Man on a Mission

Dear Montecito 26 Nov – 3 Dec 2020 Vol 26 Issue 48

SERVING MONTECITO AND SUMMERLAND

Meet Alec Sherwin, a college student with a mind for mathematics and a soul for geometric-style art, p. 54

Man on a Mission MONTECITO WATER DISTRICT’S NEWEST HIRE PLEDGES TO PROTECT OUR LOCAL UNDERGROUND WATER SUPPLY (STORY BEGINS ON PAGE 6)

The Natural

Chris Tamas was raised in Montecito and he eventually reached the top of the volleyball world. He did it by just being himself. p. 34

In Business

Rita Villa opens doors to Hacienda, her latest incarnation of retail therapy in Summerland, p. 42

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MONTECITO JOURNAL

26 November – 3 December 2020

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26 November – 3 December 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

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Inside This Issue

5

Editor’s Letter

6

On the Record

8

Letters to the Editor

Montecito Journal Media Group’s inaugural publication of The Giving List - Santa Barbara is here Montecito Water District welcomes aboard groundwater specialist Nick Kunstek; Montecito Planning Commission approves plan to keep debris nets up for next three years A collection of communications from readers Charles Bullwinkle Hamilton, Ronald Hays, Lawrence W. Dam, and Arthur Merovick

11 Montecito on the Move

Hands Across Montecito initiative gets off to great start, first census done for Montecito’s homeless population

14 Native Born

Jervey Tervalon on coming of age as a black man in Santa Barbara

16 The Way it Was

Hattie Beresford taps into local roots and tells the story of a pioneer Santa Barbara farmer

18 Montecito Miscellany

New manager at San Ysidro Ranch; Ron Popeil ranch up for sale; Honoring our nurse heroes; happy anniversary Karl Storz Imaging; much, much more 19 Real Estate When people think of Montecito, they envision mountain and ocean views, homes of substantial size with lovely landscaping, privacy – and a swimming pool, too!

22 Nosh Town

This winter, consider fondue, a classic holiday tradition that brings cohabitants together for an evening of festivity

26 On Entertainment

Classic opera from your car; Live Comedy in your Living Room and more at the Alcazar; Rubicon Theatre’s Estella Scrooge; Kenny Loggins encore; Focus on Film; and more

28 Classical Connection

The Women’s Auxiliary of The Music Academy of the West hosts virtual event with once-in-a-lifetime auction items

29 In Business

Tina Frey Design opens in San Ysidro Village

32 Our Town

Arts in Lockdown Series Part 16 features Dishwalla’s George Pendergast

34 The Natural

Chris Tamas was raised in Montecito and he eventually reached the top of the volleyball world. Here’s how he did it.

36 Perspectives by Rinaldo S Brutoco

Gratitude and hope: Seeing a better future can be a state of mind

The Optimist Daily

Five ways to celebrate if you’re alone for the holidays; nine ways to support small, local businesses

37 Purely Political

Bob Hazard, a red voter in a deep blue state, writes a letter to President-elect Joe Biden on points of cooperation

38 Meet the Teacher

A visit to meet the head of Howard School, the oldest operating private school in Santa Barbara

40 Brilliant Thoughts

Today’s hotel chains sell security and familiarity, writes Ashleigh Brilliant, but that’s not what travel is all about: leaving your comfort zone

42 In Business

Hacienda, by Bonita Lifestyle, the latest incarnation of retail shopping therapy in Summerland by Rita Villa, opens its doors

48 Summerland Buzz

The new flow of Highway 101; follow the rules or feel the wrath of the County’s powers that be; Pat and Ursula Nesbitt’s auction for mansion cancelled

54 Dear Montecito

Alec Sherwin is a 23-year-old Santa Barbara City College student with a mind for mathematics and a soul for geometric-style art

55 Robert’s Big Questions

Is there a better political system for America? Asks Robert Bernstein. How do we get good governance to solve huge problems?

56 Far Flung

Off the shores of San Miguel Island, catching up with the channel’s most curious and super cute creature: the northern fur seal

57 People of Montecito

Michaela Donahue is brand director for the Montecito, Santa Barbara, and Los Olivos locations of Wendy Foster/Pierre Lafond. Singer-songwriter Lanny Sherwin on the trials and tribulations that brought the Montecito community together.

Ernie’s World

Ernie breaks out the 22-pound turkey, stuffs it full of puns, and serves it with all the sides, trimmings, and sauces

62 Classified Advertising 63 Local Business Directory

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MONTECITO JOURNAL

“For those of you who cannot be with family this Thanksgiving, please resist the urge to brag.” – Andy Borowitz

26 November – 3 December 2020

Editor’s Letter

by Gwyn Lurie CEO and Executive Editor of the Montecito Journal Media Group

Giving Thanks for Giving

T

here are certain holidays I appreciate less for their historical importance, than for the opportunity they afford us to stop and reflect upon our lives, and to feel gratitude for all we have been given. As well as all we are able to give back.

At the risk of retreading well-travelled terrain, I won’t go into how challenging this year has been for most. Still, there is much for which to be thankful, not the least of which that we live in a stunningly beautiful place that is filled with interesting, thoughtful, giving people who care for their community and their world.

On this Thanksgiving one of the things for which many of us feel thankful, is the ability and the inclination to give back. Countless scientific studies show that being generous and engaging in charitable deeds are the most common and widespread ingredients in people who define themselves as “happy.”

Researchers have observed that grateful people give more, and in study-afterstudy gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater levels of joy.

If you live in Montecito, Hope Ranch, or in certain areas of Santa Barbara, you have likely just received, via the U.S. Postal Service, a copy of the Montecito Journal Media Group’s inaugural publication of The Giving List - Santa Barbara Volume I. At the Montecito Journal, we believe that the work being done by Santa Barbara’s robust nonprofit community and the generous support of that work by local donors is something to celebrate.

It is commonly said that Santa Barbara is home to more nonprofits per capita than any other county in the United States. This statistic is impressive for so many reasons, not the least of which is it captures a defining characteristic of Santa Barbara, whose strong tradition of philanthropy is not only reflected in the vitality of our nonprofit sector but in the prominent role NGOs and the causes they promote play in the daily lives of local residents.

And that’s important because local NGOs (Non-Government Organization), which meet some of the most critical needs in our community, rely on the unwavering support of Santa Barbara’s philanthropic network. For these nonprofits, building relationships with donors is the key to their very survival – which, in this pandemic year where traditional means of fundraising have disappeared, many organizations are fighting for.

The Giving List was created to provide a portal through which donors can access some of the most powerful stories and information about the inner workings of many of Santa Barbara’s prominent nonprofits. By providing donors with an intimate peek inside these NGOs, we hope to help philanthropists make the most enlightened and impactful decisions about how best to give. We hope this book and the stories therein will inspire you to give even more.

In addition to the book, beginning January 1, 2021, it will be possible to digitally access The Giving List, including up-to-date information regarding The Giving List organizations, as well as a way to directly connect with the organizations’ leaders to learn more about their work, their needs, etc.

Choosing 52 organizations to be included in this inaugural book was not easy.

Our aim is for The Giving List to present a wide and representative variety of work being done by our deeply rooted local NGOs. In no way do we mean to suggest that our list is exhaustive or that the organizations represented in this inaugural Giving List are our only important local NGOs. It is for this reason we have included an index at the back of the book that includes the name of every nonprofit in Santa Barbara County that could be identified by our staff – which numbers in the thousands. And it is our intention to have the capacity to include many more of our community’s nonprofits in The Giving List Vol II. The Giving List’s mission is to help build strong and lasting relationships between our philanthropic community and the nonprofit organizations which not only serve as a critical safety net in Santa Barbara but are foundational to the functioning of a healthy, compassionate and civilized society. Given its long-standing commitment to being a catalyst for good in the communities it serves, we are proud to have Montecito Bank & Trust as The Giving List’s anchor sponsor, as we could not have asked for a more appropriate partner in this endeavor.

From everyone at the Montecito Journal Media Group, we wish you a happy and healthy and peaceful Thanksgiving. We are deeply grateful for this incredible community that allows us to get up every day and work to produce a publication that is worthy of its very special audience.

So, thank you!

•MJ 26 November – 3 December 2020

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5

On the Record

by Nicholas Schou

Nicholas Schou is an award-winning investigative journalist and author of several books, including Orange Sunshine and Kill the Messenger. If you have tips or stories about Montecito, please email him at newseditor@montecitojournal.net

Montecito Water District’s Newest Hire Aims to Strengthen Our Underground Water Supply The Election is over BUT major changes are just beginning The voting may be over but the implications of the election will be ongoing.

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Is your investment plan positioned to deal with the shifts? It’s likely that different Industries, companies and countries will now benefit from the outcome. This is the perfect time to get a second opinion.

I’ve advised individuals and families in our area for 28 years. Contact me today to review your situation.

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MONTECITO JOURNAL

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Montecito Water District welcomes the agency’s first groundwater specialist Nick Kunstek

ix years ago, former California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law landmark water management legislation consisting of several bills which bundled together were called the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The law made history by finally mandating a statewide campaign to protect and preserve the groundwater basins that collectively make up the reserves of California’s myriad water agencies.

The law specifically required local water agencies to adopt policies regarding the “management and use of groundwater in a manner that can be maintained during the planning and implementation horizon without causing undesirable results.” SGMA requires local officials to come up with 20-year plans to keep their local supply of underground water sustainable – as a medium priority under the law, Montecito’s groundwater basin plan must be fully executed by 2042.

When Brown signed SGMA into law, Montecito’s groundwater basin wasn’t in the medium-to-high category of prioritization – it has since been added to the list of medium-priority basins – but that didn’t stop the Montecito Water District (MWD) from securing a $1.75 million in funding from Sacramento to establish a so-called Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) to help provide data that will allow the district to be in compliance with state law as soon as possible.

That funding has already paid off for Montecito residents. In June, MWD officially brought on board Nick Kunstek, an experienced geoscientist and the agency’s very first groundwater basin specialist. Kunstek, who graduated with an undergraduate degree in geophysical engineering from Montana Technological University, has a decade of experience working in exploration geology and is perfectly suited to the challenges of the new post.

In an interview this week with the Montecito Journal, Kunstek talked about his job and what he hoped to accomplish in the next few years as MWD’s point person for studying and protecting our local underground water supply, a

OTR Page 524

“Thanksgiving Day, man — not a good day to be my pants.” – Kevin James

26 November – 3 December 2020

Sansum Clinic Celebrates 100 years of Medical Excellence 1921-2021

Throughout our history, Sansum Clinic has not just cared about our patients, we care about healthcare.

Today, Sansum Clinic has more than 200 specialists in over 30 specialties, working collaboratively to help our patients live their healthiest life.

26 November – 3 December 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

7

Letters to the Editor

If you have something you think Montecito should know about, or wish to respond to something you read in the Journal, we want to hear from you. Please send all such correspondence to: Montecito Journal, Letters to the Editor, 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite H, Montecito, CA. 93108. You can also FAX such mail to: (805) 969-6654, or E-mail to letters@montecitojournal.net

A Spaceship Named ‘Resilience’

I

look forward to Rinaldo S. Brutoco’s Perspectives missive every week in the MJ. Mr. Brutoco not only does a good job of succinctly identifying difficult problems or issues of concern we all face, he offers well thought out and constructive paths forward. A Spaceship named ‘Resilience’ immediately resonated with me as a former water utility manager. Indeed, resilience is more than ever important in today’s increasingly calamitous world. And yes, resilience also captures the essence of our democracy’s strength in enabling the will of the people when confronted with fraudulent leadership. Thank you, MJ. Sincerely, Charles Bullwinkle Hamilton

A Sorry Excuse for Public Healthcare

Today, Tuesday, November 17, using a link from the Santa Barbara County Health Department website,

I made an appointment to be tested at the Goleta Community Center. I am dumbfounded at the complexity, duplicity and lengthy registration/ reservation process. No wonder testing response by the general public is so underwhelming and attendance so lacking. The Health Department uses a third party website for online registration and it is overly complex.

I am extremely uncomfortable giving so much personal information to an unknown entity that looks suspiciously like a health insurance sales organization that will probably, soon be bombarding me with back to back emails, cell phone calls and mailers, hustling their services.

Yet, I feel it necessary to comply with efforts to control this virus through testing, so I continued.

I understand that, in the event my test proves positive, many, but not all, of those private details are necessary.

However, until and unless my test results are positive, in my opinion, there

is only the need for a contact number plus one other source of information (in the event the first fails), period.

This current process is a total invasion of privacy, very poorly designed, and way too complex, especially for seniors and others like myself who are not comfortable with computers.

The headline confirming my appointment was unbelievably titled: “Process Server.” As if I weren’t already concerned about the lengthy, invasion of privacy registration, then to receive a notice from a “process server” confirming my appointment, is just unacceptable bureaucratic incompetence.

The Public Health Department’s promotion of the reservation process through this current method will undoubtedly be met with understandable reluctance and is a real step backwards in coordinated efforts to battle this pandemic.

It is such a bitter disappointment to see our Public Healthcare officials’ efforts to fight this terrible disease, be so incredibly incompetent during such frightening times.

Ronald Hays

Restoring Confidence in Elections

Much has been reported recently about voter fraud and whether it

occurred in the last election. Virtually everyone agrees that the answer to that question is undeniably yes, just as it has occurred in every prior election. The hotly disputed question is whether isolated instances of voter fraud were outcome determinative.

Notwithstanding the accusations and denials from all parties, no one can answer that question for certain because the system masks fraud.

Voter identification requirements and restricted mail in voting would go a long way in assuring voters that no widespread impropriety determined the election winners.

The potential for fraud has been increased dramatically by efforts of the Democratic Party to increase their voter base. They have steadfastly resisted any voter identification requirements and oppose any limitation on mail in voting, as they believe that such requirements and limitations would diminish the Democrat vote.

Every change and proposed change affecting voting eligibility and registration is designed to increase the number of Democrat voters. Here is a partial list: 1. Make voting registration require little or no effort on the part of the voter. Register him or her to vote

Letters Page 464

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26 November – 3 December 2020

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• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

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26 November – 3 December 2020

Montecito on the Move

by Sharon Byrne, Executive Director, Montecito Association

Homelessness Update:

T

Montecito Leading the Way

he Hands Across Montecito initiative got off to a great start this September.

We did a census count with a terrific team of Montecito volunteers, our fire chiefs, sheriffs, and members of Behavioral Wellness, organized by City Net. We hiked all over Montecito, interviewing, and finding out more about who is living unsheltered here, and why.

We got the results from the census count, and there were some surprises: 28 individuals were counted between the Bird Refuge and the Miramar.

17 were willing to talk to us, 11 refused.

Gender: 6 females 11 males Age range: 18-34: 5 35-44: 5 45-54: 3 55-65: 4 Race / ethnicity: White: 9 Black / African American: 3 American Indian: 1 Hispanic / Latino: 3 Multi-ethnic: 1 U.S. Veteran: 1

Luis Alvarado, Homeless Outreach with Behavioral Wellness of Santa Barbara County, checks to see whether anyone is in a tent at the beach under the Clark Estate

If you would like to donate to Hands Across Montecito:

On our website, montecitoassociation.org, click “Projects,” and Hands Across Montecito.

You can also send a check: 1. Make it out to City Net. Please put “Montecito” in the memo section.

2. Mail it to the Montecito Association at P.O. Box 5278, Santa Barbara 93150.

We tabulate and send all donations on to City Net for the project.

We have a monthly Zoom call as a community with City Net and our partners to review our cases and see the progress on the first Wednesday of the month at 9:30 am.

Others are Interested in How Montecito is Getting Results With Our Homeless Outreach Project.

Over the past month, we’ve presented on Hands Across Montecito to the Sheriff’s Stepping Up team, the Behavioral Wellness Commission, the Santa Barbara Region Chamber of Commerce’s Government Relations Committee, and met with Visit Santa Barbara representatives and Eastside City Councilmember Alejandra Gutierrez. It turns out that once we started getting results, others wanted to see how we’re doing it, and they’re following our lead. The County approved a contract with City Net in October to do outreach and case management like what we’re doing, countywide. We have had some Montecito focus with that new countywide team as well. The Chamber and City of Santa Barbara have been concerned with camps at the waterfront. They’ve made some steps to clear them, but are now looking to see whether City Net can help with outreach. We’ve encouraged all these groups to think and partner regionally. If our outreach in Montecito causes someone to relocate to Isla Vista, and this has happened, it’s really not a win, because now they’ll be another community’s issue. So if we partner up and all take a consistent approach regionally, anyone experiencing homelessness is met with outreach, and this will help get many more people into shelter and housing, and leave life on our streets.

We’re working on the beach encampments under the Clark Estate and cemetery too, as part of this project, so stay tuned to these pages for more updates. If you’d like to be involved in Hands Across Montecito, we welcome you to reach out to us at info@montecitoassociation.org.

•MJ

12 had health insurance. Nine had permanent disabilities. Three had alcohol addictions, three had drug addictions. One admitted to having both. Nine admitted to having health concerns.

How long have you been homeless? <1 year: 4 1-2 years: 5 3-5 years: 5 6-10 years: 1 21+ years: 2 We observed four people sleeping in vehicles as part of this census count.

Our original direction was to contract with City Net to reduce our homeless population by half over the course of a year. However, we knew the census count numbers were a bit low, given what we’d been seeing during outreach. This meant we’d been a bit of a victim of our early The encampments starting under Santa Barbara success in outreach prior to bringing Cemetery. Most are in a small inlet down beach in City Net. Two people had moved from this tent site. into hotel rooms, two were reunited with family, while four to five others had left the area for Isla Vista and parts unknown.

We also have some individuals that present as either consistent enforcement issues or who are very vulnerable, so we decided as a team to focus on a top five group of those that we’d very much like to see indoors, treated, and stable.

We will also continue pursuing outreach with City Net to create a consistent presence in the community, as some people we outreach to will say yes to coming indoors.

Our community has raised $54,000 of the $100,000 needed for this project, which is amazing! We still have $46,000 to go, and would welcome your support. Projects like Hands Across Montecito that have strong community backing, volunteers, and support tend to be the most successful.

26 November – 3 December 2020

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MONTECITO JOURNAL

13

Native Born

by Jervey Tervalon

Jervey Tervalon is the author of five books, including the bestselling Dead Above Ground and Understanding This, for which he won the New Voices Award from the Quality Paperback Book Club. Born in New Orleans, he lives in California and teaches at the College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara.

Coming of Age as a Black Man in Santa Barbara

I

started at UC Santa Barbara in 1976, almost on a whim. I thought I would attend UC San Diego, but my high school girlfriend had her heart set on UC Santa Barbara, and though she was a junior, my romantic ass decided to head north and wait for her. When she finally arrived at UCSB a year later, we broke up almost immediately.

Unmoored, I flitted about campus and the surreal weirdness and college decadence of Isla Vista. But inevitably, as I developed into a man of blossoming, if questionable taste, I decided that I was tired of drunken frat boys and sorority girls and crummy apartments with too many roommates.

Once I graduated with a degree in literature, I got the hell out of Isla Vista and moved with a couple of friends to a duplex on Milpas and Canon Perdido streets. Rick was a talented painter and a Latino from Ventura, Ed an African American artist from D.C., who didn’t do much art but seemed to think about it often. They were good

guys and we had a great time together getting to know the lay of the land, and life was sweet, at least for me. It was harder for Ed, because he would only date African American women, and there weren’t many African American ladies in these parts for him to pursue.

Life as a graduate student with a free ride was sweet as far as that goes, but I had yet to experience Santa Barbara in the way that I sensed I needed to. After a number of years, I hadn’t met African Americans who weren’t associated with the university. Then, one afternoon when I was on campus waiting to talk to my former professor and mentor Mr. Mudrick, an attractive, young Black woman stopped to speak to me. She said she had read stories of mine about growing up in Black Los Angeles that had been published in Alumnus magazine and had liked them. Of course, I was flattered and not long after, we started dating.

That dating was action packed, with unexpected rivals and insane jealousy

Jervey Tervalon with his daughter Colette

I never knew I possessed and eventually it led to marriage.

Gina was surprised, maybe a little disappointed, that her parents were planning a return to Santa Barbara from Westport, Connecticut after an absence of a decade, Her mom was a devout Christian who probably wouldn’t have felt comfortable about our relationship until we were married. Her mother, Louversia Harris, a beautiful, browned-skinned woman with long gray hair, and her father Eugene, a handsome, reserved man,

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Native Born Page 204

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were friendly with me from the start.

Though I did call Gina’s dad Mr. Harris, right up until the day he died, just as I called her mom Mrs. Harris.

I knew them initially as my girlfriend’s affluent parents, the Black folks who lived well in Santa Barbara in a ranch-style home on San Antonio Creek Road near the 154 with a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean and the twinkling Christmas lights of the oil platforms, who were an integral part

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“Thanksgiving is a time to count your blessings, one by one, as each relative goes home.” – Melanie White

26 November – 3 December 2020

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© 2020 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties (BHHSCP) is a member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates LLC. BHHS and the BHHS symbol are registered service marks of Columbia Insurance Company, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. BHH Affiliates LLC and BHHSCP do not guarantee accuracy of all data including measurements, conditions, and features of property. Information is obtained from various sources and will not be verified by broker or MLS. Buyer is advised to independently verify the accuracy of that information. *Published 11/2020, based on total sales data available at the end of 10/2020, Trendgraphix, Inc. Per internal BHHSCP records.

26 November – 3 December 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

15

The Way It Was

by Hattie Beresford

For Love of the Land

T

he Land Trust for Santa Barbara County recently welcomed a new executive director with local roots, Meredith Hendricks, who brings 20 years of conservation, land management, and leadership experience to the County. Her successes with conservation and preservation projects in the San Francisco area will come into play as the Land Trust works to finalize several projects with the potential As executive director of the Land Trust of Santa Barbara County, of increasing the amount Hendricks’ great, great grandfather George Martin Meredith Hendricks is tapping of conserved land by up to Williams was a pioneer into her local roots (Photo by Liz 15,000 acres by summer Santa Barbara farmer Linden) 2021, reaching a new total of 45,000 acres. Additionally, Hendricks and the Trust will identify and explore new opportunities to expand community access to natural resources.

A love of the land, agriculture, and ranching seems to be a part of Hendricks’ DNA for her great, great grandfather, George Martin Williams, was a pioneer Santa Barbara farmer. Meredith is thrilled to be able to reconnect with these roots. Following, is George’s story.

A Pioneer Farmer

I

n 1867, a young George Martin Williams arrived in Santa Barbara intending to secure his future and

make a living as a farmer. When he passed away in 1935, “Uncle George,” as he had been respectfully and affectionately dubbed, had become known for his wisdom and many contribu-

Matthew Pifer, MD

Ms Beresford is a local historian who has written two Noticias for the Santa Barbara Historical Museum as well as authored two books. One, The Way It Was: Santa Barbara Comes of Age, is a collection of articles written for the Montecito Journal. The other, Celebrating CAMA’s Centennial, is the fascinating story of Santa Barbara’s Community Arts Music Association.

tions to the development of the community. He was a member of an elite group of horticulturalists who originated and developed the agricultural landscape of southern Santa Barbara County.

Born circa 1849 in Baltimore, Maryland, Williams was orphaned by age nine. With few prospects remaining in the East, George left home at 17 and sought his future in the West. He arrived in San Francisco in 1866 and, seeking any sort of work, offered to carry the heavy luggage of a man he happened to meet. This man, who was a cook for a boat leaving for San Diego, hired the young Williams as a cook’s helper, and George worked his way to the southern port peeling potatoes. Six months later, he found a job driving a herd of cattle to Santa Barbara where he found work on a farm. Family stories relate that his mellifluous singing voice had inspired the farmer to offer

him steady employment.

After renting some acres of farmland in 1868, Williams was able to purchase 150 acres on Modoc Road and establish his own farm in 1873. These lands were mostly planted to walnuts.

In 1874, the up-and-coming horticulturalist married Eliza Jane Towne, daughter of pioneers who had crossed the Great Plains to try their luck in California. Eliza and George would raise eight children, only five of whom survived them. George continued to acquire more acreage and by the time of his death owned more than 3,000 acres in various parcels throughout Santa Barbara, Hope Precinct, and Goleta.

Promoting the Crop

It was customary at this time for farmers to advertise their crops by sending samples to the newspaper editors. In return for these horticultural treats, the editors would print favorable comments about the products. George took full advantage of this custom and often received accolades such as “George M. Williams brought in some extra large plums grown at his ranch. They are a new species named Santa Barbara Pride and are worthy of the name.”

Way It Was Page 244

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26 November – 3 December 2020

FROM OUR VILLAGE TO YOURS HAPPY THANKSGIVING MAY YOUR HOME BE FILLED WITH LOVE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

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LOCALLY OWNED. GLOBALLY CONNECTED. WE REACH A GLOBAL AUDIENCE THROUGH OUR EXCLUSIVE AFFILIATES. All information provided is deemed reliable, but has not been verified and we do not guarantee it. We recommend that buyers make their own inquiries.

26 November – 3 December 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

17

Monte ito Miscellany

by Richard Mineards

Richard covered the Royal Family for Britain’s Daily Mirror and Daily Mail, and was an editor on New York Magazine. He was also a national anchor on CBS, a commentator on ABC Network News, gossip on The Joan Rivers Show and Geraldo Rivera, host on E! TV, a correspondent on the syndicated show Extra, a commentator on the KTLA Morning News and Entertainment Tonight. He moved to Montecito 13 years ago.

