Laura Bellizzi is the woman you’ve seen behind the counter at Binnacle Books quite often. You can tell she loves to read, and loves to be surrounded by books. When you try to special order your book from Binnacle Books through her, however, she will side-eye you, and tell you to talk to Binnacle’s website. Which you then do that night, to order your copy of “Secrets of Divine Love” by A. Helwa. When you come back a week later to pick it up, she hands it to you with a smile, saying “Enjoy!” with her classic eyebrow raise.
Laura was determined to work at Binnacle Books. It took her 6 times of coming into the shop, asking for a job. Finally, there was an opportunity to hire her. That was in 2016. She told ALBB: “It’s always been my dream to work in a bookstore, own a bookstore. This bookstore in particular has always been one of my greatest loves. Years later, my business partners offered me the partnership, and it’s a dream come true. I dropped everything else I was doing to come in and do this.” Laura remains committed and pleased to be there as ever, as she regularly styles herself comfortably in her keffiyeh.
Beacon as community supports Binnacle. Laura said: “As an independent bookstore, people want to see them thrive. There was a period of time when there was the fear that Amazon and all of these other forces were going to destroy the bookshop. I think a lot of people, in Beacon in particular, really rallied behind them.”
Tourists come from all over just to come to Binnacle Books in Beacon. “We have a lot of local support. A lot of regulars who pop in all the time.” Anyone can order just about any book from Binnacle’s website, and then enjoy a walk or ride down to pick it up.
“It’s not just a bookshop,” Laura told ALBB. “This is a community resource.” One of Laura’s favorite programs is the Prison Books Project, where incarcerated people write what books they want, and “sponsors” aka regular people, buy the books, and Binnacle Books ships the books to them. Binnacle Books works through the mail system, as opposed to working with the facilities. The Prison Books Project is all volunteer based. Binnacle Books just established a separate 501-C3 status just for this project. Other bookstores are also now involved with the project.
The food pantry at Binnacle Books continues, with Fareground and Beacon 4 Black Lives. It’s one of the only food pantry locations that has a refrigerator and a cupboard.
THE FILM, WHICH FEATURES FORMERLY INCARCERATED ADVOCATES AND FORMER PAROLE COMMISSIONERS WHO EXPOSE THE BOARD’S LAWLESS ADDICTION TO PUNISHMENT, MAKES THE CASE FOR REFORM
WHAT: A screening of “The Interview”, a short film exposing the injustices of parole release hearings, followed by a panel featuring people directly impacted by New York’s prison system and unjust Parole Board. The film features members of the Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) Campaign, and other formerly incarcerated advocates, who each faced as many as ten parole denials despite having transformed their lives while behind bars many years earlier. In addition, two Parole Commissioners appear in the film and, in very different ways, articulate how the Parole Board makes decisions about the release of people based solely on the nature of their crime, even after they have already served a minimum sentence.
The Q&A after the film will feature panelists who have been directly impacted by incarceration and the parole process in New York.
WHERE: Story Screen Theater, 445 Main St, Beacon, NY 12508
WHO: The screening is hosted by Beacon Prison Rides Program and Beacon Prison Books Project, in partnership with the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign and the People’s Campaign for Parole Justice. Panelists include RAPP Executive Director Jose Saldana, RAPP Westchester Community Leader Greg Mingo, Beacon Prison Rides member, Ms. John, and After Incarceration Co-Director, Jose Pineda.
