet.

Chynna, 56, has made a number of shocking admissions about their marriage on her YouTube site, called California Preachin’ in recent weeks, speaking in detail about her newfound Christian faith which has caused a serious rupture in their relationship, and even admitting they had secretly separated for six months.

But now Billy, 61, her husband of 28 years, has weighed in on Chynna’s extreme honesty and told her “some stuff” she’d talked about was not meant to be shared online.

In a new video uploaded to her channel last week, Billy and Chynna spoke about “finding a balance” that allowed her to continue to be open with her followers while “protecting their family.”

Billy told his wife she shouldn’t “feel bad” about her comments being misconstrued “as them being disingenuous.”

“Most people don’t get you on YouTube when you talk about the family’s innermost secrets publicly to everybody. Some of the stuff you just don’t talk about and you take to the grave. It’s all about balance...”

He suggested Chynna now leave “all the people stuff” out of her videos.

“People are interested in hearing about what we’re struggling with, but let’s not

cross that boundary, that line of dysfunctionality and intimacy.”

Stay tuned...

No Goops Given

Montecito actress Gwyneth Paltrow says she “doesn’t give a f-#@ now that she’s over 50” and admits she enjoys one day a week of reality TV and takeaway food.

The wellness guru, 51, started her $250 million lifestyle empire Goop in 2008, and has since made herself an expert in the works of all things healing.

But, speaking to London’s Sunday Times, the Oscar winner revealed she is partial to a day with her feet up on the sofa scoffing takeout and binge-watching reality TV.

She says now she has celebrated her half century she cares less and less about what other people have to say about her...

May Her Wish Come True

Given Montecito comedy legend Carol Burnett celebrates her 91st birthday this month, she was asked what she wanted as a gift for the big day.

Without skipping a beat, Carol, whose eponymous show ran on CBS from 1967 to 1979, said: “Bradley Cooper!”

Hunky Cooper, 49, is the winner of two Grammys, a Tony and 12 Oscar nominations. His movies have grossed $13 billion worldwide and in 2011 was named People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive.

But then Carol, who has been married to Brian Miller since 2001, joked she felt, “it wouldn’t work with my husband.”

Clearly there’s life in the old girl yet!...

Sightings

Oscar winner Kevin Costner and sons Cayden and Logan noshing at Tre Lune... Actor Christopher Lloyd picking up his Java jolt at Pierre Lafond… Oprah Winfrey at the GLAAD Vanguard awards in Beverly Hills.

Pip! Pip!

From musings on the Royals to celebrity real estate deals, Richard Mineards is our man on the society scene and has been for more than 15 years

Host Merryl Zegar with event chairs Janet Garufis and Palmer Jackson Jr. (photo by Emily Gilman)

The audience enjoying the evening of Jazz & Juice (photo by Emily Gilman)

Actress Zoë Saldaña buys multimillion dollar estate in Montecito (photo by Dick Thomas Johnson via Wikimedia Commons)

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Luminous Holiday Lighting, 1512 North B Ct, Lompoc, CA 93436. Alexis Garcia, 1512 North B Ct, Lompoc, CA 93436. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on March 20, 2024. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2024-0000722. Published March 27, April 3, April 17, 24, 2024

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Rose Residential Care, 129 E Mill St. Santa Maria, CA 93454. WCMA Care LLC, 2680 S Clara, Fresno, CA 93706. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on March 7, 2024. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2024-0000594. Published March 27, April 3, April 17, 24, 2024

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Downhome Mystic; Guilded Muse; Gilded Muse, 1661 Las Canoas Rd Santa Barbara, CA 93105. Jennifer Erin Bower, 1661 Las Canoas Rd Santa Barbara, CA 93105. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on March 15, 2024. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2024-0000677. Published March 20, 27, April 3, April 17, 2024.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: I Do Consulting CO, 631 E Sola St. #A, Santa Barbara, CA 93103. Samantha Siteman, 836 Anacapa St. #1561, Santa Barbara, CA 93102. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on February 28, 2024. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2024-0000513. Published March 13, 20, 27, April 3, 2024

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: CASE No. 24CV01144. To all interested parties: Petitioner Beverly Elaine Ray filed a petition with Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, for a decree changing name to Beverly Elaine Dickinson. The Court

orders that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Filed March 15, 2024 by Narzralli Baksh. Hearing date: May 10, 2024 at 10 am in Dept. 4, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Published March 20, 27, April 3, April 10, 2024.

