The Healdsburg Tribune
126-YEAR-OLD HEALDSBURG
LANDMARK WILL REMAIN IN PLACE, BUT OWNERSHIP TRANSFERS
By Christian Kallen
Martin Ray is the resurrection of a venerable name from wine history, and the same thing could happen to Foppiano. Only Foppiano never really went away. The big warehouse by the side of Old Redwood Highway, Foppiano Vineyards, is almost invisibly familiar to locals, though a random stream of tourists is happy to find out about its petite sirah, chardonnay and pinot noir. But dig a little deeper and its story is as entangled with Healdsburg’s history as that of almost any other winery, and that’s saying something.
It is almost certainly the oldest winery in this part of Sonoma County still in production (barring Sonoma Valley wineries) and the name has been synonymous with Healdsburg wine for over 100 years. That’s not an exaggeration, that’s history.
It was founded in 1896, when Giovanni Foppiano purchased the Riverside Ranch. Even then it was a grape-growing farm, back when reds were “burgundy” and whites were “sauterne,” with very little deeper knowledge of varietals, clones or even vintages. It more than doubled in size 20 years later when Foppiano bought the Sotoyome Vineyards, located just south of the original ranch.
CMB Wines, best known for its Martin Ray label—another historic name rescued from oblivion by Courtney Benham—purchased the Foppiano ranch, label and vineyards, now 140 acres of prime Russian River
HOW CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE GOT TWO THUMBS UP FROM MARTIN SCORSESE
By Christian Kallen
Charlie Musselwhite, who is coming to the Luther Burbank Center this Saturday as part of a blues program with Elvin Bishop and Taj Mahal, used to live in Geyserville. That much is well known locally, though while he wasn’t exactly a hermit he didn’t play the part of a local celebrity, either. He did have an hour-long blues program on KRSH-FM on Sundays, its purported location being the back porch of a house in Clarksdale, Mississippi, overlooking the Sunflower River. It turns out that everything he said was all true— or, in Charlie’s phrase, “And I ain’t lyin’!” Though they had owned the Clarksdale house for some years, only since
2021 have he and his wife Henrietta lived full-time in Clarksdale, giving up their Sonoma County home for their Southern roots. Musselwhite, born in Mississippi in a small town called Kosciusko, grew up in Memphis (when he later moved to Chicago, he became known as Memphis Charlie). He was one of the first generation of white Chicago blues musicians who helped bring Black urban blues to national attention. At the time, though, it was the Black musicians doing the favor to the white kids by giving them a break on stage, not the other way around.
Since his first album in 1967, Stand Back! Here Comes Charlie Musselwhite (Vanguard, 1967) to his most recent, 2022’s Mississippi Son (Alligator, 2022), the lanky Southerner with the lazy drawl has probably played to almost as many blues fans in the world as anybody, yet he remains easygoing and as down home as they get. So
naturally we asked him if he missed Sonoma County. Charlie Musselwhite : Oh, sure. We love Sonoma County and it was real good to us, and we have a lot of really good friends there. And the food and just how it looks with the hills and mountains, it’s a beautiful place. One of the most beautiful parts of the world. So yeah, we love it and miss it, and it has a special place in our hearts.
What are you going to do when you come back this week?
I’ll see some friends, and I’m gonna go see my acupuncturist up in Cloverdale. You know, just enjoy as much as I can, mostly staying with friends and enjoying some meals, and I think that’s about it.
Did you have any favorite restaurants here?
Oh, yeah, sure. There’s a lot of them. There’s Agave and El Taco Grande in Healdsburg, and Diavola and Project 128 [in Geyserville]. It’s a small place. It
used to be a winery there, but now it’s a little bar and grill and they have sandwiches, and it’s really a good place. Mmm. It’s just down the street from Diavola. But El Taco Grand is kinda like old Healdsburg, and I like it there too. The carne en su jugo was killer. What about in Clarksdale? Have you found any good restaurants there? Sure, the Rest Haven. It’s been there since the ’40s; it’s owned by a Lebanese family. So half the menu is like down-home Lebanese food, the other half is down-home Delta food.
You’re playing with Elvin Bishop this weekend. You both go way back—when did you first play with Elvin?
Neither one of us remember! You know, we used to do these package shows where we’d all be on a bus and it’d be a lot of acts and we would play performing arts centers … There’d be one rhythm section that backed everybody up. And
‘YOGA
ON CENTER’ MOVES BACK TO TOWN
HOMECOMING FOR YOGA STUDIO FORCED OFF CENTER STREET
By Simone Wilson
Healdsburg’s only fulltime yoga studio, the nearly 20-year-old Yoga on Center, is moving back to the downtown area this summer—two-and-a-half years after the owners say they got kicked out of their original location at 401 Center St.
we would play solo and together and trios and all. In one of those, a couple of those, I think, it was the first time that I recall that Elvin and I would go out on stage and play a few numbers, just the two of us. And it went over so well, and we enjoyed doing it so well, and it was so easy because we both know all the same tunes and know that style so well. It’s like falling off a log, it’s so easy to play together. So we decided to do more of that, and it just really caught on. At one point we decided, well, we should have an album for sale out there in the lobby when people are going home. So we recorded 100 Years of the Blues (Alligator, 2020) and that got really great reviews and got nominated for a Grammy and stuff like that. It created this whole momentum, and it’s still rolling.
