First 5 Santa Barbara County is holding a series of meetings to gain information from the community about what services are needed for children from birth to 5 years old. The First 5 commission will use information gleaned from the meetings as it gets started on the strategic plan for the next three years. The […]
First 5 calls for input from community
Posted inNews
Santa Maria High student takes top honors at Santa Barbara County Fair
Josh Mendez of the Santa Maria High School Future Farmers of America club won the Round Robin Showmanship award, and showed the Supreme Champion Meat Goat and the Reserve Champion Market Sheep at the recent Santa Barbara County Fair. The round robin is an event that requires exhibitors to show pigs, cows, sheep, and goats. […]
Posted inOpinion
The bird that cried wolf
Wolves are scary. They’re big and mean looking, especially for land-dwelling creatures, like humans. Personally, I fly; so I’m not worried about them, but I am scared of hawks, so let’s go with that. Hawks fly through the air with their big, blood-thirsty talons, and their meat-pecking beaks, on the hunt for small, defenseless creatures […]
Posted inOpinion
Ramadan demystified
The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is underway. The observation of not eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset is especially challenging when Ramadan falls during the hot summer months. As the mercury rises, so does the length of fast. This year, each of the 30 days of fasting is about 16 hours in duration, […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Saturday marketplace sprouts at Santa Maria Town Center
Purple cauliflower, golden beets, green beans, red strawberries, white onions, peach peaches, yellow lemons, rainbow chard; I discovered a kaleidoscopic variety of fresh, locally grown produce at the new farmers market at the Santa Maria Town Center. Growers and artisans sell their produce and products from 9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. every Saturday. Four years […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
The sweetest guy I know
Usually my column is devoted to the lighter moments in my life. This week is no different because I am going to tell you about the sweetest guy I know—a man with a beautiful spirit who has lived an amazing life. He is a true American hero, being one of the few survivors of the […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Local Notes: Unity Chapel of Light celebrates Bridget Hough-Meynenc
Climbing the mountainous path that is a doctorate in music takes a huge amount of skill, discipline, and raw talent. Luckily, Bridget Hough-Meynenc possesses of all those traits, which helped her recently secure her doctor of musical arts degree in collaborative piano performance at UCSB. Unity Chapel of Light—a nondenominational church in Orcutt—remembers when Hough-Meynenc […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Little hands crafting
Michael’s Arts and Crafts presents arts and crafts events for kids, including a “Kids Club Elmer’s Frog Event” on July 27. Each event runs from 10 a.m. to noon in half hour sessions at Michael’s Art and Crafts, 1934 S. Broadway, Santa Maria. More info: 349-8801.
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Locals awarded for ‘WaterWise’ gardens
The Santa Barbara County Public Works Department has announced the winners of the inaugural “WaterWise Garden Recognition Contest.” The winners were selected on how well their home gardens used water, especially if the gardens were able to limit the use of drinking water. The countywide grand prize winner was Christine Nolte of Santa Barbara, who […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Find your family tree
People interested in tracing their familial roots will be delighted to learn that the Santa Maria Public Library and the Santa Maria Valley Genealogy Society have joined forces to help locals with that very activity. The library, which already enjoyed a large genealogy collection, has agreed to house the society’s book collection as well, which […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Santa Maria Philharmonic Society receives generous donation
The Santa Maria Philharmonic Society announced recently that a $5,000 donation was made to the nonprofit musical arts organization in the memory of Ardeth Cox, a longtime patron of the philharmonic, who left the money as a bequest. Her family, the philharmonic said in an e-mail, is prepared to donate another $1,000 if the community […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
A grail-full of guffaws: PCPA Theaterfest lets its chain mail down for Monty Python’s delightfully lewd Spamalot
If you do not go and see PCPA Theaterfest’s production of Monty Python’s Spamalot, I will be force to say “Ni!” to you! Well, maybe I won’t go that far. Monty Python fans are squirming with delight to find that PCPA is staging an outrageously hilarious production of Spamalot no more than an un-laden swallow’s […]