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMIN-

ISTER ESTATE OF: Donald Wilson Hoffler. Case No. 24PR00118. To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of Donald Wilson Hoffler aka Donald W. Hoffler aka Donald Hoffler aka Don Hoffler, a Petition for Probate has been filed by Wendy A. Mangone in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. The Petition for Probate requests that Wendy A. Mangone be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: April 25, 2024, at 9 am in Dept. 5, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file your written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

If you are a creditor or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court with the later date of either four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, or 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice. Other California statues and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. Attorney for petitioner: Stefanie M. Herrington, ESQ., 559 San Ysidro Road, Suite J, Santa Barbara, CA 93108 (805)293-6363. Filed March 5, 2024, by Nicolette Barnard, Deputy. Published March 20, 27, April 3, 2024.

time it’s very vibrant as the much sought-after performance venue for local arts organizations as well as out-of-town producers,” said Jill Seltzer, Vice President of Advancement for the Granada, who has spearheaded a year-long effort to put together the 100th anniversary events series. “We wanted to pay homage to its roots as both a movie palace and a performance space, give attention to the kind of venue we are now, and look toward Santa Barbara’s young talent as where we might be going.”

Act 1 on April 12 focuses on the theater’s role as a film palace through a double feature, including the silent film Sherlock Jr., the Buster Keaton classic that screened the year the Granada opened in 1924, and then a singular sensation from five decades later with Star Wars: A New Hope, the first film in the space epic series, the 70mm version that ran for 15 weeks at the end of 1977. Both will be presented in fully restored 4K, and local pianist Michael Mortilla will improvise live for Sherlock Jr.

“He actually listens to how the audience is engaging with the film, ramping up or pulling back depending on how they’re reacting,” Seltzer said. “And there’s something about the shared experience of seeing Star Wars on the big screen.”

The performance picked for Saturday night’s “Experience the Present” actually breaks some new ground for the Granada, bringing a rare evening of jazz to the venue with the Pacific Jazz Orchestra, a new 40-piece ensemble conducted by its founder, seven-time Grammy-nominated Chris Walden, whose work includes arranging for the Oscars. Special guests include singer Katharine McPhee, veteran jazz singer-songwriter Billy Valentine, song stylist Sheléa and vocalist Adam Aejaye Jackson

MONTECITO PLANNING COMMISSION NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING*

DATE OF HEARING: APRIL 17, 2024

PLACE: PLANNING COMMISSION HEARING ROOM 123 E. ANAPAMU STREET, RM. 17 SANTA BARBARA, CA 93101

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

The following methods of participation are available to the public.

1. You may observe the live stream of the Montecito Planning Commission meetings on (1) Local Cable Channel 20, (2) online at: https://www.countyofsb.org/1333/CSBTV-Livestream; or (3) YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/user/CSBTV20

2. If you wish to provide public comment, the following methods are available:

• Distribution to the Montecito Planning Commission - Submit your comment via email prior to 12:00 p.m. on the Friday prior to the Commission hearing. Please submit your comment to the Recording Secretary at dvillalo@countyofsb.org. Your comment will be placed into the record and distributed appropriately.

• Attend the Meeting In-Person: Individuals are allowed to attend and provide comments at the Montecito Planning Commission meeting in-person.

• Attend the Meeting by Zoom Webinar - Individuals wishing to provide public comment during the Montecito Planning Commission meeting can do so via Zoom webinar by clicking the below link to register in advance. Register in advance for this meeting: After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing important information about joining the webinar.

5275 9686

The Commission’s rules on hearings and public comment, unless otherwise directed by the Chair, remain applicable to each of t he participation methods listed above.

The Montecito Planning Commission hearing begins at 9:00 a.m. The order of items listed on the agenda is subject to change by the Montecito Planning Commission. Anyone interested in this matter is invited to speak in support or in opposition to the projects. Written comments are also welcome. All letters should be addressed to the Montecito Planning Commission, 123 East Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, California, 93101. Letters, with nine copies, and computer materials, e.g. PowerPoint presentations, should be filed with the secretary of the Planning Commission no later than 12:00 P.M. on the Friday before the Montecito Planning Commission hearing.

The decision to accept late materials will be at the discretion of the Montecito Planning Commission.

