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In the summer of 2004, Healdsburg launched a new tradition, the
“Tuesdays in the Plaza” picnic/party/concert events. My sweetie was
running the Chamber of Commerce at the time and she was looking for
a way to give the summer Sunday concert series more vitality.
The Sunday afternoon events were waning in popularity. It was so
hot at 2 o’clock that some bands refused to perform in the gazebo
and set up under the trees. And, the audience, at the time made up
mostly of local senior citizens, was avoiding the concerts due to
the heat.
Lynn saw the popularity of early evening events in other
communities and thought Healdsburg might be ready for something
new. Tuesday was chosen to coincide with the farmers’ market and
because it was a typically slow night for hotel occupancy.
She was right. A new reason to come downtown was good for locals
and for business. By the third week of the series, the Plaza was
busy and it’s been that way ever since.
On an average Tuesday there’s probably over 1,000 people in the
park, but it’s still mostly locals. The police report little or no
problems, even though the no-alcohol rules are waived for two
hours.
So, why are city leaders trying to tamp down on the events? The
parks staff is complaining that it’s too much work to set it up and
tear it down each week (That’s a hard one to hear when you recall
who works for who).
The main concern I hear is a vague chiding that: “It’s too big,
it’s too popular.” OK, ummm, how do we respond to that? Popular is
bad? I don’t get it. Sure, it gets crowded on certain Tuesdays. The
Charlie Musselwhite concert was big by Healdsburg standards. There
was probably double what we usually get, maybe 2,000 people. Yet
Windsor brags when they get 8,000 at one of their Thursday night
events.
Even now, city leaders are vowing to book less popular bands
next year in order to curb attendance. Can you hear me gnashing my
teeth? Who could dream up an idea like that? Is it because we get
people from out of town?
Well, what’s wrong with being gracious to our visitors? Everyone
was a visitor here once, right? Or your parents or grandparents? No
one crawled out of Foss Creek on their stubby little fins and
evolved into a Healdsburger.
Our Tuesday night events are special. Local sponsors cover the
costs, local people come to enjoy themselves, and local connections
are made and remade.
The city put out a “Concert Attendee Feedback Form” to gauge
your feelings about the concerts. City leaders put a lot of faith
in stuff like this. If the minority who don’t like the Tuesday
events fill in the forms we could see a diminished or even
eliminated series in 2012.
I checked with city staff last week to find out if the form
would still be on the website when this column came out. I was told
that it was scheduled to expire yesterday (September 7) but that it
could be extended. On Monday the form was gone from the home page
of the city website, but I dug down and found it at
http://cityofhealdsburg.org/index.aspx?page=223&recordid=2070.
If you can’t find it yourself, email me at [email protected] and
I’ll send you a blank form via email that you can fill in and drop
off or fax to City Hall.
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If you’ve been around here a bit you surely remember Todd Muir.
Todd is one of the pioneers of what we now call Wine Country
Cuisine. Trained at the California Culinary Academy in San
Francisco, he also worked at Chez Panisse, was the executive chef
at Madrona Manor, owned a great little place called Mangia Bene,
and has served as executive or consulting chef at various wineries.
He’s the real deal.
Todd started thinking about a slower pace and made a change.
Nowadays you can find him at the former Timber Crest Farms,
greeting, cooking and serving out of a snappy little food truck.
His Al Fresco Kitchen is part of an interesting development at the
former dried tomato operation. Timber Crest Farms has wine tasting
rooms, an olive oil tasting room, and other food/wine
businesses.
As you might expect, Todd’s is not a typical lunch wagon. He
focuses on salads and sandwiches, with a barrel of water and soda
on ice. The BLT was the daily special the day I drove up the hill
last week, and it was sublime. His burger is great, his reuben is
too, and you can get an espresso drink on a cool morning.
Al Fresco Kitchen is open Thursday through Monday from 11 to 3.
There’s a generous overhang to shield you from the weather and the
view across the Dry Creek Valley is one of the best in Wine
Country. If you drink wine you can visit the tasting rooms first.
Main Street says check it out. The bacon was so … good.
Ray Holley wants to open a bacon tasting room. He can be
reached at [email protected].