Parklets: A Problem?

The Net Result

A look at the function of the debris nets and basins, their results in the recent rains, and their future, page 5

The MPC Shuffle

A commissioner is asked to resign from the MPC at the latest meeting of County Supervisors, page 12

SERVING MONTECITO AND SOUTHERN SANTA BARBARA

Curator’s Quest – SBMA’s Deputy Director and Chief Curator Eik Kahng speaks of her career in an exclusive interview, P.16

Nature’s Bounty – A ballerina turned chef shares her story in this new column, P.28

Bottling

The parklets have been reduced along Coast Village Road, but to what effect and what purpose? (Story starts on p. 11) PARKLETS: A PROBLEM?

P.

News – A farewell celebration and thanks to the National Guard for their work on the local debris basin

Montecito Miscellany – The Symphony’s Toy Trains, a birthday surprise, a local film enters SBIFF, and more

Letters to the Editor – District Supervisors discuss recent anti-Semitic flyers and it’s time to resolve the Hot Springs parking situation Tide Guide P.

CVR Parklet Removal – Bob Hazard debates the value of Montecito’s parklet size reduction P.

The MPC Shuffle – A member of the Montecito Planning Commission is asked to resign at the recent meeting of County Supervisors

On Entertainment – The Realistic Joneses, Monterey Jazz, a classic ensemble, and remembering Crosby

Our Town – SBMA’s Eik Kahng speaks about her career and role as Deputy Director and Chief Curator

Your Westmont – A double bill of opera, a lecture examines the soul and cultural disillusionment, and retired soccer coach earns an award P.

The Giving List – Common Table is back with more public events around dining and talking with one another

Brilliant Thoughts – Umbrellas and all they cover. Hint: it’s not just the recent rains. Robert’s Big Questions – How does modern technology help us in our idleness?

The Way It Was – The story about the Lobero’s long lost golden eagle is unfurled over time

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” – Albert Einstein

P.

Montecito Reads – The media and rumor mill run rampant after the Wimbys’ gruesome disappearance P.28

Foraging Thyme – New columnist Melissa Petitto tells of her culinary path and provides two colorful recipes

Santa Barbara by the Glass – The story of Ranchos de Ontiveros and its wines

32 Dear Montecito – Stella reflects on the recent storm and beach musings

The Optimist Daily – We get by (and healthier) with a little help from our friends

Calendar of Events – A Drowsy Chaperone, Maltese Falcon, and Silken Ladder come to town, among others

Classifieds – Our own “Craigslist” of classified ads

Mini Meta Crossword Puzzles Local Business Directory

Net Result

Montecito’s Watershed Moment

by Les Firestein

Exactly five years ago on this day, I was working with The Partnership for Resilient Communities (TPRC) to help develop a plan to contain Montecito’s occasional debris flows. Since a lot of folks are relatively new to Montecito, now is a particularly poignant time to look back at where we’ve come from, what’s been achieved with our moody and unstable terrain (two debris flows in five years), and where we need to go from here.

TPRC was formed roughly five years ago because post-January 9, 2018, it didn’t sit well with a bunch of us that Montecito was simply at peril, and there was nothing to be done about it. Fortunately, the human capital up here is second to none, and many of your fellow citizens were concerned, activated, and extremely generous. Quickly we learned that there are other places around the world more used to dealing with debris than us, and were therefore more experienced than us, and that’s what led us to the “Swiss solution.”

Debris Flow –A Dangerous Misnomer

But first this word about debris flow, which I believe is a horrible misnomer. It’s actually a terrible misnomer. When I think about “debris” I think of crumbs on a table or broken shards of taillight in a fender bender. I’ve always thought “debris flow” should be called a debris torrent because generally speaking a torrent of anything is definitely something to be avoided. Instead, on the evening of January 8, 2018, people thought the heavy rains up on our mountain range might even lead to a fun adventure. I know people who camped out and waited for it with s’mores and lanterns and thought it would be an awesome thing to Instagram.

What we actually learned is that “debris” can be boulders the size of buses and cars crushed like soda cans bound for the recycler. The debris mass can be large and move upwards of 35 miles an hour. And there’s an unlimited supply of it. Our mountains are actually mounds of

Net Result Page 344

Les Firestein is the founder and editor of The Riv, Montecito Journal’s magazine of architecture and design. He was also one of the early members of The Partnership for Resilient Communities.

The debris nets, a result of TPRC, were put to their first test during the recent storms (photo courtesy of Pat McElroy)

Here’s how it looked right after the 1/9 storm, from the County’s monitoring cameras, captured and submitted by Robert Riskin:

Saying Farewell to the National Guard, and Giving Thanks for Our Debris Basin

by Sharon Byrne

On Monday, the County held a press conference to thank the California Army National Guard, which has been deployed here since January 12 to clear the Randall Road Debris Basin. Darcel Elliott from Supervisor Das Williams’ office had let us know they were coming, and asked us if the Guard could use our office and meeting hall to station for logistics temporarily. We readily agreed and handed them keys.

Their job was enormous: Clear all the rocks that had fallen into the new Randall Road Debris Basin. Here’s the Debris Basin back in October, just after completion:

Lt. Colonel Lipscomb talked with me about the work the team did. One hundred and two Guard personnel were deployed here, from the 649 Engineering Company and the 185 MP Battalion Headquarters. They’re normally stationed up in Chico. The team was split, where some were deployed here, and some up in Paso Robles to find Kyle Doan, the 5-year-old that’s been missing since 1/9 in San Miguel, swept away from his mother in the flood there. That was heavy work for Lt. Colonel Lipscomb and his team. “Very emotional.” He paused to take a deep breath. “I have a 5-year-old,” he said, softly.

Local News Page 414

Montecito Miscellany Playing with Planes and Trains

by Richard Mineards

Santa Barbara Symphony was clearly on the right track with its first 70th anniversary concert of the New Year!

Plains, Trains, & Violins at the Granada under maestro Nir Kabaretti was a celebration of the influence of music of the Americas with local ties to our Eden by the Beach.

The entertaining performance included Uruguayan-born Grammy nominated composer Miguel del Águila’s concerto for violin and orchestra, El viaje de una vida (The Journey of a Lifetime), with soloist Guillermo Figueroa, and the premiere of the late Oscar winning

composer and former Santa Barbara resident Elmer Bernstein’s Toccata for Toy Trains

His score for an animated film by Charles and Ray Eames was arranged as a concert piece especially for the SB Symphony by his son, Peter Dvořák’s magnificent “Symphony No. 9 (‘From the New World’)” wrapped up the entrancing program.

Afterwards a post-concert bash was hosted for major supporters with guests including Fred and Nancy Golden, George Konstantinow , Kathryn Martin, Janet Garufis, Richard and Marilyn Mazess, Howard Jay Smith and Patricia Dixon, Stefan and Christine

Rick Oshay, Adam McKaig, Nancy and Fred Golden, and Robert Adams (photo by Priscilla)

Jon Lewis, Michelle Temple, Guillermo Figueroa, and Nir Kabaretti (photo by Priscilla)

Letters to the Editor

Holocaust Memorial Day

Continued education and understanding of cultural groups are needed across our community. Last month, anti-Semitic flyers were dispersed across the Mesa on the first day of Hanukkah. This was a coordinated effort that occurred in the Second District that Laura Capps represents and is compounded by the horrific displays of anti-Semitism across the country. Like many, we were disheartened, frustrated, and ready to support our community members. Thank you to the courageous leadership of the Jewish community, in particular Dan Meisel, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League Santa Barbara Tri-Counties, for helping us all find ways to do better.

In the vein of education and understanding, Supervisor Laura Capps and Joan Hartmann have collaborated on a resolution in advance of this week’s Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday, January 27. The resolution honors the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. Within the resolution, we remind our community about the history, facts, and devastation of the Holocaust, the state-sponsored, systemic persecution, and the annihilation of European Jewish peoples by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945. The victims of this devastation included six million Jewish People, including children. Additional victims of the holocaust included Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewish communities, Roma peoples, people with disabilities, Polish peoples, LGBTQ+ individuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Soviet prisoners of war, political dissidents, journalists, and judges. All of these groups suffered grievous oppression and death under Nazi tyranny.

When anti-Semitic flyers are dispersed, we take them seriously. When continued hate incidents occur in our schools, we take them seriously. Our community will not be defined by the actions of a few. Rather we are a community defined by our stance against anti-Semitism, hatred, and violent acts against ALL of our vibrant communities. Our offices will continue to support and collaborate with

our cultural communities with education, understanding, and inclusion. We challenge our community members to take a stand, reach out in support, and work together to build a region where all can thrive.

In Community, Laura Capps, 2nd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann, 3rd District Supervisor

It’s Time to Resolve Issues Concerning Montecito Hot Springs and Trailhead Parking

The Montecito Hot Springs were completely wiped out by the big rainstorm that occurred on January 9, 2023, and are now covered with many feet of rocks. That’s exactly five years after new pools were created on January 9, 2018, as a result of mudslides. “The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh.” The stream bed containing the hot springs was filled in as opposed to deepened last time. Quite a few hikers are still going up there, only to be disappointed upon arrival. Pipes taking hot spring water belonging to Montecito Creek Water Company have also been washed away.

Eventually, the springs will be restored. It’s time to resolve issues concerning them and the parking situation below.

It’s not fair that hikers are given tickets for parking on Riven Rock Road but residents who illegally take away public right of way by placing rocks on it are not. What about the parking spot on upper Riven Rock Road (much of it on public land according to Gary Smart of the County roads department) that has a sign placed next to it saying, “Private Property”? The part of that parking spot on public land should be returned to the public, and clearly marked as public. In the meantime, the public has the right to park on the public portion of that parking spot as much as the resident who

“Private Parking” signs in the public right of way. I’ve called Smitty’s. There is no active towing agreement at that address.

created it. Anyone who puts rocks on the side of the road to block parking or creates a private parking space on public land should be ticketed or no one ticketed at all. It’s time for equity in ticketing.

Putting rocks on the side of a public road to block parking may be a good idea in some areas, but it should be done legally through a public process.

The parking situation needs to be resolved now. Having cars park under the oak trees next to Riven Rock is no solution – cars compress the ground above the roots, and leak oil. The nine or ten parking spaces that used to be on upper Riven Rock should be restored. This section is wider than farther down the road. Rocks can be placed next to the curb. The curb can be indented a little where parking spaces are created.

In the article, “Montecito’s 2022 Year in Review” (Montecito Journal, December 29, 2022), it is written that “...in pre-pandemic times, it would not be unusual to see 10-12 additional cars parked illegally along Riven Rock Road...”

Vehicles had parked on upper Riven Rock for decades, and if there had been a serious problem the county would have done something about it a long time ago. If it had been illegal to park there, why weren’t signs put up indicating that fact?

A reasonable number of parking spaces, perhaps 25, can be provided in the general area for Hot Springs Trail.

The same article also mentions that in July of 2022 “...15 community and gov-

MONTECITO TIDE GUIDE

Day Low Hgt High Hgt Low Hgt High Hgt Low Hgt

Thurs, Jan 26 1:07 AM 4.6 6:57 AM 1.6 12:44 PM 4.2 07:10 PM 0.4

Fri, Jan 27 1:56 AM 4.7 8:22 AM 1.6 02:00 PM 3.3 07:52 PM 1.2

Sat, Jan 28 2:50 AM 4.8 10:03 AM 1.2 03:56 PM 2.7 08:43 PM 2.0

Sun, Jan 29 3:50 AM 4.9 11:35 AM 0.7 06:14 PM 2.7 09:53 PM 2.5

Mon, Jan 30 04:50 PM 5.0 12:41 PM 0.2 07:42 PM 3.0 11:14 PM 2.7

Tues, Jan 31 5:46 AM 5.1 01:29 PM -0.2 08:29 PM 3.3

Weds, Feb 1 12:19 AM 2.8 6:34 AM 5.3 02:08 PM -0.5 09:00 PM 3.4

Thurs, Feb 2 1:07 AM 2.6 7:16 AM 5.4 02:40 PM -0.7 09:24 PM 3.5

Fri, Feb 3 1:45 AM 2.5 7:52 AM 5.6 03:09 PM -0.8 09:46 PM 3.6

“Information is not knowledge.” – Albert Einstein

ernment reps met behind closed doors to discuss the issues at the trailhead” and notes that “...members of the media and public were not privy to the meeting…” The original meeting in early 2021 that led to removing longstanding parking by placing white lines and ticketing without adequate signage also was held in private. It’s like a dictatorship, not a democracy, when governmental bodies make decisions that affect us without taking public input. Just who are the groups and representatives that have been so willing to participate in this flouting of democracy? One is Montecito Trails Foundation, which does so many good things. All meetings addressing the situation in the trailhead area need to be open to the public.

Regarding the hot springs, it’s unethical to take hot spring water from the national forest to the estates below.

The pipes and uglification of Hot Springs Canyon from the private water company need to be removed, and the canyon restored. Please, residents of upper Hot Springs and Riven Rock roads, stop using this sacred water. Do the right thing! Yes, the water company has every legal right to the water, so let it be fairly compensated for the water rights.

Then the hot springs can be dedicated to the Chumash, and a beautiful monument created!

Bryan Rosen

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

Watanabe

Ernie Witham Our Town/Society | Joanne A Calitri Travel | Jerry Dunn, Leslie Westbrook Food & Wine | Claudia Schou 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

CVR Parklet Removal

The Wrong Solution to the Wrong Problem at the Wrong Time

by Bob Hazard

In November, Montecito residents watched in dismay as carpenters and electricians dismantled two-thirds of the popular outdoor dining parklets at Lucky’s Steakhouse and one half of the parklets serving Tre Lune Ristorante to restore four new parking spaces on Coast Village Road (CVR).

Nearby, the city parklet guillotine fell on Jeannine’s Restaurant & Bakery, which was forced to dismantle half of its profitable parklets to gain two new parking spaces. The Montecito Inn’s Coast & Olive Restaurant lost a third of its parklet dining space to create one new parking space. The parklet removal has added seven new parking spaces. Since the decision to punish the parklets, four new public parking spaces have become available from the closure of Mesa Burger and the removal of its parklet.

There are currently 138 angled parking spaces on CVR plus another 53 curbside parking spaces. Adding 139 mostly angled parking spaces on Coast Village Circle offers a grand total of 330 parking spaces, plus private parking lots owned by individual businesses. Presently, two-space parklets remain at the Folded Hills Tasting Room and Bree’osh on the northside of CVR and at Coast & Olive, Lucky’s, Jeannine’s, Renaud’s and Tre Lune on the southside, occupying another 14 potential parking spaces not counted in the 330.

Everyone agrees that Coast Village Road needs additional parking. However, pitting retail shops against restaurants to gain seven CVR spaces was the wrong solution to the wrong problem at the wrong time.

Damage to Coast Village Road Restaurants

Gene Montesano estimates he will lose several million dollars in annual food and beverage sales between Lucky’s and Tre Lune as a result of the takedown. Alison Hardey, owner of Jeannine’s, can expect to lose another million and Jim and Jason Copus could lose nearly the same at Coast & Olive. That represents an anticipated loss of around five million dollars in CVR food and beverage sales. Additional casualties include laid-off culinary workers, plus CVR retailers who will lose the foot traffic generated from diners who would be sitting at the lost restaurant seats who could be converted to potential retail shoppers.

When COVID-19 threatened to destroy CVR dining, innovative restaurateurs discovered their diners preferred outdoor dining in a European style of comfort and convenience. Parklets allowed for social distancing and more intimate conversations. Their customers’ “reward” has been to have the City of Santa Barbara stifle this successful strategy by limiting the outdoor dining options that Montecito customers clearly prefer.

Restaurants today are desperately searching for willing workers and remedies to offset mandated wage inflation and runaway food costs. Solicitation of new dining clients has become a necessity, not a luxury. A CVR address is no ticket for automatic restaurant success. Just ask the former owners of Cava, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Giovanni’s Pizzeria, Mesa Burger, Khao Kaeng Noodle Bar, Peabody’s, Mollie’s, and Little Alex’s, the most recent casualties.

The Carpinteria and Ventura Parklet Decision

The Carpinteria City Council has taken the exact opposite position on parklets than the City of Santa Barbara. In May 2020, the Carp City Council voted to allow Carp businesses to operate in outdoor spaces in the city’s right-of-way and privately-owned outdoor spaces. In November 2022, the Carp City Council voted again to extend its original parklet termination date of December 31 to at least June 2023.

Carpinteria reasoned, “Without the continuation of the parklets, there is an increased risk of a substantial negative impact to local businesses by delaying a local economic recovery and imperiling the lives or property of inhabitants of the city. The existing parklet program allows Parklets Page 354

The MPC Shuffle

Commissioner Susan Keller Removed from the Montecito

Planning Commission

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2023, 7:30PM

FILHARMONIE BRNO

(OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC)

For more than a half century, renowned American conductor Dennis Russell Davies has conducted many of the world’s finest orchestras and opera companies and is widely considered one of the most innovative and adventurous conductors in the classical music world. In 2018, Maestro Davies became the Artistic Director & Chief Conductor of the Filharmonie Brno, an orchestra with roots that go back to the 1870s, when then-young composer Leoš Janáček endeavored to establish a Czech symphony orchestra in Brno (the traditional capital of Moravia), now the second largest city in the Czech Republic after Prague. The present orchestra was created in 1956 and has been among the leading Czech orchestras in both size and importance, where the programing of works by Janáček has always been at the core of the orchestra’s repertory. Appropriately, Maestro Davies’s stimulating CAMA concert will feature an outstanding All‑Czech Program of works by three of the greatest Czech composers: Janáček, Dvořák, and Martinů

by Zach Rosen

In the County of Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors meeting that occurred on January 24, 2023, First District Supervisor and Vice Chair Das Williams asked the board to approve the removal of Susan Keller from the Montecito Planning Commission (MPC). According to Williams, this request comes after two MPC members stated to him that they would resign if Keller was not removed from the MPC. Commissioner Keller’s removal was uncontested and approved by the Supervisors.