The Beacon Prison Rides Project is a volunteer-run organization providing free rides for families between the Beacon train station and Beacon-area prisons. Since November 2017, Beacon Prison Rides has provided an alternative to costly taxis or prison vans, providing more than 1,800 rides for more than 200 people visiting their incarcerated loved ones. Find out more about the project and about how to request rides, volunteer, or donate here >
The Beacon Prison Books Project is an organization that provides books to incarcerated persons throughout New York State, by request. People who are incarcerated in NYS use free postcards or simply write to us at our P.O. Box to request books or book recommendations. Then we order the books, connect with individual sponsors, pack up the books, and send them to the person who made the request. Most of this activity happens through Binnacle Books in Beacon, NY. Learn more here >
The People’s Campaign for Parole Justice is a new, statewide, grassroots campaign pushing for parole reform in New York State. The campaign platform is supported by over 350 organizations across New York State and led by a coalition of the state’s biggest and most influential social justice and criminal justice groups, including the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, Parole Preparation Project, VOCAL-NY, Citizen Action, New Hour for Women and Children, NY Communities for Change, Center for Community Alternatives, Osborne Association, NYCLU, FWD.us, #HALTsolitary Campaign, Legal Aid Society, Center for Justice at Columbia, CUNY Law Defenders Clinic, and NYU Law's Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law.
BACKGROUND: Nearly 1 in 4 people from Dutchess county incarcerated in New York State prisons is over the age of 50, which many departments of corrections across the country define as “older” due to accelerated aging behind bars. About 63 percent are people of color, even though people of color only make up 23 percent of the general population of Dutchess county, and many are serving long sentences with few opportunities for release based on their rehabilitation and current readiness for release. Without parole reform, many will never make it out of prison.
Racism infects the parole release system just as it does every element of the criminal legal system. A white person in a New York prison is significantly more likely on average to be released on parole than a Black or Latinx person and the disparity widened in 2020, according to a Times Union analysis of the nearly 19,000 parole board decisions over the last two years. The data, which spans October 2018 through October 2020, shows the Parole Board granted parole release to 41 percent of white people, compared to 34 percent of Black people and 33 percent of Latinx people. Importantly, these racial disparities are not new. In 2016, the New York Times conducted an investigation of parole release data and similarly found Black and Latinx people were significantly less likely to be released than their white counterparts.
The People’s Campaign for Parole Justice is calling on lawmakers in Albany to pass two bills that will address this pandemic behind bars and prevent similar tragedies in the future:
Elder Parole (S.15/A.3475) would allow the State Board of Parole to provide an evaluation for potential parole release to incarcerated people aged 55 and older who have already served 15 or more years, including some of the state’s oldest and sickest incarcerated people.
Fair and Timely Parole (S.1415/A.4231) would provide more meaningful parole reviews for incarcerated people who are already parole-eligible.
The Campaign is also calling on Governor Hochul to fully staff the Parole Board with 19 Commissioners who come from communities that have been directly affected by mass incarceration and who have professional and clinical backgrounds in areas such as social work, nursing, reentry services, and other fields that allow them to evaluate incarcerated people for who they are today. The Board currently has three vacancies.
From the film: Former Parole Commissioner Carol Shapiro said, “The research is so clear on this, and has been for years,” regarding low reincarceration rates in New York State among people convicted of murder who are subsequently released on parole. Keeping people incarcerated for decades—well into old age—has changed the very nature of prisons, she says: “We are running geriatric institutions in America right now.”
Beloveds, it’s been a long, long time since we last met here; I hope you are all well and surviving if not all the way to thriving. So there’s much to catch up on. What did you read and love this summer? My summer reading favorites were: Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans (who is an extremely talented writer), Interior, Chinatown by Charles Yu (innovative structure for a novel-as-screenplay), and The Porpoise by Mark Haddon (trigger warning in an Ancient Greek kind of way).
I just finished The Matrix by Lauren Groff, which, oh my goodness, knocked my socks off and also made me feel slightly self-conscious that I was reading about nun sex in a public place. Currently reading Fault Lines by Emily Itami which may veer too far into the sad mommy genre, but also delivers whoppers like “It’s hard to remember who you are without people who know you that way.”
I took an amazing field trip over the summer to Hobart, NY – the used bookstore lover’s dream. Made me incredibly grateful we have Binnacle Books here in Beacon with their used book selection, but how great would it be if there were, say seven more used bookstores?
