LOVE THOSE LETTERS by Montecito Journal

The best things in life are

MINEARDS’ MISCELLANY

FREE 24 – 31 Dec 2015 Vol 21 Issue 51

The Voice of the Village

S SINCE 1995 S

Penny Bianchi and Ella Brittingham score School of Rock tickets from writer Mike White, P. 6

THIS WEEK IN MONTECITO, P.11 • SEEN AROUND TOWN, P.14 • CALENDAR OF EVENTS, P.34

VILLAGE BEAT

Medical Marijuana Regulation & Safety Act subject of discussion at Montecito Planning Commission, p.12

COMING & GOING

Mollie Ahlstrand’s brother, who heads up African continent’s diabetes campaign, lectures at Cottage and Sansum, p.24

LOVE THOSE LETTERS West Coast directors and producers see stage acting as “a strange indoor activity,” says Brian Dennehy, but the veteran actor begs to differ as he and Carol Burnett gear up for some passionate Love Letters on stage at the Vic (interview on p.28)

Real Estate View

There are just 125 homes for sale in Montecito at this time; Mark Hunt highlights four that meet his top criteria, p.37

MONTECITO | Tuscan-Style Estate 5BD/8BA | $23,500,000

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MONTECITO JOURNAL

• The Voice of the Village •

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24 – 31 December 2015

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24 – 31

December 2015

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MONTECITO JOURNAL

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Dream.

Design.

Build.

Deck the Halls.

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MONTECITO JOURNAL

5 Editorial In part two of a three-part series, updates from the Montecito community include in-depth answers from mayor Helene Schneider and Timothy Gubbins of Caltrans District 5 6 Montecito Miscellany Tickets to School of Rock; Joe Buttita races to the altar; O magazine on self improvement; banker Janet Garufis; Arts Fund mural; cartoonist Ashleigh Brilliant; The Treasures of Spain; gala for sculptor Robert Emmons; SB Ballet’s The Nutcracker; Quire of Voyces; Cold Spring School Children’s Choir; Hospice of Santa Barbara bash; and farewell to actress Holly Woodlawn 8 Letters to the Editor Jeff Farrell writes about his book; Christina Allison gets twitchy; Teddy Roosevelt (circa 1907) on immigration; Michael Edwards on the latest MA meeting; Frank McGinity celebrates William Butler Yeats; Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care chimes in; Leslie Nelson responds to David Krieger’s recent story; Diana Thorn on climate change; and David McCalmont returns to the fold 10 Village Beat Montecito students and groups unite for Community Tree; MPC explores regulations about marijuana; and the MUS Mustangs Give Back charity event 11 This Week Public libraries; holiday volunteers; Christmas Eve and Christmas services; SB Zoo; Mary-Louise Parker at Chaucer’s; Summerland yoga; walk into new year; New Year’s Eve; date night at zoo; inner guidance; YMCA Open House Day; tree collection program; art classes; Adventuresome Aging; Cava entertainment; brain fitness; Story Time; Italian conversation; farmers and artisans markets; and Cars & Coffee 14 Seen Around Town Lynda Millner celebrates history at the SB museum; Christmas gala at Casa del Herrero; and Breast Cancer Resource Center’s tea and fashion 19 On Entertainment Steven Libowitz gets the scoop about Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven’s return to the Lobero; SB Symphony director Nir Kabaretti prepares to conduct New Year’s Eve concert; Q&A with musician Will Champlin 22 Tide Guide Handy chart to assist readers in determining when to take that walk or run on the beach 24 Coming & Going James Buckley catches up with Mollie Ahlstrand’s Ethiopian family; Montecito Motor Classic gives $100K to SB Police Foundation and PAL; and New Year’s Eve at Nippers 28 On Stage Actor Brian Dennehy gets personal about reprising his Love Letters character with Carol Burnett; their show is set for January 17 at the New Vic Theatre 29 Our Town Joanne Calitri and more than 100 artists flocked to the Giffords’ home for a celebration of poetry and the new local media entity Gunpowder Press 32 Legal Advertising 34 Calendar of Events Les Marchands and Ramen; Bayou Seco at Carrillo Rec Center; MaryLouise Parker at Chaucer’s; Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Trio performs at SOhO; additional sounds of jazz; New Year’s Eve, SOhO-style; Ventura Improv Company and Rubicon; La Casa de Maria hosts “Walking into New Year”; Bacara Ballroom disco; and Molly Ringwald Project 37 Real Estate View Mark Hunt feels right at home recommending his four favorite (out of 48) homes on the market around Montecito, ranging in price from $2.7 to $14 million 38 Classified Advertising Our very own “Craigslist” of classified ads, in which sellers offer everything from summer rentals to estate sales 39 Local Business Directory

• The Voice of the Village •

24 – 31 December 2015

Editorial

Building

Mr. Hazard is an Associate Editor of this paper and a former president of Birnam Wood Golf Club

Montecito Mysteries Unraveled: Part 2

Peace of

Mind

ast week, both Rick Caruso and Craig McCaw responded to our queries as to an update on the Miramar and the Peabody’s location. This week, we looked to Santa Barbara City mayor Helene Schneider and Caltrans District 5 director Timothy Gubbins. What follow are their respective responses:

Helene Schneider

Q: Has the City of Santa Barbara reached a definitive agreement with Union Pacific Railroad to lengthen the railroad bridge over Cabrillo Boulevard, and what is the status of the Olive Mill/Coast Village Road roundabout? A. I am very pleased that our collective efforts with the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG), Caltrans, and Union Pacific Railroad have been productive. Union Pacific Railroad has granted written permission to lengthen its bridge, which is essential for us to move forward. Lengthening the Union Pacific Railroad Bridge over Cabrillo Boulevard will help to reduce traffic congestion and commute times, improve access to Highway 101, reduce traffic congestion along East Beach, Cabrillo Boulevard, and the Los Patos area, and create safer pedestrian and bicycle access at this location. Combined with a re-opening of the now-closed southbound 101 entrance ramp, congestion on Coast Village Road will be substantially reduced at project completion. The SBCAG Board determined that the bridge replacement would be a parallel project to the overall Highway 101 project. The City is working jointly and cooperatively with SBCAG staff to move this project forward expeditiously. The preliminary cost estimate of the bridge lengthening is $24,650,000. The SBCAG Board has identified funding for the design and environmental stages of the project; however, the bulk of the funding necessary for construction has not yet been identified. In addition, the Olive Mill Interchange was also made a parallel project of the Highway 101 HOV (High-Occupancy Vehicle lane) Project by the SBCAG Board. The City has developed a preliminary design for a roundabout at the five-way intersection of Coast Village Road, Olive Mill Road, North Jameson Lane, and the 101 southbound on-ramp. This important interchange improvement will lessen future traffic congestion along Coast Village Road and eliminate projected 101 off-ramp backups that could extend onto the northbound freeway. A joint meeting of the City and Montecito Planning Commissions will be held January 21, 2016, at 1 pm at City Hall to introduce the roundabout concept to decision-makers and the Montecito and Santa Barbara communities. As with all the other parallel projects, no funding has been secured. I have and will continue to work as Santa Barbara mayor with City staff, the City Planning Commission, and regional agencies to expeditiously move these projects forward, and focus on securing the necessary funding sources for construction.

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Q: What is the status of progress on the 101 HOV Widening Project? What are the implications of Judge Anderle’s recent decision challenging the adequacy of the Caltrans CEQA environmental document? A. The good news is that the US 101 widening project from Mussel Shoals to Santa Barbara is nearly halfway to completion. Phase 1, which added a third lane for the two-mile stretch on US 101 from Milpas Street to the Hot Springs/Cabrillo Interchange, was completed in 2012. Phase 2, from Mussel Shoals in Ventura County to Bailard Avenue in Carpinteria was completed this year. That six-mile section of US 101 now includes carpool lanes that will be the main feature of the widening project between Santa Barbara and Carpinteria. Phase 3, which reconstructs the Linden Avenue and Casitas Pass interchanges in the City of Carpinteria to accommodate the future freeway widening project, is scheduled to begin next summer. We expect the California Transportation Commission to allocate the full $60 million in funding for this phase at its

EDITORIAL Page 334 24 – 31

December 2015

There are no toads native to Australia.

MONTECITO JOURNAL

CREATING SANTA BARBARA INTERIORS FOR 20 YEARS

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, host on E! TV, a correspondent on the syndicated show Extra, and a commentator on the KTLA Morning News. He moved to Montecito eight years ago.

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MONTECITO JOURNAL

ndrew Lloyd-Webber’s new show School of Rock is currently the hottest ticket on Broadway, but getting ducats for the coveted first night at the 1,526-seat Winter Garden Theatre was a breeze for Montecito interior designer Penny Bianchi and her daughter, Ella Brittingham. The tony twosome are longtime friends of 45-year-old Mike White, the highly praised show’s writer, with Ella attending the same pre-school together with him in Pasadena. “Mike’s parents were divorced when he was very young and so, as a little boy, he was often at our house,” says Penny, forever to be known as Oprah’s next door neighbor. “The Bianchi household was a second home for him.” When Mike and Ella reached their 19th birthdays, they drove across the U.S. together. Mike became friends with actor Jack Black and ended up writing a movie for him, so School of Rock was born in 2003, grossing $35 million and becoming a cult film for the younger set. Penny was at Mike’s home in Santa Monica when the fateful call came from the mega-composing British lord saying he’d like to do a musical based on the film, with Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes, a good friend of Montecito jewelry designer Corinna Gordon. After the premiere, Penny and Ella attended the after-party at the Hard Rock Cafe, just a tiara’s toss away, By coincidence, the next day Penny was having lunch with an old acquaintance, David Patrick Columbia, who edits the popular blog New York Social Diary, at the media lunchtime hangout, Michael’s, and bumped into Mike and Lloyd Webber – penner of such hits as Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Evita, and Jesus Christ Superstar – who were also noshing there. “Fate works in mysterious ways,” jokes Penny. Race to the Altar After winning $1 million as the victors in the CBS show The Amazing Race, congratulations are again in order for KEYT-TV morning anchor Joe Buttita and reporter Kelsey Gerckens. The dynamic duo have taken their relationship to the next level.

• The Voice of the Village •

Penny Bianchi and daughter Ella hit Andrew Lloyd Webber’s first night (photo by Priscilla)

KEYT’s Joe Buttita and Kelsey Gerckens engaged (photo: cbs.com)

While filming a segment for Hallmark Channel Home in Los Angeles, Joe, 26, went down on one knee and proposed. Reporter Kelsey, 25, seemingly unaware of what was happening kept a straight face, but eventually broke into a broad smile, saying “Oh my gosh, Yes.” “Kelsey, I love you so much and we have been on this amazing journey together,” said Joe. “I can’t imagine being with anyone else.” It also helped that the show had presented him with a suitable diamond engagement ring just before taping. “I took advantage of the moment,” he tells me exclusively.

MISCELLANY Page 164 24 – 31 December 2015

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December 2015

MONTECITO JOURNAL

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 D, Montecito, CA. 93108. You can also FAX such mail to: (805) 969-6654, or E-mail to jim@montecitojournal.net

Hardware & Books

e: Tom Kress’s note and your nice comment about Montecito Village Hardware (“More DillyDally,” MJ #21/49). Just because I am an occasional customer and a familiar face, Montecito Village Hardware is kindly offering my book, My Olympic Story – Rome 1960, for sale, and they have sold more copies than all of those sold by Tecolote, Read n’ Post, Chaucer’s, and the now-defunct Granada bookstores. Jeff Farrell Montecito (Editor’s note: Mr. Farrell is an Olympic gold-medalist swimmer whose exploits at the 1960 Olympics in Rome are the stuff of legend; I’ll have to pick up my copy at Montecito Village Hardware! – J.B.)

A Twitching Tale

Just to bring you up to date on my battle with twitchitis. I was going to the expert as ordered, when one day, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that both of his thumbs were

afflicted with twitchitis... Yes, both! I asked him about it and he started yelling: “I was doing important research, important, on my computer, when all of a sudden it was invaded with little boxes, with little x’s... an army of them I tell you, an army, marching, marching over my screen, interrupting my research, important, important research. Aaahh.” Men came and took the expert away. He is now in Twitching Towers undergoing intensive rehab. Pricey, but I hear the food is good. He is making steady progress and, I hear, gaining weight. I, too, am getting along quite well, tucked away in a little back room of our wonderful Montecito village library, writing in longhand. Soon I shall be back to normal, whatever that is. Twitchingly yours, Christina Allison Montecito (Editor’s note: Thumbs are used, as we understand it, in texting and not with

most computers, which have keyboards large enough to accommodate those of us familiar with typing the ordinary way. Perhaps you need to transfer your twitches... – J.B.)

Unfortunately, he didn’t mean any of it. Perhaps Mr. Roosevelt did and maybe the next president will. – J.B.)

The Assimilator

I attended the recent Montecito Association meeting in our town hall recently and was surprised to find very few attendees. Those who did show up left after they spoke their minds, and I was left alone taking in the proceedings. It seems as though interest has quieted down since the Miramar Hotel project got passed and AirBnB came under watchful eyes. I couldn’t help but feel sad as issues still under scrutiny were discussed, and argued, in the most civil manner I can imagine, without an audience. Then it dawned on me that these are gifts, this little town hall and our humble newspaper. How American! How free! We are really lucky to have access and a voice in issues concerning our little village, and lucky indeed to have the Montecito Association and the Montecito Planning Commission to keep watch for us concerning things that will affect those of us who live here and a newspaper to report the findings. I just hope I see more familiar faces and fewer empty seats next time around. Michael Edwards Montecito

Theodore Roosevelt’s ideas on Immigrants and being an American in 1907: “In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American... There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language. And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.” Theodore Roosevelt Washington, D. C. (Editor’s note: Well, in 2004, a community organizer from Illinois by the name of Barack Hussein Obama gave a stirring speech in which he declared that “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America – there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America – there’s the United States of America.” That speech won him a U.S. Senate seat two years later and the presidency two years after that.

Anybody Home?