Keeping up With the New Innkeeper

B

eanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner didn’t have to look very far for a new manager at his 500-acre, 41-cottage, five-star hostelry, the San Ysidro Ranch.

Ian Williams, who replaced bonnie Scottish lass Maxine Rutledge as overseer of the historic property where the late President John Kennedy and wife, Jackie, spent their honeymoon, and actor Laurence Olivier tied the knot with Vivien Leigh, formerly worked at Ty’s Four Seasons Biltmore in a number of capacities, including guest services manager, director of housekeeping, and spa manager.

Ian, who is of Hawaiian-Chinese heritage, was also director of housekeeping at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, and manager of the Four Seasons Lodge at Koele on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, before moving to Dallas, Texas, in 2014 as an executive at the Four Seasons resort and Club Dallas.

“It’s so nice to be back here in such a beautiful historic spot,” he told me over breakfast at the Stonehouse, the rustic resort’s gourmet eatery. “To wake up to this every morning is truly being in paradise.”

Welcome to the ‘hood...

DANA ZERTUCHE

dana@danazertuche.com

Katy Perry will be narrating artists’ works for “Women Who Dared” (photo by Priscilla)

Ian Williams takes charge at the San Ysidro Ranch

Ron Popeil Ranch Up for Sale

Inventor Ron Popeil, who brought us the Chop-O-Matic, the Veg-OMatic, and the Showtime Rotisseries and BBQ, among many other creative TV infomercial inventions, is selling his Santa Barbara ranch for $4.9 million.

The bucolic property sprawls across 150 acres in the hills above our Eden by the Beach, centering on an 1800s home with a pair of bedrooms and bathrooms.

The estate also serves as an olive oil

Montecito dynamic duo Bill and Sandi Nicholson, who recently sold their 11-acre estate Solana to Google billionaire Eric Schmidt for $30.8 million, have joined forces to honor Nurse Heroes with an all-star concert to be broadcast worldwide on Thanksgiving Day, which will provide much needed funds for programs including scholarships for nurses and their children.

The show Stand by Me: Honoring Our Nurse Heroes is produced by 19-time Grammy Award winner Emilio Estefan and features a host of iconic

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18 MONTECITO JOURNAL

farm with 800 olive trees that Popeil, 85, harvests and bottles each year.

At the top of the property seven miles of meandering trails wind up to the mountains above.

The entrepreneur founded his direct response marketing company Ronco in the 1960s and sold it in 2005 for $55 million.

Famous for phrases such as “Set it, and forget it” and “But wait, there’s more,” the animated salesman also brought us the Dial-O-Matic, the Giant Dehydrator, the Beef Jerky Machine, and the Electric pasta Maker.

A colorful character...

Here’s to the Heroes

it's All About the Service

805.403.5520 ·

TV salesman Ron Popeil’s ranch up is for grabs (photo: Zillow.com)

“Girls Who Dare” holding their contributing artwork are Carrington and Leighton Hale with grandmother Anne Towbes holding Elle Hale’s artwork (photo by Priscilla)

“The Thankstini: Cranberry juice, potato vodka, and a bouillon cube.” – Barney Stinson

Residents Sandi and Bill Nicholson, founders of “Women Who Dared” (photo by Priscilla)

Katherine McPhee and David Foster are among the celebrities joining to honor “Women Who Dared” (photo by Priscilla)

artists including the Black Eyed Peas, Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion, David Foster, Josh Groban, Carole King, Stevie Wonder, Billy Crystal, Oprah Winfrey, and host Whoopi Goldberg.

A talented choir of 50 nurses from Northwell Health, one of the largest healthcare providers in the U.S., will also perform as an ensemble with the featured celebrities.

The concert benefits from a generous gift from Bill and Sandi and their “Women Who Dared” art collection – the largest collection of work exclusively by women artists in private hands. It includes art spanning 2,500 years from all seven continents and tells the story of grit and perseverance of women in the arts while celebrating their artistic talents.

During the show, select pieces from the collection will be seen by the public for the first time ever.

To make a donation to the Nurse Heroes Foundation text NURSE to 707070.

A Talented Tandem

UCSB’s popular Arts & Lectures series has obviously been scrambling during the pandemic lockdown to present its normal program of international acts and artists.

I took the opportunity at the weekend to watch 21-year-old cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and his pianist sister, Isata, play a virtual concert from their home in Nottingham, England, and couldn’t fail to be impressed by their musical talent.

Sheku came to worldwide prominence when he played at the 2018 wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan

Miscellany Page 534 26 November – 3 December 2020

Real Estate

1201 Cima Linda Lane – $3,295,000

by Mark Ashton Hunt

Mark and his wife, Sheela Hunt, are real estate agents. His family goes back nearly 100 years in the Santa Barbara area. Mark’s grandparents – Bill and Elsie Hunt – were Santa Barbara real estate brokers for 25 years.

Homes with Pools in Montecito Under $5 Million

W

hen people think of Montecito, they usually envision mountain and ocean views, homes of substantial size with lovely landscaping, privacy – and a swimming pool. While not everyone wants a pool, it is rare to find a buyer who will turn away from a home just because it has a pool.

For most buyers, a private pool is one of the greatest signs of success, fulfilling the vision of a home where one can play and lounge all year round. Enjoy the pool in the summer, the spa in winter, and the visual of a pool is almost always impressive. There is something about a body of water that calms and invites people to relax and chill out.

With the lower inventory of available homes for sale in Montecito (there are fewer than 90 homes on the market right now in the Multiple Listing Service), it is more difficult than ever to find a pool home in the lower price ranges. In fact, pool or no pool, during the week of November 13 to November 20, there were no new listings to hit the marketplace in Montecito, which is so rare, leaving buyers with even fewer homes to choose from.

It is easy to feature homes that boast a pool priced over $5 million, because most mini and major estates will have one. However, getting a pool, along with a home you love, in the under $5 million range can be more difficult.

So, if you are looking for a home in Montecito and must have a pool, and your budget is under $5 million, here are four out of the very few available in that category that are for sale for you to consider.

This Mediterranean home sits on a great walking street in Montecito and is just minutes from the Upper and Lower Villages. Enjoy privacy and sweeping views of manicured grounds and the surrounding 15-acre preserve of majestic oak trees that irresistibly draws one to the outdoor lawns patios and pool area.

The multi-level, 3-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom home offers 2,850+/- square feet of living space and features an expansive living room with wood-burning fireplace and adjacent library wall and office. French doors invite you onto a private side patio with colorful gardens. The chef’s kitchen includes a farmhouse sink and the open dining room has French doors opening onto the entertaining deck.

The primary bedroom and one guest suite are located on the top level and both offer en-suite bathrooms and overlook the pool, lined with flagstone, the lushly landscaped grounds and a producing fruit orchard. The additional guest bedroom is tucked away on the lower level with French doors leading to the pool and grounds.

Real Estate Page 44 444

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• The Voice of the Village •

19

000000 MJ MONTECITO JOURNAL

Native Born (Continued from page 14)

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of the broader African American community. Raised Catholic, I tried to stay out of churches, but St. Paul, AME Church on Olive called to me. Or, at least, Gina had suggested we go for Easter Breakfast and that there would be good food. It was good! I still remember the quality of the grits flavored with chicken stock.

Black Los Angeles seemed like a world unto itself, but in Santa Barbara I was really a minority belonging to a community that represented just one percent of the population and I liked and needed that sense of belonging.

Over time, I came to know who Gina’s parents were in the community, their status and achievement, what they meant to racial progress in Santa Barbara and Montecito. Eugene Harris was born in Mount Sterling, Kentucky in 1924, and enlisted in the U.S. Army during WWII. He was a decorated war hero having received a Purple Heart in Italy. He met Louversa Thibeaux at UCLA in 1949, where they both attended, along with Jackie Robinson. She had transferred from Dillard, in New Orleans. They married, and after a short stay San Bernardino working for General Electric as an engineer, he transferred to Santa Barbara in 1961.

Grove

Three years later they moved to Montecito, and as far as anyone knows, integrated it long before Oprah got there

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Three years later they moved to Montecito, and as far as anyone knows, integrated it long before Oprah got there. They paid the $64,000 the owner asked for a ranch style home in Montecito, that I heard now is a mini mansion. The owner seemed pleased with helping integrate Montecito by taking a fair-market offer for the property, restrictive racial covenants be damned. As far as he was concerned, money was green and a deal was a deal.

Harris was elected president of the NAACP’s Santa Barbara chapter in 1968, and while he was president, the NAACP sued to force Bank of America on State Street to hire its first African American bank teller. After he was elected to the City of Santa Barbara’s Board of Education, vicious, racist phone calls started to come on a regular basis and the family had to take them seriously. Gina attended Montecito Union School, where she has great memories of the school and her teachers, but that it wasn’t unusual, she said, for Sheriffs to regularly check their backyard property for intruders. It didn’t bother Gina much, but it did unnerve her brother who took the threats more seriously. Mr. Harris, may have provoked the racists in the city with statements such as this one, published in the Santa Barbara Gazette in 1968: As evidence to how much time may have passed and how little has changed is the excerpt below that makes clear what Mr. Harris was up against and how coldly determined he was to bring racial change to Santa Barbara.

“There’s much interest in the Santa Barbara community as to whether the local [Bank of America] branch will be in direct action to achieve the goals,” he said. “This is misplacing the emphasis. We have the obligation of achieving first-class citizenship, of correcting certain inequities. We have a solemn resolve to correct them. We will use whatever measures are required.”

He also called on Don MacGillivray, the mayor at the time, to set up a Human Relations Commission to protect the 1,500 “Negroes” of Santa Barbara in 1968. Interestingly, the current African-American population is just about what it was then.

The Harris family’s housekeeper was Pecola Taylor, a woman who came to Santa Barbara in the 1940s from Pensacola, Florida. Everyone called her Pepsi.

She didn’t have much education, but she made amazing sweet potato pies that were a huge hit at the NAACP booth at the Fiesta. Her cooking was popular and lucrative enough for her to purchase a home, just outside of Montecito.

Gina told me a story about Pepsi’s shock at finding that the young folks from UCSB who were at her family’s house for a Black Student Union meeting, and to whom she just served sandwiches and tea, and who were dressed in the garb of militant fashion – leather jackets, berets, and afros – were “smoking the pots.”

Smoking the pots!

Mrs. Harris often offered the house for this kind of thing when Mr. Harris was away on business, but not for smoking the pots. Pepsi quickly shooed the militants out of the house and restored order. But my favorite memory is that of Pepsi, in sensible flats, and the beautiful Mrs. Harris, in high heels, leading the way for a diverse, celebratory, candle-holding crowd on a nighttime march in 1984 from First AME Church to State Street to celebrate Dr. King’s birthday.

Mr. and Mrs. Harris are buried now in the beautiful Santa Barbara Cemetery.

Our daughters know that they are deeply connected to Montecito and Santa Barbara, that their grandparents helped make it a better place, a place that enabled me to feel a whole human being, who could live happily in a place of his choosing and feel enough acceptance to call it home.

•MJ

“We may not have it all together, but together, we have it all.” – Anonymous

26 November – 3 December 2020

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PERKINSGROUPRE.COM The Perkins Group Real Estate | +1 805.265.0786 | team@perkinsgroupre.com | DRE: 01106512 ©2020 Compass is a licensed real estate broker and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdraw without notice. No statement is made as to accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footages are approximate. Exact dimensions can be obtained by retaining the services of an architect or engineer. This is not intended to solicit property already listed.

26 November – 3 December 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

21

NOSH TOWN SWEET AND SAVORY FONDUES

by Claudia Schou

PERFECT RECIPES FOR HOLIDAY QUARANTINE, WITH WINE PAIRINGS BY SANTA BARBARA WINE COLLECTIVE’S MARINA SONN AND ELLEN LONG

T

he prospect of sheltering during the holidays has thrown us all out of our comfort zone. But hunkering down and getting creative with your meal making should be a cinch, especially when you consider fondue, a classic holiday tradition that brings cohabitants together for an evening of festivity in the kitchen, dining room, or living room, preferably fireside.

Fresh baguette slices, savory melted cheeses, ambrosial broths for cooking meats and seafood and delectable hot chocolate sauces can add comfort to these otherwise uncertain times. Gather up some pinecones, garlands, and mistletoe to decorate your home and unwind with a glass of wine and fondue feast. Consider investing in a fondue pot or give the gift of fondue to loved ones in quarantine – it’s ideal this season.

Here are some tips: Melt the cheese gradually over low temperature to keep it from hardening or burning; If your fondue gets clumpy, add either more wine or a couple of teaspoons of fresh lemon juice. Use caution around small children and hungry or curious pets. Never leave an empty fondue pot over an active flame. Use potholders to move fondue pots. And most important in this COVID era, no commingling of fondue forks, so keep track of your own. Here are some quick tips and recipes to help get you started.

OUR FAVORITE FONDUE POTS

CUISINART CFO-3SS ELECTRIC FONDUE POT: Features a fondue bowl, a base, a temperature probe, a fork rack and eight fondue forks with color-coded tips. A utility player, you can use this electric fondue pot to cook meat, seafood, and vegetables. Price: $70.

Cuisinart 3SS Electric Fondue Pot

CLASSIC SWISS FONDUE Yield: Serves 8 INGREDIENTS: 1 garlic clove, cut in half 1 pound Gruyère cheese, grated ½ pound Emmentaler cheese, grated 1 cup dry white wine Emile Henry Ceramic Fondue Pot 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch Freshly ground pepper Freshly grated nutmeg PROCEDURE: 1. Rub the inside of the fondue pot with the garlic clove halves and then discard garlic.

Combine the grated Gruyère and Emmentaler, wine, and cornstarch in a medium-sized pot on the stove and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the cheeses begin to melt, about five minutes.

2. Add pepper and nutmeg, stirring gently, until creamy and smooth, about 10 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and transfer to a fondue pot and serve immediately with cubed French or sourdough bread in a basket with a crudité platter consisting of a medley of ripe cherry tomatoes, blanched asparagus, snow peas, and green beans, farmers market carrots, cornichons, hard boiled eggs (halved) and boiled small potatoes (halved), and 1 pound thinly sliced beef carpaccio. Garnish platter with parsley.

SANTA BARBARA WINE COLLECTIVE WINE PAIRING: 2018 TATOMER – “MEERESBODEN” GRÜNER VELTLINER, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY atomer’s Grüner Veltliner encapsulates German-style winemaking and is an ideal food pairing wine. This wine stands alone with an enchanting smoothness and drinkability. Through its palatable nectarine and melon notes, Tatomer’s Meeresboden welcomes the nutty flavors found in a rich, creamy Gruyere fondue, creating a beautiful balance.

T

The best little paper in America (Covering the best little community anywhere!)

Executive Editor/CEO Gwyn Lurie • Publisher/COO Timothy Lennon Buckley Editor-At-Large Kelly Mahan Herrick, Ann Louise Bardach News and Feature Editor Nicholas Schou • Associate Editor Bob Hazard Copy Editor Lily Buckley Harbin • Arts and Entertainment Editor Steven Libowitz

Contributors Scott Craig, Julia Rodgers, Ashleigh Brilliant, Sigrid Toye, Zach Rosen, Kim Crail Gossip Richard Mineards • History Hattie Beresford • Humor Ernie Witham Our Town Joanne A. Calitri Society Lynda Millner • Travel Jerry Dunn • Sportsman Dr. John Burk • Trail Talk Lynn P. Kirst Account Managers Sue Brooks, Tanis Nelson, Casey Champion Bookkeeping Diane Davidson, Christine Merrick • Proofreading Helen Buckley Design/Production Trent Watanabe Published by Montecito Journal Media Group, LLC PRINTED BY NPCP INC., SANTA BARBARA, CA Montecito Journal is compiled, compounded, calibrated, cogitated over, and coughed up every Wednesday by an exacting agglomeration of excitable (and often exemplary) expert edifiers at 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite H, Montecito, CA 93108.

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EMILE HENRY CERAMIC FONDUE POT: Made in France of all-natural clay with a beautiful burgundy glaze.

Price: $134.95.

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Cheese fondue can make an otherwise mundane evening in quarantine fun and delicious

PROCEDURE: 1. Combine grated cheese in a bowl and coat lightly with flour. Slice one fresh garlic clove in half and rub both halves around the inside of the fondue pot before discarding.

2. In a medium size pot over the stove, combine beer, garlic, dry mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Gradually add one-third of the cheese when the beer mixture is warm and whisk quickly.

3. Continue to add the cheese and whisk until the cheese is smooth.

4. Transfer to the fondue pot and put over a flame. Serve with a basket of assorted breads, such as French bread, pretzel bread, and brioche, cut into bite-sized cubes. Other dippers can include Granny Smith apple wedges, farmers market carrots, raw broccoli, raw cauliflower, and Trader Joe’s parmesan pastry pups.

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• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

23

Way It Was (Continued from page 26) Williams took first place for his display of apples at the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904 (Library of Congress)

Diehl’s Grocery became world famous and was known for its beautiful displays of produce (Photo courtesy Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

Another way of promoting one’s crop was to enter the various fairs and expositions. At the very first annual Santa Barbara County Fair in 1881, the Morning Press reported that Williams displayed “large watermelons, the largest weighing 39 pounds, and large potatoes of the Peerless and Peachblow varieties.” The following year, Williams experimented with growing cotton and displayed “a genuine Southern cotton plant with perfect flowers and fully developed bolls.” In 1887, the press reported,

“George M. Williams of ‘Orchard Dale’ made the finest individual exhibit of fruits, consisting of 28 varieties of grapes, and a number of watermelons, figs, apples, pears, nuts, tomatoes, and peppers.”

As early as 1880, the local paper touted Williams as one of Santa Barbara’s most enterprising farmers. The article reported, “In the western suburbs of the city he has 13 acres under cultivation. He has another 30 acres on the Arroyo Burro. On the home place he has 1 ½ acres in mixed fruits, with his

Williams became one of five World’s Fair commissioners. In 1914, he was on the committee to solicit entries to the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.

As the fame of his produce expanded, grocers like Thomas Cornwall & Son advertised the provenance of their fruit. One week there would be an ad for canning peaches that were “fresh from the Williams ranch in Goleta; per box, 60 cents,” and another week they promoted “Watermelons, grown on the Williams’ ranch; nice ones; per pound, 2 cents.”

Civic Service Williams served on the committee to solicit entries to the Panama California International Exposition in San Francisco (Library of Congress)

The Lewis and Clark Exposition in 1904 featured incredibly elaborate displays of agricultural products.

The Almond Elephant was part of the California exhibit. (Photo courtesy: Jessie Tarbox Beals, Library of Congress and Missouri Historical Society)

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blackberries being the largest grown in the area. We ‘interviewed’ some of them last August, and should have very little objection to repeating the experience.”

That same year he was already sending his early vegetables to San Francisco. That February and March he shipped 1 ½ to 2 tons of corn, beans, cucumbers, Summer squash and sweet potatoes before most people even had their seeds in the ground.

“He has fine, young orchards,” reported the Morning Press, “and his crop of lima beans yielded 11 ½ tons from 12 acres. From this farm never comes the statement that ‘farming won’t pay.’ It is made to pay!”

George and other Santa Barbara farmers realized it was in their best interest to send agricultural displays outside the community. His display of apples won first place at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis (officially dubbed the Louisiana Purchase Exposition). For the Portland, Oregon’s 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition,

“Good mashed potato is one of the great luxuries of life.” – Lindsey Bareham

George M. Williams served the community in a variety of capacities.

Early on he worked on the Central Committee of the Democratic Party (though he ended his life as a member of the Republican Party). He was adamant about not running for office, himself, however. An article in 1904 stated, “George M. Williams, whom report had prominently mentioned as a candidate for the nomination for supervisor from the Third District, wishes to deny that he has any political aspirations. Mr. William states that at no time did he desire, nor would he have accepted, such a nomination.”

Nevertheless he was a founder of the Santa Barbara County Walnut Growers Association and served as its president for 25 years. He also helped to organize the California Walnut Growers Association and served as one of its directors.

By 1902, Williams had become the spokesperson for Agriculture in the county. That year the newspaper reported his prediction for a great season for the fruit growers. “The peach is the most sensitive of any of the fruits to sudden changes in the weather,” said Williams, “and when the peach trees promise well, the other fruits may be counted upon.” In 1908, 26 November – 3 December 2020

Dixie Thompson’s Ontare Ranch circa 1900

James, George, and Charles Williams at a Los Rancheros Visitadores event. George was a charter member of the organization.

ed their removal. When Williams was informed that there was a billboard plastered up against one of his fine trees, the newspaper reported, “He promised to lose no time about making kindling wood of that sign or any other he might find on his premises.”

Banks and Land Williams became one of three County highway commissioners charged with improving county roads.

This stretch is just west of Goleta. (Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

George Williams with his son, grandson, and great grandson on the “home place”

the “veteran horticulturalist of this section” said that hay would be but a two-thirds crop. “Most of us were badly fooled by March, a month we depended on for considerable rain,” he said. On through the years, his forecasts peppered the papers.

In 1908 he joined the Good Roads Movement to help pass a bond election to improve Santa Barbara County roads. Always active in helping to get the full vote out, with the vote in 1908 being especially important, he redoubled his efforts to make sure everyone he knew was registered and then to make sure they got out and voted on election day. That year he was quite satisfied with his efforts when he sauntered to the polling table. Once there, however, no one could find his name on the register no matter how many times they looked. The Morning Press reported, “George M. Williams had been omitted from the Great Register… He who had made sure that every mother’s son of his neighbors had registered, had forgotten in the shuffle of events, to perform the same duty himself!”

Luckily, the bond election passed regardless of his lack of vote. He and two others became Santa Barbara County highway commissioners, trav26 November – 3 December 2020

eling 1,000 miles throughout the county in nine days to report on roads and make recommendations. They were in charge of construction, awarding contracts, and handling funds for more than 200 miles of county roads.

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In 1903, Williams bought stock in a new enterprise, a California state bank for commercial banking and savings. He became a director of the bank, which was called Central Bank. In 1919 Central Bank merged its commercial side of the business with Commercial Bank, and the name changed to County National Bank.

Central Bank retained its saving and trust department, and Williams then became a director of both banks.

All along, Williams had been acquiring land, most of it farmland. In 1888, he bought 52.28 acres of Hope Ranch for $5 from Annie M. Hope. In 1902, he purchased the Daniel Hill Adobe on La Patera Lane plus an adjoining 205-acre tract known as “Williams Flat” from Titus Phillips.

In 1906, he joined a group to buy the Roberts-Cassel ranch of 212 acres in Goleta, one of the most profitable walnut orchards in the county. “George M. Williams, one of the more successful ranchers in this part of the state,” reported the Morning Press, “will manage the property.” Williams owned 30 percent of the corporation.

In 1916, he bought 175 acres of the Ealand Meat Packing Company’s lands in Sycamore canyon. About 70 acres of were suitable for farming and

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• The Voice of the Village •

“will be developed along agricultural lines in the efficient manner for which the Williams family is noted,” reported the Morning Press.

In 1920, he bought 91.78 acres of the Dixie Thompson Ranch. “He intends to give Santa Barbara a fine residential section at the west gate of the city limits. The soil is good for walnut orchards and lesser crops,” reported the newspaper.

When George passed in 1935, his sons James and Charles carried on the family business of farming for many years. Older family members, since passed themselves, remembered George as a good and honest man who lived by the Golden Rule. He certainly lived a life of great consequence to Santa Barbara.

‘The Land Through his Eyes’

Meredith Hendricks says she has strongly identified with Williams for a long time. Though they have different beliefs, she shares his extreme focus on work, commitment, and the integration of self into the community. She felt compelled to come back to Santa Barbara to serve the community and enhance the quality of life through the preservation of open spaces and the construction of partnerships that allow ranch families to thrive while remaining in agriculture.

“I would have loved to walk the land and kick some dirt with George,” she says. “I would have loved to see the land through his eyes.”

To learn more about Meredith Hendricks and the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, go to https:// vimeo.com/471569245.

•MJ

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25

On Entertainment

by Steven Libowitz

Carmen for COVID: See a Classic Opera From Your Car Curtain rises on Opera Santa Barbara’s live 90-minute drive-in production of Carmen on Sunday, December 6

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n normal times, opera can be an emotional experience, perhaps even a cathartic one, for members of the audience when the music meets the drama with just the right note. But the upcoming Concerts In Your Car version of Carmen has proven to be quite a tear-jerker just for the creative team even before the metaphorical curtain rises on Opera Santa Barbara’s live 90-minute drive-in production based on an adaptation by British director Peter Brook next Sunday, December 6.

“I teared up when we went and did the site visit and I know I will probably cry on the first day of rehearsal when we all come together,” said director Sara E. Widzer, who will be making her OSB debut less than 18 months after teaming with James Darrah for the Music Academy of the West’s stunning OperaFest: Campus Takeover. Widzer joined me for a joint Zoom interview with OSB Artistic and General Director Kostis Protopapas, who added: “Hey, I cried when I first saw the orchestra parts on my desk.”

That’s because neither artist has been able to work on anything live since the pandemic shut down all in-person productions back in March.