It was a light-filled space overlooking one of Healdsburg’s most bustling streets, and owners Jenn Russo and Katina Knapp were devastated when they lost it.
“We have been trying to find a space in town ever since,” Russo says. “We are thrilled to be moving to Mill Street.” In early August, they plan to reopen their yoga studio at 44C Mill St. in the Mill Street shopping center—the same space where the Top Cheer Elite gym used to live, right next to the Speed of Sound music shop and across from the Elephant in the Room pub. (TCElite recently moved into a “much bigger space on the back side of the building,” in the 44B unit, according to Russo.) Yoga on Center’s new space is “basically a big, open rectangle, which is
➝ Charlie Musselwhite, 6
➝ Winery, 3
Photo by Roy Doyle
MUSCLE MAN During the last few years blues harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite added guitar to his musical arsenal. He will play with guitarist Elvin Bishop on July 20, and they may play some guitar duos.
YOGA ON WESTSIDE Katina Knapp, left, and Jenn Russo, right, have hosted yoga and dance classes at the Felta School on Westside Road since losing their downtown space at the end of 2021.
GOINGS ON AROUND TOWN THIS WEEK & NEXT
Conch Republic
Jimmy Buffet tribute band the Parrotheads perform a fun-loving show at Summer Night on the Green in Windsor, Thursday, July 18. Farmers’ Market 5pm, music 6-8pm.
Raven in Windsor
Final weekend for the Raven Players presentation of Stephen Sondheim’s breakthrough musical, Company, at the Windsor High School Auditorium. Friday and Saturday 7:30pm, Sunday 2pm matinee. Tickets $10 students, $40 general. 8695 Windsor Rd., Windsor. www.raventheater.org.
Alt-Country
Sarah Shook and the Disarmers headline, after an opening set by John Courage, in another big Friday Night Live show in Cloverdale, July 19. Street fair 6pm, live music 7-9:30pm.
Sundown Cinema
Friday, July 19, free openair screening of Nacho Libre (2006) with Jack Black as a Mexican wrestler, at the Healdsburg Plaza. Presented in Spanish with English subtitles. Concessions from 7:45pm include popcorn, candy and soda; bring chairs, blankets, etc. for the post-sundown show.
Elephant Music
The band San Geronimo brings their West Marin rock style to Healdsburg on Friday, July 19; the sax-driven R&B of Terry Hanck follows on Saturday night. Most shows are just $10. The Elephant in the Room is at 177 Healdsburg Ave., elephantintheroompub.com.
Family Jazz
Guitarist Christian FoleyBeining brings back the Beatles’ jazz connection on Saturday, July 20, and the following Thursday, July 25, his wife Kate Foley-Beining channels Joni Mitchell, both at Furthermore Wines, 5-8pm, no cover. 328-A Healdsburg Ave.
HEALDSBURG HAPPENINGS
Strange Daze
Music of the Doors, featuring vocalist Max Schimm, a Friday night special at the Coyote Den, July 19. Tickets only $10. The venue opens at 6pm, food vendors at 7pm, music at 9pm. Saturday Healdsburg’s original thrashmetal band Skitzo returns, no cover, 8pm. Coyote Sonoma, 44F Mill St., coyotesonoma.com.
Farmers’ Markets
The weekly Saturday Healdsburg Farmers’ Market gets rolling in the West Plaza parking lot on July 20, from 8:30am to noon. The Tuesday Farmers’ Market is held at the Plaza, 9am to 12:30pm, July 23.
Healdsburg History
Healdsburg Museum holds free weekly history lectures and tours on Saturdays, starting from the Plaza stage. On July 20 learn about local matriarchs Josefa Carrillo Fitch, Isabelle Simi Haigh, Claire O’Neill and others from Museum docents. 10am to 11:30pm.
Brazilian Jazz Quartet
An eclectic mix of originals and tunes by Brazilian composers from the Ruth Ahlers Quarteto Nova, with Ahlers (sax), Ken Cook (piano), Brad Maestas (bass) and Eric Engstrom (drums). At Healdsburg Hotel’s Spirit Bar on Saturday, July 20. No cover, partial Dry Creek Kitchen menu available, 25 Matheson St.
Sundays at the Plaza
The David Correa Trio plays Latin, rhumba and flamenco on the Gazebo stage on Sunday, July 21, from 1-3pm. No cover, no crowds. Bring a picnic.
