Ultimately, it’s your experience that matters.

We do everything with that idea clearly in mind. So, go ahead, enjoy yourself with great amenities and social opportunities. Savor fine dining every day. And feel assured that assisted living services are always available if needed.

Lunch & Learn | THURS., JUNE 22ND • 11:30AM

Join us for a presentation on our beautiful community. Afterwards, take a tour and enjoy lunch. To RSVP, please call 805.319.4379.

Avikrita Vajra Sakya Rinpoche will be visiting Tara Ling SB sangha to offer teachings. Also in attendance will be H.E. Jamyang Dagmo Sakya a Tibetan princess [Princess in the Land of Snows], two of her Lamas’ sons with their wives, and her grandson –the current Head Lama of Sakya Monastery.

Attendees will be guided and learn FourArmed Chenrezig Initiation, Chenrezig Phowa Transmission & Teaching, and Padmasambhava Life Empowerment. Due to limited seating, pre-registration is required.

Organizing the event is Vidya Carmen Gauci, the resident lay teacher of Tara Ling SB. She has been offering classes in classic teachings of Tibetan Buddhism at the request of Lama Dagmola since 2012. Tara Ling SB is a volunteer-based, non-sectarian, nonprofit Tibetan Buddhist center, supported through donations from the local sangha of students.

In an email interview, Gauci shared:

Q. Why was Santa Barbara selected to have a Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism?

A. H.E. Jamyang Dagmo Sakya (Lama Dagmola) has been offering Tibetan Buddhist teachings and initiations at the invitation of her many close SB students since the late 1990s. In 2001, The Dalai Lama-Endowed Chair of Tibetan Studies was established at UCSB, and several of the teachers in this program at UCSB are Lama Dagmola’s close students who invited her to offer teachings locally.

Tara Ling SB was established in 2012 when Lama Dagmola asked me, as one of her close long-term students, to lead this satellite center of Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism.

There are two Tara Ling satellite centers established by Lama Dagmola at the specific request made to her by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His Holiness gave the name “Tara Ling” and he specifically wished to see Lama Dagmola, as one of a handful of revered senior Tibetan women teachers in the West, offer authentic Tibetan Buddhist teachings in the non-sectarian tradition to sincere students in Southern California. Lama Dagmola is a highly qualified senior lama (now 89) and matriarch of the Sakya-Kohn family.

Q. How did you get involved in the center and why?

A. I am originally from New York, and since age 20 have been a dedicated yoga and dharma practitioner. I began in the Vedanta tradition of Hinduism and lived as a monastic resident at the New York Vedanta Society in New York City for seven years while I completed my fine arts degree with a minor in philosophy, taught art at Marymount High School, and trained for a monastic vocation under the close guidance of the Head Swami.

I moved to the Vedanta Temple and Convent in SB, to officially become a nun in the Ramakrishna Order. I lived, studied, and practiced there as a nun for five years, and offered service in sacred art, having trained at the School of Sacred Arts in New York City.

When I came out of the convent, I took yoga teacher training at the SB Yoga Center, and took classes by a UCSB Tibetan Buddhist teacher at the Unitarian Society of SB. This teacher kindly introduced me to one of his root Lamas, which was Lama Dagmola, who became my root Lama in 2002. She officiated my wedding in 2006 and has been my principal teacher and spiritual mentor ever since. This UCSB teacher went on to establish the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies (SBI) in 2003, and asked me to teach and offer local dharma classes in Tibetan Buddhism as well as coach meditation. I assisted in offering many dharma retreats with SBI in Santa Barbara. Many of the students from the SBI dharma study group that I led became students of Tara Ling Santa Barbara.

I had my Vidya Gauci Decorative Fine Arts business for 15 years and won commissions to do the ceiling art at the Santa Barbara Airport and co-design the floor mosaic with colleague Lori Ann David. I completed decorative fine art installations for many prominent private and commercial clients and properties in Montecito and SB and am presently retired from this business.

Gerald and Carol Smith, Virginia Lee Harvey-Troesch, Nancy Read, Ray and Mary Freeman, Firooz Zahedi, Jim and Della Peterson, Alpha Resource Center Executive Director Josh Weitzman with wife Jamie; David and Louise Borgatello; Gary and Susan Gulbransen; and Lucrezia DeLeon. Also, Hillside President and CEO Michael Rassler with wife Ruth; Director of Operations Gail Metzger; Director of Nursing

Nonye Ogoamaka RN, MBA; Board Chair Brad Frohling with wife Cynthia; Vice Chair Norris Goss with husband Barry; Board members Kirk Gilbert MD with wife Pam, Nancy Werner with husband Russ; Hady Izadpanah; Alma J. Janabajab; Lisa Wilcox with husband Jim; Chief Development Officer Cheryl Sweeney with husband Tim; Development Assistant Elizabeth Arendt; new Marketing and Events Manager

Angela De Bruyn; committee members and event contributors Carol Fell with husband Doug; Jan Kopf with husband Bob, and artist Jessika Cardinahl

Rassler and Frohling welcomed the guests and thanked key sponsors and their staff. Program keynote speakers Lisa and Jim Wilcox shared about being parents of a child with a disability; “Shalom, we wish you shalom – peace. The divorce rate for parents with a disabled child is 95%. We are married 32 years, it has been hard, and we are thankful for Hillside where our son lives. We thank you for being here to support Hillside.”

Goss presented the Person of Purpose Award to Virginia Lee Harvey-Troesch, and Metzger presented the Advancing Abilities Award to Jose Silva, Facilities Director with Hillside for 16 years.