“Coming back to work after eight months away, I didn’t realize how disconnected I had been,” Widzer added. “To be able to bring this to the community, it feels like an essential element.”

The special 90-minute version of Carmen strips away the chorus and the dancing, which wouldn’t have been possible anyway due to COVID restrictions, to zoom in on the relationships – i.e. sort of like what all of us have been doing at home during quarantine and lockdowns.

“The Peter Brook version is a perfect adaptation of a very classic work,” Protopapas explained. “The musical interludes are minimal, so you get the great tunes but without all the pageantry – no horses or stuff like that. But it tells the story very fluidly.”

“What Brook did was to pare down the story to a love quartet, or a love square, and as he gets rid of everything else, he has more space to focus on the intense passion,” Widzer agreed. “It’s like a character study of four different human beings and about survival and love.”

Speaking of survival, Protopapas wanted to take the pandemic restrictions even further than required, keeping at least eight feet of separation between

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“It’s not too much food. This is what we’ve been training for our whole lives. This is our destiny.” – Lorelai Gilmore

26 November – 3 December 2020

each of the four actors/singers, who would have to perform within their designated boxes. All of which obviously doesn’t allow for any contact at all, seemingly a contradiction to the action in a typical production of Carmen. Yet, Protopapas wanted OSB’s version to be “an artistic opportunity, not just a concession to the times… and something unpredictable.”

Given the green light to experiment how to tell the story in the “new reality” of physical distancing, Widzer at first considered having the actors pulling props out of a trunk, á la The Fantasticks, before a lightbulb went off to set the show in the 1940s.

“That was the golden age of movie musicals and drive-ins, and the heyday of radio and radio plays, when watching a live recording of a radio play was very exciting,” she said. “We wanted to take advantage of the fact that everybody’s going to be sitting in their car and factor it into the storytelling element… So we’ll really lean into the idea of a radio play. The singers and spoken word actors will be free to create, to act, to tell the stories without having to feel awkward or uncomfortable to justify why they don’t touch.”

Delivering a powerful performance under such circumstances requires a talented cast that can not only get ready quickly due to little rehearsal opportunities but also be able to adapt quickly. Protopapas said the cast of mezzo-soprano Audrey Babcock (who starred in OSB’s The Crucible last year) as Carmen with Joshua Wheeker as Don José, Alexander Elliott (OSB’s The Barber of Seville in 2018) as Escamillo, and returning Chrisman Studio Artist soprano Jennifer Lindsay as Micaëla, more than fit the bill, as the two principals have performed the Brook version previously.

“All four of them really inhabit those characters,” he said. “It’s a really exciting group.”

Meanwhile, the separation rules also meant excising some of the violence endemic to Carmen – because it’s impossible to kill a character and drag them off stage from eight feet apart, but also, Widzer said, because “there is already a morbidity and a sadness around us caused by the pandemic.”

Instead, Protopapas explained, the grittiness of Brook’s adaptation has been transformed into something more akin to film noir from the era. “We’re having a lot of fun with it,” he said. “Sara’s written some extra dialogue, so there will be a few really saucy Edward G. Robinson and Lauren Bacall moments in the show.”

The film noir/silent movies/drive-in radio play setting also adds some poignancy in the parallel to the 1940s representing emerging from the Great Depression and entering World War II, when, Widzer noted, the performing arts echoed what was going on underneath it.

“We’re using this music and the story to lift our spirits and be a mirror to the world that we are in, not just an escape,” she said.

Protopapas took pains to point out that OSB isn’t doing anything as blatant as putting the pandemic in the show, but the stress of the times – or rather some moments of release – are sure to show up.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of crying in the rehearsals,” he said. “Those singers haven’t performed in public since March and for all of us, this is an extremely important moment where art is coming back. We’re finally able to do what we have been deprived of for 10 months. There’s surely going to be an emotional charge with this show.”

That’s probably true for the audience, too.

(Opera Santa Barbara’s Carmen, A Live Drive-In Opera, performs at 2 pm Sunday, December 6, as part of the Concerts In Your Car series at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. Visit www.operasb.org.)

For the Love of Comedy

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced lockdowns and closures all over creation, Camarillo-based comedian Jason Love just kept on cruising. Sure, his regular in-person gig, including a rotating lineup of stand-ups he put together monthly for the Carrillo Recreation Center in Santa Barbara, went by the wayside. But Love, a former humor columnist for the Ventura Star in the late mid2000s, simply moved his operations online.

“I was one of the ‘early adapters,’ as they say. My last in-person show was March 16, just before the lockdown,” he recalled. “As soon as it hit, by April 1st I had a weekly show running virtually.”

By now, as those of us who have taken in entertainment over Zoom are well aware, most shows don’t translate all that well to the platform, least of all those that require a little audience interaction. If rock concerts seem a little static, imagine a comedian telling jokes to a virtual space full of… silence. But Love opted for a more Jason Love is headlining Alcazar Theatre’s first-evinnovative approach, setting up the er Virtual Comedy Night at 7 pm on Saturday, November 28 (Photo courtesy: Creative Commons) series, dubbed “Live Comedy in your Living Room,” as a Zoom webinar, which means up to 100 people can be in what’s called the panelist section, allowing them to be heard and/or seen according to the host’s whims.

Audible laughter, the standup’s Holy Grail, ensued.

Actually, it’s even more than that, Love said. By projecting Live Comedy in your Living Room onto a larger screen, the Zoom show can be like “interactive TV with comedy,” as the comic can hear the laughter, the audience can chat with each other or the performers, and the daring ones (or showoffs, you know who you are), can even heckle, just like at a beer-stained bar.

Still, at first, Love admits, just like Steve Martin once said about comedy itself, the live virtual shows weren’t pretty. If you’ve ever hosted a Zoom conference, you know that getting even five or eight people properly connected, well-lit, and volume balanced can be a bear. Imagine doing that with more than 200 participants, which is the number that have been registering for each of the shows.

“Yeah, it sucked,” said Love, whose own credits include multiple appearances on HBO, Sirius XM, Dry Bar Comedy, and myriad other clubs, conventions, and private shows. “It was a really rough ride and it’s still stressful on my end as the producer, being the audio police while the other comics perform. But it’s actually also been fun to see it grow as competitively people are showing up earlier and earlier, knowing that the first 100 are the ones in the panelist section.

We encourage them to unmute because we need the laughter. But we also have to warn them that we can hear everything else, too!”

If “panelists” act out, laugh too loud, have too much ambient noise or otherwise “screw up the show,” Love said, he simply demotes them back to regular attendee where they’re automatically muted. “But once you get everything right, and I’m getting pretty good at it by now, once that happens, it’s just like a comedy club.”

Maybe even better, as the quick-witted comics are able not only to handle the hecklers but also interact with the fans chatting in real time, and react to the emojis they send. It’s a new experience for them, too.

Which is partly how Love has been able to attract top name talent to the Friday night offerings, from headliners at comedy clubs from Los Angeles and far beyond to in-demand comics who would normally be sailing the open seas on cruise ships, but were among the first to lose their jobs in the lockdowns.

“Some of them were resisting going online at first,” he explained. “I don’t blame them because a Zoom show requires just as much from the audience as it does from the comic. But by now we have so many regulars, and we know which ones are going to help the show and they’re just getting better and better as the audience gets more and more Zoom savvy.”

“It’s a lot of fun to be able to book from all over the world, not just the comedians that I work with on cruise ships,” he said. “With Zoom, there’s no distance concerns, so I can get some of the great ones from around the world, and stand-ups who regularly work in New York. There are stand-ups who are all

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MONTECITO JOURNAL

27

Classical Connection

by Steven Libowitz

Music in the Gardens Goes Online

A

mong the casualties of the coronavirus closures was the complete cancellation of all in-person events last summer at the Music Academy of the West, normally one of the highlights of the year on the classical calendar.

Instead, the 120-plus fellows and faculty members collaborated on the Music Academy Remote Learning Institute (aka MARLI), which bridged the physical distance with virtual virtuosity delivered via Zoom and other streaming media.

The entire season can still be viewed online at www.musicacademy.org.

But there was no fallback position for the annual Music in the Gardens gala, the MAW Women’s Auxiliary’s big benefit to help support all of the Academy programs, including its year-round initiatives. Instead, next week brings the opening of the Auxiliary’s first-ever stand-alone Online Auction, replete with special personal performance opportunities and other unique prizes, many of which may not have been offered if not for the pandemic.

Among the in-consideration-of-COVID highlights are “Standing Room Only with Conor Hanick,” a “pandemic-proof” experience for the piano lover that will find MAW piano faculty artist and acclaimed soloist Hanick not only curating a live performance from New York City’s Steinway Hall streamed directly to your home but also performing the world premiere of a work commissioned by and for the auction winner, who will also receive the original score signed by both the composer and artist.

Other opportunities are more appropriate for when the pandemic subsides, such as an evening for 10 featuring cocktails and hors d’oeuvres served in Anne’s Garden followed by wine and dinner served onstage at Hahn Hall. all hosted by MAW President and CEO Scott Reed in an evening that features a performance of favorite opera arias by a Music Academy alumna who will then join the diners for dessert and conversation. Or how about “Harp in Holden,” where the mellow music of a harp will greet you and your nine guests upon arrival for dinner around the lily pond in Holden Garden on campus, a delectable farm to table meal and wine pairings followed by a most special harp concert under the direction of Jamie Broumas and the Academy artistic team and alumni?

Maybe you want to wield a bit more power – or at least a baton – in which case consider bidding on “Cocktails and Conducting” where 12 guests can be a maestro for an evening on Kuehn Court at MAW, each receiving professional baton instruction and the opportunity to practice conducting live musicians with their own personal baton while sipping hand crafted cocktails and enjoying hors d’oeuvres. Budding baton-ists might also want to check out item No.

206: Dinner for 4 at Coast & Olive with conductor Larry Rachleff, a chance to visit the new Montecito hot spot with the venerable conductor who always opens the MAW fellows orchestra season for an evening of food, wine, and witty words.

All of the above items have been valued at $10,000 or significantly less, but it’s hard to put a price on one of the more coveted prizes, item No. 401, otherwise known as Music Academy of the West Reserved Parking Spot for both the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Surprisingly or not, a similar designated parking spot on the upper level near Hahn Hall sold for $20,000 in previous auctions.

“Oh, that’s a very in-demand thing at the Music Academy,” exclaimed Meg DiNapoli, the current chair of the Women’s Auxiliary, the core volunteer group supporting the Music Academy of the West that was founded in 1954. The more than 100-women strong organization’s mission is to support MAW through fundraising and educational activities and to help promote knowledge and appreciation of the Academy in the community at large. DiNapoli, co-leaders Heidi August and Diane Pannkuk, and Academy director of development Sarah Stretz, have teamed up to curate the auction, which also features several non-musical but still MAW-related prizes such as “Central Bark,” a $14,000 painting by Santa Barbara-based artist Ruth Ellen Hoag, a longtime MAW friend and supporter whose works are featured prominently on the academy’s campus.

“Her paintings are so iconic, and I just love seeing them on campus,” DiNapoli said.

The Auxiliary chair was also partial to another unique gift, a set of limited edition musical greeting cards created by the Music Academy in-house designer and featuring iconic performances by MAW legends Marilyn Horne, Jerry Lowenthal, and Jeremy Denk, with each card signed by the artist. “They’re very special and perfect to give to someone you care about for any occasion,” she said.

DiNapoli also noted that some of the items can be had for far less of an investment than the painting or the special on-campus packages or parking spot. A reproduction farm table starts at just $175, while a gift-ready rustic wine caddy filled with a mystery sampler of six wines is valued at $200. The bottles, as well as a special cocktail sailing cruise, were all donated by WAX members, she said.

In all, the Auxiliary is hoping to raise upwards of $65,000 for the auction, which runs November 30 to December 18, and can be accessed by registering at www.musicacademy.org/auction. The fun matters, but the funds are more important, as all of the proceeds go to support such programs as Sing!, a free year-round choral program for young people from 28 schools in the community, and the career-building Alumni Enterprise Awards and Innovation Residential for Academy Summer Festival alumni.

“We all just have so much appreciation for what the Music Academy brings to the community,” DiNapoli said. “It’s our pleasure to help.”

•MJ

The Women’s Auxiliary of The Music Academy of the West has turned its annual benefit into its first ever stand-alone Online Auction (photo by Phil Channing)

28 MONTECITO JOURNAL

26 November – 3 December 2020

In Business

by Kelly Mahan Herrick Kelly has been editor at large for the Journal since 2007, reporting on news in Montecito and beyond. She is also a licensed realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, and is a member of Montecito and Santa Barbara’s top real estate team, Calcagno & Hamilton.

Tina Frey Designs

A

new home design store has opened in San Ysidro Village; TF Design Montecito softly opened earlier this month. Namesake owner and designer Tina Frey has personally curated the space with a comprehensive collection of her simple and modern resin designs. All pieces are conceived and hand-sculpted by Frey, and handmade by a talented and dedicated team of craftspeople.

Frey, who met with us earlier this week, says that opening a store in Montecito has been a dream for years, made possible by a relocation prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. She and her husband, Jochen, made the move from San Francisco to Montecito, embracing Frey’s love of surfing and cool coastal aesthetic. “I always wanted to open a space that could show off the entire collection of my designs. I’ve put things in here that I would put in my own home, and now I can show it to the community,” she said. Frey also has a studio, shop, and showroom in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood, an industrial area in the southeast corner of the city.

The new 810-square-foot Montecito store, which feels like a minimalist Scandinavian cabin, boasts high-beam ceilings, a cozy fireplace, clean white walls, light woods, and an abundance of natural light that blankets the space.

Frey’s pieces are artfully displayed throughout, allowing guests to explore individual products along with full collections. The collections include everything from tableware and barware to candle holders and coffee tables for accessorizing and furnishing every part of a modern home. Designs are comprised of food safe resin, which is shatter resistant and safe for outdoor, indoor, and bath areas, allowing them to stand the test of time.

Frey was born in Hong Kong and raised in Canada, before moving to the Bay Area. Her former career was in finance, but she admits that creativity has always been in her soul. She began working with resin, a rare medium, 13 years ago, making two bowls in four colors, and showing them at various design outlets.

“It essentially grew out of creativity,” she said, noting that the now expansive collections reflect a sophisticated, uncomplicated style, perfect for Montecito.

The space is accented by furniture pieces by renowned Danish female furniture designer Nanna Ditzel, including the iconic Hanging Egg Chair and Chill Lounge Chair. The store’s walls feature ocean artwork by photographer Kate

Tina Frey’s unique resin designs are displayed artfully throughout the store (photo by Bruce Damonte)

26 November – 3 December 2020

Designer Tina Frey at her new shop in Montecito’s San Ysidro Village (photo by Bruce Damonte)

Holstein, whose series of photographs captures liquid and light, what Holstein refers to as her two greatest muses. This collection of designers is exclusively curated for the store by Frey, who is a longtime fan of both Ditzel and Holstein’s work. The store will host additional pop-ups in the coming months.

With the opening of the new store, Tina Frey Designs is launching its Fall 2020 Collection, Paper Sized Platters, available at TF Design Montecito, as well as online and in specialty retailers globally. The serving platters are based on international paper size standard dimensions, and each successive size in the series is defined by halving the preceding size across the larger dimension. They are available in black, white, and fog, and a rainbow set that can be purchased individually or together. The Fall 2020 Collection also includes the launch of a Meditation Seat, inspired by Frey’s own meditation practice that has taken place during the pandemic.

In addition to residential uses, Tina Frey Designs can be found around the world in five-star resorts, megayachts, and Michelin-starred restaurants, including Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and Alain Ducasse’s restaurants throughout Paris, Monaco, Hong Kong, and others. Frey offers custom pieces and orders, and has created custom colors for various design enthusiasts, as well as for her restaurant and hotel clients. “The pieces are perfect for outdoor dining, poolside, and bathrooms,” she said, adding that while the pieces feel like porcelain, they are not as fragile as such.

TF Design Montecito joins fellow retail neighbors Jenni Kayne Collection, House of Honey, Birgit Klein Interiors, Hogue & Company, William Laman Antiques, and Country House, all tucked behind San Ysidro Pharmacy.

To learn more and shop Tina Frey Designs, visit www.tinafreydesigns. com and follow @tinafreydesigns. The store is open Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm.

•MJ

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

29

On Entertainment (Continued from page 27 27)) closers and full-time comics. It’s been so much fun to share that with people.”

Case in point: the streaming comedy show Love is putting together as a benefit for the Alcazar Theatre, the charming, recently remodeled Art Deco-style venue in Carpinteria. Over the last few years, Love regularly brought comedy shows to the Alcazar boasting such L.A. based acts as Camilla Cleese, daughter of the former longtime Montecito resident John Cleese of Monty Python fame.

“I love that town and the audience,” he said. “They’re the best. Just from who randomly shows up every time, you could not hand-select your jurors any better.”

Now, with the pandemic canceling all live performances, the Alcazar, like all independent theaters, has been threatened by the shutdown. So Love has copped a couple of his favorite comics to headline Alcazar Theatre’s first-ever Virtual Comedy Night at 7 pm on Saturday, November 28: Carlos Oscar, who was named Princess Cruise Lines Entertainer of the Year, and Joe Larson, who was a finalist at the Boston Comedy Festival, and the Stand-Up 360 Festival.

“They’re two of my favorites, guys I am so happy to present to help out the theater,” Love said. “Carlos beat out everybody on those cruises – Broadway singers, concert pianists – he’s that good. And Joe is just a straight-up funny guy, one of those guys who’s just in the world in a funny way. It’s going to be a great night.”

Meanwhile, this Friday’s lineup for Love’s regular Living Room show features Mike Burton (Live at Gotham, Dry Bar Comedy), Michele Balan (Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central), Tom Clark (Conan, Amazon Prime, Outsourced), and Andy Gross (Mind Boggling Variety Show).

As for the quotient of content about the coronavirus that might come your way during the Alcazar benefit or the regular Friday night shows? Perhaps not so much.

“At first I was doing my whole set about COVID, but then even I got sick of hearing myself talking about it,” said Love, who specializes in clean comedy, so offending as few people as possible is a goal. “I think a lot of the people come to my shows just to forget about it for one bloody hour. Just laugh and forget what’s going on in the world. The biggest blessing of this is that I’m able to do comedy at all. That’s all I ever wanted to do is make people laugh.”

(Visit www.thealcazar.org for Saturday’s benefit. For info on Live Comedy in Your Living Room, visit www.facebook.com/groups/zoomcomedy.)

Also at the Alcazar

Longtime Alcazar wizard Asa Olsson served as “ghost host” for the theater’s Halloween tales from local actors who spun yarns including some of Carpinteria’s best known ghost stories – at a safe social distance, of course. The gruesome hour of tales from the city’s storied past are still streaming for your scary pleasure, told by the likes of Jim Sirianni, Robert Lehman, Deborah Cristobal, and several others, all bathed in an eerie green light, including Stuart Orenstein, who read a classic by the master of the macabre Edgar Allan Poe. Visit the Live Streamed Events page at www.thealcazar.org to relive the horror.

Over in Ojai

What’s Thanksgiving without The Dinner? asks Ojai ACT, the mountain village’s 80-year-old hometown company that is largely on hold during the pandemic. The organization is streaming a filmed version of the 15-year-old work by Christine Haider-Winnett through this Sunday, November 30, and its director, Bill Spellman, notes that the show was first submitted in 2005 for inclusion in an Ojai Art Center Theater One Act Festival. The Dinner almost wasn’t selected because it was from an unproduced high school student, not an established playwright with a history of successful productions. Also, the action was limited to a couple sitting at a table eating dinner, which doesn’t make for much action. But Spellman agreed to take it on, casting Cecil Sutton and Lynn Van Emmerik in the two-hander, and after it became the highlight of that year’s festival, Peter Crane, then a film student at Brooks Institute, offered to film a final performance created just for his crew. Visit ojaiact.org for information on how to see the 33-minute work.

Rubicon Streams a New Christmas Show

Rubicon Theatre in Ventura has done a lot of great work, from classic musicals to heart-rending dramas to serving as a home for developing new works.

But over the years one show has stood out as qualifying for all three of those categories: Little Miss Scrooge, subtitled “A Dickensian Christmas Story,” which was conceived by Paul Gordon, a composer who has long specialized in literary adaptations, including the Tony-nominated Jane Eyre, plus Emma and, just last year, Pride and Prejudice. He also teamed up with John Caird, the Tony Award-winning director of Les Misérables and Nicholas Nickleby, who wrote the

30 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Betsy Wolfe plays the title role of Rubicon Theatre’s Estella Scrooge

book for and directed Daddy Long Legs, which premiered at the Rubicon in 2009.

Three years later, the two came together again to create Little Miss Scrooge, a smartly stirring modern retelling of A Christmas Carol mashed up with the love story from Great Expectations that finds Estella Scrooge, a young Wall Street tycoon with a penchant for foreclosing, discovering that the defaulting party is her childhood sweetheart. A freak snowstorm forces her to spend the night, and, just as what happened to her ancestor Ebenezer long ago, she too is haunted by three visitors.

Even eight years later, the original songs from that two-week workshop production at the Rubicon remain etched in the memory, including the clever “Bleak House” and the tear-evoking “Almost a Family.” But the show itself hasn’t seen a lot of public time since.

Until now, that is. An updated version of the show that changed its title to Estella Scrooge was supposed to premiere on Broadway this holiday season, but due to COVID concerns has turned into a streaming production. The show was shot in a New York warehouse, digitally captured live using green screen technology and virtual sets and animation to conquer the social distancing requirements that meant each actor was filmed alone. Betsy Wolfe, whose Broadway credits include Falsettos (Cordelia), Bullets over Broadway (Ellen), Waitress and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Rosa Bud), plays the title role, with original Rubicon actress Megan McGinnis among the large cast.

The Rubicon is among the venues hosting the video premiere, which takes place on Thanksgiving and runs through the end of the year and is available for rent or purchase. Visit www.rubicontheatre.org.

Also at the Rubicon: A new podcast episode featuring a chat with Rubicon regular Joe Spano, the veteran actor perhaps best known for his television roles on NCIS and Hill Street Blues who most recently starred at Rubicon in Heisenberg and A Christmas Carol. Stream it at the Podcast Guests section on www.rubicon theatre.org.

Lookin’ Back at Loggins

Back in the first week of summer, as the pandemic shutdown rounded its third month, pop star and longtime Montecito resident Kenny Loggins kicked off a series of low-priced live, pay-per-view concerts streamed on the Lobero Theatre’s website, with proceeds supporting both the venue and the National Independent Venue Association, which has similar one-off theaters and halls as its members, all of whom are still hurting during the COVID-19 closures. As it turned out, Loggins was not only the first event in the series that has more recently two other Montecito musicians (jazz saxist Charles Lloyd and rock star John Kay) but also the only one that actually An edited and sound-balanced recording of the aired live. virtual Kenny Loggins show for the Lobero will Now, an edited and sound-balanced stream again over Thanksgiving weekend

26 November – 3 December 2020

recording of that show will stream again over Thanksgiving weekend, November 26-29. Tickets are just $15 for the hometown hero’s hot night on the stage Loggins shares with Rick Cowling, who played bass and backing vocals with him in the 2000s, and new friend, guitarist Tariqh Akoni, the Santa Barbara native whose day job is music director of pop singer Josh Groban.

“Danny’s Song,” “House at Pooh Corner,” “Conviction of the Heart,” and “I’m Alright” are among the favorites.

a day early in honor of Thanksgiving – but you can watch the video of Pie Lady of Pie Town director Jane Rosemont’s conversation with her film’s subject, the Pie Lady herself, Kathy Knapp, a successful businesswoman who decided to leave her charmed life to bake pies in a dusty town with no traffic light, no gas station, no motel. Here’s a hint as to why: for Knapp, pie is a vehicle for love and peace.

Art Walk... and Talk

Focus on Film: Frank Talk on a Gambit

A virtual Q&A of the Netflix sensation The Queen’s Gambit takes place Thursday, December 3 over Zoom

If you haven’t yet checked out The Queen’s Gambit, deservedly one of the topranked shows on Netflix and one of the best original series in the streaming service’s catalog, now would be a good time to get started on the seven-episode series about a chess prodigy turned accomplished if tortured young woman.

That’s because Scott Frank, a UCSB alumnus and the series co-creator and director, will be doing a virtual Q&A with Patrice Petro, the Dick Wolf Director of the Carsey-Wolf Center, next Thursday, December 3, over Zoom.

Frank’s previous screenplays include the Academy Award-nominated scripts for Out of Sight and Logan as well as Little Man Tate, Dead Again, Malice, Heaven’s Prisoners, Get Shorty, Minority Report, The Interpreter, The Lookout, Marley & Me, The Wolverine, and Walk Among the Tombstones, among others. His 2017 Netflix series Godless was nominated for 12 Emmy awards. In The Queen’s Gambit, Anya Taylor-Joy plays Beth Harmon, who is taught chess by the janitor at the orphanage where she lives after her mother commits suicide. The actress expertly portrays the gifts and curses of a genius, using her doe-eyed stare (she literally almost never blinks on camera) to navigate social awkwardness and seemingly limitless talent, making the most out of Frank’s sharply-written material. Visit www.carseywolf.ucsb.edu to register for the talk.

