In this E-Letter:
Here are the 2019 Benefit Photos, of many HTO Supporters we thank!
HTO is the Grand Marshal of the Santa Barbara Holiday Parade – please join us!
HTO/MarBorg Styrofoam Program Increasing in Volume
Manitou Fund Expands HTO Technology through Manitou Grant
A Christmas Present from State Lands – starting on Summerland Oil Leaks
Jeff Young appointed to City Water Commission
Getting Festive: Join HTO at Topa Topa Brewing Company on November 21 - this Thursday night - for Happy Hour and live music!
HTO 2019 BENEFIT IN PICTURES!
Thanks to everyone who came to our October benefit at the El Paseo – and here at last are some pictures (all by ©Priscilla) to give you an idea of the fun we had, all while raising the MOST funds we ever have in the history of all our benefits! A Big THANK YOU to HTO Sponsors Marie Morrisroe, Dan & Rae Emmett, Tomchin Family Foundation, Marcy Carsey & Susan Baerwald/Just Folk, Nancy & Thomas Crawford, the Roy E. Crummer Foundation, Brad Hall & Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Nora McNeely Hurley & Michael Hurley, Sam Scranton, David & Lyn Anderson, Tom & Sheila Cullen, Aqueos Corporation/Ted & Carolyn Roche, Big Speak Inc., Maria & Stephen Black, Heather & Kelly Clenet, Judith Little, John & Caron Berryhill, Terri Carlson, M.D., Lee Heller, Jed Hirsch, MarBorg Industries, Francoise Park, Patsy Tisch, Alan & Kathryn Van Vliet, Susan Venable & Charles Vinick, and Zog Industries/Fred Herzog.
Thank you to you media moguls who gave coverage to our evening - Richard Mineards & Priscilla, and Lynda Millner for Montecito Journal – getting the word out about our doings is so important to us!
Finally, the top of our thanks goes to Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who has been our wonderful Honorary Chair year after year – and at the 2019 Benefit celebration, she opened the show with a Julia-styled BANG! Click here for the pictures!
HTO IS THE GRAND MARSHAL OF SANTA BARBARA’S HOLIDAY PARADE!
Break out the Santa hats and hula skirts, because Heal the Ocean has been chosen to be Grand Marshal of the 2019 Santa Barbara Downtown Holiday Parade on December 6! For this fun and festive evening, we invite you to join HTO in the parade, wearing a special Holiday Edition HTO t-shirt and a cozy Santa hat, gifts from us. Please contact HTO Operations Coordinator Alison Thompson (alison@healtheocean.org) for your shirt, and reservation of your spot!
The theme of the parade is ‘A Tropical Holiday’, so along with Santa hats, some of us might choose to wear hula skirts and Hawaiian shirts!
The holiday parade starts at 6:30 pm on Friday, December 6th, lighting up State Street, and bringing the spirit of the holidays to all of Santa Barbara. This year’s parade will feature giant balloons, magnificent marching bands, community floats, spectacular performance groups, the Holiday Prince and Fairy who will light the giant downtown Christmas Tree, and of course the most anticipated appearance of the season: Santa Claus.
And then, of course, there will be Heal the Ocean in the Grand Marshal hot rod limo with our celebrity world ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau riding with us! We hope to see all of you, our great supporters, at the parade on December 6 with your bright red HTO T-shirts, Santa hats, grass skirts, and flower leis!
MARBORG/HTO STYROFOAM PROGRAM GROWING!
Part of a load of Styrofoam dropped off at MarBorg David Love Place on Friday, November 15, 2019. Photo by Alison Thompson.
The Heal the Ocean/MarBorg Industry Styrofoam Repurposing Program grows by leaps and bounds. The letters and notes of appreciation we get at the HTO office is gratifying. The public realizes the value of keeping Styrofoam out of the waste stream – and ultimately, the ocean. Community participation is impressive: on average, our community fills around 5 dumpsters a day with clean, dry Styrofoam so that it can be repurposed into sellable products - picture frames and crown molding.
A drop off on Friday, November 15, 2019 at MarBorg’s David Love yard was attended by Alison Thompson of HTO, who watched a 25-yard container fill up in just a few minutes! Her pictures tell the story: All of this foam is now removed from the possibility of ending up in the ocean. Thank you everyone for participating in this program! If you have any questions or concerns on how to get your Styrofoam to Nopalitos Way or David Love Place, please call us at the office, 805-965-7570, or email Styrofoam@healtheocean.org and we will be happy to advise you!
HTO TECHNOLOGY GETS A BOOST FROM MANITOU FUND
Harry Rabin at work
When it comes to figuring out environmental problems, technology is key. And HTO Advisory Board member Harry Rabin, film producer and founder of On the Wave Productions, knows how to use it – underwater magnetometers to locate underwater wellheads, LIDAR (light detection and ranging) to produce 3D laser scanning, heat photography to capture campfires and/or Bunsen burners in homeless camps along the RR tracks or in troublesome areas, and other such technologies. Rabin works as an official advisor and liaison between universities, community and government entities like NOAA, USGS, UCSB's Bren and Marine Sciences Institution, and others. With Harry on the HTO team, we can "loan him out" for projects that help solve problems that go along with the HTO Mission. Therefore, when the Manitou Fund recently gave HTO a generous grant to pay for Harry's work, HTO technology got a great big boost - and it opens our doors to help solve various environmental problems.
DEAR SANTA: OIL WELLS CAPPED, PLEASE!
Photo by Nora McNeely Hurley
When the lowest of Low Tides comes to the California coast in December 2019, State Lands Commission (SLC) contractors will arrive on Summerland Beach with construction equipment, to excavate around two sources of leaking wells in the sand. The December excavation will reveal the method and plan used to cap one well (“Ohlssen’s”) and determine if the other (“Ramp”) is a seep or a well to be capped. The actual capping work will be done in early-to-mid 2020 when SLC plans to add the notorious Treadwell leak to its list of work at the same time. HTO Advisory Board member Harry Rabin has been working with SLC contractors Interact to map Treadwell with underwater magnetometers, to accurately pinpoint the wellhead to be capped.
JEFF YOUNG APPOINTED TO SANTA BARBARA CITY WATER COMMISSION
Jeff Young
Jeffrey Young is well known in water issues – having served as Regional Water Quality Control Board Member for years (at times as Chairman), and prolific writer on water and climate change issues as well. Heal the Ocean feels fortunate that he is our Co-Founder (along with Hillary Hauser), and we salute him on his recent appointment to the City of Santa Barbara’s Water Commission. Congratulations, Jeff!
COMING RIGHT UP:
HEAL THE OCEAN HAPPY HOUR AT TOPA TOPA!
Kick-off your weekend early this week by joining us at Topa Topa Brewing Company for Happy Hour with Heal the Ocean on Thursday, November 21, 2019, from 6-9 pm!
Come on down to Topa Topa for a refreshing drink, great company, and ocean fun. There will be a raffle, ocean information, and groovy live music by The Wrinkled Teenagers with Denny Aaberg & Simone Reddingius!
Each beer sold benefits Heal the Ocean, so please come support us on Thursday night from 6-9 pm, we can’t wait to see you!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!
And while you celebrate with family, friends, or in solitude, don’t forget the less fortunate – donate a turkey to the Food Bank, a bag of groceries to those in need, and send up a good meditation for peace in the world.