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Join the Goleta Valley Historical Society for a spectacular event - the 50th Annual Old Fashioned 4th of July celebration!!

Enjoy fun family-friendly activities including tractor rides and face painting, listen to live music by The Cliffhangers and The Down Yonder Collective, browse the wares of local vendors, and dine on delicious eats and drinks from Mony's Santa Barbara, AR Catering, and Considered Curbside Coffee!

The Central Coast Vintage Machinery Association, the Model A Club of Santa Barbara, and the Santa Barbara County Genealogical Society will also be returning this year. And don't forget to stop by Granny's Attic, where you'll find all the vintage items and antiques of your dreams! All sales proceeds benefit the Goleta Valley Historical Society.

See you on the 4th for an old-fashioned extravaganza!

“Brilliant performances!” The Tolucan Times. “Brilliant portrayals…you will be just as captivated as I was!” broadwayworld.com. “Just plain brilliant!” playwright/performer Wendy Michaels.

This joyous and poignant musical follows the life of the beloved Yiddish story-teller as he spins tales of his loves and losses, his fame and failures, his travels, travails and the tremendous optimism that kept him going against all odds. Based on his letters and tales, the controversy surrounding his stories and plays, and his passionate quest to honor the universality of the human spirit and celebrate our common humanity, he reminds us always that we have more in common than in conflict.

“I will never forget my evening with Sholom Aleichem and I thank you for bringing my cousin so beautifully back 'To Life'.” Lillian Aderman Moller

Playing to sold-out houses until the day before the lockdown, the delightful musical, back by audience request for a limited run, is written by the internationally acclaimed team of Chris DeCarlo and Evelyn Rudie, with lilting songs by Emery Bernauer, E. Rudie and Sholom Aleichem himself. Audiences are treated to an in-depth look at the joyous and poignant events that inspired the foolish philosophers, philosophical fools, comical shtetl folk and not-so-comical scoundrels that populated Sholom Aleichem's world.

“Chris DeCarlo has become the reincarnation of Sholom Aleichem” LASplash

The musical stars veteran performer Chris DeCarlo, who again assays the role of the beloved author, a characterization which has been enjoyed by more than a quarter of a million audience members, and Evelyn Rudie, who has created and portrayed more than three dozen Sholom Aleichem characters in over 2,000 performances to date.

“Evelyn Rudie is an all-around theatrical wizard!” Casting Call

Aleichem Sholom is presented by the Santa Monica Playhouse Jewish Heritage Project, supporting productions that keep the unique richness of Jewish theatre alive, honor the historical and cultural importance of Jewish heritage, and insure that new generations of theatre-goers appreciate and celebrate the life experience of Jewish ancestry, literature and tradition.

“ ‘Sholom Aleichem’ means ‘Hello, peace be with you.’ For Santa Monica Playhouse it means ‘richness in Jewish theatre for the community to enjoy.’ ” The Messenger

Santa Monica Playhouse is supported in part by grants from the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, the Ahmanson Foundation, the Rotary Club Foundation and Playhouse PALS.

Saturdays, 7:00pm, Sundays, 3pm – through July 20 – August 18

At 7:00 PM on July 16th, the Ventura County Interfaith Community will explore this fascinating faith with the help of a practicing Sikh, Gurpreet Singh, a member of the Orange County Interfaith Network, and a frequent lecturer on Sikhism. We hope that you will join us at the Bishop’s Hall at the Church of the Epiphany (5450 Churchwood Drive, Oak Park, CA 91377).

This event is offered free of charge and all are welcome, so let your friends and neighbors who may be interested know about the event.