The Arts Fund has announced that its Funk Zone Art Walk is back, albeit in a reimagined, COVID-19-safe format, which, of course, means virtually. The Funk Zone Art Walk Artist Spotlight is slated to take place over the next three months, when the normal in-person, bi-monthly gathering in the thriving artist studio, gallery, and boutique business/restaurant community will instead spotlight four artists and a business representing an artist in the Funk Zone, including watercolor Justin Underhill’s talk, “Artificial Intelligence and veteran Ruth Ellen Hoag. Art lovers Art: The Case of Harold Cohen,” is part of the can explore their work virtually or Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Zoom conversation series (photo courtesy: Justin Underhill) download a map and visit the actual sites as protocols allow. Surf over to www.artsfundsb.org for the details.

Justin Underhill, Ph.D., who runs the Visualization Lab for Digital Art History at UC Berkeley and co-edits the International Journal for Digital Art History, is the next guest in the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Zoom conversation series. Underhill’s talk, “Artificial Intelligence and Art: The Case of Harold Cohen,” explores the work of Harold Cohen (1928-2016), a pioneer of art made by artificial intelligence who taught for decades at UC San Diego and wrote the pioneering art-making computer program AARON that draws and paints stylized still lifes and portraits of human figures out of its programmed “imagination” way back in the 1970s. Reserve free tickets for the 4 pm talk on Tuesday, December at tickets.sbma.net.

•MJ

Let’s discuss your real estate needs.

SBIFF Snags Sorkin

Over in Santa Barbara International Film Festival territory, the fest’s Cinema Society recently also scored a conversation with a pretty successful writer-director: Aaron Sorkin (Oscar-decorated for The Social Network, multiple Emmy winner for The West Wing) who Zoomed in along with Trial of the Chicago 7 cast members Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, and Jeremy Strong to discuss the historical drama of political unrest 52 years ago with SBIFF executive director Roger Durling. Trial is currently streaming on Netflix. Watch the Q&A on SBIFF’s YouTube channel.

Meanwhile, the weekly SBIFF Talk took place on Wednesday (November 25),

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• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

31

Our Town LOVE gratitude PEACE kindness HOPE

by Joanne A. Calitri

Joanne is a professional international photographer and journalist.

Contact her at: artraks@yahoo.com

Arts in Lockdown Series Part 16 George Pendergast, Drummer and Co-Founder of Dishwalla

LEGACY 1137 Coast Village Road , Montecito, CA 805.845.3300

Joanne reporting live from California on Zoom with George Pendergast, co-founder and drummer of Santa Barbara’s homegrown band Dishwalla

P

rodigious drummer George Pendergast picked up his first drum kit at the age of five after watching The Merv Griffin Show, and at 21 went on to live the dream as a professional musician recording in Los Angeles. He was born and raised in Santa Barbara, which remains his home base to this day no matter where he records and tours.

In 1993, with Rodney Browning Cravens, he formed the alternative rock band he is most noted for, Dishwalla, which received a Billboard Award and a Gold Record in 1996, and two ASCAP Awards for their hit single, “Counting Blue Cars.” He was named one of Modern Drummer Magazine’s Top Five Up-and-Coming Drummers. During a Dishwalla time out, he played with The Penfifteen Club band, whose song, “Mrs. Hilton,” was licensed for the Fox TV show The Simple Life with Paris Hilton. In 2008, Dishwalla got back on tour and cut the LP Juniper Road. The band’s 1995 album Pet Your Friends turned 25 this year, but COVID-19 postponed their plans for a widespread tour, a re-release on vinyl, and other goodies for the fans. He is the drummer for Shaun Cassidy on tour, and writes and records with Jeff Bridges’ guitarist Chris Pelonis and Carly Jo Jackson.

He started Rockshop Academy in Santa Barbara in 2009, after the closure of Mike’s Drum Shop, which he had purchased three years earlier. Rockshop brings local students together to form bands, many which go on to play professionally. With Rockshop closed due to the lockdown, he is teaching drums online and private lessons.

Our Town Page 514

32 MONTECITO JOURNAL

“If you think about a Thanksgiving dinner, it’s really like making a large chicken.” – Ina Garten

26 November – 3 December 2020

Virtual Events!

Intimate, interactive online events you won’t find anywhere else

Leading activists, creatives and thinkers confront racism in America, guiding us towards racial equality

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Bestselling Author

Pulitzer Prize-winning Creator of The 1619 Project

Cheryl Strayed

Nikole Hannah-Jones

in Conversation with Pico Iyer

Tue, Dec 8 / 5 PM Pacific $10 / UCSB students: FREE!

Thu, Dec 3 / 5 PM Pacific

$10 / UCSB students: FREE!

(UCSB student registration required)

(UCSB student registration required)

MacArthur Fellow Nikole Hannah-Jones is the creator of The New York Times Magazine’s The 1619 Project, about the history and lasting legacy of American slavery.

“Trusting yourself means living out what you already know to be true.” – Cheryl Strayed

- VIRTUAL EVENT Groundbreaking Author and Essayist Speaking with Pico Series Sponsors: Dori Pierson Carter & Chris Carter Martha Gabbert Laura Shelburne & Kevin O’Connor

Ta-Nehisi Coates Tue, Jan 12 / 5 PM Pacific $10 / UCSB students: FREE! (UCSB student registration required)

- VIRTUAL EVENT -

A Pink Martini Cabaret

Drawing comparisons to James Baldwin, Ta-Nehisi Coates is the author of Between the World and Me, Beautiful Struggle, We Were Eight Years in Power and The Water Dancer.

China Forbes & Thomas Lauderdale Thu, Dec 10 / 5 PM Pacific

$10 / UCSB students: FREE!

(UCSB student registration required)

Lead Sponsors: Marcy Carsey, Connie Frank & Evan Thompson, Patty & John MacFarlane, Sara Miller McCune, Santa Barbara Foundation, Lynda Weinman & Bruce Heavin, Dick Wolf, and Zegar Family Foundation UC Santa Barbara Campus Partners:

Pink Martini’s China Forbes and Thomas Lauderdale join together for a charming cabaret performance crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop, followed by Q&A.

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Community Partners: Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli

(805) 893-3535 www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu 26 November – 3 December 2020

Graduate Division College of Creative Studies College of Engineering MultiCultural Center Carsey-Wolf Center UCSB Library | UCSB Reads Office of the Chancellor Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor

• The Voice of the Village •

Special Thanks: MONTECITO JOURNAL

33

The Natural

by Guillaume Doane

Chris Tamas was raised in Montecito and he eventually reached the top of the volleyball world. He did it by just being himself.

Chris (left) more or less fell into volleyball in seventh grade, when he and a buddy (seen here with Brian and Garrett) agreed to join the team at Laguna Blanca to fill two remaining roster positions

Before he found volleyball, Chris Tamas excelled at about everything that could be played on a field, a track, or a court

I

was once in a race against Chris Tamas. To this day, I doubt that Chris is even aware of this. For him to have known we were in the same race, he would have had to be looking way back to find me, struggling amongst the other laggards who didn’t belong on that track. It was the mile and we were both sixth-graders at Montecito Union competing against other elementary school kids in a citywide track and field meet. And what I recall most vividly about that race, apart from my glaring mediocrity, was how Chris dominated it from start to finish; the way he galloped to greatness with seeming effortlessness and how I labored to the finish line with tiny, mincing strides. Of course in those days, Chris won just about everything that could be played on a field, a track, or a court, and he was probably great on skis and at snooker for all I knew. In the classroom we were all equal sixth-graders, but the minute we stepped outside, it was Chris’s world and we were all just living in it. I was 10, and thanks to Chris Tamas I knew exactly what I wouldn’t grow up to become.

So I was hardly surprised when I learned years later that Chris had been a sensational volleyball player and that he had played on the U.S. national team and that he had become one of America’s best college volleyball coaches. If anything, these facts conspired to lend meaning to my aborted experiment with sports. But thinking again about that race, though, it’s not hard to imagine why Chris wasn’t looking back. He seems to have spent his entire life looking forward.

The Third Set

Two years ago, in the third set of the NCAA women’s volleyball semifinal, the Fighting Illini of Illinois had the defending national champions, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, right where they wanted them – in a 2-0 hole and on the brink of elimination. Ashlyn Fleming, a 6’4” junior from San Jose, was holding the ball behind the service line. Just a few months before, Fleming had transferred to Illinois from Chris’s alma mater, the University of the Pacific, where she had been a standout middle blocker. Now her team was up one point and needed only two more to reach the final.

For Illinois, just being there was a huge achievement. It was only Chris’s second season as the head coach of any team, let alone a major program. In his first year, Illinois had shocked the volleyball world by taking an unranked team into Seattle to knock off No. 8 Washington and advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

34 MONTECITO JOURNAL

In 2018, Chris led the school to a record of 32-3 and to just its fourth ever Final Four appearance. The team hadn’t lost a match in more than a month and all of a sudden it had pushed the defending champs to the edge of a cliff.

On some level, Chris knew the situation well enough to know that Nebraska would roar back. He knew this in no small part because before coming to Champaign, he had been Nebraska’s assistant coach. He knew his team was facing the same coach, John Cook, and essentially the same group of players with whom Chris had won a national championship and reached another Final Four. “I thought we matched up great against Nebraska,” Chris said.” I know the girls were excited to be there and we played some really good volleyball. But I know Nebraska’s very talented, I coached most of those players for two years. The seniors on that team had been in those scenarios a lot.”

As Fleming prepared to serve, she sucked in a gulp of air and composed herself before launching the ball to the other side. Nebraska libero Kenzie Maloney picked up the serve with poise, setting up an easy finish for middle blocker Callie Schwarzenbach.

“Schwarzenbach able to come through with the kill, tied at 23-23,” roared the announcer.

Nebraska didn’t waste any time taking advantage of the swing in momentum. Seconds later, Mikaela Foecke, team captain and two-time All-American, rose into the air, leaned into a perfectly placed lob and punished the ball into the hardwood floor. 24-23 Nebraska. On the next point, Illinois mishandled the bump and sent an easily defendable ball toward Foecke, who spiked another winner and the set was over.

“Nebraska stays alive by taking the third,” the announcer growled.

The Talent

When Chris was five years old, the Tamas family relocated to Montecito from Irvine and built a Spanish-style home on a one-acre lot on Bolero Drive. By then Chris was already revealing his athletic potential. He had taught himself how to ride a bicycle and he could shoot baskets into a 10-foot hoop when he was three.

“When he was two or three, his hand-eye coordination was already evident,” said his father George. “He was able to hit a fastball right from that age.”

Chris’s parents, both avid athletes, nurtured their son’s sporting pursuits by putting a tennis court and a basketball hoop in the backyard. He ran the Montecito Union School track on weekends. “I remember just liking sports very early on and just whatever I could get my hands on, I enjoyed playing,” Chris said. He more or less fell into volleyball in seventh grade, when he and a buddy agreed to join the team at Laguna Blanca to fill two remaining roster positions.

He was a lot shorter then, but he immediately took to being a setter, a position that requires constant communication and rapid decision-making. By the time he was 14, he had sworn off individual sports. He had excelled as a tennis player, “but I was hard on myself,” he said, while swimming and track had become “a little boring to me.”

Chris continued to play basketball and soccer, but he threw himself headfirst into volleyball. Between his freshman and sophomore year of high school, he grew another six inches, as if he had willed his body to equal the height of his talent and passion for the sport. By the time Jason Donnelly joined Laguna Blanca as its volleyball coach in 1995, the Chris he met was less a tall and skin-

The Natural Page 584

“Overeating at Thanksgiving is a case in point. It’s a national tradition.” – Eric Samuel Timm

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26 November – 3 December 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

35

Perspectives

by Rinaldo S. Brutoco

Rinaldo S. Brutoco is the Founding President and CEO of the Santa Barbara-based World Business Academy and a co-founder of JUST Capital.

He’s a serial entrepreneur, executive, author, radio host, and futurist who’s published on the role of business in relation to pressing moral, environmental, and social concerns for over 35 years

Gratitude and Hope

T

he cover of the November 14 issue of The Economist is a picture of a curving tunnel with bright light at the end emanating from a hypodermic syringe. The words below the image state simply “Suddenly, hope.” It is a powerful image with a dramatic headline. You can’t miss the message: recently released data on two COVID vaccines that are 95 percent effective with no detectable side effects is the “light at the end of the tunnel” for eventually getting this pandemic under control. What a fantastic source for global hope. And yet, there is even more to hope for than merely ending our global health nightmare.

Former President Barack Obama was the political author of “hope and change” as a political ideology. He continues to articulate his hope for the U.S. to once again become A Promised Land. How does he reach such a conclusion when his very place of birth was made into a disingenuous “birther” movement to delegitimize him and his presidency since 2008? From reading his writings, it appears to me that his hope, like mine, springs from a deep sense of gratitude.

You see, it is impossible to avoid being hopeful if one immerses oneself in gratitude. When one experiences gratitude one sees each new development as something to be celebrated – the beautiful fluttering of a butterfly landing on a leaf, a particularly interesting cloud formation, the gaze or smile of a loved one, neighbors helping patch each other’s homes after yet another devastating storm, and the simple pleasure of stopping to experience that one is living on the most beautiful speck of dust in the cosmos.

When you think about it, we each have infinite possibilities to experience and express gratitude each and every day. I had the personal good fortune to meet and befriend Brother David Steindl-Rast, a lifelong Benedictine monk, more than 25 years ago. Many, including the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa, saw Brother David as the embodiment of gratitude on the planet, basked in his constant good humor and celebrated his total commitment to all citizens of the globe. I was so taken with the power of his thinking and “beingness” that we enrolled him as a Fellow of the World Business Academy two decades ago.

I’ve often been asked, “Why a monk as a Fellow of a ‘business academy’?”

The answer we give is simple: when executives learn to run their businesses from gratitude rather than greed, they create a “win” for all their stakeholders, especially their employees. Vendors, suppliers, and shareholders benefit greatly as well. We call that stakeholder capitalism – the idea that we are in business to serve all our stakeholders in a balanced manner rather than slavishly pursue profits for shareholders alone to the disadvantage of everyone else.

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I am reminded of one of Brother David’s best quotes (and he has a lot of them!). It reads, “The greatest gift one can give is thanksgiving. In giving gifts, we give what we spare, but in giving thanks we give ourselves.” Let’s all give thanks for all we could stop and appreciate if we just gave ourselves the opportunity to do so.

And let’s bring that grateful heart to the workplace where we can share our gratitude with our coworkers. It is from that trajectory of gratefulness that hope springs. How does that work?

Well, that is rather simple too. We just ask ourselves what we are grateful for in the future that could come our way so we could experience yet more gratitude. Those manifestations of desire for future gratitude opportunities is the springboard for hope. Hope is the emotion we experience when we want to be grateful for something in the future. Great how that works. Be grateful today and it leads to hope, which leads to more opportunities to be grateful. It’s a magical circle.

With a grateful heart for so much, even in this dire time of COVID, let’s think of what else we can be grateful for that will provide the wellspring of future hopes. How about being grateful that the U.S. will re-enter the Paris Climate Accords with the hope our participation can turn climate change around because there is no vaccine for climate disasters. How about being grateful that the U.S. will soon be rejoining the World Health Organization so we can assist in getting the rest of the world vaccinated against COVID, so it won’t reach our shores again. How about being grateful that hundreds

36 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Home for the Holidays

Alone for the holidays? Here’s how to cultivate joy and stay connected

T

he holiday season will undoubtedly look very different this year. Here are five ways to celebrate the holidays if you can’t be with your friends or family.

1. Make family recipes. Choose a couple of your family favorites or holiday classics to whip up to warm your belly and your soul.

2. P ut together care packages. Think about others who may be spending the holiday season solo and send them a box of treats like cookies, festive candles, and a list of holiday movie recommendations.

3. Plan a video chat. Organize a video chat with family and friends.

4. D eliver food to your community. Many shelters and food banks are facing increased demand this year and would love non-perishable donations.

5. V isit a place of nostalgia. Plan a visit to whatever destination spurs your holiday spirit.

Nine ways to support small, local businesses this holiday season As the pandemic poses unparalleled challenges to small businesses, it’s more important than ever to keep your money local. Here are nine ways to support local businesses this holiday season.

1. S hop early. Shopping early helps small businesses as they head into a financially demanding time of the year.

2. B e patient. Remember that businesses are dealing with slowdowns due to the pandemic as well as supply chain disruptions and shutdowns.

3. U se your voice. Share your favorite small business products on social media or leave positive Yelp reviews for local establishments.

4. J ust browse. Feeling uninspired with your gift giving? Visit a local business to get some ideas and just browse.

5. M ake room for local eateries in your holiday meals. Our holiday dinner tables are going to be smaller this year, but you can still make room for goods from local eateries.

6. G et creative with your shopping. Check out alternatives that you could get locally, rather than ordering the generic product from a big retailer.

7. L ook for extended Black Friday deals. Many local and small businesses extend their holiday deals well into December.

8. T alk to owners. Looking for a specific product you can’t find locally?

Talk to shop owners and let them know what you want.

9. S hop with values in mind. How you spend your money has the power to keep small businesses afloat and promote more ethical business practices. of thousands of people are able to access food banks across the country so that we can hope to create a true safety net to eliminate hunger and food insecurity in our land.

Let’s be grateful for body cameras and cell phones that have recorded so much police brutality so we can hope for the day Black and Brown lives matter as much as White ones. We can be grateful for the dialogue around institutional racism so we can at last deal with the “original sin” we have not yet excised and hope for the day where people will truly be treated equally regardless of their race, gender, sexuality, and birth origins. Let’s be grateful that we still enjoy the fruits of a badly damaged economy that continues to support our nation, however feebly, and hope for the day when the economy works for everyone.

Yes, we can be grateful the nation and business community has started to recognize and increasingly embrace the necessity for “pay equity” and hope for the day when the yawning gap between the top two percent and everyone else noticeably shrinks. We can be grateful for the vibrant discussion Andrew Yang has catalyzed to create the “Freedom Dividend,” and we can hope for success in seeing a Universal Basic Income adopted even as robotization takes over more jobs. Yes, there is so much even now to be grateful for, and so many reasons for hope beyond just the vaccines. Let’s all give thanks this week and hope for the better tomorrow we can co-create. •MJ

“Turkey: A large bird whose flesh... has the peculiar property of attesting piety and gratitude.” – Ambrose Bierce

26 November – 3 December 2020

Purely Political

by Bob Hazard

T

The Art of Compromise

he election is over, and Joe Biden won. Now is the time for all 150 million voters to get behind our new president and reach out the hand of friendship and hope.

Gwyn Lurie, CEO and Executive Editor of the Montecito Journal Media Group, has called for a bipartisan post-election response, asking us to do what’s best for our families, ourselves, and our country. Ms Lurie cautioned both Biden and Trump supporters to stop living in an echo chamber, but instead listen with an open mind to those with differing perspectives.

My name is Bob Hazard and I supported Donald Trump. That statement alone is enough for two out of three voters in Montecito and their supporters in the mainstream media to brand me as a deplorable – an ignorant moron who still clings to my guns and Bible. Many on the Left still view our 45th President as the most corrupt, lying, uninformed, divisive, incompetent, unhinged, pathetic excuse for a president in the history of our country.

Nevertheless, 73 million fellow deplorables voted for Trump in 2020, representing more votes for Trump than Barack Obama received in 2008 or in 2012, or who voted for Bill Clinton in either 1992 or 1996. In 2020, Joe Biden won 25 states, but Trump also won 25 states, a totally unexpected outcome.

For the good of the country, and to heed Ms Lurie’s wise advice for unity, here is the letter that I would send to the President-elect from a red voter in a deep blue state.

Dear President-elect Biden: It is clear that you will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, 2021. Congratulations to you and to Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris. I am grateful that calls for unity and compromise are at the top of your list of priorities.

I am also inspired by your pledge to bind the wounds of division, to serve all Americans, and bring our country back together. You promised that you do not see either red or blue states, but a United States.

When first elected, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton all made that same promise of unity. They vowed to work across the aisle and cooperate, but those commitments turned out to be more myth than reality.

Our country stands ripped apart. Partisanship has become part of the DNA of our White House and Congress. It seems that every time red and blue leaders seek to find common ground on an issue, one side or the other senses they have leverage in the process, and demand resolution of often unrelated issues, in order to get to an agreement. If we could instead strive to resolve those topics where alignment can be reached and leave the balance of the most controversial issues for later discussion, both sides could achieve some progress, proving that divided government can work.

One Party Rule. Early decisions will shape your presidency. Will you reject partisan pressure to establish permanent one-party control by packing the Supreme Court; making Puerto Rico the 51st state; making D.C. the 52nd state; abolishing the Electoral College; reducing the voting age to 16; and mailing blank ballots to everyone whether requested or not, even when the COVID-19 is no longer an issue?

Unsustainable Debt. On November 2, 2020 our federal debt stood at $72.2 trillion –– or more precisely – $72,203,384,382,939. This amounts to $211,569 for every household in the U.S. or 7.4 times annual federal revenues. Mr. Trump raised the federal debt by a staggering $7.3 trillion during his four years. Senator Bernie Sanders, a progressive socialist, has called for a $97.5 trillion federal spending plan over the next decade. Approximately half of the American workforce would be employed by the government. The 10-year budget deficit would approach $90 trillion, with average annual deficits exceeding 30 percent of GDP. What will your administration do to control excessive government spending, the forerunner to a slow slide into socialism?

Possible Points of Cooperation between Reds and Blues Leadership. Both red and blue voters want to restore the nation’s self-confidence and dynamism; to promote individual responsibility, integrity and hard work; and to restore the United States as the land of opportunity, personal freedom and the rule of law. Most Americans want to live normal lives without threat of violence or harm. I am sure you share those views.

Healthcare. Both reds and blues want lower prescription drug prices, coverage for pre-existing conditions and lower healthcare insurance premiums. Put 26 November – 3 December 2020

patients and doctors back in charge of our healthcare system, not insurance companies. Manufacture all critical medicines and medical supplies in the United States. Protect our veterans’ health. Deliver a COVID-19 vaccine in 2021. Protect against future pandemics. Provide world-class healthcare and services.

Education. Both reds and blues want the U.S. to offer the best school system in the world. Develop practical curriculums that relate to future job needs and successful management of personal finances. Enhance efforts to provide school choice. Expand practical use of online learning. Allow states to experiment and develop best practices. Develop strong junior college and vocational school programs.

Legal Immigration Reform. Create a bipartisan legal immigration reform package that addresses the demand for high- and low-skilled labor, the legal status of the millions of undocumented immigrants living in the country, border security, and interior enforcement. Continue to fight illegal immigration by securing our southern border, deporting MS-13 Mexican Mafia and other gang members, dismantling human trafficking networks and fighting for a legal immigration plan that puts the jobs, wages, and safety of American workers first.

Free Enterprise. Recognize and encourage small business as the engine of job creation and economic growth. Reduce punitive and burdensome regulations, while supporting law and order. Win the race to 5G and establish a national highspeed wireless network.

Shared Values. At his best, President Trump was an unconventional non-politician, distrustful of the press, who loved his country and wanted to “Make America Great Again.” He tried to restore pride in America and improve the lives of ordinary American workers – factory workers, auto mechanics, truck drivers, teachers, small business owners, police officers, and homemakers who still believe in the “American Dream” of upward mobility through hard work, personal responsibility, and law and order. In your 50 years of public service, our greatest achievements depended on compromise and working across the aisle.

Restore Economic Growth. Mr. Incoming-President, your biggest challenge will be to restore the U.S. economy. In case you missed it, and most of the media did, the Census Bureau reported on September 17, 2020 that the median U.S. household income in 2019, the year before COVID-19, grew a whopping 6.8 percent – the largest annual increase on record… ever.

Real median U.S. household income in the year before COVID rose by $4,379 to $68,709. In dollar figures, this is nearly 50 percent more than during the eight years of Barack Obama’s presidency.

Median household incomes increased more among Hispanics (7.1 percent), Blacks (7.9 percent), Asians (10.6 percent), and foreign-born workers (8.5 percent), compared to whites (5.7 percent). Median earnings increased by an astounding 7.8 percent for women compared to 2.5 percent for men.

Poverty fell 1.3 percentage points last year to 10.5 percent, the lowest level since 1959, and declined more for Blacks (-2 percentage points), Hispanics (-1.8 points), Asians (-2.8 points), single mothers (-2.6 points), people with a disability (-3.2 points), and no high-school diploma (-2.2 points). The Black poverty rate of 18.8 percent and the Hispanic poverty rate of 15.7 percent were the lowest in history.

Income inequality also declined. The bottom quintile’s share of income grew 2.4 percent.

Energy Independence. Under President Trump, for the first time, the U.S. gained energy independence while reducing its carbon emissions over the last four years without draconian limits on the use of fossil fuels. The United States is now the world leader in shale oil and natural gas production and a net exporter of natural gas. This has made our country more secure, put more money in our pockets, and in rural areas has led to an economic explosion not seen in generations. Are we really the polluters and climate change deniers that progressives accuse us of being? Be skeptical of any energy plan that powers airplanes with windmills.

Law and Order. President Trump was tough on crime. He supported peaceful protests and principled dissent, but not systematic looting, burning of businesses and police stations, or injuring police officers with baseball bats, hammers, and Molotov cocktails. When a community turns on its own police force, officers become more risk-averse, early retirements soar, and crime rates rise dramatically.

