🌱 Memorial Bridge Tribute + Inn For Sale + Mardi Gras Events

Well hello there, Healdsburg! Let's start this balmy winter day off on an informed note, shall we? Here's everything you need to know about what's happening around town.

First, today's weather:

Super warm, with a mix of clouds and sun. High: 72 Low: 44.

Shoutout to our premier local sponsors:

• Have you stopped by Amy's Wicked Slush near Memorial Bridge lately? Amy's has Slush in glorious flavors like root beer, mango, and orange cream and soft serve in flavors like Cupcake, Blueberry and Brown Sugar Cinnamon. Can’t decide? Get the Split — half-slush, half-soft serve layered up like a parfait! Do yourself a favor and stop by ASAP.

• Looking to buy or sell a luxury property in Sonoma County? Healdsburg’s Sotheby’s International Realty is a local firm with global reach that specializes in luxury real estate, vineyards, wineries and land in Sonoma County. Healdsburg's Sotheby's: local expertise, deep market knowledge, and a passion for the community. Whether buying or selling, it pays to work with the best. Call Healdsburg’s Sotheby’s at 707-433-4800.

• Looking to rent in the Healdsburg area? Stacey Bernd at Healdsburg & Artisan Sotheby's International has lived in Sonoma Co. for 48 years and been in real estate for 30. She knows the market the way only a local can. Thinking of listing a property for rent? She can help with that too. Contact Stacey and work with Healdsburg's best.

Click here to get your business featured in this spot.

Air over Healdsburg:

Here are the top 5 stories today in Healdsburg:

1. The Memorial Bridge across the Russian River in Healdsburg was all lit up in yellow and blue last night — aka, the colors of the Ukrainian flag. According to a Facebook post from the city: "At the direction of Mayor Jimenez, the City of Healdsburg has illuminated the Healdsburg Avenue Bridge in the colors of the Ukrainian flag as a show of peace, solidarity, and support for the people of Ukraine. 🇺🇦" Healdsburg photographer Ron Keeley spotted it early in the day; he posted a photo to Facebook saying, "Looks like they are changing up the lighting scheme on Healdsburg’s automobile bridge. Notice the blue and yellow reflections in the river... ." Previously, when the bridge was lit up purple a couple weeks ago for Valentine's Day, city officials had said that "the illumination of the bridge was an $800 project, and we can reuse these light fixtures... in the future." Looks like they got their chance! (Facebook & Facebook & Facebook)
2. Here are the latest local COVID guidelines from our state and county officials, as of today: Masks are no longer required "in indoor public settings, regardless of vaccination status, except for public transit, health care settings, emergency shelters, correctional facilities, homeless shelters and long-term care facilities." However, public health officials still "strongly recommend that you mask in indoor public settings, as well as stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms." Meanwhile, the coronavirus case count across Sonoma County continues to quickly decline; right now we're back where we were around mid-December. There are currently around 120 active cases in Healdsburg, county data shows. (Facebook & Sonoma County Government)
3. We just learned that longtime Healdsburg resident Joyce Trail Peters passed away in mid-January at the age of 92. She and her husband Richard "moved to Healdsburg in 1951," according to her obituary. "Joyce was the church organist at the Federated Church for many years and sang in the church choir. She was also the pianist for the Healdsburg Jr. & Sr. High choirs and also worked in the high school library for many years as an assistant." Joyce's obituary also says she and Richard, who died a little over a decade ago, "were both singers and traveled through Europe three times with a Santa Rosa group, the Northern California Chamber Chorale." May they rest together in peace. (SoCoNews Healdsburg)
4. The historic and recently renovated River Belle Inn on Front Street, just north of the bridge, went up for sale last week. The price tag is nearly $8 million. According to the inn's listing on Redfin, "there are a dozen guest rooms, all with ensuite bathrooms, half of them with great river views looking toward Fitch Mountain and Mt. Saint Helena. The top floor is 2,554 square feet of owner's quarters with three bedrooms, also with ensuite baths, and a wonderful open floor plan to the great room. A patio and beautiful lawn overlooking the Russian River complete this stunning property." It was reportedly built as a Victorian-style home circa 1877, and "the Queen Anne style wrap around porch was added between 1904 and 1911 by Isabelle Simi Haigh who ran the family winery, located across the street, until 1980." Looks like they're still taking inn reservations in the meantime. (Healdsburg Patch & Redfin & Facebook & River Belle Inn)
5. The Press Democrat has a touching story this week on a local farmworker couple who, with the help of the Corazón Healdsburg nonprofit, are finally able to move out of the "unheated, unimproved garage" where they've lived in Cloverdale for five years. Their new apartment is one of 32 units in the affordable Cloverdale Family Apartments complex on Healdsburg Avenue. The couple, Alba and Aquino, are reportedly "ecstatic" about it. Their former garage apartment consisted of two beds ("one to sleep on and one to pile clothes on") and some plastic chairs, with no kitchen (just "small barbecues they must use outside") or bathroom. "They did have some bathroom privileges in the house," the PD reports, "but the landlord told them recently they could no longer use the toilet. So they must drive to gas stations or grocery stores to use their facilities." (Press Democrat; paywall)

Healdsburg pic of the day:

Want to see your local photo here? Submit it for consideration. Please just confirm in your email that you own the rights to the photo, and that Patch has permission to republish it.

