🌱 Tasting Room Protest + 2021 Harvest Results + New Water Rules?

Oh look, it's Friday again! And here I am with your weekend edition of the Healdsburg Daily, packed full of everything you need to know about what's happening in town. Enjoy...

First, your weekend weather:

• Friday: Fog turning to warm sun. High: 73 Low: 47.
• Saturday: Nice and sunny. High: 74 Low: 49.
• Sunday: Fog turning to sun again. High: 74 Low: 50.
• Monday: More fog and sun! High: 70 Low: 49.

Air over Healdsburg:

Here are the top 5 stories today in Healdsburg:

1. For the first time in a long time, the Healdsburg City Council will host their regular Monday meeting in person at City Hall next week. Council chambers will only be at 50 percent capacity though, and you have to be vaccinated to attend, so the meeting will be aired on Zoom as well. Issues up for discussion include "a review of water conservation requirements for the winter season," because — according to City Councilmember David Hagele — "we're still in a drought, but with the recent rains, can make some adjustments." Also on the agenda are updates on the local COVID situation, garbage disposal rates, food trucks and more. (Facebook & Facebook)
2. A group of at least 50 protestors plan to picket outside the Simi Winery tasting room on Healdsburg Avenue this Saturday evening, at the same time as the winery's planned $145-per-plate "harvest celebration." The demonstration is "part of an ongoing campaign to ensure protections and boost wages for Sonoma County grape-pickers who work during wildfires," the Press Democrat reports. "Protesters plan to bring signs and play drums in hopes of drawing attention to [local nonprofit] North Bay Jobs with Justice’s five demands for farmworker protections" — demands to which they claim Simi execs have not responded for "months and months." (Press Democrat; paywall)
3. The City of Healdsburg is planning to dole out around $200K in federal coronavirus relief funds to community organizations "helping us in our general response to COVID both in terms of the medical health emergency and the economic impacts as well," officials say. They're also partnering with two local orgs — the Healdsburg Healthcare Foundation and Healdsburg Forever — to help select the recipients and get the money to them quickly. Read more about the process here. (SoCoNews Healdsburg)
4. The 2021 wine grape harvest in Healdsburg and Sonoma County is of "outstanding quality" — maybe even "one of the best in recent memory," according to a new Wine Institute report based on interviews with local winemakers. Mild summer weather "without heat spikes or cold snaps" and a lower yield due to the drought reportedly made for "fantastic concentration of flavors and color." According to the director of winemaking Healdsburg's Rodney Strong Vineyards: "The quality and the color of the wine, and the tannin development are some of the best I’ve ever seen. Our Bordeaux reds are amazing. It’s going to be an off-the-charts vintage for sure.” (Wine Institute)
5. The allegations against ex-Windsor mayor Dominic Foppoli, who's also "the son of a wealthy local wine family and co-owner of Christopher Creek Winery" in Healdsburg, just keep rolling in. At least six women have come forward so far to accuse him of sex crimes like "rape, groping and forced oral copulation." The women reportedly include "a former winery intern, a guest at his Christopher Creek Winery, a former longtime girlfriend and Windsor Councilwoman Esther Lemus, who told The Press Democrat Foppoli used intoxicants to facilitate sex with her without her consent." (Press Democrat; paywall)

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Healdsburg pics of the day:

This weekend in Healdsburg:

Friday, November 12

• Final Weekend: "Glimpses of Illumination" Photography Exhibit at Upstairs Art Gallery (Nov. 12-14, 11AM-5PM)
• Estate Hiking Adventure at Jordan Winery (9:45AM-2PM)
• In-Gallery Basketmaking Demonstration at Healdsburg Museum (12-3PM)
• Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic at Healdsburg Elementary's Fitch Mountain Campus (3-8PM)
• Virtual "Intro to American Sign Language for Teens" Class at Sonoma County Library (4-5PM)
• Food Truck Friday at Bacchus Landing (4-7PM)
• "Up From the Earth" Art Exhibit at Studio Barndiva: A Ceramic & Floral Experience (4-8PM)
• Healdsburg Running Company "Critical Mass" Bike Ride: Start at Zialena Winery, Ride to Geyserville Secret Locations (5PM)
• Movie Night at Bacchus Landing: "Home Alone" (5-8PM)
• Friday Evening Wine & Song at Hudson Street Wineries, Feat. SoCo Paella & Heartwood Crossing (5-8PM)
• Blondie Cover Band "Blondiva" Live at Coyote Sonoma (7-10PM)
• Whiskey Myers Live at the Luther Burbank Center (8PM)
• Le Duo Live at the Elephant in the Room (8-11PM)