During public comment at the meeting, Paula Lopez Ochoa spoke in support of Keller, citing their work together including the KEYT Unity telethons and on the board for Santa Barbara Revels, which Keller founded.

Susan Keller then gave a public statement that cited her experience on Naomi Schwartz’s 1st District Task force in 2002, which helped develop the MPC “as an independent, apolitical, decision-making body.” Keller added, “It is not a rubber stamp for recommendations of the Montecito Board of Architectural Review. Commissioners should not accept County Staff recommendations without question, amendment, or possible disagreement.”

precedent that this “coercion” would set and acknowledged a letter to the Board of Supervisors that fully expressed her concerns, including efforts to compromise with the other members and the conflict of one commissioner not meeting Montecito-residency requirements.

During the meeting, the other Supervisors acknowledged the difficulty of Supervisor Williams’ situation. While speaking with the MJ, Williams commented, “I don’t like to have to iron out both a personality and a priority conflict between board members. I prefer that that would be solvable by the board themselves.”

He added, “I do think that what is important is that the MPC can meet and look at cases and people’s lives can move on speedily when they are working on home renovations, building improvements, or whatever permits they’re seeking […] I need a responsive body and cannot have a non-functioning institution – we would not be doing the people’s business speedily if we have a non-functioning institution.”

MASTERSERIES AT THE LOBERO THEATRE

Both Lopez Ochoa and Keller brought up the optics of removing one of two women on the MPC with Keller citing an attempted block by three male commissioners that occurred three years ago as another female commissioner attempted to move from vice chair to chair, stating, “This current attack on the other female commissioner [referring to herself] creates a perception of sexist behavior that this Board cannot allow.”

That past blockage ultimately failed, and Supervisor Williams began his response by mentioning his support of Donna Senauer during it. He then stated, “There have been tit for tat attempts to remove commissioners, including one just a year ago where Miss Keller tried to remove a commissioner. So, it is an unfortunate dynamic. It has affected the function of the Montecito Planning Commission.”

He then explained his position. “I have requested advice both from the planning commissioners themselves and from the planning commission staff. And I believe that this is going to ultimately be the best way to move forward. To me, it largely boils down to a math game. You know, it’s: do I keep two commissioners, or do I keep one – and the one that was planning on only serving one more year?”

In a later phone discussion with the MJ, Keller expressed her concern with the

While speaking to the MJ, Ron Pulice, current MPC chair, said that the MPC in its best form should be an “appellate commission” to assist with disagreements between applicants and the County – as opposed to a ruling one. Pulice continued, “We should be more respectful of people’s time, as well as the time of other commissioners. And I think that’s probably the biggest issue as far as I see. Why are we debating something that could be settled in a lot shorter order?”

He continued, “The planning commission is trying to have less animosity between the applicants that are coming in front of us than we’ve had in the past. It’s not the end of the world whether we say that someone made a mistake and didn’t get a permit, or didn’t do this or didn’t do that – holding people hostage is kind of beyond the scope of what we should be doing.”

Pulice added, “The thing is we have to acknowledge the fact that [Keller] had volunteered for many, many years and no one should take that away from her, the amount of time and effort she put in doing her volunteerism. So that needs to be recognized and I recognize that. I mean, I would like her to know that. I don’t think it goes unnoticed, how many years she’s put into different boards and especially this commission.”

On the phone, Supervisor Williams echoed the sentiments of Keller’s public contributions, mentioning his long support of her career and adding, “I did offer her another spot and want to give her all the respect that she is due.” He then confirmed that all three of the candidates he is looking at for replacing Keller’s seat are women.

INTERNATIONAL SERIES AT THE GRANADA THEATRE

SEASON SPONSOR: SAGE PUBLISHING

SEASON SPONSOR: ESPERIA FOUNDATION

Dennis Russell Davies, Artistic Director & Chief Conductor Maki Namekawa, piano

Sponsors: Edward S. DeLoreto • Lois S. Kroc • Shanbrom Family Foundation

Exclusive Sponsor: Marta Babson

PROGRAM of Granados, Albéniz, Boccherini, De Falla, Bizet, and more!

Encores from The Romeros’ 1961 Lobero performance!

BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ: Sinfonietta “La Jolla,” H.328

LEOŠ JANÁČEK: Taras Bulba ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK: Symphony No.6

366 Mira Monte Avenue Montecito

On Entertainment Catching Up with the ‘Joneses’

by Steven Libowitz

Despite being nominated for the Outer Critics and Drama League Awards and hailed by The New York Times’ critic as a rare “funny and moving, wonderful and weird” play from the “most singular voice of his generation, [one that’s] humane, literate, and slyly hilarious,” Will Eno’s 2004 The Realistic Joneses is only now having its Southern California premiere at Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, January 25 to February 12.

But the wait might well have been worth it, given the weighty cast of Joe Spano, Sorcha Fox, Conor Lovett, and Faline England taking on the meditative opus about two neighboring couples who share a last name, a work that Eno himself called an “inside look at the people who live next door, the truths we think we know, and the secrets we never imagined we all might share.”

All of the actors – save for England as well as the director, Judy HegartyLovett, who is married to Conor Lovett – are either Irish or devotees of Samuel Beckett, which also applies to Eno, whose works have often echoed Beckett’s absurdism but with more accessibility.

All of which makes England perhaps the best way for audiences to enter Joneses.

“I just sort of fell into this vortex in a way that seemed so crazy,” said England, who previously starred opposite Spano in Rubicon’s acclaimed production of Heisenberg and found herself heading over to the Lovetts’ place in Paris to read and work on The Realistic Joneses in 2021 and 2022. “All four characters are dealing with these massive, mysterious, terrifying, glorious things called life and death, yet we’re also just talking about lawn furniture. The script is so bare bones that all you have to do is open your mouth and say these brilliant words and get out of the way.”

England, a UCSB alumna for whom Joneses will be her sixth Rubicon Theatre Company show to go along with appear-

ances in myriad other theaters and on TV and film, pronounced being part of the play a profound experience – even before it opens here.

“It’s been amazing to go on this journey with this part of me, and be in this play that is a wonderful dance between lightness and seriousness, both funny and super devastating. It’s been life changing.”

For tickets and more information, visit www.rubicontheatre.org.

Monterey on Tour: Sands of Time

Taking the famed Monterey Jazz Festival out on its official tour for a third successive road trip (2020-22 were dormant) is just the latest MJF honor for pianist Christian Sands, a two-time Grammy nominee and former child prodigy who started playing professionally at 10. MJF is celebrating its 65th year as one of the world’s longest running and most iconic events in the genre, and 20th of organizing an official tour, but Sands has played Monterey five times before and served as the festival’s artist-in-residence from 2020-2022.

So he’s not intimated but surely still supremely excited to be out on the road with the current all-star ensemble, which boasts a pair of multiple-Grammy-winning vocalists in Dee Dee Bridgewater and Kurt Elling, plus rising-star saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, supported by Sands’ own trio rhythm section of bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Clarence Penn.

“When you get the chance to work with legends like Dee Dee and Kurt, every day is an amazing day,” Sands said. “It’s a lot of daily learning, but it’s also just filled with creativity. There’s a lot of juggling to implement all the styles and songs everybody wants to do as well as doing material that’s part of the Monterey Jazz Festival history.”

It’s that latter part that adds an extra

SANTA BARBARA’S PROFESSIONAL

BY Sylvia Khoury

DIRECTED BY Nike Doukas

The Realistic Joneses plays at Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura January 25 to February 12

Our Town Changing How Art Matters: Exclusive Interview with SBMA’s Eik Kahng

by Joanne A Calitri

We are most honored to have spent time doing an in-depth interview with Eik Kahng PhD, Deputy Director, and Chief Curator of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA). Preferring to concentrate on work minus the accolades, she graciously accepted to do it between curation, establishing new high-caliber art education programming for our town at the museum, and teaching at Emory. Kahng has held the position at SBMA since 2009 and continues to evolve it along with the growth of the museum to be recognized on a national level, most recently with the ‘22 Van Gogh exhibition and accompanying book publication. She holds a B.A. Summa Cum Laude from Princeton University, and M.A. and PhD from UC Berkeley. Her mentors are Tom Crow, Carol Armstrong, Michael Baxandall, Philip Conisbee, Dorothy Kosinski, and Marianne Roland-Michel. Here is our interview with all the details left in:

Q. Let’s start with the ‘Art Matters’ programming you are redesigning for the museum. What key changes are being created, what is your guest speaker wish list, and how is such programming important for museums?

A. Since taking over the management of this lecture series, I’ve tried several formats. I initially wanted to try a more in-depth “seminar” series, in which distinguished art historians from various fields could spend a full three hours presenting on a new field of inquiry, a recent book, whatever they were passionately engaged in at the moment.

While I enjoyed this experiment immensely (it brought back the intensity of similar kinds of seminars from grad student days at Berkeley), I think it was a little too intense for our audience. I have since reverted to a looser format of lectures of 45 minutes with plenty of room for Q&A (our audience is lively and likes to pose questions).

And I’ve given up on anything resembling a chronological format, opting instead for variety and diversity, both in terms of area as well as the identities of our speakers. I try and achieve a balance of senior scholars, younger scholars, art historians, curators, conservators, and even, the occasional artist such as Jan Tichy, a Czech artist living, teaching, and practicing in Chicago. I am consciously selective so that we include women scholars and people of color, which aligns with the museum’s commitment to DEAI.

How does your art historian background influence your perspectives in curation and directorship?

When I was in school, I assumed I would end up teaching at the university level. And it wasn’t until rather late in my training that I took a sharp turn in the direction of the museum.

I am, however, first and foremost, an art historian. I was trained very specifically at Berkeley to be rigorous in my scholarship and I spent an inordinately long time preparing for my PhD exams (likely, entirely over prepared), and writing the dissertation. The good news, however, is that this long maturation process intellectually meant that I had exposure to many incredible minds at Berkeley, and benefited immensely from many hours of seminar discussion and opportunities to teach for some of the greatest art historians of our generation.

While I was taught to specialize as an academic (I started out studying early Modernism as well as Later Japanese Painting), I also had coursework in relative depth in many other areas. This has resulted in a relative fluency in art history in a very general sense.

I’ve stayed in touch with grad school friends who have become incredible resources for me: for example, Chris Hallett, a brilliant Romanist who teaches at Berkeley, and Ken Lapatin, who is a very important curator at the Getty Villa. They have been reliable sources of information, advice, and encouragement and I’ve so enjoyed being able to keep on learning through their eyes and voices.

Since I’m responsible for such a wide swath of material at SBMA (not just European and American art [pre-1945], but Greek and Roman antiquities, African Art, and the Arts

Eik Kahng takes a moment for a poignant selfie in Antwerp during the SBMA Van Gogh art trip in 2022

of the Ancient Americas), it’s been a wonderful asset to be able to call on so many of my friends who specialize in many different areas, whether old master prints or African art.

As far as the outward presentation of art, as a curator I always attempt to mobilize my training as an art historian, so that the permanent collection can be contextualized and understood as such by the intelligent viewer, and our exhibitions contribute something to scholarship. For example, our Van Gogh show of last spring, while a blockbuster and successful as far as high attendance and profit (a rarity for most museums), I also feel the book and the show communicated something new to an audience hungry for more than just Van Gogh’s celebrity. I am very proud of our accomplishment in that regard, and I think the book will have a long shelf life as a staple for university level teaching (or so my academic friends tell me).

What makes an excellent curator?

There are many kinds of curators, depending on what an institution requires. A curator who specializes in a certain area and works in a very large institution tends to have a different role than a curator who works in a mid-sized or smaller museum like our own.

It’s not really enough just to be a reliable specialist with a good eye. This is still part of the brief, but you also have to be able to deal with the practical realities of the nonprofit world, which includes a good deal of fundraising these days.

An excellent curator has to be a gifted communicator and for many different listeners. You have to know how to move easily between different kinds of interests, from that of your board, to the general public, to your curatorial and academic colleagues, and in my case, to my staff, for which I have administrative responsibility – I supervise Registration, Facilities, and IT, as well as guide the Curatorial Department.

And then there’s the art. A gifted curator has a nose for quality in art. That’s a very outdated term, I realize, ‘quality’ – but as I’ve gotten older, I realize more and more that it is not reducible to ideological construct, which is what structuralism taught us in graduate school. Recognizing the greatest art of the past and the present is what a gifted curator does. And that’s not always easy or obvious.

Share about the workflow to select art for an exhibition. The negotiation of loans is a long dance. There’s what you, ideally would like to

Westmont performs an ambitious operatic double bill of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury and Rossini’s The Silken Ladder Friday, January 27, and Sunday, January 29; both at 7 pm in Center Stage Theater. To purchase tickets, which cost $20 for general admission, $15 for seniors or military members, please visit the Center Stage box office at centerstagetheater.org. For more information, please contact the Westmont Music Department at (805) 565-6040 or music@westmont.edu.

The production, set on a large movie

studio in the 1930s, will feature a blackand-white moving picture (Trial by Jury) and then a full color feature film (The Silken Ladder).

“The idea is that a company is filming a double feature, spanning the gap between black-and-white, moving pictures and Technicolor movies,” says Christina Jensen, stage director. “Each show is set in its own time with Trial by Jury in Victorian England and The Silken Ladder in the early-mid 1800s. The stark

visual difference between the two shows will be exciting.”

Music director Ruth Lin has been overseeing an opera boot camp for Westmont’s talented student musicians since early January. “They are a diverse group of musically gifted students pursuing a wide range of fields,” Lin says. “I look forward to sharing the music and humor of these operas with the community.”

The cast includes tenor Sibongakonkhe (Sibo) Msibi, a senior international student from Swaziland, who earned a fellowship to the Music Academy’s 75th anniversary Summer School and Festival in 2022.

Other cast members include Joy Sturges, Katie Ticas, Caleb Wilcox, Sean Ryan, Nathan Carlin, Micah Howard , Chandler Baker , Rachael Todd , Melissa Ellsworth , Alyssa Burdick, Jordyn Clinton, Erin Hardin, Jessica Berman , Sequoyah Scales , Leighton Bell, and Phoebe Tilburt.

Talk Examines the Soul, Cultural Disillusionment

Brandon Rickabaugh, known for his work at the intersection of metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and Christian spiritual formation, speaks about “Mechanizing Ourselves to Death: The Human Soul and Cultural Disillusionment,” on Monday, January 30, at 7:30 pm in Westmont’s Global Leadership Center. The lecture, sponsored by the Martin Institute and Dallas Willard Research Center, is free and open to the public.

Rickabaugh, assistant professor of philosophy at Palm Beach Atlantic University, has written numerous published articles and book chapters, including “Neuroscience, Spiritual Formation, and Bodily Souls: A Critique of Christian Physicalism,” which won the 2018 Dallas Willard Center Research Article Award at Westmont.

Wolf Receives Layton Shoemaker Award

Dave Wolf, who retired following a 32-year career as head coach of Westmont men’s soccer, was awarded the Layton Shoemaker Award from the Fellowship of

Christian Athletes on January 14 at the National Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia.

The award recognizes a coach that honors God on and off the field, and models a strong relationship with Christ to their players.

The award is the namesake of the late Messiah University head coach, who was at the helm for the Falcons for 23 years.

“Layton had a heart for coaches of faith having a place to get together, which became the National Soccer Coaches Convention,” Wolf says.

In 32 years leading the Warriors, Wolf compiled a program-record 362 wins to go along with nine GSAC Regular Season Championships and seven GSAC Tournament Championships. Wolf also took the Warriors to 10 NAIA National Tournaments and coached 21 different NAIA All-Americans.

Photo Correction

The photo of Westmont sociology professor Felicia Song and Pope Francis was by Vatican Media, not Brad Elliott. We regret the error.

by Scott Craig, photos by Brad Elliott

Music Director Ruth Lin

Dave Wolf

Tenor Sibo Msibi

Scott Craig is manager of media relations at Westmont College

The Giving List Common Table Foundation

by Steven Libowitz

While the world enters its new “normal,” the need to break bread with one another, both metaphorically and literally, is more welcome than ever. The sharing of conversation over food is a bonding act between people as old as civilization itself and with State Street now a bustling pedestrian thoroughfare, it is the ideal time for a shared meal over a Common Table.

Common Table first sprung into action in late summer 2018 when the organization erected a long row of temporary tables straddling the center divider of a full block of State Street, and invited people to bring their own food, grab a random seat, and start talking with their neighbor. It worked: more than 400 folks from a wide variety of backgrounds gathered to break bread at the initial Common Table, indicating the organization had clearly tapped into a true hunger for community connection.

