Sunken Garden Film Series

Coming up on its ninth season, the Free Summer Cinema series at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden has solidified itself as a wildly popular tradition. This years theme is entitled Animated Nights with showings of critically-acclaimed animated classics. 

Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunken Garden | Image: Cheshire Cat Inn

Screenings are on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. in UCSB's Campbell Hall and Friday evenings in the Sunken Garden at 8:30 p.m. The series is made possible by a collaboration between Arts & Lectures, the Office of Arts & Culture & Santa Barbara County Parks. 

People are encouraged to brings picnics and jackets as it gets chilly at night in Santa Barbara. Guests may set out blankets and chairs anytime after 12:00 p.m on movie nights. Low-back chairs are welcome, as are non-synthetic blankets (to help keep the lawn in good condition!). 

 

FILM LINEUP

Fri., July 6                     The 19th Annual Animation Show of Shows (16 animated shorts, 93 min)                               *May contain adult content.  **Introduced by Producer Ron Diamond

Fri., July 13                    The Triplets of Belleville (2003, 78 minutes)

Fri., July 20                   Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005, 85 minutes)

Fri., July 27                   Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009, 87 minutes)     

Fri., August 10              The Iron Giant (1999, 86 minutes)  

Fri., August 17               Persepolis (2007, 96 minutes)  *Dubbed: English                                   

Fri., August 24              Loving Vincent (2017, 94 minutes)    

Sponsored by Compass | Image: Downtown Santa Barbara

Click here for more information on line up details.

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De La Guerra Plaza, a look back

Plaza de la Guerra, in the first block of East De la Guerra Street, has been a focal point of the city’s social life since the 1820s. During the Spanish and Mexican eras, the plaza was often the scene of dances, fiestas, and bullfights. Just to the north of the plaza, across De la Guerra Street, stands the former home of José de la Guerra y Noriega, perhaps Santa Barbara’s most prominent citizen during its early history.

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In 1855, the city’s common council designated the plaza, along with Plaza Alameda and Plaza Vera Cruz, as a public square or park — the first official parks in Santa Barbara. There the matter rested for the next 20 years, as the plaza remained simply an open area. In 1875, a new City Hall arose in the middle of the plaza. Initially, the two-story brick building housed all city offices, the jail, fire house, and the municipal court.

Construction of the City Hall sparked more development around the plaza. Frenchman Louis Raffour opened the Raffour House at the northeast corner of the plaza in the late 1870s. José Borderre, a Basque sheepherder, opened his French Hotel in the southeast corner of the plaza in the 1890s. These and other businesses maintained the plaza’s position at the center of city life.

De La Guerra Plaza :: Town Hall

De La Guerra Plaza :: Casa DLG

In 1910, the City Hall received a facelift with a new red metal roof and cement facade in the popular Mission Revival architectural style. By the early 1920s, it was apparent that the creation of new city departments and expanding government services dictated new quarters. The city already rented office space around town to accommodate its growing bureaucracy. Voters passed a $200,000 bond issue in 1922. Most of the funds were to go toward construction of a new City Hall at the site of the old Raffour House.

Ronald Sauter and E. Keith Lockard rendered the new facility in the Spanish Colonial style, in keeping with El Paseo and its “Street in Spain” across De la Guerra Street. The move to give Santa Barbara a unified architectural look based upon the Spanish Colonial Revival style was in full swing before the 1925 earthquake, which accelerated this trend. The new City Hall included not only city offices, but the police department and the city jail. The old City Hall in the middle of the plaza was razed, and the plaza landscaped with lawn and flowers.

Anchoring the plaza on the south side was the Santa Barbara News-Press building, designed by George Washington Smith and completed in 1922. At the time of construction, the building housed the Santa Barbara Daily News. In the 1930s, Thomas Storke would buy the rival Morning Press to form the News-Press. In 1951, the tower and the east wing were added to the building.

Shortly after the turn of the 21st century, controversy began to stir when plans were broached to ban autos from the plaza and transform it into a strictly pedestrian area. A number of businesses protested the proposed changes, and the plans were eventually shelved. The plaza continues to play host to a number of festivities during the year including the Fiesta Mercado and Cinco de Mayo celebration to name just two. Taken all together, Plaza de la Guerra, Casa de la Guerra, and El Paseo form a wonderfully evocative complex that is still, in many ways, the heart and soul of the city.

De La Guerra :: Fiesta

Click here for more details on article Independent.com

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Upper Village Celebration!

