It’s Donut Thursday at the Deux Gros Nez coffeehouse on California Avenue, and the place is packed. Boxes of donuts are on a table near the front door. Free of charge, as they always are.

Tim Healion, proprietor and highly caffeinated donut junkie, has powdered sugar all over the cat hair on his fleece jacket. He’s got a meat thermometer in his Wrangler shirt pocket. His black hair, which is usually tousled, is unusually tousled, and he delights in making it worse. Healion is the reason most of us come here. He’s a visionary and a chief. A philosopher with attention deficit disorder.

Bill Thornton is a dapper western businessman from a more refined era. He first met Healion and John Jesse in 1984 when the pair was roller-skating around their first Reno restaurant, Cochon Volant. He thoughtfully reflects on the long-standing ambiance at the Deux Gros Nez (which opened on June 18, 1985).

Kim Bosco has frequented the Deux for 21 years. He calls in his usual breakfast order, a Boscodilla. When asked about his favorite memory of the Deux, Bosco mentions the time he and a friend drank $86 worth of imported Italian beer from the reach-in frig.

Fred Miller is chairman of the Donut Board of Directors. Last summer, he and Healion convened a special session to try the case of one Tom Skiles, a local hydrologist, who forgot to bring donuts on the morning of July 14. Due to the hideous nature of his offense, Skiles was temporarily banned from the Deux. You see, Healion doesn’t provide the donuts. People sign up months in advance for that honor.

At the Deux, it doesn’t matter what you do or who you are. On this November morning, there are a nurse, a lawyer, and a land baron. A national champion cyclist and a massage therapist. A surfer, firefighter, landscaper, high school teacher, and magazine editor. Two former employees sit at the counter, and people who worked on the Tour de Nez bike race are chatting.

That’s the thing about the Deux Gros Nez. Everyone is welcome. Business suits and nose rings share coffee. Wisdom and recklessness sit side by side. They all look forward to seeing Healion. The regulars, the staff, the bike racers. “Thank you!” Healion calls out genuinely to each customer as they leave. Thanks, Tim.

The Deux Gros Nez closed its doors on Nov. 30, 2006. Healion will be devoting himself full-time to his other passion: the 15th annual Tour de Nez. This unique local event is one of the top professional bike races in the country and is slated for June 13-16, 2007.