Happy Birthday Wishes

This year will mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of William Butler Yeats. He was an icon in the literary world and was considered one of the best poets of the last century. He received the Nobel Prize for

The best little paper in America (Covering the best little community anywhere!) Publisher Timothy Lennon Buckley Editor At Large Kelly Mahan • Managing Editor James Luksic • Design/Production Trent Watanabe Associate Editor Bob Hazard

Advertising Manager/Sales Susan Brooks • Advertising Specialist Tanis Nelson • Advertising Exec Kim Collins • Office Manager / Ad Sales Christine Merrick • Proofreading Helen Buckley • Arts/Entertainment/Calendar/ Music Steven Libowitz • Columns Erin Graffy, Scott Craig, Julia Rodgers • Gossip Thedim Fiste, Richard Mineards • History Hattie Beresford • Humor Ernie Witham, Grace Rachow Photography/Our Town Joanne A. Calitri • Society Lynda Millner Travel Jerry Dunn • Sportsman Dr. John Burk • Trail Talk Lynn P. Kirst Medical Advice Dr. Gary Bradley, Dr. Anthony Allina • Legal Advice Robert Ornstein Published by Montecito Journal Inc., James Buckley, President 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 D, Montecito, CA 93108. How to reach us: Editorial: (805) 565-1860; Sue Brooks: ext. 4; Christine Merrick: ext. 3; Classified: ext. 3; FAX: (805) 969-6654; Letters to Editor: Montecito Journal, 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite D, Montecito, CA 93108; E-MAIL: news@montecitojournal.net

MONTECITO JOURNAL

• The Voice of the Village •

24 – 31 December 2015

Literature in 1923. The American Irish Historical Society is leading the effort to memorialize Yeats with a film on his life and poetry. We have raised approximately $4,000 so far, including a contribution from the American Irish Historical Society. The cost of the film is $5,000. We are $1,000 short of our projection and are seeking outside help from our members and friends. Quastra Productions, which did an excellent job on our Nicolas Den film, has completed about 75 percent of the Yeats film. Professor Enda Duffy of UCSB has narrated a good part of the film and T.C. Boyle has agreed to be in the film as well. From our research, there has never been a film made on William Butler Yeats. Frank McGinity Montecito (Editor’s note: Anyone interested in getting involved in this film is invited to call Mr. McGinity at 805-965-2022.)

Angels Among Us

We were honored to host two beautiful and memorable Angels Among Us remembrance services recently – one in Buellton and one in Santa Barbara. The services included lovely music, heartwarming reflections, delicious refreshments, and an opportunity to remember loved ones by lighting a candle, and placing an angel on a tree or in our Gathering of Angels. Thank you to the nearly 175 people who attended the services, and to the 400-plus who have placed an angel in our Gathering of Angels. The Gathering of Angels displays hundreds of angels with words of dedication and remembrance. You may still place an angel in the Gathering by providing the name of your loved one (and a message if you’d like) to be inscribed on an angel. The Gathering of Angels is located in our Community Room at 602 East Montecito Street in Santa Barbara and will continue to be on display through the end of the year, so you can view its unique beauty and read the messages that have been lovingly written on the angels. Angels Among Us is a special offering over the holidays to honor and remember those who live in our memories. For over a decade, Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care has provided families in our community a time of reflection and support through Angels Among Us. The staff at Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care Santa Barbara (Editor’s note: Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care offers bereavement support & counseling, rehabilitation therapies, and both personal and hospice care. You are invited to visit its website at: www. vnhcsb.org for more information.) 24 – 31

December 2015

Way Too Late

Re: David Krieger’s cover story in the Voices section in a recent issue of the Santa Barbara News-Press: “War is not the Answer.” Mr. Krieger truly believes a new way of thinking based on “avoiding wars rather than perpetuating them” is the solution for ending the “vengeance and retaliation loop.” Please correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this the exact path that got President Obama elected (not once, but twice) by promising to withdraw U.S. presence and influence from the Middle East? Why else was he hailed as the new Messiah, this totally inexperienced community organizer, not only winning the White House, but also being handed the Nobel Peace Prize during his second week in the Oval Office. Snubbing Israel (the only democracy in the Middle East) was top on his to-do list, if you recall. President Obama’s inaction and lack of leadership created the vacuum for ISIS to grow, expand, and flourish, producing unforeseen consequences such as the greatest mass migration of displaced people (refugees and migrant workers) since World War II. Being president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in Santa Barbara, Mr. Krieger ended his article focusing on nuclear deterrence and nuclear terrorism: “It is now past time to begin negotiating seriously to create a Nuclear Zero world, as we are required to do under international law.” I’m afraid to disclose that ship has sailed. It may interest the readers, as well as David Krieger, that at least six European bases are being upgraded with U.S. nuclear bombs, refitting Germany’s Tornado attack planes with B61-12’s nuclear bomb missiles with guided tailgates for better accuracy. The BBC Int’l news (CH-129) also showed a map of the Middle East and reported that 50 of these upgraded nuclear bombs will be stored in Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, “only 68 miles from Syria, in underground storage.” A segment taken directly from German 24-hour news Panavia showed the German Torpedos with the upgraded nuclear missiles in flight (a sight I’ll never forget), and in English explaining: “These are the latest U.S. Nuclear Weapons under a Nuclear Sharing Agreement via Modernization on German bases.” I learned about this late September 2015. If we Americans rely only on local news, we don’t have a clue what’s actually happening, except that Charlie Sheen got HIV due to his lifestyle. What stands in the way of a nuclear zero world is the quantum physics

WHEN INVESTING, WE REMOVE THE VAGARIES OF EMOTION. BECAUSE THEY ARE VAGARIES. Let’s make one thing perfectly clear; we are not some unfeeling

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LETTERS Page 184 Honey makes a good antibiotic because it draws moisture out of everything it touches.

MONTECITO JOURNAL

Village Beat Kim Snyd er MISCHIEF

Welcomes Celebrated Artist

by Kelly Mahan

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 Village Properties and the Calcagno & Hamilton team. She can be reached at Kelly@montecitojournal.net.

Tree Trimming in Montecito

Flamingo Rose 40 x 30 oil linen

original oil paintings • wildlife • seascapes • landscapes • pet portraits 1225 Coast Village Road, Suite B, Montecito, CA 93108 805-565-9588 | open 10-5 daily

n December 18, Montecito Union students, MFPD fire fighters, members of the Montecito Association, and others came out to help decorate Montecito’s Community Tree. The tree, located on San Ysidro Road in front of the tennis courts in Manning Park, was planted in 2011, in honor of former Montecito Fire chief Don Hathaway, who sta=rted the tree trimming tradition many years ago. Back then, the “community tree” was located at the corner of San Ysidro Road and North Jameson Lane, visible from the 101 freeway. The Hathaway family started the decorating tradition; Don, Helen, Ronda, and Dean would adorn the tree during a secret nighttime mission. In the late ‘70s, Doug Coale, owner of Mesa Tree, began helping when the tree became too large to manage; he would bring out his cherry picker and hoist volunteers high enough to put garland on the top half of the tree. Eventually the tree-trimming mis-

Dick Thielscher helps decorate the Community Tree last week

sion took on a life of its own, with Don enlisting the help of Dana Newquist to continue the tradition. Eventually, it has grown to include members of the community as well as Montecito Firefighters, the Beautification

VILLAGE BEAT Page 124

“ Cancer medicine is no longer one

size fits all. Each patient here gets a treatment plan custom tailored to their unique situation. We’re not treating Mr. Smith for lung cancer. We’re treating Mr. Smith’s lung cancer.” — fred kass, md medical oncologist wellness medical director trained at harvard, yale, and dana-farber cancer institute.

Focused on Cancer. Centered on You. The Cancer Center of Santa Barbara delivers integrated, multi-disciplinary methods of screening, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and supportive care of cancer. And we do all this right here, close to your home, family and friends.

10 MONTECITO JOURNAL

• The Voice of the Village •

(805) 682-7300 • CCSB.org

24 – 31 December 2015

This Week in and around Montecito

Make it a December to Remember Merry Christmas!

(If you have a Montecito event, or an event that concerns Montecito, please e-mail kelly@montecitojournal.net or call (805) 565-1860)

Public Libraries Closing Early All Santa Barbara Public Libraries will close early on Christmas Eve at 4 pm, and will remain closed on Friday, December 25, in celebration of the Christmas holiday. Holiday Volunteering Join Organic Soup Kitchen on Christmas Eve at the Veterans Memorial Building to celebrate the holidays and those in need this holiday season. Bring a friend, wrapping paper, scissors, and a gift to wrap. Lunch and holiday drinks such as eggnog and wassel will be served. All are welcome to come and participate in the festivities such as Christmas tree trimming, holiday decorating, and making sure there all gifts are wrapped and tucked under the tree. In-kind donations are welcome of new backpacks, XL hoodies, socks, coats for adults, and some children’s gifts. Monetary

donations to help cover the cost of the Christmas Italian Feast are also welcome. When: noon to 2 pm Where: 112 West Cabrillo Blvd Christmas Eve Services Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 1300 East Valley Road: 4:30 pm, family mass with children’s choir; 9 pm mass with adult choir El Montecito Presbyterian Church, 1455 East Valley Road: 4 pm, family worship service; 9 pm, candlelight service All Saints by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 83 Eucalyptus Lane: 4 pm, children’s Christmas service with sing-a-long carols; 7 pm and 10 pm, festival Eucharist FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25 Christmas Services Our Lady of Mount Carmel,

THIS WEEK Page 224

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December 2015

Pilgrims fattened their hogs by feeding them clams.

MONTECITO JOURNAL

VILLAGE BEAT (Continued from page 10) This year’s tree-trimming crew included Montecito firefighters, Mindy Denson, Dana Newquist, Cindy Feinberg, Santa, and kids from MUS, among others

Committee, Montecito Historical Archive, Montecito Union School students, and others. In 2011, the Monterey Pine near the freeway died, and the new community tree was purchased through solicited funds from members of the community. It was dedicated to the Hathaway family. The crew has continued to decorate the tree in its new location, and on Friday, Newquist and Mindy Denson led the event, handing out ornaments to kids to place on the tree, with the help of firefighters holding ladders. Congressional candidate Justin Fareed was also at the event, as well as Santa, who passed out candy canes and cookies, and outgoing Montecito Association president Cindy Feinberg.

for cultivation for personal medical use. Fearing that the quick deadline would not be sufficient time for a thoughtful ordinance to be developed by the County, the Commission instead opted to adopt the state’s yet-to-bedetermined regulations for the time being, which would allow the Board of Supervisors more time to develop local ordinances. The issue will be in front of the County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors in January. The regulation discussion is only applicable to medical marijuana operations and does not apply to recreational use, as that is still illegal in our state. For more information, visit www. sbcountyplanning.org.

On December 16, Montecito Planning Commission (MPC) heard from county staff regarding new medical marijuana regulations that could be added to the County Code. The hearing was scheduled in response to the state’s Medical Marijuana Regulation & Safety Act, which was signed into law by governor Jerry Brown in October. Although specific regulations have yet to be drawn up, the new act allows the state to license medical marijuana cultivation (growing) and delivery, which would take place beginning July 1, 2017. Portions of the law require that California counties must take immediate action it they wish to retain authority to prohibit or regulate medical marijuana cultivation. Specifically, the state will become the sole licensing authority for medical marijuana cultivation unless the County has an ordinance in effect prohibiting or regulating medical marijuana cultivation by March 1, 2016. County staff suggested that they adopt a recommendation to recommend to the County Planning Commission (which would ultimately recommend to the Board of Supervisors) that a new Article X be added to the County Code, implementing regulations to prohibit medical marijuana cultivation and delivery, with a limited exemption

their first-ever Mustangs Give Back charity event, which served to collect items from the Rescue Mission of Santa Barbara’s Charity Wish List. The intention of the list was to fulfill people’s basic needs such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, socks, gloves, towels, blankets, and more. “The holidays are a time where kids starts to think about receiving gifts and I really wanted to inspire them about the importance of giving,” explained Annie Yungling, the event organizer and MUS library teacher. The event began earlier this month, with each classroom receiving lessons on the importance of community service. When students brought in items to donate, they received a blue slip of paper to write their or their family’s names on. The slips were posted on a wall in the shape of a giant mustang (the school mascot), to celebrate Mustangs giving back to the community, and served as a reminder of what the holidays are about. “Within one week, the mustang completely filled up,” said Yungling. Students also created holiday cards that will be distributed this week to various homeless shelters and retirement homes throughout Santa Barbara and Montecito. For more information, visit www. •MJ montecitou.org.

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• The Voice of the Village •

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December 2015

MONTECITO JOURNAL

Seen Around Town

by Lynda Millner

Celebrate History

SBHM executive director Lynn Brittner with Christmas party chair Sharon Bradford

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he Santa Barbara Historical Museum (SBHM) invited everyone to gather under the mistletoe with cocktails, wine, and hors d’oeuvres and dancing to the sounds of the Les Rose Ensemble. The SBHM had all its holiday “clothes” on, from the entrance with snowflakes imaged on the carpet to many conversation areas inside and under the tent. At one point, we could even see the fireworks from the boat parade downtown. The Catering Connection kept coming with delicious goodies such as coconut-battered shrimp and short ribs in gravy, canapé size. Among those enjoying the food and ambiance were executive director Lynn Brittner, Marlene and board president Warren Miller, event chair Sharon Bradford, Larry Dam and Betsy Jones Zwick, Randy Fox, Terry Bartlett, Bill, George and Bob Burtness, Eleanor Van Cott, Andy Webber, Laurie and Thad MacMillan, Jean Schuyler, Bill Reynolds, Kathy and Chris Greco, Louise and Tim Casey, and David Bolton and Gonzalo Sarmiento. Jolly old Saint Nicolas made an

Ms Millner is the author of The Magic Makeover, Tricks for Looking Thinner, Younger and More Confident – Instantly. If you have an event that belongs in this column, you are invited to call Lynda at 969-6164.

