Foraging Thyme

Tomatoes

by Melissa Petitto

Iwill wait all year for the perfect tomato, the not-flawless, stunning, smells-likesummer-and-tastes-like-heaven tomato. Sure you can find them year round in the grocery store, but the ones that look perfectly red and round and taste like water – why waste your time? Tomatoes, in all their summer glory, are in the farmers market as we speak! So many varietals, your head will spin, all colors of the rainbow, and different levels of acidity. The tomato is a health powerhouse and can be enjoyed in so many ways. Growing up in Alabama, I would walk outside to my dad’s incredible garden with a salt shaker in hand, grab a sun-ripened, sun-warmed tomato and eat it like an apple… bite, salt, bite, salt! There is truly nothing that reminds me of summer more than that delicious experience. I love them raw in soups and salads, lightly cooked for pasta sauces, blistered to top grilled veggies or tofu, or cooked down into a homemade sauce.

Part of the nightshade family, the tomato is a fruit, but is mainly eaten like a vegetable. They contain vitamin C, which is an essential nutrient and antioxidant; potassium, which is also an essential mineral and helps regulate blood pressure; vitamin K, which is great for blood clotting; and folate, which is essential for pregnant women and important for normal tissue growth/cell function. Tomatoes also contain many antioxidants and flavonoids – lycopene, naringenin, chlorogenic acid, beta carotene, and carotenoids, to name a few. All of these are incredibly beneficial for our health. Tomatoes have also been shown to help prevent cancers, improve heart health, help prevent sunburns, and help lower LDL cholesterol.

Today we are making a gazpacho with these healthful and delicious tomatoes. I love mine mixed with watermelon, but if you prefer it with straight tomato, leave out the melon. Enjoy!

Watermelon and Tomato Gazpacho

Yield: 8 Servings

5 cups seedless watermelon, chopped

5 each large sun-ripened beefsteak tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped

1 each English cucumber, washed and chopped

4 each basil sprigs, washed and leaves picked

4 each cilantro sprigs, washed and leaves picked

4 each mint sprigs, washed and leaves picked

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Toppings: (optional)

¼ cup cucumber, diced

2 tablespoons basil, sliced thin or chiffonade

2 tablespoons mint, sliced thin or chiffonade

1 tablespoon jalapeno, seeded and minced

Directions: free to shoot video or take notes.

1. In the same processor bowl, combine cucumber, basil, cilantro, mint, sea salt and sherry vinegar. With blade running slowly add in olive oil and continue to process until smooth. Transfer to bowl with watermelon juice. Refrigerate until ready to serve. *This may be done a day ahead and gives the flavors time to meld.

2. To serve, divide into bowls and top with desired toppings.

Between bites, between long drives to gather news as far north as Paso Robles, between thwacks of the newsroom electric typewriters, we compared notes.

David and I discussed monitors, politics, camera cables, production, budgets, biology, live transmission, geography, light stands, and a lot of history.

David knew more about TV monitors, camera focus, microphone levels.

I provided more depth on electoral votes, verb agreement, and Mark Twain. Call our history discussions equal, with me chatting about Europe and David about Latin America.

David was quizzing, learning, digesting, setting himself up to become a well-rounded wizard in broadcasting.

The Goals Scored

Now, David is 60 years old and drives a Mercedes-Benz S550 instead of the road-battered Honda.

With the heaviest lifting of his broadcasting career in the rear-view mirror, David has more time to devote to community service, including being named El Presidente for Old Spanish Days Inc.

He is also Fiesta’s official historian and has served on the organization’s board since 2015.

David is immediate past president of the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Barbara and has helped raise money for Santa Barbara High Athletics for 25 years. He’s also on the board of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum.

At his day job, David is the executive director and CEO of the California Missions Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to conservation and restoration of the 21 California Missions. This is his 11th year at the top of the Missions foundation.

David also still runs Cultural Global Media, a somewhat deceptive title for a live broadcasting powerhouse that has produced international sports events focusing on soccer, plus eight of the last nine Super Bowls for Fox Sports Latin America.

His credits also include 11 years in the front office of professional soccer teams starting in 1989, serving three years as Vice President of Operations for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

While also developing his live producing and directing talents, David embarked on his journey to chronicle the geography, architecture, and founding of

California’s Missions.