Maps and/or staff analysis of the proposals may be reviewed at https://www.countyofsb.org/plndev/hearings/mpc.sbc or by appointment by calling (805) 568-2000.

If you challenge the project(s) 23CUP-0004 or 23CDH-00023 in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence to the Montecito Planning Commission prior to the public hearing.

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this hearing, please contact the Hearing Support Staff (805) 568-2000. Notification at least 48 hours prior to the hearing will enable the Hearing Support Staff to make reasonable arrangements.

* This is a partial listing of the items to be heard at the Planning Commission Hearing of April 17, 2024. Previously noticed Case No. 23CDH-00023 (Raging Tide Exchange, LLC Residential Additions) were continued to this hearing from the hearings of March 20, 2024. See previous notice for full descriptions of this item. If you have any questions, call Planning and Development at (805) 568-2000.

23CUP-00004

Exempt, CEQA Guidelines Section 15303(e)

995 Lilac Drive New and As-Built Fence 995 Lilac Drive

Gwen Beyeler, Supervising Planner (805) 934-6269 Tatiana Cruz, Planner (805) 568-2082

Hearing on the request of Becker Studios, to consider the following:

• Case No. 23CUP-00004 for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to validate an as-built 8-ft.-tall wood fence, 909-linear-ft. in total length, and to allow relocation of 180linear-ft. of the as-built fence 10-ft. north of the existing location, in compliance with Section 35.472.060 of the Montecito Land Use and Development Code (MLUDC), on property zoned 2-E-1 (Single Family Residential), and;

• Determine the project is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guideline Section 15303(e) [New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures]

The application involves Assessor

“The sheer spectacle of 40 jazz musicians on stage will be amazing, and hopefully people will now think of the Granada and jazz together,” Seltzer said.

Sunday’s “Imagine the Future” show puts the spotlight squarely on young performers who call Santa Barbara home, starting with three of our most gifted solo artists in their 20s or younger in Jackson Gillies, Hunter Hawkins, and Rachel La Commare, up-and-comers who may just turn into the next household names with local roots. The evening culminates with a single fully-produced number each from upcoming musicals from Dos Pueblos (Anything Goes), San Marcos (Singin’ in the Rain) and Santa Barbara (A Chorus Line) high schools, plus a nine-minute medley of songs from Sweeney Todd by the local competitive youth choir called Euphony, taking advantage of the timing to turn our attention to the bevy of talented teens.

Making everything accessible to everyone was a huge factor for the events, Seltzer said. The nearly nominal admission prices reflect the past-present-future theme: $19.24 on Friday, $20.24 on Saturday and $21.24 on Sunday, which ends with a free Granada Centennial Festival Block Party, featuring Spencer the Gardener, on State Street. Additional 100th anniversary events are planned monthly through the end of the year. Visit www.granadasb.org.

Spin on Superstar

What’s the buzz? A revolutionary rock musical presented in a revolutionary reinvention in the latest production from Out of the Box Theatre Company; which normally focuses on alternative/contemporary musicals.

Jesus Christ Superstar, the sung-through rock opus musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice that stunned Broadway in 1971, juggles the gender in the tale that delves into the personal relationships, psychology, and struggles of the last week of Jesus Christ’s life. OOB employs an all-female and nonbinary cast of 18 – including Miriam Dance as Jesus, Renee Cohen as Judas, Lois Mahalia as Pontius Pilate, and drag queen Vivian Storm as King Herod – to share the musical story loosely based on the Gospels’ accounts of the Passion; one that examines the cult of celebrity, and an individual becoming bigger than the message.

While JCS is a staple of regional and high school theaters, when OOB mounts the show at Center Stage April 5-14, it will be the first time such a production has been offered in town.

“I grew up listening to the cast recording, and I would be belting along with Judas in my kitchen when I was eight,” said director and OOB founder Samantha Eve, who will also portray Mary Magdalene. “The songs ‘Heaven on their Minds,’ ‘Superstar, ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him,’ and ‘Gethsemane’ are brilliant rock musical numbers that send chills up my spine. I loved the idea of giving women and non-binary performers the opportunity to sing these incredible songs.”

The shift in sexes also provides a more-than-subtle shift in perspective, Eve said. “Just having women on stage as Jesus and Judas changes the way that you interpret some of the decisions the characters make,” she said. “It shifts your thinking in small ways, maybe even who and how much you blame.”

