Monthly Archives: December 2017

The Fire That Stole Christmas

We only had a little over an hour with Montecito Fire chief Chip Hickman, as he had to escort some of the people who’d lost their homes back to their property, but we made the most of our time. No Montecito firefighters were lost or even hurt throughout the ordeal. There was one death, that […]

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Makeshift Meeting

It was a very in-tents occasion when the 30-year-old World Business Academy hosted a “gratitude gathering” at the home of its founder Rinaldo Brutoco and his wife, Lalla. As smoke from the raging Thomas Fire down south in Ventura filled the skies, which had also effected power supplies to our Eden by the Beach, given […]

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Food for Thought

Epicurean Santa Barbara, a group of culinary enthusiasts and oenophiles, has just debuted in our tony town. The group, which currently has 78 members, was founded by the foodie fab four of Leif Pietila, Renee Martin, and dynamic duo Keith and Amy Robinson, who met at the Newcomers club when they moved here from Portland, […]

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Holiday High Notes

Music director JoAnne Wasserman, marking her 25th year, was clearly in her element when the Santa Barbara Choral Society, celebrating its 70th anniversary, staged its fifth Hallelujah Project at the Lobero. The concert, which included Vivaldi’s magnificent Gloria and, of course, Handel’s uplifting Hallelujah Chorus, was a glorious Yuletide miscellany of seasonal cheer featuring the […]

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A Win-Winn Situation

One of the great joys of Yuletide is the Christmas bash thrown by interior designers Peter Kavoian and Ray Winn, who also scribes for this illustrious organ, at their magnificent Birnam Wood manse. The stunning residence – formerly the home of a member the DuPont family who lived to the ripe old age of 107 […]

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Giving Thanks

On a personal note, I have a great deal to be thankful for. Great firefighters, good friends, and the kindness of Mother Nature. This is the third time I have endured a mandatory evacuation, having experienced the Tea, Jesusita ,and now the Thomas fires in my 10 years here. I fled our rarefied enclave for […]

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Something to Bragg About

Santa Barbara entrepreneur Patricia Bragg, 88, who makes a number of health products including organic apple cider vinegar, has just got priceless publicity from none other than British fashion designer Victoria Beckham, 43, wife of soccer legend David Beckham. The former Spice Girls singer has revealed she regularly takes two teaspoons of ACV – as […]

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Mistletoe Ball

The twenty-sixth annual Catholic Charities Mistletoe Ball took over the Biltmore Coral Casino for a night of wining, dining, and dancing. We began on the terrace and ended in the beautiful ballroom totally decorated with the walls draped in forest-green fabric and the ceiling hung with hundreds of peach-colored balloons with silver milar strings. Co-chairs […]

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Saving Montecito, Again

Last edition, the cover of Montecito Journal boasted the line “Saving Montecito”, with a photo of a Montecito fire truck at Station 1 on San Ysidro Road. Little did we know that roughly 48 hours after the newspaper hit stands, Montecito firefighters – along with thousands of others from across at least seven states – […]

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Christmas at the Casa

Casa del Herrero Board of Trustees invited one and all to Christmas at the Casa, a celebration of preservation. This 11-acre estate was completed in 1925, the day of the great Santa Barbara earthquake. It sustained no damage, and Carrie and George Steedman moved in. It is now a National Historic Landmark and preserved for […]

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Community Leaders Luncheon

The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara gives a Community Leaders Luncheon to thank its donors and volunteers. This year, there were 350 folks attending at the Fess Parker – many to be thanked. Board chair Don Logan told the group, “This year we gave $8.44 million in scholar ships to 2,688 students and helped 25,000 […]

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Fighting the Thomas Fire

At 10 am on Tuesday, December 12, dozens of Montecito firefighters and personnel gathered at Fire Station 1 for a morning briefing on the Thomas Fire, which, as of press time, had burned 234,200 acres and was 20 percent contained. For more than a week, MFPD has been operating in an “all-hands-on-deck” mode, meaning 24-hour […]

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