David walked the grounds and recorded the history of all 21, from San Diego de Alcalá to San Francisco Solano.

He later expanded his explorations throughout the Americas, visiting the ruins of São Miguel das Missões, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Brazil.

Miguel is so far inland and south, Paraguay is a mere 50 miles or so away as the toucan flies.

But David’s road to adventure, to excellence, to leadership, was also marked by deflating sinkholes.

In the 1980s he sensed his career would implode if he didn’t keep a secret.

“I don’t think David Bolton is straight,” some snarky viewer would tell me.

I’d relay he’s the straightest shooter I’d met on many levels – maybe David is too blunt.

If the snarky types pushed too hard, I’d suggest they have a romantic interlude with themselves.

I’d like to think my Belgian parents’ lack of judgment about anyone prepared me to be an ally for David.

At their lively Olive Mill Bistro bar and restaurant on Coast Village Road, half the staff was gay.

Maybe David and I were forerunners to the modern buddy film.

Let’s feature the gay single guy and the hetero father of two, trying to make it in the three-ring circus of broadcasting.

We can joke about our preferences now, but not decades ago.

On the outside, David showed no emotion about his secret.

But inside he burned, too scared to come out.

David told me at times people yelled homophobic slurs at him while he stood there on the street recording his standups on camera for KEYT.

“It was rough,” David said. “It really hurt to hear that. Different times for sure.”

How marvelous now to see that David has been married for 20 years to Gonzalo Sarmiento, from Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico.

They own homes in Santa Barbara and Mexico.

“We speak Spanish together at home,” Bolton explains. “He has provided me with an awesome home environment, giving me the support I needed to do the crazy road shows.”

Where one road ends, the Southern tip of Argentina, David gave Gonzalo his first ring in 2004 while on vacation.

Fielding a Career

The questions ring out there, a sort of rhythmic clanging of the Mission bells –how did David become so comfortable in Latino culture, so fluent in Spanish?

There’s no direct link through his parents.

Bolton’s late father Geoffrey was by all accounts Montecito’s first chiropractor and was born in England.

His mother Donna Long, now 85 years young, traces her roots to a Bulgarian father and a Hungarian mother.

“It began in fourth grade at Montecito Union School with a great Spanish teacher, Mrs. Pacunas, from Costa Rica,” said David. Followed by more Spanish at Santa Barbara Junior High and Santa Barbara High School.

“In high school, my best friend John Diaz and I played number one and two on the golf team. I’d go to his house on the weekends and hear Spanish with his dad and uncles, enjoy the culture, the food, the family.”

Bolton continued to learn Spanish at San Diego State University and studied alongside sizzling carne asada and al pastor on grills.

“From San Diego State, I’d drive across the border to Tijuana every other Friday afternoon and spend an hour talking to the vendors on the taco trucks,” David said.

While driving home to Santa Barbara from San Diego on the other Fridays, he repeated out loud to himself the exit signs along the freeway, Los Osos, Las Virgenes, Las Posas, shining up his Spanish accent.

Later, David also received encouragement and tutorials from Carlos Cerecedo, a Spanish-language courthouse interpreter and voice of the KEYT simulcast in Espanol.

Back in the late ‘80s, the Argentine urged David to embrace soccer, predicting its rising popularity would lead to career opportunities.

Cerecedo successfully called his shot and David embarked on his journey after his KEYT career ended in 1989.

Working into the Knight

David eventually became a Californiabased host, producer, and director for a national U.S. soccer show, writing, shooting video, and editing every frame that aired.

The wily negotiator found space in a Home Shopping Network facility in the Inland Empire to finish off the show in an edit suite.

“It started slow,” Bolton remembered. “One day we began work on the show while the sun was still up, it got dark, and we worked until the sun came up again the next morning.”

Bolton made contacts, forged key alliances, and built lasting friendships in broadcasting and soccer.

“I started my own production company (Cultural Global Media) on one side of the garage next to the washing machine at my house on East De La Guerra Street,” David said.

David became owner-operator for live soccer broadcasts, doing everything from negotiating truck contracts, to establishing satellite coordinates, to hiring the crew, to plotting logistics with the stadium, to directing and producing the show.

“Get the manager close up, steady, take camera two,” I heard David in the production truck at an international match in Pasadena.

