🌱 Mill District Rises + Little Saint Status + High School Bathrooms

Hello and happy hot summer weekend, Healdsburg! I'm here in your inbox to tell you everything you need to know about what's going on around town these days. I'll get right to it.

First, your weekend weather:

• Saturday: Mostly sunny. High: 90 Low: 52.
• Sunday: A bunch more sun. High: 91 Low: 54.
• Monday: Mostly sunny and even hotter than the past few days. High: 93 Low: 56.

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Air over Healdsburg:

Here are the top 5 stories today in Healdsburg:

1. The Genders and Sexualities Alliance club at Healdsburg High is thriving, thanks in large part to two students graduating this year, the Press Democrat reports. Molly Miller and Liam O’Gorman helped restart the club as sophomores in 2020 — and now "leave behind a legacy of acceptance," including two murals at the high school and an 11th grade seminar, the paper writes. Now, their successors at the club have big plans for the 2022-23 school year. From the PD: "On next year’s alliance agenda, the members want to change signs for two of the school’s bathrooms to be inclusive of students with diverse gender identities. Currently, there is one on-campus bathroom that is gender-neutral. The former alliance members propose to create one non-gender female, one non-gender male restroom that would accommodate all students in safe places. There would be two bathrooms each for men and women that would remain as they currently are. There has been no pushback against the idea and alliance co-advisor Rivers believes it will go before the school board in July or August." (Press Democrat; paywall)
2. Update on the massive construction site that will one day be Healdsburg's fancy new 10-acre "Mill District"! According to the North Bay Business Journal, construction is now underway on the main luxury component — aka, "43 luxury apartments and condos" costing between $1 million and $8.5 million — and should be finished "within about two years." The developer sats that "after years of design and approvals, we are now moving trailers and heavy equipment on site and preparing for construction" — and that "in the next few weeks, we will start the excavation for the underground parking for our first residences, and once they get started, Mill District is going to rise quickly." On top of these 43 high-end homes, the district will include 41 apartments that meet "affordable" standards (the deadline to apply is July 1, and construction should be done later this year); 128 other homes, "a mix of market-rate condos for sale and middle-income units for rent"; and "a 53-room luxury hotel in a pair of two-to-four story buildings, with 15,000 square feet of commercial retail space occupying the ground floors." More details from the Business Journal: "The hotel will include a restaurant, as well as a pool and fitness center that will be shared with Mill District residents. Room rates are expected to be $500 to $800 a night, comparable to Hotel Healdsburg just a couple of blocks away." The developer estimates the entire project will be a wrap in the year 2028. (North Bay Business Journal; paywall)
3. Douglas Keane, the owner and chef of Healdsburg's old Cyrus restaurant — which closed almost a decade ago due to drama with a new Les Mars Hotel landlord — says he's on track to reopen Cyrus in Geyserville this September. He has called the "$5 million renovation of an 8,000-square-foot former prune packing plant in downtown Geyserville" his dream project. And from what he's now telling the San Francisco Chronicle, the new location won't be lacking any of the extravagance or theatrics of the Healdsburg original. "Diners can expect a 3½-hour experience with staggered seatings for 12 people at a time" at a "15-foot-long, 1,600-pound cantilevered steel dining table that appears to be floating in midair," the Chronicle reports. And after the meal is done, the grand finale: "A door opens to reveal a room where mignardises await, again highlighting five basic tastes, all boxed up beside an 8-foot-tall cascading wall of molten dark chocolate." According to the Chronicle, "exclusive reservations for the first three dinners, Sept. 9-11, will go on sale online at noon on Sunday, June 26, by San Francisco’s Meals on Wheels. Just 12 seats will be available each of those evenings, priced at $5,000 per person, with proceeds benefiting the nonprofit that provides meals to homebound seniors." (SFist & Sonoma Magazine & SF Chronicle; paywall)
4. Meanwhile, back in Healdsburg, the newly opened Little Saint food/art/event space on North Street seems to be hitting its stride. Ken Fulk, the head of design, hosted a private book release party in the upstairs lounge last week that looked pretty wild. "Fashionably dressed concession attendants served popcorn and libations, while the kitchen dished its signature farm-forward bites," according to the Shop Local Healdsburg account on Instagram, and a "band played a cool rendition set list of movie soundtracks against the backdrop of classic movie reels." Once the upstairs space is opened to the public, the Tribune reports that it will be "a fully-outfitted lounge, hosting chef events, book readings and signings, film screenings and more." In the meantime, you can reportedly catch live music on Thursday nights in the main space. Program director Jenny Hess tells the Tribune of Little Saint's first couple months: "The community seems to love it. They miss SHED, but I think we’re getting it right; we want this space to be available again. You can head in at 6am and not leave until 10pm. That’s really something. We are loving watching [Little Saint] take shape and seeing how people want to use it. So many places have so many rules, and we don’t want to put too many rules on this. Just come, enjoy." (Shop Local Healdsburg via Instagram & Healdsburg Tribune)
5. City staffer Andrew Sturmfels has been promoted from "director of administrative services" to "assistant city manager." This "crucial" position has gone unfilled for over two years "as the city worked to reduce costs during the uncertainty of the pandemic," the Tribune reports. Now, the city says, "Sturmfels will play a lead role in overseeing the operations of City departments and coordinating with outside agencies and organizations. The position will also involve direct oversight of several high-profile, multi-departmental projects that have been identified as strategic goals by the City Council." Sturmfels got a warm introduction from City Manager Jeff Kay at the top of last week's City Council meeting. "Since joining the organization in 2021, Andrew has quickly become a valued member of our team. His broad experience, work ethic, and commitment to serving our community make him a great match for this position and we are lucky to have him," Kay says. (City of Healdsburg & Healdsburg Patch & Healdsburg Tribune)

