$125K In Grants Awarded To Healdsburg Events, Nonprofits

Press release from the Healdsburg Tourism Improvement District:

HEALDSBURG, CA — The Healdsburg Tourism Improvement District (HTID)—a benefit assessment district which funds marketing and sales promotion efforts for lodging businesses in Healdsburg — announces over $125,000 in grants to seven local organizations. The semi-annual grant program is derived from the local hospitality industry’s annual bed tax receipts. The contributions aim to fund arts, cultural and educational activities and subsequently promote room stays among the 31-member lodging properties within the city limits.

Just in time for the holiday season, the grants will support upcoming events between November 2022 and April 2023, including:

• The popular Healdsburg Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day that raises funds for the "Live Like Drew" (Drew Esquivel) Scholarship, which helps student-athletes attend college.
• The second annual Merry Healdsburg Weekend from Healdsburg Chamber/City of Healdsburg, offering festive activities for the whole family from Dec. 2-4. The event transforms the Healdsburg Plaza into a winter wonderland with a tree lighting, carriage rides, a holiday concert, photos with Santa and more.
• Healdsburg Jazz Festival Winter Concert Series, featuring free live music at various locations in town including a holiday swing dance party with Lavay Smith & The Red Hot Skillet Lickers at Paul Mahder Gallery.
• The community-wide Art After Dark street fair, featuring various art vendors, live musical performances, silent films, face painting, games and more.
• The 222 performing arts center’s current season running from August 2022 through May 2023, which will deliver diverse offerings in jazz, classical and choral music as well as literary, film, and community-building events.
• Healdsburg Kiwanis Club, supporting various Healdsburg organizations, families and children through programs including Healdsburg High School’s Key Club and the Fitch Mountain Footrace.
• Healdsburg Prune Box Derby, a new event inviting the community to build imaginative, non-motored, box cars to ride down a hill in town on Derby Day in spring of 2023.

“We are honored to contribute to the wonderful community of Healdsburg through this grants program and are excited to see everything come into fruition this holiday season,” says Circe Sher, member of the HTID and co-founder of Piazza Hospitality. “We are also excited to be able to support new organizations and events like the Healdsburg Kiwanis Club and the Prune Box Derby that we know will continue to bring the community together.”

Adopted in 2013, the HTID gives 22.5 percent of its funds to the District Development Grant Program. All lodging properties within the city limits pay a two percent assessment, which funds HTID’s activities promoting tourism to Healdsburg. The grant recipients are processed by a Destination Development Advisory Subcommittee including HTID Member Circe Sher and Healdsburg City Council Member Evelyn Mitchell, who provide grant recommendations to the HTID Committee for endorsement.

Grant program applications open twice a year in the spring and fall, and priority is given to nonprofit organizations planning projects aimed at improving the visitor experience such as transportation and parking solutions, infrastructure enhancements, and activities and events. Grant applications for the coming year will open in the spring of 2023 and be available at www.healdsburg.com/htid.

About Healdsburg Tourism Improvement District:

The Healdsburg Tourism Improvement District comprises of 31 luxury hotels, motels, modern lofts and suites, cozy bed & breakfasts and rustic inns within the city limits. Nestled in the heart of beautiful Sonoma Wine Country, Healdsburg is a culinary epicenter where three premier wine regions meet—Russian River Valley, Dry Creek and Alexander Valley —and home to more than 160 wineries.

This press release was produced by the Healdsburg Tourism Improvement District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.