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‘A little taste of Fiesta’
‘Bigger than life’ Iconic social writer Beverley Jackson leaves behind her legacy of adventure By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Vibrant Montecito resident Beverley Jackson knew how to tell a story. In fact, she was revered for her comical accounts about meeting celebrities and movie stars in the 1970s and ’80s. The adventurous writer and traveler documented those years and the social scene of Santa Barbara in the News-Press for 25 years. Often referred to as the doyenne of the city, Ms. Jackson was very involved in her community, from working on committees to throwing parties with hundreds of people in attendance. The beloved resident died
Thursday morning from natural causes. She was 91. The writer with an active life developed a strong admiration for Chinese culture, becoming an expert and adamantly researching and collecting Chinese clothing and art. One of her most famous books, titled “Splendid Slippers: A Thousand Years of an Erotic Tradition,” went into great detail about the former practice of binding the feet of Chinese girls. She wrote seven books, and her “By the Way” column featured numerous big names, such as Montecito chef Julia Child, Ollie Carey and Florence Chadwick. Ms. Jackson, a Los Angeles native, grew up in Beverly Hills and was an avid traveler, visiting Please see jackson on A2
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Mariana Contreras greets customers who ordered food at the Our Lady of Guadalupe mercado in Santa Barbara on Saturday.
Our Lady of Guadalupe serves up authentic Mexican cuisine to celebrate Fiesta By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The line outside the Our Lady of Guadalupe mercado wasn’t quite as big as in years past, but people from across the city of Santa Barbara were still as eager as ever to pick up and enjoy their authentic Mexican food they’ve come to expect during the week of Fiesta. “It’s definitely strange and different. The ambiance is different. Normally there is music blasting and people having a good time,” Mariana Contreras, office manager at the parish, told the News-Press. “But hey, we’re making the best of it and trying to help everybody have that spirit that they always have and keep them cheerful and happy.” In a normal year, the Old Spanish Days celebration would peak during the final Saturday of the annual event drawing hundreds to the Eastside church. Every year, the parish hosts a Fiesta mercado, featuring tons of games, live music, raffles and, of course, traditional Mexican cuisine. Due to the current pandemic, however, the Fiesta event could not go on as planned. For a while, the church didn’t think it would be able to sell food either. “There was a good chance that this wasn’t going to happen,” Ms. Contreras said. “And then at the last minute, because we’re waiting on some to see if we could actually do it, we found out that we could, so we scrambled as fast as we could to get what we have now.” And what Our Lady of Guadalupe recreated was a success. “It obviously isn’t going to be the same as past years, but it’s
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
Beverley Jackson, known as a legend of Santa Barbara who threw large parties and wrote about the social scene of the city during the 1970s and ‘80s, died early Thursday morning from natural causes. She was 91.
Latest COVID science discussed during webinar been busy all day. We’ve been going through people left and right,” Ms. Contreras said. “And we’ve been really lucky that most people have been really patient with us and really kind.” Ms. Contreras added that it was a bit more hectic in the kitchen this year, as the amount of volunteers allowed at one time were limited due to the coronavirus. Still, she was thankful for everyone who was able to make the event happen. “We’re definitely really grateful for all our volunteers. I mean, it’s been hard because it had to be a limited amount, but we are super grateful and very blessed to have the people that we asked to help
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By JORGE MERCADO
Volunteers assemble tri-tip torta sandwiches and cook tamales. Our Lady of Guadalupe mercado sold more than 5,000 tamales throughout the weekend and about 400 tortas.
out,” Mr. Contreras said. Normally, the church would hold the annual event from Friday through Sunday, but with the church holding mass outside on Sunday’s now, the event concluded Saturday this year. The annual Fiesta mercado accounts for nearly 60% of the parish’s yearly revenue, according to Erika J. García, business manager for the church, as all proceeds from auctions, food, drink, and other vendors goes directly toward maintenance and service of the church. And, while the church won’t be making as much as in years past, they are still appreciative for the business they received during
these three days. “It is something that is really needed, because we depend on this income, especially, because we use it for all of the ordinary expenses so this was a really, really important thing to do. We’re glad that we’re able to do this, even though is on an infinite smaller scale, but at least we’re able to sell and make a little bit of money,” Ms. García said. The menu of years past was cut down significantly, with the church only offering pozole, birria, tamales and tortas. But, people still came out in droves to pick up their pre-orders or order upon arrival. “We just wanted to find some Please see FIESTA on A4
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The UCSB Economic Forecast Project, hosted by Dr. Peter Rupert, held another webinar on Thursday, with a big focus on the latest science regarding the novel coronavirus. Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons, an infectious disease expert from Cottage Health, was invited to speak at the webinar and provided plenty of insight on COVID-19 data and how people are critically analyzing it. “Data remains critically important now and it’s going to really inform both population level, as well as individual level decisions, I think for the long term with regards to this,” Dr. Fitzgibbons said. She said that looking at just case
count numbers is not an effective way to view the virus. The reason being is that every county, every city even, is administering tests to different people. A more objective metric, according to Dr. Fitzgibbons, would be looking at hospitalizations. And, even more objective, would be deaths. “We are delayed perhaps by two weeks or three weeks (with hospitalizations). And then, of course, if we’re following deaths, tragically that may be the most objective metric of all, and indeed probably is, that of course is a very, very late metric that is far too down the road for our health officials,” Dr. Fitzgibbons said. Despite this, she said that hospitalizations are her preferred metric to analyze this pandemic. Please see webinar on A4
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