Similar food-based events were held in Carpinteria, on Milpas Street, and other locales in the area over the next 18 months, which also saw the nonprofit spawning such programs as Coffee

Conversations to foster deeper dialogue in a one-on-one setting, and the United by Art Project to bring together artists of all stripes on a shared stage.

“Our vision and purpose is bringing diverse people together to celebrate all that we have in common,” said Warren Ritter, the foundation’s executive director. “Then you can see if any perceived differences actually even exist.”

Common Table has not held their popular event since 2019, but that doesn’t mean that the wheels aren’t turning at the non-

profit, as events both large and small are being set in motion to take place as soon as the spring. It’s an exciting re-awakening for the nonprofit that sees fostering the simple act of engaging in a conversation as an effective start to solving the divisiveness and conflict that typifies our current cultural climate, as well as bridging potential gaps in the cultures of other organizations.

Ritter wasn’t even part of Common Table for any of those gatherings, though, as he signed on as ED only last year as the foundation prepared to gear back up again. But he’s using his passion and connections to map out not only resuming the original plan of creating meeting spaces for random folks to meet and talk, but also creating a more expanded vision of the foundation as a facilitator of communication within various organizations, sectors or systems, as well as specific communities.

First up in the relaunch, though, is another State Street gathering, planned as Common Table’s kickoff in creating events for the community in the spring. Despite the parklets and promenade adding some new logistical challenges, things should take shape soon. The theme of thanking first responders – who once again sprang into action during the recent rainstorms –is already set, as is a suggestion to keep the conversations to topics of music, art, and food, at least to start.

“It’s about first finding common ground, so we’re bringing it down to the more humanistic level, rather than having people jump into politics or race, which we know can be divisive,” explained Ritter, whose background includes serving as the former president of Santa Barbara Young Black Professionals. “There’s a lot of variability, even in art, music, and food – some people like tamales while others are partial to cold pizza, and some people like bluegrass and others only listen to hip hop. But you can at least sit down and have the conversation. There’s enough there to find that commonality with someone you might never otherwise have met. Then if you want to move from nuances of Van Gogh to debating the new split Congress, that’s up to you.”

The foundation is partnering with the Public Library to put together a series of smaller gatherings in the different areas of the new Michael Towbes Plaza in

advance of a larger get-together for the grand opening anticipated in October, Ritter said.

“We’ll be facilitating some smaller Common Table community conversations to get people back to the area and enjoy the space again,” he said.

What’s also new for 2023 is a focus on creating Common Table-branded events for specific niches, Ritter said. In-roads have been formed for events with a major healthcare organization as well as Santa Barbara Unified School District, where the foundation is working with specific partners to facilitate smaller, more targeted conversations between the various levels of the staff and administration.

“The idea is to create a space where people feel empowered to have the conversation that they want to have without fear of retaliation or push back,” he said. “People can take away a lot that’s hard to get other ways.”

Common Table is also firming up a partnership with New Beginnings Counseling Center, envisioned as a way to more directly connect the community with the nonprofit that receives HUD dollars to combat homelessness, he said.

“It will be like a town hall where people come in and listen to New Beginnings staff talk about how they’re going to tackle this issue of homelessness using this influx of funds, sharing their targeted plan to truly eradicate homelessness in Santa Barbara.”

While specific dates have yet to be firmed up, it’s not at all too early to get involved, whether through sponsorships, collaborative partnerships, or even volunteering.

“The idea is to have different sponsors for each Common Table event, so we’re always going to be looking for sponsors and partners,” Ritter said. “A community project that’s for the benefit of the community should be funded by members of the community. Operating community-wide across all the subsets is how you really build and strengthen the foundation. So please don’t hesitate to get in touch.”

Common Table Foundation

Warren Ritter, Executive Director (805) 724-2734 www.commontablefoundation.org

Common Table Foundation Executive Director

Warren Ritter

Strangers sharing a meal on State Street thanks to the Common Table Foundation

Brilliant Thoughts

by Ashleigh Brilliant

In the days when I was leading a local crusade to ban the noisiest kind of so-called leaf-blowers (a cause which, at least here in California, has only recently found fruition in actions by the State), I had an unfortunate run-in with a gardener, who was using one of these devices on the property next to my own home. It was unfortunate for many reasons. One was that at least part of the incident was witnessed by my wife, Dorothy, who was the actual owner of our house, and who abhorred any kind of public embarrassment – of the type which my own activities only too often led to. Another reason was that the machine was strapped to the offender’s back, and, after trying very peaceably but unsuccessfully to get the man to desist – even going down on my knees in front of him in an attitude of prayerful pleading – I took the foolish and unforgivable step of trying to wrest the device from his back.

The result of this fracas was that the gardener got a doctor to certify that he had been injured, and then actually sued me. Dorothy had always been very security conscious, and had bought a Homeowner’s Insurance Policy, which we found had an “UMBRELLA CLAUSE.” I knew nothing about such matters, but learned that an Umbrella Policy covers cases not included under a standard insurance policy. Thus, although I was not the person insured, and although my misdeed happened on somebody else’s property, we were still covered to the financial extent spelled out in the policy.

(In my own defense, or at least extenuation, let me explain that this was early days in the anti-blower cause, which I had almost single-handedly been pleading before our City Council, who had just that week voted it down – and I was therefore feeling quite bitter and overwrought about the whole issue. Also, in my agitated state, it was the machine, not the man, that I was trying to take action against.)

Several times, I had to go and see the lawyer, who, I think was hired by our insurance company. The ultimate outcome was a judgement of some $11,000 in favor of the “injured” man (who never missed any days at work). I’m not sure how much of this was covered by our policy, but the whole experience has given me a warm, positive feeling about that very descriptive word “Umbrella.”

(Speaking of words and characterizations, the doctor who certified the gardener’s injury was described to me by our lawyer as being well-known as a “medical prostitute.”)

I’m glad to say that, from this incident, I learned my lesson, and became

the leader of a legitimate well-organized campaign, which was ultimately successful at the polls – although this affected only our own City.

Quite apart from the term’s metaphorical usage, the existence of various kinds of umbrellas – mostly, it seems, to provide shade from the sun, rather than shelter from the rain – can be traced back for thousands of years. Of course, there have been various technological improvements over the centuries. To my mind, the very best of these, so far, has been the development of transparent coverings, which make usage by pedestrians on crowded streets somewhat less hazardous.

As a symbol, the umbrella has been widely used in commerce, and even in politics. Perhaps the most famous instance was that of Neville Chamberlain, who was Prime Minister of the U.K. from 1937 to 1940, and who, in dealing with foreign dictators, particularly Adolf Hitler, became associated with the idea of “appeasement,” i.e. making concessions, rather than threatening war. In 1938, Chamberlain flew in person to meet Hitler in Munich, and as a result of the “settlement” reached there, Germany was allowed to invade, occupy, and actually annex a part of Czechoslovakia which, it claimed, was essentially German.

Upon returning to Britain, Chamberlain announced that he believed he had brought “Peace in our time” –a statement which would haunt him, after Hitler invaded Poland only two years later, thus inaugurating the Second World War.

But when Chamberlain was seen in public, he was nearly always carrying a neatly rolled-up umbrella, and this somehow became his symbol, and that of the whole “Appeasement” movement.

Finally, here are two of my own contributions to the literature on this subject:

“The rain falls equally on everybody, but there are always some people who have the best umbrellas.”

“For some strange reason, people who sell umbrellas rarely curse the rain.”

Robert’s Big Questions In Praise of Idleness?

by Robert Bernstein

Work/life balance is one part of Utopia that I just wrote about.

In Praise of Idleness was a collection of essays published by mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell in 1935. In one essay he noted, “Owing to the productivity of machines, much less work than was formerly necessary is now needed to maintain a tolerable standard of comfort in the human race. Some careful writers maintain that one hour’s work a day would suffice.” To err on the “safe side” he suggests that four hour’s work a day should be enough.

When he wrote this, about 25% of Americans lived on farms. Today that number is less than two percent. A similar percentage work in home construction. Industrialization has given us great productivity at meeting basic human needs. Yet, food and housing eat up the bulk of household income. What is going on?

There are at least two problems: There is huge inequity in employment and income. Many people are overworked at low wages. Others who want to work are excluded. The other problem is waste in the system.

Russell took an example of a pin factory. Suppose an invention doubles the productivity of the factory. In a sensible world, shouldn’t the workers work half as much for the same wage? That is not what happens in our system. One possibility is that there is an overproduction of pins, causing prices and wages to fall. Half the factories go bankrupt and their workers are unemployed.

Russell noted that this extends to the fact that most businesses fail. Most of the work that went into building that business and its products ends up wasted.

Russell noted that hard work is glorified in our society. Some translations of the New Testament say, “idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”

Who preaches such ideology? Russell noted that the idle rich say this to get poor workers to allow them to be the idle rich!

participate in such creative activity, once they have put in their four hours a day fulfilling basic needs.

Everyone has a creative side, but few get a chance to develop it. He suggests proper lifelong education is one way to enhance everyone’s natural creativity.

In some ways we have gone backwards. In feudal times, serfs worked long hours during planting and harvest season. But there were also many holidays. And plenty of time for music and dancing and other “frivolous” activities. By some measures, modern industrialized workers work more hours per year than did medieval serfs.

The glorification of work and productivity goes with a disdain for enjoyment of life. How does this make sense? What is the point of someone working hard to create a product or service if no one has the time to enjoy it? Production and enjoyment are two sides of the same transaction. Russell noted this is like saying that “keys are good, but keyholes are bad.”

But he also asks if we need enjoyment to be a matter of production and consumption. He noted that much of modern leisure is taken up passively watching movies and sports and listening to the radio. (This was before TV and the Internet!)

Proper education and opportunities for creativity can allow active participation for everyone.

One notable waste that Russell talked about was fresh in everyone’s mind after World War I: The waste of war. Militarism is both a cause and an effect of overwork and misery in his view. People who have more leisure will be kinder and less eager to cause harm to others. And they will not be eager to give up that leisure putting in long hours of work for a pointless war!

Another waste is due to crime and drug abuse by those who are excluded from our economy.

Almost a century has passed since In Praise of Idleness. Yet we still are stuck with a 40-hour work week. Isn’t it time to revisit how we use our time?

Ashleigh Brilliant born England 1933, came to California in 1955, to Santa Barbara in 1973, to the Montecito Journal in 2016. Best-known for his illustrated epigrams, called “Pot-Shots,” now a series of 10,000. email: ashleigh@west. net. web: www.ash leighbrilliant.com.

Nearly one third of the Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans inherited their wealth and did little to create new wealth. A comparable fraction created new wealth but got major help growing up in a family with money.

At the same time, Russell notes that the idle rich historically were the source of the art, literature, music, and science that we call civilization. Not that most idle rich produced these things, but some did – at the expense of slaves or wage slaves. But modern technology should allow everyone to

Robert Bernstein holds degrees from Physics departments of MIT and UCSB. Passion to understand the Big Questions of life, the universe and to be a good citizen of the planet. Visit facebook.com/ questionbig

“The moon does not simply disappear when we are not looking at it.” – Albert Einstein

The Way It Was The Mystery of Lobero’s Eagle

by Hercule Beresford

Italian-born Giuseppe (José) Lobero loved his adopted country so much that he opened his opera house, the first theater in Santa Barbara, on February 22, George Washington’s birthday. With such deep patriotic sentiment, it seems likely that it was he who hung a symbol of our nation above the proscenium arch of the new theater.

The large and majestic gilded eagle, representing the strength, boldness, and determination of the American nation, mirrored the immigrant musician and saloonkeeper’s own strength, boldness, and determination in bringing a theater to Santa Barbara. A newspaper article in 1871 commented on his ambitious plans but prophesized that it was unlikely he would get a return on his investment.

Lobero’s resolve must have wavered, however, because in June 1872, when

the county considered buying the theater for a new county courthouse, he offered to sell it for $11,000. Nothing came of the plan, and Lobero persevered, training the local population in instrumental

The Lobero Theatre’s location in Chinatown was unsavory for some and charmingly exotic to others.

Notice the “Theatre Saloon” next to the theater. (Courtesy of Santa Barbara Historic Museum)

music and song for the grand opening on February 22, 1873. The local press, now on board, attempted to build support for the theater by writing, “Let us all turn out and give Signor such a rousing house as will thrill his heart with joy and fill his purse with coin.”

Unfortunately, the original reporter’s financial assessment was correct, and Lobero lost control of his theater after only a few years. Others took over and tried to make a go of it, and it was successful for a long time despite its location in Chinatown, which many considered unsavory, and others found charmingly exotic.

In 1889, there was talk of building a grand new theater with modern improvements, but an opinion in the local paper recommended improving the Lobero instead and said, “Two things about it we should be grieved to see superseded. One is the glorious eagle which hovers over the proscenium arch and the other is the historical curtain…” Eventually, with competition from the 1907 Potter Theater on lower State Street and the advent of movie theaters, the Lobero Theater lost favor. Soon Lobero’s eagle perched in darkness.

1924, members of

from Pasadena, attended a performance at the new Lobero in 1939, she asked about the missing Haliaeetus. She was told that it hadn’t been seen in 20 years and was probably being used as a decoration in some private home. An appeal was broadcast for its return, to no avail.

At this point, two mysteries presented themselves: From whence had the gilded eagle come and to what new aerie did she go?

Conflicting Provenance

In 1915, a gigantic, gilded eagle with outstretched wings surmounting the shield of the United States was displayed in the window of Ruiz’s Pharmacy on State Street. An article about the exhibit credits Colonel William Welles Hollister with having secured the eagle from the hull of the wrecked ship Fama owned by Captain Alpheus Basil Thompson (a Santa Barbara pioneer who arrived in 1834) and

An 1880s production at the Lobero Theatre without an apparently camera-shy eagle (Courtesy of Santa Barbara Historic Museum)

In 1921, the Lobero Theatre Company was formed with the goal of restoring the old theater for a community theater. When restoration proved unfeasible, the plan changed, and the old theater was razed so a new modern theater could be constructed. At some point prior to this, the eagle had been released from her lonely aerie above the old proscenium.

When the new Lobero opened in August of 1924, old-timers hoped to once again see the eagle looking down from her lofty perch, but it was not to be. When a frequent visitor to Santa Barbara, Mrs. Marian Parks Partridge, a historian

SANTA

Ad for the grand opening of Lobero’s Theatre

In

the community work to put the finishing touches on the new community theater designed by George Washington Smith (Courtesy Santa Barbara Historic Museum)

Col. Wm. Welles Hollister, seen here with his wife Annie hosting a BBQ at his Glenn Annie Ranch in the 1880s, settled in Santa Barbara in 1868 (Courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

Die Stadt ohne Juden ( The City Without Jews ) Matthias Pintscher, Music Director/Conductor

Sat, Jan 28 / 7 PM / Lobero Theatre (note new venue)

The world’s greatest contemporary ensemble performs a new score to a 1924 silent movie that predicted the horrors of antisemitism.

Pink

Martini

featuring China Forbes

Fri, Feb 3 / 8 PM / Granada Theatre Tickets going fast!

“A rollicking around-the-world musical adventure.”

– Thomas Lauderdale, bandleader/pianist

Elegant, fun and blessed with flawless musicianship, the globetrotting Pink Martini is a perennial Santa Barbara favorite that guarantees an evening of enchanting international entertainment.

Major Sponsor: Audrey & Timothy O. Fisher

Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour

Christian Sands, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling, Lakecia Benjamin, Yasushi Nakamura, Clarence Penn

Sun, Jan 29 / 7 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall

Celebrating 65 years, the illustrious Monterey Jazz Festival sends six of its finest jazz ambassadors – including Grammy-winning vocalists Dee Dee Bridgewater and Kurt Elling – to Santa Barbara as part of its popular touring program.

Kurt Elling

Dee Dee Bridgewater

Co-presented with Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara

Jazz Series Lead Sponsor: Manitou Fund

Cirque FLIP Fabrique

Muse

Sun, Feb 5 / 7 PM

Granada Theatre

Kodo

Tsuzumi: One Earth Tour

Fri, Feb 10 / 8 PM Granada Theatre

Step Afrika!

Thu, Feb 16 / 7 PM

UCSB Campbell Hall

“In the bodies of these skilled performers, the beat is obviously unstoppable.”

The New York Times Step Afrika! continues the long tradition of stepping, integrating contemporary dance and art forms with songs, storytelling, humor and audience participation into a performance that will leave your heart pounding.

Event

Special Thanks

Rigorously trained on the island of Sado in the Sea of Japan, Kodo’s soul-stirring taiko drummers bring a youthful joy to their unstoppably energetic, intricately designed and meticulously choreographed displays.

Sponsor: Jody & John Arnhold

Canada’s thrilling FLIP Fabrique explores what it means to be your true self in Muse, a refreshing view of contemporary circus that combines breathtaking artistry and athleticism and challenges gender roles.

Montecito Reads

The Nails in ExOh’s Coffin

by MJ Staff

Take a sneak peek of Montecito by Michael Cox in this ongoing serialization of his yet-to-be-published book. This fictional story is inspired by “tales of true crime THAT HAPPENED HERE.” With the FBI hunt stalled, news breaks of the Wimbys and ExOH Holdings as Hollis plans his next moves. Chapter 49 and 50 are available online at montecitojournal.net and the QR code below.

