• Retired Navy Lt. John Blankenship, a local military historian, was the Channel City Club’s keynote speaker at the annual holiday event at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.
    Retired Navy Lt. John Blankenship, a local military historian, was the Channel City Club’s keynote speaker at the annual holiday event at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. Credit: Bill Macfadyen / Noozhawk photo
  • Soloist David Gonzales leads the Channel City Club in “God Bless America” to wrap up its annual holiday gathering.
    Soloist David Gonzales leads the Channel City Club in “God Bless America” to wrap up its annual holiday gathering. Credit: Bill Macfadyen / Noozhawk photo
  • Music teacher Pam Herzog leads the Montecito Union School Chorus in its performance at the Channel City Club holiday gathering. Nearly 80 fifth- and sixth-graders participate in the acclaimed choir.
    Music teacher Pam Herzog leads the Montecito Union School Chorus in its performance at the Channel City Club holiday gathering. Nearly 80 fifth- and sixth-graders participate in the acclaimed choir. Credit: Bill Macfadyen / Noozhawk photo
  • The chorus included violin accompanists for one song.
    The chorus included violin accompanists for one song. Credit: Bill Macfadyen / Noozhawk photo
  • Chorus parents and grandparents took advantage of their photo opportunity.
    Chorus parents and grandparents took advantage of their photo opportunity. Credit: Bill Macfadyen / Noozhawk photo

The Channel City Club celebrated the holiday season with a special program at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort, highlighting the organization’s long-standing role as a forum for global ideas and civic discussion.

Approaching its 80th anniversary, the Santa Barbara-based club hosted a Dec. 11 event featuring Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen as master of ceremonies, a patriotic musical performance by soloist and former Santa Barbara police Sgt. David Gonzales, and holiday songs by the acclaimed Montecito Union School Chorus, made up of 79 of the school’s fifth- and sixth-grade students and led by music teacher Pam Herzog.

The program’s keynote presentation was delivered by retired Navy Lt. John Blankenship, a Vietnam War veteran and former Navy pilot, local military historian, and a founding director of the Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation.

Blankenship spoke about four of the 11 five-star military leaders in U.S. history: Army Gens. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur and Omar Bradley, and Navy Adm. Chester Nimitz.

In an hour-long talk, he shared insights into their leadership and cooperation with Allied forces during World War II.

The five-star rank is the highest ranking that a general or flag officer can achieve in the U.S. military.

Founded in 1946 to provide a “window on the world,” the Channel City Club regularly hosts lectures and discussions on state, national and international issues.

Click here for more information about the Channel City Club.

Retired financial adviser Kirk Greene served hundreds of individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations over his 40-year career. In 2020, he sold the Seattle-based registered investment advisory firm he founded to his partners and returned to Santa Barbara, where he grew up. He is an alumnus of Seattle University and earned ChFC and CLU designations from the American College of Financial Services. Kirk is past
president of the Estate Planning Council of Seattle and has been an active Rotarian for more than 25 years. The opinions expressed are his own, and you should consult your own financial, tax and legal advisers in thinking about your own planning.