Hazardous Waste
Zero Waste Sonoma will hold a free hazardous waste collection event in Healdsburg on Tuesday, July 23, 4-8pm. Register for an appointment at zerowastesonomahhwevent. as.me/healdsburg or call (707) 795-2025.
Folk Rock Tuesday Tuesday, July 23, the Assembly of Dust (a.k.a. AOD) with Reid Genauer plays the Plaza from 6-8pm. Vendors offer locally sourced food for sale starting at 5pm; complimentary bike valet services available.
SIP Healdsburg
Four-day music and wine event brings the third annual “Songwriters In
Paradise” to Healdsburg from June 24-27, at various wineries in the area. Tickets from $300 per event to $1,200 for the full four days. Information and tickets at songwritersinparadise. com/2024-passeshbg.
Second Story
Thursday, July 25, California-based quartet Color Green plays a free show starting at 7pm on the
Second Story stage. No cover, get there early or listen from downstairs at Little Saint, 25 North St. Looking Forward
Two music shows at the Raven Theater later this month. On Friday, July 26, the Traveling Wilburys Revue show will play tribute to the mid-1980s collaboration of Dylan, Harrison, Petty, Orbison and Lynne, 8-10pm. The
next night, July 27, South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo with their acapella repertoire, 7:30pm. Details and tickets at www.raventheater.org.
Post events on the Tribune’s online calendar at healdsburgtribune.com/ calendar and send special announcements to editor@ healdsburgtribune.com.
ASSEMBLAGE Three parts of the Assembly of Dust band, fronted by Reid Genauer, left. They all play the Plaza on July 23.
Foppiano Winery Sold
➝ Winery, 1
grape-producing property, earlier this month. The purchase includes the property, brand and vineyards; the price was not disclosed.
Its sale ends almost 130 years of family ownership. Nearly all the other family vineyards—Simi, Seghesio, Italian Swiss, Nervo—sold to conglomerates years ago. That Foppiano was not gobbled up by a Constellation Brands, Treasury Wine Estates or Bronco is a testimony to the insistence by the Foppianos that the brand remain solid, the wine consistent.
But the sale of Foppiano became inevitable, due not only to industry pressures but family disputes. “It’s been in the works for a couple of years, to be honest with you. We’ve been talking about it for a while,” said Louis M. Foppiano, the 77-year-old, third-generation Louis in the line. “Part of me is really sad to see it—it’s been in the family so long—but the other part is, it was time.”
Legend and Lore
Many local history buffs ran across the winery’s colorful history in the opening pages of When the Rivers Ran Red (2009), an award-winning chronicle of the survival of the Sonoma wine business during Prohibition, by Vivienne Sosnowski.
The book gets its title and signature moment from when Foppiano Wines was forced by Prohibition revenue agents to discard 140,000 gallons of red wine into a ditch next to the highway, where the current winery is located. From there, it flowed into a nearby creek
and then into the Russian River—but not before locals scooped up buckets full of the illegal beverage.
A photograph of that incident sits prominently in Foppiano’s tasting room today, along with other memorabilia, and a shelf of empty two-liter jugs labeled “Foppiano Wine Co. 1896” which can be filled and refilled with their current red blend. Like much of Foppiano, history is never far away.
Ironically, that notorious incident took place in 1926, midway through the experiment of Prohibition. Wine had technically been illegal since 1920, aside from “sacramental wine” supposedly used for religious purposes, but as Louis Michael Foppiano said this week, “We were bootlegging! Most of the wineries were. Nobody knew when it [Prohibition] was going to stop, so a lot of wineries kept making wine.”
The upshot of the public eradication of Foppiano’s wine reserves was that it stopped making wine, as did the many other local wineries whose stock was destroyed that year, and didn’t start up again until 1933.
Over time, with the slow discovery of Sonoma County wines, Foppiano’s name acquired wider recognition. Its petite sirah—a primary grape in its pre-Prohibition “burgundy”—became associated with its name; the chardonnay and, more recently, pinot noir also began to draw tasters to the tasting room and members to the wine club.
Louis J. Foppiano, the founder’s son, ran it for much of that time. He died at the age of 101 in 2012,
but retained control until he was 98. His son Louis M. became general manager, though in 2012 his sister Susan Foppiano Valera, then the tasting room manager, sued him for control of the family trust. The case went to trial, but it was settled out of court with the appointment of a third-party trustee. Louis M. would not talk about the settlement, or the suit.
Living History
“I love history, and I think we have to hold onto the history. That’s what I saw on the Foppiano project, much like the Martin Ray wines,” said new owner Courtney Benham of CMB Wines. The Bakersfield native moved from tree crops to wine, initially as a négociant. But at one point in the 1990s he happened upon a stash of Martin Ray wines in a San Jose warehouse.
“I was kind of curious about it, contacted the family and ended up buying the name, the trademark and the inventory. I started making wine under that label in the ’90s, and tried to stay true to the Martin Ray kind of winemaking,” he said.
