Hey, munchkins. The rain has returned at last to wine country, and I’m here for my big Santa moment with a heaping sleigh full of local news stories for you to unwrap on this misty end-of-fall afternoon. Here’s some of what you’ll find inside…

Quick interruption of your regular programming to recruit you on a fun local mission: Let’s make sure everyone in Healdsburg knows about this community newsletter! You can send people this link to subscribe — or just forward them a copy of The Healdsburg Newsletter, so they can click the link themselves. You could even buy your friends or neighbors or relatives their own all-access paid subscriptions for $4-$5 a month, by clicking the “Gift” option at the top of this page. Just as long as no one is left out of the loop. 🙏

There’s an important new nonprofit in town, and it’s all about strengthening small American farms in this time of turmoil for the ag industry and the environment. FARMpreneurs was founded by Healdsburg resident Will Rosenzweig and relaunched two years ago under the direction of Dawnelise Rosen, one of our most well-known community organizers. She and her husband Ari used to run beloved restaurants Scopa and Campo Fina — true communal hubs for Healdsburg — and helped the Corazón Healdsburg nonprofit get off the ground, back in its early days. Dawnelise also sits on the board of Farm to Pantry, one of the largest local orgs in food justice. Which brings us to her latest project!

FARMpreneurs provides free business education to independent farmers across the U.S., including a signature weeklong “sprint” that helps them “develop a 3-5 year strategic plan, grow their entrepreneurial and leadership skills, and unlock their abilities to realize their goals while becoming food systems changemakers.” Healdsburg farms like Dragonfly and Tookey now count themselves as alumni; another recent graduate from Chico called the course “life-changing.” Here are some ways to get involved:

Just when we were starting to get nervous about signs of a drought year, thanks to a nearly monthlong dry spell, some much-needed rain began pattering down Tuesday morning. It’s at least a slightly different kind of cold-and-wetness than all these monotonous fog banks inside which we’ve been living! The San Francisco Chronicle reports that “this was the longest November-December dry stretch in nearly 40 years” — but that “it likely won’t be remembered for long,” given all the rain now in the near-term forecast. Local weather officials expect it to start coming down much harder tomorrow, Friday, and continue for an entire week — clear through to Christmas next Thursday, and maybe even beyond. (Thus making for some potentially dangerous roads during the holiday commute, FYI.)

The storm forecast has been all of the place over the past few days, with lots of changing predictions, but it looks like we could get quite a few inches by the end of next week, all told — propelled by one of those classic Hawaiian storm systems way out in the Pacific. The Chronicle says “there will be ebbs and lulls” in the rain over the coming week, “depending on the placement of the atmospheric river” at any given moment. “This one is well sourced, a true Pineapple Express, stretching from the Pacific Coast back past Hawaii and originating less than 1,000 miles from the International Date Line.” (I also got a kick out of this Patch news alert that went out last night: “Mele Kalikimaka! Pineapple Express To Drench Bay Area Christmas Week.”) Anyway, here’s what the National Weather Service’s weekly forecast looks like for Healdsburg, as of this afternoon. It’ll probably change some more, so keep checking your weather app of choice for the latest…

By the way, did anyone manage to catch the “Geminid” meteor shower over the weekend, in breaks between night clouds? It was “one of the most active meteor showers of the year,” per the Chronicle, with up to 120 shooting stars per hour. If you missed it like me, you might take consolation in some of the wild holiday light shows set up around town right now… like the one at 213 First St., pictured below. There’s also a whole “winter wonderland” yard display at 325 Azalea Ct., according to the PD’s crowdsourced holiday lights map for 2025. Know of any other good ones? Hit me up with the address, and I’ll tell make sure to tell the whole town about it. 😏