Montecito, CA – Boutique shopping, complimentary food tastings, live music, kids’ activities and much more are in store on Saturday, February 24, from 2 pm to 6 pm at various locations in Montecito’s Upper Village.

All local businesses are open and ready to welcome shoppers following the devastating Thomas Fire and subsequent mudflow that shut down business for multiple weeks in December and January. Celebrate Montecito’s Upper Village is an opportunity for the community to show love and support to the restaurants and retailers who help to make the Montecito community the magical place that it is.

“The businesses in the Upper Village have really suffered during the recent events,” said event committee chair Ted Simmons. “We have heard that some businesses lost as much as forty percent of their annual revenue during closures over the holidays. The idea of this event is to gather and show that we appreciate them with our presence and by buying gifts, flowers, home decor, clothes, food and more!”

The event, organized by a group of community volunteers and neighbors, is kid friendly, with various activities including face painting and crafts geared toward the youngest members of our community. There will also be several musical guests at various locations in the Upper Village throughout the afternoon and evening.

Upper Village Businesses will be open and most will be offering discounts and donating to local non-profits to support mudslide relief.

The schedule is as follows:

2:00 to 4:00 pm: Face Painting, Station for Writing Thank You Cards for Firefighters and Rescue Workers in the grassy circle in front of Tecolote Bookstore.

3:30 to 6:00 pm: Music located near Pan e Vino; bands include Bryan Titus Trio, Paradise Kings, Tina Schlieske & the Graceland Exiles. There will also be a DJ spinning tunes in front of Village Wine & Cheese. Dan & the Dairy Queens with Leslie Lembo will be performing in the courtyard by Pierre La Fond & Wine Bistro 

source: UPPER VILLAGE BUSINESSES

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Montecito Floods & Fire: Coping with Natural Disasters

Our Montecito community has been hit with two devastating blows from the Thomas Fires to the Floods that destroyed homes and lives. Many are grieving, trying to make sense of what happened and dealing with the stress of the situation. These events have created a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety for those directly and indirectly affected.

In the days and weeks following the disaster, you may begin to have some of these common reactions:

Common Reactions

• Disbelief and shock
• Fear and anxiety about the future
• Disorientation; difficulty making decisions or concentrating
• Apathy and emotional numbing
• Nightmares and reoccurring thoughts about the event
• Irritability and anger
• Sadness and depression
• Feeling powerless
• Changes in eating patterns; loss of appetite or overeating
• Crying for “no apparent reason”
• Headaches, back pains and stomach problems
• Difficulty sleeping or falling asleep
• Increased use of alcohol and drugs

Tips for Coping

It is ‘normal’ to have difficulty managing your feelings after major traumatic events. However, if you don’t deal with the stress, it can be harmful to your mental and physical health. Here are some tips for coping in these difficult times:

• Talk about it. By talking with others about the event, you can relieve stress and realize that others share your feelings.
• Spend time with friends and family. They can help you through this tough time. If your family lives outside the area, stay in touch by phone. If you have any children, encourage them to share their concerns and feelings about the disaster with you.
• Take care of yourself. Get plenty of rest and exercise, and eat properly. If you smoke or drink coffee, try to limit your intake, since nicotine and caffeine can also add to your stress.
• Limit exposure to images of the disaster. Watching or reading news about the event over and over again will only increase your stress.
• Find time for activities you enjoy. Read a book, go for a walk, catch a movie or do something else you find enjoyable. These healthy activities can help you get your mind off the disaster and keep the stress in check.
• Take one thing at a time. For people under stress, an ordinary workload can sometimes seem unbearable. Pick one urgent task and work on it. Once you accomplish that task, choose the next one. “Checking off” tasks will give you a sense of accomplishment and make things feel less overwhelming.
• Do something positive. Give blood, prepare “care packages” for people who have lost relatives or their homes or jobs, or volunteer in a rebuilding effort. Helping other people can give you a sense of purpose in a situation that feels ‘out of your control.’
• Avoid drugs and excessive drinking. Drugs and alcohol may temporarily seem to remove stress, but in the long run they generally create additional problems that compound the stress you were already feeling.
• Ask for help when you need it. If your feelings do not go away or are so intense that they interfere with your ability to function in daily life, talk with a trusted relative, friend, doctor or spiritual advisor about getting help. Make an appointment with a mental health professional to discuss how well you are coping with the recent events. You could also join a support group. Don’t try to cope alone. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness.

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