Ray, a pioneer in Bay Area winemaking, worked with Paul Masson in Saratoga to produce 100% varietals, at the time an unusual practice in California.
Courtney Benham and his brother Derek Benham purchased Graton-area property and brands, including Blackstone merlot. Blackstone was sold to Constellation Brands in 2001, and in 2012 Derek sold Mark West pinot noir, again to Constellation.
But Courtney held on to the Martin Ray label, and rebuilt a facility on Laguna
Road (formerly Martini & Prati) to house that wine— and two other labels, Synthesis and Angeline. Martin Ray now produces chardonnay and pinot as well as two Napa Valley cabernets.
Adding Foppiano to his small fiefdom fit in well with his interest in quality and history. The Healdsburg winery will be upgraded with the application of “considerable TLC,” Benham said.
“It’s really great to see these older facilities still operating,” Benham said.
“That’s extremely important to me. And so that’s what we’re going to try to maintain [at Foppiano]. It does need some TLC. The winery needs some TLC, the vineyard needs some TLC, and also the brand.
“But you know, therein lies a challenge,” he added. “So that’s what we’re going to embark on.” Benahm estimated it would take two to four years to apply the necessary
“tender loving care” to rebuild Foppiano. But the family—Louis M. Foppiano and his wife, Helaine; his nephew, vineyard manager Paul Foppiano; and sister Susan Valera and her husband—will continue living in their longtime homes.
“There are definite mixed feelings in seeing the end of such a tradition. But Courtney has expressed his commitment to preserving the legacy of
our family,” Valera said. Hopefully a bit of that Foppiano magic will survive along with the name and the wines. “I mean, if you just step onto the property, you really get the feeling that it’s something out of the past,” Benham said. Foppiano Vineyards is located at 12707 Old Redwood Hwy, Healdsburg. Online at foppiano.com.
Photo by Christian Kallen
FAMILY MAN Louis M. Foppiano in the tasting room of the Healdsburg family winery in July 2024, when Foppiano sold its winery, brand and vineyards to Martin Ray.
Photo courtesy of Martin Ray Winery
BARREL TEST Courtney Benham uses a ‘wine thief’ to take barrel samples of wine in the Martin Ray cellars in 2023.
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We already know that Healdsburg is a place like no other. And now it’s time to talk about the people, businesses and amenities that make Healdsburg special. Keep your votes to locally born businesses, large chains based out of region will be disqualified.
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Merrily They Roll Along
PACKERS NO. 1 SEED FOR 3-GAME CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
By Caleb Knudsen
The Prune Packers sealed the No. 1 seed for the league playoffs last week, with three weeks yet to go in the season. Their record as of Sunday, July 14, was 18-2, eight full games ahead of runner-up Lincoln Potters (9-9). The Potters, however, are still on tenterhooks as to their No. 2 seed position— right behind them are the surging Humboldt Crabs with their 8-9 record.
“ The Pacific Empire League is very competitive, and it’s an absolute dog fight for the No. 2 seed,” said Healdsburg coach Joey Gomes. “Literally every team has a chance at the championship series.” Technically that’s true, but some favorites have emerged.
Although the Potters started out with a stronger win-loss record, they have hit a rough patch of late, including dropping a three-game series to the Prune Packers last week. Those games alternated between Rec Park and McBean Stadium field in Rocklin, but the venue didn’t seem to matter: the Pack won the opener on July 9, 9-4, drawing well ahead with a 3-run sixth inning.
That frame included a dropped third strike by the catcher—an error that usually results in an easy tag or toss to first for the out (one of those weird baseball rules that fans and players enjoy so much), but which cascaded by error and alert baserunning to bring across two runs.
The next day the Packers returned to Healdsburg, and set the place on fire with 14 runs on
13 hits, including home runs by Maddox Molony (his first this year) and Camden Hayslip (his seventh). Both four-baggers occurred in the 8-run seventh inning; meanwhile the Healdsburg pitching crew shut out the Potters on only four hits for the 14-0 romp. Wyatt Tucker got the win, striking out seven in his three innings of work.
The series ended with a return to Rocklin on July 11, the Pack scoring steadily for an 8-3 win. Joey Kramer finally popped his ninth home run, after a six-game drought, and starting pitcher Robert Aivazian got the win after four clean innings of work.
Kramer continued in the groove the next night, a non-league game against West Coast Kings Black, when he hit a pair of homers in the first and second innings. That set the stage for a 12-2 Pack win. Saturday night saw the winless Menlo Legacy fall, 13-6.
The Team to Watch Meanwhile, the middle of the league was in some turmoil. After losing three to the Packers the Lincoln Potters pulled it together to take out their frustrations on the Medford Rogues, pushing them further back in the PEL standings. But the Rogues weren’t to be dismissed so easily, and rallied for a 14-8 win on their home field.