Isn’t it time to show your favorite beach or creek some love?
Join us for Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday, September 21st. The largest volunteer effort in California, Coastal Cleanup Day is our day to give back to the ocean, beaches, and creeks that make Santa Barbara County such a wonderful place to live. Get outside, enjoy nature, and be part of the solution to ocean pollution!
Volunteers of all ages can participate at any of the 2024 cleanup sites. Pre-registration is not required, but is encouraged.
Each site will have a captain on hand to provide necessary instructions and supplies. You can bring your own gloves, buckets, and other reusable cleanup supplies to lessen the plastic footprint of this event. If you don’t have any supplies, there will be plenty at each site.
If you can’t make the cleanup on the 21st, we encourage you to clean up any time during the month of September and your cleanup data will be included as part of the Coastal Cleanup Day results!
Coastal Cleanup Day is brought to you by Explore Ecology and our partner the County of Santa Barbara Resource Recovery and Waste Management, with support from the Cities of Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Solvang. The California Coastal Commission organizes the statewide event and the international event is organized by the Ocean Conservancy.

Crepe Paper Flower Hair Accessories
Friday, July 26
6:00-8:00
General Ticket -$30
Educator Ticket - $20

Prepare to celebrate Old Spanish Days Fiesta with flair at our Paper Flower Hair Accessories Workshop! Elevate your Fiesta look with a touch of floral finesse! Join us for a crafting workshop where you'll learn how to make crepe paper flowers that can be added to headbands, hair combs, and clips. This workshop includes instructions on making crepe paper flowers, 2 hours of work time, and all materials necessary to make gorgeous flowers to attach to your preferred hair accessories.

The Goleta Valley Historical Society is pleased to present this talk in which Tom Modugno, local history enthusiast and creator of Goletahistory.com, will use a collection of photographs to illustrate the story of Goleta Slough’s transformation over the last 500 years.

Once the site of a thriving and extensive Chumash settlement, the Goleta Slough was a potential mission location for the Spanish. Later, it became a small ship harbor, then a Marine base, and finally a municipal airport. Despite various development proposals over the years, the Goleta Slough remained a unique and important natural environment for wildlife, and in 1987, 440 acres were officially protected when the Goleta Slough Ecological Reserve was established. Today, many Goleta and Santa Barbara residents have no idea their airport was, and still is, first and foremost, a slough. Though every wet winter, Mother Nature gives us all a friendly reminder…

Tom Modugno is a lifetime resident of Goleta and a small business owner in the region. As a local history enthusiast, he realized many residents were unaware of the rich history we have in this community. In order to remedy that, Tom initiated, designed, and implemented the popular website GoletaHistory.com in 2014. Since then, his website has provided the public with a range of important and engaging information on key historical sites and events in the Goleta area. His articles have encouraged locals and visitors alike to explore and preserve the remaining landmarks, buildings, and historical stories of the community, especially the Barnsdall Gas Station and the two original hangars at the airport.

The talk is free for GVHS members and a suggested donation of $5 for non-members. RSVP is required: https://bit.ly/goletaslough

What happens AFTER happily ever after? This question is gloriously answered by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Into the Woods.” OPAT’s production opens July 26th and runs for two weekends at Matilija Auditorium.

The original production of “Into the Woods” won three Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, plus, snatched an Olivier Award (London’s Tonys) for Best Revival. The show is a powerful presentation of Sondheim’s magnificent music, accompanied by glittering costumes and ginormous props¬--what size shoe does a Giant wear? You’re invited to enter this Fairy Tale land of Cinderella, Rapunzel, not one but two Princes, a Witch, Red Riding Hood, the Wolf, Jack and a beanstalk! Each character brings a wish. In most fairy tales the wishes come true and they all live happily ever after. But, in Sondheim’s Woods, wishes lead to choices and choices lead to consequences and consequences lead, inevitably, to truths.

Come with your children or come with your friends. It’s a show for all ages, with a world of magic beans, magic scenes, amid forest greens…beans that take on a life of their own. In this show, the beanstalk beans talk, metaphorically, triggering one of the greatest puns in all of musical theater: “if the end is right it justifies the beans!”

You will laugh and feel awed by the music and voices, but also by the mastery of how Sondheim and book writer James Lapine encourage us to think about those stories in a unique light as they come to life. They adhere to what writer C.S. Lewis once said: some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.

July 26 27, 28, August 2,3, 4 at Matilija Auditorium. For tickets to “Into the Woods,” please go to ojaitheater.org.