Today and tomorrow in Healdsburg:

Tuesday, March 1

• Brown Bag Book Club at Healdsburg Library: "Lincoln in the Bardo" by George Saunders (12-1PM)
• Parish Cafe and Elephant in the Room Present: Mill Street's First Annual Mardi Gras Celebration, Feat. Live Music, Beer, Crawfish Boil & More (3-8PM)
• T-Luke & The Tight Suits Live at Coyote Sonoma for Mardi Gras (4-10PM)
• Corazón Healdsburg "Mi Bebé y Yo" Workshop: Desarrollo Cerebral y Físico de Recién Nacido (5-6:30PM)
• Zumba With Chuy at TCElite Gym (5:30-6:30PM)
• Healdsburg Running Company Fat Tuesday Run, Ending at Elephant in the Room & Parish (6PM)
• Artist Application Deadline for "Home" Show at Healdsburg Center for the Arts (11:59PM)

Wednesday, March 2

• COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic at Alliance Medical Center (10AM-12:30PM, 2-6:30PM)
• Sonoma County Government Resiliency Workshop: Solar Power and Battery Back-Up Basics (10:30-11:30AM)
• Healdsburg Swim Center Reopens for Public Lap Swim (10:30AM-12:30PM)
• Dungeons & Dragons Meetup for Teens at the Healdsburg Library (1:45-4:45PM)
• Graphic Novel & Comic Book Creation Class at Healdsburg Community Center (Weekly, March 2-April 13, 3:30-5:30PM)
• Sonoma County Sheriff Transparency Forum on ICE Access (6PM)
• City of Healdsburg Community Budget Meeting, Feat. Budget Simulation Tool Workshop (6-8PM)
• Zumba With Chuy at TCElite Gym (7:15-8:15PM)

From my notebook:

• The SingleThread restaurant downtown will be closed through at least the end of March as they repair the damage from a "small duct fire" that broke out in their kitchen last week. "For those who have bookings at the Restaurant or the Inn during the month of March, our reservations team will be in touch to cancel your reservation with a full refund of the booking fee," the restaurant says. And they're not taking any reservations yet for April, either, because they "cannot say with certainty what date we will reopen." (Eater SF & Instagram)
• The Healdsburg animal shelter is in desperate need of pet-food donations! They say they're "completely out of cat food and running very low on wet dog food." You can drop off donations directly at the shelter at 555 Westside Road from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Sunday, or have them shipped to that address. (Facebook)
• In case you haven't heard, Healdsburg's historic Madrona Manor out Westside Road is being resurrected next month as "The Madrona," a new "luxury, boutique hotel" and restaurant. Forbes Magazine just ran a feature on it, with some pretty stunning renderings of the property. (Forbes)
• You can also tour the new Madrona in person before it opens a few weekends from now, on March 18 and March 19. Ticket prices are $125 for a half day or $250 for a full day, including lots of fancy foods. And ticket proceeds go to the Healdsburg branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). (Facebook)
• The Luther Burbank Center's outdoor summer concert series will reportedly be held at the Rodney Strong Winery grounds in Healdsburg in 2022. The lineup should be announced soon. (North Bay Business Journal; paywall)
• Healdsburg will be hosting a St. Patrick's Day Parade again this year downtown, after a couple years off for COVID. It will kick off Thursday, March 17, at 7 a.m. "as parade-goers dressed in festive attire come together on Healdsburg Avenue in what has been called the 'biggest shortest parade in the world,'" city leaders say. After the parade, there will also be an "afternoon of live Celtic music and traditional Irish dance performances." (City of Healdsburg & Healdsburg Patch Calendar)
• It's public lap swim season again at the Healdsburg pool! You can now do laps on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., according to the city. And "expanded lap swim hours, recreational swim, and swim lessons will follow this spring and summer as the high school team wraps-up their swim team season." (City of Healdsburg)
• The Sonoma County Airport is now 100 percent solar powered, officials say. A bunch of huge new solar panels covering the long-term parking lot — "officially online" as of this week — are expected to "generate enough renewable electricity to cover all of the Airport’s annual electrical needs." Cool! (Facebook & Facebook & Press Democrat; paywall)
• Healdsburg police are encouraging residents and businesses to register their security cameras, to help them investigate stuff that may have happened nearby. And to be clear: "Registering a camera does not give police department personnel access to the cameras, rather it provides investigators information about where cameras are located to help further an investigation," police say. (City of Healdsburg)
• The PD has a great slideshow of 18 old photos from the Healdsburg of around 100 years ago. (Press Democrat; paywall)

Loving the Healdsburg Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved:

• Send a friend or neighbor this link so they can subscribe
• Get your local business showcased in front of readers
• Send me a news tip or suggestion at simone.wilson@patch.com

You're all caught up for today! I'll see you back in your inbox tomorrow morning with another update.

— Simone Wilson

About me: I was born and raised in Healdsburg, CA, where I was the editor of the Healdsburg High School Hound's Bark. I have since worked as a local journalist for publications in San Diego, Los Angeles, New York City and the Middle East. I'm currently a senior product manager for Patch.