Tourism and unemployment
EDITOR: The Public Policy Institute of California recently reported on the increase in unemployment between February and April of this year. See ppic.org/blog/californias-economy-takes-a-hit/.
In the report, scroll down to the map, which shows just three counties where unemployment has more than quintupled since February, coinciding with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic – Sonoma, San Mateo and Mono counties.
The graph following the map shows the job losses in the various sectors, and by far the highest are in “accommodation and food services” and “arts, entertainment and recreation.”
Healdsburg has put most of its economic eggs in the tourism basket, i.e., the accommodations and food services sector and to some extent the arts, entertainment and recreation sector.
I’m hoping we will reconsider our heavy reliance on tourism as a primary source of revenue and jobs.
Gail Jonas
Healdsburg
Thank you, fair board
EDITOR: The Warm Springs 4-H club would like to thank the Healdsburg Future Farmers Country Fair board members and the community for their support during the 2020 HFFCF. During these uncertain times, the fair board had to cancel the annual event. They were able to organize an online sale for the 4-H and FFA members to market their animals at. Many members had purchased animals’ months prior and already had countless hours and hundreds of dollars invested in their projects. Our club exhibited market swine, sheep and rabbits at the annual event.
We are forever thankful for the generous community support that we received during the online auction. The online auction raised $420,000 for the local youth in agriculture. Members have many uses for the money they receive for their projects. Some members like me are saving money for future projects as well as putting any extra in my college account. As a group we were able to participate in a thank you parade on Sunday evening. It was touching to see the community gather around us, waving and cheering as we passed by.
We would also like to thank Ms. Hunt and Mr. Valera for organizing the HTOWN Virtual Livestock Expo. It gave us the opportunity to showcase the hard work that we put into our projects over the last seven months or so. Thank you to all the supporters of this fun event.
As a third-year member of the Warm Springs 4-H club, I think it is a great organization. I have learned so much and have met so many great people. 4-H has taught me responsibility, financial skills, marketing, hard work and a love of agriculture. Without our awesome Community Leader, Dana Grande, and all our project leaders our 4-H experience would not be what it is today. Thank you, Dana Grande for all your hard work and dedication you put into this awesome organization that we all love.
This year did not turn out like any of us expected, but we learned and had a great time even if it was hard. We look forward to seeing everyone at the 2021 Healdsburg Future Farmers County Fair.
Maren Neumiller, Reporter
Warm Springs 4-H
Cloverdale
