Inspiration and generosity
EDITOR: On behalf of the entire Healdsburg Future Farmers Country Fair board, Thank you to the community who once again made the fair possible. We would like to thank those who participated and helped put the fair on. The many volunteers who helped faithfully and for countless hours and days, all to ensure our tradition continues. We know that you don’t do it for the accolades but do it for the youth, so they can grow and become meaningful adults in our community. We immensely appreciate you, your time, and the time spent away from your families. As always, the community support is a true inspiration and the generosity is unparalleled. From the bottom of our hearts, Thank you very much.
HFFCF President, Mike Brookfield
Healdsburg
Girlfriends on the Green
EDITOR: The eighth annual Girlfriends on the Green Golf Tournament, sponsored by Soroptimist of Healdsburg, was held on May 19 at Tayman Golf Course. The funds from this tournament benefit the Shannon Boaz Memorial Scholarship for Active Girls. This fund provides scholarships for girls in our local community to participate in sports, arts, science and various extracurricular activities.
Golfers enjoyed golf, a delicious gourmet dinner prepared by the Healdsburg High School Culinary Institute Class, a silent auction and a live auction. Mark Gladden supported this event as the auctioneer for the live auction. Proceeds from this event will enable Soroptimist to support scholarships for girls in our local community. Soroptimist of Healdsburg would like to express appreciation to all local businesses that supported this golf tournament, from sponsors of the silent and live auctions, and to all the volunteers who made this an enormous success.
Mary Lou Helfrich Jones
Secretary, Soroptimist of Healdsburg
Inclusive and informative
EDITOR: The May 31 tourism sustainability forum in Healdsburg was well attended and informative. Thank you to the range of well prepared speakers. The forum was inclusive. Our large Hispanic population’s needs were taken in to account. People seem to be in agreement that Healdsburg has reached a tipping point regarding tourism in this unique and popular little town. One example of the information that was shared involved the identification of a very large number of tourist beds that are already approved for use by tourists in the future.
Where will the many employees required to maintain these new tourist facilities live? Where will their children go to school? How much will these employees be paid per hour? A very competitive hourly wage is required for employees to live in Sonoma County. Having this work force commute from distant communities is not the best solution. When tourism is emphasized too much, a healthy town loses its charm and can also lose a lot of business. Carmel has gone through cycles with many empty store fronts and closed restaurants. La Jolla has lost its charm. I look forward to ongoing information in the local paper about the Healdsburg Coalition.
We are fortunate to live in a community where people want to protect the wholesome appeal of the community while being sensitive to the economic issues that are at stake here.
Bonny Lawrence
Healdsburg
Sharing is caring
EDITOR: Are there some in our quaint burg who simply need a cause? Folks, without the tourists, I’m confident many of you would not like what Healdsburg had become years ago. Boarded-up, rundown buildings in between bars surrounded the plaza. Motorcycle groups, much of the time, filled the parking places; there were only a few shops and the restaurant scene was dismal.
There certainly weren’t any coffee shops, award-winning bakeries, bookstores, outdoor markets, or concerts in the park. Some believe we’re losing our charm. Really? London hasn’t lost its charm, Paris hasn’t lost its charm; Monterey and Carmel certainly haven’t lost their charm. The dozens and dozens of buildings that have been renovated and/or restored have only added to the charm of Healdsburg.
For those of you who have purchased homes in the past five, 10, 15, or 20 years … I hope you understand that if folks stop wanting to visit/live in Healdsburg, the businesses that seem to upset you will close, the buildings will once again be vacant, and while you might find it easier to locate a parking place, for what reason will you need one? More importantly, unless you purchased your home decades ago, as your property values plummet, you’ll lose money. By the way, what is an affordable house?
Last point. Many of you assume that those who have purchased second homes are not involved in the community. That simply isn’t true. Most of them care about Healdsburg; they did, after all, purchase a home here. Without sounding judgmental, maybe some of us need to learn how to share. As my nephew is fond of reminding me, “Sharing is caring.”
Brent Mortensen
Healdsburg
Removal, not demolition
EDITOR: Last week’s editorial “Stone and iron memorials” refers to the fact that “dozens of Confederate statues are being torn down,” and that “we seem to be rewriting a history book we never read the first time.” I suggest that the publisher watch Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s speech to the people of New Orleans concerning the removal — not the demolition — of four Confederate statues. Landrieu notes that the statues being removed were erected as monuments to the lost cause of the Confederacy, as reminders of white supremacy, and that that men portrayed — Lee, Davis and Beauregard — were not patriots but fought against the Union. Landrieu asks how a young African-American student passing by one of these monuments can be inspired by the image of someone who denied her humanity. The speech is about 20 minutes long and worth every minute.
Gary Passarino
Healdsburg
Appalled by fees
EDITOR: Last Sunday I spent a nice afternoon in our city plaza listening to performances by our local junior high, high school and community bands. It was good to see the amateur musicians play and demonstrate that small town charm people have been seeking to maintain. I was appalled by the fact that the city actually charged these groups to play in the plaza. This area is public property, open to all as stated on the gazebo dedication. So why would they charge nonprofit groups to play there when they sponsor the summer Tuesday night booze-a-thons? So much for small town charm. Maybe the new members on the city council could be more sensitive to community rather than putting a price on everything.
Tom Rackerby
Healdsburg
Exceptional dedication
EDITOR: Little did Evelyn Mitchell know when she attended a Sonoma Humane Society fundraiser years ago that it would lead to a decade of volunteering and, in fact, becoming our chief volunteer. In a serendipitous moment during the event, she ran into a friend and former MBA classmate who was serving on our board of directors.
With a deep compassion for animals and having previously served on two nonprofit boards herself, Evelyn was excited to learn that we were not only looking for a board member, but someone to fill the role of treasurer. With her professional background in CFO/Controller services, she was the perfect fit.
After five years as our treasurer, she took her commitment to the next level. As board president, Evelyn spent the past five years making sure that our mission stayed on course, philosophically as well as fiscally.
She’s proud of the work we have achieved together “SHS is a premier organization doing great work. The dedication of the staff and volunteers impresses me every day. The fact that we are a no-kill shelter is a source of pride. We leave no stone unturned to help an animal and we work hard to develop every resource. This is an amazing organization to be part of.”
This summer, Evelyn will step down from her role as board president. We are truly grateful for her tenure of service. SHS Executive Director Cindy Roach expresses what we are all feeling: “Evelyn is an incredibly hard working board member and fully engaged board president. She has been instrumental through many different periods of the Sonoma Humane Society’s history; helping us to overcome financial challenges, supporting the growth of our no-kill programs and leading the expansion of our services into the Healdsburg community. She feels a deep responsibility and commitment to the organization and she contributes on every level: physically, emotionally and financially. To show that level of dedication for 10 years is exceptional!”
Thank you Evelyn.
Wendy Welling
Sonoma Humane Society
