As we roll into the new year and enjoy the new beginnings of January, many residents in Santa Barbara are taking this time to remember the Montecito Mudslides that occurred exactly a year ago.

A remembrance has been planned for the entire community to provide healing for the destruction caused by the debris flow in the early hours of January 9, 2018. Attendees are expected to arrive at Lower Manning Park at 6:00pm. A traditional blessing song will be performed by Chumash elder Marcus Lopez before the official program begins. The official program begins at 6:30pm and will consist of a welcoming, a poem, a candle lighting ceremony with a reading of the names who were lost on 1/9, and the singing of This Little Light of Mine by the students of all Montecito elementary schools (Cold Spring School, Crane Country Day School, Laguna Blanca Lower School, Montecito Union School, and Mt. Carmel School).

After the lower school choir has finished, there will be a candlelit procession from Lower Manning Park down San Ysidro Road to All Saints Church where 23 bells will ring for each person lost.

San Ysidro Road will be closed between 6pm and 9pm so please drive and park accordingly. There are shuttle services from the Music Academy of the West, Coast Village Road (Butterfly Lane), Coast Village Road (Montecito Inn), Westmont, Cold Spring School, Mount Carmel Church, and the Valley Club, running every 15-20 minutes.

As stated by Andy Surber, Head of Laguna Blanca Lower School, “A great deal of respect, love, and appreciation has been put into the planning of this event”. The entire community is encouraged to attend and share the beautiful remembrance of the lives lost tragically, exactly one year ago.