Montecito

by Michael Cox

Chapter 51

When there is an oh-my-God, you-won’t-believe-this story, I am not the guy folks normally think to run to for the inside scoop. And even in this bizarro moment – where I was actually the only Montecito citizen who both knew the Wimbys and had witnessed the scene on Riven Rock – it seemed that the town’s elite gossips preferred to manufacture their own stories instead of speaking to me.

The Santa Barbara Independent, Noozhawk, and local ABC affiliate KEYT reported the few details provided by the Santa Barbara County Sherriff’s department: three family members missing from a “grizzly” scene. This information void created a fascinating social science petri dish as alternate versions of the story competed for the public’s ear:

The Wimbys were abducted by the Saudi Royal family.

Cyrus murdered Genevieve over a suspected affair.

Genevieve killed Cyrus in self-defense after years of abuse.

Cyrus was bi-polar: it was a murder-suicide.

Cyrus was in financial distress: he murdered his family then killed himself.

Cyrus was in financial distress: he faked his own death.

A Chinese / Turkish / Russian assassin murdered them all.

For a family that the Montecito community seemed to love and embrace, the Wimbys certainly did not come out of these imagined stories sounding like innocent victims. I wondered what this said about the petri dish. Had there been a layer of latent suspicion from the beginning, or did people just enjoy sordid tales?

Within days, the story graduated from local news to national news, and with the increased attention, the Santa Barbara County Sherriff’s office warmed to providing more details on an unnamed source basis.

“Mysterious Cyrus Wimby Presumed Dead; Fortune Missing,” read the headline in the Los Angeles Times.

“ExOh Holdings’ Founder Murdered,” read the Wall Street Journal. Within the article, the Journal softened their stance on the declaration of murder but still managed to quote a loose-lipped Sherriff’s deputy who said, “Given the volume of blood found on the scene, it is safe to say that Cyrus Wimby was tortured to death.”

And the cherry on top was a multi-page article in the Sunday Edition of the New York Times titled: “The Curious Case of Cyrus Wimby: Fraudster and Victim.”

While the Sherriff’s office and FBI had yet to discover a body, common wisdom held that Cyrus Wimby was indeed dead. Genevieve and Priscilla were officially declared kidnapping victims, but with each passing day, hope that they were alive dwindled. The staff of Montecito Union Elementary made the on-campus counselor available for students who knew Priscilla and were struggling with processing her disappearance. On the subsequent Friday Flag Day, the school had a special “memory moment” to honor Priscilla. Trip did not want to attend, but Isabel told us that it was beautiful.

“Without

Shocking as it was, this tragedy had a time limit on the psyche of Montecito. With the national news articles written and digested, and no new leads from the Sheriff’s office or the FBI, the Curious Case of Cyrus Wimby slowly faded from conversation. At least, for those with the luxury of moving on.

Chapter 52

ExOh’s stock’s final day of trading was the day that Cyrus and family disappeared. I should have called the OTC and paused trading as soon as I discovered the scene on Riven Rock, but, in the midst of everything else, I forgot. It was far from my largest sin. Ironically, not a single share traded on that final day – the stock opened and closed at $65.05. This lack of activity only went to underscore the smoke-and-mirrors role that the entities in the Caymans and Hong Kong had played manipulating ExOh’s stock price. The rest of the investors had been passively enjoying the show from the comfort of their seats. Unfortunately, the lighthearted, rom-com movie they had been watching was about to turn apocalyptic.

As erstwhile CEO of a soon-to-be bankrupt company with no other identifiable employees, I was the only sucker who could be tasked with nailing ExOh’s coffin. I wrote the most anti-climactic, depressing press release in the history of press releases and filed the paperwork to officially de-list ExOh’s stock. The stock had already dropped to a single penny, but once it was de-listed, it was no longer salable, even at that nostalgic price.

Cricket had warned her parents that their faith-based investment in me was gone. Nevertheless, I called them as well to explain. They were gracious in the face of their loss and assured me that they were okay. In the moment I wished they would get angry, asking me things like “why didn’t you tell us?” and “how could you?” But they asked no questions other than inquiring about me and my health.

The answer to their unasked question was that I could not tell them without binding them in a catch-22. If they knew of my suspicions and sold their stock, they would have been guilty of insider trading, subject to financial penalties and criminal charges. In the battle of the rock and the hard place, losing money was the far better outcome.

If I were wishing for anger, though, I would soon get all of it I could handle. The first lawsuit arrived at my front door the following morning, filed by none other than John Colton. This irony was a hoot. I drove to Miramar Bank and Trust and showed John that he had been a signatory to every Board resolution of ExOh Holdings. After screaming of hacks, scams, and forgeries – all truths, I was sure – he calmed down and informed me that he would be withdrawing his lawsuit provided that I move my personal bank account from Miramar Bank and Trust. I laughed; my current balance of $18,761 and change was happy to find a new home.

The next lawsuit came from Huff Monroe and included the investors he introduced to Cyrus. This one refused to go away quietly. The depositions were excruciating. In the absence of any evidence that I had profited from the admitted fraud, the lawyers attacked me personally.

How could you not have known about …?

Why didn’t you …?

Don’t you think …?

I felt like the sacrificial lamb before a Congressional hearing.

At some bleary-eyed point in the process, stuck in the interior conference room of a Los Angeles law firm, I returned from the restroom to overhear Huff consulting with his lead attorney.

“Huff, the FBI has already declined to press criminal charges. We can beat this idiot up all day long, but it’s pretty clear he didn’t orchestrate this fraud,” Mr. lead attorney said.

“Can we sue him for being an idiot then?” Huff asked.

“Unfortunately, no,” Mr. lead attorney answered. “If stupidity was grounds for financial penalty, the poverty rate would be through the roof.”

Truer words have never been spoken.

The lawsuits were over but there were still indignities to be suffered. ExOh’s rubber-stamp lawyer was suspended from writing any more opinion letters for publicly traded companies for a single year. He had been paid one-hundred-thousand dollars for five minutes of work; I suspected that he greeted the suspension with a shrug and a grin.

ExOh’s CPA was exonerated by the Securities and Exchange Commission based on the affidavit that I had signed at Cyrus’s begging. He had not received nearly as much compensation as the lawyer, so this felt karmically just.

Unfortunately, based on that affidavit, and my position as both Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, I received the brunt of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s ire. For the role I played, I received a permanent ban from serving on the Board of Directors of any publicly traded company. This ruling stung even though the practical effect on my future career path was as impactful as the National Football League perma-

deep reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.” – Albert Einstein

nently banning me from playing quarterback.

As to my career path, I did not upgrade to LinkedIn Premium and apply to every job in Santa Barbara County. Instead, I followed my heart and formed Fogbank Consulting. It was easy enough to pay the eight hundred dollars to the State of California and receive my brand-new taxpayer ID, but could I generate income? Could I build a business? Could I finally do right by my family?

Chapter 53

In between my planning for Fogbank Consulting’s launch, Trip and I would study reading, writing, and vowel sounds for one hour a day. It was hard, tedious work; Trip had to force his brain to memorize things that non-dyslexic children internalized without thought. It was as if he had to dedicate part of his mental capacity to conscious inhaling and exhaling.

But with weeks of persistent practice under our belts – devoid of my foolish old mantra that we just needed to work harder – Trip made tremendous progress. It was clear he still hated the way reading aloud made him feel – occasionally getting frustrated to the point of an I am so stupid outburst – but he refused to let that feeling stop his progress.

A return to the second grade at MUS was around the corner and, with it, a less coddling audience. Again, I felt the sorrow of a parent who could not save his child from pain. For Trip to understand how far he had progressed – and return to school with the necessary confidence to fend off the devils of doubt – he needed to practice his ever-improving reading skills in front of anyone other than me. Thankfully, Cricket had just the group: the children of Storyteller’s.

As I parked in front of the modest one-story home on De La Vina where Storyteller Children’s Center was located, and Cricket dedicated her days to children in need, my nerves tingled. Kids can be cruel, I knew. Even disadvantaged ones.

I unloaded Trip’s wheelchair and helped him scoot from one seat to the next. Trip brought with him three of his favorite kids’ books – books he had only recently mastered – and a plan to entertain for a half hour. Over my shoulder was a duffle bag stuffed full of toys that Trip wanted to donate to Storyteller’s. The apple does not fall far from the tree.

We entered the home’s white picket fence, wheeled up the ramp, and found Cricket in the old home’s living room squatting beside a table of seven children and a pile of crayons. To the children of Storyteller’s, she was Ms. Cricket. She wore a once-white apron stained with colorful paint and chalk and dye and food remnants. In the deep front pockets, she was known to carry small lollipops for children having particularly tough days.

Despite the inhospitable world confronting these children, their smiles were electric. They did not behave as if the deck had been stacked against them. Instead, they seemed to understand that spending their days at Storyteller’s was a gift; a sign that perhaps good fortune had found them after all.

When I wheeled Trip into the Storyteller’s living room, his chair and halfbody cast became instant attractions. The kids oohed and awed, wanting to examine the workings of the wheels and the brakes; asking if they could draw on Trip’s cast. I saw relief and camaraderie spread across Trip’s face; my nervousness melted away as well.

His first book was There is a Bird on Your Head. After a few early stumbles, he hit his stride. The kids moved from crisscross applesauce to sitting on their knees to get a better look at the pictures.

His second book was How I Became a Pirate. He read this one flawlessly, adding his pirate accents to the appropriate parts. Unbeknownst to me, he had an eyepatch in the front pocket of his shorts and read the book wearing the eyepatch; already he was showing off.

His third book – his favorite when he was a kindergartner – was The Book with No Pictures; there is magic in the words Blork, Bluurf, and Glug. Trip hammed it up like a stage actor, and the children howled.

As Trip read, my eyes were drawn to Cricket, sitting with the other Storyteller’s teachers in a row of mini school chairs. As happy as I was for Trip – and I was beaming – it was Cricket for whom my heart felt the greatest joy. This day represented a union of her worlds: home and work. A synthesis of everything she loved most. I had promised to give her this and inadvertently done my best to snatch it away. For this failure, I was most grateful.

Chapter 54

Clyde Bostich – founder and CEO of CryptoWallet – had me wait in the company’s glass-walled corner conference room for twenty-eight minutes. The old me would have steamed at the indignity; the new me was happy to be there. This make ‘em wait so they know who’s important schtick was as old as Abraham, but it was much harder to pull off in the tech world’s standard office décor of limitless transparency. CryptoWallet’s new digs – an

upgrade to commemorate the thirty-million-dollar equity raise – were an open play pit. The only walls were the clear glass ones separating the conference rooms. So, while Clyde made me wait, I watched him clear as day as he frittered away the twenty-eight minutes from his wall-less desk. He picked up his phone, typed on his computer, fiddled with a pencil, and – knowing that I was watching him – generally looked far more uncomfortable than I felt. Besides, Paul was sitting right there with me; Clyde could take all day as far as I was concerned.

When Clyde finally ventured into the conference room, he greeted me smugly. Again, I did not care.

“Sorry to hear that thing you were doing didn’t work out,” Clyde said. “Messy ending there, eh?”

I flinched.

“Sorry,” he said. “Poor choice of words.”

“It’s okay,” I said.

“So,” he leaned over the conference room table as if we were going to share a secret, “what happened?”

“Well…,” I began, pausing for effect, “I would love to tell you, but I am working closely with the FBI to help them wrap up the case and they’ve requested,” – air quotes – “that I not discuss the case publicly, so…,” I pantomimed locking my lips shut and throwing away the key. This had become my new approach when asked about the Wimbys and the scene on Riven Rock. The canned answer served two purposes. First, it allowed me to avoid discussing it, and I really did not want to discuss it. Second, it gave the impression that I was playing an integral part in an FBI investigation, immediately boosting my cachet. I would love to brag that the line and its logic were my inventions, but I would be lying. It was pure Cricket.

“Understood,” Clyde said. He leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs and laced fingers over one knee. “So, what can I help you with, Hollis?”

I could feel Paul nodding encouragingly as the meeting had finally reached its launching point. “Honestly, Clyde. I don’t think it’s what you can do for me, but what I can do for you.”

Clyde uncrossed his legs and rolled his eyes. “Hollis. I appreciate that—” “Hear me out,” I interrupted. “If you’re not persuaded, I’ll promise to leave you alone.”

He cocked his head.

“What have you got to lose, Clyde?” Paul offered.

Like a Roman Emperor sparing the life of a gladiator, Clyde shrugged and gave me a thumbs up.

From that moment forward, I scared the ever-loving shit out of smug Mr. Bostich. I explained how I used a CryptoWallet account to hack into the RemoteToken server and eight bank accounts I did not own. I showed him my FBI dossier – redacted, of course – and illustrated how I could have used the portal to steal money if I had wanted to. By the time I was done, it was Clyde who looked to be suffering from gastrointestinal issues.

“How long did all that take you?” he asked.

“A week,” I said. “I was going slow to make sure you guys didn’t notice.”

He shook his head. “Can you fix these issues?”

“Yes, I can.”

“How much will it cost me?”

Per usual, I had not thoughtfully considered the business aspects of my proposal before this moment. My goal was to validate the concept of Fogbank Consulting; to prove that someone would hire me. But Clyde was now ready to discuss the dollars. “Well, I—”

“I’ve proposed a three-year consulting agreement,” Paul interrupted. I froze. This was news to me.

“Go on,” Clyde said.

“We pay Hollis at the same rate we were paying him before he was fired, plus the 30% salary bump we all got after the capital raise,” Paul continued. My eyes bugged. Paul was completely ad hoc, off script, and on the fly! And thank God, because I would have asked for a fraction of his suggestion and said thank you if I got it.

“He’s not an employee; he’s a contractor,” Paul added. “I’ll manage his work. It will be project-based with specific deliverables.”

“And this?” Clyde said, waving my redacted dossier like a flag. “What becomes of this?”

“He’s agreed to sign a non-disclosure agreement,” Paul said. “The only people who will ever see that document are the FBI.”

Clyde smiled: that was precisely what he wanted to hear. “Terrific—”

“But,” Paul interrupted, “to sign the NDA, Hollis demanded that the threeyear consulting agreement be fully guaranteed. I explained to him that this was a big ask, but he informed me that this term was non-negotiable.”

Clyde un-smiled and drummed his fingers.

Foraging Thyme

The Dance from Ballerina to Chef

by Melissa Petitto

Little did I know that my life would take the turn from young ballerina to celebrity personal chef in NYC or later that I would end up as Executive Chef and partner in a meal delivery start up in Santa Barbara. And now, I get to write to you, the readers of the Montecito Journal, and chronicle the bounty that we have in our backyards.

My life journey started in Birmingham, Alabama. I was born into an eclectic foodie family. My mom is Jewish and my dad Sicilian, making food the epicenter of most every childhood memory. Ballet was my focus until the age of 18, when I realized that nourishing my body was something that I wished to learn more about. I loved feeding others but had a hard time allowing myself the pleasure of nourishing my own body. That changed when I did an apprenticeship for Frank Stitt, the James Beard award-winning Birmingham chef. Frank became my mentor and encouraged me to attend culinary school.

I attended Johnson & Wales University from 2000 to 2004. My alma mater believes in learning through life experiences, so I had the pleasure of working for a prestigious bed and breakfast in Charleston, South Carolina, the test kitchens of Cooking Light magazine, and graduating top of my class with a Bachelor of Science in Culinary Nutrition, while receiving the high award of Apprenti Cuisinier I furthered my education with a dietetic internship at Emory University Hospitals, adding the title of Registered Dietitian to my name.

My move to New York City took me on

my next adventure: celebrity personal chef. After 13 years in the city, I grew to have an A-list clientele including Lucy Liu, Christy Turlington, Ed Burns, Andrew Garfield, Rachel McAdams, Danny DeVito and Rhea Pearlman, Leslie Jones, and Demi Moore. During this time in NYC, I was afforded the honor of being a guest chef at the Hilton Head Health Institute and Stonewall Kitchen. I also embarked upon my career as a cookbook author, and I have just completed my tenth one. I adored my time in the city, but the West Coast was calling to me. I followed my intuition and moved to Santa Barbara at the end of 2017.

Finding my center while in this magical town was a winding road, but one that has opened my heart to the most beautiful path imaginable. I am now a single mother to an utterly incredible daughter. I, along with my partners and incredible team, started a plantbased meal delivery service that nourishes the greater Santa Barbara area, Thymeless My Chef SB. This service allows me to reach and touch more lives with my food and passion for plant-based meals, all while utilizing

the bounty of the Central Coast. I cannot wait to tell you about the fresh fruits and vegetables that I find in our local farmers’ markets, detail the health benefits of what I find, and give you a recipe to take home and create in your own kitchen. It is an honor to be here with you. Let’s get cooking!

Finding the Color of the Season

Upon walking through the farmers’ market this week, I found myself craving the comfort of winter squashes and root vegetables. With the rain and chill Santa Barbara has been feeling lately, comfort and color are what I want. My eyes were drawn to the super sweet honeynut squash and red and gold beets. Eating with the seasons is so crucial to getting the most from Mother Nature. We are provided with the fruits and vegetables that are naturally ripened on the tree or vine, have the best flavor, and packed with the utmost nutrition.