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Healdsburg pics of the day:

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This weekend in Healdsburg:

Saturday, June 25

• Healdsburg Saturday Farmers Market (8:30AM-12PM)
• Flynn Creek Circus Presents "Balloons, Birds and Other Flying Things" at the Luther Burbank Center (June 25-26, 10AM-6PM)
• Opening Reception: 25th Anniversary Show at the Upstairs Art Gallery, Benefitting Local Nonprofit Farm to Pantry (11AM-6PM)
• Fleetwood Mask Concert at Orsi Family Vineyards (1PM)
• Meet the Last Surviving American WWII Triple Ace Pilot, Col. C.E. "Bud" Anderson, at the Sonoma County Airport (1:30PM)
• Summer Pickup Party at Alley 6 Craft Distillery (2-5PM)
• Windsor Pride Festival (2-9PM)
• Italian Pasta & Wine Class at Relish Culinary Center, With Focus on Piedmont (3:30-6:30PM)
• Opening Reception: Paris Street Photography Show at the Healdsburg Center for the Arts (5-7PM)
• Lobster Boil Dinner at Papapietro Perry Winery (6PM)
• Healdsburg Prune Packers Baseball Game Vs. Solano Mudcats at Rec Park (6PM)
• John Heard Tribute at THE 222: "A Celebration With His Music and Art" (7PM)
• AVFilm & La Familia Sana Present: "Cine en la Plaza" Outdoor Film Screening of "Inside Out" in Cloverdale (7-11PM)
• Aki Kumar, "Bollywood Bluesman," Live at the Elephant in the Room (8-10PM)
• Unauthorized Rolling Stones Live at Coyote Sonoma, Featuring Wine Takeover by Mazzocco Winery (8-11PM)

