Gate on Foothill Road gets decked out for Easter and other holidays
The Easter spirit graces the gate at the Santa Barbara home of Evelyn Jacob and her partner Mindo Rosenblatt.
Inquiring minds want to know …
One of them is Lynne Abbey, who sent this email:
“There is a home on Foothill Road a few houses to the left where Mission Canyon comes into it, a house that always celebrates everything with exceptionally exuberant and arty seasonal decorations along Foothill Road. I almost drive into a ditch when I go by because it’s so interesting to look at.
Who lives there? Why do they go to all of this trouble to celebrate with creative decorations?
“These are not your typical Home Depot decorations that take 10 minutes to put up. Hundreds of people pass this home every day along Foothill. I suspect many of them have the same curiosity about the places as I do.”
Meet Santa Barbara resident Evelyn Jacob, who lives in the house with her partner Mindo Rosenblatt, who designed the gate and helps install the decorations that adorn the attention-getting massive carved wooden gate that is 6 feet tall and 15 feet wide.
“It was made 21 years ago by Victor Di Novi, a local furniture maker, to look like giant leaves although some people think of them as flowers. It is made of redwood,” said Ms. Jacob, who was more than happy to talk about the various decorations like the Easter display that is currently delighting passersby in cars and on foot.
Notes are left in the mailbox: “’Thank you so much for making the world a better place.” “I smile every time I drive by.” “My kids want to see what you’ve done.” “Really lovely.”
During a News-Press interview, Ms. Jacob described this year’s creation.
“The Easter eggs are made of cardboard covered with decorative wrapping paper and then decorated with recycled Nespresso coffee pods. The flowers are all made from recycled materials like CDs, empty spools from our 3D printer, pipe cleaners, plastic plates, sparkly jewels, wire, scraps of fabric and shiny trim, hangers, hula hoops, plastic forks, pool noodles and silk flowers,” she said. “A poignant touch is the Ukrainian flag donated by a friend.”
The gate decoration tradition began the Christmas after the gate was installed.
“We put a huge stuffed Santa — he was about 6 feet tall — sitting next to the mailbox so passersby could pose for pictures with him. A few years later, somebody stole him. People were irate. They left notes in the mailbox saying ‘Shame on you!’ Then, all of a sudden, he was returned,” said Ms. Jacob, with a chuckle. “If only he could talk.”
Next came decorations for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Summer Solstice and July Fourth.
“I’ve been in the Solstice parade for 35 years, so coming up with creative ideas is never a problem,” she said.
The decorations kept getting more elaborate, moving from the mailbox to spilling over the gate, and there are now locks and security cameras to prevent theft.
“Recently, we added a character named Jeff, who shows up for each holiday. On Thanksgiving, he was a chef holding a bowlful of salad. At Christmas time, he was an elf, and for Valentine’s Day, he was Cupid Jeff,” said Ms. Jacob.
The decorations appear the first day of the month in which the holiday occurs, and they disappear the day after to a secret hiding place behind the gate, where there is a garden filled with magic and whimsy.
“I have an area in my cactus garden that’s called the Brunswick Bed because it’s bordered with black bowling balls with baby cactuses growing out of the thumb holes,” said Ms. Jacob, the mother of two adult sons, Joss and Bowie.
She also creates artwork from old Nespresso capsules that she has been working within since 2011, creating everything from jewelry and clothing to sculptures and homeware.
“I just couldn’t throw them away,” said Ms. Jacob. “When I wear earrings made out of the capsules, I get so many comments from people. They say, ‘What are those made of?’ ‘Are they coins?’ ‘Are they bottle tops?’ And if I gave them 100 guesses, they would never know because they don’t recognize the capsules when they’ve been transformed. It just shows you that so much of this is about thinking outside the box.”
Among her pieces are metallic, ceramic and glass fish and large-scale items that include a chainmail quilt, alluring wizard poles and lifelike colorful snakes.
She doesn’t see herself ever giving up on using Nespresso capsules as a material.
“It’s always exciting to me when they come out with a new flavor because it’s a different capsule and a new color. I thoroughly love what I’m doing, and I can’t imagine ever being done. There’s certainly no shortage of ideas.”
Another passion is her volunteer work with Food From the Heart, the nonprofit she founded 28 years ago that delivers food to those in need free of charge every week.
“When I moved to Santa Barbara in 1978 from Los Angeles, I was one of the owners of the New York Bagel Factory, the only one in town. When that closed after 17 years, I was suddenly without a job, and I wondered what I would I like to do. Since I love to cook,I went to what was then called AIDS Project Central Coast and asked if they had people who were too sick that I could cook for. They gave me 15 people, and I just started cooking at my house.”
Today, she and other volunteers gather in the kitchen at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church to provide food for 160 health-compromised clients.
“We have a base now of 50 volunteers, men and women, who come regularly and do different things. We work together really well, and at the end of Wednesday when we see the bags of food go out and get delivered, there’s no feeling like that because you know that these people have food now. They are going to be OK for a few days,” Ms. Jacob said.
“People are given a huge bag with nutritious beautifully presented food. There are two entrees, a soup, a deli salad, a vegetable salad, fresh fruit and a bag of bread.”
A recent menu featured Curried Red Lentil Soup, Baked Pasta with Creamy Pesto, Orange and Fennel Chicken thighs, Asian Noodle Salad and Cranberry Swirl Cake.
Bread was donated by Ethnic Breads and baked goods were donated by Vons.
The clients, usually referred by a social service agency, tend to be a mix of AIDS, cancer and Alzheimer’s patients and the occasional accident survivor who is neither old enough nor poor enough — or a combination of the two – to receive help from the government.
“We’re their bridge to better health or passing on,” said Ms. Jacob, who includes meditation and tai chi in her daily routine.
“It’s really important to be happy. Our gate reflects our joy in being creative. It is our way of sharing our hearts with everyone.”
email: mmcmahon@newspress.com
FYI
For more information, visit www.podsnespresso.com and
