Sandy Everett-Mayhew, 1947-2007

It’s not every home daycare provider who can sing and tap dance, but Sandy Everett-Mayhew did it all.

When the fourth-generation Santa Barbara native passed away on May 24, she left behind a legacy of community involvement ranging from appearances in the Fiesta parade in her youth to professional appearances in musicals with the Civic Light Opera and Circle Bar B Theatre. For 30 years, she taught tap dance classes at the Dance Warehouse and the Carrillo Recreation Center and choreographed shows for high school musicals.

Many will remember her as a no-nonsense dance teacher with high expectations of her students, while to others, she was a familiar face in the church choir, where her vocal training was put to good use. Her daycare business was the longest-running such organization in Santa Barbara County.

Performing arts PR representative Mo McFadden remembered Everett-Mayhew as “a tough taskmaster. I frequently joked with her about being like a drill instructor from the army with her forceful manner and no-apologies teaching,” McFadden said. “She liked that description.”