Afternoon, townsfolk! Perhaps you’ve heard the news by now that Healdsburg was recently named the “friendliest small town in California” by one of those clickbaity best-of articles — this one from a geo-focused website called WorldAtlas. It claims Healdsburg is filled with “friendly faces,” “welcoming vineyards” and “warm and inviting” community events. Normally I wouldn’t bother to mention such an obvious PR stunt, especially one that reads like authorless AI and doesn’t even say it’s based on a reader poll or anything… except that this time, it really seems to be capturing the imagination of locals. (Much like when we were named America’s third top Christmastown by Newsweek a few years ago; that one had some real legs.) There’s a lively Facebook thread running right now about our latest small-town title, and I’ve had a few rousing convos on the subject at Dry Creek Bar. The question being: Are we really all that friendly? Or are outsiders just interfacing with local winery/hospitality staff who get paid to act friendly for a living? It’s a fun thing to ponder. Reach out and lend me your thoughts, if you’d like! And there will be plenty of chances to flop-test the theory this week, as we get out into the community and gauge friendliness levels at events like…
Our annual lakeside festival devoted entirely to steelhead
A few pre-parties in town for the Analog Reunion music fest
Some big-league March concerts at Little Saint — listenable from the rose garden below, even if the shows sell out
Two hands-on city budgeting workshops, for doing civic duties
Next steps in the postseason for Healdsburg’s winningest school basketball team since the ’90s
A talk on “bird language and our ecological nervous system”
And so much more! Keep scrolling for the full calendar 🌀
But before we begin, I’d like to share a somewhat chilling local photo that Sebastopol resident Dani Sheehan-Meyer took at Duke’s bar on the Healdsburg plaza over the weekend. (See below.) To me it illustrates the contrast between day-to-day life in our sheltered little NorCal hamlet and the global reality we’re facing at the very same moment. It’s a duality I’ve been feeling deep in my gut lately. And here it is, in photographic form…
“I find it ironic that I am sitting [at] the hippest bar in Healdsburg and this is just background information,” Dani wrote early Sunday evening. (Photo: Dani Sheehan-Meyer via Facebook)
If you’re a fan of this newsletter, I’d love if you could share it around with anyone else who you think might be into it. You can send them this link to subscribe… or just forward them this email, so they can click the link themselves. Thanks a bunch, friendlytown. 💕
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Summer Camp registration now open for 2026!
I’ve talked to you before about how much I love The Bishop’s Ranch — the sprawling, 365-acre wonderland out Westside Road that hosts retreats and trail hikes and monthly “forest church” Sundays and so much more. But what you may not know is that each year during the warmer months, the hills of The Bishop’s Ranch come alive with the sound of hundreds of kids attending magical weeklong summer camps. The Ranch will be hosting five different sessions this year in June and July — each of them specially crafted with a certain focus for a certain age group. Learn more and see the full list of camps here. ✨
On a recent visit, I did a walkthrough of the sweet little circle of cabins where the kids stay during these camps, and I felt an instant nostalgia for the summer-camp lifestyle. Campfires! Bunkbed sleepovers! Pool days! Arts and crafts! Games and songs! Adventures in nature! Aka, the kind of experience that kids remember for the rest of their lives. These local camps are also super affordable compared to similar offerings at other properties — and The Bishop’s Ranch offers tiered pricing and some scholarships, in hopes that everyone who dreams of attending can make it happen. So yeah, grab a spot while they’re still open. And if you’re interested in working as a camp staffer at The Bishop’s Ranch this summer, you’re welcome to apply here. June can’t come soon enough… 🍉
The Bishop’s Ranch is Healdsburg’s very own slice of Narnia. If you’d rather explore this land on your own terms, The Ranch also offers retreat weekends for individuals and families several times a year; check out the schedule here. (Photos: The Bishop’s Ranch)
NOW, HOW’S THE WEATHER?
