Tag archives: Christmas

Casa del Herrero Holiday Soirée with a Capital Announcement
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 26, 2023

The much looked forward to Casa del Herrero “Home for the Holidays”evening was held at the organization’s rare jewel outdoor area – its Spanish Patio and Blue and White Garden off the formal living room – on Saturday, December 9. The 150 guests were treated to the blissful Spanish guitar of Chris Fossek, while they […]

Santa Barbara Rescue Mission Women’s Auxiliary Annual Holiday Tea for Bethel House
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 26, 2023

The Santa Barbara Rescue Mission (SBRM) Women’s Auxiliary (WA) held its annual Bethel House Christmas Tea for its women in recovery program on Wednesday, December 13 at the home of Susan Hughes. Dianne Davis, Hospitality Chair, organized the event, and Kirsten Walters, Membership Chair, organized the activities for the event, including the prayers, singing Christmas […]

Back in the Saddle: Shiflett Returns to SOhO
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 26, 2023

Guitarist Chris Shiflett grew up on Santa Barbara’s Eastside just a short walk from the Santa Barbara Bowl, the local amphitheater he would eventually play with as the lead guitarist in Foo Fighters. But back in the ‘70s and ‘80s it was the bar scene and house parties for Shiflett, who went to the junior […]

Irish Tenors: Heart, Humor, and Harmonies Go On 
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 26, 2023

Anthony Kearns, Ronan Tynan, and Declan Kelly, better known as the Irish Tenors, are all well on in years and miles on the road, but have piled into one hotel room in Plymouth, Massachusetts, like a band out on its first tour. The Tenors have a history of hits with classics from the Emerald Isle […]

Holiday Show of the Week
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 26, 2023

Whether you’re needing a bit of exercise to work off the Christmas feast, seeking some family fun time with lots of other folks, or merely looking for a way out of the house after a weekend with relatives, the Santa Barbara Country Dance Society might have the answer. They’re throwing open their doors to everyone […]

Santa’s Sleigh on E. 54th: Teran Davis’ Mold-Breaking Holiday Mission
By Jeff Wing   |   December 26, 2023

Teran Davis is one of those people. While the rest of us are gauzily imagining the summit over sips of cabernet, Davis is kneeling in a blizzard and hammering in her tent stakes at base camp. With a grin. “I just believe in saying ‘Yes’ in life,” she delicately explains. “A few years ago, I […]

Book Radiates Advent
By Scott Craig   |   December 19, 2023

With the arrival of Advent, Paul Willis, professor emeritus of English and former Santa Barbara poet laureate, has co-edited an anthology of readings A Radiant Birth: Advent Readings for a Bright Season. Madeleine L’Engle, Marilyn McEntyre, Eugene Peterson, Tania Runyan, Luci Shaw, Jeanne Murray Walker, Walter Wangerin, Lauren Winner, and Philip Yancey contribute to the […]

37th Annual Boat Parade of Lights
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 19, 2023

The 37th Annual Boat Parade of Lights was held in the Santa Barbara beach and harbor area along Cabrillo Boulevard on Sunday, December 10.  The Parade of Lights event committee is powered by newly appointed City of Santa Barbara Waterfront Administrative Analyst II and Public Information Officer Angela Rodriguez, with Parade of Lights Committee Chair […]

Coast Village Happenings
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   December 19, 2023

While finishing landscaping touches take place on the Olive Mill Roundabout, crews have been busy beautifying Coast Village Road for the holidays. Last week a tree lighting took place, featuring performances and appearances by Santa Barbara High School Madrigals, Santa Barbara Youth Symphony, and the Santa Barbara Festival Ballet (Nutcracker characters).  Santa Barbara Mayor Randy […]

A “Magnificat” Evening with the Choral Society
By Richard Mineards   |   December 19, 2023

Santa Barbara Choral Society was in top form under veteran conductor JoAnne Wasserman with its 9th annual Hallelujah Project at the Lobero, which included SING! program choral students from the Music Academy and Dishwalla lead singer Justin Fox in a rocking chair reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Accompanied by an orchestra, the enthusiastic singers […]