Michael Lopez visiting the SBHM Christmas party as Santa

SBHM board president Warren Miller with past presidents Marlene Miller and Bill Burtness

• The Voice of the Village •

24 – 31 December 2015

Casa del Herrero movers and shakers: Albert Hinckley, Jr., Neil Korpinen, Susan Jackson (board president), Fran Morrow, event co-chair Cheryl Ziegler, and Bob Williams

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appearance, aka Michael Lopez. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas at the Casa

Casa del Herrero has been celebrating its 90th birthday all year. It culminated with “Christmas at the Casa” – an evening of festive merry-making. Part of the merry was being greeted by the singing Santa Barbara Revels decked out in medieval costumes from Spain. The music came from 800 years of collaboration when the Moors 24 – 31

December 2015

occupied Spain. This Santa Barbara Revels have since done a show at the Lobero. It was a magical evening with crystal chandeliers hanging from the trees. There were indoor cozy places and outdoor, too. The side garden was set off with white roses and tables covered in hot-pink satin cloths. Instead of red and green, pink was the theme. There were even pink cocktail napkins. Canapés were passed and tables were laden. There were docents to

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MISCELLANY (Continued from page 6)

Winfrey’s Weight Montecito’s most famous resident Oprah Winfrey, who has lost 26 pounds, has dedicated the latest issue of her eponymous magazine to self improvement, sharing her workout tips and the secret behind her newfound dedication to diet and fitness. The 61-year-old tycoon, who started Weight Watchers in August, announced in October she’d already lost 15 pounds on the program. The self-proclaimed “food addict” has struggled with yo-yo dieting in the past, and in the January issue of O magazine, proclaims she is ready to take her well-being to the “next level” and has lost 11 more pounds. “I’ve wishy-washed with diets and exercise my whole life,” Oprah writes. “Now I’m ready to go beyond the scale and declare a new way of being in the world.” The entrepreneur explained that when she was asked to join the Weight Watchers team in July, she realized the partnership was the “perfect alignment” for what she had been looking for in a diet program. “I was fed up with my lose-and-gain routine,” she said. “I had enough of no-carb regimens. Some people can live without bread and pasta, but it just doesn’t make sense to me.” On the system, foods and meals are broken down into points based on its

protein, carbohydrates, fat, and fiber, and Oprah reveals she is allotted 30 points a day, a number determined by her height, age, gender, and current weight. While she lost five pounds during her first week on the program, Oprah admits she has been resisting Weight Watchers since the 1970s because she “never had the time to go to their meetings” and she “hated the idea of counting anything.” The media mogul, whose heaviest weight was 237 pounds, noted she has lost the same amount of weight many times throughout the years, but these five pounds were different because she was “ready” and she no longer has to “obsess” about what she could or couldn’t eat. Oprah’s best friend, CBS morning show co-host Gayle King is also following the program with her, but she hasn’t had as much success, admitting two months ago she’d only dropped seven pounds after six weeks of being on the plan. However, Oprah was so enamored with the system that she recently purchased $45 million in shares, or 10 percent of the diet company. “For me, this is not a diet,” she adds. “It is a whole shift in perspective. So yes, for sure, I’m a bona-fide convert.’ Oprah also reveals she has fallen in love with Bob Cooley’s Resistance

Flexibility and Strength Training, which he offers at his Genius Flexibility studio in Santa Barbara. As part of the program, Cooley and his trainers stretch their clients limbs apart as they try to prevent them from doing so. According to the Genius Flexibility website, contracting muscles while lengthening them offers an immediate and permanent increase in flexibility, but takes the “pain out of stretching.” Oprah says she has been doing it since April and “feels great,” giving her straighter posture and easing tension in her neck and knee pain. “Bob has me hiking again,” she boasts. Mural Authority The Arts Fund has announced the completion of a mural in the Funk Zone that is the first of its kind.

ly, with its loan-to-deposit ratio at 61 percent as of June, well below the 83-percent average for banks of comparable size nationally. The company’s return on equity last year was a modest 6.88 percent, but the magazine commends her “cauNew Arts Fund mural in Funk Zone (photo by Jonas Jungblut)

Located on the Quonset hut of Stand up Paddle Sports on Santa Barbara Street, the mural, titled Long Days, Short Year, was executed by artist R. Nelson Parrish. It’s the first mural facilitated by the Arts Fund for the recently approved Funk Zone Public Arts Program. An unveiling was held on Sunday at Cabana Home. The work is described as a translation of color, motion, and the passion for the hustle, and consists solely of using Montana Cans spray paint. A most novel creation.

16 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Janet Garufis adds another banking accolade

Bank on It Janet Garufis, president and CEO of Montecito Bank & Trust, is one of the top 25 female bankers in the U.S., according to American Banker magazine. Janet, 62, is ranked at number 10 on the list, with the bank, founded in 1975 by Mike Towbes, increasing its deposit share to just below four percent from 2.6 percent in 2007. It is now the largest community bank in the $22-billion Santa Barbara and Ventura market. Janet, who previously held senior positions at the Bank of America and Security Pacific National Bank, runs the Montecito company conservative• The Voice of the Village •

tious stewardship,” particularly in the Great Recession, which the bank navigated without a net loss. Profits have been solid the past two years, totaling $13.2 million in 2013 and $13.1 million last year. Janet served as chairman of the Western Independent Bankers Association from 2013 to 2014, and this year was named chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s community depository institutions advisory council. Brilliant Idea Intellectual cartoonist Ashleigh Brilliant had a lot to celebrate at Tecolote, the bustling bibliophile bastion in the upper village, when he marked his 82nd birthday, just 24 hours after his wife, Dorothy, had her 84th. The occasion was the publication of a new book Short Flights, edited by James Lough and Alex Stein, which features a number of Ashleigh’s amusing epigrams and aphorisms that appear in his Pot-Shorts strip that runs regularly in the News-Press, along with those of 31 other artists. Ashleigh, a member of MENSA, the organization for those of particularly

MISCELLANY Page 264 24 – 31 December 2015

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December 2015

MONTECITO JOURNAL

LETTERS (Continued from page 9)

fact that 3-dimensional people (which are 90 percent of Humanity) are multiverse (many conflicting realities piled one upon the other), singing many different “songs,” which are ego-based and fear driven, living in a 4-dimensional universe (“one song”) where the soul resides in loving kindness. Think about that and what it means. This week, synchronistically, is the 100th anniversary of The General Theory of Relativity discovered by Dr. Albert Einstein. Toward the end of his life, he expressed his deepest profound regret for advocating the Manhattan Project, which produced the atom bomb. Leslie Nelson Montecito (Editor’s note: We ordinarily would not run a letter concerning something that was printed elsewhere but since the News-Press is Santa Barbara’s paper of record and David Krieger lives in Montecito, as does Ms Nelson, we are pleased to print her thoughts. – J.B.)

Climate Hoax

With the stroke of a gavel, representatives of 195 countries reached a “landmark climate agreement” in Paris. Not everyone approved of it. According to former NASA scientist, James Hanson – considered the father of global awareness – the plan is a “fraud and a fake. There is no action, just promises in the agreement.” What is the agreement to be formally signed next April all about? It promotes peaking greenhouse gas emissions, keeping global temperatures from rising more than two degrees Celsius, reviewing progress every five years, and passing a worldwide carbon tax meant to penalize the West for creating the modern world. Developed countries will be required to pay $100 billion a year to Third World countries. How will this agreement be enforced? The basic reality is the Paris agreement can only encourage countries to do what is needed. Each nation will determine its own contributions, and they cannot be forced to comply. The Paris U.N. climate deal is also a threat to U.S. sovereignty. It was written explicitly to evade the U.S. Constitution’s requirement that treaties must be ratified by a two-thirds majority of the Senate to take effect. Obama implemented it as an “executive agreement” instead of a treaty. Words were changed and vague language was used. What are the motives behind this agreement? Is it to bamboozle the public and take control? Are we the victims of junk science, faulty computer models, and power-hungry conspirators? Al Gore has made tens of millions of dollars off global warming, and yet he bought a big house

18 MONTECITO JOURNAL

in Montecito, burns tons of fuel in his private jet, and has every light on in his mansions. Are we the victims of a climate-change hoax that is nothing but a power grab based on a consensus among government scientists, progressives, and low-information voters? The truth is that carbon emissions have stalled for two years and new satellite data shows no global warming for 19 years. Wake up, America. The world is going to hell in a handbasket, and our “tone deaf” president is worried about climate change. We deserve better. Diana Thorn Carpinteria (Editor’s note: A couple things: Mr. Gore probably made not “tens of millions,” but probably hundreds of millions on his film. And, yes, you are correct. “Climate change” alarmists are all about the money, and there is going to be plenty of it once they begin to get their hands on a global tax-collection apparatus. As for flying around in carbon-burning jet planes, well, they are important and they must burn that carbon-based fuel for the betterment of mankind. Just so long as you and the rest of “the little people” don’t follow suit. – J.B.)

Happy Holidays?

The UCSB Davidson Library was closed on Sunday, December 13, so, after church, I drove over to the Goleta Public Library, North Fairview Avenue in time for its 1 pm opening. It was only when I left the library at 4 pm that I noticed their “holiday schedule” posted on the entrances/ exits. The sign had a background green hue to it with snowflakes and little fir trees, etc. But, in big letters, the heading was WINTER BREAK! Not “Holiday Break”, not “Christmas Break” – WINTER BREAK! Then, the sign stated in smaller lettering that on December 24, the Goleta Public Library was closing at 5 pm, and that it would remain closed all day December 25. Nowhere on the sign was the mention of “Christmas Eve” or “Christmas Day.” Keep in mind that inside the library, the staff had put together a beautiful display of classic Christmas books the library has on inventory (though no sign touting the display feigned to use the taboo-word “Christmas” either). In downtown Santa Barbara, the SOhO Music Club on State Street posts a monthly calendar listing the club’s musical acts for each day of the month. When it came to the boxes for December 24 and 25, it simply said in stark black letters: CLUB CLOSED. The only mention of “Christmas” came in the descriptive sub-title for one of the bands playing in the week prior to Christmas Day. Yet, in the

November calendar, they said “Club Closed for Thanksgiving” in the November 26 box, and they’ll make liberal use of the words “New Year’s Eve” and “New Year’s Day” for the January calendar. Total denial of “Christmas” was evident on signs throughout the UCSB campus indicating when the university will close down for “Winter Recess” (December 23) and re-open for “Winter Quarter” (January 4). I’m certain 30 years ago, the university referred to the recess as a “Christmas Break”. Isn’t it amazing and coincidental that “Christmas Break” and “Winter Recess” both include Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day? A rose is a rose is a rose! Continuing my observation of UCSB, staff personnel on campus most likely were instructed not to use the word “Christmas” or “Hanukkah” in conversations with patrons or people they speak with as part of their duties. At the Arbor Food Store on campus, I engaged the checkout cashier in some small talk, in which I used the words “Christmas Eve” and “Christmas Day” several times. It was apparent the young man was awkwardly choosing his words carefully while looking around to see who may be listening in to the conversation. It was difficult, but I gave him an “A-plus” for talking about “Christmas Eve” and “Christmas Day” without once using those words. Unlike SOhO, UCSB refuses also to mention “Thanksgiving,” “New Year’s Eve”, and “New Year’s Day.” Who are these people afraid of if they actually refer to U.S. federally sanctioned holidays by their real titles? Who are they answering to? I am never of the opinion things “just happen.” They are what they are because someone or some committee designed things the way they are. Someone in Santa Barbara County with authority over its public libraries sent out a memo to all its branches instructing staff members to never make reference to “Christmas” in any of its official signage. Why? Who is this “authority” afraid of? Some bureaucratic mental giant mumbled something about “church ‘n’ state”; someone else muttered some anemic gibberish about “not all library patrons are devout Christians.” I’ve got news for these spineless weaklings: stating the name of a national federal holiday is not a church/state issue. Also, everybody used the word “Christmas” 30 years ago, and I seriously doubt all library patrons in 1985 were “devout Christians.” If a vast majority of Americans had their druthers, they’d enjoy a return to the time when the nation was cul-

• The Voice of the Village •

turally unified around a very broad appeal to mankind’s highest ideals. That’s what was conveyed in the public’s celebration of Christmas (and Hanukkah). The expression “Merry Christmas” meant a hundred different things to 500 different people. It’s not an invitation to approach and bow down before the altar of God. Yes, it does have religious connotations, but so does the whole cultural heritage and fabric of traditional America. The vast majority of Americans since 1607 have liked it that way and would like our society to continue to give homage to God in a civil religious fashion. A recognition of God and a religious component in our national life is what America is and has always been. In the past, the vast majority of those who immigrated to these shores between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans assimilated into our culture. What we’re seeing today however, is a conscious effort to import whole categories of people who not only don’t wish to assimilate into the culture and society that’s here, but are vociferously opposed to the crux and core of our religiously infused culture and wish to undermine it, transform it, subvert it. But behind the scenes orchestrating this transformational revolution are the secular Left/Liberals, native-born Americans who have become alienated from the major foundational tenets of traditional Western civilization and are using a wide variety of tactics and strategies to suppress any public sentiment of an anti-secular nature. Name-calling is a hugely successful tactic of Left/Liberals to stifle public expression of anything that smacks of religion. They have persuaded and coerced a plurality of Americans into thinking that simply referencing such religiously innocuous phrases such as “Merry Christmas” in public is an act of religious bigotry and/or an offense to our newly fashioned “morally inclusive, multi-cultural society”. Let there be no mistaking the intent of the secular Left: it’s the total elimination and annihilation of religion, Christianity, and Judaism in all aspects of American public cultural life. Recently, it was reported that a public grade school in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn (N.Y.) arbitrarily erased Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the Pledge of Allegiance from any mention in the school’s classrooms. Those who oppose these sanctions against Congress-mandated holidays and patriotic customs will be labeled racists, bigots, and religious extremists. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, anyway... Don’t like it? Sue me! See if I care! David S. McCalmont •MJ Santa Barbara 24 – 31 December 2015

On Entertainment SALON

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racker and Camper Van Beethoven (CVB) – who share singer-songwriter-guitarist David Lowery in common – split the stage at the Lobero last year on the Monday between Christmas and New Year’s, and are reprising the dual gig on the same day (December 28) at the same place again this year. If the big news last year was alt-country band Cracker’s new double-album Berkeley to Bakersfield, the centerpiece this time around might be a full run-through of Camper’s classic 1988 album Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart. No insta-classics on there such as the earlier “Take the Skinheads Bowling” or “The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon”, but it’s still chockfull of the band’s barrel of wildly eclectic music that mixes up roots rock, Mexican music, psychedelic, ska, spaghetti westerns music, klezmer, punk, and just about anything else imaginable. This is a band so “out there” that not only did they cover Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk when they reunited after a long hiatus in the early 2000s, they actually planted a rumor that they’d recorded it in the 1980s and the cassette tapes were just found. More recently, they showed up with two songs on this summer’s Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! soundtrack. Songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Segel talked band history and more over the phone late last week. Q. Let’s start with how Camper Van Beethoven got its name. A. It’s hard to explain. It was about the left turn in the middle of the name, like what we do with the music. It was made up by a friend of the band in Redlands when they got started, before I joined after they moved to Santa Cruz. But the “Van” is the 24 – 31

December 2015

DADIANA

Steven Libowitz has reported on the arts and entertainment for more than 30 years; he has contributed to the Montecito Journal for more than ten years.