But the team to watch out for is the Humboldt Crabs. While the rest of the league has been trading wins and losses, the Crabs put together a seven-game winning streak, five of those wins against league opponents. That streak will meet the Healdsburg Prune Packers’ nine-game streak this week, as the teams meet
CHASED
for three straight games up in Arcata, home of the Crabs.
The two teams met in June in their first threegame series, but that was in Healdsburg. Home field advantage is a real thing, and it cuts both ways: The rest of Humboldt’s games this season are all played in Arcata, beginning with the threegame series this week against the Packers.
Healdsburg is too far ahead to lose its No. 1 seed, but Humboldt is well-positioned to take the slot and force a Healdsburg-Humboldt league series later this month—the first game of which would be again in Arcata.
The first league championship best-of-three series will begin on July 30, a Tuesday, at the No. 2 seed field. Games 2 and 3 are now a certainty to be held in Healdsburg, at Rec Park—Game 2 on
Thursday, Aug. 1, and Game 3 (if necessary) on Friday, Aug. 2. “For the first time in 10 years the Championship Series will be played in Healdsburg,” exulted Gomes, who is unabashedly looking forward to the coming championship
series. Though the Prune Packers won three straight championships in the California Collegiate League (a “three-peat”), all those championship series were played in Southern California—a situation that continuously irritated Gomes.
It was as much that disrespect as anything that led to the creation of the Pacific Empire League, with teams from Medford, Oregon, to Rocklin, California, that, as Gomes has said, “checks all the boxes as a topnotch collegiate baseball league.”
So Much Hot Air at Balloon Fest
UP EARLY FOR ‘THE GLOW SHOW’ AT LOCAL FESTIVAL
By Pierre Ratte
Hot air. Sonoma summer. So much going on, including Sonoma County’s Hot Air Balloon Classic. Early morning reveille and revelry at the County Fairgrounds with gates opening at 4am. Although it was dark, once the hot air balloons “stood up,” propane flames and glowing balloons became a sound-andlight spectacle.
Winds prevented flight on Saturday and Sunday, but a terrific “glow show” occurred Sunday morning. The glow show happens when balloon pilots fire up propane burners, coordinating illuminations, each balloon lighting up in turn. There was also a “twinkle” display, when balloon pilots flared burners and “standing balloons”
twinkled randomly. Fun Facts: Flames from hot air balloon burners rise 6-8 feet. Burners put out 12 million BTU’s/hour; an average household gas burner puts out 10,000 BTU’s, or 0.08%. Hot air balloons travel 4-6 mph; we walk at 3 mph, and 4-6 mph is considered jogging. Winds over 8 mph are borderline unsafe for balloons. Balloon altitudes are generally in the 1,000–3,000 foot range.
The first hot air balloon rose in 1783, heated from a fire on the ground. In 1793, President George Washington witnessed the first hot air balloon flying in America. Hot air ballooning lost favor for over 100 years to balloon flying with lighter gasses.
In the 1950s, when propane tanks and burners could be carried aloft and safely prolong flight, interest in hot air balloons returned. In 1987, Richard Branson crossed the Atlantic. In 1991 he crossed the Pacific, 6,700 miles in 47 hours, achieving speeds close to 250 mph in a hot air balloon. The movie Around the World in 80 Days , with David Niven and Shirley MacLaine, featured a hot air balloon. Released in 1956, it won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, grossing $42 million at the box office against $6 million production costs. S. J. Perelman wrote the screenplay. The novel Around the World in 80 Days, written by Jules Verne, was wildly successful when published serially in Le Temps in 1872, and then in book form in 1873. Phileas Fogg and Passepartout did not travel by balloon in any part of their journey in Verne’s writings.
Consider a hot air balloon ride this summer, and mark your calendar for the festival next year.
Photo by Christian Kallen
BACK First baseman Joey Kramer holds onto the ball after a throw from relief pitcher Sal Batres (No. 15) chased a Medford runner back to the bag in a game at Healdsburg’s Rec Park.
Photo by Pierre Ratte
PREDAWN Propane flames illuminate balloons as they are inflated at the Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic.
Homecoming for Yoga Studio
really what we needed,” Russo says. “It’ll be light and airy and a good size for classes.” Since the start of 2022, Yoga on Center has been running yoga and dance classes out of the idyllic little Felta Schoolhouse along Westside Road, about a 5-minute drive into the countryside from town. But it wasn’t large or central enough for the
business to thrive.
While the schoolhouse fits around 20 people, the new Mill Street studio will fit closer to 40 or 50. It also has the foot-traffic factor.
“It’s hard for the visitors and tourists to get out there [to Felta School] because they don’t always have cars,” Russo says. “Now, they can walk from the square and walk from hotels, and go get a coffee after and things like that.”