He conducted the moves of up to 15 cameras plus replays, while 30 monitors lit up his intense expression.

There are infinite possibilities to screw up with all of those cameras, graphics, the flow of the game, the announcers’ audio.

One lapse by David would result in a disaster on viewers’ TV screens, from fuzzy static snowfall to out-of-focus shots, or radioactive-looking graphics.

David gets hired again and again, proof those mistakes just don’t happen during his productions.

He estimates he has flown almost six million miles on American Airlines, mostly for his soccer telecasts.

David works absurd hours that would drop most humans like a Mike Tyson right hook.

“When young people say to me after fours of hour work, ‘I’m tired,’ I say, ‘Are you kidding me?’” David joked.

“I’ve always made sure I get a good night’s sleep,” said David. “If I get a good night’s sleep I can go forever – 14, 16 hours no problem.”

“I can also go forever without eating. I don’t know why but I can go without food for 14 hours. But don’t get me wrong, I can eat with the best of them.”

I saw young David clear-cut entire buffets back in the 1980s.

Despite us being TV journalists, our paychecks seemed more like someone dropping pocket change into a coin jar.

Taking advantage of an inexpensive eating opportunity, David excavated mounds of chow mein, orange chicken, and petrified glazed beef from the buffet at a Chinese restaurant in Santa Maria.

The angry owners banned him for life for eating too much.

David remembers those stomach-churning days.

When David received one of Spain’s highest civilian honors, being knighted as a Commander of the Royal Order of Isabel La Catolica, he provided a multicultural feast.

In a marvelous meal, family and friends ate Spanish, Mexican, Chumash, and traditional American food.

I emceed that event at David’s request, at El Presidio.

I bit hard on my lip to keep from chuckling out loud about the victory and the irony.

They waved at David with a fancy sword, the metal glinting in the fading sunlight.

We used to hold shimmering reflectors in each other’s faces to add sunlight to dark spots, while we recorded on-camera stand ups. These reflectors could pan-sear your retinas.

David flashed his medal and ribbon of Spain’s Royal Order around his neck at the ceremony.

He used to shave that neck and heavy beard inside the communal lobby bathroom of an inn where he never officially checked in.

At El Presidio, people in period costumes encircled David, the snare drums tapped out a beat, the national anthem added pageantry.

David once watched a tiny television in the old Honda Accord by plugging it to the cigarette lighter hole.

“When you asked me to think back that I was knighted,” David reflected.

“That I produced David (soccer superstar) Beckham’s first game on U.S. soil. That I had three crews working for me at once on three national soccer telecasts. When I think of my Missions project. When I think of helping local nonprofits, I’m kind of like, wow! I say to myself, ‘How was that possible?’’”

David made it possible, crisscrossing two communities.

He swam at Miramar and Butterfly Beach as a child.

He later videotaped San Nicholas versus Cruz Azul before soccer fans screaming in Spanish at Dwight Murphy Field.

“I can be at the Montecito Club and finish playing golf, and then talk in Spanish to someone about his family, his life,” David said.

“I feel I know this town’s Latino community, the challenges, the good as much as I know Montecito. It’s really given me a full life in Santa Barbara.

“I am thankful for everyone in Santa Barbara who helped me.” are lighthearted, humorous events. The first kangaroo court for Fiesta convened in the exact center of De La Guerra Plaza. The “Honorable” Hamilton MacFadden was the judge. His deputies were ordered to “fare forth” in search of vicious criminals, particularly scofflaws, who were in violation of the ordinances of the day.

At the Presidio knighthood ceremony, David began an eloquent thank-you speech, standing upright as always, almost looking ready to deliver a report.

Cars drove by, slowed down. No one yelled anything, let alone something awful. The drivers just showed their approval for David Bolton, with loud honks.

Paul Vercammen: 5X-Emmy Winner, 26 yrs CNN, ex KEYT News Director, 2nd place, S,B. Public Library Haiku contest, fifth grade, from Mt. Carmel.

These ordinances included a prohibition against gum chewing in public at a gait exceeding 20 chews per minute. Fines were one thin dime for each chew exceeding the limit. If the offense was committed on the sunny side of the street, the fine doubled. Another law stipulated that only Spanish hats could be worn on State Street. Violators were arrested and not freed until a fine of 50 cents was paid. Also, all smoking in Santa Barbara, except by the judge, jury, deputies, and newspapermen, was prohibited.