Emcee Drew Wakefield raised $27.5K for the five listed live auction items along with a Sunstone Winery event added by John Price during the auction. He then raised over $20K during the Ask. The event concluded with live music and conversation. For donations and to schedule a visit of Hillside House, see 411.

411: www.hillsidesb.org

Zacharias, Kerry Methner, Erin Graffy, Christopher Lancashire, Jane Lynch, Mary Dorra, and Jane De Hart

An evening of decidedly high note...

SEE the Sistine

No need to crane your neck seeing Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Vatican’s iconic Sistine Chapel.

The internationally acclaimed exhibition of the glorious artwork has just opened at the Old Mission with the reproduction in a format that allows art lovers to get face-to-face with the legendary masterpiece through 34 artfully displayed reproductions, including world renowned pieces like The Last Judgment and The Creation of Adam

“This exhibition is like a sanctuary, you’re transformed into a completely different world,” says Martin Biallas, CEO of Los

Angeles-based SEE Global Entertainment, producer of the colorful exhibit.

“When I visited the Sistine Chapel in Rome there were long lines and we were rushed through. This exhibit allows everyone an opportunity to see the amazing art at their pace and up-close, and at an affordable price so they can enjoy an inspiring and unforgettable experience.”

The heavenly show, brought to you by state-of-the-art technology, is on exhibit at the Mission’s Serra Chapel and Friar’s Lounge through September 4.

Compared to the price of a round trip air ticket to the Eternal City and a room at the Hotel Hassler Roma — one of my favorite hostelries overlooking the Spanish Steps, and just a few Gucci-clad footsteps from the Via Condotti — this viewing is an absolute bargain.

Among those at the opening of the

Maria McCall, Adam McKaig, John Stampe (kneeling), Fr. Joe Schwab, Majalisa Van Thyne, Mary Hudson, Connie Casas, Melissa Borders, and Nadia Bernardi bustling Buonarroti bash were Mayor Randy Rowse , Roger and Debby

Dan, Mayor Randy Rowse, Donna Reeves, and Wilson Quarre

Michalengo’s “The Great Flood” with Joel and Jamie Knee, and Joan and Jerry Rocco (photo by Priscilla)

Aceves , Das Williams , David Bolton , Janet Garufis , George and Laurie

Leis , Dana Hansen , Christopher Lancashire , Donna Reeves , Adam McKaig , Oscar Gutierrez , Gretchen Lieff , Rick Oshay and Teresa Kuskey Nowak , Maria McCall , Gillian Launie , Maitland Ward ,

John Palminteri , Luke Swetland , Wilson Quarre and Peggy Wiley , and Mark Whitehurst

Land on the Horizon

Actor Kevin Costner, 68, has mortgaged a ten-acre plot of prime undeveloped coastline on Padaro Lane in order to finance the development of his forthcoming

DON'T LET YOUR FOOD GO TO WASTE!

HERE ARE SOME OF OUR FAVORITE TIPS:

Know the expiration date!

Put the foods with the shortest shelf life front and center and cook with those first.

Freeze! Freezing our food can extend its shelf life by several days or even months.

Don't forget about leftovers and food scraps. Try out a new recipe, and get creative with what you have.

Test your skills!

Find these key food-waste prevention words:

MEAL-PREP DONATE SHARE

BEST-BEFORE FRUIT VEGETABLE

EXPIRATION SELL-BY SHOPPING-LIST

PLAN BULK LEFTOVERS

FOODBANK FREEZE USE-BY

Western movie franchise Horizon

“I’ve mortgaged ten acres on the water in Santa Barbara where I was going to build my last house,” the Oscar winner tells Deadline. “But I did it without a thought.

“It has thrown my accountant into a f**king conniption fit. But it’s my life and I believe in the idea and the story.”

Costner, who has been trying to bring the four-part movie series to life for more than 30 years is thought to have personally raised up to $50 million of Horizon’s $100 million budget with the move.

But he says it will be the last time.

“I’ll tell you what. I’m never gonna do this again. I’m never putting my f**cking money into another movie after these four,” he fumed.

Costner has quite a property portfolio, including a 160-acre ranch near Aspen, Colorado, and three side-by-side oceanfront properties in Carpinteria, plus the ten-acre parcel of land he just mortgaged.

He bought his first property in the town in the late 1980s, the second a decade later, and a third in 2017.

The parcel of land, which has a small cottage on it, was purchased in 2006 for $28.5 million. Part of the property was sold off in 2009, and he put the remaining ten acres up for sale for $60 million in 2017.

For the Love of Steve

TV talk show host and singer Kelly Clarkson has paid homage to Montecito funnyman Steve Martin, 77, and his role in the 2009 film It’s Complicated co-starring Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin, which was filmed in Santa Barbara.

In her just released new single “I Hate Love,” Clarkson, the first American Idol winner in 2002, features a reference to Martin in her lyrics – and he is also playing banjo on the track.

“I hate love, and The Notebook lied,” she sings. “It’s Complicated is more like what happens, so you can keep Gosling and I’ll take Steve Martin.”

Clarkson, 41, saw Martin play banjo on live streamed videos during the early days of the pandemic and talked to her record producer about it. Martin quickly responded positively to coming on board with the project.

“My ideal moment is his coming on my talk show and then us performing it, but I’ll take him just coming on the show so we can talk and hang out so I can, like, meet him,” she says.

A dynamic duo, indeed...