International Affairs. In the last four years, Trump prevented a major homeland terrorist attack, stood up to China, brought jobs back to America, required NATO countries to pay their fair share for defense, strengthened Israel and brought the Arab nations to the table with the possibility of greater peace in the Middle East. Resist undoing these positive steps.

Mr. President, the election is over. Now comes the hard part – creating respect and cooperation out of chaos; fighting an historic and unprecedented pandemic; and rebuilding an economy for sustainable and inclusive prosperity. There are millions of red and blue adherents watching your first steps and cheering for your success. Govern from the center; build unity and compromise – and you will be judged for greatness.

Sincerely, Bob Hazard •MJ

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

37

Meet The Teacher

by Sigrid Toye, Ph.D.

Ms Toye is a former L.A. Unified School District teacher and has worked as an educational-behavior therapist in private practice since 1979.

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have been writing this column for years and I wonder “Howard how I could have missed a School has visit to the Howard School, the undergone oldest operating private school changes over the past 100 in Santa Barbara. Once located years but what on San Ysidro Road in Montecito, remains is our the 1934 designed campus, now dedication and the Laguna Blanca Lower School, our mission is a community landmark. On a to teach the whole child,” crisp autumn day after a short says Joel Reed, drive to the Howard School’s the head of present location in Carpinteria, Howard School I was welcomed by the head of the school, Joel Reed. Due to COVID-19 restrictions with a good deal of extra caution to maintain the safety of the in-person classes, we sat together under a shade tree located on an expansive lawn in front of the school. Masked, of course!

“Howard School has undergone changes over the past one hundred years but what remains is our dedication and our mission to teach the whole child,” stated Reed. “What began as morning lessons for six children at Hannah Howard’s Tea Kettle Inn in 1912 has developed into a modern campus serving students from preschool to eighth grade.” The school’s small class size provides each child the ability to achieve his or her full potential. In Montecito for 88 years, the school is the earliest independent elementary school on the Central Coast and Ventura County. “Our story is an interesting one,” Reed said. “I’ll bet we’re one of the only schools that can provide a historical perspective on how the twentieth century’s two world wars affected enrollment patterns.”

Hannah Howard and her husband, John, arrived in Montecito shortly after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Both Canadians, Hannah had taught school and John had earned a degree in pharmacology. After settling in Montecito as small farmers in 1911, they opened the Tea Kettle Inn. The next year Hannah began tutoring and the endeavor was so successful she decided to open a school. Early enrollment included six students but by 1914, attendance had grown to 75, forcing the closure of the Tea Kettle Inn so Hannah could concentrate on the school.

By 1922 enrollment growth and increased traffic necessitated a relocation to San Ysidro Road. After Hannah’s retirement, her daughters remained until 1951 when the school was sold to Warwick and Eileen Carpenter, both local teachers, who continued the rigorous academic curriculum. In 1982 the school changed hands again to Richard and Judith Harber who brought the Carden curriculum and its philosophy with them.

The Carden Method was developed in 1934 by educational pioneer Mae Carden and was designed to accommodate the developmental progression of each individual child. Reading skills are taught through a sequential presentation of phonics, rhythm, and visual imagery to gain mastery of math and science in the early years and the interrelationships of class subjects and critical thinking in the later ones. Specialty programs including art, music, theatre, foreign language, technology, and physical education – along with courtesy and good manners – are central to a Carden education.

Joel Reed’s journey to Santa Barbara and the Howard School was not happenstance. The second in a family of five, Reed’s first school experience was at a Carden school in West Texas. “I remember how much I loved going to school. I looked forward to every single day,” he recalled. “I also remember a week when the kids were all supposed to be on their best behavior because Miss Carden was coming for a visit. I recall the hat, she always wore a hat!” The family’s move to Arizona, however, provided a different school experience for Reed.

“Somehow going to school wasn’t that interesting anymore… it was too rote,” he remembers. “All you had to do was to give the teacher the answer and they’d leave you alone.” Based on Reed and his older brother’s experience, his mother opened a Carden elementary school in Flagstaff so that her younger children might also have a Carden education.

Graduating with an advanced degree from the University of Arizona, Reed began his teaching career after returning to Flagstaff to the school his mother established and ran as a middle and high school based on the Carden curric-

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Howard School’s curriculum applies the Carden Method, whose namesake was educational pioneer Mae Carden, who developed the program in 1934

ulum. “I had become fascinated by the Carden method of learning and what elements made it so special,” Reed said. “I discovered that its educational and core values penned so long ago by Miss Carden are even more relevant in today’s world – and at every grade level!” Eventually the Carden Foundation asked Reed to be a Carden educator and trainer, a task he relishes and continues to this day. In 2000, he arrived at the Howard School to reinvigorate the newly nonprofit educational institution. This year, Joel Reed celebrates his twentieth year as Head of School.

“The Howard School continues thanks to our Carden curriculum and its strong academic foundation,” Reed stated proudly. “The three R’s in Carden are reason, respect, and responsibility, a legacy that emphasizes that who you are is more important that what you are!” As a parent of two children who attended a Carden school, I understand Joel Reed’s enthusiasm and dedication. I have my own memories of Miss Carden’s frequent visits, her fuzzy hats and her lifelong lessons. As she penned so long ago, “Being grateful warms the heart and stirs it to share.”

•MJ

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• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

39

Brilliant Thoughts

by Ashleigh Brilliant Born London, 1933. Mother Canadian. Father a British civil servant. World War II childhood spent mostly in Toronto and Washington, D.C. Berkeley PhD. in American History, 1964. Living in Santa Barbara since 1973. No children.

Best-known for his illustrated epigrams, called “Pot-Shots”, now a series of 10,000.

Email ashleigh@west.net or visit www.ashleighbrilliant.com

Away From Home

A

s an experienced traveler (though not lately), I’ve always said that travel would be much more easy and pleasant, if only we didn’t have to eat and sleep. Others will, of course, argue that it is all the things relating to food and accommodation which make travel enjoyable.

But to me, they are generally a pain.

Where to stay, how much to pay, how to make sure you get what you need from strangers you will probably never see again, are only a few of the matters I find most bothersome.

In my early ventures, the two greatest travel aids I knew of were Youth Hostels and hitchhiking.

These were for me wonderful discoveries. But they were themselves full of uncertainties. Might the hostel be hard to reach or full when I got there? How many people would I have to share a room with? Would I get an upper or a lower bunk? As for hitchhiking (which opened regions

and countries to me which I could never otherwise have afforded to reach), how long would it be before the next ride came along? How far would it take me? (Fortunately, in hundreds of rides, I never once had a bad experience with a driver. On the contrary, what I found – in those days, anyway – was that in general it was only good-hearted people who picked you up.)

Food was the other big problem area – especially for me, because I was a rather finicky eater. Some of the foods I was accustomed to at home were available in some areas, but not in others. Peanut butter (one of my favorites) was a good example. I found that there was a sort of “peanut butter line” across Western Europe. North of that line, the “smooth or chunky” spread was to be found everywhere. But southwards, to my chagrin, people had often never heard of it.

There were other food lessons to be learned – some of them cautionary.

For example, I knew that the orange, my favorite fruit, had originated in China – and I therefore expected that Chinese oranges, after millennia of development, must be the best in the world. In fact, it was just the opposite. When I went to China, the only oranges I ever encountered were thick-skinned, pulpy, and with very little juice or flavor.

Another fruit lesson developed for me out of a visit to Costa Rica, where I took an immediate liking to a fruit I had never had before. It required the eater to deal with many large seeds, but the “meaty part” was delicious. It was called a Cherimoya, and I made a point of telling people about it when I got back to Santa Barbara – only to learn, to my embarrassment, that it was already quite familiar hereabouts, and in fact grows very well in this area.

As to accommodation, my wife and I had very different standards. To sum it up, hers was elegance, mine was cheapness. Very often, I would stay in our room to have breakfast of whatever food I had brought along, while she would go down to enjoy the hotel’s elaborate and expensive breakfast buffet – smuggling back to me portions of her meal to supplement my own repast.

“It’s Like Banking With Friends”

But of course, inns of various kinds go far back in human history. In many cultures it has been almost a religious obligation to offer hospitality to travelers. How different from our own culture today, in which “hospitality” has become an “industry,” with whole college courses devoted to it! Can you imagine Joseph and Mary finding “no room at the inn” because the innkeeper had not yet secured his Hospitality Certification?

Part of this industrialization has been the development of huge “chains” of hotels and motels, with each “link” so similar to the others that patrons of a particular chain can wake up in the morning, look about their room, and have no idea where they are.

We must admit that, for some, this has its advantages, because, when checking in, you always know what to expect. But of course, that is the very opposite of what “travel” was once supposed to be about. To the “business travelers” who today probably occupy most of our airplane seats, this no doubt hardly matters.

We must face it: This is not your grandfather’s world. The new watchword is not Hospitality but Security.

The tradition of welcoming traveling strangers has been supplanted by the rampant fear that rhymes “stranger” with “danger.”

•MJ

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• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

41

In Business

by Leslie A. Westbrook

A third-generation Californian, Leslie, currently resides in Carpinteria but called Summerland home for 30 years. The award-winning writer assists clients sell fine art, antiques and collectibles at auction houses around the globe. She can be reached at LeslieAWestbrook@gmail.com or www.auctionliaison.com

Home, Sweet Hacienda

Hacienda’s pantry section features soups to go from Duo Catering, cheeses, and charcuterie items, spices, honey, olives, paella rice, cocktail mixes that change seasonally, and grazing boxes from Petite Hosting

H

acienda, by Bonita Lifestyle, the latest incarnation of retail shopping therapy in Summerland by Rita Villa, opened its doors mid-November.

Located just down the street from the Summerland Beach Café (and in the same row as Garde on the street behind the liquor store), the shop is the culmination of the many years of Rita’s retail experience. Now a grandmother, Rita spent 15 years off and on, working at Wendy Foster, put in time at Gary Paul and Fibula jewelry, before opening her own first Bonita shop on Lillie Avenue almost 11 years ago.

I tried chasing Rita down for a couple of weeks to get the skinny but she was so busy putting together the new space we had to reschedule our interview quite a few times.

“Wow what a week!” she wrote on the morning of Friday the 13th. “We finished the shop last night and I have to say it’s the most rewarding experience to see the beauty of our team’s creative work. I am so proud of this baby and I

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42 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Hacienda, by Bonita Lifestyle, is the latest incarnation of retail shopping therapy in Summerland by Rita Villa, here with her children Rowan and Clementine (Photo by Stephanie Baker)

feel like my circle is full and complete.”

The third generation Santa Barbarian notes that each shop she has owned has reflected the stages of her life at that time, but feels most strongly with her new shop.

“I’m in love with it! We had to rethink the beach store on Santa Claus Lane after COVID,” Rita said, noting that she followed her former neighbor Diana Dolan who moved Porch to Summerland. “I needed to feel like I was doing something more family oriented. It just evolved and I missed Summerland a lot!”

She is quick to give credit to her team, including interior designer Lauren Ravenhill, who helped set up the new space and is also a “fellow foodie” who helped Rita set up the pantry section which features soups to go from Duo Catering (she raves about the butternut squash soup), cheeses, and charcuterie items, spices, honey, olives, paella rice, cocktail mixes that change seasonally, and grazing boxes from Petite Hosting, including Tapas for Two and the Hacienda Classic for picnics at Loon Point. (I picked up a loaf of Duo’s fabulous fresh sourdough bread – and ate way too much of it!)

“This store is so full circle, because I have strong memories of my grandmother and my mom in the kitchen cooking and in the garden,” said Rita, recalling her parents had big fiesta parties every year at their Westside home where Rita grew up, “and being a native of Santa Barbara, I know the customers so well.”

There’s still a smattering of clothing from jeans to beach/resort wear – but there’s also furniture pieces, interesting pottery from Mexico and Bestow Pottery made by Rita’s daughter. There’s a children’s section as well with great gifts. Her son, who is a sous-chef at Sama Sama, is helping curate a line of artisan hand forged knives. Rita said to expect “different surprises” as the store evolves.

Buena Onda empanadas will be available for purchase the weekend after Thanksgiving and Hacienda’s “official” opening will coincide with other merchants’ holiday marketplace the following weekend, December 4-5.

Rita was the force behind the original Summerland Flea Market, but although she is no longer affiliated, I expect this powerhouse to be involved in town-wide efforts with other merchants – if she has the time to attract shoppers.

“My heart has always been in Summerland,” Rita said. “It feels really good to be back!”

Hacienda by Bonita Lifestyle, is located at 2272 Lillie Avenue, call 805-565-4848.

It is open Friday through Sunday and other days by appointment. For more info visit www.bonitalifestyle.com and Instagram @bonita_lifestyle_.

•MJ

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Here in Montecito, Santa Barbara and our surrounding communities, it is great to see the continued strong recovery of many businesses as they navigate through these challenging times, but we are not totally out of the woods just yet. As we get closer to the holiday season, I would ask everyone to consider shopping local whenever possible and help keep our community vibrant and strong as we move into the new year.

Let’s all give thanks to everything we have to be grateful for this holiday season.

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• The Voice of the Village •

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43

Real Estate (Continued from page 19 19)

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Embraced by majestic oaks and sycamore trees on approximately 3.17 acres, this property offers a stylish residence and outdoor amenities, including a pool and your very own natural hot spring.

The home was designed by noted architect Geoff Holroyd, whose son has continued his legacy, designing estates for celebrities such as the Kardashian family and Billy Ray Cyrus.

Extensively renovated in 2018, the 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home combines modern luxuries with European design elements in nearly 4,000 square feet of living space. The residence consists of three levels and features rich oak and Saltillo tile floors, cathedral ceilings, windows, skylights, and French doors thoughtfully situated to capitalize on the setting’s natural light and breathtaking grounds.

The upper level is devoted to the master suite, featuring a fireplace, en-suite bath and a private balcony that overlooks the grounds and beyond to the ocean.

In addition to the hot spring, the grounds include a luxurious pool and spa, outdoor shower and meandering pathways. Surrounded by many more expensive homes and located near hiking trails, this home is also within the Montecito Union School District.

117 Crestview Lane – $4,995,000

Situated on a quiet hilltop with commanding mountain and ocean views, this Tuscan-style villa offers privacy and prestige on a one acre lot in the Cold Spring School District. The main home offers 5,000+/square feet of living space and includes 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. Outside there is a 60-foot lap pool, full guest house with steam shower, large outdoor wood burning fireplace with sitting area and several outdoor decks and guest parking. The entry hall, with travertine floors and stairway, is complemented by custom ironwork.

The grand exterior entrance area features Romeo and Juliet balconies above, welcoming one further into of the home where a great room highlighted by a dining area and kitchen awaits. The living areas offer nine-foot French doors and tempered glass windows leading to large outdoor patios. The chef’s kitchen with ocean views boasts a butler’s pantry, high-end Wolf stove, and Miele appliances.

The second level master suite hosts a fireplace, beamed ceiling and double doors opening onto an expansive, arbor-covered private veranda offering sweeping mountain and ocean views. New to the property is an advanced central air system, new furnace, and water heater. There is also a newly completed kitchen for the guest house and a new retractable cover for the pool.

•MJ

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“A lot of Thanksgiving days have been ruined by not carving the turkey in the kitchen.” – Kin Hubbard

26 November – 3 December 2020

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• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

45

Letters (Continued from page 8) automatically when they apply for or renew a drivers’ license. Beyond DMV registration, require states to register voters from other government databases, including welfare rolls.

Allow other people to fill out voters’ registration forms and submit them.

Allow Internet or mail in registration without requiring identification.

Allow registration on the same day as the election.

2. Stop any effort to purge voters from the registered voter lists even if they have not voted in any election in the past ten years. (Los Angeles County recently settled a Judicial Watch lawsuit seeking to update voter registrations and found over 1.5 million invalid registrations that had to be removed.)

3. Allow convicted felons and prisoners to vote.

4. Allow children to vote when they are 16 years old.

5. Make Puerto Rico and Guam states and give their residents the right to vote.

Likewise, every change and proposed change in the actual voting process is designed to produce more Democrat votes, particularly when it comes to “no-fault” voting by mail, and each one of these not only creates a huge potential for fraud, it practically invites it. A partial list: 1. Allow early voting as much as 45 days before the election, before debates are finished and competing views on issues are crystalized.

2. Send out mail in ballots to all registered voters whether requested or not to the addresses on file, and include a prepaid postage return envelop. (Had Los Angeles County not been successfully sued, it would have sent out 1.5 million additional ballots to invalid voters.)

3. Allow mail in ballots to be received and counted as much as two

weeks after Election Day. 4. Set up unmonitored curbside voting and drop-off boxes.

5. Don’t require mail in ballots to be witnessed by a third party.

6. Don’t require the signatures on mail in ballots to match the one on file from registration.

7. If there is any defect in the completed ballot, which would otherwise invalidate it (pencil instead of pen, smudge, failure to sign, unmatched signature, etc.), allow third parties to contact the voter and give the opportunity to cure any defect.

The list above avoids discussion of the number one evil of voting by mail, and that is the allowance of “ballot harvesting.” Ballot harvesting allows anyone, even paid political operatives in some states, to solicit and gather ballots from anyone and drop them off at anytime before polls close on Election Day. Theoretically, ballot harvesting doesn’t favor either political party, although it is interesting that only the Democrat party is in favor of it. Thousands of ballots were harvested in the recent election.

But how many of the “harvesters” culled the ballots they collected and only dropped off those favoring the candidate of their choice? How many harvesters simply collected blank ballots from unsecured mailrooms or multi-occupied residences and filled them in? How many voters were encouraged, intimidated, instructed, pressured, threatened, fooled, or even paid to vote in a particular way by caregivers, family members, bosses, co-workers, union stewards, professors, friends, or party operatives?

The answer to all these questions is that no one knows because such impropriety is virtually impossible to prove. Voting should be a private, personal decision; not one that is monitored or reviewed by others, or

Medicare

otherwise subject to outside pressure.

A 2005 bipartisan study headed by former Democrat President Jimmy Carter and Republican James Baker concluded after a six-month study that “absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud” in elections. Take note that the absentee ballot they were referring to was one that had to be requested and supported by an attested valid reason which would prevent the voter from going to the polls and casting his or her ballot on Election Day. The reason in 2005 for condemning absentee voting was obvious and it is underscored today with “no-fault” voting by mail. It puts too many variables into the chain with no way to verify accuracy. Mail in voting moves the election beyond the oversight of election officials. It is an open invitation for abuse.

The election of November 2020 was complicated because of the COVID virus, and measures were required to keep the electorate safe. What emerged was a kaleidoscope of varied mail-in procedures established by state legislatures, secretaries of state, and judges, many at the last minute. Those measures were certain to give rise to complaints by whichever party lost. This chaos cries out for a uniform countrywide voting registration and voting system. That system must avoid political maneuvering. It must make voter registration an affirmative act requiring proof of eligibility. It must make voting an affirmative act of the voter requiring him or her to go to the polls where the voter can be identified and the vote can be monitored. The right to vote includes the right not to vote.

The right to request a mail in ballot includes the right not to request one.

A uniform election system must be a system that allows vote by mail only when requested and supported by a just reason. No doubt, many

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“I suppose I will die never knowing what pumpkin pie tastes like when you have room for it.” – Robert Brault

Democrats will scream this is “voter suppression,” but that is a political canard. This proposal would not stop or hinder anyone who wanted to vote legally from voting. It simply requires a minimal effort on the part of an eligible voter to affirm his desire to vote in a way that others can be confident precluded any impropriety.

If such a uniform system is not adopted we can be assured that the results of every election going forward will be suspect and the citizenry will be even more disgusted with government than they already are.

Lawrence W. Dam

‘Dangerous Drift to Demagoguery’

I’m sure that I share with many the disappointment, anger, and genuine sadness over the current state of our country. What gnaws at me is the regretful realization that we are locked in this truly terrible place by the whims and actions of one man. This is a man whose supporters include significant numbers who acknowledge that his hyperbole extends to outright lies, his self-interest is nothing more than narcissism and personal greed and whose personal code and behavior betray a deep seated bigotry. This is a man who has lowered, to unprecedented levels, the common decency in communication with others and whose suspect attempts at resolving the crippling divisions we are experiencing have instead only resulted in chaos and exacerbation of our national paralysis.

How can this happen?! Where are the voices of reasonable, responsible Republicans, who are the only ones who have the leverage and credibility to end this dangerous drift to demagoguery, to jettison this egomania and to put an end to this nightmare which is threatening the very foundation of our national commitment to the social contract that has made us the envy of the world for 240 years.

I ask that you stand up to this menace. I beg you to support and encourage your leadership to assert the underlying principles of good will and fair play. Please put an end to threats, intimidation, and bullying as the motivating levers of government.

Insist that we accept that democracy is a messy business and that nobody gets everything they want – nobody.

We are committed to differences, discussion, strenuous debate, and the struggles that lead to workable, if not perfect, compromise. That commitment is a sacred necessity and it is what has served us, not always without hardship and disappointment, in the face of terrible challenges to find the common ground, sometimes difficult to find, but always present.

Arthur Merovick •MJ 26 November – 3 December 2020

Shop early. Shop safe.

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Interior design, custom upholstery & case goods, fabrics & accessories

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New shipment! Swedish, French, English antiques & decorative accessories

Hogue & Co.

Flowers, gifts, wedding & event design

House of Honey

Interior design, home furnishings & gifts.

Stop by for one-of-a-kind holiday gifts for everyone on your list!

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Holiday is here! Discover the latest cozy knits, luxe footwear, and our latest holiday styles

Montecito Coffee Shop

For 30+ years, the best breakfast café in Montecito

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San Ysidro Pharmacy

PCAB accredited ∙ Compounding ∙ Luxury gifts ∙ Cosmetics ∙ Vitamins ∙ Brandnew shipments of beautiful holiday gifts & candles!

TF Designs

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William Laman Furniture. Garden. Antiques.

Hand-selected antiques & home furnishings. Great accessories for entertaining and gift giving in a beautifully curated, safe environment

Visit us! 525 San Ysidro Road, Montecito Upper Village ∙ www.sanysidrovillage.com 26 November – 3 December 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

47

Summerland Buzz

The Well (Which Rhymes With..)

by Leslie A. Westbrook

A third-generation Californian, Leslie, currently resides in Carpinteria but called Summerland home for 30 years. The award-winning writer assists clients sell fine art, antiques and collectibles at auction houses around the globe. She can be reached at LeslieAWestbrook@gmail.com or www.auctionliaison.com

Going With the Flow

The Well in Summerland is wrangling with the County over repairs to the rear building that need signoff from the fire department

H

The Summerland portion of the Highway 101 extension is in full swing

ave you noticed how the Highway 101 traffic flow has changed with the construction work now in full swing? Heading north from the Padaro Lane onramp through Summerland, most of the traffic was traveling in the right lane – due to the white cement barriers, which do make the fast lane scarily hairy! There are lots of signs and warnings both north and southbound.

Take your time, watch out for the cones, the barriers and road workers, and be safe. Some residents have also noted the noise from nighttime construction.

Warning: Follow the Rules, Please!

Even movie stars and the rich and famous need to play by the rules, so it should seem simple for the rest of us mere mortals. At a Summerland Architectural Board of Review meeting a few years back, the board approved a 26,000-square-foot house (by virtue of a variance on the 25-acre beachfront property) for Kevin Costner, who showed up in person for the meeting. (Any future lot split was given up in exchange for building that size of a house.)

Which brings me around to approvals required for businesses in town for paint colors, signage, and any other changes to a building. Follow the rules, please, no matter who you are.

Retail therapy? We all know what that is. But how about retailer’s therapy?

Opening a new business can cause headaches and more. With all the activity in Summerland, things have not always gone smoothly. Summerland used to be pretty laid back, back in the day. But there is a Board of Architectural Review that approves paint colors, signage, and building changes, among other things, and Summerland does have a community plan. County permits and other requirements are there for a reason – and yes, hoops must be jumped through in order to do business safely for not only a place of businesses and their customers but for the entire town. Despite the town’s growing pains, which most people are happy about, not everyone is happy about the hoop jumping.

“BAR is essential and makes sure buildings and re-dos conform to community plan guidelines,” says former board member and longtime Summerlandian Fran Davis. “I sat on that advisory committee. The community plan is nicely done and very informative.”

Diana Dolan of Porch moved into the former Just Folk/Letter Perfect space and painted the large building “Summerland antique white.” Whoopsie!

Somebody got a tick in their panties and while lovely Diana did neglect to get the blessing of the Summerland BAR before getting out her paint buckets, the color change was approved – after the fact. But as BAR board member Jeff O’Neill told me, they spent many, many months, weeks and hours working with Marcy Carsey when the building first went up on approving the colors, design, underground parking, etc. It was no easy feat.

In the end, no harm no foul.

48 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Even a simple white paint job can run afoul of County mandates, such as the former Mediterranee space

Shane Brown, of The Well, has discovered his own personal you-know-what dealing with the County’s powers that be. The rear building changes, which had to be signed off by the fire department recently, didn’t pass muster. I missed the “fireworks” the day that the enforcers came by, by about 15 minutes. Brown had boldly proceeded with renovations – without following protocol. The inspector and shopkeeper met, but apparently the ax fell on the new back building – which had been nicely arranged with new furnishings and paintings that had to be removed when Brown was informed he needed to install a sprinkler system. He tried to beg off until after the holidays, but “no go” said the powers that be. Besides, with holidays lights and candles and such, who the heck wants the town to accidentally burn down?

