In today’s episode, we have Carly Kieding — another astonishingly good sailor from Santa Barbara, where some of the most accomplished sailors in the country come from.
And by that I mean our local seamen and seawomen are national and world champions in a variety of boat classes and notable races.
They have also won or placed more than 10 times in the Transpac and Tahiti races. And now, I am suggesting to keep your eye on Carly.
Does her name sound familiar? For most of the last half-century her family has been in racing.
Her father, Ken Kieding, is a renown winning racer in California, and grandfather Bob Kieding won the Star Lipton Cup in 1974.
Dad and daughter and crew took their boat, Argo 4, to first in class and first overall at the hefty California Offshore Race Week from San Francisco to San Diego earlier this month.
And now for the final kicker. Carly is only a junior at San Marcos High School.
AND she is already being recruited by numerous Ivy League schools — to race at the collegiate varsity level after graduation in another year.
Yeah, that’s what happens when local kids “take the waters” in our Santa Barbara Channel!
Never Forget
Coming off of Memorial Day, I want to salute local guy Bill Frieburg for his posts on Facebook.
He’s a Santa Barbara fellow, San Marcos grad, stationed at the former Fort Benning, Georgia, and his father was with Marine Aircraft Group 24), which was the first group of Marines in Santa Barbara back in October 1942.
So you can understand he has a heart for the veterans.
For several years now, Frieburg has been posting regularly on Facebook, the photo and quick background of soldiers, sailors and airmen who died in the line of duty, on the anniversary date of their deaths.
He does this to honor, respect and keep the memory alive of those who served our country.
Other people appreciate having the opportunity to acknowledge their service, and friends and former classmates like to share a memory to add to the posts.
This reminds me of something my good friend, the late philanthropist Pierre Claeyssens, used to say.
He was a survivor of World War I as a child in Belgium. When nearly 90, he founded the Military Ball held every November in honor of local servicemen and women.
He used to remind me, “To be killed in a war is not the worst that can happen. To be lost is not the worst. To be forgotten is the worst.”
Oysters for the Environment
A preview night of the Oyster Bar at Moby Dick Restaurant at the end of Stearns Wharf drew special invitees over to check out the food and the service, such as City Councilman Eric Friedman with his wife, Julie; as well as Santa Barbara Maritime Museum executive director Greg Gorga; retired Santa Barbara fire Chief Pat McElroy; Maria Long; and Amanda and Richard Payatt.
Also there was Dr. Karl Hutterer, emeritus director and former executive director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and a former board member of the Community Environmental Council.
And they have a vested interest in the Oyster Bar, which Hutterer represents.
It seems that longtime CEC benefactors Ninnette and Jim Gildea were majority owners of the restaurant and left their ownership share as a bequest to the nonprofit organization.
While this new Oyster Bar is part of Moby Dick, it is a separately run enterprise. All the food is fresh and locally sourced, which will be a big part of the allure.
My husband enjoyed the oyster, and I can happily put in a claim for the clam chowder. Yum!
Sofa So Good
So, I was walking out of The Granada around noon, to see four women (no men?) carrying a couch out of the antique store across the street.
I thought they might be loading it on to a truck … but there was no truck anywhere.
Then I thought there might be an SUV … Nope, no SUV around.
There was, however, a red car. A small red car. A convertible.
And remembering a-way back in my nursery school years, when developing spacial awareness and motor skills as I pushed blocks through a square hole …
I was thinking: This was not going to be a fit.
But, well … see for yourself. And I just had to grab this shot.
It seems the owner of the car — and now also a couch — was Wanda Be, chiropractor and also a yoga instructor.
So I guess if anyone could contort a couch into a small compact, she could probably figure it out …
High-Steppin’ Headdress for Solstice
Sooooo many anniversaries this year of Santa Barbara organizations. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Summer Solstice Celebration and 10th anniversary of La Boheme dance group.
Combining the two for this year’s parade, you’ll be seeing an extra special performance. The La Boheme babes have been gathering (100 gals!) and rehearsing and rehearsing for Solstice.
Meanwhile, Clare Carey and gang are designing and building a fantastic float to follow the gals and supply music.
And I understand they will have some AMAZING costumes this year — including some spectacular, custom-made Las Vegas headdresses.
Look for the colorful army of dancers plus their high-stepping and high-falutin’ headdresses to fill the street with good cheer.
Useless Trivia Department
It is cheaper to buy a vowel …
That new expen$ive housing project that everyone loves to hate (although it is a pleasant-looking building) at De la Guerra and Santa Barbara streets is owned/built by Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White and her quasi-husband, developer John Donaldson.
So, now you know.
Honesty Is Its Own Reward? Dang.
And finally we end with a piece of history. Of how people used to be …
Away back in 1928, plumber Arthur Burger, lost five $20 bills. Back then that was worth about $1,700 … so this was serious money.
He lost the bills on a Saturday. He put in a small ad in the Sunday newspaper (… one day turnaround to place ads!?!) to see if anyone found his money … yada yada.
He crossed his fingers and placed the ad.
On Monday, a lady who found four of the bills saw the ad, and took her find to the bank president. She was a clerk in the police court, so her law-and-order sensibility came in good stead for the hapless plumber.
Then another man, a “vulcanizer”* by trade found the fifth bill. One of his buddies saw the ad and told him about it, and he turned in his find to the bank as well.
* Vulcanizer was a pretty cool name for a guy who worked with rubber — actually to repair tires!
