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ASTI TO GET ITS PERMANENT BRIDGE AT LONG LAST
September 19, 2024
Healdsburg, California Healdsburg, California
Date, Date, 20202020
SUPERVISORS APPROVE DEFERRED INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT By Christian Kallen
➝ Infrastructure, 7
Photo by Rick Tang
After over 100 years of pleading, begging, negotiating and complaining, the Cloverdale area finally got its wish: The bridge over the Russian River at the hamlet of Asti has been approved for a permanent span, thanks to final action by the County Board of Supervisors last week. A permanent bridge is intended to enhance public safety, and eliminate the financial cost and environmental impact of installing and removing a temporary bridge each year. That price tag is upwards of $450,000 each year, depending on channel changes of the river, and some times involves extensive dredging with its negative environmental impact. “About 102 years ago the Cloverdale Chamber wrote to the Sonoma County Board asking for a permanent bridge at the Asti crossing,” said Geoff Peters of Showa Farm, located just on the east side of the temporary bridge on Highland Ranch Road. “Had the county built a permanent bridge 50 years ago it would have easily paid for itself by now,” he continued. “And costs are not decreasing, they are increasing.” Peters is also the program manager of the Northern Sonoma County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). He said that about 10 years ago the Alexander Valley Citizens League was formed, and “raised about $20,000 in donated funds to pay an engineering firm for an initial study of how and where a bridge could be built at Asti.” Public safety, economics
DRAGON DANCE Members of the Redwood Empire Chinese Association present their new dragon, wending its way through the crowded plaza
on Sept. 21 during the Pachanga and Art festival.
Pachanga Brings Art to the Plaza CORAZON AND THE CITY COMBINE FOR CELEBRATION OF MEXICAN CULTURE By Christian Kallen
Residents who headed down to the Healdsburg Plaza on Sunday evening looking for Art After Dark, usually a diverse collection of visual and performance artists showing their skills, were surprised to find something quite different: an hours-long multicultural celebration of music and dance called “Pachanga & Art…After Dark!” The slight name change and emphasis on the Mexican music pachanga—a Latin American rhythm and dance, and TexMex slang for a lively party— pushed the other artists to the edges of the park. Music
and dance were front and center on Sunday night, with revelers in masks, costumes and regional dress showing their heritage. The event was a very visual way to recognize the recipients of Corazon’s Diversity in Arts Grant to “promote equitable funding in the arts by providing financial support to artists who have historically been underserved or excluded by other funding mechanisms,” according to the grant’s application. And diversity was indeed the hallmark of the evening. Among the performers were Guelaguetza dancers from Oaxaca; ranchera and other regional musical styles from Mexican bands such as Efecto Diferente and Maxima Frecuencia; Ballet Folklorico dancers in colorful attire; hip-hop dancers from Top Cheer Elite, and many others. Grants were awarded to more than Mexican
recipients—members of the Redwood Empire Chinese Association presented their new dragon, wending its way through the crowded plaza to gapes and wonder from the many youngsters among the 2,000-plus who attended.
heritage in Healdsburg and northern Sonoma County. It also marked Latin American Heritage Month, recognized elsewhere in the region by several Mexican Independence Day events on or around Sept. 16. Art After Dark was created by the Healdsburg Center for the Arts (HCA) and traditionally sponsored by the City of Healdsburg, said Matt Milde, the city’s recreation super visor. “When we learned that HCA wouldn’t be hosting it this year to focus on the upcoming Healdsburg Arts Festival, Community Services offered to continue it in 2024,” he said. “A r o u n d t h e s a m e time,” he added, “we found out that Corazon was planning an event to celebrate their grant recipients, and it made sense to combine efforts into a single event: ‘Pachanga
Arts on the Edges
The arts were represented as well, from a series of paintings showcasing the struggles of undocumented immigrants and people of color by Daniela Orosco, and photographic portraits of Latinos and their professions by Austin Aviles, and traditional weaving with live demonstrations from Yolanda Ramirez of Cooperativa Mujeres Triqui. Though Dia De Muertos remains Corazón Healdsburg ’s primar y cultural celebration (to be held this year on Oct. 27), the pachanga was a bold statement of Mexican
BRIEF AND TO THE POINT SHORT FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS TO HEALDSBURG By Christian Kallen
Photos courtesy of Healdsburg Short Film Festival
‘ONE LAST SUMMER’ From France, a 13-minute comedy in which three nerdy friends play one last game together, but their friendship gets rocky when they encounter two vibrant young women who are fellow campers. It will screen during the Sept. 29 French program at the 2024 Healdsburg Short Film Festival.
“I haven’t been this busy since I had a newborn,” said Pamela Demorest, co-founder with her husband Kirk Demorest of the Healdsburg Short Film Festival. She’s lining up lodging for the visiting filmmakers who will show off their works, trying to make lastminute adjustments to the screening schedule for the three-day event and making sure this year’s iteration of the festival is even better than the last. Formerly residents of
and Art...After Dark.’” Cristal López Pardo, family resource manager at Corazón Healdsburg and the event’s primary organizer, was quick to remind attendees, and readers, that the Diversity in the Arts grants are again open for submissions. “It was an incredible event that highlighted the diverse artistic contributions from our community,” she said of the pachanga. “We have launched the application for the grant once again, and folks may apply directly from our webpage or pick up an application at our office,” López Pardo said, giving the direct link to www. corazonhealdsburg.org/ diversity-in-the-arts. Meanwhile the Healdsburg Center for the Arts is focusing on its own event this month, the 2024 Healdsburg Arts Festival, to be held in the Plaza on Sept. 28.
Sebastopol, the Demorests moved to Nevada County last year to take care of family matters, but that hasn’t lessened their commitment to presenting the best Healdsburg Short Film Festival they can. They put on their first short film festival in Bodega Bay in 2013, but realized that the filmfriendly town of Healdsburg was not only closer to the audience they sought, but boasted a prime venue in the Raven Film Center and, more recently, the Raven Performing Arts Center. That’s where this year’s festival will be held next week, from Friday to Sunday, Sept. 27-29. Obviously, they know how to pull this off. One of their secret weapons is a judging panel that includes hard-to-find local celebrities Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, the songwriters behind some ➝ Short Films, 4