With last week’s big Pineapple Express storm behind us, we find ourselves now in an idyllic period of “early spring” — aka, a pre-equinox explosion of tree blossoms and tall grasses and wildflowers unfurling across the wine country, along with the looming threat of a premature “bud break” for our grapevines. (Which can mess with the annual wine-grape crop, if the weather gets extra wet and/or cold again before spring arrives in full.) After tomorrow, though, our upcoming local forecast isn’t showing many lingering signs of winter. “Wednesday morning will bring a renewed chance of showers” in the North Bay, the SF Chronicle reports — but “by afternoon, the weather whiplash effect will be underway as winds pick up and usher dry air into the region. Those winds will first blow out of the northwest, gusting 25 to 35 mph through Wednesday evening. It’ll remain breezy Thursday, but a shift to a more northerly wind direction will promote further drying and cloudless skies.” The National Weather Service is predicting much of the same for Healdsburg this week:
Today 🌤️ Fog in the morning, turning to sun. High 69° Low 45°
Tomorrow 🌦️ Mix of sun and clouds. Chance of rain and wind. High 63° Low 40°
Thursday ☀️ Sunny with a breeze. High 66° Low 41°
Friday ☀️ Sunny. High 70° Low 46°
Saturday ☀️ Sunny again. Heating up! High 76° Low 48°
Sunday ☀️ Sunny and warm. High 78° Low 49°
Monday ⛅️ Partly sunny. High 74° Low 48°
Also: I trust you all survived the wild and spooky blood moon eclipse last night? The New York Times published some great shots of it from around the world. Here where I live in the woods west of Healdsburg, my dog Selkie, who looks and acts quite a bit like a wolf/coyote creature, was going bananas all night — running in circles, chasing night sounds, digging up bones — and we woke up together this morning in a heap of dusty fur and dewdrops. Which happens to be my favorite way to start the day. 🥰
Selkie was back on her B.S. in the springtime grasses this morning. (Photo: Simone Wilson)
She was noticeably less stoked during the portion of the day when I stared at a metallic folding-box for hours on end. If only there was a way to explain to her that the people of Healdsburg need their local event log! (Photo: Simone Wilson)
AIR OVER HEALDSBURG
Here’s what the blanket of fog over your heads looked like early this morning, before the fog wore off and the late-winter Sun King reigned supreme. 👑 (Photo: Holly Wilson)
ON THE CALENDAR
Tuesday, March 3 🌝
Movie showings this week at True West Cinemas: Elvis Presley concert film “EPiC” from Baz Luhrmann; the new horror flick “Scream 7”; a series of Oscar-nominated short films; “Pillion,” a biker romcom with Alexander Skarsgård about a gay dom-sub relationship; “The Bride,” Maggie Gyllenhaal’s new Frankenstein spinoff; the classic early-2000s French film “Amélie”; and more (daily, 11am-11pm)
Another week’s worth of cinematic delights are on tap at Healdsburg’s new movie theater. (Image: True West Film Center via Facebook)
Teen hangout at the Healdsburg Library: Try snack foods from another country (1:45-3pm)
Homework help for kids in grades K-12 at the Healdsburg Library (weekly, 3:30-5:30pm)
Taco Tuesday at the Dry Creek General Store & Bar (weekly, 4-6pm)
There’s a heaping plate of tacos and an ice-cold beer calling your name at Dry Creek Bar this afternoon. I’ll be manning the bar throughout. 🫡 (Image: The Bar 1881 via Instagram)
Healdsburg school board holds special meeting in the high school library (4:30-6:30pm)
City of Healdsburg hosts Spanish-language info session on new city budgeting tools for residents — aka, “herramientas presupuestarias municipales” (6pm)
Healdsburg Museum hosts wintertime “History Talks” at the library: “Healdsburg in WWII and the 1950s to 1960s” (monthly thru Apr 7, 6pm)
Organizers of this local retrospective say: “The Healdsburg Museum Docents will be presenting a History Talk on War & Peace, featuring stories of what was happening on the Healdsburg home front during World War II and about post-war times in the 1950s and ’60s. Speakers will be Jerry Haag, Jim Dreisback and Patrick Mukaida. Patrick’s family was among the hundreds of Americans of Japanese ancestry who survived being interned during WWII.” (Photo: Healdsburg Museum via Facebook)
Free “Touch Base Tuesday” community meditation session at the new “Showroom by G” boutique on Healdsburg Avenue (weekly, 6-6:30pm)
SOLD OUT: Alt-rock superstar St. Vincent plays Little Saint, with free listening party across the street in the community rose garden (7pm)
Healdsburg High School girls basketball team plays first away game of the NorCal regional championships, vs. Escalon High in the Central Valley (7pm)
OK, so this isn’t a home game — instead, it will be played three hours southeast of us, in the small Central Valley town of Escalon — but it gives me an excuse to brag about the Healdsburg High School girls basketball team and how far they’ve come this season. Just last Saturday, our girls won the North Coast Section title in their division (Division 5) for the first time in 35 years, according to the Press Democrat. Hence the joyful victory photo above, captured by local sports photographer Michael Lucid! “The Greyhounds were the headliners of a championship doubleheader at Cardinal Newman High School on Saturday evening, taking down San Domenico 47-33 to capture the NCS Division 5 title,” the PD reports. “It’s the program’s first section title since 1991 and the first for the school in any sport since the Healdsburg football team won the 2A Redwood Empire title in 1998.” And the Healdsburg Tribune writes of Saturday’s win: “It was a hard-played game, though each team had its good quarters and its not-so-good quarters. Healdsburg leapt out to a lead in the first quarter, despite the absence of senior center Claire Berry (she had a previously scheduled college interview, as the Greyhounds’ deep run into the playoffs had not been anticipated). But Amelia Wickersham’s dominant play in the first period put them ahead 16-2. Though it was a bumpy road, it was a lead that Healdsburg never relinquished.” So now, after beating all the other North Coast teams in their division, the Hounds are competing against 14 other teams in the NorCal regional championships — starting with the game tonight in Escalon. Whoever wins this NorCal tournament will then play the winner of the SoCal tournament on March 13. You can follow all the brackets and results on MaxPreps. Exciting times… (Photo: Michael Lucid via Flickr)
Here’s another Hounds victory pic from the Cardinal Newman High School gym on Saturday night — this one posted by the team’s assistant coach, Jackie Sellards. “Your Healdsburg High school girls basketball team just won the North Coast Section title game!!” she wrote. “Congratulations!!” That’s Jackie in black on the left, next to head coach Cassidy Jourdan. Read more about this dynamic coaching duo in the Trib. (Photo: Jackie Sellards via Facebook)
Wednesday, March 4
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