“I asked for a variance until after the new year,” Shane said, admitting he should not have had anything in the back gallery but did – and said he was upset the space couldn’t even be used for storage until compliance.

Shane said he “begged for compassion since we are in the middle of pandemic and had just opened!”

“They threw the book at me and told me to get everything out. We did that and now are in compliance.” Shane signed a contract to get sprinklers put in the upgraded back building, which can’t be used until sprinklers are installed and signed off on.

The fire department returned and Shane showed them the signed contract to have the sprinklers installed.

Did Shane make similar missteps when painting the Brownie Apartments

“An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.” – Irv Kupcinet

26 November – 3 December 2020

that he recently purchased next door to The Well white, as well as painting the roof black?

Perhaps. Summerland BAR has not heard from him.

“It can take months! I would rather ask for forgiveness. It’s white paint,” said Shane, When asked about his plans for the former Brownie Apartments, and two houses next door, he said he was planning for a mix of retail and VRBO, and was trying to get one unit ready by Thanksgiving. When asked what was going to happen to displaced tenants, Brown said he didn’t know.

“Bureaucracy in Summerland is very tough,” he said. “Overall, we have had a good experience. We’re loving it. All of the employees are happy – we’re happy – overall, it’s been a great experience opening in Summerland. But it’s challenging for a small business, having County people all over you constantly.”

He’s not alone: the former Mediterranee space, now a small house down the street, has also been painted white. I have no idea what’s in store for that location.

The Powers That Be

Summerland Board of Architectural Review board member Jeff O’Neill noted that a flurry of complaints had been coming in about the repainting of existing buildings.

“We should have been consulted. Any changes to a building have to get approved,” he said, “That includes paint colors, design, and development including remodels, anything that requires a permit from the County. Generally, when someone applies to the County for a permit – the County gives them contact info for Summerland BAR.” The board then meets “as necessary.”

Other BAR board members include Gary Blubel, a retired civil engineer; Richard Johnson, AIA architect who has been on the committee more than 25 years; Jim McClintock, AIA architect; Larry Ramstrum of Ramstrum Construction; and O’Neill, a self-proclaimed “quasi real estate developer.”

“Some things don’t need permission,” O’Neill told me. “Residences in the urban area (in town) don’t need permission for paint colors, as a general rule.

They can change the color of a house at their will,” he said. Rural areas need to

stick to natural earth tones and colors that blend into the surroundings.

“No bright whites in nature,” O’Neill noted. Commercial building paint colors?

“To change, you do need permission,” O’Neill said. “There are no specific guidelines, but buildings can be repainted as it was. Sprinklers are certainly required on commercial.”

O’Neill said he doubted that Porch would have been given permission to go white, but approved it just the same, after the fact.

“We took a lot of time on that building both with the County and our board,” he recalled.

“It’s so complicated anymore you need experts to give you advice before you jump. Ignorance of the codes is not an excuse,” O’Neill concluded.

Going, Going, Gone?

Pat and Ursula Nesbitt’s mansion, designed with Thomas Jefferson’s Palladian-style Monticello in mind, was scheduled for the auction block last week. Despite a field of qualified bidders, the auction house informed me that “the sellers have exercised their right to cancel the auction and the property is still available for offers.” Rumor has it, Nesbitt will buy a remaining lot on his Montecito Estates on the knoll and build a new home there if and when he sells the polo property. Seven lots there are mostly built out.

Many Blessings

Gobble, gobble… it’s time to give thanks and focus on our blessings, even though many of us are understandably sad not to be sharing Thanksgiving dinner with family or friends living outside of our own home this year.

As some experts warn: it’s better to be safe than sorry, because if you have a large Thanksgiving gathering this year you could risk attending a small funeral in December!

For me, I’m thankful for the encouraging news that there are apparently effective vaccines on the horizon. Stay safe and be grateful for the things you can celebrate – even if it’s a virtual gathering or greetings over Zoom!

Many blessings to you all, dear readers.

•MJ

Comprehensive Cancer Care. Close to Home.

ridleytreecc.org 540 W. Pueblo Street

Ridley-Tree Cancer Center provides patients with every opportunity for a successful outcome. Access to advanced treatments and technol0gy, national clinical trials, and research-based supportive care and wellness programs, right here in Santa Barbara.

26 November – 3 December 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

In partnership with

MONTECITO JOURNAL

49

FY21 STORM DRAIN REPAIRS AND CIPP LINING PROJECT Bid No. 5867 1.

Bid Submission. The City of Santa Barbara (“City”) will accept electronic bids for its FY21 Storm Drain Repairs and CIPP Lining Project by or before December 3, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. through its PlanetBids portal. Bidders must be registered on the City of Santa Barbara’s PlanetBids portal in order to submit a Bid proposal and to receive addendum notifications. Each bidder is responsible for making certain that its Bid Proposal is actually submitted/uploaded with sufficient time to be received by PlanetBids prior to the bid opening date and time. Large files may take more time to be submitted/uploaded to PlanetBids, so plan accordingly.

The receiving time on the PlanetBids server will be the governing time for acceptability of bids. Telegraphic, telephonic, hardcopy, and facsimile bids will not be accepted.

If any Addendum issued by the City is not acknowledged online by the Bidder, the PlanetBids System will prevent the Bidder from submitting a Bid Proposal. Bidders are responsible for obtaining all addenda from the City’s PlanetBids portal. Bid results and awards will be available on PlanetBids. The PlanetBids technical support phone number is 818-992-1771.

2.

Project Information.

2.1 Location and Description. The Project location and scope of work is outlined below: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Cul-de-sac at Rialto Lane due west to St James Drive: Repair and lining of 420 linear feet of a 15-inch diameter CMP storm drain Between 865 and 869 La Milpita Road and running 150 linear feet southwest to its outlet: Lining of a12-inch diameter CMP storm drain W. Islay Street starting at De la Vina Street to Castillo Street: Lining of a the 1,000 foot segment of 30-inch diameter brick storm drain W. Carrillo Street starting at State Street and continuing to Canon Perdido Street: Lining of a 420 foot segment of the 24-inch diameter concrete storm drain Pedregosa Street at Chapala Street south 1,900 linear feet to the outlet into Mission Creek south of the Islay and Castillo Streets Intersection: video capture of the large diameter storm drain system with elevations

2.2 Time for Completion. The Project must be completed within 40 calendar days from the start date set forth in the Notice to Proceed. The City anticipates that the Work will begin on or about January 25, 2021 but the anticipated start date is provided solely for convenience and is neither certain nor binding.

2.3 Estimated Cost. The estimated construction cost is $225,000.

3.

License and Registration Requirements.

3.1 License. This Project requires a valid California contractor’s license for the following classification(s): California General Engineering License Class A. 3.2 DIR Registration. City may not accept a Bid Proposal from or enter into the Contract with a bidder, without proof that the bidder is registered with the California Department of Industrial Relations (“DIR”) to perform public work pursuant to Labor Code § 1725.5, subject to limited legal exceptions.

4.

Contract Documents. The plans, specifications, bid forms and contract documents for the Project, and any addenda thereto (“Contract Documents”) may be downloaded from City’s website at: http://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=29959 A printed copy of the Contract Documents may be obtained from CyberCopy Shop, located at 504 N. Milpas Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93103, at (805) 884-6155.

5.

Bid Security. The Bid Proposal must be accompanied by bid security of ten percent of the maximum bid amount, in the form of a cashier’s or certified check made payable to City, or a bid bond executed by a surety licensed to do business in the State of California on the Bid Bond form included with the Contract Documents. The bid security must guarantee that within ten days af ter City issues the Notice of Award, the successful bidder will execute the Contract and submit the payment and performance bonds, insurance certificates and endorsements, and any other submittals required by the Contract Documents and as specified in the Notice of Award.

6.

Prevailing Wage Requirements.

6.1 General. Pursuant to California Labor Code § 1720 et seq., this Project is subject to the prevailing wage requirements applicable to the locality in which the Work is to be performed for each craft, classification or type of worker needed to perform the Work, including employer payments for health and welfare, pension, vacation, apprenticeship and similar purposes.

6.2 Rates. These prevailing rates are on file with the City and are available online at http://www.dir.ca.gov/DLSR. Each Contractor and Subcontractor must pay no less than the specified rates to all workers employed to work on the Project. The schedule of per diem wages is based upon a working day of eight hours. The rate for holiday and overtime work must be at least time and one-half.

6.3 Compliance. The Contract will be subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the DIR, under Labor Code § 1771.4.

7.

Performance and Payment Bonds. The successful bidder will be required to provide performance and payment bonds, each for 100% of the Contract Price, as further specified in the Contract Documents.

8.

Substitution of Securities. Substitution of appropriate securities in lieu of retention amounts from progress payments is permitted under Public Contract Code § 22300.

9.

Subcontractor List. Each Subcontractor must be registered with the DIR to perform work on public projects. Each bidder must submit a completed Subcontractor List form with its Bid Proposal, including the name, location of the place of business, California contractor license number, DIR registration number, and percentage of the Work to be performed (based on the base bid price) for each Subcontractor that will perform Work or service or fabricate or install Work for the prime contractor in excess of one-half of 1% of the bid price, using the Subcontractor List form included with the Contract Documents.

10.

Instructions to Bidders. All bidders should carefully review the Instructions to Bidders for more detailed information before submitting a Bid Proposal. The definitions provided in Article 1 of the General Conditions apply to all of the Contract Documents, as defined therein, including this Notice Inviting Bids.

11.

Optional Pre-bid Meeting. An optional pre-bid meeting will be held on Monday, November 30, 2020 at 10:00 a.m., at the following location: intersection of Live Oak Lanes and Saint James Drive, nearest address to the meeting place is 2204 Saint James Drive.

The optional pre-bid meeting will acquaint all prospective bidders with the Contract Documents and the Worksite.

By: ___________________________________ Bill Hornung General Services Manager

Date: ________________

Publication Dates: 1) November 18, 2020

2) November 25, 2020 END OF NOTICE INVITING BIDS

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Genesis, 80 Deerhurst Drive, Goleta, CA, 93117. Genesis Co. LLC, 80 Deerhurst Drive, Goleta, CA, 93117. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on October 30, 2020. 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 state-

ment on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2020-0002691. Published November 18, 25, December 2, 2020.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Magic Digital Design, 251 S Hope Ave. #302, Santa Barbara, CA, 93105. Stephen T Crozier, 251 S Hope Ave. #302, Santa Barbara, CA, 93105. This statement

50 MONTECITO JOURNAL

was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on November 9, 2020. 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. 2020-0002756. Published November 18, 25, December 2, 2020.

FICTITIOUS

BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Scarcello and Benedetto Dental Partners, 3714 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA, 93105. Lynda J. Benedetto, DDS, INC, 3714 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA, 93105.

Gregory M. Scarcello, DDS, 3714 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA, 93105. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on November 9, 2020. 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. 2020-0002758. Published November 18, 25, December 2, 2020.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HELLOSIMPLE, 4810 Sawyer Ave, Carpinteria, CA, 93013.

“I’m looking forward to seeing pie this Thanksgiving more than members of my own family.” – Damien Fahey

Savana Herman, 4810 Sawyer Ave, Carpinteria, CA, 93013. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on October 27, 2020. 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. 2020-0002659. Published November 4, 11, 18, 25, 2020.

26 November – 3 December 2020

Our Town (Continued from page 32 32)) A multi-instrumentalist, George plays drums, piano, a bit of bass and guitar, and says during lockdown cooking has become another art form for him. In between, he hits the drums with fellow pros like Rusty Cummings and Kevin Winard.

Here’s our Zoom interview.

Q. Can you talk about the lockdown in your experience as a musician?

A. I think mostly what this lockdown reminds us all of is that we just want to play. I’d play for free at this point. It’s part of who we are and what we do.

I’ve been drumming since I was five years old and there’s no reason to play drums when you’re that young unless you love them and they’re fun to play.

When I took a brief hiatus from Dishwalla, a friend of mine Luke Tierney wanted to start a band called The Penfifteen Club just for fun. It was in a disgusting rehearsal studio across the street from Hollywood High School in 100-degree weather with crack addicts outside the door and no audience.

When I looked around our band room, I realized that what I love to do is play music and I love to play music with other people.

Then I think about the fact that for the greater part of my life from 13 years on I’ve been playing live shows, so it’s almost like a whole part of me doesn’t even exist anymore. I’m not singing the blues and many are in worse shoes, just stating fact.

Dishwalla is celebrating the 25th year of releasing our LP, Pet Your Friends.

It would’ve been a very exciting tour to go back and play all those old songs.

There was definitely something to look forward to that was different than our typical outings. It felt like it was going to have more meaning. It will when we get out again.

As far as touring with Shaun Cassidy goes, shows are already rescheduled for 2021 and we will just have to see how we get through these next few months. Those shows are absolutely amazing because every single person in attendance is so happy to be there. When you see video of the band and we’re laughing and smiling between things, it’s not fake, we’re really enjoying each other’s company and the time we’re having up there on stage. I would’ve never known in a million years what a nice guy he is and what a great group of people they are to play with. Not to mention the fact that Christian Pelonis was one of my students and he’s playing at a level above most as the guitarist in Shaun’s band. Makes me proud.

As far as writing and producing goes, I’ve been doing a ton of my own writing. I also have been working with a California instrumental prog rock band called Drifting Dimensions, former students in my Rockshop Academy, and they want to continue to a professional level and asked me to coach them.

What’s lockdown like as a music teacher?

I haven’t been able to do anything Rockshop Academy related. The room is not big enough for any groups and singing is not allowed.

I’m able to give individual drum lessons in person and on Zoom and those have actually been going really well and I’ve seen an uptick in people wanting to have in-person private lessons. I feel very fortunate in that sense.

How does music influence the human condition?

I think we all have different ways that we feel music, whether a song moves us or makes us want to tap our feet or bop our head or drive fast or gives us confidence. We all have our own soundtrack, and we all have those moments in our life where this was the song that meant this – the saddest songs you’ve ever heard during a breakup, songs that remind you of your dad.

For some of us music has to be experienced, I just heard a friend of mine say the same thing I’ve said for years – I can’t have music just on, I have to be thinking about it and if it’s on in the background I am thinking about it. So, if you’re talking to me and I’ve got a blank look on my face, listen for what groove is going on in the background!

Are there any culture, race, gender, social, political issues influencing your experience as a musician right now?

Wow this is a huge one. There’s an awareness about all of these issues right now that I really admire and appreciate. It does look like we’re pretty evenly split as a society here in America, however. You have to be very careful but there are so many things that are obvious to get behind and support. I think most musicians tend to be empathetic people. Typically, you can use your music to get behind things by playing shows that support causes, etc. I’ll look forward to that day again.

New music you are writing?

I’ve got quite a few songs I’ve written just on my own, to go to my Dishwalla bandmates once we all get back, as I haven’t met with them since the lockdown. How the band works is we put something down and share it 26 November – 3 December 2020

Pendergast was named one of Modern Drummer Magazine’s Top Five Up-and-Coming Drummers in 1997

George Pendergast has spent the year writing and teaching private music lessons over Zoom and in person (Photo by Sara Prince)

with each other to write the rest of the song together.

In the interim, I’m songwriting and recording my first inspirations on my iPhone and GarageBand app to get it down. I’m not really a message songwriter, more of an observer. Not to be all tragic but most of my inspiration has been from something rather sad. I do have a song I wrote right before lockdown that relates really well to our current situation, it’s called, “There Used to Be a Phone Booth Here.” The song’s about what used to be around SB, like the bookstores, phone booths, the Greyhound station. Other songs I am writing are about ex-girlfriends, and off the cuff innuendos from friends’ comments, like, “there is no you in me.”

Are you giving back/paying forward?

I love teaching. It definitely allows you to give back and mentor the next generation. In addition, Dishwalla regularly does fundraiser gigs for the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, the Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse, AHA!, and my Rockshop Academy has scholarships for kids in need and foster kids.

As a voice for your generation, what is the world feeling like and what do you want changed?

The world feels angry and edgy and somewhat panicked but maybe I’m projecting? I think everyone needs to remember what we have in common more than what we don’t have in common. That’s why I love being involved in United By Art. Art has always brought people together. When you think about concerts and museums and people from all over the world from all walks of life experiencing the same thing, it’s amazing. And think of how much of that is missing due to our current circumstances.

Advice for musicians going forward, what is their role right now?

The role of musicians is the same. Write songs you care about, record them in a way that you like, share them with people and if enough people like them, they become a part of their life soundtrack.

Any advice for the music industry and venues?

I’ve had a lot of conversations with agents and club owners and people in the industry and I think that one thing they’re all forgetting is that we just want to play. There are ways but many aren’t interested in the live stream option. I was hoping we could play on top of a building on State Street and run speakers up and down the block. No audience right in front of us, but State already has people congregating.

Any message to your fans?

For any music fan, this is a good time to remember that band merchandise is one of the only ways for us to generate income right now. So grab those T-shirts and vinyl and hats and since the music’s free, support the artist in other ways. And know that just as soon as we can, we will be out there playing!

411: www.georgependergast.com rockshopacademy.com dishwalla.com

• The Voice of the Village •

•MJ

MONTECITO JOURNAL

51

OTR (Continued from page 6) mammoth undertaking known as a Groundwater Sustainability Plan, or GSP. “This is a process we are hoping to have finished in the next two years, when we submit it to the state for their approval,” Kunstek said. “The GSP is the first stage of a three stage process, developing information about what potential problems we have in the basin. Stage Two is incorporating this data into the plan to counteract any undesirable results to groundwater, and the third phase, which will take until 2042 is a roughly 20 year-long implementation phase.”

Avoiding what Sacramento defines as “undesirable results” will be key to Kunstek’s job. “The state defines sustainability through the counteraction of ‘undesirable results,’ which include the reduction in groundwater storage capacity, the reduction in groundwater quality, land subsidence, and the potential for sea water incursion,” Kunstek said, adding that land subsidence (the potential for land to sink) when groundwater is removed, as well as seawater incursion (the potential for ocean water to seep into our freshwater supply at lower elevations near sea level) aren’t anticipated to be major factors. However, lack of reliable precipitation and above-ground creek flow, along with extensive pumping of groundwater by private wells, each constitute major impacts on the health of Montecito’s groundwater basin.

Kunstek’s work will be informed by a handful of infrequent studies that have been performed on Montecito’s groundwater basin, private well drilling, and the monitoring of potential seawater incursion that have been performed in past decades. However these studies are simply individual snapshots of the state of the groundwater basin and don’t provide much in the way of a reliable pattern of data. Thus, Kunstek’s job will be helping fill in the dots and establish a more comprehensive picture.

“There are some studies that have been done and our plan will be referencing those,” Kunstek said. “Our basin is highly variable both laterally and also from the ability for groundwater to be extracted there is a lot of variability east to west and north to south,” he continued. “So you have variability in what can be extracted due to both the makeup of the aquifer but also the faulting that we have that runs through the basin.”

Although Kunstek has been on the job full-time since June, he’s still in the early data-gathering phrase of the GSA plan. “That means the presence or existence of undesirable results is really unknown at this point,” he clarified. “We are classified as a medium priority groundwater basin by the state, but we don’t yet know if there are undesirable results we have to remedy in some way. That’s what this process of gathering all that information is about. Are there seawater intrusions? Is the basin being overdrawn [by pumping wells], and what various projects can be done to address those issues? We don’t really know yet.”

To address the possible undesirable result of sea-water incursion, Kunstek said, he is developing a monitoring network to determine current water quality at lower elevations and to what extent there is any measurable encroachment from the sea. Similarly, Kunstek will oversee the monitoring of surface water flow in local creeks, and perhaps most importantly, the monitoring of the extraction of groundwater via private wells in Montecito.

“Our funding allows us to enact a fully voluntary metering program where the agency will install meters on private groundwater wells to better estimate what the impact of that is,” he said. “The only real complete records we have of well extraction come from the district-owned wells and what we are trying to do with all these programs from private wells, voluntarily, is look at extractions that will help us project forward what to expect from a climate standpoint and how that precipitation will impact the health of the basin.”

Specifically the agency’s funding will provide cash for gauges that will monitor both the district’s roughly 12 active wells as well as approximately 50 private wells, which will be measured on a voluntary basis; while pumping data from those wells will be aggregated for public use, Nick Turner, MWD’s executive director, says the agency has pledged to keep individual ownership information confidential.

“Fifty wells is a good target but if we could get 100 wells that would be even better, Turner said. “The more data we have, the better refined our plan is. If we could get every private well owner to give us access to put in meters

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so we could understand the rate of extraction, that would only further refine our plan, because the more we understand the basin, the more we can achieve sustainability.”

After a decade honing his geoscience skills in the private oil and gas sector, Kunstek said he’s excited about the opportunity to put them into use here in Montecito. “It’s exciting because we are recognizing as a community that groundwater is a resource we need to protect and manage so that in the future our children and grandchildren can have sustainable groundwater to pull from.

In Southern California in particular, water infrastructure is key to all our communities.”

Cori Hayman, one of MWD’s board members, says that securing confidential volunteers to participate in the monitoring of private well drilling will be crucial to the success of Kunstek’s work on behalf of the district. “We obtained specific state funding to monitor wells so, although we are looking for volunteers to work with us, there will be no cost at all to the well owner,” she said.

“Some people are very public about participating; we have members on our Stakeholder Advisory Committee who are very public about it and want to show their involvement, but nobody should be worried about privacy.”

Hayman, who has been involved in groundwater sustainability since even before she joined MWD as one of the directors of the Montecito Association, is particularly excited about Kunstek’s mission. “We have six grant-funded projects to collect data for purposes of sustainability, and Nick is spearheading the organization, implementation and reporting of those projects,” she said. “Our groundwater basin is one of our most important community resources and we are really lucky to have him.”

Montecito Planning Commission Approves Plan to Keep Debris Nets Up For Next Three Years

One of the debris nets installed at a Montecito area chokepoint

In a unanimous vote last week, the Montecito Planning Commission extended the permits for several Swiss-built flexible steel debris nets that were installed above town after the tragic mudslides that occurred in the wake of the Thomas Fire nearly three years ago. Thanks to a multi-million-dollar fundraising effort

by The Partnership for Resilient Communities (TPRC), funding and plans for up to 11 debris nets were approved; in spring 2019, six were built and installed, two each at chokepoints in Cold Spring, San Ysidro, and Buena Vista canyons.

Following an emergency permit extension last year, the vote will allow the nets to remain in place until 2023, by which time, environmental experts believe the front-country foliage and burnt soil created by the Thomas Fire will have substantially recovered. That fact, along with Santa Barbara County’s regular maintenance of local debris basins as well as a newly-funded basin that will replace several demolished residences alongside Randall Road, bodes well for Montecito as we head into winter weather season.

Les Firestein, who co-founded TPRC, welcomed the planning commission’s permitting extension, adding that the group had to apply for temporary permits in order to get the debris nets up as quickly as possible, rather than endure the glacial pace of Environmental Impact Review (EIR) reports that go with longer-term building permits.

“We had a time clock working against us,” said Firestein. “We needed to get those things in the ground as quickly as possible because the greatest danger post debris flow is in the five years after the event, but mostly at the front end, in the first year and decreasing after that. So were we to have applied for permanent mitigation, with all the time it would have taken for all the EIRs to be done, we’d still be several years down the line with nothing to show for it and with nothing in position to protect the community.”

Stay tuned for more updates on our town’s ongoing efforts to recover and rebuild our community.

•MJ

“Thanksgiving is... the one occasion each year when gluttony becomes a patriotic duty.” – Michael Dresser

26 November – 3 December 2020

Miscellany (Continued from page 18) Sean Smith’s new book about Meghan Markle discusses the “disturbing drama” the Duchess of Sussex had to endure

Brother and sister Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason impress with virtual concert (photo: Zachary Olea)

Markle at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, in 2018, two years after winning the BBC Young Musician of the Year award, while Isata is a student at the Royal Academy of Music.

The tony twosome played cello sonatas by Beethoven and Rachmaninoff and were absolutely sublime.

As the normal locale, the venerable Granada Theatre is currently off limits to audiences, watching it on my laptop made an admirable substitute.

Son of Montecito

Prolific documentarian Matt Tyrnauer, son of Montecito arborist Gene Tyburn, has a new project, The Reagans, airing on Showtime in four parts.

Matt, whose documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor on the Italian couturier was shortlisted for an Oscar nomination in 2012, explores many surprisingly unexamined aspects of the Reagan White House and how Nancy Reagan’s paper-doll image was at odds with the power she ultimately wielded throughout her husband’s presidency.

He has combined archival footage, exhaustive research and personal accounts from friends in the couple’s inner circle to craft a revealing portrait of their unlikely rise from Hollywood to the White House.

“I couldn’t be prouder,” says Gene, whose son has also produced well received documentaries on the legendary Manhattan discotheque Studio 54 in 2018 and last year’s Where’s My Roy Cohn? about the disgraced New York powerhouse attorney.

