The Giving List Marine Conservation Network

“I worked at the shark tank, and was known as the Shark Lady because I had a couple of sharks there that would actually come and lay in my arm and rest for about 20 minutes and not move,” Ray explained. “But at the time, I was there as an interpreter and we were instructed to only talk in scientific terms about the sharks when children came through. There were many tourists who knew nothing about the ocean, their eyes would glass over because they didn’t understand what I was talking about. It was a disconnect because our whole point at the Sea Center was to educate the public on what’s right here in the ocean and how to conserve it and protect it and they weren’t getting that.”

But when Ray returned to talking to kids with terms and on a level that they could relate to, the children lit up and wanted to know more about the sharks, what roles they play in the ocean, and why we need to conserve them.

“That’s when I realized where the missing link was, that the conservationists and the scientists have their own language, but the general public may not understand the issues,” Ray said. “It’s not just about being in the ocean. Everything that we eat, drink, and breathe originally comes from the ocean: our climate, our food, our medicine, everything. And whatever you put into the water from wherever you are located ends up back in the ocean. So it’s vitally important for everyone to communicate and work together to protect the oceans.”

by Steven Libowitz

Kimberly Ray, the founder and CEO of Marine Conservation Network, remembers what it was like to grow up in and on the water. As the daughter of a fisherman, she spent countless hours swimming, diving, snorkeling –“Whatever I could do to get in the water,” she recalled.

Wanting to continue that path, Ray earned a degree in marine biology at the University of Miami, and worked in the field in Florida for several years before relocating to Southern California 30 years ago and eventually making her way to Santa Barbara. Here is where she founded the nonprofit whose aim, in a nutshell, is to protect and restore the oceans and waterways in the face of continued climate change and overfishing.

It was while working at the Museum of Natural History’s Sea Center on Stearns Wharf – one of many ocean-oriented organizations where she had volunteered up and down the coast – that Ray got the impetus for creating the Marine Conservation Network.

At first, Marine Conservation Network merely created locally produced videos with Ray sharing her knowledge in ways everyone could understand. But in its short seven year history, the nonprofit has expanded its efforts to include a series of videos featuring interviews with other small organizations, create some hands-on programs such as beach cleanups, inaugurate educational efforts largely focused toward kids called Youth Ambassadors, and work to establish a platform that serves as a clearinghouse for all ocean-related organizations, scientists, and environmentalists to collaborate, share research, and coordinate advocacy efforts.

“That’s what makes us different from the other marine conservation organizations here in Santa Barbara and elsewhere that are doing a fantastic job,” Ray said. “We’re working on bringing organizations to one central location to where the public can work together with the organizations on the same level.”

Ray is particularly proud of the Youth Ambassadors program, which aims to allow children to explore their interest in the ocean from whatever point of view works for them, whether that’s working alongside a marine biologist, doing research, or simply participating in beach cleanup efforts.

In its seven years of operation, the Marine Conservation Network has expanded to include videos and educational programs, including its Youth Ambassadors

“We provide these different pathways that these kids can take to get their feet wet, so to speak,” she said. “If they want to work with a scientist in a lab, or spend time at a kelp farm, we can help arrange that through our partners. There are courses and certificates they can earn. In the real world, you don’t get that opportunity until it’s way far down the line and you’re practically ready to get your degree. But it really helps to reach kids at as young an age as possible.”

The nonprofit is also actively working to set up marine conservation clubs in the public schools, initially at high schools but eventually in middle schools, too.

Private donations, of course, can help the process along. But the Marine Conservation Network also has a vast need of opportunity for volunteers, even from those who don’t enjoy sand between their toes or putting their heads under water. The organization’s website is beautiful but sorely needs reorganization and expansion to more clearly communicate MCN’s activities.

“I put it together myself and I know nothing about computers,” Ray said. “I’m proud of what I created, but I need somebody to help me take it to the next level.”

The network is also planning a summer fundraiser, and would benefit greatly from securing someone with experience and expertise in putting such events together.