Ordinance Number 110 said no citizen could comment on the heat, cold, drought, 50-percent window lighting, or the Southern California Edison Company in general. The company had to figure out how to save power and make more money. (A conundrum they still face in 2023!)

Roger Clerbois, a founder and director of the Community Arts Orchestra, was “pinched” for walking the streets in daytime. The court held that he was a night owl and had no business abroad in daytime. Max Fleischmann, famous polo player and wealthy yeast impresario, was taken into custody because he happened to be passing by. The entire Frederick Forrest Peabody family – including doggie Christopher –was brought before the judge because they lived in Montecito. Christopher was also charged for venturing abroad without his toreador costume. Chris tried to avenge himself by amputating the court’s left leg, before paying his 99-cent fine. And on it went. Best perhaps was that the Chief of Police, Lester Desgrandchamps, was arrested for impersonating an officer. He pled not guilty, which made it worse! The courts were convened several times during the weeks before Fiesta.

Civic Participation

The Executive Committee for Old Spanish Days asked Santa Barbara’s business and civic organizations to participate in the carnival. The Kiwanis agreed to take charge of the landing of Cabrillo after the yacht club defaulted when most of its members said they were going to a regatta in San Diego that week. They arranged for a replica of a Spanish Galleon to carry out the ahistorical landing of Cabrillo. (The explorer never set foot on Santa Barbara soil, though he did die on one of the Channel Islands, several of which seem to vie for the honor.) The Exchange Club was to provide the

‘49ers, the Rotarians represented Fremont’s army, the Elks provided a band, and members dressed in monks’ robes.

Cabrillo was landed on West Beach and heartily welcomed by the Chumash in a bit of ahistorical fantasy (courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

MacFadden called on businesses to provide 200 artistic floats. The sports committee made arrangements for a rodeo, swim races, horseshow throwing, and golf and tennis matches. La Primavera Association donated the Primavera flags to the cause. A very successful fundraising event, the contest for Queen of Fiesta, saw nearly a dozen Santa Barbara belles competing for votes, which cost money. Madalynne Romero beat out all competition on the last day by securing a stupendous lead in votes, all of which translated as funding for Fiesta. Dwight Murphy, Adolfo Camarillo, and Ed Borein arranged for the equestrian portion of the opening parade, which featured descendants of the old Spanish families and the artistry of hidalgo and caballero culture.

On August 13, the festivities began at West Beach when the famous galleon sailed around Castle Rock to land Cabrillo, and the first Old Spanish Days Parade began its march down State Street. Three days later, with all finances in order and running in the black, the city knew it had finally secured its annual festival.

(Sources: Ancestry.com; newspapers. com; Santa Barbara Morning Press and Daily News; Community Arts and theater files at Gledhill Library and UCSB Special Collections)

Hattie Beresford has been writing a local history column for the Montecito Journal for more than a decade and is the author of several books on Santa Barbara’s historic past already wrapping up their master class series. Today offers last chances to hear fellows perform and watch them get coached in real time for oboe with Eugene Izotov , viola led by Karen Dreyfus , and solo piano with Conor Hanick . (Respectively: 1:30 pm, 1:30 pm & 3:30 pm; Lehmann, Weinmann, & Hahn; $10)... The summer’s penultimate Picnic Concert pushes the envelope even more than email disrupted the post office, opening with Anna Þorvaldsdóttir ’s “Sola” for solo viola and electronics followed by Russell Wharton ’s “Deus Ex Metronome” for solo snare drum and audio, and Kaija Saariaho ’s “Fall” for harp and electronics – all pieces we’re imagining you haven’t heard before, unless you happen to be one of the performing fellows’ compeers. That’s probably also true for two of the three ensuing works, Libby Larsen ’s “Try Me, Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII” (soprano and piano) and Kees Olthuis’ “Introduction and Allegro,” sandwiched around Samuel Barber’s “Dover Beach, Op. 3.” We recommend a hearty picnic prior to the performance. (7:30 pm; Hahn Hall; $40)

