Letters to the Editor

Summerland IS Beautiful… And Summerland is NOT a Food Desert

Summerland is a unique blend of small-town charm, a vibrant mix of locally-owned stores and restaurants, and an outdoor paradise. Ocean views abound from every street. We are a close-knit and welcoming community. Our town exudes a friendly and neighborly spirit. We support each other in crisis.

We are NOT a food desert. We do not fit the definition of low access or low income. We have close proximity to grocery stores which carry healthy and affordable food, to include Vons (3.2 miles), Smart & Final (5.5 miles), Albertsons (6 miles), and a local mini mart.

The average poverty rate for California is 12%, while Summerland is only 6%. Summerland has easy transit access to freeways, public bus, train, bike paths, and walkways.

To claim Summerland is a food desert undermines the needs of those communities that are truly food deserts.

Citizens of Summerland represent a diverse mix of persons raised here and persons migrating here for the beauty of the town. We are proud to be citizens here. We are an eclectic mix of old and new, with diverse economic and career paths, but common in our sense of community and pride. We have worked hard to afford to live here.

We support each other and our community. We work together to keep our beach and community clean. We refuse to be defined by the exploitation of a singular, uncharacteristic event from the tragic 2018 mudslides. We are defined by being a community of first responders, who also fed first responders during this time.

Like every community, we have those who have times of need and we work to support them. We also recognize communities that have much greater needs than ours. We support those communities, and we would never take for granted our collective privilege.

Besides pride in our community, we have gratitude. We recognize living in Summerland offers a unique blend of natural beauty, stores that hold national recognition, and a strong sense of community. Summerland’s stunning surroundings, coupled with a wide array of recreational activities, create an unrivaled living experience. We, the citizens of Summerland, embrace the enchanting attributes of our community and find ourselves in a coastal paradise that is truly second to none. Standing together, Concerned Citizens

Note from the writer:

I wrote the article “It Takes a Food Desert” that published in the Montecito Journal the week of June 26. That article contained a strong inference that Summerland is in fact a USDA-designated food desert. It is not, according to the technical definition of a food desert as defined by the USDA Cantwell’s, Summerland’s only supermarket, did leave Summerland in 2017, as stated. The article further mentions that 36 percent of Summerland’s properties are “low income.” This is also inaccurate. AffordableHousingOnline states that 32% of Summerland’s renters are Overburdened. I believe at some point in the past, that figure was misunderstood to refer to low-income housing in Summerland. I regret the article’s mischaracterizations. I personally adore Summerland. I also believe a community farm is a boon to any town.

– Jeff Wing

which was composed three months after the Allied victory in World War II.

“What was most important to me is that the students got as much bang out of the week with me as they possibly could, with diversity in the music that fit the criteria,” Parnther explained. “So I wanted something a little operatic, something from a film score, a major symphonic work, and I wanted them to play a piece by a living composer, one who isn’t white.”

The overture is a challenging piece that requires a virtuosic performance, he said, with everyone playing “at the absolute highest level to execute it… There are lots of attitude and mood changes from arrogance and fiery to the absolutely serene and glassy to something really sneaky and mischievous. The students will have to implement all of their tools in order to pull it off.”

The Psycho piece is a rare one that both works for small instrumentation but also requires the musicians to play classically, Parnther said, while the symphony not only fits the format but as a bassoon solo. “I just know that they’ll have a bassoonist who can pull off that incredible solo,” he said.

The conductor said he was drawn to Simon’s elegy even before he knew its inspiration, because the music alone is “absolutely gorgeous.”

Parnther has come a long way from Virginia, but the multi-hyphenate musician hasn’t ever come close to forgetting his roots, including how much his mother sacrificed to buy him his own bassoon at age 16, which is why he teared up recalling the first time he played in the orchestra for John Williams, a favorite of both his and his mother’s.

“I can’t even describe how special it was because this career has not come easily to me,” he said. “I played on the school’s broken bassoon and didn’t even have my own instrument until I was 16. I had worked the entire summer and saved up $700 for a down payment, and my mom took out an extremely high interest loan, which we really could

Montecito Tide Guide

not afford. I will never forget the look that she gave me across the desk at the music shop in Lynchburg when she was signing for it in hopes that I would do something with myself. Things were so bad for us financially that sometimes she had to make the choice between paying the light bill and continuing to make the payments on my bassoon.”

It was only a short time later that Parnther’s mom was diagnosed with cancer and was bedridden for many months, he recalled.

“I would sit by her bedside and play her favorite melodies from Jurassic Park and Star Wars,” he said. “I think about all of those struggles. So the first time I got to sit there and work on one of those new Star Wars scores, I literally Week at MA Page 284 newspaper

Executive Editor/CEO | Gwyn Lurie gwyn@montecitojournal.net

President/COO | Timothy Lennon Buckley tim@montecitojournal.net

VP, Sales & Marketing | Leanne Wood leanne@montecitojournal.net

Managing Editor | Zach Rosen zach@montecitojournal.net

Art/Production Director | Trent Watanabe

Graphic Design/Layout | Stevie Acuña

Administration | Jessikah Fechner

Administrative Assistant | Valerie Alva

Account Managers | Sue Brooks, Tanis Nelson, Elizabeth Nadel, Bryce Eller, Bob Levitt

Contributing Editor | Kelly Mahan Herrick

Copy Editor | Lily Buckley Harbin, Jeff Wing

Proofreading | Helen Buckley

Arts and Entertainment | Steven Libowitz

Contributors | Scott Craig, Ashleigh Brilliant, Kim Crail, Tom Farr, Chuck Graham, Stella Haffner, Mark Ashton Hunt, Dalina Michaels, Sharon Byrne, Robert Bernstein, Christina Atchison, Leslie Zemeckis, Sigrid Toye

Gossip | Richard Mineards

History | Hattie Beresford

Humor | Ernie Witham

Our Town/Society | Joanne A Calitri

Travel | Jerry Dunn, Leslie Westbrook

Food & Wine | Claudia Schou, Melissa Petitto, Gabe Saglie

Published by:

Montecito Journal Media Group, LLC

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 G, Montecito, CA 93108.

How to reach us: (805) 565-1860; FAX: (805) 969-6654; Montecito Journal, 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Montecito, CA 93108; EMAIL: tim@montecitojournal.net