“We were up to 10 employees and were getting ready to do our first in-person fundraiser before Covid hit,” Ray recalled. “Now we’re down to only half as many people. But we’re ready to ramp back up again.” preservation of California missions and editing the magazine Land of Sunshine (later Out West). The publication was produced by the chamber of commerce, but under Lummis it grew from promotional rag to literary magazine, showcasing the work of regional writers and artists, and celebrating the Southwest’s rich cultures and the romance of early California.

The ocean awaits. Dive in.

For his home, Lummis bought three acres just east of downtown in today’s Highland Park, paying $650. In 1897 he began building a 4,000-square-foot “castle” he called El Alisal, or “Place of the Sycamore,” after a towering tree on the property. The house was his love letter to the Southwest. A round tower resembled Hopi designs, and he incorporated New Mexico-style corner fireplaces, huge log beams, and Native American rugs.

Another goal was to celebrate the humble and handmade, inspired by England’s Arts and Crafts movement, a reaction against manufactured goods and standardized factory production. “A man’s home should be part of himself,” he said. “Some activity of his head, heart, and hands should make it really his.”

His rustic house was clad in stones pulled from a nearby creek in the Arroyo Seco (now the Pasadena Freeway). Boys visiting from Isleta Pueblo did the heavy lifting, while Lummis crafted quirky, charming woodwork for doors, windows, and built-ins. Utterly unlike the Victorian houses of the day, his home looked like a piece of folk art.

It was also a social center, and Lummis’s talent for networking was way ahead of its time. At his frequent parties, which he called “noises,” luminaries – who ranged from naturalist John Muir to movie idol Douglas Fairbanks – might meet a survivor of the Wounded Knee Massacre, watch Will Rogers perform rope tricks, and revel with artists and musicians. Lummis purposely designed the main room with a concrete floor so that after his bashes it could easily be cleaned with a bucket.

Lummis’s moral shortcomings were also on view. During his life he had three wives, two divorces, and some fifty extramarital affairs, scrupulously recorded in a notebook coded in Greek. He also alienated his children and battled alcoholism.

Yet Charles Lummis managed to write sixteen books and hundreds of influential articles, document the Southwest’s vanishing cultures in photos and rare recordings, become head of the Los Angeles Public Library, and founded the nearby Southwest Museum, whose fine collection of Native American artifacts included his own donations.

High spirited, flawed, eccentric, but of deeply serious intent, Charles Lummis had a profound love for the Southland. It infuses his house, a pioneer in the residential history of Los Angeles.

Visiting:

Lummis House: 200 East Avenue 43, (323) 226-1620; open Sat. & Sun. from 10 am – 3 pm

McPherson Parsonage: 1801 Park Ave., (213) 989-4444 for reservations; tours Mon. to Thurs. at 1 pm, Fri. at 10 am for 35 years. The author of 11 books and 600+ magazine and newspaper pieces, he has won three Lowell Thomas Awards, the “Oscars” of the field, from the Society of American Travel Writers. His “Curious Traveler” column in the Montecito Journal received the SATW gold medal.

Another Side of L.A.: Aimee Semple McPherson’s Parsonage

Los Angeles has always been an incubator for magnetic religious personalities, and in the 1920s no one could touch evangelist, faith healer, and media celebrity, Aimee Semple McPherson. At her pioneer megachurch, Angelus Temple, she preached the “old-fashioned gospel” for a packed house of more than 5,000 people three times every Sunday.

“Sister Aimee” livened up her sermons with humor, stage sets, costumes, and music. One service was inspired by her getting a speeding ticket. Dressed in a traffic cop’s uniform and riding a motorcycle with a blaring siren to the pulpit, she hit the brakes and shouted: “Stop! You’re speeding to Hell!”

She gained notoriety for her two divorces and a mysterious disappearance that captured national news but seemed to have been staged and was possibly a romantic rendezvous. Yet Sister Aimee did much charity work, mobilizing her radio audience to help in disasters, funding free medical clinics, and feeding more people than any other organization in Los Angeles.

