UC Santa Barbara
Retirees' Association

Spring 2026 Report

Submitted by George Hopwood and Robert Mann, CUCRA Representatives

Membership (including recruitment efforts and marketing).

Our Annual Membership Fee is $15, and membership for the 2025-26 fiscal year is currently standing at 400.

We advertise our events through weekly e-blasts from our Center Coordinator, by word of mouth and through direct e-mails. We are working to offer new programs and discounted activities in addition to continuing perennial favorites. We hope the offerings encourage more retirees to join and attend events.

We have also begun the purchase of some branded merchandise and swag to raise awareness of the Retiree Association both on campus and among retirees generally.

Member Benefits (parking, discounts, etc.)

Membership benefits include free parking on campus, access to the university library, discounted use of the UCSB Recreation Center, as well as discounts at the UCSB Bookstore and discounted tickets for some off-campus activities. Additionally, the Association continues to offer two $1000 scholarships for needy/local students enrolled at UCSB.

Organizational Developments (staffing, retirement center)

We have an open call for recruitment of new board members. Kim Summerfield continues as President, Andrea Carr as Treasurer, Julie Luera as Membership Coordinator, and Robert Mann and George Hopwood as CUCRA Representatives. Sabina White serves as an “at large” member. She also serves as a coordinator/escort with the CUCRA Travel Program.

UCSB does not have an assigned space for a Retirement Center, however, there is a cubicle in Human Resources for our Center Coordinator and we have access to a room designated as the “Retiree/Emeriti Meeting Room”. We are hopeful that additional space might be made available in the future.

Association Activities (tours, luncheons, lectures, etc.)

In November, the Retirees Association hosted a sold-out, docent-led tour of two blockbuster exhibitions at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art – Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse from the Dallas Museum of Art and Encore: 19th-Century French Art from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Museum-trained docents acted as guides to help us see, experience, and learn about works from Monet, Van Gogh, Matisse and more.

In December the association sponsored a walking tour of the Hermitage -- one of the best not-so-secret, jewels of Santa Barbara. Attendees were able to see this architecturally quirky museum and its 10-acre botanic garden that is filled with original sculptures and other works of art. The hillside gardens include a bamboo forest and subtropical gardens filled with significant collections of desert plants, cacti, aloes, agaves, palms, cycads, and rare and exotic flowering trees.

In mid-December we held our annual holiday party and Toys-for-Tots toy drive at a local golf club. Attendees enjoyed a fabulous lunch, ocean views and mingled with other members. We raised money for our scholarship fund with a raffle of some prizes donated by local restaurants and stores including several gift baskets filled with local products.

Future Plans

We have a tour of a local pickle factory planned for early June. Attendees will get to tour and learn about the facility and after the tour, create a custom jar of pickles to take home.

We will host a second trip the Hermitage museum for members that couldn’t make the sold-out tour in December.

We are also planning a Zoom travel talk to highlight the CUCRA travel program and to learn about the latest travel tools, technologies and tips.

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