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pivot point, where you change from “Camper van” to “Van Beethoven.” Are you actually a fan of Beethoven? Yes and no. I used to love all of his music. But now I’m way more into the chamber music than the symphonies. I heard the 3rd in concert last April, and I was so overwhelmed by how trite it sounded. That language has been so over-utilized in the last 206 years; we’re tired of the dominant 7th and diminished chord tensions resolving to the tonic. It’s hard to listen to. It’s not his fault – he was expressing something amazing at the time. But we’ve heard it too much since. I can definitely still listen to the late string

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ENTERTAINMENT (Continued from page 19)

quartets, which are phenomenal. The simplicity and complexity living side by side is amazing. That’s what we’re trying for in Camper.

Let’s go back a bunch of years and talk about why Camper Van Beethoven broke up at the end of the ‘80s, and then got back together in the early 2000s. What happened there? You have to realize we were 25 at the end of the 80s and had been playing in the band since we were in college. So it was all about tensions, different ideas, being a--holes, all of that business. It took about a year and a half for it to end. As one journalist said, the band slowly dissolved like a urine cake in the men’s room. But then David continued on, forming Cracker almost immediately. We all had our own bands in the 1990s, but none of us were very successful. At the end of the 1990s, I was playing with Sparkelhorse, and David produced our album in Virginia where he had a studio then. We started talking, and he suggested that some of the guys in CVB could sit in on Camper songs during Cracker’s set, which started in 2001. That became all of us getting together. It’s been exciting for us to take everything we had learned in between about how to be musicians, record and write, and add it to our collective historical knowledge. All of that got reflected in the new Camper. We started recording and touring right away, and now we’ve been together longer than we ever were originally. Who would’ve thought? Camper’s two recent albums were similar in employing geographic concepts to what Cracker did with with the double-album, splitting the state into regions. How did that come about? Camper had a gig set up at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur, but it got rained out, so we stayed at our house in Oakland for a week waiting for the weather to clear up. We got to talking about music and what came up a lot was the Beach Boys record Holland, which has all these

songs about Big Sur and Northern California. Everybody in Camper had lived in both the north and south parts of the state. And when we started writing songs, we started dividing them up by region, which turned into the idea of doing geographically based albums. David loved the idea so much that he… started writing the Cracker album the same way, except East-West versus North-South. You’re not kids anymore, and making records isn’t cheap or very profitable. How are you managing to be so prolific? (Laughs). You know, people say music business is falling apart, but all the musicians I know are massively writing and recording. I’m not sure where the inspiration is coming from. Maybe the dire straights of the business means that if you can’t make money at it, you might as well do it because you’re good at it. We’ve all been freed from the idea of having to prove ourselves as a commercial entity. It’s nearly impossible to do that anymore, so you might as well do the best you can and have fun at it. Which usually makes for better music. You are playing Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart in its entirety this time around. How has it been to revisit? A few years ago, we did Key Lime Pie in its entirely, some of which had never been performed live. It was great to re-learn the songs and push ourselves. Now, Chris Peterson is here playing drums. He was with us for the paradigm version of CVB of ‘86-’89, so we thought we should probably do one of the records that was a perfect example of what that lineup could do. I was playing violin and keys back then, and just a little guitar. It’d been my idea then to play like Steve Nieve of Elvis Costello’s band. But I hadn’t been doing it for so long, I had to go back and practice the parts again. The new remastered version that came out last year sounds so good, that I’m hearing parts I didn’t even remember were in

the songs. So it doesn’t just hold up, it’s actually better. Is it at all weird to tour with Cracker, since the audiences have to be a little bit dissimilar? It’s been a bit conflated by this point. At first, it was mostly a Cracker audience, but we’ve won a lot of those people over. And Cracker has a lot of material that’s all over the place as well, and they’re amazing live. So when CVB fans come out, they get swayed by how good they are. Can you elaborate on the whole musical mish-mash thing. How do you know what goes in and what to leave out? I mean, it

starting to separate in terms of how the student body looked. We’d play at these places and we’d think, “What’s wrong with these kids?” It’s been about 25 years since we’ve played it. But maybe we can work it up for the show there.

Symphony Director Pops It Up

Nir Kabaretti is in his 10th season as the music director for the Santa Barbara Symphony, but next Thursday will mark the first time he’s wielded the baton for the annual New Year’s Eve pops concert. The long delay has been more a matter of logistics than Nir Kabaretti conducts business for the New Year’s pop concert

seems you can take any song in any direction. How do you choose? A lot comes from stuff we talk about in the van when we’re on tour. There are lots of weird ideas. They usually start with something pretty straightforward, and we just add in things that are funny. It’s not premeditated, it just happens. Is that what happened with “(Don’t You Go to) Goleta”? Any particular reason you picked on UCSB as “fascist rich kids”? I wrote that in 1985. UCLA and UCSB were starting to get their world on in a way that those of us in Santa Cruz didn’t appreciate. Things were

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anything else. “It’s the time of the year that I’d normally be in Europe working over the holidays,” said Kabaretti, who kept quite a few assignments back in his native Italy but last year landed a second U.S. appointment with an orchestra in Florida and moved full time to Santa Barbara last September. “I’ve done quite a few New Year’s Eve concerts there, and now I’m very excited to conduct one here.” The timing for Kabaretti’s NYE debut couldn’t be better, as the symphony will be performing John Williams’s famous Star Wars Suite to close out the program. But listeners shouldn’t think they’re merely cash-

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• The Voice of the Village •

24 – 31 December 2015

ing on the timing with the just-released newest sequel in the series having posting the biggest opening weekend in history. In reality, many of the symphony members are also Los Angeles-based studio musicians who perform frequently for soundtrack recordings, and quite a few appear on the film score for the new movie. “I’m so proud that many of our musicians are actually part of the recording of the film, and you can hear them in the movie, for which John Williams re-arranged a lot of the old themes,” Kabaretti said. “So it makes a lot of sense for us to play the original suite that he wrote for the concert setup. It’s such beautiful music, very communicative and well-orchestrated. And it’s quite difficult to play, not like most people think of movie music. It’s very challenging technically, especially for the brass, who have to play in a very high register. You need good musicians like we have to play it.” There’s another big name starring in Thursday’s concert, too: soprano Lisa Vroman, who starred for several years on Broadway as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera and also played the role during an extended run in San Francisco. Ironically, while the symphony is opening the concert with Lloyd Webber’s main theme from Phantom, it’s an instrumental, and they’re not playing any of the songs from the show. But Vroman will have plenty of air time, taking center stage for orchestral arrangements of songs by George Gershwin, Jule Styne, and Irving Berlin, as well as Franz Lehár’s “Vilja Lied” from The Merry Widow. Two of the symphony’s own principal players will also get a chance to shine on solos, including keyboardist Natasha Kislenko on Piazzola’s Winter from The Buenos Aires Seasons, and concertmaster Jessica Guideri with Gardel’s Tango-por una Cabeza, which was arranged by none other than Williams. But don’t expect any star wars between the players, who are happy to have found ever-growing stability under a decade with Kabaretti. The ensemble will also take on more “serious” classical works with Strauss’s Thunder and Lightning Polka and New Pizzicato Polka, and the finale from Borodin’s Polovetsian Dances. “Some of those pieces are very virtuosic and full of high energy,” Kabaretti said. “Then there’s the Broadway melodies and pop songs, which are really lots of fun.” Indeed, falling into the festival feeling of the season conducting the musicians right here in Santa Barbara has Kabaretti singing a happy tune. “I love it. Music is about communication and having fun. Sometimes, classical music can get deeper and

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ENTERTAINMENT Page 234 24 – 31

December 2015

MONTECITO JOURNAL

THIS WEEK (Continued from page 11)

1300 San Ysidro Road: 8 am mass with carols, 10 am, and noon mass with adult choir All Saints by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 83 Eucalyptus Lane: 10:30 am, Christmas Day service

Zoo Open on Christmas Day Families can create a new tradition by visiting the Santa Barbara Zoo on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day. Keepers keep things jolly with special talks and holiday enrichment for the animals. Early closure; general admission ticket sales end at 2 pm, membership admission ends at 2:30 pm. When: 10 am; zoo closes early at 3 pm on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Where: 500 Niños Drive Info: www.sbzoo.org WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30 Summerland Evening Yoga A longtime Summerland tradition, taught by Bob Andre. Small Hatha 1 yoga class with brief meditation and breathing work. When: 5:30 pm Where: Summerland Church, 2400 Lillie Avenue Cost: donation THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31 Nippers New Year’s Eve Party Benefiting Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara 8:00 pm to 2:00 am 30 Los Patos Way $150 a person www.nippers.com or 805 681-1315

Walking into the New Year Start your new year off experiencing the four faces of Christian and Buddhist love at Montecito’s La Casa de Maria. Led by Father Larry Gosselin, OFM, a Franciscan friar of the Province of Santa Barbara and minister at the Old Mission of Santa Barbara, and Radhule Weininger, MD, PhD, who practices psychotherapy in Santa Barbara and teaches mindfulness meditation at La Casa. When: 4 pm today to 4 pm Friday, January 1 Where: La Casa de Maria,

800 El Bosque Road Cost: commuter, $100; resident, $175 Info: www.lacasademaria.org NYE Event The Molly Ringwald Project will be putting on the biggest baddest New Year’s Eve event in Santa Barbara County! Come dance the night away to California’s premier ‘80s dance band at the Fess Parker doubletree resort. Tickets are limited to 1,000 people and they are selling fast. When: 9 pm Where: 633 E. Cabrillo Blvd Cost: $50 Info & tickets: www.projectmolly.com for tickets Date Night at the Zoo Let your kids fall in love with the zoo, while you enjoy a date night with your sweetheart or best pal. Kids will love an evening packed with animalthemed activities. Includes pizza dinner and a snack. When: 5:30 to 10 pm Where: 500 Niños Drive Cost: $30 per child, $20 each additional sibling Info: www.sbzoo.org FRIDAY, JANUARY 1 Inner Guidance for 2016 Start the New Year by turning to your Soul’s Knowing for guidance. In this fun, reflective, and powerfully engaging program, bring forth and focus on your innermost wisdom for the next chapter of your life. Led by Tom Hurley, who has pioneered new leadership approaches with the Institute of Noetic Sciences and other organizations, and Sara Hurley, a spiritual counselor and teacher of the Diamond Approach for more than 15 years. When: 7:30 tonight until Sunday, January 3, at 1 pm Where: La Casa de Maria, 800 El Bosque Road Cost: commuter, $390; resident, $290 SATURDAY, JANUARY 2 Montecito Family YMCA Community Open House Day Join the Montecito Family YMCA on Community Open House Day, and

the joining fee is free. The Y is the nation’s leading nonprofit committed to strengthening communities through youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. Financial Assistance is available to individuals and families who cannot afford membership. When: 9 am to noon Where: 591 Santa Rosa Lane Info: 969-3288 SUNDAY, JANUARY 3 Tree Collection Program Starts Tomorrow The season of giving is almost here, and with it comes Christmas trees that families all around the globe will decorate with twinkling lights and ornaments. But after the festivities have come and gone and presents have been unwrapped, what happens to these trees? This year, Waste Management invites residents in the unincorporated areas of Santa Barbara County and in the cities of Guadalupe and Solvang to recycle their trees through its curbside tree collection program. After they have been used to brighten up any holiday celebration, Christmas trees can be recycled and given back to nature in the form of mulch. Customers may place their Christmas trees three feet from their trash container or cut to fit inside their green waste container by 6 am on their collection day, next week, from January 4 through January 8. ONGOING MONDAYS AND TUESDAYS Art Classes Beginning and advanced, all ages and by appointment – just call. Where: Portico Gallery, 1235 Coast Village Road Info: 695-8850

22 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Hgt Low 6.7 03:10 PM 6.6 03:51 PM 6.4 04:31 PM 6 05:10 PM 5.5 05:49 PM 4 5:34 AM 4 6:34 AM 4 7:52 AM 4.1 9:31 AM

WEDNESDAYS THRU SATURDAYS Live Entertainment Where: Cava, 1212 Coast Village Road When: 7 to 10 pm Info: 969-8500 MONDAYS Connections Brain Fitness

Hgt High Hgt Low -1.4 09:37 PM 4.2 -1.4 010:21 PM 4.2 -1.1 011:04 PM 4.1 -0.8 011:48 PM 4.1 -0.4 2.4 11:25 AM 4.9 06:28 PM 2.6 12:10 PM 4.3 07:09 PM 2.6 01:05 PM 3.7 07:53 PM 2.5 02:25 PM 3.2 08:50 PM

• The Voice of the Village •

TUESDAYS Adventuresome Aging Program Community outings, socialization, and lunch for dependent adults. When: 10 am to 2 pm Where: Friendship Center, 89 Eucalyptus Lane Cost: $75, includes lunch, plus onetime fee of $35 Info: Kai Hoye, 969-0859 Story Time at the Library A wonderful way to introduce children to the library, and for parents and caregivers to learn about early literacy skills; each week, children ages three to five enjoy stories, songs, puppets, and fun at Story Time. When: 10:30 to 11 am Where: Montecito Library, 1469 East Valley Road Info: 969-5063 THURSDAYS Casual Italian Conversation at Montecito Library Practice your Italian conversation among a variety of skill levels while learning about Italian culture. Fun for all and informative, too. When: 12:30 to 1:30 pm Where: 1469 East Valley Road Info: 969-5063 FRIDAYS Farmers Market When: 8 to 11:15 am Where: South side of Coast Village Road

M on t e c i to Tid e G u id e Day Low Hgt High Thurs, December 24 1:47 AM 1.7 8:05 AM Fri, December 25 2:31 AM 1.8 8:46 AM Sat, December 26 3:15 AM 1.9 9:26 AM Sun, December 27 3:59 AM 2 10:05 AM Mon, December 28 4:44 AM 2.2 10:45 AM Tues, December 29 12:34 AM Wed, December 30 1:23 AM Thurs, December 31 2:16 AM Fri, January 1 3:20 AM

Program Challenging games, puzzles, and memory-enhancement exercises in a friendly environment. When: 10 am to 2 pm Where: Friendship Center, 89 Eucalyptus Lane Cost: $50, includes lunch Info: Kai Hoye, 969-0859

Hgt

0.1 0.6 1 1.5

Local Artisans Market When: 3 to 7 pm Where: La Cumbre Plaza, 121 South Hope Avenue Info: www.localartisansmarket.com SUNDAYS Cars & Coffee Motorists and car lovers from as far away as Los Angeles, and as close as East Valley Road, park in the upper village outside Montecito Village Grocery to show off and discuss their prized possessions, automotive trends, and other subjects. Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Corvettes prevail, but there are plenty of other autos to admire. When: 8 to 10 am Where: Every Sunday in the upper village, except the last Sunday of the month, when the show moves to its original home, close to 1187 Coast Village Road. •MJ Info: sbcarscoffee@gmail.com 24 – 31 December 2015

ENTERTAINMENT (Continued from page 21)

goes to tragedy. But the essence of playing is to enjoy. That’s why music is very important in every kind of party. And this is New Year’s Eve, so we’re thrilled to be part of the festivities.”

