News

Like many other businesses and organizations throughout the country, Healdsburg’s nonprofits are having to come to terms with the current and future economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19. While some local nonprofits, like the Healdsburg Center for the Arts, are forthcoming about the struggle to stay funded during this time, others, like the Healthcare Foundation of Northern Sonoma County, are maintaining a more stable financial footing. In response, local nonprofits are amping up their efforts and trying to think of ways to bring their usual fundraisers and programs online.

The Healdsburg Museum has extended its “Picturing Healdsburg” exhibit for the rest of the year and with a little inspiration from the Getty’s painting reenactment challenge, the museum is encouraging community members to reenact historical photos from their collection.

On Saturday, May 23, members of Sebastopol’s two Rotary Clubs — the Rotary Club of Sebastopol and Rotary Club Sebastopol Sunrise — donned masks and brought their shovels to put the final touches on the new play structure in Libby Park, dispersing bark around the playground.

Now that the county is opening up, west county’s many farmers markets are looking forward to increased business, balancing the requirements for providing a socially distanced environment while still attracting customers to support local farmers.

 PAY HOMAGE — A modest group of Cloverdalians met in Cloverdale’s cemetery Monday morning, May 25, to hold a small ceremony in memory of fallen veterans. The group primarily consisted of members of Cloverdale’s American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars groups and was held as an unofficial ceremony — the groups traditionally hold a Memorial Day ceremony at the Cloverdale Veterans Memorial Building and cemetery which draws in upwards of 100 people. This year they couldn’t hold it due to social distancing and public event protocols. Prior to the ceremony, members of the American Legion put up American flags on the headstones of veterans.

The Ceres Community Project is a Sebastopol-based nonprofit that teaches teenagers how to cook healthy, immune-boosting meals and then delivers those meals to seriously ill clients throughout the north bay. As of March, the group was delivering about 1,600 meals weekly to 184 clients and their families with the help of hundreds of youth and adult volunteers.

A county study on the impacts of congestion, noise, safety and related issues linked to winery and rural tasting room and other special events, has taken so long that the original conditions and concerns that prompted the study in 2016 may now all be changing thanks to the potential post-pandemic business changes anticipated in the local wine industry.

National Arts Drive postponed to June 20

The Healdsburg Unified School District (HUSD) is projecting around a 10 to 15% revenue loss in state aid, as well as a 20% cut in lottery funds and federal title dollars, and while this may seem like a big chunk, the district says it will fair a bit better than districts that rely on state funding.

Graduation event update: The pre-recorded graduation ceremony video will be streamed on YouTube, Facebook and on Comcast channels 26 and 27 on June 5 at 7 p.m.