Saturday, November 13

• Healdsburg Running Company Saturday Morning Run: Start at Helen Putnam Regional Park Run in Petaluma, Finish at Brewsters (8AM)
• Healdsburg Saturday Farmers Market, Feat. Holiday Craft Market (8:30AM-12PM)
• Healdsburg Garden Club Pop Up Fall Plant Sale (9AM-1PM)
• Girl Scouts Selling Snacks Outside Big Johns Market (1-3PM)
• Children's Ceramics Class at Healdsburg High School (Monthly, 1-3:30PM)
• iPhone Photography Class at Healdsburg Center for the Arts (1-4PM)
• Breathless Bootleggers Bash at Breathless Sparkling Wines (4PM)
• Dot Wine Harvest Celebration at Bacchus Landing, Feat. Viet Cajun Seafood Feast (4-8PM)
• Jazz at the Healdsburg Hotel Spirit Bar: James Gallagher Trio (5-8PM)
• Farmworker Picket Outside Simi Winery Tasting Room (5PM)
• Wine Is Food Series: Harvest Celebration at Simi Winery Tasting Room (6-9PM)
• Dusty Green Bones Band Live at the Elephant in the Room (7-8:30PM)
• Sonoma County Philharmonic Fall Masterworks Concert in Santa Rosa (7:30PM)
• George Thorogood & The Destroyers Live at the Luther Burbank Center (8PM)
• Last of a Dyin’ Breed Live at Coyote Sonoma (8-11PM)

Sunday, November 14

• Prescribed Burn at Rio Lindo Academy (9:30AM-4PM)
• Winemaker's Luncheon at Valette Restaurant (12-3PM)
• Sonoma County Philharmonic Fall Masterworks Concert in Santa Rosa (2PM)
• Free Pipe-Organ Concert by "World-Renowned" Jonathan Dimmock at St. Paul's Episcopal Church (5PM)

Monday, November 15

• Take & Make Craft Kits at Healdsburg Library: Leaf Art (Nov. 15-30, All Day)
• Zumba Class With Chuy at TCElite Gym (Weekly, 8:30-9:30AM & 7:30-8:30PM)
• First In-Person Healdsburg City Council Meeting (6PM)

Healdsburg Patch Notebook

• On the final day of "ed week" in town, the Healdsburg Education Foundation is highlighting some cool new personnel and programs they're funding at Healdsburg High, including parent outreach coordinator Esperanza Nuñez. It's her job to "connect with Latino families who may otherwise feel isolated from the high school community." Click through for more info on how you can support the cause. (ConstantContact)
• Or if you stop by local Japanese tea house and restaurant Taste of Tea on North Street today, they'll donate 30 percent of your purchase to the cause for you! (ConstantContact)
• Anyone over 18 in California can get a booster shot now for COVID if they want. (Patch)
• Sonoma County is bracing for a holiday COVID surge, as case numbers begin to tick up. New guidelines for the holiday season from county health officials say, in short: If you're not vaccinated, stay home. (Patch Press Release Desk & North Bay Business Journal; paywall)
• Get a load of this: There's a huge "Sonoma County Wine Fest" happening this weekend in the small town of Kemah, Texas. It features more than 72 wines from Sonoma County — many of them from Healdsburg, obviously. (Eventbrite)
• Way out in the mountains west of Healdsburg, in the town of Cazadero, a murder mystery is unfolding. The victim? Buddy, 26, a "handsome chestnut-colored American Quarter Horse with a white blaze, and three white socks" who was "shot dead in his pasture by an unknown suspect." Sheriff's deputies are asking anyone with information to come forward. (Facebook & Press Democrat; paywall)
• Mark your calendar: There will be a big "celebration of life service" for longtime Healdsburg High teacher and coach Pat McDowell at Rec Park a couple Sundays from now, on Nov. 21. (Facebook)
• Monday is the last day to register for a plate at the Healdsburg Senior Center's annual "hot turkey lunch" on Nov. 22. (Facebook)
• There are still some spots open in the upcoming winter camp for kids at the Healdsburg animal shelter. The shelter is also looking for donations to "help our campers create fun enrichment toys for our shelter animals" — stuff like boxes, shoe laces, Craft tacky glue and hole punchers. (Patch Neighbor Posts)
• A rather majestic hawk was spotted on Front Street yesterday. (Nextdoor)

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You're officially in the loop for the weekend. See you next week! And BTW, if you're liking these newsletters, consider inviting some of your friends and neighbors to follow along. You can send them this link to subscribe.

— 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? You can reach me at simone.wilson@patch.com.