Raising His Voice: 5 Questions with Champlin Will Champlin had done plenty of studio gigs and toured with lots of music industry heavies from Glen Frey to Santana and played piano on a track that appears on Michael Jackson’s final record. He even won two Grammys for his songwriting on Heather Headley’s 2010 Audience of One album. But before he reached the final three on season 5 of The Voice in 2013, most people had never heard of him. His performances on the reality-TV competition, including a stirring gender-reversing turn on At Last that later made Billboard Hot 100, captured America’s attention. Some of the fallout has included co-writing Wolves on One Direction’s recent Made in The AM record, and his own Borrowing Trouble CD. Champlin, whose band opened for his famous father at the Lobero last January, appears at SOhO for the first time since his time on The Voice on Thursday, January 7. Q. You are the the son of Bill Champlin, whose first band was called Sons of Champlin. Did you feel like you had to go into music and had a lot to live up to? A. I was around more for his time in Chicago (Bill was a major part of the band from 1981-2008), and I saw a lot of shows. Hearing those horns every night was great. Like every kid who jumps around ideas of what you want to be when you grow up, I messed around with a lot of other things. But at 13 or 14, it became clear that I wanted to do music of some kind, just follow the rabbit hole and see where it goes. But it

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wasn’t about my dad. I just followed my own path. You started off by studying at Berklee in Boston, but more in production and playing, and less on singing and songwriting. How was that time there, and how did you eventually develop all those parts? At Berklee, I made a lot of urban music tracks, electronics, some hip hop. That was great if you wanted to be a studio player, and you learn lots of technical abilities. But it can be not very creative depending on what circles you are in. I only wrote my songs here and there. I wasn’t as well-versed of a singer yet. It took me awhile to learn what was fruitful to write for myself, and even after Berklee to find what I wanted to say. It was through working with musicians afterward that I became more creative by seeing what they did, diving in and listening and paying attention. I’d get too obsessed with one little thing and not figure out what I needed to do in the bigger picture. I’d try to do the exact same thing I hear others doing that I liked. I’d get hung up on the most obscure style of music that wasn’t bringing me into relevance that could get me heard in this commercial industry. Getting to the finals on The Voice must have helped? Yeah, it was a chance to reach a wider audience and expand my fan base, get connected to more people, which was very important coming from an independent artist background. Even if you’re not signed, it’s powerful. I had a very good run. I think now getting some cuts on major records like One Direction’s was 10 times more important for me. Being a former finalist and doing The Voice tour, and having those cuts is a double slam-dunk for my career going forward. If I continue to make strides like this, great things will happen.

Songwriter Will Champlin tunes up for SOhO

ballad, then it’s just keyboard or guitar. I lay some tracks down with the chord progressions or the vibe, maybe eight bars or whatever length. Then I can be hands-free when I’m writing the words, so I can think of what I want to say. I like to keep things mentally isolated. If it’s got a slamming groove, like the song of One Direction, I do that first, then scribble to that. But I could’ve done these type of songs for my own project, too. It’s good when they’re things I can relate to, so I can perform them on my own. But I’m not going to turn down an opportunity

when the biggest selling band in the world wants to cut your song. So, you let that one go and write something else of that style for myself. It’s good not having to guess what someone else wants. When I’m doing it for myself, I just focus on what I’m good at. It’s a touch of Americana with electronics, like a cross between Mumford & Sons and Macklemore. I threw a little banjo in, too. I love songs like “Man of Constant Sorrow”, that 1960s New York stuff like from the Inside Llewyn Davis movie. Putting that together with modern up-tempo stuff electronics, just go as deep as possible into the rootsy genre and bring it out with modern sounds. But at the end of the day, I’m just all about great songs and great music. Everything else falls where it will. So what can we expect at SOhO? Most likely it will be acoustic, but I’ll use the pedal and maybe put a couple of jams/grooves together so it’s more exciting. People enjoy the process when you’re laying something down, and then playing guitar and singing over it. Sometimes I’ll grab the keyboard bass and throw some chords down and loop them, or play some songs on the grand piano solo, intimate style, straight-up. You’ve got to switch it up and make it •MJ more fun for people.

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ollie Ahlstrand, founder, owner, and proprietor of Trattoria Mollie on Coast Village Road, isn’t just a fine cook (chef, really) and a genial host. First of all, Mollie speaks fluent Italian and half her staff hails from Italy; she makes regular trips to Alba in Italy’s Piemonte to hunt, collect, and purchase white truffles in the late fall year after year. This was a relatively dry year, so the truffle harvest was way down, which means naturally that prices are way up.

So far up that Mollie wasn’t able to offer any truffle dishes. “Nobody wants to pay $150 for a plate of pasta,” she says. True enough, but Mollie couldn’t resist ordering one baseball-sized pungent truffle, at a cost of about $2,000, to make some special dishes for some of her special customers. Mollie is also a member of a distinguished Ethiopian family that includes her brother, Dr. Ahmed Reja (MD, CSIM, MPhil) chief executive director of the Addis Ababa University College of Health Sciences. Dr. Reja visited Santa Barbara with his wife, Dr. Elizabeth Berhane (a general practitioner), whose practice is also in Addis Ababa. Dr. Reja is president of the Ethiopian Diabetes Association and was recently confirmed (on November 30) as the new chairman of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), Africa region. Dr. Reja is now responsible for overall activities on diabetes in the entire continent of Africa, except for the North African region, which is predominantly Arab. He was invited by Cottage Hospital to speak on diabetes and gave two well-attended lectures on the subject to doctors at both Cottage Hospital and Sansum Clinic. During those talks, Dr. Reja revealed that the disease has taken hold in much of Africa and has become particularly troublesome in Ethiopia. During a short conversation after his spirited and informative talk at Cottage, Dr. Reja explains that his vision for the next two years of his chairmanship of the IDF involves education. “Most of the problem with diabetes,” he proffers, “can be handled with good education.” He believes that educating patients, the greater community, and his fellow professionals is the key to a cure, or at least to controlling the disease. He says if he and others can work to educate those three groups via mass campaigns and other means, they “can prevent diabe-

• The Voice of the Village •

tes itself, or at least its complications. “As Ethiopians move from the country to the cities,” he continues, “they begin to develop bad eating habits, which often leads to diabetes. The traditional Ethiopian food is really good: cereals, vegetables... it’s really good.” When asked where the trouble lies, his answer is quick and definite: “Fast foods are the culprit,” he answers. Energy-dense food like burgers and cheese, like soft drinks, cakes... all these things are driving the disease.” Which, from my point of view, is just another very good reason to have lunch or dinner at Mollie’s where “the service is always swift, but the food is never fast.” Oh, c’mon. That’s pretty good. Admit it.

Another Hundred Grand

It was an announcement that Police Activities League (PAL) booster and Montecito Car Classic co-chair Dana Newquist was pleased to make: the organization created to raise money for the Santa Barbara Police Officer’s Foundation and PAL had given $300,000 to those organizations over the course of the last three years. The group’s yearlong fundraising efforts culminate in a weekend “gala” and a Sunday car show. The “show” is called The Montecito Motor Classic and it has been held on Coast Village Road for the past three years, thanks to Monte Wilson, Michael Hammer, Mark Stehrenberger, and the entire group of “Cars & Coffee” participants who meet every Sunday either in the upper village or, once a month, along Coast Village Road. Last year’s event involved nearly 150 car collectors and their prized possessions, and drew thousands of spectators eager to examine and admire those vehicles. Montecito Motor Classic,co-chair Dolores Johnson announced that what would ordinarily have been the gala in September 2016 will instead be a combined event in conjunction with the Police Foundation exhibition regularly held the same weekend and the night before the gala. The event spotlights law enforcement tools and procedures, such as some of the weaponry and the vehicles now being used, along with vivid demonstrations of exactly how police, sheriff, and highway patrol K-9 units work. “The Santa Barbara Police Foundation has had two successful events at Pat Nesbitt’s place in Summerland,” Dolores explains during a short conversation after the $100,000 check presentation, “and we [decided that] combining them makes real sense. We should be able to raise additional amounts of money this way,” she says. The reason for the fundraising is 24 – 31 December 2015

Montecito Motor Classic co-chairs Dana Newquist and Dolores Johnson present the $100,000 check to the Santa Barbara Police Foundation and Police Activities League at the PAL center in downtown Santa Barbara

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simple: PAL is a non-profit organization and is not funded through the city. “The city donates the building where they meet and pays the salary of the police liaison,” she says, adding that otherwise “PAL must pay its way via grants and donations.” On an average day, PAL serves 25 to 35 junior- and senior-high-school kids in the afternoon. PAL, which is unique because of the police presence, offers after-school tutoring, along with jujitsu, dance, music, and other activities at its downtown location. Sergeant Todd Johnson (who happens to be Dolores’s step-son) heads up the SBPD’s K-9 program and says there is a separate K-9 Fund for those wishing to make a specific donation to the K-9 Unit. If you are interested in helping out in any way, you are invited to call (805) 881-3745 or visit sbpolicefoundation@gmail.com for more information.

A Nippers New Year

If you haven’t made plans yet, there is still room to join the

hard-partying group preparing to greet year 2016 at the Montecito Events Center at 30 Los Patos Way (formerly, Casa del Sol) across from the Andrée Clark Bird Refuge, just off Cabrillo Boulevard. The good thing about this “1st Annual” Nippers New Year’s Eve Party is that it is a fundraiser, the proceeds of which will go toward the United Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara County. The $150 per person ticket includes two glasses of champagne, “heavy” hors d’oeuvres, desserts, hats, noisemakers, and complimentary valet parking. Dance music will be supplied by DJ Fab, and Flair will do the bartending. The party runs from 8 pm to 2 am, and you’ll want to be well-dressed (“cocktail attire or black tie”) and over 21 years of age. Perfect for after the symphony and sounds as if it could be lots of fun counting down with a group of like-minded partyers. Check out the website nippers.com or call (805) 6811315 for more information. You will need to reserve ahead of time. Happy New Year! •MJ

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Arthur von Wiesenberger (left), the original Nipper, seen here with his partner at the time, Horatio Lonsdale-Hands, invites readers to join him in ushering in the New Year at the Montecito Events Center on Thursday, December 31

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December 2015

Send your contribution for the Endowment Campaign to: The Friends of the Montecito Library PO Box 5788 Santa Barbara, CA 93150

501 (c) (3) #: 95-3614638 Or by PayPal at montecitolibraryfriends.org MONTECITO JOURNAL

MISCELLANY (Continued from page 16) Santa Barbara Revels go Spanish for new Xmas show

Deborah and Ashleigh Brilliant also celebrating their respective 84th and 82nd birthdays with Ashleigh’s book signing of Short Stories (photo by Priscilla)

the group’s humble beginnings at the Marjorie Luke Theatre, this was one of founder and artistic director Susan Keller’s most creative yet featuring Iberian, Moorish, and Sephardic traditions. Veterans Matt Tavianini and Bill Egan anchored the colorful show, while gregarious director Adam Phillips led the talented musicians and put the audience through their paces. Flamenco guitarist Chris Fossek, husband of State Street Ballet dancer Leila Drake, and flamenco dancer Maya de Silva, with the Lamma Bada Dancers under director Alexandra King, added to the Spanish theme. Throw in the Solstice Singers, the Gibraltar Brass, the Pacific Sword

Hannah Keturi, Ashleigh Brilliant, Short Stories contributor ; Lee Moldaver, and Don Voegele at Tecolote (photo by Priscilla)

Company, and The Strings of Sevilla, and you had a real Christmas cracker. As Susan always proclaims: “Join us and be joyous.” We did – and we certainly were. All for One Social gridlock reigned when Michael and Nancy Gifford hosted a reception at their Montecito home for sculptor Robert Emmons. The bronze works, which had been exhibited at the Alex Mertens Gallery on Coast Village Road until mold problems intervened, had some resemblance to the thin man works by Swiss sculptor Giacometti.

MISCELLANY Page 304

Attending the book signing at Tecolote are family and friends Sol Morrison, Gabriel Kronzek, Shelly Lenox, and Ashleigh’s cousin Barry Cantor (photo by Priscilla)

high IQ, also read out a most amusing and ingenious poem involving cat food, which he recited to the music of Offenbach’s Can Can from Orpheus In The Underworld. It was well worth attending the bijou reception just for that. His cousin Barry Cantor from Palm Bay, Florida, flew in for the occasion and another cousin, Gabriel Kronzek,

a culinary student at City College, prepared the food, which included a delicious 10-layer chocolate cake.

Alex and Maria Mertens with their featured sculptor Robert “Bob” Emmons and his bronzed sculpture “Going Places”; Christine Emmons; Michael Armand Hammer, philanthropist and art collector; with hostess Nancy Gifford (photo by Priscilla)

Spain Reign Santa Barbara Revels performed The Treasures of Spain for its eighth annual extravagant Christmas production at the Lobero. Having seen all eight shows since

Merry Christmas to All Thank you for a great year Ryan Emmons, Christine and sculptor Robert Emmons with Ilene and Aristides “Aris” Demetrios, Emmons mentor flanked by Emmons’s bronzes “Lovers” and “Florence” (photo by Priscilla)

26 MONTECITO JOURNAL

• The Voice of the Village •

24 – 31 December 2015

SEEN (Continued from page 15)

show guests the house in case they had never been there before. Event co-chairs Cheryl and Peter Ziegler were ecstatic with the generous donations from a long list of guests, new and old raising at least $120,000. Their goal was for $90,000 for 90 years. The committee that helped was Sharon Bradford, David Bradford, Greg Corso, Jane Dailey, Rick Erickson, Susan Jackson (board president), Neil Korpinen, Fran Morrow, Kiki O’Donnell, Steve Thompson, Wendy Warren, and Carolyn Williams. Executive director Molly Barker was all smiles, too. The funds will help to restore fountain tiles and many other projects from 90 years of wear. George and Carrie Steedman built the Casa back in the 1920s. In 1995, it became a foundation and opened to the public. It seems like a home, not a museum, because the family left in the house all of Steedman’s treasures and furniture that he bought in Spain. Visitors see antiques from the 15th-17th centuries. If you’ve never seen Casa del Herrero, call 565-5653 for a tour. I’ve been a docent showing it off for 15 years. The Casa still has three family members on the board, and they tell us fun stories and fond memories of when the grandparents lived there. We’ll share them with you.