February 8, 1936 – July 1, 2024
On Monday, July 1, 2024, Edgar Deas died at home, surrounded by his family. He was 88 years old when, after a decades long struggle with Parkinson’s Disease, complications finally took him. Born in Cuba in February of 1936 to Mario Deas and Dora (Caballero), he was christened Mario Edgar Yran Deas but always went by Edgar.
The family moved from Cuba to Nevada for a brief time when Edgar was 7, and his father was asked to help build a refining plant at a manganese mine to support the war effort. In the mid 1940s, shortly after the plant was operational, they moved to the San Francisco Bay Area.
In the early 1950s, the family relocated to Willits, California, where Edgar met Judith (Judy) Owen while attending Willits High School. From that point on, they were an inseparable team.
In 1955, shortly after moving to Healdsburg, Edgar and his father, Mario, founded E&M Electric, an electric motor repair company. They primarily serviced the lumber industry, which dominated the local economy at the time. E&M grew to include designing and installing electrical and control systems in many of the lumber mills that dotted the North Coast.
As the business grew, so did the family. Edgar and Judy married in August of 1956 and over the next decade had four sons, who all grew up here, attended Healdsburg schools and “dragged” their very willing parents to all their school, club, and sporting events.
Supporting a family was just a part of the picture. Edgar was also involved in the Healdsburg community at many levels. He was a proud Kiwanian, served on the City Council, supported sports and educational activities, and was available to a wide range of friends and family to give advice and counsel. Along the way, Edgar and a group of local business leaders started a regional bank and Edgar was a board member and served a term as chairman of the board. Today that bank is part of the Bank of Marin. For almost seventy years, Healdsburg was his home. He loved it and it loved him.
The business Edgar co-founded with his father has evolved but continues to deliver products and services with the same professionalism, pride, and integrity: attributes they instilled in the organization and the family. Today, there are third and fourth generation family members steering the company into the future and keeping that legacy alive.
Edgar is survived by Judy, his wife of nearly 68 years, all his sons, Steve (Jane), Bruce (Suzel), Paul (Pamela) and Mike (Jeaneen), twelve grandchildren and three great-grandchildren as well as his sisters, Marta (Pete) Peterson, Ileana (Jack) Gaskins, and Linda (Dennis) McGinness, and their children.
Edgar’s counsel will be missed, as will his sense of humor and his dedication to everything he loved: his community and his family, above all.
A memorial service to celebrate Edgar’s life is planned for August 18, 2024 at 456 Hidden Acres Road at 3:00pm. Due to limited parking, please carpool, if you can. There was a private inurnment at Oak Mound Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to one of these charities: The Parkinson’s Support Group of Sonoma County PSCSG, % Peter Karp, President, 2341 Alvarado Ave Santa Rosa, CA 95401 or Healdsburg Kiwanis, https://www. healdsburgkiwanis.org/donate.html or Healdsburg Museum and Historical Society, https://www.healdsburgmuseum. org/donate
The new studio needs some work, though. Russo and Knapp launched a fundraiser last month on the BetterWorld platform to help pay for renovations. As of this writing, they’ve raised around $22,000— nearly 75% of the $30,000 they’re shooting for.
“The Healdsburg community is in need of a space for yoga and one with the flexibility to support other classes such as dance for children and adults,” their fundraising page says. “To bring our dream studio into reality and keep rent manageable at the same time, we must assume responsibility for a few improvements, including a new floor.”
Classes
Dance classes already planned at 44C Mill St. this fall include an “intro to ballet and contemporary dance for beginning (or returning) tween/teen dancers” and, for kids ages five to nine, a class called Make Your Move that allows them to “build their own movement style developed through playful games and creative challenges.”
Local dancer and artist Greta Schoenberg, one of four women in town who
launched the Healdsburg Dance Collective last year to “bolster community support for dance,” will teach both. She has since taught ballet and other styles at Yoga on Center’s Felta Schoolhouse location, as well as the Parkpoint gym and The Studio fitness space in the CVS shopping center.
Another local dance group that stands to benefit: The UPside Dance Company, which had to move rehearsals to the Santa Rosa Junior College campus when Yoga on Center left 401 Center St. UPside will now be able to practice here in town again.
“Losing that space on Center Street was a huge blow to us as a dance community,” Schoenberg says. “So having this return of an even larger space right in town—one that will be convenient for our students—is a huge asset, and we’re really excited to be a part of it.”
Back on New Year’s Day 2022, Yoga on Center co-owner Knapp wrote on Facebook: “The tears are flowing with no end in sight. We have only 2 more days left at our current location of Yoga On Center. It has been the heart of Downtown
Healdsburg for 17 years.”
Russo says it’s now time to “let go and move on.”
She and Knapp aren’t about to cut ties with the brand and legacy they built on Center Street, though— including the name Yoga on Center.
In years past, when Yoga on Center tried opening a second location on First Street in Cloverdale—a dream ultimately crushed by the pandemic—they kept its name then, too.