Aimee Semple McPherson’s surprisingly humble parsonage home, located across from Echo Park Lake, preserves period kitchen appliances and a dramatic, black-tiled bathroom. Among artifacts from her life are a travel trunk and a large metal megaphone she used to preach from the back of her “Gospel Car.” The movement she launched in Los Angeles spread widely; her Foursquare Church now claims to have four million members in 142 countries.

Brandts , Scott and Ella Brittingham , Brendon Twigden , Judith SmithMeyer , Steve and Amber Ortiz , and Alex Murkison

A blooming good night...

Baker’s Bash

conductor JoAnn Wasserman, herself celebrating her 30th anniversary.

The performance featured soprano soloist Tamara Bevard and tenor Jimmer Bolden with Mozart’s Requiem and works by Palestrina, Durufle, Gjeilo, Lauridsen, Aaron Copland and Christopher Tin A glorious season...

12,000-bottle wine collection.

Among the foodies turning out were Penny Bianchi , Robin Fell , Cynthia Spivey, Lorie Porter, Bennett Barbakow, Natalie Noone, Caroline Thompson, Greg Marks, Jo Saxon, Rebecca DeSantis, and Scott Adelson

Uber party planner Merryl Brown and Ashley Adelson hosted a blooming boffo bash at Villa Corbeau, Ashley’s charming Riven Rock estate, just a tiara’s toss or two from the $15 million, six-acre home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The fun sun-soaked fête celebrated former Ojai resident Loria Stern’s Eat Your Flowers: A Cookbook, which took the author four years to write. She bakes more than 2,000 cookies a week for customers nationwide.

“I am now working on a follow-up, but the title is a secret,” she informed me. “Maybe Bloom with a View!” I quipped as more than 100 colorfully clad guests tucked into her famous shortbread cookies emblazoned with flowers while quaffing wine and champagne.

“I was inspired by the romance of wild edible flowers and medicinal herbs.”

Examples of her cookbook creations include botanical steamed tamales, basil flower eggplant in hoisin sauce, and a prickly pear cocktail.

From Page to Stage

Positive Thinking

Montecito actor Michael J. Fox, 61, says the cure for Parkinson’s disease is “closer than it has ever been.”

The now retired star, who was diagnosed with the degenerative condition when just 29, has raised more than $2 billion for the cause and says he is optimistic the disease can be eradicated following “a single breakthrough.”

In a U.K. TV interview, Fox declared:”I feel like a cure is closer than it’s ever been. I think we found this biomarker, which is huge in identifying the disease and their being able to treat it earlier.”

The Michael J. Fox Foundation is the largest nonprofit foundation of Parkinson’s disease research in the world with more than $1 billion of research projects to date.

Puttin’ on the Ritz

Susanto Bhattacharya, who started his culinary career in a small town in India, is the new executive chef at the Ritz Carlton Bacara.

“I am passionate about providing a symphony of flavors collected on multiple trips to exotic locations around the world,” says Bhattacharya, who has worked with three celebrated Michelin chefs, including Raymond Blanc, whose eatery, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, I had the pleasure of dining at with Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson, when he was a partner in the Oxfordshire restaurant.

Music in the Air

Local literature lover and attorney Steven Gilbar was busy promoting his latest work, The Little Book of Montecito Actors at Tecolote in the upper village.

The 207-page book spotlights the stars of stage and screen who have lived in our rarefied enclave over the years, including Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell to more modern icons like Kevin Costner, Steve Martin, Julia LouisDreyfus and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Almost 100 actors are featured in potted biographies from the days of silent film to the Golden Age of Hollywood to the present day.

Anniversaries Abound

Santa Barbara Choral Society wrapped its 75th anniversary season with a “Mozart to Modern” concert at First Presbyterian Church under veteran

With skills acquired in Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa, including the Caribbean, he will oversee the oceanside hostelry’s six culinary venues, including the Angel Oak, housing the tony resort’s

It was definitely an evening of extremely high note when Venezuelan male soprano Samuel Marino sang in his U.S. premiere with Camerata Pacifica at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall before winging to the U.K. to appear at the famous Glyndebourne opera festival.

Marino, 20, studied voice and ballet in Caracas and at the Paris Conservatory for Voice in France, with songs by Handel, Mendelssohn, Monteverdi, Vivaldi, and Mozart in his extensive history.

