Goleta Magazine 2019-2020 - 16

cover story

Celebrating History,
Culture and Family
Left to right: The Harwood
family pictured in front of
the Santa Barbara Police
Department. Jack Harwood
dancing at the tablao. The
Harwood Family pictured in
the gardens at Stow House.

E V E R Y M E M B E R O F T H E Harwood Family-
from the parents, Dacia and Riley, to their sons, Jack
and Skyler-is deeply connected to the local community through work, play and artistic expression. They are
involved with many local groups and events and it would
be difficult to find someone in Goleta who doesn't know a
member of this amazing family.

dear to her heart, especially with her son Jack being an avid
Flamenco dancer.

Their story begins in 1995. While on the quest for the perfect pair of sunglasses, Riley met Dacia at a sunglass store
she was managing at La Cumbre Plaza. She was finishing up
her history degree at UC Santa Barbara and Riley had just
joined the Santa Barbara Police Department. Riley came
back to buy a few more pairs of sunglasses before asking
Dacia out on a date...and the rest is history.

At the age of 3, Jack took his first Flamenco class and
was immediately infatuated with the foot movement
and sounds. He has been dancing for nearly 12 years and
performs in a variety of shows throughout the year. Their
youngest son, Skyler, has followed in his older brother's
footsteps and has recently started taking Flamenco classes. Their dancing feet come from their father, Riley, who
was a ballroom dancer and studied at Miye and Kenji Ota's
studio in college.

After the couple eloped in Maui, the pair settled in Goleta
and continued to build their careers. Dacia continued with
the retail chain, traveling frequently and opening stores
across the west coast. Riley worked his way up the ranks at
the Police Department, serving in many roles such as the
Public Information Officer and Special Events Coordinator.
Before their first son Jack was born, Dacia left her job for a
more flexible schedule planning a few destination weddings
and to spend time at home with him. Easing back into a
work, she found a new role at the Goleta Valley Historical
Society, stewards of Rancho La Patera & Stow House.
Dacia was Goleta Valley Historical Society's first staff member and she stayed with the organization for more than 13
years. She started Music at the Ranch, a summer concert
series, and worked with Old Spanish Days to begin Fiesta
Ranchera, a local favorite and the only official Fiesta event
in Goleta. Fiesta history and Old Spanish Days is near and

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"Working for the Historical Society was such a great growing experience for me," says Dacia. "We have so many
amazing lifelong volunteers. I've learned so much from
their dedication to local history and truly about the type of
person I want to be."

To further his craft, Dacia and Jack have made two trips to
southern Spain to participate in the Jerez Flamenco festival
and experience this traditional Spanish dance.
A few years into working for the Historical Society in
Goleta, Dacia was recruited to also work part time for the
Santa Barbara Historical Museum. Last year she accepted
the position of Deputy Director.
Throughout his career, Riley was honored with several
accolades for his work in the City of Santa Barbara. After 28
years of service, he retired as a Sergeant in 2018 to take the
opportunity to spend more time with his children.
"It's important to us to immerse our kids in the local history and culture," said Dacia, "and this is an amazing community to do that in."

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Goleta Magazine 2019-2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Goleta Magazine 2019-2020