Saturday, July 29: JoAnn Falletta became the first woman to lead a major American ensemble when she was appointed music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic back in 1998, and fortunately things have moved in the right direction equity-wise since then, especially at the Academy, where a female conductor isn’t a novelty at all. Considered among the best in the business in our era, Falletta leads the Academy Festival Orchestra in the return of symphony concerts to the Granada after a three-week break. The program opens with Roberto Sierra ’s “Fandangos” to Ravel’s “La valse” before displaying breadth and range post-intermission via Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances, Op. 45.” (7:30 pm; Granada; $55) Hear from Falletta herself via the pre-concert Meet-theConductor talk and Q&A session around the corner. (6 pm; Sullivan Goss; $25)

Tuesday, August 1: Three more studios offer their final master classes of the festival: flute with Timothy Day, vocal with new Vocal Institute Co-director Sasha Cooke , and horn with Julie Landsman (Respectively: 1:30 pm, 3 pm, & 3:30 pm; Weinmann & Hahn [vocal]; $10).... Violinist Elena Urioste has soloed with major orchestras throughout the United States, including the Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Minnesota orchestras; New York, L.A., and Buffalo philharmonics; plus countless more overseas. She’s also a commissioned chamber player and the founder and artistic director of Chamber Music by the Sea in Maryland. But many folks know her better by the path she took during the pandemic. Urioste and pianist-husband Tom Poster began posting a new video daily starting in March 2020, and quickly began honoring requests for their genre-busting project that helped keep the musicians creatively occupied and the digital community engaged, while spreading the joy of music far and wide. In 2021, the pair released The Jukebox Album, culling 17 selections from the project that range from arrangements by Poster of classic songs by Piaf and Porter to poignant snippets of unjustly neglected composers such as Lili Boulanger and Cécile Chaminade. In their recital this afternoon, Urioste and Post will play sonatas by Strauss and Luise Adolpha Le Beau before diving into selections from The Jukebox Album and other works from the #UriostePostJukebox project.

(7:30 pm; Hahn Hall; $55)

Wednesday, August 2: It’s closing time for another pair of master classes: cello with David Geber , and double bass with Nico Abondolo (1:30, 3:30 pm; Lehmann & Weinmann, $10)... The solo piano studio gets its final appearance of the season in a showcase series concert featuring all five of the fellows, which includes competition winner Szuyu Su , whose victory earned her a $5,000 cash award and a commission by Anthony Cheung to be premiered in a recital presented by the Music Academy in Hahn Hall in 2024.

(7:30 pm; Hahn Hall; $40) community partners, including Ian Williams, the General Manager of San Ysidro Ranch, who generously donated essential kitchen equipment, including an industrial stove, oven, and refrigerator. She also recognized Jordano’s for their contribution of a commercial dishwasher. Dr. Alzina also thanked Chef Koji Nomura of NuCuisine for his partnership in meal preparation, and the Cold Spring Governing Board members: Mike Marino, Trevor Pattison, Jennifer Miller , Gabrielle Haas, and Elke Kane, for their unwavering support throughout the project.

“The kitchen project is truly an excellent example of what’s possible in public education when we work together as a community,” said Dr. Alzina. “I’m extremely grateful to everyone, including the construction team, electricians, plumbers, and our maintenance team, for creating a kitchen we can all take pride in.”

The renovated kitchen will play a pivotal role in ensuring that the Free Breakfast and Lunch program operates smoothly, providing students with nutritious meals regardless of their ability to pay. The statewide program was enacted last year, marking California as the first state to implement a Universal Meals Program for all school children.

Montecito Natural Health Opens in Upper Village

As a follow-up to a story we’ve been following since April, Montecito Natural Foods, which was located in Montecito Country Mart for nearly 60 years and closed its doors in June, has reopened a small storefront in the Upper Village, next to Josephine’s Antiques. The store, now dubbed Montecito Natural Health, opened in mid-July, and business is picking up, according to staff.

The health product store has been owned by Gabe and Slim Gomez for 30 years, and has offered health food products, vitamins, beauty products, and more to the Montecito community for decades. Earlier this year we reported the store’s impending closure after being given notice that its lease was not up for renewal by Country Mart owner James Rosenfield , who declined our request for comment on the matter. The Gomez duo negotiated with Upper Village owner Norm Borgatello to occupy the space once occupied by George Meta Jewelry.

Steven Libowitz has covered a plethora of topics for the Journal since 1997, and now leads our extensive arts and entertainment coverage seats to needy families facing tough times as their youngsters undergo medical treatment.

