SYV Stories

Even before the Covid pandemic, Bethania and its members made it their mission to feed our community. From brown bag lunches for seniors, to healthy vegetables for Bethania’s preschoolers, to the blessing box outside the Church, Bethania had already been filling the gaps in our community when it came to food insecurity. So it was fortunate that by the time the pandemic forced closures across the country, Bethania had already started the process to license its facilities for emergency fo...

Nakia Zavalla can trace her Chumash heritage back to at least six generations. She grew up on the Chumash reservation and learned about Chumash traditions from her grandmother and her parents. As Cultural Director for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, today Nakia teaches the Samala language and Chumash culture to both the tribe and the Santa Ynez Valley Community.In our conversation, we discuss her family’s history, her experiences growing up on the reservation, her mission ...

Joan Hartmann spent her first 10 years exploring the wonders of rural Wisconsin. Her father passed away shortly after her family moved to California, leaving her mother, a pediatric nurse, to raise two children on her own. Hartmann draws heavily on these early experiences, which gave her courage, determination, compassion, and grit.Her career took a windy path from environmental policy professor to public service. While living in Buellton, she participated in a grass roots c...

In the early 70’s, Brooks Firestone left his family’s famous tire company to start the Valley’s first commercial winery. In the last 50 years, with Kate, his wife of 62-years, the Firestones have raised 4 children, and now boast 14 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.While he’s most proud of his family, Mr. Firestone has made his mark on our community as a philanthropist and politician. He served 2 terms as a California Assemblyman and one term as a County Supervisor. He...

As the Consulting Winemaker and Brand Ambassador for Miller Family Wines, Wes Hagen talks about wine for a living. And if I had a day to spend tasting and learning about wine, Wes would be the first person I’d choose to join me. He’d wax eloquent about coaxing soil into the deliciousness that is wine and postulate that without wine there would be no democracy. He is perhaps the most articulate and persuasive advocate for the exceptional wines that come out of the Santa Barba...

I first met Kim when a friend recommended her yoga studio, The Juicy Life in Santa Ynez. By my first downward facing dog, I was put off by the loud music as I had never done yoga this way, but by the end of that initial class I realized her playlist, which paired well with the intention she set at the beginning of class, really helped me tune out both the outside world and the inside noise in my brain and focus on my mat and my body’s movement. I was hooked.Kim’s passion for healt...

The Solvang Trolley is truly a family-run business. Since the traditional Danish style trolley hit the Solvang Streets in the 60’s, the trolley business has been passed down from family to family. Today its owned by the Orona family. Sal Sr. drives the horse and trolley, Sal. Jr. gives tours, Lorena works the stables and the ice cream parlor where tickets are sold, and Claudia (Clau) also serves as tour guide and ice cream scooper. Many in town may not know that Solvang Trol...

Note: This episode contains some profanity and an honest discussion about racism, including details about racially motivated incidents, that may not be suitable for a younger audience.My guest this week moved to the Valley less than a year ago, but she’s already made a significant impact. In the last few weeks since George Floyd’s tragic death reinvigorated the Black Lives Matter movement to end systemic racism, as well as the call for white folks to become allies and confront white pri...

For many of us, the pandemic and recent social unrest has made it tougher to have meaningful conversations with friends and family about issues that affect us all. But having these difficult conversations and listening to the people who are knowledgeable about these issues is important, perhaps now more than ever. I recently exchanged thoughts with a friend about a video she posted on social media. As the wife of a law enforcement officer, she shared her experiences with me ...

As we all hunker down in our homes to flatten the coronavirus curve, finding a guest for this week’s episode was a little difficult. So I asked my friend Chris Brown (my guest in Episode 3) to come back, this time to act as the interview host, so I can share my own personal story. We sat the requisite 6 feet apart while discussing my childhood growing up in the other Valley (the San Fernando Valley), the tragic loss of my mother, and how that story both affected me in my career and rela...