Eve had her own personal experience when she saw one of the rare similar productions in San Francisco, she said.

“It felt a lot more relevant to me and I was able to see more of myself rather than just a show that feels a little dated to me. I felt like I connected to it in a different way. And the idea of a small group of people fighting for equal rights going up against a larger group for political control has a lot of themes that strike at a relevant place in 2024.”

Eve is also expecting to not only entertain but jar the audience a little bit, something nearly all of OOB’s shows aim for, although JCS still sparks controversy 53 years after its premiere. She reported that there have been a few “aggressive” messages on its Facebook page.

“If people are so triggered by the idea of a woman playing Jesus, I think they have to really sit with that and figure out why, because there’s something going on there,” she said.

Broadway Downtown: Band of Brothers

The Lehman Trilogy, which not even two years ago won five Tony Awards for drama including Best Play, is set to make its Santa Barbara debut at Ensemble Theatre Company from April 6- 21. The play explores the human drama behind the Lehman brothers’ empire, tracing the family’s humble beginnings from their immigration from Bavaria to Alabama in the mid-19th century to their stunning success as their eponymous company became the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States, with about 25,000 employees worldwide. The last act delves into the historic collapse of Lehman Brothers that exacerbated the 2008 financial crisis – with Stefano Massini’s play ultimately offering the audience both a riveting piece of theater and a deeper understanding of the forces that shape our world. Troy Blendell, Chris Butler, and Leo Marks star, with Oánh Nguyen directing. “The narrative leads us to question the essence of the American Dream and how it might easily turn into the American Nightmare?” Nguyen said in a press release. “When does ambition cross the line? And how do we confront the unsettling reality that those we cheer for may unwittingly become part of the problem?”

ETC has also announced its 2024-25 season “Legends and Legacies,” featuring modern works and historical plays spanning more than 400 years. The recent OffBroadway hit comedy Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors is followed by the popular jukebox musical Million Dollar Quartet, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Hershey Felder performing his one-man show George Gershwin Alone. The season closes with Justice, about the first female Supreme Court justices. Visit www.etcsb.org.

Alcott Musical’s ‘Little’ Pleasures

The musical adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s most famous novel comes to downtown’s grandest theater when Broadway at the Granada presents Little Women – The Musical on April 10–11. The theatrical work, based on Alcott’s 1868–69 semi-autobiographical book follows the adventures of sisters Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy March, each with divergent personalities yet determined to live life on their own terms. The sisters are at home in Concord, Massachusetts, while their father is away serving as a Union Army chaplain during the Civil War. Their lives unfold through vignettes and musical interludes, interspersed with recreations of the melodramatic short stories Jo writes in her attic studio. The musical, with a book by Allan Knee, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, and music by Jason Howland, received mixed to positive reviews for its ambitious adaptation when it opened on Broadway almost 20 years ago.

Words on Stage: Pitches, Poetry and Pico

Grad Slam, the annual event in which UCSB graduate students present their research in three-minute talks meant to quickly spotlight the exciting work they are doing on campus, wraps up its 11th year with presentations from the seven finalists on April 5 at Campbell Hall. The pitches are designed to captures the students’ research in a clear and compelling way, as the talks are evaluated by a diverse panel of judges for accessibility, organization, delivery, and engagement. The program was created to emphasize that effective communication is a core competency in any professional field, whether academia or industry. Visit https://gradslam.ucsb.edu/2024.

Chaucer’s Books hosts a reading by former Santa Barbara Poets Laureate Perie Longo, David Starkey, Paul J. Willis, Chryss Yost, Enid Osborne, and Laure-Anne Bosselaar – as well as Melinda Palacio, currently in the position – on April 8 at 6 pm. The night is both a celebration of the publication of the Santa Barbara Literary Journal’s 10th volume, “Satellite of Love,” which focuses on poetry and was largely compiled and edited by Longo, as well as National Poetry Month. Maryanne Knight will host the event as works by the late Sojourner Rolle-Kincaid will also be shared. Visit www.chaucersbooks.com.

Steven Libowitz has covered a plethora of topics for the Journal since 1997, and now leads our extensive arts and entertainment coverage

Lauren Groff, the bestselling novelist and short story writer who has a three-time National Book Award finalist, is next up in the popular and often profound Speaking with Pico series, chatting with the writer and expert interviewer on April 9 at Campbell Hall. Known for spinning highly imaginative fiction through examining the historical forces that shape human behavior, Groff is the author of Fates and Furies, Matrix, and her latest The Vaster Wilds, an adventure story set in the wilderness of colonial America. Info and tickets at www. ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.