Russo says of the Yoga on Center moniker: “Everyone thinks it’s because we were on Center Street. Which definitely was a part of it. But also, we come to yoga to find our center— and that’s everywhere, wherever we are.”
Locals can donate to the Yoga on Center fundraiser online at yogaoncenter. betterworld.org/ campaigns/help-bringyoga-back-healdsburg.
Blues Duo Coming to LBC This Saturday
Last year you had a role in the film “Killers of the Flower Moon” (Martin Scorsese, 2023). That was a great spot you did there. It brought the whole movie to life. Well, it was a small scene, but it was pivotal to the story. I don’t know if you know this or not, but there’s a whole backstory if you read the book. In the book, there’s a photo of an outlaw named Al Spencer. And I have Al Spencer’s rifle. Notches he carved in it of people he killed, and he carved his name into it. He had a gang, and they robbed banks and trains. The reason I have that rifle is because he died in a shootout with my grandfather. And my grandfather’s name was Charlie Musselwhite. I told Scorsese about it and he thought it was, I don’t know, magical or something. He was filming everything right where it happened, so it was kind of like Charlie Musselwhite was back. It’s not in the movie, it’s not in the book—but it’s the truth. And I know it because I’ve
got the rifle to prove it. How did you manage to get your favorite phrase in the finished movie?
Well, what happened was, right before filming, they sent me the script of the scene. I’m looking at it and I’m reading it and I’m thinking, “Gosh, I don’t even talk like this. I gotta rewrite this the way I talk
so I can memorize it.” So right before the shooting Scorsese said, “Now just say it in your own words, and feel free to improvise.” I thought, I’m glad to hear that because I am saying it in my own words, and I know exactly what I’m gonna throw in. After I said my lines, I said, “And I ain’t lying!’’ And he liked that. He
didn’t know that it was something like my signature, but he gave me two thumbs up and a big smile. Charlie Musselwhite and Elvin
at Luther
play with Taj
Center on Saturday, July 20. Tickets start at $75 and are available at lutherburbankcenter.org/ event/taj-mahal24.
Photo courtesy of Yoga on Center
TEAM SPORT Yoga on Center co-owners Katina Knapp, left, and Jenn Russo, right, at their longtime studio on Center Street.
Bishop
Mahal
Burbank
➝ Charlie Musselwhite, 1
Photo courtesy of Greta Schoenberg
SIDE OF DANCE Local dance teacher Greta Schoenberg with some of her youngest ballet students at the Felta Schoolhouse. Schoenberg will continue teaching classes at Yoga on Center’s new Mill Street location.
Photo courtesy Paramount Pictures
INFORMER Charlie Musselwhite played a brief but pivotal role in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ Martin Scorsese’s 2023 movie.
EDGAR DEAS
CRIMES AND CONCERNS REPORTED TO HEALDSBURG POLICE, JULY 1-7
Monday, July 1
7:53am The Reporting Party (RP) wanted a person in the bathroom at Quail & Condor to leave. The person had a guitar with her. An officer responded, but the subject was gone on arrival (GOA) and unable to be located (UTBL).
• 1:08pm The RP indicated that a vehicle was on fire on the railroad tracks near the Healdsburg Community Center on Healdsburg Avenue. An officer responded and the incident was transferred to the Fire Department.
1:17pm Two pressure washers and a lawn mower worth $2,500 were taken from the Simi Winery on Healdsburg Avenue.
2:38pm A vehicle was rented on May 24 and never returned to Enterprise Rent-A-Car on Healdsburg Avenue. A demand letter was sent on June 6. In addition, the owner of the company has reached out to the subject multiple times and received no response.
4:22pm The RP indicated that a package valued at $350 was stolen off his porch on Paul Wittke Drive.
7:02pm A stolen vehicle from Healdsburg was recovered in San Mateo County.
7:59pm A 25-YO man at McDonald’s on Healdsburg Avenue was cited and released on outstanding Sonoma County warrants regarding resisting arrest, possession of methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance and trespassing.
Tuesday, July 2
1:43am A vehicle was stopped for having an obstructed license plate on Matheson Street at East Street. A 52-YO man was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and possessing, selling or manufacturing a leaded cane. The man was transported to county jail. His dog was taken to the Healdsburg Humane Society.
9:43pm The RP indicated that someone backed into her vehicle on Center Street on July 1.
11:57pm An officer cited a 65-YO woman at the West Plaza Parking Lot on Healdsburg Avenue for possession of a shopping cart and on an outstanding Sonoma County warrant regarding possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
• 12:26pm The RP indicated her niece’s iPad was stolen on June 17 at Badger Park while she was at baseball practice. On July 2 the iPad pinged at a residence. An officer went to the residence and located the iPad. There had been a misunderstanding when two vehicles were detailed at the same location. The car detailer put a bag of items containing the iPad into the wrong car.