Sunday, June 26

• Nicole Marden & David Gray Live at VML Winery (11:30AM-4:30PM)
• Healdsburg Prune Packers Game Vs. Menlo Park Legends at Rec Park (12PM)
• Sip & Savor Sunday at Bacchus Landing, Featuring Food Truck (12-4PM)
• Sundays in the Plaza, Featuring Beatles Cover Artist Drew Harrison (1PM)
• Summer Soiree 2022 at Roadhouse Winery (1-4PM)
• Summer Solstice Women's Community Festival at CraftWork Healdsburg (1-5PM)
• Corázon Healdsburg & AVFilm Present: Spanish-Language Screening of "Jurassic World: Dominio" at the Clover Theater (2:30PM)
• Sunset Music Series at the Ranch at Lake Sonoma, Feat. Country Band Buck Nickels and Loose Change (5:30PM)
• Frankie Boots Album Release Party at the Elephant in the Room (7-10PM)

Monday, June 27

• Summer Art Camp for Kids Aged 6-9 at the Healdsburg Center for the Arts: "Studio Painting, Drawing and Collage" With Teacher Kelly Ebeling (June 27-30, 8:30AM-12PM)
• Summer Art Camp for Kids Aged 3-5 at the Healdsburg Center for the Arts: "At the Circus" With Teacher Maria Gerstley (June 27-30, 9AM-12PM)
• New Exhibit at the Upstairs Art Gallery: "Marble-Ous" (June 27-July 31, 11AM-6PM)
• Summer Art Camp for Kids Aged 10-17 at the Healdsburg Center for the Arts: "Introduction to Digital Photography" With Teacher Nicole Schlaeppi (June 27-30, 1-4:30PM)
• Healdsburg Senior Center Supper Club: Enchilada Night (5:30PM)

From my notebook:

• If you saw some Healdsburg cops running through town last week, flanked by an impressive number of police cars, here's what was happening, according to the department: "Healdsburg officers participated in the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Northern California to raise awareness and vital funds to save sports, health, fitness, and education programs for Special Olympics Northern California athletes. The torch was carried from the Community Center to the southern city limit, where it was handed off to runners from the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office." (Healdsburg Police Department via Facebook & Facebook Groups)
• Firefighters are staging a controlled burn today a little south of us, along Old Redwood Highway just north of Mendocino Avenue. (CAL FIRE via Facebook & County of Sonoma via Facebook)
• Local economists tell the Tribune that Healdsburg is unlikely to see a big impact from the latest federal interest rate hike. That's because our city's biggest source of income is from luxury travel, which continues to thrive, the report says. (Healdsburg Tribune)
• There's a huge Pride festival and street fair down on Windsor's Town Green today. Think live music, costumes, activities for kids, tons of food and drink options, etc. (Facebook Groups & Windsor Pride Festival via Facebook)
• There's also a good-old-fashioned rodeo happening this weekend over in Duncans Mills, along the river near the ocean. (Russian River Rodeo)
• An "almost impossibly cool" husky named Bert is waiting for you at the Healdsburg animal shelter. You know who you are. (Healdsburg Patch)
• A "portable recycling center" is coming to the Healdsburg City Hall parking lot as soon as next week, according to our city manager. He says it's a "pilot program and it will be fairly limited hours," and that he'll be sending out more info soon. (City of Healdsburg)
• The Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce has a new "sponsorship & membership advisor" named Amanda Parks. She reportedly "moved to Healdsburg in March of last year and fell in love with our town." (Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce via Facebook)
• Healdsburg High School student Hadley Reuter just took the bronze in a nationwide cooking competition called SkillsUSA. (Healdsburg High School via Facebook)
• Here's what Healdsburg's mayor, Ozzie Jimenez, has to say about the overturning of Roe v. Wade: "Shame on this Supreme Court! Shame on the conservative religious patriarchy obsessed with controlling a woman’s right to choose for themselves. A half century of precedent overturned today and folks we’re next. Fight hard our lives will depend on it." (Osvaldo Jimenez via Instagram)
• Healdsburg city officials just shared some cool photos of the current Pride lights on Memorial Bridge, which are supposed to stay lit through the end of the month. (Healdsburg Patch)
• Looks like someone finally set up some outdoor chairs at the dog park! (Nextdoor)

Thanks for following along and staying informed. See you all next week for more!

— 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.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Healdsburg Daily? Contact me at simone.wilson@patch.com