Honeynut squash is such an excellent source of Vitamin A and Beta-carotene. In fact, it has about three times the amount of beta-carotene as butternut squash. It is also a good source of B vitamins and contains calcium, copper, iron, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. I hope you enjoy this recipe that I adapted from my cookbook, The Plant Based Cookbook.

Hasselback Honeynut Squash with Cranberries and Hazelnuts

Melissa Petitto went from ballerina to personal celebrity chef and now preps local plant-based meals delivered directly to the home

Yield: Serves 4

4 1/4-pound honeynut squashes

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons avocado oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 each shallot, minced

2 each garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup hazelnuts, blanched so skins can be removed, toasted and roughly chopped 1/3 cup fresh chives, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment; set aside.

2. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the skin from the honeynut squash, leaving the stem intact. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.

3. Place the squash, cut side down, on

Santa Barbara by the Glass History in a Bottle

“Ranchos de Ontiveros”

is Nine Generations in the Making

by Gabe Saglie

“The wine bottle – it’s the only time machine that works!”

Just one of the many colorful one-liners delivered by wine whiz Wes Hagen, as a small group of wine buffs gathers around the table inside the rustic The Maker’s Son eatery in downtown Los Alamos last month. An authority on all things Santa Barbara County winemaking, Hagen had gathered us for an introduction to his newest grape adventure. After many years at the helm of the now-retired Clos Pepe label in the Sta. Rita Hills, and then representing the myriad wine projects by Santa Barbara’s Miller Family, including labels like J. Wilkes and Bien Nacido, Hagen is now telling the story of Ranchos de Ontiveros – a story nine generations in the making. Aging wine in bottle over many years is done by design at Ranchos de Ontiveros, which maintains a large inventory of its old vintages, most of which are available for purchase by curious consumers. “We’ve done the cellaring for them!” says Wes. It’s a deliberate effort to track the potential of the sites where the grapes are grown and to trace how the wines change over time.

Several of those bottles have made themselves to our table, and as we sip, the

history of Ranchos de Ontiveros unfolds.

The California story of the Ontiveros Family stretches back to 1781, when Josef Ontiveros, a descendant of Spaniards who’d settled in Mexico, journeyed north. Generations of Alta California ranchers and farmers followed, including Juan Pacifico Ontiveros, who, in 1855, would purchase Rancho Tepusquet in the heart of the Santa Maria Valley, a historic land grant, from his father-in-law. The adobe home he and his wife, Doña Martina, built a year later still stands today.

Fast-forward to 1997, when James, a ninth-generation Ontiveros, sets off to study viticulture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and, simultaneously, plants pinot noir on his family’s historic property, establishing Rancho Ontiveros Vineyard. After a brief stint managing vineyards in Sonoma, and after a seminal trip to Burgundy, James and fellow Cal Poly alum, winemaker Paul Wilkins, launch a wine label to showcase his family’s fruit. They call it Native 9, a viticultural homage to James’ lineage.

James joins us a few sips into our tasting. “I see a lot of noise in the wine business these days – a lot of B.S.,” he says. “The only point of doing this for me is not really motivated by trends and scores. And it’s not pride. It’s seeking high quality in wine that transcends varietal, that

has something to say and that impresses with a sense of place.”

And that may be the most significant calling card of Ranchos de Ontiveros: the wines all come from land that were once part of historic land grants. Their soils are unique, and the climate in this part of the Santa Maria Valley favors long growing seasons each vintage, making it uniquely suited to allow wine grapes to reach physiological maturity. “Hang time is everything,” adds Wes.

Today, the Ranchos de Ontiveros wines are made by winemaker phenom Justin Willett, whose own Tyler label consistently garners acclaim. Wes and James use the word “chisel” several times when describing his winemaking approach, which pulls back from the focus on whole cluster fermentation and stem inclusion that defined earlier releases. However, a longstanding focus on terroir, perfume, and “a sense of restraint,” as James put it, remain.

Adds Wes, “In a world of heavy metal wines, we want to be jazz.”

Three varieties make up the Ranchos de Ontiveros brand. Pinot noir is under the Native 9 label. Fruit is sourced from Rancho Ontiveros Vineyard, which is planted on eight acres of grapes, and to as many different clones of pinot noir. We tasted five vintages: the 2020 is savory, gritty, and easy-drinking; the 2018 is nuanced and sexy, with a seductive bit of funk on the nose; I loved the 2017, which is structured and concentrated, but splashy, too; and the 2016 is intense yet bright, with a meaty nose. The highlight for me was the oldest in our group, the 2013 – for a pinot that’s nearly a decade old, it’s super fresh, earthy, and fruit-driven.

The chardonnays are under the Rancho Viñedo label and, as another ancestral tribute, feature the name “Doña Martina” on the label. Grapes are plucked from a vineyard about two miles north of Rancho Ontiveros, on the other side of the Sisquoc River. James leases this property from the Woods Family

The Native 9 pinot noirs are grown on James Ontiveros’ historic family vineyard, which is home to eight acres of grapes, as well as the original Ontiveros family adobe built in 1856

and harvests fruit from the same vines that Robert N. Woods planted in 1973.

“Chardonnay is the best grape we grow in Santa Barbara County,” asserts Wes. “It’s a commodity these days, so it gets marginalized. But these wines bust that.” Indeed, the 2019 exudes minerality and freshness, with bright notes and a lovely structure, while the 2018 is a bouncy citrus bomb – zingy and refreshing.

There’s cabernet sauvignon on the menu, too, grown on a vineyard near Happy Canyon in the Santa Ynez Valley that was once part of the Cañada de los Pinos land grant. Aged in mostly new French oak for almost two years, these cabernets are fleshy and chewy. “They’re inspired by the Napa cabs of the 1970s that we grew up on,” says James, and, in a tip-of-the-Stetson to his friends, they’re for “a cowboy palate – big steaks, big wines!” The 2016 vintage we tasted was simply yummy, delivering a complex spice profile and flavors of molasses, chocolate, and cherries.

All the Ranchos de Ontiveros chards retail for $46, and the pinots and cabs sell for $64. The best way to get to know them is to sip alongside Wes, who’s “aiming to give people a curated experience” that includes library tastings and visits to the vineyard. Reach out to him at weswines@gmail.com and find out more at ranchosdeontiveros.com.

Don’t Just Happen

They Happen by

Gabe Saglie has been covering the Santa Barbara wine scene for more than 15 years through columns, TV, and radio. He’s a senior editor with Travelzoo and is a leading expert on travel deals, tips, and trends.

Gabe Saglie (left) with vintners Wes Hagen (center) and James Ontiveros

The chardonnays are grown on the Rancho Viñedo Vineyard, where the vines were first planted in 1973

Cabernet sauvignon is a recent entry to the Ranchos de Ontiveros portfolio, with a rich flavor profile inspired by classic Napa cabs

Our Beautiful New Summerland School Please join us in celebrating the opening of our beautiful new Summerland School!

Saturday, January 28th at 2:00 p.m.

Nuestra Nueva Hermosa Escuela Primaria Summerland

¡Por favor únase a nosotros para celebrar la apertura de nuestra hermosa nueva escuela primaria Summerland!

El Sábado, 28 de Enero a las 2:00 p.m.

placing it in the Lobero Theatre.

Colonel Hollister had loaned José Lobero the funds to build his theater, and the Hollister Estate owned the theater after Lobero lost it. After its removal from the Lobero, Hollister, according to the article, gave the eagle to Charles A. Thompson, son of Captain A.B. Thompson, who had it newly gilded and painted.

It all sounds reasonable until one takes a second look. In 1846, the year the Fama sank, California still belonged to Mexico. Colonel Hollister didn’t make his appearance in California until 1852, and he didn’t settle in Santa Barbara until 1868. So, what eagle was this?

Others say Lobero’s eagle came from the wheelhouse of the steamer Yankee Blade, which was wrecked off Penderales Point near Point Arguello on September 29, 1854. A terrible tale of reckless endangerment, loss of life, depraved thievery of the dead, robbery of the living, and sunken gold kept the story in the newspapers for years to come.

Writing in the 1960s, historian Walker Tompkins said that the Santa Barbara Gazette of Spring 1855 says a wooden eagle off the pilot house of the Yankee Blade was picked up at sea off Santa Rosa Island by a Chinese fisherman, who brought the relic back to Santa Barbara.

He traded the eagle to José Lobero for a bottle of whiskey, and Lobero mounted it over the bar of his saloon on the southeast corner of State and Canon Perdido streets where it was a conversation piece for many years before being placed in the Lobero Theatre.

What a fabulous story! Problem is, the evidence doesn’t support it. l searched and read and looked again at the spring editions of the Santa Barbara Gazette (which ran its first edition ever in May of 1855). There is no mention of this Chinese fisherman’s thirst for whiskey nor of his payment to Lobero in eagle feathers. In fact, Lobero did not come to Santa Barbara until 1857 or 1859 (depending on sources) and is first mentioned in the newspapers as the owner of the Brewery Saloon in 1860. With today’s new online archive of the Gazette, my search turned up no Lobero and no saloon and no eagle and no Chinese fisherman.

Ferreting Out the Truth

In August 1855, the Santa Barbara Gazette did report, “More of the Yankee Blade . The brig Prince de Joinville , which arrived on Tuesday last from the island of Santa Rosa,

picked up and

José Lobero’s Brewery Saloon on the corner of State and Canon Perdido streets in the 1800s when mules drew trams along rails on the dirt streets and the sidewalks were made of wood (Courtesy Santa Barbara Historic Museum)

The wreck of the Yankee Blade in 1854 revealed a terrible tale of reckless endangerment, loss of life, depraved thievery, and sunken gold. The remains of the ship floated to Santa Rosa Island. (1854 lithograph of drawing by passenger A.T. Harrison, courtesy of Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley)

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Dear Montecito Miramar

by Stella Haffner

After the Storm

Dear Montecito, I took a walk on Miramar Beach on January 6, about 20 hours after the first of the storm system had left our local area.

Now in general I find writing about the beach to be a tricky thing. Perhaps because it is well-worn territory or simply too easy to become sentimental. Perhaps it is because I wrote one truly atrocious piece of free verse in high school that talked about how beautiful the tide is, and I learned my lesson. Or perhaps I haven’t learned anything because here we are and I am about to talk about the beach.

I am compelled to write about this today in part because of the conversations I have been having recently. As I interview people for the upcoming issues of this column, certain themes are being dredged up. In the next few months, you can look forward to interviews about the human impact on marine mammal welfare, the zero-waste culture at UCSB, and the intersection between society and climate change. These conversations were still fresh for me as I walked Miramar. And as I did, what struck me about these conversations and the aftermath of the storm is that a beach is a good place to go to see how far our Anthropocene border stretches.

During a storm, violent winds till the marine environment for human artifacts. As the storm runs its course, these artifacts are spit up onto the beach. Things we left on purpose come back first: lobster traps and sea-faring-vessels-no-more. The things we left negligently come back later: the bottle caps, frisbees, sunscreen tops, snorkel masks, flip-flop straps, and broken glass. It’s hard to say when certain items return if we never know how they came to be dumped in the ocean at all: golf balls, shoe soles, toy swords, and car tires. What is certain is that this is not a oneway transaction. For every split tennis ball, the storm gives us a crab leg or a broken mussel shell.

In fact, Miramar Beach was littered with sea life. My cousins, my mother, and I walked the beach at low tide, a time of day that exaggerated the already confused landscape. From smooth pebbles to man-sized boulders, all were dispersed over the normally level beach surface. In between the rocks and streamers of kelp we could see clams dead and decompressed, sea anemone colonies, and crumbs of lobster. I had to call my mother over to help me identify one find, oblong and yellow, who had escaped the worst of the storm and was

Some of the sea life seen along the way

tucked safely in his tidepool. “A sea squirt,” she said. Meanwhile, the sea stars were not as lucky as the squirt, and several needed relocating. And while the moon snails seemed to fare okay, their typically bloated morphology made it hard to tell.

Once, a biology professor of mine said that sea life fares better on land than land life fares at sea. I thought about this as I picked up a piece of sea kelp. The kelp garland’s holdfast, its anchor, had bonded to a red brick and had presumably been living well for some time as the brick was now eroded and porous. This specimen was a special combination example; one of those pieces of evidence at the intersection between human life and marine life.

It was still low tide when we walked back. On our way we passed other beach walkers, dogs, a small group of men getting ready to paddle out. We passed the lobster traps, the car tire, and the sea squirt. We passed a piece of plastic that looked like a jellyfish. We passed a group of kids and their sand castles. And finally we walked home.

Yours, Stella

From the shores of Scotland, Stella Haffner keeps her connection to her home in Montecito by bringing grads of local schools to the pages of the Montecito Journal

debris. We also learned that boulders are not potatoes. They don’t grow in place. They come from up high and in fact the way they get round is by rolling downhill Think about that. That boulder you made the centerpiece of your Zen garden got round by rolling downhill. That boulder did not get where it is via a very Zen experience.

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

On January 10, 2018, I experienced one of the most moving things that’s ever happened in my life.

As part of my work with TPRC, I reached out to world-class geologists around the globe. I did this as a complete civilian, simply via social media (the only good use of social media I’ve ever experienced).

I just reached out to world experts, said I was a guy who lives in Montecito, and we were hoping to learn more about what could be done to keep a disaster like the one we’d just experienced from happening again. And do you know who got back to me? What percentage of the global geology experts we reached out to? Every single one. It was the greatest view of human decency and compassion I ever personally witnessed. And it led us to…

The Swiss Solution

What we learned from global experts is the Swiss had been at debris containment for quite some time. Because of snowpack melt every spring, certain towns in Switzerland sometimes experience as many as a dozen debris flows a year. Out of necessity, the Swiss really got debris flow management down to a science. Debris nets like the ones we installed were originally repurposed sub-

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marine nets, later they became avalanche nets, rock fall nets, and ultimately debris nets. Our cohorts in the Alps also developed special debris-clearing vehicles like the Menzi Muck and Kaiser “Spider” –walking excavators that climb the Alps and remove rocks from impossibly steep slopes and are low impact on our terroir due to the fact they get helicoptered in. Thanks to walking excavators, the Swiss literally remove debris from atop Mont Blanc – I’m talking about the mountain not the pen.

In a nutshell, thanks to a lot of hard work and contributions or brilliance, not to mention funds from around the world but especially locally, we learned that there are four things to prep in order to be ready for the next big flow: (1) Better evacuation protocols (which were successfully developed by our Office of Emergency Management working in cahoots with our local first responders). (2) Revegetation (again, this is mostly under God’s purview). (3) Enhancement of our debris basin system, which the County (Santa Barbara Flood Control) immediately got to work on. And (4) TPRC got to work raising funds locally in order to implement the Swiss solution.

Patchwork of Mitigations

There are even things called “fish ladders,” which can enhance the net system and allow things that like to swim upstream to do so.

Net Result: The Proof Is in the Pudding

Clearly, thanks to our true partnership with County agencies and local electees and private landowners, our community did much better two weeks ago than when a nearly similar water event occurred here in 1969. Two weeks ago, as in 1969, our hills were saturated with a similar amount of rain so we pretty much knew there would be “movement” up in the hills. In terms of TPRC’s Swiss solution, one net filled completely and held its capacity of debris and another net filled partially. A few folks asked why the other nets “didn’t do anything” to which the answer is: Although we’re Montecito and may in fact have a disproportionate amount of influence, we do not get to tell God where to send the debris.

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Within a month of our January 9, 2018 debris flow, TPRC raised money for geo mapping of our local hazard. We purchased military grade LIDAR topographical maps from a defense contractor that we then shared with the geology department at UCSB. We then continued to raise enough money to buy and install a group of test case nets… while concerned Montecitan Curtis Skene got to work organizing his neighbors to permanently vacate Randall Road so there’d be an actual physical space for the County’s new debris basin to live. TPRC put in for a “temporary permit” because time was of the essence and that was the fastest permit we could get. And, as we just re-learned two weeks ago, the most perilous time for post-fire earth movement is within the first five years after a major fire. As everyone knows, our

You might ask why have basins and debris nets and the answer is simple: the problem is that big. The new Randall Road Debris Basin is useful but can’t hold everything that comes down the hill. The debris nets do the same thing a basin does – contain debris – but they do so further uphill to keep the flow from building up mass and momentum. In fact, there are a bunch of different things people do around the world to influence the debris path, including another misnomer called “soil nails” (which aren’t really nails but spikes 10 feet – and often MUCH more – long) that literally nail the earth down and adhere it to itself. The challenge is: California is not Switzerland or Japan, where they will literally shave down a mountain if people are in peril. Here we answer to the strictest environmental codes of any place on Earth. Which is another reason for the nets. The nets are undisruptive to the natural flow, allow animal passage, and allow the spawning of everything that likes to spawn up there.

Meanwhile TPRC’s Executive Director (and retired Fire Chief) Pat McElroy has commissioned a report by geologist Larry Gurrola detailing every torrent event that has happened here, how much debris there has been, and where it has gone. Forewarned is forearmed.