Happy Anniversary

Karl Storz Imaging, which has been of a pillar of the Central Coast’s technology industry and is one of the area’s largest employers with nearly Speaker Marc Amling, the head of product development at Karl Storz Imaging, appreciating KS team members in honor of the company’s 30th anniversary (photo

by Priscilla)

26 November – 3 December 2020

Kathy Odell, cofounder of Medical Concepts Inc., and Michelle Begg, KS Producer of 30th Anniversary Celebration Event (photo by Priscilla)

Miles Hartfeld, president of Karl Storz, congratulating and thanking all KS team members (photo

by Priscilla)

400 staff, just celebrated its 30th anniversary.

KSI is a subsidiary of Karl Storz SE and Co. KG, a family-owned company based in Germany that employs more than 8,000 people in 44 countries.

It is a world leader in endoscopes used for medical diagnostics and minimally invasive surgery, which can achieve shorter hospital stays and recovery times.

In 1990 Karl Storz purchased the Goleta startup Medical Concepts and now has a 100,000-plus square feet facility on South Los Carneros Road.

“We have provided an uninterrupted flow of products to health care professionals during this pandemic at some personal risk to all of us,” says president Miles Hartfeld.

Going to the Dogs

Two Carpinteria authors Hal Price and Leana Orsua are going to the dogs!

The tony twosome has penned a bestseller anthology book, The UltiMUTT Book for Dog Lovers: If You’re Not Covered in Dog Hair, Your Life is Empty!, which has become an overnight international bestseller in four countries, including the U.S. The entertaining book compiles heartfelt, inspiring, and educational stories from 14 dog owners who have lived through major life events with their “pup partners” and a developed a strong, innate, and unbreakable relationship in the process.

Celebrity dog trainer Ryan Matthews pens the foreword, sharing stories of his time as a combat soldier working extensively with K-9 training and caretaking.

Other tales in the tome come from

Local authors Hal Price and Leana Orsua have penned a bestseller anthology book, The UltiMUTT Book for Dog Lovers: If You’re Not Covered in Dog Hair, Your Life is Empty!

internationally renowned local children’s author Hal who gives voice to his once sheltered puppy Rescue Reilly and former TV news reporter Leana, who delivers a powerful story about the quiet comfort of her dog Roxy after the tragic loss of her dear friend.

Twelve other global authors share how their relationship with their special furry friends has shaped their lives.

Ten percent of the proceeds support Cuddly Canines, a charity that rescues pregnant dogs about to be euthanized, thereby saving the mother and her unborn pups.

Paws for thought, indeed...

Keeping it Beautiful Deborah Schwartz, the new head of Santa Barbara Beautiful, is in her eleventh year as the city’s planning commissioner

Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Jennifer Aniston, describes the marriage to Queen Elizabeth’s grandson as “a rom-com fantasy that soon turned into a disturbing drama with every expectation of a life happily-ever-after cruelly dashed by bullying tabloid newspapers and their allies.”

The writer, whose biography of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was used as the basis for the film Magic Beyond Words, says the former Suits actress was targeted for her gender, her race, her nationality, and her profession.

The abuse became so bad that 72 female Members of Parliament in the U.K. signed a letter of solidarity against the “often distasteful and misleading press,” calling out the “outdated colonial undertones” of the stories.

Sightings: The Weakest Link host Jane Lynch walking her rescue dog on Butterfly Beach... Actor Christopher Lloyd picking up his New York Times at Pierre Lafond... Leslie Ridley-Tree noshing with friends at Ca’Dario on CVR Pip! Pip! - and be safe

Deborah Schwartz is the newly elected President of Santa Barbara Beautiful, replacing Penny Haberman.

Her deep ties throughout our Eden by the Beach and dedication to community support have led to a number grant-making projects including the natural environment, arts and culture, and education.

Deborah, a former Montecito Union School and UCSB student, is in her eleventh year as the city’s planning commissioner, serving as this year’s chair.

The ‘Disturbing Drama’ of the Duchess of Sussex

An old friend, Sean Smith, former gossip columnist of London’s Sunday People newspaper and now a successful celebrity author, has sent me his latest book, Meghan Misunderstood, on the Duchess of Sussex.

Sean, who has also penned bestselling tomes on singer Adele, George Michael, Tom Jones, Ed Sheeran, Kate Middleton, Kim Kardashian,

• The Voice of the Village •

•MJ

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Dear Montecito

by Stella Pierce

Montecito Alumni Write Letters from Life’s Front

I

t was not my intention to feature quite so many letters in this column that draw attention to my personal kryptonite (math), and yet, here we are. This week you are being treated to a letter from someone who is not only a talented visual artist but also an aspiring mathematician. Meet Alec Sherwin! Son of local musician Lanny Sherwin, Alec is a 23-year-old Santa Barbara City College student with a mind for mathematics and a soul for geometric-style art.

I have so rarely had that moment of awe where all the shapes and numbers and forms come together to be “elegant” in the way we always hear math aficionados swoon over. However, I can say that speaking with Alec will be one of those rare moments. Both his raw enthusiasm and indelible appreciation for mathematics as a discipline of the arts are infectious to even the least mathematically inclined.

Dear Montecito,

Hi, my name is Alec Sherwin. I am 23. I’ve lived here for 16 years, attending the Waldorf School, MUS, Marymount of Santa Barbara, and then Anacapa. I don’t really know what I want to study yet, although something in the field of mathematics feels like a good start. Right now, I’m enrolled in a math course, a chemistry course, and a film course at Santa Barbara City College, but admittedly I spend a lot of my spare time doing visual art. In particular, origami and

Alec has been doing origami since he was five and has featured his modular origami pieces at exhibitions including a show at Lotusland

Alec Sherwin is a 23-year-old Santa Barbara City College student with a mind for mathematics and a soul for geometric-style art

geometric-style drawing.

Origami has been a long-time passion of mine. It is something I’ve actually been doing since I was about five years old. My parents wanted to expose me to as many art forms as possible – drawing, fingerpainting, beeswax sculpture. But receiving an origami kit from my parents was the turning point.

My immediate excitement for this art form was followed by a long period of neglect. However, my interest in origami exploded after watching the documentary Between the Folds, which is when I thought to myself: “This is what I want to do 24/7.”

I started with a handful of international conventions in New York City where I got to display my work. I think it was in 2012 when I came across

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another man’s display and became fascinated with his work. That was my first introduction to the discipline of modular origami. Since then, I’ve featured at other exhibitions including a show at Lotusland where I got to display my work in the discipline of modular origami, specifically in a subgroup called “wire-frame polyhedral,” “compound polyhedral,” or “polypolyhedra.”

Although I have been doing origami for 18 years, I still find that my process is being discovered. It is the craft that requires a certain entry-level literacy before everything begins to unfold, so to speak. But once you have engaged and become fluent in the basics, it is really quite instinctive. Ironically, I’m not too familiar with the terminology.

Usually, I am visually aware of the basic origami bases and the different base names but may not be able to match all the bases with their corresponding names. I would say being able to label particular forms is less important than being able to understand how they work in composition.

This is where origami becomes particularly fascinating, especially as I work and become better at creating original designs.

Comparatively, I’ve spent a lot less time on the drawing than I have on origami. But I manage ways of sneaking it into my schedule here and there.

Most of my drawing comes from my fascination with mathematics. I think it might surprise people how extraordinarily compatible the two are, but math has been a continual source of inspiration for my art. Take, for example, the “Lie group,” an algebraic structure that models continuous symmetry. This was the inspiration for

a recent piece of mine. I appreciate the continuous and rotational symmetry and simply took the pleasure of painting the structure with an alternating checkerboard color pattern.

Or take the Mandelbrot set. The Mandelbrot set is regarded as the first computer-generated fractal and originally discovered by the Polishborn French American mathematician Benoit B. Mandelbrot (who would’ve turned 96 on the 20th of November).

Mandelbrot is the founder of the field of mathematics called fractal geometry. It has also been described as a representation of an iterated function on the complex plane. Fractals are basically any geometric shape that are self-similar and contain smaller and simpler copies of their overall shape within itself. You can zoom in infinitely because the line, the outside of the shape, never stops and never becomes pixelated.

This is all, of course, just the tip of the iceberg. Mathematics lends itself so wholly to visual art especially in its infinite geometric potential. But to tell the truth, origami seems to be struggling to be seen as an art form and is often relegated to no more than a “craft.” It is sometimes difficult to articulate exactly why people tend to disqualify origami or even why there is something inherently artful in so much of mathematics, so I’ll leave you with this experience of mine: I often find the visual representation of mathematics to be satisfying, fulfilling, with the level or precision one can obtain from various calculations. And beautiful also. I recently tried to take an artistic perspective on something mathematically based by 3-D printing a group of polyhedra that extends into the 4th dimension. Now, we cannot visualize 4-D in 3-D, but what we can do is make a 3-D cross section in our model and it creates something that looks like a distortion in time. It can be hard to see sometimes. But I think this is art.

Regards, Alec P.S. Parents of Montecito children, if you have recommendations on people to feature in “Dear Montecito” please contact me, stellajanepierce@gmail. com •MJ

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“I can’t cook a Thanksgiving dinner. All I can make is cold cereal and maybe toast.” – Charlie Brown

26 November – 3 December 2020

Robert’s Big ?s

by Robert Bernstein

Degrees from Physics departments of MIT and UC Santa Barbara. Career in designing atomic-resolution microscopes. Childhood spent in Europe and the East of the US. Passion to understand the Big Questions of life and the universe. Duty to be a good citizen of the planet.

Better than Democracy?

W

inston Churchill famously said, “...democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time…”

I write this as Joe Biden has been declared “president-elect” in the news and while Donald Trump still sends out repeated appeals for money.

Record numbers voted for each side. Meaning that record numbers of people are very upset with the outcome.

Was Churchill correct? Is there nothing better? Four years ago I watched libertarian philosophy professor Jason Brennan argue that democracy does not fulfill its claims. What are some of those claims?

Is democracy fair? On the surface, one person, one vote seems very fair. But Jackson Browne noted this in his song “Lives in the Balance”: They sell us the president the same way They sell us our clothes and our cars They sell us everything from youth to religion The same time they sell us our wars Some people have far more access to “selling us” than others. But don’t we each still get our vote? Statistically, voters are more male, white, older and moneyed than the population.

More important to Brennan: Most voters are “low information.” Americans in a Kaiser poll believed that 26 percent of the U.S. budget goes to foreign aid. It is actually less than 1 percent. Only 27 percent of Americans think that there is a scientific consensus on human-caused climate change according to a Pew poll.

In fact, 97 percent of climate scientists are sure.

Brennan asks us to imagine we are about to take an exam along with 210 million people. But your grade will be the average score of everyone taking the test.

What incentive do you have to study and give the best answers?

government. Our current voting system unfortunately creates warring tribes.

We feel like gladiators in a pit (Brennan’s words) who must kill or be killed.

People are actually quite competent in their daily lives. They educate themselves enough to find work; they secure shelter and raise children. Can we harness that competence for voting? Can we find better incentives for being informed?

Brennan suggests some kind of factual exam as an incentive. You don’t have to pass the test to vote. But perhaps you would get a financial reward if you do well before voting.

At the very least we need a way for people to understand the consequences of their votes. A majority of Americans say they want universal healthcare and free public college. These same people vote for candidates who oppose these things.

Can we develop a way for people to list the goals they want to achieve and then accurately select candidates and policies based on those goals and on established facts? Perhaps we will find that most of us share the most important goals?

•MJ

The climate crisis and COVID should make everyone aware that we need good governance with a long-time horizon

Brennan divides voters into three groups. “Hobbits” just want to live their lives. “Hooligans” are like soccer fans in Brazil. Very informed but very biased.

“Vulcans” are fact-based. Brennan admits that pure Vulcans may not exist, but he wants Vulcan-ish votes to count more than the others.

Issues like trade, healthcare, and the climate crisis are complex. “Gut feelings” are not helpful. Most Americans have no idea why international trade is even good.

“Can you explain the view of the other side in a way that they would accept” is something we also need from voters.

“I should sooner live in a society governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than in a society governed by the two thousand faculty members of Harvard University,” said conservative pundit William F Buckley. Brennan disagrees. He advocates for an “epistocracy” where people who have more information have more say. Maybe not Harvard Faculty. But we can establish who are experts in most fields.

John Stuart Mill argued for “plural voting” where people with more knowledge got extra votes.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton said that giving women the vote would empower women. But voting only empower groups, not individuals.

At the opposite end from epistocracy, Australian writer Tim Dunlop calls for a “People’s House,” an extra branch of government drawn by lottery like a giant jury.

But do we want a “fair” system or one that performs best? The climate crisis and COVID should make everyone aware that we need good governance with a long-time horizon. Some problems have to be solved with massive long-term investment, regardless of public opinions.

Philosopher David Hume refuted the idea that we “consent” to governance as we usually have no choice. But no large society has ever functioned without 26 November – 3 December 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

55

Far Flung Travel

Bears of the Sea

by Chuck Graham

I

’d never been so popular before, as dozens of northern fur seal pups surrounded me while mugging my kayak with demonstrative splashes and harmless bumps into my boat in the dense kelp forests of Adams Cove on the western fringe of San Miguel Island.

It was quite possible that these raucous eared fur seals – descendants of a long-gone terrestrial bear – had never seen a kayaker before, certainly not the pups that were born on the pearly white, windblown sands of Point Bennett.

Maybe even some of the sub-adult males and females that will eventually spend at least 300 days at sea per year had not witnessed a salt-encrusted kayaker before. Diving deep for pelagic fish in some of the roughest, most frigid waters on the planet would see to that.

On the Brink

The northern fur seal, Callorhinus ursinus, is one of those survivors of an era when all marine mammals were under threat of extinction. For the shaggy fur seal, it was their dense underfur that was highly sought after, and for their long whiskers useful for cleaning pipes.

That all changed with the coming of the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972. Today, their breeding and pupping grounds are predominantly the Pribilof Islands in Alaska and the Sea of Okhotsk, located between Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, Japan’s island of Hokkaido on the south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and north.

Fortunately, northern fur seals also prefer South Farallon Island just more than 20 miles west of the San Francisco Bay, and San Miguel Island in the Channel Islands National Park. San Miguel is the most southerly breeding and pupping colony of these stocky pinnipeds.

Unbridled Enthusiasm

The pups that were swimming around my kayak were forever curious, playful, and super cute. Their ears stuck straight out from their heads, resembling aquatic Yodas, as they bobbed and strained their necks to get their best look at me, before a demonstrative splash and dive below.

56 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Amongst all the playful pups, there were those fur seals that were completely disinterested in me. There were some I paddled past that were fast asleep on the canopy. It seemed all the resting pups struck the same pose at the surface of the water. Their tail flippers stuck straight up to catch the sun like a solar panel to thermoregulate. Their pectoral flippers arched back over their heads, almost in a yoga pose to shield their heads from the glaring sun.

In time, the pups would grow into their long, floppy pectoral flippers that highly resemble those of a deep-sea scuba diver. Awkward on land, northern fur seals are, however, able to climb up steep bluffs and shifting sand dunes.

Many of the pups form small nurseries while waiting for the moms to return from their deep dives for food.

Life on the Beach

Whether I was hiking across San Miguel Island or resting in my kayak atop the canopy of kelp, I could hear the pups calling for their moms – bah, bah, bahing. If I had not known better, I thought I would have found sheep huddling on a wind-groomed beach or frolicking in the thundering surf at Point Bennett.

At Point Bennett, it wasn’t uncommon to see northern fur seals hauled out with California sea lions and northern elephant seals, wallowing on the warm sandy beaches that fingered out toward wave-battered bluffs and guano-covered knobby spires.

Sometimes the elephant seals “allowed” young California sea lions to haul out on the broad backs of the second largest pinniped in the world. That was not the case with the fur seals. Concealed in the sand dunes overlooking Point Bennett, the northern fur seals proved to be more feisty and spent more time moving around, but when it was time to rest, the pups would locate a patch of sand and form nurseries away from all the drama near the shoreline.

Many of the northern fur seal pups opted for the corner of Adams Cove to wallow and roughhouse in the tidepools at lower tides. One afternoon, I found a young California sea lion pup tucked away from its fore-flippered kind, above the tide pools, thermoregulating between several other fur seal pups. Where was its mother, I wondered?

The mothers of the fur seal pups could be gone for as long as two days on their deep-sea pelagic hunts to satiate themselves. But, once they returned to the beach at Point Bennett, they called out to their anxious pups, searching the beach and sand dunes until they came across the one pup bah, bah, bleeting, thus replying the loudest.

Once mother and pup reunited with nuzzles, nursing ensued. There were lots of chunky, healthy pups on the beach. Unfortunately, there were pups I couldn’t help but wonder about. Nature is unfair at times, but that’s the cycle of life on the beach at Point Bennett.

•MJ

26 November – 3 December 2020

People of Montecito

Ernie’s World

by Megan Waldrep

Megan Waldrep is a writer for regional and national publications who lives with her fiancé in a 22’ airstream. She writes a weekly blog about being the partner of a commercial fisherman and authors a relationship column under the pen name Elizabeth Rose. Learn more at meganwaldrep.com.

Where Are You From and What Do You Do?

I

’m from Colorado, originally. I’ve been in California for 10 years and Santa Barbara for six. Growing up in a small town in Colorado, I didn’t think that existed in California. I thought it was all big city and hustle-bustle.

I’ve been with Wendy Foster/Pierre Lafond for four years and I’m the brand director for the Montecito, Santa Barbara, and Los Olivos locations. Which means I weathered the fires and mudslides with this company. Right now, I’m shooting images for our website, and we’ve got a lot of great product to shoot. We’re creating a shopping experience for our customers to shop all of our locations online. This is a service that we have never Michaela Donahue is brand director for the Montecito, offered before, so it’s been a Santa Barbara, and Los Olivos locations of Wendy Foster/ wild, yet rewarding ride to Pierre Lafond take our business online and assist customers virtually.

Michaela Donahue

What Makes Montecito Stand Out for You?

Children’s music singer-songwriter Lanny Sherwin with wife, Holly, and son Alec

Montecito Union School was a great fit for our son during his elementary years, and Coast Village Road and the Upper Village have been quaint yet perfectly suited to our lifestyle and needs. But there was some bad to come before it got better.

There were fires, then the Thomas Fire, then the debris flow, and suddenly Montecito seemed irreparably broken. In shock we mourned, we dug out, and then the sun began to shine as did our neighbors, emergency responders, and shopkeepers. And all the disparate parts of Montecito (and Santa Barbara as a whole) reached out, came together, and became a community.

In the aftermath of that traumatic time, we went from just loving our little town to being proud of it.

Lanny Sherwin •MJ 26 November – 3 December 2020

by Ernie Witham

Ernie has been writing humor for more than 20 years. He is the author of three humor books and is the humor workshop leader at the prestigious Santa Barbara Writers Conference.

Come on, Baby, Do the Mashed Potato

N

o doubt, this year we have had the stuffing knocked out of us. The coronavirus squashed any hopes of a normal year. The economy sank like a lead gravy boat. And we had a turkey in the...

“Wait. Are you really going to make us suffer through a Thanksgiving pun column?”

“Of course not, dear. Just trying to keep my readers abreast of the situation.”

“Please stop.”

“Your wish-bone is my command.”

Seriously, though, this may be the most unusual Thanksgiving since the one I spent with Franzia and the Swansons, as in three TV dinners and a box of estate Chablis.

When I was a kid in New Hampshire, we always went to Grammy and Grampa’s house, neither of whom was I actually related to. Henry Emerson adopted my mother and my Uncle Roland when they were six and four, respectively. Henry had several children of his own. Dot Emerson was his second wife. She had a daughter and several sisters, one of whom wore more makeup than the entire Kardashian family. She used to pinch my kid brother’s cheeks so much he looked wounded. “Jimmy! Have you been fighting?”

By the time I became one more bean in the family casserole... “Groaner!”

“Sorry dear.”. . . most of these folks had children of their own. In all, there must have been 20-25 people. And I never could figure out how we were all connected.

“Hey Little Ernie (I was always called Little Ernie, so no one would confuse me with my old man, Ernie the elder) you remember Wayne, Shawn, and Steve, right?”

“Ahh...”

“Hey Little Ernie, you remember the Philbricks from Maine, right?”

“Ahh...”

“Hey Little. . .”

“Can you not call me ‘Little’?”

“Sure. Hey kids you remember Ernie Junior, right?” Yeah, that’s better...

The big news of the day was how large a turkey Grammy had bought this year. “Twenty-two pounds? Wow!” “Butterball? No kidding.” “Enough giblets to make a gallon of guts gravy? Yum!” We all took turns looking at the turkey when Grammy opened the oven. There were many opinions as to when it would be ready. Most common one: no time in the immediate future.

The men all retired to the living room, where Grampa would light up a huge cigar and many of the other men would light up cigarettes. There was also a huge kerosene furnace in the room – which had been too large to fit into the cellar – adding to the ambiance. I used to hang out to learn some new dirty jokes and cuss words. Kind of a guy apprenticeship.

Most of the female members of the family would be in the small kitchen making enough side dishes and pies to last until spring. “Just one slice?” “Not yet.”

“Half a slice?” “Not yet.” “A chunk of burnt crust? Anything.”

At some point, usually after several beers, one of the uncles would suggest a football game to be held on a grassy side yard next to the driveway where a bunch of cars were parked. Fortunately, it was before car alarms: “Thud. Boink.

Splat.” “What should I do with this broken antenna?” “Hide it. Then go long again.”

Being an older home, it had another challenging feature: one bathroom. And it was right off the kitchen so everyone saw you go in and began timing you.

“Don’t take too long!” “Others are waiting, Little Ernie.” “There’s more paper under the sink if that’s what you’re doing.” To this day, I can’t ever remember actually peeing on Thanksgiving.

Seating was a logistical nightmare. A big table in the dining room. Another table in the kitchen. And there was a long closed-in unheated porch, where all us kids had to sit. When someone finally said, “let’s eat,” it was like trying to see how many college students you could fit into a Volkswagen Beetle.

And you did not want to be out of position when the announcement was proclaimed. Because all the kids fought for the middle of the table seats, where the turkey, potatoes, and stuffing were located. Miscalculate, and you were on one of the ends with all the vegetable dishes and the younger kids who spilled a lot.

Sigh. This year I’m even missing those Brussels sprouts.

“Are you done writing your punny column, Dear?”

“Yes... I yam.”

•MJ

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

57

The Natural (Continued from page 34) As a professional player Chris was willing to cross to the farthest reaches of the planet for experience, whether it was Portugal or Spain or Finland or Cyprus or Turkey

In 2017, when Chris became the coach of Illinois, he was only 36, but he already had one of collegiate volleyball’s most extensive coaching resumés

ny teenager than a towering man of 6’5” with unnatural hands and all those innate aptitudes you look for in a leader. “He was just a natural and he just had to learn how to make that work on the court and how to pull that from his teammates,” said Donnelly, who is now Laguna’s athletic director. “Chris is one of those players who makes people around him better just by being himself.”

As a teenager, Chris was as shrewd as he was talented. Full-ride college scholarships were rare for men’s volleyball players and even though he received multiple offers from prominent programs like UCLA or UCSD, Chris chose a smaller school with a lesser pedigree, the University of the Pacific. “His decision making was very clear, he knew what he was looking for and wanted to go U of P instead of UCLA, which was unheard of for a guy with that kind of talent,” said Donnelly, who also played volleyball at the Pacific. “It was just another example of him being him and staying true to who he was and what he wanted to do.”

Sacred Bonds

There is a convincing argument to be made that of all the team sports, volleyball is the most team oriented. Baseball, for example, is simply an individual sport disguised as a team one, wherein the selfish interests of the player are almost always aligned with those of his teammates. If a pitcher throws a strikeout, he has aided his team’s cause just as much as his own.

In basketball, a player is constantly conflicted between what is possibly best for him (taking the shot) and what is best for the team (making the pass).

Even in football, a sport whose team dynamics are most compared to volleyball, a quarterback can ignore throwing to available receivers down the field and elect to run it himself. By contrast, volleyball rarely rewards players for their individual exploits. It is a game that insists on its players perpetually working as a group in a clockwork of carefully calibrated sequences. An all-important dig makes that first essential bump (a pass) possible, a bump precipitates a set, and an effective set enables a perfect spike. “You cannot play the game one-on-one,” said Chris’s wife, Jen, a highly accomplished volleyball player in her own right. “You rely on everyone else’s touch to make a play and you’re constantly bettering the ball for your teammates with each perfect touch. There are so many times that require all of us running through fire for each other.”

58 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Indeed, every team sport has a way of forging a sacred bond between even the least devoted of its participants. What makes volleyball peculiar, though, based on my statistically insignificant sample of players, is how frequently those attachments become matrimonial. John Cook’s wife, Wendy, for example, was a two-time All-American setter at San Diego State. Russ Rose, the longtime head coach of the women’s volleyball team at Penn State, married Lori Barberich, who was a former three-time All-American, also at Penn State.

Meanwhile, Hugh McCutcheon, the coach at the University of Minnesota, is married to the former Elisabeth Bachman, a standout at UCLA who played on the U.S. national team at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. And that’s just coaches in the Big Ten conference. My superficial research on the subject has revealed that marriages abound in the cloistered, close-knit universe that is competitive volleyball.