And, don’t forget to enter our drawing to win a spectacular Ojai Valley Inn Package…three nights at the Inn, a spa package worth approximately $1,000, and four rounds of golf, with carts. Drawing tickets are $25 each, or five for $100. Entries can also be purchased at ojaitheater.org

The beloved Rudie-DeCarlo musical CINDERELLA celebrates its 40th anniversary with a stunning multi-media makeover to celebrate it’s 40th anniversary at the Playhouse. It’s Cinderella like you’ve never seen her before, with new songs, hilarious special FX, a silent movie segment that will have you falling out of your seat, dazzling costumes, amazing magical prestidigitation, and a story about being true to your dreams and loving yourself as you are that's as meaningful today as ever before. It’s the perfect fairytale for today's generation: a handsome prince (who yearns to be loved for himself, not his royal position), silly stepsisters (who ultimately discover that looks really aren't everything), a feisty (but genuinely well-meaning) stepmother, a silver-foxy (if slightly befuddled) King and a refreshingly independent Cinderella.
"An Enchanting Cinderella!” LA Times. Birthday Parties, hosted by gaily-clad fairytale characters, are available with every performance. Photo opps, too!

The Southeast Ventura County YMCA’s 60th Anniversary Gala is Saturday, September 21 beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village. The evening features a reception, gourmet dinner, silent and live auctions, celebrity host, entertainment and an afterparty.
Proceeds from the evening benefit Southeast Ventura County YMCA programs including Find My Genius, a free five-week summer program for low- and moderate-income students who are not reading at grade level, Safety Around Water, which teaches children water safety and basic swimming skills at no cost, Youth & Government for teens and YMCA scholarship programs.

This year, the YMCA is also celebrating its 60th anniversary. The nonprofit organization serves the Conejo Valley, Simi Valley, Westlake Village, Oak Park, Agoura Hills and Moorpark. It is dedicated to building positive relationships, impacting lives and strengthening the community through youth development, healthy living programs and social responsibility.

For more information and to order tickets, call 805-497-3081 or go to https://www.sevymca.org/gala. For sponsorship information, contact Danielle Hutchison, YMCA Senior Director/Development, at 805-497-3081, ext. 1009, dhutchison@sevymca.org.

“Summer Shakespeare doesn’t get any better than this,” raves Stage Scene LA about Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum’s signature production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which will be transported from their Topanga Canyon amphitheater to Santa Barbara’s Elings Park for an outdoor performance amid the oaks and under the stars on Saturday, August 17 starting at 3 p.m.

This production is a favorite of Theatricum audiences and returns each year as part of the professional company’s five-play summer season. At Elings Park it will be performed amid the oaks and under the stars in the Godric Grove outdoor theatre. Godric Grove’s stage will be transformed into the enchanted forest of Athens where an unseen fantasy world of fairies and sprites exists alongside – and often interferes with – the human one.

One of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays, it is a merry romp filled with comic confusions, mistaken identities, and unrequited love, all joyously reconciled. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is believed to have been first performed as an entertainment at the wedding of Queen Elizabeth First’s godchild.

“Theatricum Botanicum’s fantastical… production is apparently a favorite, and it is easy to see why,” says Shakespeare International. The production is directed by Theatricum’s Associate Producing Artistic Director Willow Geer, the granddaughter of company founder, Will Geer. Blacklisted during the 1950s, the elder Geer later appeared as the beloved Grandpa in “The Waltons” from 1972 until his death in 1978. His daughter Ellen Geer, also an actress, is the company’s producing artistic director.

“The production was created for Theatricum’s theatre in the woods, and is a great fit for the Park,” says Dean Noble, Elings Park’s executive director. “Godric Grove is already magical, with an oak tree growing though the stage. This is a perfect way to introduce your family to the world of Shakespeare.”

Advance general admission tickets for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” are $20 for adults, $15 for teens and seniors, and free for children under 12. Available online at https://elingspark.ticketsauce.com/e/midsummer-nights-dream-at-elings-park. Tickets will be sold at the door as available at $23 for adults, $18 for teens and seniors. Free parking is available for ticketed guests. Visit www.elingspark.org.