Tea and Fashion Show

Breast Cancer Resource Center (BCRC) held its annual tea and fashion show at the Biltmore to benefit their 13-year-old facility to keep supporting women diagnosed with breast cancer. There was a noisy and crowded social hour boutique where one had to decide which prizes to go for with all the raffle tickets. So many prizes, so little time. There was also a silent auction and a jewelry sale. The fashion show this year was done by UGG Australia. They gave a whole rack of terry-cloth robes to sell, and BCRC was given all the proceeds. BCRC president Rose Hodge called the chatty group to order to thank the sponsors and also to dedicate the event to the memory

Models Valerie Burns, Noy Vong, Kari Weber, Sue Suttner, Jai Jai Anderson, Jessica Harrison, Elna Saito, and Jackie Terry in their UGG’s outfits

BCRC presenting sponsor UGGs reps Peter Young and Joharrah Hollister with BCRC board president Rose Hodge, executive director Silvana Kelly, and UGG commentator Lizette Nunez

of Reggie Hepp and Kate Ocean, who lost their battles with breast cancer. The reminder for everyone was that cancer is a diagnosis and not necessarily a death sentence. Rose reminded us that BCRC gets no government subsidies and relies solely on grants, donors, and fundraisers. The services offered at BCRC are free. Rose had all the ladies look down at their shoes and note their handbags. Then she asked, “Could you all donate just what you paid for your shoes or purse?” Clever! All the models strutting the runway to much applause are breast cancer survivors. They were: Jai Jai Anderson, Jessica Harrison, Sue Suttner, Kari Weber, Valerie Burns, Elna Saito, Noy Vong, and Jackie Terry. Executive director Silvana Kelly read a brief his-

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December 2015

tory of each telling how BCRC came to mean so much when they were so afraid. Then UGG’s rep Lizett Nunez commentated the show. UGG’s isn’t just about shoes and boots. They also have a line of fashion at their store at 6601 Hollister Avenue. At the end, she announced that the models could keep everything they wore. They were blown away! If you’d like to help in any way, call 569-9693 to find out all BCRC does at 55 Hitchcock Way, Suite 101. •MJ

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MONTECITO JOURNAL

ON STAGE What About Love?

the nicest thing you can say about an actress.

by Steven Libowitz

Speaking of love letters, you just were celebrated by your fellow actors in New York, with Nathan Lane reading original “love stories” to you from your colleagues, including Helen Mirren, Lesley Ann Warren, Keith Carradine, Michael Mann, and others. I’m at that stage of life where they start giving you dinners. That’s when you know you’re really f’ing old and don’t have much career left. There’s not too much great about being 77, but you can look back and say I had a very interesting life. I did so many different things and had a lot of fun. That’s a great way to live. Actors Carol Burnett and Brian Dennehy reprise their Love Letters roles at the New Vic

rian Dennehy and Carol Burnett, veteran actors of stage and screen who are now straddling either side of 80, first performed Love Letters back around the turn of the century when both lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They appeared in the Broadway revival of A.R. Gurney’s two-character play in December 2014 to rave reviews and sold out audiences. Now, the pair are reprising their roles in the much-loved ode to long-lasting relationships – which is told through the reading of correspondence between them over a period of 35 years – for one night only at the New Vic Theatre on Sunday, January 17. The performance is a benefit for Antioch University’s Susan Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund, named after the longtime theatrical agent who was a trustee at the school. Reserved seats cost $200 (tax-deductible) and are available online at www. antiochsb.edu/loveletters. Dennehy discussed the play, working with Smith and co-starring with Burnett, and touched on his own career, in a near hour-long conversation over the phone from his rural Connecticut home in late December.

Q. Can you talk about your relationship with Susan Smith, who was your long-time agent, and what it means to you to do something like this in her honor? A. Susan was a most extraordinary person, one of the two or three most important people in my life. We were together for 35 years, a real team. She was brilliant, determined, tough, hard-working, and a great, great friend. And she was a hell of lot smarter with the money than I was! She bought that property in Santa

28 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Barbara and fixed it up, something I never did, though I used to bring my sailboat into the harbor. I’ve done a huge amount of theater, which doesn’t matter on the West Coast at all, where it’s looked upon as a strange indoor activity that some actors like to do for reasons studio producers can’t possibly understand. But she knew it was important and was always extremely encouraging about me doing it, even when it got in the way of my playing parts on TV or in film. When she died, I think she was the only agent ever to have the great honor of the Broadway theaters, all 26 of them, dimming their lights for one hour before curtain. That’s not done for agents. But she was rare. I was lucky to find her. Having lost her is exceedingly difficult. I miss her enormously, personally and professionally. I’m just another guy now. Does the fact that the performance benefits Antioch’s scholarship fund make it a double bonus for you? That’s a great thing. People think I have it made now, but I put a whole bunch of kids through college and law school. My daughter has a PhD in psychology, although the diploma hangs over her kitchen sink. But not one of them owes a dollar to any school. Now of course, I don’t have any dollars left, either. But education is the most valuable thing you can do with your money. You have performed Love Letters on and off for years. How has your view of the piece changed? The interesting thing about this play is that it’s about the all-too-familiar failures of the middle class. Despite education and opportunity – or maybe because of it – so many

kids can’t handle it. They find ways to destroy their lives and relationships. It seems destined for these two people (in the play) to be together, but they’re not. I was not a member of this class; I came from Irish immigrant factory workers. I did well at school and got into Columbia. I was able to look back at that life in a different way, and the expectations of what that would have been... so I can see both sides. (A.R. Gurney) is a really smart writer. He has a working-class background himself before he got into an Ivy League school and was able to live a life in art. He spent a large part of his career writing about the class he moved into from down below like myself. This play is part of it. And it is a play. It’s not just reading the letters, which can also be effective. But what (Gurney) now wants is much more interpretation, much more acting, and more of an emotional investment. It has a simple atmosphere, just the two people at a table, talking to the audience as they read the letters. But now we step outside the frame of just reading, and pack it full of what actors can do. There’s still no movement for one hour and twenty minutes, but at the end there’s a very strong reaction, emotional and intellectual. You can feel it. If that ain’t theater, I don’t know what the hell is. How is it to work with Carol Burnett? We became friends years ago when I was in Santa Fe. She’s the best. She’s really a phenomenon. She’s been a huge star for 40 or 50 years, just an amazing talent. Carol has a voice like a goddamn bugle, and she can do anything with it. She can break your heart and make you laugh out loud at the same time. Most importantly for me, she’s just a good person, caring, nice to be around. None of the typical actor bull you normally have to deal with. She’s a great broad, which is

• The Voice of the Village •

Turning to the movies, I’m told that Cocoon is your favorite of your roles. What was most memorable about playing the alien leader in a retirement community? It’s not what people think. Not because of the story. It was because I got to spend 10 weeks with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, and Maureen Stapleton and Gwen Verdon, and Don Ameche and the others, people who were a generation older than me and were my idols. We were gathered together in Florida making a sweet and funny picture that was Ronnie Howard’s first movie. And we had the most wonderful time. We’d sit around and talk and laugh, and every once in a while we’d have to get up and do a scene, which was also extraordinary because they were incredible actors. It was heaven. I’m glad that the movie turned out so good and so successful, but it was working on it that was so rewarding and filled with joy. Is there a dream role you would still like to play? End Game. That will probably be my last big role. I love Beckett and it’s a very hard play, one that the audience finds difficult to relate to. So obviously, it’s something I want to do. I should do King Lear, but I missed it. That was my own fault. I was scared, and then I could never get it to go at the right time or place. But I don’t think I’m up to it. I’m too old now. But we’re flirting with End Game, poking at it. So I think it will happen. Final question: the entire audience is invited to a party on stage with you and Carol Burnett after the show. Do you like interacting with fans in this way? It’s fine. This ain’t King Lear. And I’m not the kind of actor who has to go into a corner and weep for 45 minutes after a performance, anyway. That ain’t my style. It’s just acting. And we’re trying to raise money, so I’m happy to shake hands and chat. •MJ 24 – 31 December 2015

Our Town

Our Town’s most respected Poet Laureates at the poetry and art event are (from left): Perie Longo 2nd poet laureate emerita, Paul Willis 4th poet laureate emeritus, Chryss Yost 5th poet laureate emerita, David Starkey 3rd poet laureate emeritus, Sojourner Kincaid Rolle current SB Poet Laureate, and Phil Taggert newly apppointed poet laureate of Ventura County

by Joanne A. Calitri

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

Poets and Artists

Poets and their 2015 book publications presented at the poetry and artist event are (from left): Tom Mielko, Erin Graffy, Sojourner Kincaid Rolle, Richard Jarrette, Mary Brown, Enid Osborn, Marsha de la O, Linda Saccoccio, Pamela Davis, Christine Penko, Teddy Macker and Gabriella Klein

ore than 100 poets, poetry lovers and the artists whose works inspired poems at the recent art exhibit FLOCK at Lotusland, on December 6 attended an unprecedented and new arts meeting in a salon-style event at the home of Michael and Nancy Gifford in Montecito. Ms. Gifford spearheaded the event with Gwen Stauffer Executive Director of Lotusland and our town’s poet laureates. More than a meeting of celebrating art and poetry, the event honored a new local press in town, Gunpowder Press owned by David Starkey and Chryss Yost, publishers of the books BUZZ: Poets Respond SWARM and Rare Feathers, Poets responding to FLOCK. The book Rare Feathers is an anthology of poems in response to the exhibition FLOCK at Lotusland in 2015, which includes poems by 38 Santa Barbara poets and was co-edited by Gifford, Yost, and George Yatchisin. The event also honored more than a dozen local poets who had collections published by various presses in 2015. Many of these writers have received international honors for their works. The event featured their publications as well. The Giffords displayed a selection of the art works in their home for the occasion that inspired the poets. Attendees were seated comfortably in both the Gifford’s living room and Ms. Gifford’s private art studio for a presentation. Wine and hors d‘oeuvres were served. In her opening remarks, Nancy thanked everyone for their support, artistic gifts, and cooperation in shar24 – 31

December 2015

Supporting the poets and artists of the 2015 Lotus Land exhibit “Flock” at the poetry and artist event are Gwen Stauffer, (right) Executive director of Lotus Land and Nancy Gifford

ing. Mentions and applause were given to the Santa Barbara poet laureates: Perie Longo 2nd poet laureate emerita, David Starkey 3rd poet laureate emeritus, Paul Willis 4th poet laureate emeritus, Chryss Yost 5th poet laureate emerita, Sojourner Kincaid Rolle current SB poet laureate and the upcoming poet laureate of Ventura County Phil Taggert; the late and beloved poet and Santa Barbara’s 1st poet laureate emerita Barry Spacks; Maiza Hixson the new visual arts coordinator and curator of collections for the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission and her guest, Rick Benjamin, poet laureate of Rhode Island.

In thanking his dedicated spouse for helping sponsor the event, Mr. Gifford quipped he learned the success to their loving marriage was his poetic response, “I do always get the last two words in every conversation, that being ‘Yes, dear!’” Each poet was introduced and read works from his or her books. Starting the readings were poets from the Rare Feathers publication: Perie Longo, Ron Alexander, Friday Gretchen Lubina, and Michelle Detorie. The second half of readings included Pamela Davis, whose book Lunette won the ABZ Press Poetry Award, and she was named a semi-finalist for the prestigious Pablo Neruda Award; Richard Jarrette awarded the Midwest Independent Publishers Association Gold Medal Award for his best-selling book, Beso the Donkey; he was nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize and writes the monthly poetry review column for Casa Magazine; Erin Graffy read her poems inspired by Montecito artist Tom Mielko. She has written some 15 books on everything from humor, history, business to biography, Multiple Personality to poetry. Her first book was named book of the year by a national publication and last book won three national awards; Gabriella Klein whose book Land Sparing won the Nightboat Poetry Prize with its cover art work by her grandfather, the famous William Dole; Teddy Macker is a lecturer at UCSB College of Creative Studies and faculty adviser for Into the Teeth of the Wind poetry journal of UCSB. Among his honors is the Reginald S. Tickner Creative Writing Fellowship of the Gilman School in Baltimore; poet David Starkey; Marsha de la O whose book Black Hope won the New Issues Poetry Prize and the Small Press Editors Choice Award, as well as her book Antidote for the Night earning the prestigious 2015 Isabella Gardner Award. She is co-editor with her husband, poet Phil Taggert, of the Askew Literary Journal; poet Christine Penko; Mary Brown whose chapbook, Drought, was chosen as the winner of the 2015 Claudia Emerson Poetry Chapbook Award; Linda Saccoccio an

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abstract artist and poet. Her paintings appear on the covers of My Song is the Light, California Poets in the Schools, and The Yew Journal of Innovative Writing & Images by Women. Her poetry is included in Naropa University Writing Program anthologies, as well as Buzz and Rare Feathers; poet Enid Osborn; and Sojourner Kincaid Rolle current SB poet laureate, a poet, playwright, an environmental educator and a peace activist. She is the author of seven books of poetry and 6 plays including Common Ancestry and Black Street and hosts a monthly poetry event, The Poetry Zone, and for the past 13 years has organized an annual tribute to poetry icon Langston Hughes. She is a two-time recipient of the California Arts Council’s Artist-inResidence program. After the readings, attendees mingled with the poets and artists with much admiration and a seamless intellectual elevation. The poems read were on-point, some humorous, others hitting their emotional target home. Reflecting on the event, Nancy offered her cultured and personal notes, “The reason I cherish our local poetry community is, because as an artist, much of my own art is inspired by poetry. As a curator, I continue the tradition by bringing poets into my exhibitions to be inspired by the art. This particular celebration brought together the poets with the artists from the exhibit FLOCK so they could meet each other. I have had poets write about my work in the past, and I know how moving it can be for an artist to have their vision ‘put to words’. Gatherings like today at my house are to celebrate poetry as the true ‘art form’ that it is. Since the poetry community by nature can be insular with audiences often comprised of other poets, I was hoping to broaden that appreciation. Personally, I cannot imagine my life without my poet friends and their poetry in it.” Congratulations to our town’s artists and poets, to a wonderful year of their contributions here and beyond, as we look forward to much more for all of us fortunate to live in •MJ 2016. MONTECITO JOURNAL