Little Women – The Musical comes to the Granada on April 10-11 (photo by Josh Murphy, Chosen Creations)

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Calendar of Events

by Steven Libowitz

FRIDAY, APRIL 5

The ‘Voice of Romance’ – “It’s Not for Me to Say” whether the title of Johnny Mathis’ latest tour might seem a bit like boasting, but when you have scored Top 40 hits in every decade since the 1950s and sold more than 350 million records worldwide (including a greatest hits LP that stayed on Billboard Top Albums chart for more than nine years) – not to mention reached the age that matches the number of keys on a piano – “Chances Are” you can get away with it. While over the course of his career, Mathis has touched on Brazilian samba, soul, soft rock and R&B, it’s his dedication to the romantic side of jazz and pop standards that have kept him popular for more than 60 years. And not to get all “Misty” about it, but who knows how much longer he’ll be around to continue to so consummately croon?

WHEN: 8 pm

WHERE: Samala Showroom at the Chumash Casino Resort.

3400 E. Hwy. 246, Santa Ynez

COST: $79-$139

INFO: (800) CHUMASH (248-6274) or www.chumashcasino.com

SATURDAY, APRIL 6

Science Discovery Day – SBCC’s STEM Transfer Program presents its annual event full of interactive displays showcasing the wonders of our world to wow the whole family. Visit with live sea and land critters, take part in video game and programming demonstrations, participate in chemistry experiments, gape at fascinating biomedical displays and specimens, take a gander through a solar telescope and see hands-on demos in physics and engineering, all on SBCC seaside East Campus. There will also be a bevy of hands-on demos from local high-tech companies in the industry pavilion.

WHEN: 1-4 pm (1-3 industry)

WHERE: 721 Cliff Dr.

COST: free

INFO: www.sbcc.edu

THURSDAY, APRIL 4

Drury and the Beyond – Lifelong surfer turned purposeful plein air painter, Michael Drury , opens his new show, Open to Beyond, at the Santa Barbara Fine Art Gallery. A founding member of the OAK Group – the association of environmentally active landscape painters – Drury’s works span grand vistas, jutting mountains and even barn peaks with a palette that amplifies the natural tones of the world. From a horizon line striping the bottom of an encompassing sky to a looming mountain that lets just a peek of cloud come through on the canvas, his work never underestimates the scale of nature. As Drury puts it: “It is oceanic space, both in the high deserts of northern Nevada, where the ghost remnants of ancient seas leave mountains and playas, and at the western boundary of the continent, where the ocean is asserting its supremacy.”

WHEN: 5-8 pm

WHERE: Santa Barbara Fine Art Gallery, 1321 State Street

COST: free

INFO: www.santabarbarafineart.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 4

1st Thursday – Art exhibits and entertainment both amp up for the first 1st Thursday of spring. The visual highlights include the opening reception for the latest solo exhibition by magical landscape painter Phoebe Brunner at Sullivan Goss (11 E. Anapamu St.), with Maria Rendón: Holy Water and the Spring Salon also on view. Juxtapose features a collection of pastel drawings by Scott Ryker and Brian Raleigh at Santa Barbara Art Works (28 E. Victoria St.), the studio-gallery that supports adults with disabilities in their creative process. Live jazz and other art accompanies the show. Legacy Art (1230 State St.) presents a mother-daughter exhibit showcasing Ines Roberts’ photography and Solveig Roberts’ desert-themed oil paintings. Illuminate Film Festival kicks off its 10th festival – and first in town – with the colorful paintings of Tricia Evenson, who created the artwork for the festival poster. While March was National Women’s History Month, KAAREM (1221 State Street #14) focuses on females today in featuring local women-owned businesses including A Happy Mush, Ortega Vintage Goods and Sarina’s Knits and Knots, with accompanying pastry goods made by Kathy Dao of Your Choice restaurant… On the entertainment end, Ensemble Theatre Company (33 W. Victoria St.) is offering 2-for-1 tickets for tonight’s preview performance of the Tony-winning drama The Lehman Trilogy. The great guitarist-singer-songwriter Steve Postell of the Immediate Family and his sister Suzan Postel provide the music for the opening reception of mom’s Diana Postel: Celebrating a Life in Art at Art & Soul (116 Santa Barbara St.). Lil Jazz Group, founded by Santa Barbara locals Lillian McKenzie and Sébastien Ricard at Berklee College of Music in 2021, are the elegant accompaniment for Santa Barbara Historical Museum’s (136 E. De La Guerra St.) after-hours exploration of exhibitions Pop Up History: Images from the Gledhill Library and Seasonal Soirées: Santa Barbara’s Evening Couture 1880-1980. High-energy 1980s rock band Stacked stacks up the sounds in the 800 block of State St, and it’s an evening of crafting, cocktails and karaoke at The Crafters Library (9 E. Figueroa St.)