The pared-down space offers vitamins and supplements as well as beauty products, and still employs the same long-time staff members. Food offerings have been eliminated, due to the reduction in space and the proximity to Montecito Village Grocery.

Montecito Natural Health is open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm, and is closed on Sundays. The address is 1470 East Valley Road, Suite Z. Call 805-969-1411 for more information.

Supporters turning out for the cause included Amie Parrish, Bibi Moezzi, David Edelman , Jamie Borgeson , Jonathan Pickert, Karen Chrisman, and Kirsten Stuart

In September, Hearts Aligned is having a Rock Your Heart Out benefit hosted by the Red Piano on State Street featuring the Tearaways, a group combining the influences of the British Invasion with the California sound.

For more info click on www. heartsaligned.org.

Getting Ready for the Gala

One805Live!, which is throwing its annual gala at Kevin Costner’s oceanside Carpinteria property in September, gave a taste of what is to come with a boffo bash at the Montecito Club that auctioned off a guitar signed by Katy Perry for $5,000 and a package trip for four people to see Maroon Five – stars at the fall fête – in Las Vegas and a Fender Telecaster guitar signed by lead singer Adam Levine, a Montecito resident, and other band members for $8,000.

For the second consecutive year, co-founder Richard Weston-Smith announced local charity Direct Relief has donated $150,000 for the organization’s mental wellness program that helps firefighters and police personnel.

The charity’s silent auction, which runs until a week after the gala, includes drums autographed by Travis Barker of Blink-182 and Danny Seraphine of Chicago, and guitars signed by Elliot Easton of The Cars and Robby Krieger of The Doors, a Depeche Mode concert experience in Los Angeles, a 10-day cruise, and a two-night stay in Manhattan.

To check it out, go to www.One805.org.

Among supporters quaffing the wine and noshing the canapés were Alan Parsons , Carol Marsch , Catherine Remak , Nina Terzian , Bob and Holly Murphy , John Thyne III , Kirsten Cavendish , Adam McKaig , Randy Solakian , Susan Jordan , Sheriff Bill Brown , Diana Starr Langley , and Alixe Mattingly

Birthday Boy Mineards

It wasn’t quite the exotic occasion I envisaged when I celebrated the 20th anniversary of my half century last week, but a fun event nevertheless at Ca’Dario on Coast Village Road.

Having not been able to fly to Marrakech, Morocco, for the past few years because of pandemic restrictions, my plans were to join an old friend, peripatetic Cat Pollon , at her new home in North Africa, but they were dashed last year when she sadly succumbed to ovarian cancer at the age of 80.

Fortunately, another good friend, philanthropist Brian Herman who spends his time between his home in Montecito and Rancho Mirage, not to mention a beach home in Carpinteria, hosted a lunch at Dario Furlati’s eatery for a Fab Four including property manager John Green and Tom Cipolla, who has homes in our rarefied enclave and Rancho Palos Verdes.

Another good friend, Gretchen Lieff, also stopped by before winging to Provence on vacation.

My lunch concluded with me blowing out a candle on a slice of tiramisu. Memorable fun...

Fine Design in Theater

My item last week on the historic Lobero Theatre being chosen as one of the world’s 11 most beautiful by society glossy Town & Country prompted a call from Montecito philanthropist Anne Towbes saying that another of the theaters on the list, Steinmetz Hall in Orlando, Florida, was designed by Montecito architect Barton Myers, 88.

The 1,741-seat theater, part of the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, opened last year and is the latest in a lengthy list of commissions including performing arts centers in Newark, New Jersey; Portland, Oregon; and Cerritos, California.

Myers, president of Barton Myers Associates, studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and practiced in Toronto, Canada, before mov - ing his company’s HQ to Southern California.

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and a jet fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force for five years, he attended architecture classes at both Oxford and Cambridge universities. He has won major architecture awards in the U.S. and Canada, and lectures worldwide.

House Available in the Hills

Orlando Bloom, singer Katy Perry’s English actor fiancé, is selling his Beverly Hills home for $7.6 million.

The 4,011-square-foot 1959 contemporary boasts four bedrooms and four bathrooms.

The Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean star previously listed the property in 2019 at just under $9 million.