Then there’s Chris and Jen. They met while he was a freshman at the Pacific, where he was already a starter and team captain. It was the fall of 1999 and Jen was visiting schools as a high school senior attending an all-girls Catholic school in San Jose. She first noticed Chris in a practice at the Pacific, describing the encounter as “one of those moments where it was as if nobody else existed in the gym except for him. I was watching him from the bleachers and I thought, ‘Holy smokes, who is this guy?’” Chris and Jen dated briefly her freshman year but Chris broke it off. “Long story short, she wanted to get serious, and I didn’t,” Chris recalled, with a laugh.

Friendship and volleyball kept them close throughout their time at the Pacific, where they were both first-team All-Americans in 2003. “I set him up with my girlfriends and he had me proofread his girlfriends’ love letters to him,” said Jen. “He would say things to me like, ‘Jen, I think this is a red flag, do you concur?’ We were really close friends.”

When they were both playing for the U.S. national volleyball team, they trained together in Colorado Springs. And a few years later, while she was playing for the national team in Japan and he was playing professionally in Cyprus, it was volleyball again that reconnected them. They began dating again months before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and Jen was selected to be on the team just weeks before the start of the games. “That summer I was on the phone with her every day until the early hours of the morning trying to help her with her nerves and calm her down,” said Chris. “She obviously did all the work.”

Shortly after Jen came home with a silver medal from Beijing, she and Chris got engaged and they married a year later in Paso Robles.

When I pointed out to Jen the number of married couples in the volleyball world, she wasn’t surprised. For starters, she told me she and Bachman had been roommates for five years while Bachman was dating McCutcheon, whereupon I concluded that volleyball wasn’t merely a close community but rather some benevolent cult. Jen lent further proof to my working theory by bringing up other volleyball marriages, including that of Texas volleyball coach Jerritt Elliott and Sarah Silvernail, who is regarded as the greatest player in the history of Washington State University. As to why so many volleyball players tie the knot with fellow volleyball players, Jen helped me make sense of this idiosyncrasy. She offered that it had something to do, in part, with volleyball’s way of drawing out essential virtues from its players, like devotion and self-sacrifice.

“I think we gravitate towards people that are like that, just selfless people,” she said. “If you get a volleyball couple together with those values, we stay together for life.”

26 November – 3 December 2020

With the volleyball season postponed to spring 2021, Chris has spent the off time on team building

Chris’s wife, Jen (middle left), is an assistant coach at Illinois and is a highly accomplished volleyball player in her own right

The Fourth Set

Illinois had jumped out to an immediate lead by essentially throwing Nebraska off guard. It cruised through the first two sets with four aces and no errors on its serves, an impressive stat given the team’s trademark aggressive serving. “We had a really good system, we used a really fast attack out of the back row, which you only really see in the men’s game,” said Chris. “It was difficult to stop if you’d never seen it.” By the fourth set, though, the team began committing miscues that kept the score neck and neck. But over time Nebraska’s experience and its defensive adjustments began wearing down its opponent. The defending champs built a commanding lead and took the fourth set with relative ease.

In any given year, the Big 10 conference is arguably America’s toughest. In 2018, it was unquestionably the most dominant, sending seven teams into the NCAA tournament, five of them ranked in the top 10. Illinois has historically been a top 30 program but has struggled to reach elite status. That rarefied air is reserved for perennial top fives like Stanford and Nebraska. And far as coaches go, John Cook of Nebraska is the gold standard. With four national championships, he is the volleyball equivalent of Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.

Chris swears it was all an accident, and I believe him, but his whole life has been a perfect blueprint for a head coaching job. For starters, as a professional player he was willing to cross to the farthest reaches of the planet for experience, whether it was Portugal or Spain or Finland or Cyprus or Turkey. In addition to Donnelly as a coach at Laguna, he also had Todd Rogers, the same one who won five Association of Volleyball Players championships. He played under the great Joe Wortmann at Pacific and served as an assistant at UC Riverside under Ron Larsen, a coach of the U.S. women’s national team, at Minnesota under McCutcheon, also a coach of the U.S. women’s national team, and then a two-year stint at Cal Poly under his former assistant at Pacific, Sam Crosson. In every coaching job Chris has held, Jen has sat a few seats away from him on the bench, where she serves as a volunteer coach and the team’s surrogate mother.

By the time Illinois came calling, at just 36 he was as close as it gets to a sure thing. Chris’s volleyball trajectory is comparable to a genius who spent 30 years as a computer programmer and worked with Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Larry Page before taking over his own tech company.

“In the coaching world, we are all products of our environments to a certain degree,” said Crosson, who is now head coach of the women’s team at UC Berkeley. “The thing that often gets overlooked is how much time Chris has put into his craft. The things that he’s doing at Illinois are absolutely not a surprise.

He’s very good at understanding the environment and he just has this relentless pursuit for maximizing the people around him in a very united way.”

(And while we’re keeping score, Crosson is married to, yes, a former volleyball player, the former Courtney Miller, who played at the Pacific.)

The Fifth Set

Following the 2006 season and after 34 international appearances, Chris was released from the U.S. national team. He was 25 and it was the first time in his entire life he’d been cut from any team in any sport. When I pointed this out, the observation didn’t seem to sting him. The people who know Chris – his wife, his parents, his coaches – all vouched for his ability to stay focused on what’s next and that he conveys this mindset to everyone around him. He treats defeat like any other mundane letdown that life will one day throw at you. Sometimes 26 November – 3 December 2020

it rains, sometimes you lose, one day a girl will break your heart and eventually you may not make the team. “Sure it’s tough when it’s something that you know and it’s something that you spent your whole life on,” Chris said. “But I also have perspective of it too and even at the time, that everyone’s really good and I just didn’t shine when I needed to. That’s just the way it goes.”

Perspective is something Chris talks about a lot these days. His team would be playing a new season now but with matches postponed until the spring of 2021, his players must grapple with a hard reality: that this year will be the first in their young lives without competitive play. It’s a relatively young team that replaced the loss of five starters. Chris has utilized the off time with team-building activities, including frequent discussions over Zoom.

“We kind of made the decision to not focus so much on the volleyball side of it because they couldn’t play,” Chris said. “You could take a ball and pass off a wall but it’s not the same as playing six on six with a ball that’s being hit at 70 miles per hour towards you. I didn’t see it as the time to say, OK we’re going to get better as players during this pandemic other than we’re going to get better as a team and improving the players as people.”

It was then I realized that Chris approaches volleyball in the same way he and Jen have helped me to see the sport – something which is as much a family bonding experiment to be nurtured as a game which can be mastered through repetition. To keep the disruptions caused by COVID-19 in perspective, Chris says he thinks about what his father and grandparents had to endure when they escaped Lithuania at the height of World War II. Pinched between Nazi forces and the advancing Russian army, the Tamasevicius family fled its home in Kaunas and spent years in a displaced persons camp. They landed at Ellis Island in 1949, abbreviated the name to Tamas and wound up in Amarillo, Texas.

A year ago, the bonding experiment that is the Tamas family was further nurtured: Chris’s parents, George and Mardee, left California and moved to Champaign to help Chris and Jen raise their three kids – Jimmy, Josephine, and Carly. True teamwork, on a court or otherwise, requires proximity.

As the fifth set got underway, the riskiness of Illinois’ aggressive serving was rearing its ugly head. It missed three consecutive serves and committed more unforced errors, preventing the team from closing out the match. But incredible play at the net gave Illinois, improbably, an early edge. Leading the way were Jordyn Poulter and Jacqueline Quade, two outstanding players who among so many other things came to incarnate the excitement that Chris brought to Illinois volleyball. Quade was a dominant force in that semifinal, leading all players in kills. And she punctuated that fact with her 28th kill late in the set to tie the match at 11.

Nebraska took the next point and on the following exchange, Foecke spiked a ball that was initially called out of bounds. The ruling tied the score, but a video review overturned the call. 13-11 Nebraska. And suddenly the atmosphere in the arena in Minneapolis became something entirely different. Pro-Nebraska chants of “Go Big Red” filled the air and what had one minute ago been an even contest on a neutral court felt like an away game. Illinois botched a return (14-11) and moments later Foecke spiked the game winner and the comeback was complete.

What happened next was something both touching and yet utterly confounding. Illinois had been two measly points away from reaching the final and it had just given away a nearly insurmountable lead to the defending national champions. It’s the kind of devastating, season-ending defeat that reduces even seasoned pros to fits of consternation. Grown men have flung their weary bodies onto grass fields and hardwood floors and wept tears of agony in contests of lesser significance. But the women of the Fighting Illini entertained no such nonsense. They simply gathered in a huddle and pumped each other up, as if to get ready for the next point, which in this instance would have to wait until the following year.

•MJ

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

59

Nosh Town (Continued from p. 22 SBWC WINE PAIRING: 2016 NOTARY PUBLIC CABERNET SAUVIGNON, SANTA YNEZ VALLEY t the Collective, we call this our “cabin in the woods wine.” Cozy and rustic, this wine beacons warmth. This cabernet is more floral than most cabs, with abundant fresh herb notes and liberal tannins. Hints of fresh rosemary and juniper offset the richness of a bold, medium cheddar. The wine’s lush fruit core balances the mustard and Worcestershire sauce of this fondue.

A

CRAB AND BRIE FONDUE Yield: Serves 4-6

SBWC WINE PAIRING: 2018 STOLPMAN LA CUADRILLA his wine welcomes festivity and gratitude. La Cuadrilla means “The Crew,” and this wine is a dedication to the vineyard workers on the Stolpman Estate. This wine – 70 percent Syrah, 15 percent Grenache, and 15 percent Sangiovese – presents spiciness from the Syrah, evoking cracked red chili pepper-like warmth. The peppery blend is balanced by red cherry and dark chocolate notes, contrasting with the creaminess of this delightful fondue.

T

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE FONDUE

INGREDIENTS: 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/4 cup minced shallots 2 cups heavy cream 8 ounces brie, trimmed of rind 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper 1 pound lump crabmeat, picked clean of shells and cartilage

Yield: Serves 6

Replace your cheeseboard with a fondue pot during the

PROCEDURE: winter months 1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and sauté for a minute until the shallots are soft and translucent.

2. Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Once the cream is hot and bubbling, add the brie and use a whisk to stir it into the cream. Season with the salt and pepper before adding the crabmeat.

3. Continue to cook the mixture over medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Remove from the heat and immediately transfer the mixture to a fondue pot and set over a low flame, stirring occasionally. Serve with a basket of cubed French or sourdough baguette and a side of artichoke hearts and fresh baby Bella (cremini) or white button mushrooms.

SBWC WINE PAIRING: CEBADA CANYON ESTATE 2017 SPARKLING ROSÉ his velvety sparkling wine is handcrafted in Santa Ynez by Sandra Newman. Scored 91 on Wine Enthusiast, this classic wine has a touch of rose on the nose, and whispers of strawberry and banana on the palate. Mousy effervescence and inviting minerality tantalizes the senses and makes this wine the perfect partner to this rich, smooth, brie-based fondue.

No sugar is added to this wine, allowing for one’s enjoyment without feeling the effects of a festive night the next day.

T

POT O’ CHOCOLATE Chocolate fondue is the ultimate winter pleaser. Chocolate is already decadent, so you can get fancy or keep it simple. Use a fondue pot with a double boiler or heat fondue mixture on the stove top and transfer to a fondue pot. Gift it or store it: You can prepare the fondue in advance and then store in glass jars in your refrigerator for up to four days. Reheat on low in the microwave.

COUNTRY CHOCOLATE FONDUE

INGREDIENTS: 1½ cups heavy cream 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 4 4-inch cinnamon sticks, crushed 1 teaspoon ground chile de árbol or cayenne pepper 8 ounces Mexican chocolate, coarsely chopped 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped PROCEDURE: 1. In a small saucepan, add the cream, cinnamon, and chili powder on medium to low heat, and bring to a simmer.

2. Place the Mexican chocolate and the semisweet chocolate in a medium-sized bowl.

Strain the milk and cream mixture over the chocolate, and stir, using a whisk to melt the chocolates.

3. Wipe sauce pan and pour mixture back into saucepan and simmer on low heat. If needed, stir in heavy cream a tablespoon at a time to adjust for a thinner consistency.

4. Whisk until smooth and then transfer to a fondue pot and serve with sliced bananas, fresh or dried mango and papaya. Serve with a bread basket filled with cubed pan dulce or cinnamon churros such as San Diablo Artisan Churros.

SBWC WINE PAIRING: A TRIBUTE TO GRACE 2017 VIE CAPRICE GRENACHE A Tribute to Grace’s 2017 Vie Caprice Grenache is romance in a glass. Dedicated to the heart Chakra, foot tread, and given verbal affirmations by the winemaker during fermentation, this wine is an expression of gratefulness and the divine. “I live in balance, in a state of gracefulness and gratitude,” are the words spoken by Angela Osborne as the wine is brought to fruition. Ruby red in color, this biodynamic and organic red has herbal notes of sage and a presence of tobacco on the nose, which complement the cinnamon and spice from the chile de árbol in this fondue. It is a dense Grenache without being overly jammy, the pallet is enveloped in soft doris plum and bourbon cherry. It is the perfect balance of sweetness and savory elements, excellent for food pairing, and a reminder to slow down, enjoy, and relish in its delight.

CHOCOLATE FONDUE WITH FRUIT AND GRILLED POUND CAKE Yield: Serves 6-8 INGREDIENTS: 1 pineapple, peeled, cored and sliced inch thick 1½ pound cakes, sliced 1 1/2 inches thick 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 4 apricots, pitted and quartered 1 cup heavy whipping cream 2 tablespoons bourbon 10 ounces semisweet chocolate (2 1/4 cups coarsely chopped) 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate (2 1/4 cups coarsely chopped) 1 pinch of salt

Yield: Serves 4 INGREDIENTS: 12 ounces semisweet, bittersweet, or milk chocolate, chopped 1 cup heavy whipping cream 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt Optional: 1/2 cup of crushed walnuts, almonds, or pecans Optional: 1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier or your favorite brandy Warm and decadent, chocolate fondue is the PROCEDURE: ultimate winter pleaser 1. Combine the chocolate and cream in a saucepan on low heat, stirring often, until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Don’t let it come to a boil; keep it on low heat.

2. Once melted, stir in the vanilla extract. Add 1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier or brandy, if desired. If needed, stir in heavy whipping cream a tablespoon at a time to adjust for a

60 MONTECITO JOURNAL

thinner consistency.

3. Pour the mixture into a fondue pot or small slow cooker to keep warm while serving.

Optional: Add ½ cup crushed nuts on top to finish.

4. Serve with sliced bananas, whole strawberries, pound cake, shortbread, biscotti, gingerbread cookies and marshmallows, regular or coconut coated.

PROCEDURE: 1. Light a grill. Grill the pineapple slices over moderate heat until charred on both sides, about 8 minutes.

2. Brush the pound cake with the melted butter and grill over moderate heat until toasted, about 4 minutes. Cut the cake into 1-inch cubes and transfer to a plate.

3. Cut the pineapple into 1-inch cubes and transfer to a separate plate along with the apricots.

4. In a medium saucepan set on the grill, bring the cream and the bourbon to a simmer.

Add both chocolates and the salt and remove from the grill. Let stand for 5 minutes, then

“I like football. It’s a great way to avoid conversation with your family at Thanksgiving.” – Craig Ferguson

26 November – 3 December 2020

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We encourage you to support your local dining venues and wine boutiques!

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D’ANGELO BREAD

7am to 2pm

‘ LUCKY S STEAKS - CHOPS - SEAFOOD - COCKTAILS 1279 COAST VILLAGE ROAD (805) 565-7540

Sweet Wheel Farm & Flowers

Local PUMPKIN Pick-up!

Miniature, Heirlooms and Pumperific sizes!

1150 Coast Village Road or 2285 Lillie Avenue @SweetWheelFarms

25 W. GUTIERREZ STREET (805) 962-5466

come in, get hooked

BLUEWATERGRILL.COM 15 E CABRILLO BLVD 805 845 5121

whisk until smooth.

5. Serve the fondue with the grilled pound cake and fruit.

(Source: Food & Wine Magazine) SBWC WINE PAIRING: TATOMER’S 2017 STEINHÜGEL RIESLING atomer’s 2017 Steinhügel Riesling is an expression of “bone dry” Rieslings typical of Germany and Austria, where Tatomer studied winemaking and sought inspiration.

Steinhügel means “stone pile” – alluding to the granite decomposite behind Big Sur in the San Lucia Highlands where the grapes are harvested. This wine is an easy drinker, with long textures of mouthwatering minerality. We chose this wine for this fondue to show its versatility; it is light enough to balance the heaviness of the pound cake, but has generous fruit notes, complementing the grilled pineapple and apricots. Tatomer’s Steinhügel is an approachable and enjoyable white for any time of day, a sophisti- Marina Sonn of Santa Barbara Wine Collective cated divergence of typical expression of recommends a variety of pairings depending on Californian terroir.

•MJ whatever fondue you choose

T

26 November – 3 December 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

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CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING (805) 565-1860 ESTATE/SENIOR SERVICES THE CLEARING HOUSE, LLC

Recognized as the area’s Premier Estate Liquidators - Experts in the Santa Barbara Market! We are Skilled Professionals with Years of Experience in Downsizing and Estate Sales.

Personalized service. Insured. Call for a complimentary consultation.

Elaine (805)708-6113 Christa (805)450-8382 Email: theclearinghouseSB@cox.net Website: www.theclearinghouseSB.com MOVING MISS DAISY Full Service SAFE Senior Relocation and Estate Liquidation Services Including: Packing and Unpacking, Estate Sales, Online Auctions and our own Consignment Shop! We are Licensed, Bonded, Liability Insured, Workers Comped, Certified

by The National Assoc Of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) and The American Society of Estate Liquidators (ASEL).

Glenn Novack, Owner.

805-770-7715 info@movingmissdaisy.com MovingMissDaisy.com Consignments@MovingMissDaisy. hibid.com

Hello, my name is Andrea. I recently moved to Santa Barbara from LA. After taking care of my father full-time for three years, I became very passionate about caring for the elder care community. I started a small Elder Care and Alzheimer’s business and have over ten years of experience. Please contact me at andreabyrnes1@yahoo.com or 310-686-5650. I can send you links to videos outlining my services. Thank you.

SENIOR HELP WANTED Senior citizen with arthritis needs help Tuesday & Friday between 7-9 am. Feeding & playing with 3 friendly, wonderful dogs for approx 1 hour.

Perhaps en route to your full-time job or school. Near Lotusland. 805 969-9699.

Please leave a detailed message on land line.

OCEAN VIEW! Rare availability in Santa Barbara Cemetery.

Beautiful, picturesque final resting place available.

Located in Ocean View - Add. G - plot for 2 cremated remains.

Oceanview is completely sold out. My situation changed so making this lovely space yours is easy.

(805)705-8447 or liveloveprayeveryday@gmail.com

WRITING SERVICES

PHYSICAL TRAINING

Accomplish Something Exceptional While Sheltering at Home Preserve your life story! The story of a person’s life, told properly, is a marvel.

It can be preserved as family treasure, or it can fade away. I write biographies and autobiographies, producing beautiful books that are thorough, professional, distinctive, impressive and entertaining. Many of my projects are gifts to honor beloved parents or spouses. I also assist with memoirs or other books.

David Wilk (805) 455-5980 wilkonian@sbcglobal.net.

Excellent references. www.BiographyDavidWilk.com

Fit for Life REMOTE TRAINING AVAILABLE Customized workouts and nutritional guidance for any lifestyle. Individual/ group sessions.

Specialized in corrective exercise – injury prevention and post surgery. House calls available. Victoria Frost- CPT & CES 805-895-9227

ITEMS FOR SALE

NOW OPEN GOT OSTEOPOROSIS? We can help! At OsteoStrong our proven non-drug protocol takes just ten minutes once a week to improve your bone density and aid in more energy, strength, balance and agility. Please call for a complimentary session!

CALL NOW (805) 453-6086

POSITION WANTED UPDATED CONTACT INFO! PRIVATE CHEF Private Chef/Estate Mngr/Shiatsu Practitioner 25 years experience specializing in fine dining, with an emphasis on natural wellness cuisine if desired. Live-in or live-out, full or part-time. 7 day menu available.

Excellent references. 781-856-0359 robertpdonahue@icloud.com AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY

PRIVATE CHEF AVAILABLE. Well known Chef in Montecito is available for small gatherings or in-home meals. From casual lunch to fine dining style dinner, I can prepare great food for you. Please contact me at 805-450-6746 or e-mail chefwestproduction@msn.com WELLNESS COUNSELING Bio-Spiritual Wellness Coach Body, Mind, Soul Support Yoga, Stretching, Meditation Contemplation, 20+ yrs exp.

Ruthie Huron 484-357-6611

TRESOR We Buy, Sell and Broker Important Estate Jewelry. Located in the upper village of Montecito. Graduate Gemologists with 30 years of experience.

We do free evaluations and private consultation.

1470 East Valley Rd suite V. 805 969-0888 Baths are the bomb and we have them. myrivieralife.com For sale burial plot #586 CEMETERY 901 Block D, Channel Drive 805 448-1269

$8 minimum

RENTAL WANTED LAND FOR TEEPEE. Seeking beautiful, spacious, private, very quiet land to rent, care-take, or trade services.

805 637 9934

WANTED We buy Classic Cars Running or not.

We are local to Santa Barbara Foreign/Domestic Porsche/Mercedes We come to you.

1(800)432-7204

Over 25 Years in Montecito

Over25 25Years YearsininMontecito Montecito Over

MONTECITO MONTECITO MONTECITO ELECTRIC ELECTRIC ELECTRIC

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Minimum is $8 per week/issue. Photo/logo/visual is an additional $20 per issue.

Email text to frontdesk@montecitojournal.net or call (805) 565-1860 and we will respond with a cost.

Deadline for inclusion is Monday before 2 pm.

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SPECIAL SERVICES

“Thanksgiving dinners take 18 hours to prepare. They are consumed in 12 minutes.” – Erma Bombeck

EXCELLENTREFERENCES R EFERENCES EXCELLENT EXCELLENT REFERENCES • Repair Wiring • Wiring • Repair Repair Wiring • Inspection • Electrical Remodel Wiring • Remodel Wiring • • New New Wiring • Wiring New Wiring • • Landscape LandscapeLighting Lighting • Landscape Lighting • • Interior InteriorLighting Lighting • Interior Lighting

(805) 969-1575 969-1575 (805) 969-1575 (805) STATE LICENSE STATE LICENSENo. No.485353 485353

STATE LICENSE No. 485353 MAXWELLL. HAILSTONE MAXWELLL. HAILSTONE MAXWELL L. HAILSTONE 1482 East Valley Road, Suit 147 East Valley Road, Suit 147 1482 East Valley Road, Suite 147 Montecito, California 93108 Montecito, California 93108 Montecito, California 93108

www.montecitoelectric.com www.montecitoelectric.com 26 November – 3 December 2020

ADVERTISE IN THE LOCAL BUSINESS DIRECTORY (805) 565-1860

FAST TURN AROUND - QUALITY GUARANTEED

WE BUILD

ARCHITECTURAL

ARGENTINE BARBECUES

FACTORY

Local Contractor Licence #911243 Cristian Salamanca (805) 696-8507

Custom made Stainless Steel/Iron Cristian Salamanca - (805) 696 - 8507

www.larenaissanceofart.com

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE Ghost-town site, 168 lots, 40 acres, utilities. Spokane, WA. River to Rosevelt Rec area, $125,000 total, Details 509 359-0662 SB.

Bike Delivery or Pickup

Sourdough … Bread, Cookies, and Scones

for Estates and Insurance Graduate Gemologist ~ Established 1974 Sales of Custom Designed and Estate Jewelry Purchasing Estates sbjewelers@gmail.com or 805-455-1070

1348 Bikery

www.larenaissanceofart.com/argentinebarbecue

STEVEN BROOKS JEWELERS Appraisals

We design We fabricate We build We install

CAL STATE HAULING

Emilio Rossi Owner

“You Load or We Load & Haul Away”

(805) 319-8404 1348bikery@gmail.com www.1348bikery.com www.instagram.com/1348bikery

• Debris Removal • Material Pickup (sand, rock, gravel, mulch etc.)

• Move Out Clean Ups • Residential and Commercial Fully Licensed and Insured

RENTAL AVAILABLE

REAL ESTATE WANTED

For rent: 1 bedroom/1bath loft apartment . 1 block from the beach and the Funk Zone. Call Annick at 805-708-0320 for more information. $3395/month

Local PP wants to purchase SFR; or 2 to 4 units with FHA financing; or lease with option; or seller financing.

805-538-1119 or JBG PO Box 3963; SB, Calif. 93130.

805-259-4075

lic#974407

DONATIONS NEEDED Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary Menagerie 2340 Lillie Avenue Summerland CA 93067 (805) 969-1944

CA$H ON THE SPOT CLASSIC CARS RV’S • CARS SUV • TRUCKS ! u o y o t e MOTORHOMES We com 702-210-7725 26 November – 3 December 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

63

“Good Food for Good People”

LUCKY’S steaks /chops /seafood /cocktails

Dinner & Cocktails Nightly, Lunch Monday-Friday, Brunch Saturday & Sunday Montecito’s neighborhood bar and restaurant. 1279 Coast Village Road Montecito CA 93108 (805)565-7540 www.luckys-steakhouse.com Photography by Alexandra DeFurio