100 years ago – October 7, 1920
To reorganize Oak Mount Cemetery Assn.
Oak Mound Cemetery Association of this city will be reorganized in a short time. The cemetery is at present nearly filled, and there are but a few lots left. An addition will have to be made, and it is a duty we owe to care for the resting place of our friends and loved ones. The association takes charge of the old cemetery and the work of improvement should be done early in the coming spring.
50 years ago – October 8, 1970
140-acre Mill Creek fire said arson
With crews depleted by the huge southern California fires, California Division of Forestry units threw everything they had at the fire which raged through 140 acres of grass and woodland in the Mill Creek Rd. area west of Healdsburg late in the afternoon Sept. 30. Heavy fire-retardant bombings from airtankers and CDF crews on the grounds saved some 20 homes on Mill Creek Ln. threatened by the arson caused fire. Homeowners watered down roofs and piled hastily collected valuables in automobiles as they watched the flames come upon them. The fire moved up a hill and was then swept over the ridge by north winds and pushed along in a strip toward the homes lining Mill Creek Lane. Had the winds been stronger, CDF crews probably would not have contained it so quickly. Many homes had flames burn up to the back door but between fire fighters, the airtankers and housewives with garden hoses, the CDF reports no structures lost. Most homes were the same color after the fire: a deep red, the color of the “phos-chek” fire retardant dropped from the planes. Investigations show the fire was set about one-half mile past Wallace Creek Road on Mill Creek Road. Four conservation crews were called upon in addition to 15 CDF trucks, 10 fire prevention district trucks, five CDF bulldozers and two rented dozers; four airtankers, two reconnaissance planes and a U.S. Army helicopter from Fort Ord. Joining forestry were units from Forestville, Windsor, Healdsburg, Rincon Valley, Roseland, Guerneville, Graton, Penngrove, Kenwood and Geyserville.
25 years ago – October 11, 1995
Downtown sandwiched by signs
Popping up throughout the downtown plaza area is one of the many ramifications of recent years’ City budget cuts — sandwich board signs. Whether you perceive sandwich boards to be positive advertising drawing attention to businesses on side streets off the Plaza, or you see them simply as cluttering up the sidewalks or as a liability to the city if someone should trip over them., most every sandwich board is illegal in Healdsburg according to current city ordinances. Only some real estate signs are legal in this such form. Due to budget cuts made the past few years, the city says there’s no one to enforce the code.