He showed his strengths in the Baroque repertoire magnificently in Bach’s Cantata, "Non sa che sia dolore" with 11 instrumentalists, including Paolo Bordignon on harpsichord.

The entertaining concert, the final performance of the chamber orchestra’s 33rd season, also featured works by Adams and Pergolesi.

A delightful tour de force.

Quint-essential

Santa Barbara Symphony concluded its seven-event Concert Aperitif series with a quintessential performance.

Todd and Allyson Aldrich opened the doors of their stunning Montecito aerie for a recital by Russian violinist Philippe Quint, 49, who played in the orchestra’s Platinum Sounds: The Symphony Turns 70 concert at the Granada two days later.

Playing a 1708 “Ruby” Antonio Stradivari instrument, the multi-Grammy Award nominee and Juilliard, New York, student, Quint gave a preview of his imaginative weekend performance of Mendelssohn’s concerto in E minor, one of the most prominent and highly recognized works in the concerto repertoire for violin.

The concert opened with Concerto Grosso featuring all the symphony’s principal players, composed by Jonathan Leshnoff, which was previously commissioned for the symphony’s 60th anniversary, and wrapped with Brahm’s monumental Symphony No. 1 in C minor, which took the composer 21 years of revisions to declare ready to perform publicly in 1876. Music supporters turning out for the aperitif sunset soirée included Barbara Burger , Dan Burnham , Fred and Nancy Golden , Stewart Hudnut , Sybil Rosen , Joan Rutkowski , Robert Weinman , Rachel Kaganoff Stern , Adam and Soraya Budgor , and Mikki Andina

Skol!

It was anything but glacial when Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson perfumed a 95-minute Mozart and Contemporaries concert at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall.

The hugely entertaining show shed light on lesser-known musical figures, including Italian composers Domenico Cimarosa and Baldassare Galuppi, and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the fifth child and second son of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Olafsson, who studied at the Miraflores campus in 2004 with keyboard legend Jerry Lowenthal, was on the last stop of his U.S. tour for the UCSB Arts & Lectures concert, which also featured work by Haydn.

After a standup ovation Olafsson, Gramophone magazine’s Artist of the Year, played a Bach organ sonata encore.

A captivating communicator who this season alone has played with the New York Philharmonic, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the London and Bergen philharmonic orchestras.

It was also the last musical performance of the current A & L series.

Squash Vegas

The racketeers were out in force when the Santa Barbara School of Squash celebrated its third annual Viva Las Vegas! gala at the 1114 Sports Bar in La Arcada with 130 guests raising around $40,000.

Former U.S. Number One squash champion Robert Graham , executive director, is about to embark on an $8-million capitalization campaign to build an 8,000-sq.-ft. complex of four to six squash courts with high-tech classrooms and office space in a “community education and enrichment center” serving up to 500 students made up of fifthto 12th-graders.

“We had two courts at the Santa Barbara Athletic Club, but now we are without any courts at all,” explained Graham.”We have been playing in racquetball courts at the YMCA and are changing one court for squash as a test, which is costing around $20,000.”

He is hoping some generous benefactor will provide the full funding, but if not he hopes that events and grants will provide the necessary monies to build the complex he envisages.

Ubiquitous Andrew Firestone emceed the event and conducted the paddle raise, while magician Gene Urban and dj Fab provided entertainment. Supporters included Lucy Firestone,

Nigel

One for the Books

Prince Harry’s Spare San Franciscobased ghostwriter J.R. Moehringer, 58, has revealed their relationship became so fraught while working on the best-selling book that he ended up shouting at the Riven Rock resident.

“I was exasperated with Prince Harry,” says Moehringer, who received $1 million for his work on the Penguin-Random House project.

“My head was pounding, my jaw was clenched, and I was starting to raise my voice. And yet some part of me, as his cheeks flushed and his eyes narrowed, a more pressing thought occurred: ‘Whoa, it could all end right here.’”

The incident last year in a Zoom call is recalled in an article Moehringer has written for The New Yorker magazine.