MISCELLANY (Continued from page 26)

Michael Armand Hammer with Angie and Viktor Hammer enjoying the display works of art reception (photo by Priscilla)

Tom and Eileen Mielko, Elyse Gonzales, acting director of Art, Design and Architecture Museum UCSB; and Sara Miller McCune, philanthropist and publisher; beside “Hope”, a Robert Emmons bronze sculpture (photo by Priscilla)

Framing “Cheval “ bronze by Emmons is Jack Kudroshoff, Jehanne K. Brown, Jacquelyn Klein-Brown, and Carla Hahn (photo by Priscilla)

Among those turning out for the rainy soirée were Leslie Ridley-Tree, Mahri Kerley, Tom Mielko, Hiroko Benko, Carla Hahn, Corinna Gordon, Chris Toomey, Paul and Jane Orfalea, Brian King, Michael Hammer, Ryan Emmons, Viktor and Angie Hammer, Sara Miller McCune, Gwen Stauffer, Amanda McIntyre, Mary Ellen Tiffany, John and Jill Bishop, Elyse Gonzales, and Judy Larson. Soon afterwards many of the guests headed to the Funk Zone for the annual Yuletide bash at Cabana Home hosted by Steven and Caroline Thompson with Julian Nott and Anne Luther, Bill and Trish Davis, and Terry and Pam Valeski. From Soup to Nutcracker State Street Ballet’s production of Tchaikovsky’s enchanting The Nutcracker at the sold-out Granada is always a Christmas highlight. With Opera San Luis Obispo Orchestra under Brian Asher Alhadeff for the fourth year, it has taken on a whole new perspective. Boasting colorful sets from Moscow, including a magnificent expanding Christmas tree, and ornate costumes from Christina Giannini, Laila Borgman Brouwer, and Ben-Oni Cortes, the dancers included Kate Kadow and Deise Mendonca as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara played by Hannah Ezell and Morgan Love of Gustafson Dance. The Morro Bay High School Chorus added the vocals. Allynne Noelle, formerly of the

30 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Christmas Conductor Attendees at Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra’s last concert of the year at the Lobero got two performances for

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Higher Quire St. Anthony’s Chapel was heaving when the talented Quire of Voyces, under founder and conductor Nathan Kreitzer, performed a sold-out Mysteries of Christmas concert. The treasured Santa Barbara tradition, featuring Yuletide choral gems by composers both ancient and modern, including Christina Rossetti, and Richard Crashaw, to John Jacob Niles and Irish composer David Mooney, was a delight, with the featured work being Vaughan Williams’s luminous Mass in G Minor, a double-chorus work speaking of shared hopes for peace in the world, particularly appropriate at this time. The beautiful performance ended with Joseph Mohr’s “Silent Night”. It was traditional Yuletide music to everybody’s ears.

State Street Nutcracker reigns supreme at the Granada (photo by David Bazemore)

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Miami City Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada, was a special guest artist as Snow Queen and Dewdrop Fairy. Artistic director Rodney Gustafson and ballet master Gary McKenzie and Marina Fliagina mustered every available performer – nearly 200 dancers – in the talented company’s arsenal from the tiniest of tots to the seasoned principals, including Russianborn Sergei Domrachev, who plays a magnificently camp Mother Ginger.

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• The Voice of the Village •

24 – 31 December 2015

John and Ruth Matuszeski at the Lobero dinner (photo by David Bazemore)

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Where Patients Come First experienced staff • fast turnaround Principal violist Erik Rynearson with guest host Gail Eichental of USC Radio (photo by David Bazemore)

From left: Pete and Betty Favero with executive director Kevin Marvin (photo by David Bazemore)

the price of one when the Cold Spring School Children’s Choir sang a medley of Christmas songs after a festive supper for supporters in the theater’s courtyard when USC executive producer Gail Eichenthal interviewed orchestral players and even picked up the baton to conduct. Veteran musical director Heiichiro Ohyama was in fine form with 24 – 31

December 2015

Mendelssohn’s Symphony for Strings in C Major, the Swiss Symphony, which the German composer wrote when he was just 14, and Dvorak’s Serenade for Strings. Among the guests at the Yuletide bash were Seymour and Shirley Lehrer, Mahri Kerley, Robert

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www.pdllabs.com MONTECITO JOURNAL

ORDINANCE NO. 5728 AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA BARBARA AMENDING THE SANTA BARBARA MUNICIPAL CODE BY AMENDING SECTION 17.04.010 AND ADDING SECTION 17.12.050 TO ESTABLISH A DEFINITION OF “VESSEL” FOR CRAFT BERTHED, MOORED OR ANCHORED IN THE HARBOR DISTRICT The above captioned ordinance was adopted at a regular meeting of the Santa Barbara City Council held on December 15, 2015. The publication of this ordinance is made pursuant to the provisions of Section 512 of the Santa Barbara City Charter as amended, and the original ordinance in its entirety may be obtained at the City Clerk's Office, City Hall, Santa Barbara, California.

/s/ Matthew Fore Acting City Clerk Services Manager ORDINANCE NO. 5728 STATE OF CALIFORNIA

) ) COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA ) ss. ) CITY OF SANTA BARBARA ) I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing ordinance was introduced on December 8, 2015, and was adopted by the Council of the City of Santa Barbara at a meeting held on December 15, 2015, by the following roll call vote: AYES:

Councilmembers Dale Francisco, Gregg Hart, Frank Hotchkiss, Cathy Murillo, Randy Rowse, Bendy White; Mayor Helene Schneider

NOES:

None

ABSENT:

None

ABSTENTIONS:

None

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of Santa Barbara on December 16, 2015. /s/ Matthew Fore Acting City Clerk Services Manager I HEREBY APPROVE the foregoing ordinance on December 16, 2015. /s/ Helene Schneider Mayor

CITY OF SANTA BARBARA NOTICE TO BIDDERS

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that sealed bids will be received by the City of Santa Barbara Purchasing Office located at 310 E. Ortega Street, Santa Barbara, California, until 3:00 p.m. on the date indicated at which time they will be publicly opened, read and posted for:

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) by Tara Jayasinghe. FBN No. 2015-0003441. Published December 23, 30, 2015, January 6, 13, 2016.

32 MONTECITO JOURNAL

BID NO. 5427

BID NO. 5417A DUE DATE & TIME: January 27, 2016 UNTIL 3:00P.M. Santa Barbara Golf Club Tee and Bunker Renovation Scope of Work requires a qualified golf landscaping company to complete a series of improvements to tee boxes and bunker locations at Santa Barbara Golf Club. A MANDATORY pre-bid meeting will be held on January 12, 2016 at 9:00 a.m., at the Santa Barbara Golf Club, located at 3500 McCaw Ave St., Santa Barbara, CA, to discuss the specifications and field conditions. NOTE: Mandatory pre-bid meeting is not required for those who attended the Bid No. 5417 Mandatory pre-bid meeting on October 21, 2015. Bids must be submitted on forms supplied by the City of Santa Barbara and in accordance with the specifications, terms and conditions contained therein. Bid packages containing all forms, specifications, terms and conditions may be obtained in person at the Purchasing Office or by calling (805) 564-5349, or by Facsimile request to (805) 897-1977. There is no charge for bid package and specifications. Bidders are hereby notified that pursuant to provisions of Section 1770, et seq., of the Labor Code of the State of California, the Contractor shall pay its employees the general prevailing rate of wages as determined by the Director of Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). In addition, the Contractor shall be responsible for compliance with the requirements of Section 1777.5 of the California Labor Code relating to apprentice public works contracts. Contractors and Subcontractors must be registered with the DIR pursuant to Labor Code 1725.5. This project is subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the DIR. The City of Santa Barbara requires all contractors to possess a current valid State of California A - General Engineering Contractor OR C27 - Landscaping Contractors License. The company bidding on this must possess one of the above mentioned licenses at the time bids are due and be otherwise deemed qualified to perform the work specified herein. Bids submitted using the license name and number of a subcontractor or other person who is not a principle partner or owner of the company making this bid, will be rejected as being non-responsive. Bidders are hereby notified that a Payment Bond in the amount of 100% of the bid total will be required from the successful bidder for bids exceeding $25,000. The bond must be provided with ten (10) calendar days from notice of award and prior to the performance of any work. The bond must be signed by the bidder and a corporate surety, who is authorized to issue bonds in the State of California. The City of Santa Barbara affirmatively assures that minority and disadvantaged business enterprises will be afforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of age (over 40), ancestry, color, mental or physical disability, sex, gender identity and expression, marital status, medical condition (cancer or genetic characteristics), national origin, race, religious belief, or sexual orientation in consideration of award. ______________________ William Hornung, C.P.M. General Services Manager

Published December 23 Montecito Journal

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ECOLAWN; ECOLAWN SB, 555 Flora Vista Dr, Santa Barbara, CA 93109. Manifest Building, INC, 555 Flora Vista Dr, Santa Barbara, CA 93109. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on December 11, 2015.

CITY OF SANTA BARBARA NOTICE TO BIDDERS

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Be Home Be Happy, 5082 Calle Real Unit B, Santa Barbara, CA 93111. Solomon Asefa, 5082 Calle Real Unit B, Santa Barbara, CA 93111. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on November 30, 2015.

Published: December 23, 2015 Montecito Journal

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) by Noe Solis. FBN No. 20150003342. Published December 23, 30, 2015, January 6, 13, 2016.

• The Voice of the Village •

DUE DATE & TIME: January 28, 2016 UNTIL 3:00P.M. Breakwater Handrail Replacement Project Phase 2 Scope of Work is to demo the existing hand rail and install handrail that is code with Aluminum rail with 4” on center balusters and 5’ spacing on the posts. A MANDATORY pre-bid meeting will be held on January 6, 2016 at 10:00 a.m., at the Harbor Maintenance Shop, located at 117C Harbor Way, Santa Barbara, CA, to discuss the specifications and field conditions. Bids must be submitted on forms supplied by the City of Santa Barbara and in accordance with the specifications, terms and conditions contained therein. Bid packages containing all forms, specifications, terms and conditions may be obtained in person at the Purchasing Office or by calling (805) 564-5349, or by Facsimile request to (805) 897-1977. There is no charge for bid package and specifications. Bidders are hereby notified that pursuant to provisions of Section 1770, et seq., of the Labor Code of the State of California, the Contractor shall pay its employees the general prevailing rate of wages as determined by the Director of Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). In addition, the Contractor shall be responsible for compliance with the requirements of Section 1777.5 of the California Labor Code relating to apprentice public works contracts. Contractors and Subcontractors must be registered with the DIR pursuant to Labor Code 1725.5. This project is subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the DIR. The City of Santa Barbara requires all contractors to possess a current valid State of California B-General Building Contractors License. The company bidding on this must possess one of the above mentioned licenses at the time bids are due and be otherwise deemed qualified to perform the work specified herein. Bids submitted using the license name and number of a subcontractor or other person who is not a principle partner or owner of the company making this bid, will be rejected as being non-responsive. Bidders are hereby notified that a Payment Bond in the amount of 100% of the bid total will be required from the successful bidder for bids exceeding $25,000. The bond must be provided with ten (10) calendar days from notice of award and prior to the performance of any work. The bond must be signed by the bidder and a corporate surety, who is authorized to issue bonds in the State of California. Bidders are hereby notified that a Performance Bond in the amount of 100% of the bid total will be required from the successful bidder for bids. The bond must be provided with ten (10) calendar days from notice of award and prior to the performance of any work. The bond must be signed by the bidder and a corporate surety, who is authorized to issue bonds in the State of California. The City of Santa Barbara affirmatively assures that minority and disadvantaged business enterprises will be afforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of age (over 40), ancestry, color, mental or physical disability, sex, gender identity and expression, marital status, medical condition (cancer or genetic characteristics), national origin, race, religious belief, or sexual orientation in consideration of award. ________________________ William Hornung, C.P.M. Published: December 23, 2016 General Services Manager Montecito Journal

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AXIA Holdings, INC, 820 State Street, 3rd Floor, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. AXIA Holdings, INC, 820 State Street, 3rd Floor, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on December

10, 2015. 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) by Adela Bustos. FBN No. 2015-0003438. Published December 16, 23, 30, 2015, January 6, 2016.