What’s the Plan Going Forward? And the Clock Is Ticking…

Recent events proved the nets work and we’re about to prove the nets are easily emptied. We will empty the nets with walking excavators, as promised. But our temporary permit for the nets is set to expire at the end of this year. In theory that means removal of the nets could be ordered, though no one’s asking for that at this point or thinks it’s a good idea. The County of Santa Barbara would like to see McElroy and TPRC apply for a new temporary permit for the nets, and for TPRC to again approach individual landowners to re-up permission for the nets. In a nutshell, the County would prefer to keep the ownership of the nets TPRC’s as well as the responsibility of emptying them. That’s quite a heavy lift for a small local NGO, even a hardworking and resourceful one.

I believe the County has greatly benefitted from TPRC’s research and science and TPRC’s template, not to mention all the “debris” we’ve held in place on the mountain isn’t stuff the County has to manage. TPRC’s strength is finding innovative solutions and implementing them quickly in a way that slow-moving governments rarely can. Meanwhile the County and FEMA (which is already stepping up with funds for our most recent event) are great at moving heaven and earth as only government can. We hope the County will take the baton from here and we look forward to supporting them every which way we can.

most recent debris torrent occurred five years to the day after the 2018 Thomas Fire debris torrent.

A Swiss Menzi Muck walking excavator can remove debris in steep conditions (photo by Diane Klee, Menzi Muck AG Widnau)

An example of a fish ladder on the River Otter, Devon (photo by I, Tony in Devon)

businesses limited expansion of commercial operations into public rights of way, such as sidewalks and parking spaces. Extending the temporary program gives the city more time to finalize the long-term parklet permitting program plan.” The Ventura City Council also voted to keep its downtown Main Street parklets open without change until December 2024.

The Role of the City of Santa Barbara on CVR

The decision to take down the CVR parklets was made administratively by the Santa Barbara City Administrator, Rebecca Bjork , at the bequest of 25 CVR retail merchants, followed by two perfunctory meetings at the Montecito Inn hosted by Downtown Team Manager Brian Bosse . Montecito residents and their restaurants on CVR were promised the use of outdoor dining parklets until the end of 2023. Instead, they were unceremoniously notified by administrative letter to remove parklets that exceeded two parking spaces by October 31, 2022, or face City fines and penalties.

There was no vote taken by Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse nor his City Council. Once again, people who don’t live in Montecito made an important decision for local business owners without measuring the economic impact of that decision nor measuring the effect on the character of the local Montecito community.

How Much Has the City of Santa Barbara Spent or Invested in Coast Village Road?

Back in the 1960s, a short-sighted decision made by the newly-formed Montecito Sanitary District to delay the installation of sewers along Coast Village Road, motivated local CVR merchants, sick of the whiff of overflowing septic tanks, to agree to annexation by the

City of Santa Barbara in return for sewers. Ouch!

Recent attempts to measure the City’s performance in governing CVR have been met with stonewalling. How much revenue has the City collected each year during the last 10 years from CVR owners and tenants in property taxes, sales taxes, hotel occupancy taxes, plus the 40 miscellaneous City permit and other fees? How much has the City of Santa Barbara spent per year on CVR improvements, such as providing additional parking, beautifying the medians, improving the CVR streetscape, and helping CVR merchants prosper? Since its takeover, has the City of Santa Barbara treated CVR as a “cash cow” to fund other City improvements?

The 2008 City Blunder at the Hot Springs/Cabrillo Blvd Interchange

In 2008, the City of Santa Barbara made a tragic decision for CVR when then-Mayor Helene Schneider and her transportation director Rob Dayton , opted to close the southbound on-ramp to the 101 at the Hot Springs/Cabrillo interchange. Caltrans traffic counts showed 3,200 vehicles per day in 2005 used the now-closed southbound Cabrillo/Hot Springs 101 on-ramp, rising to 4,450 vehicles per day by 2008. That equates to a possible 1.62 million cars and trucks per year, needlessly diverted to CVR to enter the 101 at Olive Mill. Double Ouch!

In 2008, the character of CVR changed dramatically with the infusion of what is now probably closer to two million cars and trucks per year re-rerouted through Coast Village Road to enter the 101 south. This will only be corrected when the final phase of the widening of the 101 is completed in four to five years, after a new southbound entrance to the 101 is finally re-opened at the Hot Springs/Cabrillo

interchange. Since 2008, CVR businesses have discovered that gridlock and congestion, not a lack of parking, punished CVR retailers. Local shoppers in droves avoided Coast Village Road from 3-6 pm, seven days a week, due to 101 traffic congestion. Rob Dayton’s promise that Santa Barbara beach traffic could be diverted by signage to enter the southbound 101 at the Milpas interchange proved to be a fantasy.

Closure of the Four Seasons Santa Barbara Biltmore

In March 2020, the Four Seasons Santa Barbara Biltmore Resort closed its 5-star hotel to guests and patrons plunged to zero. Repeated promises of re-opening the Biltmore have been routinely broken. Loss of business from the Biltmore closure has been more significant than the loss of seven parking spaces.

Construction of the CVR-Olive Mill Roundabout

In 2018, the City of Santa Barbara decided that Montecito needed a new single-lane roundabout at CVR and Olive Mill to speed ten lanes of current in and out traffic from a fiveway intersection at the “Gateway to Montecito.” Roundabout construction starts this month and could take 12 to 18 months to complete. This is the busiest intersection in Montecito, the major hub for all traffic flow in our community.

What will be the impact of the closure of the 101 northbound off-ramp and the southbound on-ramp at Olive Mill to retail and restaurant sales on CVR? When the southbound exit and entrance

to the 101 were closed at Santa Claus Lane for 101 widening, retailers and restaurants on Santa Claus Lane reported a 50% reduction in business. Will the closures of the Olive Mill entrance and exit ramps on the 101 have the same impact on CVR business owners, resulting in fewer customers for retailers and restaurants and lots of extra empty parking spaces?

Another unknown concerns the planned narrowing of CVR in front of the Montecito Inn where two lanes now enable drivers in the right lane to turn south on Olive Mill, or to enter the southbound 101, while CVR drivers currently in the left lane can turn north to Olive Mill or E. Jameson. With only one lane entering the new roundabout from CVR, is it reasonable to expect longer lines of vehicles backed up on CVR?

Restaurants and retailers on CVR may well find themselves with ample parking, but a shortage of customers during the entire five-year construction period of two roundabouts followed by the final widening of the 101. With the recent evacuation of Montecito, how many more can be expected over the next five years while the two roundabouts are being built and the 101 is being widened?

Mr. Hazard is a guest columnist of this paper and a former president of Birnam Wood Golf Club

Riesenfeld , Duncan and Suzanne Mellichamp , Sybil Rosen , Arthur and Mary Jo Swalley, Mahri Kerley, Christopher Lancashire, Karen Drown, and Barbara Burger

Quite the turnout...

Book Continues to Sell

Prince Harry , whose controversial book Spare has sold more than 750,000 copies across all formats – hardcover, audio, and e-books – thanks a host of Hollywood VIPs including Oprah Winfrey, British TV talk show host James Corden, director Tyler Perry, Gwyneth Paltrow’s rocker ex-husband Chris Martin, as well as his mother-inlaw Doria Ragland

The autobiography, part of a $20 million four-book deal with PenguinRandom House in New York, will reportedly have to sell 1.7 million copies to break even, with the ghost writer J. R. Moehringer receiving a $1 million fee.

Mary Sheldon, owner of the Tecolote Book Shop in the Upper Village, tells me all 40 copies of the book in her literary emporium sold out quickly and she has now ordered another delivery to meet demand.

A Birthday Surprise

It wasn’t quite James Bond, but certainly top secret when Montecito animal activist Gretchen Lieff celebrated her birthday at the La Lieff wine tasting room in the Funk Zone.

Nearly 20 people gathered for the hush-hush fête with Gretchen taken totally off guard by the bash.

“I had absolutely no idea!” she gushed. “What a nice surprise.”

Among those joining in the fun while quaffing the wine and snaffling the comestibles were Symphony president Kathryn Martin , radio host Lisa Osborn , Lieff’s beau Miles Hartfeld , Kristi Newton , Ariana Katovich ,

Local Film in the Fest

Santa Barbara-based filmmaker Brent Winebrenner and local duo Suzanne Requejo and Montecito Journal scribe Leslie Westbrook are excited to have their 15-minute documentary, Voces de Old Town Carpinteria, have its premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival next month.

It features five older Carpinteria residents, including 103-year-old Josephine Villegas and narrator historian Dr. Jim Campos

The project focuses on the past history of a segregated Aliso Elementary School, including interviews with those who attended during that period. The film was created for the Latinx Arts Project (LAP) to help with fundraising and to inform about the town’s history and its future mural project.

The school segregation of “Mexicans Only” ended in 1947, prior to desegregation in the South.

Filming for ‘Six Triple Eight’

It looks like Oprah Winfrey could be U.K.-bound.

A new Netflix project by her friend Tyler Perry co-starring the former TV talk show titan is being filmed in Bradford in the north of England in February.

Six Triple Eight, the story of the only all-black female battalion to serve in World War II, is set to start shooting February 16 in Yorkshire.

The movie also stars Susan Sarandon, Sam Waterston, and Dean Norris

Lone Star Rescues Self

Montecito’s Rob Lowe was trapped in his home after the recent storms felled a tree.

The 9-1-1: Lone Star actor, 58, shared footage of him using a winch to haul the tree away with TV talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.

“It was like I was doing something that I usually do, like a fake thing on 9-1-1,” he explained.

Lowe said it was important for him to leave his neighborhood because he had to attend the premiere of his new Netflix film, Dog Gone, after a day and a half of being trapped, with rescuers being unable to get in or out.

Feelings About Small Stories

Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus debuted her latest project, You Hurt My Feelings, at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, at the weekend.

Montecito resident Julia, 62, stars in the comedy as a novelist whose marriage is upended after she hears her husband giving his honest reaction to her latest book.

“I believe in small stories about really big things,” she tells Variety about starring in the independent film directed by Nicole Holofcener

Julia, who has won 11 Emmy awards for her work on Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine, and Veep, graces the cover of the Sundance issue of Variety Well deserved...

Dudes Reunited

Montecito actor Jeff Bridges was due to receive his Critics Choice Award Lifetime Achievement trophy from actress Michelle Pfeiffer, but the Scarface star who was nominated for Best Actress in a Limited Series and Movie Made for TV, had to cancel after testing positive for COVID.

Instead, Jeff, 73, reunited with his Big Lebowski pal John Goodman, 70, who presented him with the honor at the Los Angeles ceremony.

Brems on Board

Psychologist and yoga therapist Christiane Brems has joined the board of the Breast Cancer Resource Center.

A breast cancer survivor herself, Brems brings a wealth of professional and personal expertise to her role.

“All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.” – Albert Einstein

Brendon Twigden , and Sandy Robertson

Guests toasting to birthday girl Gretchen Lieff (photo by Priscilla)

Surrounding Gretchen Lieff (seated) is Margaret Danley, Kristi Newton, Miles Hartfeld, and Ariana Katovich, being served by Torrey English (photo by Priscilla)

Christiane Brems joins Breast Cancer Resource Center board

Kathryn Martin with Guillermo Figueroa (photo by Priscilla)

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have for an exhibition and there’s what you can get. There’s the money it costs to ship and insure things, and there’s the reality that many things are simply not going to be obtainable because we’re not the Met or the National Gallery and we don’t have as many masterpieces to swap.

What I’ve always been able to rely upon, however, is the validity of my exhibitions as exhibitions of recognizable merit. My colleagues at other institutions have often supported our loan requests, which makes all the difference in the world.

I believe that our exhibition work of the last decade has bolstered the brand of the museum in the greater art world, making it easier for us to borrow significant works of art from all over the world. We saw this to be manifestly true in the case of the Van Gogh exhibition.

Have you ever changed an exhibition because of a review?

Well, by the time a review appears, the exhibition is set. It’s open to the public and it is what it is. But no, in principle, I would never change an exhibition because of a review, unless the reviewer pointed out something that we got very wrong (which is always possible). There are many sensitivities out there and we sometimes are blind to our own presumptions.

For 2023, has the landscape changed to negotiate a loan, an acquisition, raise funding et al for an exhibition or a permanent collection?

I don’t feel like things have changed substantially. I feel like things are almost back to pre-pandemic normal, as far as the rhythm of loan requests we receive and what we’ve been able to borrow.

I have a new exhibition underway, set to open in summer 2024, and the loan negotiations are going exceptionally well.

I also feel like the pandemic has made many people even more aware of the good that the museum can do for the community. We have provided a great wealth of interactive programming during the dark period of closure and isolation. I think the community has been very appreciative and has been overjoyed to be able to return in person to enjoy the fruits of our renovation and the lively programming that is now the result.

If money was no object, what would you buy for the museum?

That is a very mean question for a curator! Personally, I have a deep and unfortunately unrealistic lust for an actual Jean Siméon Chardin still life oil... Even worse, I am an unrepentant admirer of Paul Cézanne. So a watercolor or drawing of his – and yes – you know who you are that I am speaking to (I hope; maybe?)!

What art do you collect for yourself?

I am never going to be rich enough to collect the art that I truly love. But I have been fortunate to receive works from artist-friends from time to time.

I have a lovely little lithograph by Louise Bourgeois, which she gave to me after I did a show of her work called Femme when I was a curator at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. I should probably gift it to the museum, though I’m not quite ready to part with it.

Have you ever wanted to own or be the executive director of a museum?

It has never crossed my mind to actually own a museum! Knowing what I do of the hardship of maintaining a nonprofit, I don’t know that I’d even want to, if I had the means. I have been through a training program called the Center for Curatorial Leadership, which tries to prepare curators for that transition. I have to say that the day-to-day reality of being Director is not something that any program can teach. I see this now, watching my own Director and having spent the last decade in the Deputy Director role. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a woman and most little girls simply don’t grow up wanting to be Director of anything (well, hopefully, that’s not true any longer, but I certainly never thought of myself in any kind of leadership role when I was young), but I don’t think I’ve ever really wanted to be Director.

That’s not to say that I wouldn’t do it, but it is to say that I have loved being a curator and I think (dare I say) I’m pretty good at it! I do see, however, the rewards of being a successful Director. It is gratifying, having been a part of the renovation team, to see the rewards of our efforts materialize into our beautiful new galleries and throngs of people enjoying these new spaces and the incredible works of art we can bring out for their delectation.

Which museums do you frequent, and/or are a member of?

If I could afford it, I would spend at least one week every year at the Museo del Prado (Madrid). I try to get to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC) on a regular basis, and the Louvre Museum. I worked at the National Gallery of Art in D.C., so I have an abiding fondness for that museum and its collection. I also still cherish my time working at the Kimbell Art Museum and I get back to the Dallas/Fort Worth area when I can to see old colleagues and friends. Larry and I often use the Kimbell as an example of what we’d like our museum to rival.

Your wisdom for aspiring curators?

Hang out with conservators. They never teach you anything about actual objects in graduate school, unless you go to NYU or the University of Delaware, and Princeton

and Williams do have better resources in that regard too.

What interview question do you wish someone would ask you?

That would be:

“You are a French painting specialist by training. How is it that you chose French painting as your area of specialization? And does it bother you that so often people presume that you are a specialist of Asian art because of your ethnicity?”

To answer that, I was born and raised in central New Jersey. I am the daughter of immigrants, who moved to the States right after the Korean War. I have never been to Korea (except the airport), and I don’t speak Korean. I did study Japanese art and language, so I do still have a bit of knowledge in that area.

My father was a theoretical physicist and earned his PhD at Ohio State University. We spoke nothing but English at home because my father was determined that we become absolutely fluent, which my mother was not. My father spoke perfect British English.

I learned how to read when I was four and devoured books whole from then on. I think it might have been reading Tolstoy that got me curious about French. The bits of dialogue in French seemed so exotic! And then, likely because of my musical training, I trained at the French School of Music in Plainfield, New Jersey, on the piano and took Solfège, I discovered that I had a good ear for languages.

I loved learning Latin and French. When I attended Princeton, I took one art history class and found myself drawn to the material.

A semester studying abroad in Paris cemented my fate, as far as French art. Studying with Tom Crow, who is probably one of the most brilliant art historians of our generation, also steered me towards 18th-century French painting, on which he published his seminal first book, Painters and Public Life in Eighteenth-Century Paris. In fact, I typed that manuscript for him! I used to earn money when I was a student through my typing skills (because I played classical piano, I could type 90 words per minute, my only marketable skill for quite some time).

What I love about history and art history in particular is that it belongs to everyone and anyone who has the will and the imagination to recreate the past.

I don’t need to look like the art or the artists who made it to love it, learn about it, understand it (as far as one can), and teach it.

What is on your office wall?

No real art because my office has a balcony and insufficient humidity control. I do have simple digital printouts of photos that Jan Tichy has sent me. He has the most marvelous eye.

What is the coolest thing about your position?

That I get to study ‘real’ works of art from so many different places and so many different periods of time.

There are so many treasures to be rediscovered in our permanent collection and so many marvelous gifts that continue to come to us. I am still discovering new things in the collection. For example, our wonderful Ossip Zadkine sculpture of a monumental hand that we will unveil in our upcoming exhibition, Iconography of Dread, that was gifted to us by Wright Ludington and I’ve just had it restored and it’s never been on view! Wait until you see what Leslie Ridley-Tree, our wonderful Leslie, gifted to us!