WHEN: 5-8 pm

WHERE: Lower State Street and side streets

COST: free

INFO: (805) 962-2098 or www.downtownsb.org/events/1st-thursday

Chamber in the Church – Emmanuel Fratianni will once again conduct the Santa Barbara Chamber Players in a concert of accessible music to close out its 2023-24 season. SBCP – formed during the pandemic for local musicians to play for each other – will perform a trio of crowd favorites in Gabriel Fauré’s “Pelléas et Mélisande Suite,” Piazzolla’s “Adiós Nonino” and Brahms’ “Serenade No. 1” as part of its admirable and ongoing effort to grow audiences for chamber and orchestral music with professional yet low-cost concerts. Like the musicians, Fratianni is a local; one who has received praise for his passionate and expressive interpretations over a career that has included conducting the San Francisco Symphony, the Boston Pops, the National Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony and many others.

WHEN: 7:30 pm

WHERE: First United Methodist Church. 305 E. Anapamu St.

COST: $20 general, free for students 18 and under

INFO: sbchamberplayers.org

Fiesta Auditions – Old Spanish Days’ first event of its centennial celebration is the final auditions for the 2024 Spirit and Junior Spirit of Fiesta, featuring 25 young dancers stepping on the stage at the historic Lobero Theatre – where Fiesta began in 1924 – to compete for the coveted honor. All the pageantry of Fiesta will be on full display for the finalists at the event, which culminates with the announcement of the dancers who will get to perform dozens of times before the end of the 100th Fiesta in August.

WHEN: 2 pm

WHERE: Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St.

COST: $24

INFO: (805) 963-0761 or www.lobero.com

SUNDAY, APRIL 7

Prime Time’s Prime Performance – The Prime Time Band, a vibrant, ever-growing group of more than 60 amateur musicians aged 40-90+, often appears at community festivals and school auditoriums. Today the band stretches out on the stage of the Lobero Theatre, the one-time opera house and one of the oldest such theaters in the country to perform its repertoire that ranges across pop, classics, show tunes and marches. The group is conducted by director Dr. Paul Mori, a Santa Barbara native who brings enthusiasm, charisma and energy to the podium. Today’s concert, “Music of Imagination,” is PTB’s official spring show.

WHEN: 2 pm

WHERE: Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St.

COST: free

INFO: (805) 963-0761 or www.lobero.com

TUESDAY, APRIL 9

Kingston Trio – Nearly seven decades since Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds, and Dave Guard emerged from San Francisco’s North Beach club scene to not only bring folk music to the mainstream but make acoustic storytelling music commercially viable, their successors in The Kingston Trio return to town for the current Keep the Music Playing national tour. All of the founding members have passed away, but the legacy lives on through three new members who share ties to the original group: Reynolds’ “adopted” son Mike Marvin, boyhood friend Tim Gorelangton, and Buddy Woodward, who previously toured with the Trio. “Tom Dooley” was

SUNDAY, APRIL 7

West African Wonder – Malian singer-songwriter

Fatoumata Diawara is known for both elastic vocals in three languages as well as deft guitar work, a combination that has made her quite a moving musical sensation out of West Africa. Like many of her predecessors, Diawara, who sings in her native Bambara as well as French and English, marries biting social commentary with sinuous funk-influenced beats punctuated by stinging guitar solos. On her latest album, London Ko, produced by Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz), Diawara casts her keen eye over controversial issues in contemporary society through songs that blend the electronic sounds with traditional melodies of a kora or n’goni, Mandinka rhythms in the percussion, and her own griotic voice – a formula that reflects a boldly eclectic approach that remains firmly rooted in her heritage. Credit to UCSB A&L for once again expanding our world.