24 – 31 December 2015

PUBLIC NOTICE City of Santa Barbara NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City Council of the City of Santa Barbara will conduct a Public Hearing on Tuesday, January 12, 2016, during the afternoon session of the meeting which begins at 2:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, City Hall, 735 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara. The hearing is to consider introduction and subsequent adoption of a proposed amendment to Title 28 of the Municipal Code which would establish the parameters for permitting the cultivation of cannabis for personal medical use and prohibit commercial cannabis cultivation in all zones. On December 3, 2015, the City’s Planning Commission recommended that the City Council introduce and subsequently adopt the ordinance amending Chapter 28.87 of the Santa Barbara Municipal Code to add section 300, Cannabis Cultivation. You are invited to attend this hearing and address your verbal comments to the City Council. Written comments are also welcome up to the time of the hearing, and should be addressed to the City Council via the City Clerk’s Office, P.O. Box 1990, Santa Barbara, CA 93102-1990. On Thursday, January 7, 2016, an Agenda with all items to be heard on Tuesday, January 12, 2016, will be available at 735 Anacapa Street and at the Central Library. Agendas and Staff Reports are also accessible online at www.santabarbaraca.gov; under Most Popular, click on Council Agenda Packet. Regular meetings of the Council are broadcast live and rebroadcast on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. and on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. on City TV Channel 18. Each televised Council meeting is closed captioned for the hearing impaired. These meetings can also be viewed over the Internet at www.SantaBarbaraCA.gov/CouncilVideos. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need auxiliary aids or services or staff assistance to attend or participate in this meeting, please contact the City Administrator’s Office at 564-5305. If possible, notification at least 48 hours prior to the meeting will usually enable the City to make reasonable arrangements. Specialized services, such as sign language interpretation or documents in Braille, may require additional lead time to arrange. /s/ Matthew Fore Acting City Clerk Services Manager Published December 23, 2015 Montecito Journal

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Carlstedt Property Management, PO Box 4563, Santa Barbara, CA 93140. Eric Carlstedt, 21 Crestview Lane, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. Karrie Crane, 21 Crestview Lane, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on November 20, 2015. 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) by Jan Morales. FBN No. 2015-0003298. Published December 9, 16, 23, 30, 2015. AMENDED ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: CASE No. 15CV03430. To all interested parties:

Petitioners Alexander Kowblansky and Annette Charuk Kowblansky filed a petition with the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, for a decree changing names as follows: Adrienne Catherine Kowblansky to Adrianna Catherine Kowblansky. The Court orders that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Filed December 2, 2015 by Terri Chavez, Deputy Clerk. Hearing date: January 6, 2016 at 9:30 am in Dept. 1, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Published 12/2, 12/9, 12/16, 12/23 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: CASE No. 15CV03464. To all interested parties: Petitioner Jack StokesTillotson filed a petition with Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, for a decree changing name to Jack Pringle Stokes. The Court orders that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing

EDITORIAL (Continued from page 5)

January meeting. That leaves the final Phase 4 widening of the current 10.2-mile stretch from the Bailard Avenue interchange in Carpinteria to Sycamore Creek in Santa Barbara, a project previously estimated to cost $435 million. Preliminary design work is currently underway on this phase. Caltrans has taken the lead on the southern segment from Bailard Avenue to North Padaro Lane, and SBCAG, and its design consultant Tony Harris, are leading the design of the northern section from North Padaro Lane to Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara County voters approved $140 million in local transportation sales tax to help fund Phase 4 of the US 101 widening. To date, the State of California has committed nearly $300 million to complete the first three phases. State and federal funding for Phase 4 has an uncertain “window of opportunity” depending on federal and state priorities in their budgets. Caltrans and SBCAG both recognize that the current 101 bottleneck hurts local businesses and frustrates residents. Every day, the local economy, the quality of life, the character of our communities and the quality of our air are negatively impacted by a constricted 101. This region’s economic competitiveness suffers. Trucking efficiency is measured in cost per mile. Daily gridlock discourages an estimated 15,000 workers per day who commute to the Santa Barbara area from the Ventura area alone. Many of these commuters are essential first responders and emergency medical personnel. The traffic congestion in Montecito gets a whole lot worse when 101 drivers jam local streets, trying to get around the 10.2-mile backup. Each year of delay adds some $20 million to the Phase 4 widening cost. Obviously, the recent decision by Superior Court judge Thomas Anderle to vacate project approval on the basis that Caltrans failed to properly analyze the project’s cumulative traffic impact on 15 local intersections from Carpinteria to Goleta – including nine in Santa Barbara – will further delay the Phase 4 widening project. There were two lawsuits filed challenging the adequacy of the final CEQA Environmental Impact Report. The first lawsuit was dismissed by the judge in November. The second hearing occurred on December 15 with a ruling issued on the same day. In short, the court found that local intersection impacts need to be further evaluated within the body of a revised environmental document. It is important to note that the judge also made it clear that remaining areas of the final environmental document (more than 95 percent of the document) are valid and do not need to be revised. Caltrans is actively evaluating what needs to be done to fulfill the court’s direction. We are unable to announce a timetable for completion of the Phase 4 project until we have carefully reviewed the court ruling. The changes to the environmental document will be made as quickly as possible and an opportunity will be provided to the public to review these changes. Caltrans and SBCAG are both fully committed to getting this entire project to construction as quickly as possible and greatly appreciate the support of this •MJ effort from residents throughout Santa Barbara County. indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at

least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without

a hearing. Filed November 2, 2015 by Narzralli Baksh, Deputy Clerk. Hearing date: January 6, 2016 at 9:30 am in Dept. 1, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Published 12/2, 12/9, 12/16, 12/23

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24 – 31

December 2015

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MONTECITO JOURNAL

C ALENDAR OF Note to readers: This entertainment calendar is a subjective sampling of arts and other events taking place in the Santa Barbara area for the next week. It is by no means comprehensive. Be sure to read feature stories in each issue that complement the calendar. In order to be considered for inclusion in this calendar, information must be submitted no later than noon on the Wednesday eight days prior to publication date. Please send all news releases and digital artwork to slibowitz@yahoo.com)

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28

From College to Christmas – Ramen isn’t relegated to low-cost meals for cash-starved university students anymore. Gourmet chefs have come up with designs of making masterful meals out of the Japanese noodle soup dish usually associated with cheap packaged dinners. Les Marchands Wine Bar & Merchant chef Weston Richards introduced his hand-made ramen last year, which developed an enormous cult during its several month run. Now the two are teaming again for “A Very Ramen Christmas Eve” featuring two selections of the chef’s creation back in the Funk Zone for one night only. Guests get to choose between ramen with soy marinated pork belly in spicy pork broth, Brussels sprouts and soft egg, or a vegetarian selection with butternut squash in yellow curry-coconut broth, with shiitake mushrooms, tofu and crispy nori. Both feature the ramen made fresh by hand from flour, water, and sodium carbonate, which give the noodles their signature color, flavor, and bouncy texture. Not in a soupy mood? Les Marchands signature charcuterie and cheese boards are also available in anticipation of the holiday. WHEN: 4-9 pm WHERE: 131 Anacapa Street COST: Ramen dishes cost $17 each INFO: 284-0380 or www. lesmarchandswine.com

More Jazz before January – Trombonist Mariel Bildsten, who graduated from New School College of Performing Arts School of Jazz in New York just this month, works as a side-woman, playing jazz mostly in big bands and small groups, as well as world and Caribbean music, classical, funk, R&B, and Latin music. She has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Smalls Jazz Club, Carnegie Hall, and Swing 46, among other venues and alongside such artists as Wycliffe Gordon, Brian Lynch, Cyrus Chestnut, Lew Soloff, Jerry Dodgion, and Frank Lacy. Now she brings a quartet to SOhO’s Monday night jazz series just days after finishing school. WHEN: 7:30 pm WHERE: SOhO, 1221 State Street, upstairs in Victoria Court COST: $15 INFO: 962-7776 or www.sohosb.com THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31 Get Your Make (it) up on – Ventura Improv Company takes a short jaunt down Main Street to inhabit the Rubicon Theater for its annual New Year’s Eve Fundraiser & Gala. The improv troupe, which conducts workshops all week and hosts performances every Friday and Saturday at its own space in The Livery downtown, gets a lot more room to put on a three-hour show featuring games,

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25 Back from the Bayou – Ken Keppeler and Jeanie McLerie – the husbandand-wife duo behind the band known as Bayou Seco – return for their umpteenth annual appearance as the performers for the annual Christmas contra dance at the Carrillo Recreation Center. The dance is free and open to all – serving as an excellent introduction for newbies to the easy-tolearn, community-oriented folk-arts activity that allows participants to connect with 20-40 other dancers with each 10- to 15-minute iteration. But for those who don’t want to join in, there’s still plenty of good reason to attend, as the duo’s music is its own cultural journey through traditional American musical styles. Keppeler and McLerie, who spent some time in southwestern Louisiana before relocating to New Mexico, combine Cajun stylings with songs they’ve acquired from Hispanic, Cowboy, and Tohono O’Odham musicians in the American Southwest via one-onone word of mouth exposure. Their musical education is ongoing, and they bring all that knowledge to others through this rich repertoire of song and dance. Both play fiddle and guitar and sing, while Keppeler also plays one and three row diatonic accordions, five-string banjo (fretless and freted), harmonica, and mandolin. And they’re almost always accompanied by an assortment of acoustic music friends drawn from our area’s wealth of string players and singers, often including some big names. And also as always, Erik Hoffman, himself well-schooled in American traditional roots music, serves as caller for the dance. Families welcome. WHEN: 6:30-9:30 pm (free dance instruction at 6:10 pm) WHERE: Carrillo Recreation Center, 100 E. Carrillo St. COST: free INFO: 699-5101 or www.sbcds.org

34 MONTECITO JOURNAL

EVENTS by Steven Libowitz

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27 Parker’s Pulitzer? – Mary-Louise Parker is the slinky, seductive doe-eyed actress who has won Tony, Emmy, and Golden Globe awards over a long career that has included roles in the Broadway plays Prelude to a Kiss and Proof, on TV in Mike Nichols’s adaptation of Angels in America, and on TV in Weeds and The West Wing. Now add author to that distinguished list of accomplishments, as Parker has penned Dear Mr. You, a book out just a month that’s already been called “an extraordinary literary work.” The book is arranged as a set of letters to men who have mattered to Ms. Parker, both real and hypothetical, who have informed the person she is today. Among them are the grandfather she never knew, a beloved priest from her childhood, former lovers, a firefighter she encountered during 9/11, the uncle of the infant daughter she adopted, and several others she created to flesh out her feelings. In a rave 1,150-word review, The New York Times, calling the book the literary equivalent of a one-woman show, praised Parker’s “smart, beguiling voice that is inextricably entwined with qualities that (she) radiates as an actress... flintiness reckless charm, flirtation, and mischief,” and lauds “the honest soul-searching that gives this slight-looking book much more heft than might be expected. Its tone is brave and warmly conspiratorial, neither of which has ever hurt an already wellknown, professionally adorable person when it comes to attracting readers. That (the) book is so seriously good seems like overkill.” Hear some extra insights when Parker appears at Chaucer’s Books this afternoon to sign copies of Dear Mr. You. WHEN: 4 pm WHERE: 3321 State Street (Loreto Plaza) COST: free INFO: 6826787 or www.chaucersbooks.com

stories, and skits created on the spot via their own wits – with a few suggestions from the audience. Snacks and a dessert buffet a champagne toast, beer and soft drinks, and a raffle and silent auction round out the fun as you laugh your way into 2016 with some remarkably clever and fast-paced words and action from the players in the 20-year-old company. It’s a fun way for the whole family to ring out the old and ring in the new – and still be on your way early enough to party on elsewhere or beat the crowds home. WHEN: 7-10:30 pm WHERE: 1006 E Main St, Ventura COST: $50 general admission, $40 military & age 55-plus, $25 age 15 and under INFO: www.venturaimprov. com/newyears Going Inside to Greet 2016 – La Casa de Maria here in Montecito hosts “Walking into the New Year: Four Aspects of Christian and Buddhist Love” to create a safe foundation for what is to come in the New Year and beyond. Through poetry and mindfulness meditation, Father Larry Gosselin, OFM, a Franciscan friar of the Province of Santa Barbara and minister at the Old Mission of Santa Barbara, and Radhule Weininger, MD, PhD, who practices psychotherapy in Santa Barbara and teaches mindfulness meditation at La Casa de Maria, guide participants in experiencing

• The Voice of the Village •

the four faces of love: love of self; love of God; love as a foundation for kindness, compassion, generosity, and gratitude, and love as service. But you can also join for just the final two hours of 2015, for “An Interfaith Contemplative New Year’s Eve” from 10 pm to midnight, a mindful New Year’s Eve spent preparing for the New Year with quiet. Resort-ing to Disco – Get your John Travolta on and boogie the night away to your favorite disco classics as Bacara Ballroom is transformed into a disco nightclub as 2015 yields to the new year. The New Year’s Eve Disco Party package includes dinner stations by the Bacara’s executive chef, party favors, a cash bar, and a free champagne toast to welcome in 2016. Disco attire encouraged; 21 and over. WHEN: 7 pm to 1:30 am WHERE: Ballroom at Bacara Resort & Spa COST: $150, $65 late-night admission after 10 pm (no dinner); $1,500 VIP Table of 10, includes two bottles of champagne INFO: www.bacararesort. com or www.nightout.com/events Ring-wald-ing in the New – Enjoy an Ultimate ‘80s New Year’s Eve Dance Party with the Molly Ringwald Project, one of the region’s hottest dance bands named after the decade’s most iconic teen movie heroine. The band’s annual NYE gig has grown so large, with 24 – 31 December 2015

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27 Bashing with Thrasher – Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Trio is led by the Grammynominated jazz drummer-composer-arranger who has released eight albums as a solo artist, going back nearly 20 years. His first album featured saxophonist Ravi Coltrane and was executive produced by Quincy Jones, while his three 2013-15 recordings, Gerry Gibbs & The Thrasher Dream Trio, We’re Back, and Live in Studio – which between them spent 15 weeks topping the national Jazz Radio Airply charts in 2014-15 – all feature jazz luminaries Ron Carter and Kenny Barron, the latter also adding trumpeter Roy Hargrove and Grammy-winning singer Cassandra Wilson. The list of jazz greats Gibbs – the son of jazz vibraphone legend Terry Gibbs – has performed, recorded and/or toured with over the years is several dozen long, and includes such big names as McCoy Tyner, Woody Shaw, Brad Mehldau, Clark Terry, Wynton Marsalis, Larry Coryell, Eddie Harris, and Dewey Redman. For tonight’s gig at SOhO, the other two-thirds of the trio aren’t slouches, either. Pianist-composer-arranger Billy Childs has earned four Grammys of his own among 13 nominations, and helped forge another one as the arranger, orchestrator, and conductor for Dianne Reeves’s project The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan. He’s previously worked with Sting, Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Botti, Gladys Knight, Michael Bublé, David Foster, and Phil Ramone. Bassist Hamilton Price, who started out as a tuba player, played with Gerry Gibbs around Texas for five years in the early 2000s and has worked with Childs, Eric Reed, and many other jazz artists before becoming staff sergeant Hamilton Price and serving as the bassist in the Jazz Ambassadors, a component of the U.S. Army Field Band. WHEN: 7:30 pm WHERE: SOhO, 1221 State Street, upstairs in Victoria Court COST: $12 in advance, $15 at the door INFO: 962-7776 or www.sohosb.com

the dance floor packed from the first song to the last, that the venue has grown to require the largest ballroom on the Central Coast, the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort’s 12,000-sq-ft space. The multi-purpose ballroom will offer tables and seating galore, multiple bars, 1980s decorations, New Year’s Eve party favors, toys

and accessories, a laser light show, and a New Year’s bang at the end of the night. WHEN: 9 pm to 1:30 am WHERE: 633 E Cabrillo Blvd. COST: $65 in advance, $75 on December 31; $525 VIP for 8 includes reserved table and two bottles of champagne INFO: www.projectmolly.com or www.nightout.com/events •MJ

FRI

KIDS HELPING KIDS

JAN 8

NEEDTOBREATHE With JOHNNYSWIM A Benefit Concert

7:15 PM SAT

JAN 9

7:15 PM

GRANADA THEATRE CONCERT SERIES

VICKI LAWRENCE & MAMA

SUN

JAN 10 3 PM