Thank you, Eik! And yes, we are most interested to view Ms. Ridley-Tree’s gift; we are already in line at the SBMA front door!

411: www.sbma.net

her at: artraks@yahoo.com

“No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong.” – Albert Einstein

Joanne A. Calitri is a professional international photographer and journalist. Contact

Eik Kahng, PhD, SBMA Deputy Director, and Chief Curator (photo courtesy of SBMA)

“I’m very impressed with the wholistic and integrated mission of the BCRC and I’m honored to be able to contribute to such a forward-thinking organization,” says Brems. “The outreach to and support of individuals with breast cancer is commendable and much needed.”

She received her PhD in clinical psychology from Oklahoma State University in 1987. Brems also directs YogaX, an innovative yoga school and special initiative in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University’s School of Medicine.

Reflecting on King Constantine

I remember King Constantine II, the last King of Greece.

Monarch for nine years until the abolition of the country’s royal family in 1973, we met at the legendary three-day 70th birthday party thrown by New York publisher Malcolm Forbes at his Palais Mendoub in Tangier, Morocco, in 1989 for 800 celebrity guests, including Elizabeth Taylor, Rupert Murdoch, Henry Kissinger, and Barbara Walters at a cost of around $2 million at the time.

I was covering the event for the William Hickey column of the London Daily Express and had been flown from New York on a chartered Air France Concorde after a lavish breakfast in Kennedy Airport’s presidential hangar catered by Sirio Maccioni’s Le Cirque, one of Manhattan’s top restau-

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Gina Lollobrigida Remembered

On a personal note, I remember Italian screen legend Gina Lollobrigida, who has died in Rome at the age of 95.

I had a delightful dinner with the actress at a boffo bash in Punta del Este, Uruguay, when I flew there from New York to attend a champagne-soaked party for 550 guests hosted by Brazilian billionaire Gilberto Scarpa to celebrate his wife’s 20th anniversary.

Lollobrigida made a name for herself in the 1950s and 1960s starring with

Hollywood icons such as Humphrey Bogart, Burt Lancaster, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, and Frank Sinatra. French screen siren Catherine Deneuve was also at the 1996 fab fête, which upset Lollobrigida, who thought she was the only belle of the ball. On the E! TV show I hosted at the time, I described it as the Battle of the Dueling Divas!

Sightings

Oscar winner Michael Douglas at the Santa Barbara Coastal Premium Cannabis Dispensary... Beach Boy Bruce Johnston checking out the bridle leather goods at Homer Montecito... Singer Katy Perry’s father Keith Hudson picking up his prescription at CVS on CVR.

Pip! Pip! Be safe, wear a mask when needed, and get vaccinated.

rants at the time.

Constantine, known as Tino by friends, was an affable character accompanied by his sons, Crown Prince Pavlos and Prince Nikolaos, who told me Forbes had presented him with a Harley Davidson motorbike similar to many he had in his personal collection. He even had a hot air balloon in the shape of one, as well as an inflatable in the shape of his 17th century French Château de Balleroy.

Both men who knew how to live life to the fullest....

is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2023-0000146. Published January 25, February, 1, 8, 15, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/ are doing business as: ServiceMaster Restoration & Cleaning by Integrity; ServiceMaster by Integrity Construction; Furniture Medic by Cabinet

Restorers; ServiceMaster Restoration Services; ServiceMaster Recovery Management, 4893 McGrath St, Ventura, CA, 93003. Sharjo, LLC, 5451 Industrial Way, Benicia, CA 94510. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on January 12, 2023. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the

original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2023-0000081. Published January 25, February, 1, 8, 15, 2023

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

FOR CHANGE OF NAME: CASE No. 22CV04931. To all interested parties: Petitioner Francis Andrew Aguilar filed a petition with Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, for a decree changing name to Frank Andrew Aguilar

The Court orders that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting

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 a decade

to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Filed December 16, 2022 by Sharon Leyden. Hearing date: February 21, 2023 at 8:30 am in Dept. SM 2, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Published January 4, 11, 18, 25, 2023

ORDER FOR PUBLICATION OF SUMMONS OR CITATION: CASE No. 22CV03792. Notice to Defendant:

David Gerrity : You are being sued by Plaintiff: Aiden Hespos Goodman et al. You and the plaintiff must go to court on February 14, 2023 at 9 am in Department 4 of the Superior Court of California, Santa Barbara, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. If you do not go to court, you may lose the case. If you lose, the court can order that your wages, money, or property be taken to pay this claim. Bring witnesses, receipts, and any evidence you need to prove your case. Name and address of the court: Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 931211107. Filed December 21, 2022, by Johnny Aviles, Deputy Clerk. Published January 4, 11, 18, 25, 2023

PARENTS - FIND OUT WHAT IS GOING ON IN OUR SCHOOLS. RADICAL SEX ED, GENDER TRAINING, PORNO BOOKS, CRT, ANTI AMERICA TRAINING - FORCED ON 12 YEAR OLDS BY RADICAL SCHOOL BOARDS IN MONTECITO AND SANTA BARBARA

King Constantine, Greece’s last king, moves to more heavenly pastures (photo by Allan Warren, derivative work by Daffy123)

Gina Lollobrigida R.I.P. (photo by Ivo Bulanda)

thrill for Sands, who expressed enthusiasm for creating new arrangements on songs that had been performed at the fest by icons like Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, or Dizzy Gillespie, or re-imagining “A Child is Born,” which Bridgewater sang with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra in her first visit to Monterey 40 years ago.

“We bring our own spin to it,” Sands said. “And we’ve got our original songs we’ve written – like Lakecia’s tribute to John and Alice Coltrane – because we’re also part of that history. There are so many personal connections to Monterey, but we all bring a fresh energy to everything we do.”

Not that the January 29 concert at Campbell Hall presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures needs more build-up given its lineup and legacy, but the show will be the final performance of the Western leg of the tour, with the members scattering until April.

“It’s that moment to just give everything you have,” Sands said. “We always do, but now we’re also really relaxed because we don’t have any more traveling or learning. There’s just that wonderful sense of ‘We’re here, and this is it.’”

Find information and tickets at https:// artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.

Double Debut Day for Classical Ensembles

Less than six years after the four-decades-old Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra played its final concert in town, a new ensemble that’s even more community-based and oriented is stepping in to fill the void with an even more ambitious approach.

The Santa Barbara Chamber Players (SBCP), created by local musicians who first practiced during the pandemic in front of friends and neighbors in one of the founders’ garage, was formed with the goal of pre-

senting high quality yet affordable concerts featuring exclusively local musicians.

“There’s so much talent in Santa Barbara,” shared flutist Sherylle Mills Englander, who, along with clarinetist Nancy Mathison and bassoonist Simon Knight, co-founded SBCP last year. “We wanted to fill the vacuum, and we think Santa Barbara can support both a symphony and a chamber orchestra.”

After performing a few customized chamber music concerts to support local nonprofits, the ensemble’s first public concert takes place at 7:30 pm on January 28 at First United Methodist Church, with a lush and varied program of Dvorak’s “7th Symphony,” Ravel’s “Mother Goose Suite,” and Copland’s “Appalachian Spring.”

The concert boasts 54 musicians, more than ever appeared on stage with the SBCO, and Emmanuel Fratianni, a Santa Barbara resident whose credits include conducting many prestigious American ensembles and film, TV, and large symphonic multimedia productions, will wield the baton.

But at least for now, all of them, many of whom are conservatory trained professionals, are volunteering their services. That’s partly because tickets cost just $16, and a number of complimentary tickets are earmarked for youth education programs.

“We’re keeping things as lean as possible because we want to make great classical music as accessible as the movie theater,” Englander explained. “The music is going to be phenomenal, and that’s the way we’ll build an audience.”

Visit https://sbchamberplayers.org for tickets.

January 28 is also the first concert by the Santa Barbara Master Chorale under its new conductor, David Lozano Torres, a

13-year veteran conductor who is working toward a DMA in Choral Conducting at UCSB where he also leads the Lumina ensemble. After having to cancel its planned December debut in Montecito due to illness, the Chorale will be performing Joseph Haydn’s The Creation at First Presbyterian Church at 7:30 pm on Saturday, and 3 pm Sunday. Details and tickets at www.sbmasterchorale.org.

Remembering David Crosby: Long Time Gone

David Crosby’s death at age 81 on January 18, just five weeks before he was slated to perform as part of the Lobero’s 150th anniversary celebration, was surprisingly shocking even though he’d been in less than perfect health for years. After the initial sadness, what came quickly to mind and heart was both the first and last time I’d seen him perform a full concert, spanning more than four decades, from a note-perfect Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young set at the Atlantic City Race Course (opened by Santana and Jesse Colin Young, who, ironically, will perform twice at the Lobero over the next two weeks) to a terrific-beyond-all-reason concert with The Lighthouse Band at the Lobero in 2018 in which he somehow was in even finer voice let alone mutual admiration with his mates on stage.

Valley spread to share a full set or even a song, as when he joined Jason Isbell for a blistering rendition of “Ohio” at the Arlington in early 2022 in what proved to be his final live performance.

Never was his presence more poignant, however, than a SBIFF screening of David Crosby: Remember My Name on a Super Bowl Sunday four years ago, with the documentary’s subject watching himself sing, and squirm, on the screen. The movie covered the final dissolution of Crosby, Stills & Nash as well as Crosby’s well documented health and legal issues, with interviewer Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous) firing a relentless series of queries about the rock star’s poor choices and foibles.

“It was very hard for me to look at,” Crosby told me in a brief one-on-one interview following the screening. “He asked the toughest questions I’ve ever been asked. And they hurt. [Watching it now] feels like being naked in public… But it was the right choice to tell the truth.”

Truth in his music was a phrase found in a lot of appreciations of Crosby’s life last week, which sometimes came out as refusing to compromise. But the world is so much richer for all that he left behind.

And if there’s a silver lining in the cloud of his passing, it would have to be that his widow, Jan, who was married to Crosby for 35 years, didn’t have to face her greatest fear of having her husband succumb to a health issue while on tour. David Crosby died at home in Santa Ynez.

“I

’m the longtime MJ arts editor and Giving List columnist. After 17 years in my rental cottage downtown I now need to relocate. Ugh! I’m looking for a solo space (cottage, apartment, guest quarters, etc.), locally, with rent in the low $2Ks, available by the end of February-ish. Nonsmoker, no pets, great references. Might you know of something?” Call Steven at (805) 837-7262 or email sml.givinglist@gmail.com

That last part is no surprise, of course, as Crosby was by his own account far more blessed with talent and drive than an ability to get along with his fellow musicians. But he’d finally mellowed and in these latter years he found and mined a stunning burst of creative energy in putting out five solo albums in just seven years after releasing none for the previous 21. (He was reportedly working on another and possibly planning a tour when he died.)

Here in Santa Barbara, where Crosby was raised (and kicked out of Crane Country Day School), we loved him nonetheless, and never felt less than grateful when he came down from his Santa Ynez

“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity” – Albert Einstein

Steven Libowitz has covered a plethora of topics for the Journal since 1997, and now leads our extensive arts and entertainment coverage

UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour on Sunday, January 29 at Campbell Hall

The Santa Barbara Chamber Players’ first public concert takes place at 7:30 pm on January 28 at First United Methodist Church

the prepared baking sheet and add the water. Transfer to the oven and roast for 20 minutes.

4. Remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes or until it is cool enough to touch.

5. Place the squash, cut side down on a cutting board and using a sharp knife, cut thin slits (about 1/8”). Do not cut all the way through. Repeat with other squashes. Return to the baking sheet.

6. In a small bowl, whisk together the avocado oil, salt, pepper, shallot, garlic, maple syrup, Dijon, and vinegar. Brush the sauce over the top of the squash, making sure some of it gets down into the cuts you made. Use about half of the sauce to brush.

7. Transfer the squash back to the oven and roast another 10 minutes or until golden and tender.

8. While the squash is roasting, add the remaining sauce to a small saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly thickened.

9. When the squash is done, remove it from the oven and transfer it to a large platter. Pour the remaining sauce over the top, sprinkle with dried cranberries, hazelnuts, and chives.

Roasted Beet and Jerusalem Artichoke Carpaccio with Citrus Salad and Maple Glazed Pistachios

1 cup shelled pistachios, roughly chopped

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 each large golden beet

1 each large red beet

1 tablespoon avocado oil

4 each mixed citrus, such as blood orange, pink grapefruit, sumo tangerine, and cara cara orange

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/3 cup Jerusalem artichokes or sunchokes, peeled and thinly sliced 4 cups wild baby arugula

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment; set aside.

2. In a medium sauté pan over medium low heat, add the pistachios, maple syrup, cayenne, and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until nuts are toasted and caramelized, about 3 minutes. Spoon onto one of the prepared baking sheets and set aside to cool.

3. Peel the beets and cut into eighths. Arrange in a single layer on the other prepared baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Transfer to the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until tender.

4. Section all of the citrus while the beets roast. Remove the peel and pith with a knife. Then cutting between the membranes remove each segment. Squeeze the juice of each citrus and reserve.

5. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of the reserved citrus juice, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil to combine.

6. To assemble, arrange the roasted beets on the bottom of a platter, arrange the shaved Jerusalem artichokes on top, then the segmented citrus, then the arugula, sprinkle the crushed glazed pistachios on top. Lastly, drizzle with the dressing to serve.

The Guard cleared 15,000 cubic yards of material from the Randall Road Debris Basin by working 24/7. They finished in 11 days, a job originally expected to take two weeks or more. At the press conference, Walter Rubalcava, the head of County Flood Control, expressly thanked the community for accommodating the all-night light and noise required to remove the debris so quickly. Rubalcava also noted that having the Guard deployed at Randall Road freed Flood Control to focus their forces on clearing the Cold Spring, Buena Vista, and Romero Canyon debris basins, as well as the enormous Santa Monica Debris Basin in Carpinteria. Over 500,000 cubic yards of material filled all South Coast debris basins in the 1/9 storm.

I asked Darcel if she needed help for the press conference for the Guard, and she said they’d love some cake. So off to Jeannine’s I went, where Alison Hardy’s team put together some beautiful cakes for the Guard on behalf of the Montecito Association. Neighbor Tom Boland had inquired how Montecito neighbors could help feed the guard on Sunday. He was there to wish them well with us on Monday. Here he is with Supervisor Williams.

Yield: Serves 4

Beets are such an impressive root vegetable! They have been shown to lower blood pressure and enhance athletic ability. These folate-rich vegetables are also rich in manganese and copper. Nitrates are in high concentration in beets as well and have been shown to lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. I hope you enjoy this recipe that I adapted from my cookbook, The Plant Based Cookbook.

Melissa Petitto, R.D., is an executive chef and co-founder at Thymeless My Chef SB, was a celebrity personal chef for 16 years, just finished her 10th cookbook, and is an expert on nutrition and wellness.

Curtis Skene, who came up with the idea for the Debris Basin, and knew it had to be built, was so happy to see the result. Curtis had been washed out of his home on Randall Road in 1965 and again in 2018. The Debris Basin, in its maiden voyage, had caught a lot of bigger rocks that would have rolled on down through neighbors’ properties all the way to the freeway. It took the entire five years to get the funding, the permits, and all the signoffs from federal and state authorities to construct it. Curtis never waivered for a minute.

We owe the Guard a great debt of thanks, and the County did a great job of pulling together the agency partners to give them that public thank you.

They really liked the cakes too!

They’re off now to their next mission, and we wish them well. Adam’s Angels and Carmen Muñoz from the Veterans Building in Santa Barbara provided many meals for the Guard while they worked here. Montecitans provided snacks and meals for them as well, and they sure enjoyed the warm community welcome.

Let’s hope they get that kind of good treatment everywhere they go.

It was amazing to see them all arrayed in front of the newly cleared Debris Basin!

Sharon Byrne is the Executive Director of the Montecito Association

The August 9, 1855, edition of the Santa Barbara Gazette reveals the truth behind the arrival of the eagle in Santa Barbara

For many years, Dixie Thompson was the manager of the Arlington Hotel, which was owned by Col. William Welles Hollister. Hollister had invested greatly in Santa Barbara enterprises such as Stearns Wharf, the Lobero, and the Morning Press. It was in the gracious office of the hotel that the truth of the eagle’s provenance was revealed.

Before being leased to a turkey rancher, the Kinevan family owned the stagecoach stop near the top of San Marcos Pass (Courtesy of Santa Barbara Historic Museum)

As a young man, Dixie Thompson worked for his uncle on Santa Rosa Island in 1854/55. Years later, he would reveal his role in the finding of the Yankee Blade’s eagle. Dixie, seen mounted on his horse’s silver-studded saddle, became a local legend in his own right as manager of the Arlington Hotel, whose bar he was famous for visiting on horseback.

brought to this city a carved eagle off the wheelhouse of the wrecked steamer, Yankee Blade .”

Years later, in 1881, a judge from Sacramento was visiting at the Arlington Hotel, which was owned by Colonel Hollister and managed by Dixie W. Thompson, nephew to Captain Alpheus B. Thompson. Perusing some books kept on a table in the office, he discovered he knew the man who had written his name inside. The judge asked Thompson about the book, and Thompson said he’d found it and others in a box after the 1854 wreck of the Yankee Blade while he was working for his uncle on Santa Rosa Island.