A Tea-riffic Time
By Richard Mineards   |   December 19, 2023

To the historic Santa Barbara Club when Lobero Theatre Associates hosted its annual Christmas tea for 60 guests. The bounteous bash, co-chaired by Leslie Haight and Emily Johnson, focused on the organization’s youth events, including It’s Magic!, the Nebula Dance Company, and musician Derek Douget, a New Orleans musician who visits schools in the area.  […]

Deck the Hills with Vows of Dali Another Not-at-all-Surreal Gift-Giving Compass
By Jeff Wing   |   December 19, 2023

Here at the MJ we’ve taken great pains (not literally – this is a self-congratulating figure of speech) to throw light on your seasonal gift-giving panic; to add a spark to this season of beneficence. Gifting anything to a loved one – be it an original Van Gogh or a silken beach stone made lovely […]

Revels Tales Told This Winter
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 19, 2023

With its 2024 annual Christmastime show, Santa Barbara Revels becomes the first of the regional Revels companies to present the organization’s newest endeavor: The Revels: A Winter Solstice Celebration – Tales from Ellis Island. Inaugurated in Cambridge just last year, the story finds a Mexican medical supervisor informing the newly-arrived immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and […]

Holiday Shows of the Week: Hot and Cold Christmas Shows 
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 19, 2023

Choral concerts don’t come much more compelling than the Quire of Voyces, which Nathan Kreitzer founded at SBCC back in 1993 and still enthusiastically leads 30 years later. The a cappella sacred music ensemble has a remarkably crystalline sound cultivated by both Kreitzer’s exacting ear and regular rehearsals. There are but two full weekend programs […]

Businesses Bring the Holiday Spirit to Town
By Jeff Wing   |   December 12, 2023

Summerland – an impossibly picturesque village arrayed along .7 miles of oceanfront hillside – will be rolling out its holiday finery for the aptly-named Winter in Summerlandthis coming Saturday, December 9, from 11 am – 4 pm. In the event, 38 of the town’s businesses will be opening their doors to offer holiday spirit to […]

Trimming Montecito’s Tree
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   December 12, 2023

It wouldn’t be the holiday season without the trimming of the giant pine tree near the Manning Park tennis courts on San Ysidro Road. It’s a festive tradition that goes back many decades, and we retell it here each year to keep the memory alive.  As the story goes, in the early 1960s, then Montecito […]

Lighting Up the Miramar Tree
By Richard Mineards   |   December 12, 2023

Rick Caruso’s Rosewood Miramar attracted a hoard of parents and children when it staged its colorful Christmas tree lighting by managing director Rick Fidel. Hot chocolate, apple cider, and prosecco cocktails with colorfully decorated cookies and macaroons were the order of the night as the oceanside hostelry lit its 17-foot fir that had been flat […]

A Holiday State of Affairs
By Jeff Wing   |   December 12, 2023

Changes to Santa Barbara’s State Street – recently reborn as a cozy, sun-soaked pedestrian promenade – have transformed the palm-lined commercial-and-arts district into an almost park-like destination for calming and convivial holiday shopping, the salt-scented, sparkling beach mere blocks away. Seriously. How do we love State Street over the holidays? Let us count the ways… […]

Holiday Music Highlights of the Week
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 5, 2023

Christmas with The Petersens stars the pure-bred American roots music family band who have turned music of the Ozarks into a veritable family business. The bluegrass-based septet consists of four siblings (Katie, Ellen, Matt, and Julianne), their mom Karen and honorary Petersen and dear friend, Emmett Franz, who collectively play guitar, dobro, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, […]

The 12 Wines of Christmas: Local Corks to Pop This Holiday Season
By Gabe Saglie   |   December 5, 2023

With last week’s Thanksgiving feasting behind us, the season of holiday eating has officially arrived! Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing meals that will run the gamut in terms of flavors and textures, and that means our lineup of wines will need to be just as diverse, to match. Here are 12 wines […]