Thanks for Brunching with Us

The Independent staff would like to extend a warm thank you to everyone who attended Backyard Brunch this past Saturday, April 18. The community and Independent staff spent a beautiful spring day in the sun with family and friends in tow at the Rancho La Patera and Stow House. The day was filled with lawn games, grabbing prints at the photobooth, making masks and art, trying our luck at giveaways, devouring delicious local sips and bites, and enjoying the live music of Dom Lawarence and Miles Julian, closed out by the Brasscals!

The sunny spring day was the perfect setting for day filled with delicious brunch from Renaud’s Bakery and Bistro, Third Window Brewing, Cristino’s Bakery, McConnell’s Ice Cream, Dune Coffee Roasters, Welcome Coffee Cart, Sama Sama Kitchen, The Blue Owl, Santa Barbara Cider Co., Maria’s Tacos, Sunstone Winery, Clementine Carter Wines, and Draughtsmen Aleworks.

As attendees filled up, they also enjoyed giveaways from The Closet Trading Company and The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara, along with State of Mind Café, which did a coffee grounds art project, and Ice in Paradise, which also set up a hockey activity for the kids. Summer Solstice helped attendees make masks and draw elephants while Brighten Solar Company brought an interactive dollhouse. Family and friends also played a few rounds of cornhole, ring toss, and ladder ball on the lawn to round out the afternoon.

After the smooth, jazzy tunes of Dom Lawrence and Miles Julian, the Brasscals jumped in and closed out Backyard Brunch with a dance party. It was a treat to have so many people in attendance not only celebrating the Independent’s 40 years of journalism, but also helping to fund our Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund through SBCAN. This program helps ensure that social justice and environmental issues will continue to be researched and reported on in the Santa Barbara region, even while print media around the country is shrinking. To read articles supported by the Flacks Fund, go to independent.com/mickeyflacks.

Without the Flacks family and you, our readers, our reporting would not be possible. We thank you again for your support of our journalism and for coming to Backyard Brunch this year!

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