WHEN: 7 pm

WHERE: Campbell Hall

COST: $30-$45

INFO: (805) 893-3535 or https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu

just the first smash hit for the original threesome, with the group also scoring with “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” “A Worried Man,” and “(Charlie on the) M.T.A.,” among many others. The original group also claimed the first-ever Grammy for Country and Western and later received a Lifetime Achievement Award.

WHEN: 7 pm

WHERE: Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St.

COST: $51-$76

INFO: (805) 963-0761 or www.lobero.com

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10

Denouement for DSQ’s ‘Doppelgänger’ – The Danish String Quartet return to Santa Barbara to perform the fourth and final installment of their Doppelgänger series, the ambitious four-year international commissioning project that pairs a new work with the Schubert quartet or quintet that inspired it. In this Doppelgänger concert, the Quartet is joined by the versatile Finnish cellist Johannes Rostamo, the principal of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, to perform as a prelude Schubert’s final chamber work, the masterful “String Quintet in C Major,” considered one of the classical canon’s greatest pieces of chamber music. The quartet-plus-one then premieres the new quintet by renowned British composer Thomas Adès, “Wreath (for Franz Schubert),” a single-movement work with a theme that the composer describes as a gradually unfolding “lifespan” of entwined “blooms”; a piece with flexible duration. The DSQ have had a long relationship with Adès’s music, having recorded his “Arcadiana” on their debut ECM CD and featuring his “Four Quartets” concerts earlier this year.

WHEN: 7 pm

WHERE: Campbell Hall

COST: $25-$65

INFO: (805) 893-3535 or https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu

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$10 MINIMUM TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD

It’s simple. Charge is $3 per line, each line with 31 characters. Minimum is $10 per issue. Photo/logo/visual is an additional $20 per issue. Email Classified Ad to frontdesk@montecitojournal.net or call (805) 565-1860. All ads must be finalized by Friday at 2pm the week prior to printing. We accept Visa/MasterCard/Amex (3% surcharge)

FOR

Donate to the Parrot Pantry! At SB Bird Sanctuary, backyard farmer’s bounty is our birds best bowl of food! The flock goes bananas for your apples, oranges & other homegrown fruits & veggies. Volunteers

Do you have a special talent or skill? Do you need community service hours? The flock at SB Bird Sanctuary could always use some extra love and socialization. Call us and let’s talk about how you can help. (805) 969-1944

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

K-9 PALS need volunteers to be foster parents for our dogs while they are waiting for their forever homes. For more information info@k-9pals.org or 805-570-0415

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ByPeteMuller&FrankLongo

Foreachofthefirstfiveminicrosswords,oneoftheentriesalsoservesaspartofa five-wordmetaclue.Theanswertothemetaisawordorphrase(sixlettersor longer)hiddenwithinthesixthminicrossword.Thehiddenmetaanswerstartsin oneofthesquaresandsnakesthroughthegridverticallyandhorizontallyfrom there(nodiagonals!)withoutrevisitinganysquares.

Foreachofthefirstfiveminicrosswords,oneoftheentriesalsoservesaspartofa five-wordmetaclue.Theanswertothemetaisawordorphrase(sixlettersor longer)hiddenwithinthesixthminicrossword.Thehiddenmetaanswerstartsin oneofthesquaresandsnakesthroughthegridverticallyandhorizontallyfrom there(nodiagonals!)withoutrevisitinganysquares.

Foreachofthefirstfiveminicrosswords,oneoftheentriesalsoservesaspartofa five-wordmetaclue.Theanswertothemetaisawordorphrase(fivelettersor longer)hiddenwithinthesixthminicrossword.Thehiddenmetaanswerstartsin oneofthesquaresandsnakesthroughthegridverticallyandhorizontallyfrom there(nodiagonals!)withoutrevisitinganysquares.

Foreachofthefirstfiveminicrosswords,oneoftheentriesalsoservesaspartofa five-wordmetaclue.Theanswertothemetaisawordorphrase(sixlettersor longer)hiddenwithinthesixthminicrossword.Thehiddenmetaanswerstartsin oneofthesquaresandsnakesthroughthegridverticallyandhorizontallyfrom there(nodiagonals!)withoutrevisitinganysquares.

Across 1 Itneverstandsstill,though itoccasionallyseemsto

5 Stripsinadiner