Immediately, efforts were made to return the books to the good doctor who had been a passenger on that ill-fated ship and survived the wreck.

In a letter to Dr. Simmons, Thompson describes his finding the items from the wreck, though he couldn’t remember if he personally took them to his uncle in Santa Barbara or sent them. He wrote, “Dear Sir: … At the time of the wreck of the Yankee Blade I was living on the island of Santa Rosa, in the employ of my uncle. A.B. Thompson. One day while riding on the northwest end of the island, I found a number of pieces of cabin furniture, also cases of lard, and saw many pieces far out in the kelp….

The most valuable woodwork of the Yankee Blade that we picked up was a carved eagle, which came off the paddle-box. This relic is now an ornament in the theater here.”

So, part of the conundrum is solved, but when and who put the eagle in the Lobero is still shrouded in mystery. If she were brought to Santa Barbara in 1855, where was she until the Lobero Theatre opened in 1873? Dixie’s letter,

however, implies it was given to his uncle, Alpheus B. Thompson, but after that – who knows.

Escape From the Lobero

While the eagle clearly had flown the coop before the completion of the new theater in 1924, where it landed is still in debate. It’s possible that the eagle placed on display in 1915

“A ship is always safe at shore but that is not what it’s built for.” – Albert Einstein

Stripped of her gilding, Lobero’s eagle purveys the treasures and relics of the past at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum (Courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical Museum)

Walker Tompkins (right) and Ike Bonilla announce the 1960 recovery of the long lost eagle (Courtesy of Santa Barbara Historic Museum)

came from the Lobero, but the reporter, relying on faulty memory or bad intelligence, had the wrong ship. The Lobero Theatre was certainly mostly defunct by 1915. Then again, a 1920 article on the history of the Lobero Theatre says the eagle was still in residence, though sequestered in the property room. Perhaps she returned periodically to her old abode?

In 1948, local historian Walker Tompkins became fascinated with the mystery of the errant eagle. For the next 12 years, he made her discovery a noble quest. At some point it was given to the Santa Barbara Historical Society which had rooms in the basement of the old courthouse. After the earthquake of 1925, the eagle disappeared again.

In 1960, Ike Bonilla, scion of an old pioneer family and history buff who had joined Tompkins in his lengthy quest, had a strange dream. He visioned an eagle soaring up on San Marcos Pass, which mysteriously turned into a turkey. Upon his awakening, a flash of insight reminded him of an old turkey ranch up on the pass. He decided to check it out and, sure enough, he found a wooden eagle perched on top of the rustic gate at the entrance to the ranch. He then informed Tompkins.

Tompkins raced to the top of the pass to find a wooden eagle covered in barn paint and with an arrowhead piercing her breast, shot, perhaps ironically, with an arrow fletched with eagle feathers.

The property of the turkey ranch had been a stage station belonging to the Kinevan family. Emmett Kinevan told Tompkins that his sister Mary had obtained the eagle in 1929 from Sam Stanwood, who had auctioned off some of the items stored in his Victoria Street Stable after the earthquake destroyed the old courthouse. In 1940, a new owner of the Kinevan property, Leo Olsen, placed the eagle over the gateway to his turkey ranch. Benjamin Franklin would have been pleased. He much preferred the humble turkey for the national emblem and considered the eagle “a bird of bad moral character.”

But was this really the eagle that had flown in the old Lobero Theatre? Bonilla and Tompkins went in search of confirmation. Ike’s uncle Mike, age 86, had been José Lobero’s saloon custodian and played in the orchestra at the old theater. When he was shown a photo of the San Marcos eagle, he confirmed it was the shipwrecked eagle gazing at the audience above Lobero’s proscenium. Other pioneers from Theo Arellanes to Elmer Awl to James J. Hollister, Jr., also identified her.

After a display at the public library, she was given, or re-given, to the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, where she has perched, stripped of her gilded feathers, permanently wounded but found at last.

The Eagle Today

And then, two years ago, she was adopted by a benefactor by the name of Brett Hodges, an ardent supporter of both the Lobero Theatre and the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. Brett became fascinated by tales of the eagle and has made its preservation and telling of its story of paramount importance. He produced a video chronicling her story, and together with Natalie Hodges and Sharon and David Bradford sponsored her regilding.

This coming First Thursday only, February 2, the public will have an opportunity to view the freshly gilded eagle and the video that tells her story at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum open house. Later in February, the eagle will return to the site of her long-lamented perch in a new aerie in the lobby of the “new” 99-year-old Lobero Theatre. On long-term loan from the Museum, she will overlook the festivities commemorating the 150th anniversary of Santa Barbara’s first theater, José Lobero’s opera house.

Thus concludes the Mystery of the Eagle. Bonsoir

(Sources: Contemporary articles; articles by Walker Tompkins; article by Ike Bonilla; with many thanks to Brett Hodges for sharing his research.)

Looking to Boost Your Health? Spend More Time with Friends

According to relationship specialists, we frequently prioritize our romantic partners over our friends. An increasing amount of evidence, however, suggests that friendships are as crucial to our health as, say, a balanced diet and plenty of sleep.

“We’ve always had this hierarchy of love,” said Marisa G. Franco, a University of Maryland professor and author of Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make – and Keep – Friends. “We are constantly fed the message that the romantic relationship is the only one that matters.”

It turns out that platonic love outperforms passionate love in several respects. People who have good friendships have better mental health and, according to studies, better physical health. Large social networks, according to researchers, reduce our risk of premature death more than exercise or diet alone.

A six-year study of 736 middle-aged Swedish males discovered that having a life partner had no effect on the likelihood of having a heart attack or dying from coronary heart disease – but having friends did. According to a 10-year Australian study, older adults with many friends were 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with few friends. It is worth noting that having a social network of children and relatives has no effect on survival rates.

There are numerous views regarding the relationship between friendship and improved health. Part of the effect could be attributed to the fact that healthy people find it easier to establish acquaintances. A strong social network may indicate that a person has better access to medical treatment. Furthermore, someone with more friends may just have a stronger support network to arrange a ride to the doctor’s office.

However, there is a psychological consequence of friendship that most certainly plays a role. Friends assist us in dealing with stress. Many respondents were terrified by the notion of climbing a steep hill in one research at the University of Virginia. However, researchers discovered that when people were standing close to a friend, they judged the slope as less difficult than when they were alone.

According to brain imaging research, friendship impacts brain systems related to reward, stress, and negative emotions, explaining why social interaction enhances mental health and well-being.

Friendship also appears to influence our immunological response. In one exceptional study, 276 healthy individuals were given nose drops carrying a cold. Individuals with a wide social network were less likely to acquire cold symptoms.

Montecito Reads (Continued from 27)

I kept my face expressionless. Paul did not need my help, and if I spoke, I was likely to ruin his fantastic improvisation routine.

“You think this is a good deal, Paul?” Clyde finally asked.

Paul nodded. “I think these holes need fixing, and, if anyone found out about this, we would get murdered.”

Again, I flinched.

“Sorry,” Paul said. “Poor choice of words.”

Clyde swiveled a full three-hundred-sixty-degree circle in his chair. “Fine,” he said, slapping the table and standing. “Paper it.”

He walked around the table to me and offered his hand. “It’s good to have you back, Hollis.”

Tune in next week for more Montecito

Hercule 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

Michael Cox is a 2005 graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Wall Street refugee. Including Montecito, Michael has written three novels, each in various stages of the path to publication. He can be reached at mcox@alumni.gsb.stanford.edu.

Conservator Chris Bailey delicately applies a coat of gilt to the aged eagle (Courtesy of Santa Barbara Historic Museum)

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Calendar of Events

by Steven Libowitz

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26

Musical Send-up – The Drowsy Chaperone is the Tony-winning spoof of the Ziegfeld Follies-style musicals of the 1920s. In many ways, it’s a perfect vehicle for Lights Up! Theatre Company to launch its fifth season, as the conservatory’s large cast of talented local teens get a chance to show off their chops in a series of vignettes. That’s because the fantasy plot spins it that whenever a lonely, die-hard musical theater lover drops the needle on their favorite cast recording, the zany and wonderful world of that show comes to life before their eyes. A high-spirited cast of gangsters, showgirls, and matinee idols tango, tap, and Charleston their way through this witty and bubbly production that has been cleverly called a musical within a comedy. Effusive and effervescent as it is, there’s also a dramatic undertone in the timely story about how people find hope during periods of isolation, and the importance of love, connection, and community to our mental health. Coming in the spring: Into the Woods, one of the most popular musicals on the high school circuit.

WHEN: 7 pm tonight & tomorrow; 2 & 7 pm, January 28

WHERE: Marjorie Luke Theatre, Santa Barbara Junior High, 721 East Cota St. COST: $35 general, $25 students

INFO: (805) 884-4087 or www.lightsupsb.com/tickets

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27

No Ax to Grind – Whatever cliché one might want to employ – classical music’s superstar trio, or musical dream team, for example – words really can’t do justice to the firepower and chemistry of pianist Emanuel Ax , violinist Leonidas Kavakos , and cellist Yo-Yo Ma . Each is at the top of their game, considered among the finest at their instruments in the world today, and, better still, have cultivated, as The Washington Post put it, “an almost supernatural chemistry” playing chamber music together. The trio recently recorded music by Brahms to rave reviews, and has been touring an all-Beethoven program

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27

Westmont’s Opera Double Bill – With apologies to Wrigley’s Gum, it’s double your pleasure, double your fun time at Center Stage Theater as Westmont’s music department performs an ambitious, humor-filled opera double bill of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury and Rossini’s The Silken Ladder.

The two-fer production is set on a large movie studio in the 1930s, and will feature a black-and-white moving picture for the first work that morphs into a full color feature film for Ladder , a creative, contrast-emphasizing endeavor from stage director Christina Jensen , who kept each show set in its own time –with Victorian England for Jury land and Ladder in the early-mid 1800s. Music director Ruth Lin , who just joined Westmont in the fall, has been overseeing an opera boot camp for the college’s talented student musicians since early January, led by tenor Sibongakonkhe ( Sibo ) Msibi , a senior from Swaziland familiar to local audiences for his time as a vocal fellow at the Music Academy’s 75th anniversary Summer Festival last summer.

WHEN: 7 pm tonight & Sunday

WHERE: 751 Paseo Nuevo, at the intersection of Chapala and De la Guerra streets

COST: $20 general, $15 seniors/military members

INFO: (805) 963-0408 / www.centerstagetheater.org or (805) 565-6040 / music@westmont.edu

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28

Rivett-ing Screening – John Huston’s 1941 film noir The Maltese Falcon is an avowed American classic starring Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade and Mary Astor as his femme fatale client in a nail-biter about a dangerous competition to obtain a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette. Although the screenplay was written by Huston for his directorial debut, the film is based on the 1930 novel by Dashiell Hammett, the former Pinkerton operative who created the character of Sam Spade and the hard-boiled school of detective fiction. Julie M. Rivett , Hammett’s granddaughter and archivist, will discuss the author’s literary work and how it was adapted for Hollywood following a screening of the film.

WHEN: 1:30-4 pm

WHERE: Mary Craig Auditorium at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State Street COST: $15 INFO: (805) 963-4364 or www.sbma.net

to packed houses, continuing to earn praise for its remarkable cohesion and immaculately refined interpretations. Here in Santa Barbara – Ax, Kavakos, and Ma are frequent visitors alone or in various ensembles – we’ll be hearing the latter offering, an all-Beethoven affair with Shai Wosner ’s arrangement of “Symphony No. 4 in B-Flat Major, Op. 60,” followed by one of chamber music’s greatest pieces, the “Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97 (‘Archduke’).” WHEN: 7 pm

WHERE: Granada Theatre, 1214 State Street COST: $31-$181

INFO: (805) 899-2222 / www.granadasb.org or (805) 893-3535 / www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28

Plus C’est la M ême Chose – Back in 2004, the film A Day Without a Mexican put some perspective on the “illegal” immigration issue with the concept of California awakening one morning to discover that one third of its population has vanished, and just what that implies for the service industries and more. Eighty years earlier, the Austrian director Hans Karl Breslauer made his own statement about prejudice with Die Stadt ohne Juden (The City Without Jews), a dystopian satire that imagines what Vienna would be like without its Jewish citizens, intended as a protest against the rise of anti-Semitism in Germany and Austria in the 1920s. For decades the film was only available as a fragment. But after an intact full-length version of Die Stadt ohne Juden was discovered at a Paris flea market in 2015, composer Olga Neuwirth wrote her new score in 2016 to make a statement against the more modern rise of anti-Semitic hate groups around the world. Tonight, France’s Ensemble intercontemporain, considered the world’s leading contemporary music group, will play the new score – which has been praised as “both touching and harsh, warm-hearted and open, amusing and furious, involved and distanced, humorous and sad all at once” – to accompany a screening of the movie. Intercontemporain music director Matthias Pintscher , who has appeared in town previously under the aegis of the Music Academy and the Ojai Festival, is in the final season of his 10 years at the helm of the ensemble. Part of the UCSB Arts & Lectures Justice for All Programming Initiative, the performance will be followed by a discussion session that includes representatives from Santa Barbara Jewish Federation and Santa Barbara Hillel.

WHEN: 7 pm

WHERE: Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St. COST: $14-$41

INFO: (805) 963-0761 / www.lobero.com or (805) 893-3535 / www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu

“Small is the number of people who see with their eyes and think with their minds.” – Albert Einstein

Nick at Nite – Nick Hornby, the widely celebrated English writer best known for his memoir Fever Pitch and the novels High Fidelity and About a Boy, all of which were turned into hit films, is headed to Chaucer’s Books tonight. Hornby, who has also twice been nominated for an adapted screenplay Oscar (An Education and Brooklyn) is on a book tour for his latest non-fiction work, Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius, in which he warmly ruminates about art, creativity, and the unlikely similarities between Victorian novelist Charles Dickens and modern American rock star Prince. Employing his frequent tool of a fan’s admiration as well as his trademark humor and wit, Hornby invites us into his latest obsession, in showing how these two unlikely men from different centuries “lit up the world.” Hornby will engage in conversation with Jessica Anya Blau, herself a novelist, short story, and essay writer who co-wrote the script for Love on the Run; she now works as a ghost writer and teaches writing at the university level.

WHEN: 6 pm

WHERE: 3321 State St. in Loreto Plaza Shopping Center

COST: free INFO: (805) 682-6787 or www.chaucersbooks.com

TUESDAY, JANUARY 31

‘Hiding in Plain Sight’ – Ken Burns’ two-part documentary follows the journeys of more than 20 young Americans from all over the country and all walks of life, each of whom have struggled with thoughts and feelings that have troubled and at times even overwhelmed them. PBS is currently streaming the unstinting look at both the seemingly insurmountable obstacles faced by those who live with mental disorders and the hope that sometimes emerges. Seeing the episodes live at UCSB’s Campbell Hall, however, not only provides like-minded company for the challenging material, but also the opportunity to witness the panel discussion with local leaders in mental health including representatives of YouthWell, CALM, Mental Wellness Center, and others that follows both events.

WHEN: 6:30 pm tonight & tomorrow

WHERE: Campbell Hall, UCSB campus COST: free INFO: (805) 893-3535 or www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1

By Land or by Sea – February 1 is a special day at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. Today marks the end of the first week of The Lure of Lighthouses and Dancing Waves, an exhibit featuring more than 35 photographs by Emmy Award-winning surf photographer and videographer Dan Merkel, combining images of lighthouses from America’s East and West coasts as well as Portugal and Australia, plus his breathtaking photos capturing waves throughout the world. February 1 is also the 167th anniversary of the lighting of Point Conception Lighthouse’s first order Fresnel lens, which is on permanent display at the museum. And today is also the first day of the annual Black History month. Putting all that together, SBMM is presenting Keeping the Light with Chris Dixon, the award-winning actress best known for portraying Harriet Tubman in the short film Era and in one-woman dramatic performances. Dixon, as Tubman, will tell the stories of African American lighthouse keepers including Captain Richard Etheridge, who became the first African American to command a United States Life Saving station in 1880, and share some of Tubman’s history as well. The performance will feature songs, stories, and a Q&A with the audience.

WHEN: 3:30 pm family show, 7 pm adult show; exhibit continues through August 27

WHERE: Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, 113 Harbor Way, Ste 190 COST: $50 general, children free at 3:30 pm show

INFO: (805) 962-8404 or www.sbmm.org

Storytelling

Now open through Apr 30, 2023

Influenced by the pictorialist movement of the early twentieth century, Edward S. Curtis set out to create a photo and ethnographic record of Indigenous peoples living in Western regions from the Mexican border to Alaskan shores. 100 years later, Native people still contend with “Indian” stereotypes that are consequences of Edward Curtis’s vision. This exhibit endeavors to present his breathtaking photogravures within the context of American colonialism.

Montecito

Sponsored by Jerry and Elaine Gibson, Knight Real Estate Group of Village Properties, First Republic Bank, Kathleen Kalp and Jim Balsitis, Kelly and Tory Milazzo

Native People through the Lens of Edward S. Curtis

2559 Puesta del Sol Santa Barbara, CA 93105 sbnature.org/storytelling

“Replastering a Paguate House,” 1925, Edward S. Curtis

Consignments@MovingMissDaisy.hibid.com

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