Main street

The project to renovate the shop at Healdsburg High School is
going very well. Generous Healdsburgers are donating to the cause,
with more coming every week. The funds will be used for the
physical renovation, which includes insulation, fences, concrete
work, doors and painting, as well as building storage areas and
work tables, stuff like that. It will also go to purchase computers
for the construction technology classroom and tools for the
shop.
Unspent funds will be held in an account for the shop teacher to
buy materials and supplies. Textbooks alone will cost more than
$100 per student! In addition, we want extra funds available so
students can take field trips to local job sites, have materials
for projects, and more.
One way we’re raising funds is selling excess and obsolete
equipment. The more expensive stuff will be sold at auction, in
order to get the best price for school district property. The items
of lesser value, like old drafting desks and piles of this and
that, will be sold at a yard sale on Saturday, March 20, from 8
a.m. to 12 noon. Stop by and check out the old stuff, especially if
you’re a builder or tinkerer. The yard sale will be held at the
high school. Drive in on the Monte Vista Avenue side, by the pool,
and look for the signs. Sorry, no previews.
If you want to donate to the project, contact the Healdsburg
Education Foundation at 433-1223 or mail a check to HEF, PO Box
1668, Healdsburg, CA 95448.
Main Street readers are still responding to my invitation to
comment on SMART, the commuter train concept which we’re paying for
each month with our sales tax, and which I believe is not
financially viable. John Harris emailed a terrific song spoof,
based on the Talking Heads song “Road to Nowhere.” It goes like
this:
The Train to Nowhere (With sincere apologies to David Byrne)
We don’t know where it’s goin’ / And we don’t know where it’s
been / (Dumb, dum, dum, dee, dum) / We’re on the train to nowhere /
Just ridin’ the tide / Takin’ the rails to nowhere / On this not
too SMART ride / Get on in North Cloverdale / Then to who knows
where / The map says to Santa Rosa / More like Citrus Fair /
Chorus: We’re on the train to nowhere / All aboard, come and ride /
We wanted a train to somewhere / All three riders inside / We’re
finally to Larkspur Landing / Let’s all shop ‘til we drop / But why
did we ever go there? / You know what? I’ve forgot / There must be
a plan here somewhere / Or maybe there’s not / It’s just a train to
nowhere / That’s all that we’ve got / Chorus with long fadeout
…
John favors mass transit, but he believes it won’t work unless
it’s connected to regional systems, like BART and the planned
north-south rail corridor. He asks: “Europe provides
inter-connecting fast transit on a city, country, and
continent-wide scale – can’t we replicate this on an inter-county
scale?” It’s a good question. (We could even say that it’s a SMART
question.) Do we want our system to hook up to other rail systems,
or will it become a boutique train that makes it fun to ride to
Larkspur and catch a ferry every few months until it runs out of
cash?
Shay House was also part of our contest, winning with her sly
interpretation of the acronym NOTSOSMART (“Nitwit Officials Taxing
Sonoma Outrageously Selling Marin A Riderless Train”). Rather than
accept her six-month subscription prize, Shay asked if I would help
her publicize a worthy cause.
Shay’s a volunteer with Feline Rescue, which helps abandoned
cats and kittens in the north county. It’s a unique organization,
with no shelter and no paid staff, providing “a shelter without
walls.” Volunteers like Shay are dedicated to making sure every
stray or unwanted cat gets care, whether it’s a foster home,
adoption, and/or veterinary care. The goal is to get every homeless
kitty into a permanent home, and most of their work is done in the
rural areas of the county, outside city limits. If you want to
foster a cat, volunteer, donate or find out more, visit www.feline-rescue.com or call
894-4182.
A Healdsburg treasure, painter Christopher Evans, has a show
opening next week in New York at the Fischbach Gallery. Chris’ work
takes realism to a place beyond real. His work is astonishingly
detailed, but has a magical quality that connects you to his
landscapes in a very emotional way. His NY show is March 18 through
April 17, but you can see his work online at www.christopherevans.net. His
recent work is inspired by the landscapes around here and you’ll
recognize our oaks and river views.
Set your alarm early on March 17. The annual St. Patrick’s Day
Parade will once again be sponsored by the B&B Lounge. The
parade leaves the tavern at 7 a.m. sharp. Parade participants walk
a block-and-a-half to the Plaza, circle the Plaza … and by then,
everyone is really thirsty, so the parade heads back to the B&B
for refreshments. If you can’t get up that early, stop by later in
the day for a free plate of corned beef, cabbage, stuff like
that.
Ray Holley will be stopping by repeatedly. He can be reached at
[email protected].