“Although it was the first time Harry and I had argued, it felt different. It felt like we’re hurtling towards some kind of decisive rupture, in part because Harry was no longer saying anything. He was just glaring into the camera.”

Finally, King Charles’s youngest son accepted the writer’s explanation and replied with a mischievous grin, “I really enjoy getting you worked up like that.”

“I burst into laughter and shook my head, and we moved on to the next set of edits.”

Pluck of the Irish

Riverdance, the iconic Irish dance show created by Michael Flatley, is marking its quarter century.

I first saw the production with Flatley at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in 1996, and since that time more than 27.5 million people have seen the energized production around the world.

A new show, marking 25 years as part of a 53-city tour across the U.S. through June, landed at the Granada with Fergus Fitzpatrick and Maggie Darlington as principal dancers backed by a musical quartet including villein pipes, drums, fiddle, and saxophone.

The show, with wonderful video set backdrops from Alan Farquharson , motion graphics in high-res by Cosmo Av, and direction from John McColgan , even featured flamenco, a dervish ensemble, and tappers, a twosome of color in a Brooklyn, N.Y., scene reflecting on the historical migration of the Irish to America.

Composer Bill Whelan ’s music added immensely to the new production, an exhilarating ride of precision and passion. It was a helluva night of magic and spectacle!

“Moon Riviera…”

Riviera Ridge School celebrated its first off-campus gala in four years with an Under the Moroccan Moon bash at the Montecito Club.

“We wanted to create a memorable and magical experience for our wonderful families, faculty and staff,” enthused Chris Broderick , head of school, as guests tucked into a three-course, Moroccan-inspired dinner.

The fun fête was co-chaired by Ivana Firestone, Analise Maggio and Alexandra Ramirez, with the ubiquitous Andrew Firestone, whose children are school students, auctioning off a week at a Rincon Beach cottage, a catered party at the Natural History Museum’s Butterfly Pavilion, and school-focused perks including a VIP parking space and front-row seats at the school graduation ceremony. The Montecito Club event raised $330,000 and had a sell-out crowd of 215 guests.

Casting Pearls before Shrine

A jewelry set made for the late Princess Diana and reputed to have been a gift from her film producer beau, Dodi Fayed, is going up for sale next month.

The diamond and pearl necklace was famously worn by the Princess of Wales at a gala evening for the ballet Swan Lake at London’s Royal Albert Hall in June 1997 – her last official engagement before her tragic death in Paris.

The necklace, made up of 178 dia- monds totaling 51 carats and five South Sea pearls, was returned to the Crown Jewelers Garrard so they could design a matching pair of earrings.

Known as the Swan Lake suite, the jewels will be auctioned at Guernsey’s in New York in June and are expected to reach a sale price of between $5 and $15 million. They have belonged to a prominent Ukrainian family since 2008.

Club Ed

In partnership with the Santa Barbara City College Foundation, the Rotary Club of Montecito has awarded ten $1,250 scholarships to students at City College pursuing studies in a career technical education program.

Club president Tony Morris says: “For nearly 30 years, our club has provided vocational scholarships for deserving students nominated by faculty members. We look forward to many more years of this educational tradition.”

The club is celebrating 70 years of community service.

Hot Wheels

A Nissan car driven by the late Santa Barbara actor Paul Walker in the 2009 film Fast & Furious 4 has just sold at auction for a world record $1,357,000.

The 2000 Bayside Blue Skyline R34 GT-R, built and painted to Walker’s exacting specifications, was described as “a genuine piece of cinematic and modern motoring history.”

The sale figure doubled the previous record in 2022, when $577,500 was paid for a GT-R.

Marten Ten Holder , managing director of Bonham’s Collector Cars in London, gushed: “This is an incredible result, well-deserved for such an iconic car... The ultimate example of the mighty ‘Godzilla.’”

Sightings

Rocker Kenny Loggins at the Panino sandwich shop in the Montecito Country Mart... Actor Kevin Costner’s estranged wife, Christine, at Loveworn on Anacapa Street... Oprah Winfrey delivering the graduation speech at her alma mater, Tennessee State.

Pip! Pip!

Live performances entertained guests

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