1:13pm The RP at Fogbelt Brewing Company on Hudson Street refused to serve a man due to the amount the RP thought the man had already drunk. The man left in a vehicle traveling eastbound on Hudson Street. An officer responded, but the man was GOA and UTBL.
1:32pm A customer rented an electronic hammer at Aaction Rents on Grove Street. He provided an identification, which was likely fraudulent. The customer did not return the tool, valued at $2,200. The RP
POLICE LOG
advised that the customer had done similar activity at other stores in the area. An officer took a report.
4:38pm The RP at Big John’s Market on Healdsburg Avenue reported that a man was outside the business and made threats towards the RP with gestures and words such as, “I’ll whoop you up!” The man moved to the sidewalk. The RP wanted the subject trespassed from the premise. Officer responded and advised the man of the complaint. The man was told if he returned he could be arrested for trespassing if the business decided to proceed with trespassing paperwork.
Wednesday, July 3
• 7:42am A 43-YO man was arrested for a June 1 incident at Red Custom Crush on Grove Street. He was transported to county jail for vandalism, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and violating probation.
7:46am The RP indicated that a man walked up to the table at Badger Park on Heron Drive where the RP was sitting on July 2 and asked if the RP smoked marijuana, then grabbed a knife from his waistband and pointed it at the RP. A report was taken and an investigation was initiated.
• 8:17am Graffiti was reported at Healdsburg Montessori School on Grove Street on a tree and on a bridge adjacent to the property.
• 8:42am A man stole $10 worth of food from the hot bar at Big John’s Market on Healdsburg Avenue. He left on foot southbound toward the Foss Creek Trail. An officer responded but the man was GOA. The police remain on the lookout for the subject, who has stolen from Big John’s Market before. A report was taken.
• 10:23am Graffiti was reported on the handrails of the bridge at the Foss Creek Trail on Grove Street.
• 8:52pm The RP indicated that illegal fireworks were going off on March Avenue at Daisy Street. An officer responded and nothing was seen in the area.
10:36pm A man who may have been drunk was lying on the ground on Healdsburg Avenue at South University Street. Officers responded and he was transported to Healdsburg General Hospital.
Thursday, July 4
• 7:31am The RP indicated that a woman at L&M Motel on Healdsburg Avenue was screaming obscenities and that she would burn houses down. The woman pulled a hose into her unit and was spraying down her room. Officers responded, advised the woman of the complaints and asked her to quiet down. Officers determined that no criminal threats were made.
8:18am Officers located and arrested a 63-YO man for a previous incident at Badger Park on Heron Drive for assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance and violating probation. He was taken to county jail.
• 1:54pm A man at Big John’s Market on Healdsburg Avenue stole $10 worth of hot food. The RP was willing to press charges and file no-trespassing paperwork against the man.
9:28pm Officers contacted two people drinking alcohol in front of Plaza Paint on Healdsburg Avenue. A 31-YO man was cited and released for violating probation and drinking in public.
9:30pm Fireworks were reported on Powell Avenue. Officers
responded, but were unable to locate fireworks in the area.
• 9:35pm Officers gave multiple people in Railroad Park on Front Street a verbal warning about being in the park after hours with alcohol. The people were asked to leave the park.
10:23pm A bike was stopped at night on Exchange Avenue at Adeline Way for a lack of lights. A 25-YO man was in possession of copper wire. He was arrested and transported directly to county jail for violating probation, possessing burglary tools, receiving stolen property, burglary and committing a felony while on bail.
11:04pm An officer attempted to stop a speeding motorcycle traveling northbound on Redwood Highway at Lytton Springs Road. The motorcycle sped off and the pursuit was eventually terminated.
• 11:47pm Fireworks were reported on Spruce Way at Sunnyvale Drive. Officers responded, but did not locate any fireworks in the area.
Friday, July 5
• 12:06am An officer checked on a 43-YO man on Marigold Way at Larkspur Drive. He was arrested and transported to county jail for possession of a controlled substance and on outstanding Sonoma County warrants regarding vandalism and identity theft.
2:35am The RP stated that three to four shots were fired at Badger Park on Heron Drive. A second RP stated he heard three to four shots coming from Badger Park. A third RP indicated that he heard six to seven shots coming from the Badger Park area. Officers responded and a witness stated he heard and saw fireworks in the area of
Bailhache Avenue. Officers checked the surrounding area and were unable to locate the subject.
6:44am A patient at the Healdsburg District Hospital on University Avenue refused to leave. The man was not violent but was being verbally aggressive. Officer responded and advised the man to leave the hospital. He waited outside for a ride.
7:44am A man refused to leave Healdsburg District Hospital on University Avenue. He asked to use the phone and was swearing. An officer responded and provided him a courtesy ride to Rite Aid.
9:32am The RP was punched near St John’s Church on Matheson Street. The subject walked away. Officers responded and the RP was uncooperative. Several witnesses identified the RP as the aggressor.
12:35pm The RP indicated he followed a gray Tacoma