He bought the house in 2017 for $7 million and spent $5 million on improvements.

Orlando and Katy were last seen jet skiing in St. Tropez.

A Legendary Ensemble

My congratulations to three good friends, philanthropists Brooks and Kate Firestone and author Fannie Flagg, as well as one of my favorite theater companies, Ensemble, who have been chosen as Granada Theatre Legends.

They will be honored at a glittering 7th annual gala at the iconic State Street theater on September 16.

The highly anticipated evening features inspiring honorees, extraordinary talent, and dedicated patrons of the arts all in one place to support Santa Barbara’s performing arts community.

“All the honorees are remarkable in their own way and have left an indelible mark on the arts, not just here in Santa Barbara, but around the world,” says

Palmer Jackson Jr., chairman of the Granada’s board.

“Their contributions have not only enriched our lives but have forged a legacy and remind us of the transformative power of the arts.”

I couldn’t agree more...

Lawyers’ Fees May End Soon

Kevin Costner’s estranged wife Christine Baumgartner is barred from removing any property apart from clothing, toiletries, handbags, and jewelry from his $145 million Carpinteria beach compound.

As she prepares to leave the estate by Monday (July 31), the 49-year-old handbag designer will be barred from taking art, furniture, furnishings, or appliances with her without the Oscar winner’s consent.

The update amid their acrimonious divorce comes after the Yellowstone actor accused her of ransacking the home they previously shared.

Stay tuned...

A Breezy Budget

King Charles III is getting a pay cut!

The cash the British monarch receives from the U.K. taxpayer will be $31 million lower than it could have been next year.

The Sovereign Grant used to fund the king’s official duties will be 12 percent of the Crown Estate’s net profits next year, down from 25 percent, London’s Treasury has announced.

The Royal Household’s budget will be $31 million lower in 2024 and $167 million lower in both 2025 and 2026 than if the rate remained at 25 percent.

The change comes after a significant boost in the Crown Estate’s profits from offshore wind deals.

Charles asked in January for wind farm profits to be used for the wider public good instead.

A Saintly Offering

Established in 1956, St. Francis Foundation of Santa Barbara annually awards grants to local agencies focused on helping to relieve human suffering.

By stewarding resources entrusted to them, coupled with stellar endowment management, the foundation is privileged and positioned to support many worthy and vital community causes.

The organization recently completed the 2023 giving cycle, awarding almost a million dollars to 25 local organizations.

Some of the local recipients include Friendship Center, Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation, Doctors Without Walls, Serenity House, Hillside House, PATH, Hospice of Santa Barbara, SEE International, and the Alzheimer’s Association.

On a Roll at the Rotary

Tony Morris has begun his second year of a two-year term as president of Montecito Rotary Club as the organization celebrates its 70th anniversary.

Joining Morris on the board are president-elect Kim Stone, secretary Roger Davis, and treasurer Kurt Koenig

From volunteering at the Montecito Fire Department’s annual July 4 pancake breakfast and continuing its tradition of supporting Santa Barbara City College students with career and vocational scholarships, to its annual foundation community grants, the club lives up to its motto of being “people of action.”

Morris is an accomplished communications professional, author, and outdoors aficionado who leads the Rona Barrett Foundation as executive director.

Remembering Tony Bennett

On a personal note. I remember crooner Tony Bennett, who has died at his longtime Manhattan home at the age of 96.

I used to see him and his wife, Susan, at the Park Avenue jet set nightclub Regines with late actor Anthony Quinn, when I lived nearby on East 66th Street and Madison Avenue.

Bennett’s career spanned more than 70 years with 150 recordings, gaining a whole new audience in recent decades when he teamed with the likes of U2 singer Bono and Lady Gaga

I last saw him perform at what was the Montecito Country Club at an intimate concert in 2013 organized by UCSB Arts & Lectures when I sat at dinner with Law & Order uber producer Dick Wolf and animal activist Gretchen Lieff , with Bennett singing his signature song “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”

Bennett, also a successful artist later in life, personified sophistication and was the most genial of individuals despite his worldwide fame.

Sightings

Bill Nye, the Science Guy, at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall... Meghan Markle, security guard in tow, picking up blooms at the Farmers Market on CVR... Ellen DeGeneres and her brother Vance at Pierre Lafond.

Pip! Pip!

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