So what’s happening this month in the world of literary pursuits?
The Howland Library has a great program set up for October: Stop by at any time starting Friday, October 15th to pick up a cookbook titled, "Vietnamese Food Any Day: Simple Recipes for True, Fresh Flavors" by famed chef and author, Andrea Nguyen. FREE! 2021 Big Read's chosen title is the graphic novel memoir "The Best We Could Do" by Thi Bui. The memoir follows a family's journey from Vietnam to America and is being discussed on October 20th outside in Memorial Park.
Split Rock Books in Cold Spring has a couple of great events lined up this fall, as well as their graphic novel and fiction book clubs which meet at the end of the month. Their fiction pick is one that has been on my list: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead: A Novel by Olga Tokarczuk, and translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.
Over the bridge in our sister city is the Newburgh Literary Festival at the end of the month. I’m so happy to see this event return, it was so fantastic the first year it happened. The festival will begin Saturday, October 30 at 11am with a full day of readings, interviews, and conversations with eight featured writers. Sunday, October 31, will feature a series of in-person writing workshops with award-winning, Hudson Valley-based authors and artists. The Saturday event, which has been curated by writers Ruth Danon and Belinda McKeon, will include paired readings and moderated conversations and will feature an in-conversation event with Joe Donahue, host of The Book Show and The Round Table on WAMC, Northeast Public Radio. We stan for Joe Donahue!
Here in Beacon, our very own Donna Minkowitz is putting on Lit Lit, a monthly writer’s salon at Homespun Foods on Main Street. This month the reading is October 7th, from 7-9pm, and going forward will meet the first Thursday of every month, with Friday as the rain date. Writers can read their own writing of any genre, up to five minutes in length.
Zoom Readings?!
If you want to attend some killer zoom readings with famous authors, may I suggest The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence, who has some heavy hitters booked for later this month and November. If you want to take a workshop, The Poetry Project in NYC has some really far-out offerings coming up. The Hudson Valley Writer’s Center has a number of readings and workshops, including a Legend of Sleepy Hollow family storytelling workshop on October 17th that looks like a lot of fun.
Here’s to cozy reading and blue skies and bright leaves for the next little longer, friends. I promise not to let it be so long before we meet again.
The tiny fridge, behind Binnacle Books and the Tiny Food Pantry found there. Organized by Fareground, Beacon4BlackLives, and Binnacle Books. Photo Credit: Beacon4BlackLives
Beacon’s first community fridge was unveiled in the last week of November 2020, as a fully functioning refrigerator sheltered by a wooden house built by Bryan Faubus with materials donated by Kevin Byrne. The community fridge is a collaboration project between Fareground, Beacon4BlackLives, and Binnacle Books; with advice and moral support provided by the Fridge Girls of NYC and the Kingston Community Fridges organization. You can easily find the self-stock refrigerator located behind Binnacle Books where a food pantry of nonperishable goods can also be easily accessed.
How The ‘Fridge At The Tiny Food Pantry Came To Be
The first meeting about the fridge project occurred in late September 2020. By November 25th, 2020, the fridge was plugged in and fully stocked by several members of the Beacon community. A need for direct aid in the community was evident back in April 2020 amidst the beginning of the pandemic.
Since Binnacle Books was closed to the public during the shutdown, they decided to convert their outdoor “dollar bookshelf” into a Tiny Food Pantry in collaboration with Fareground. By July 2020, the makeshift food pantry was upgraded to a permanent food pantry with a design uniform to the others that Fareground has established across Wappingers Falls, Beacon, and Fishkill.
Binnacle Books had to restock the shelf several times a week using donated funds to buy groceries, food provided by Fareground and Keyfood’s Donation Bin. In addition to these accessible food sources, several members of the community stop by to leave food on the shelves, and just as many people stop by to collect what they need. The pantry is still constantly cycling from full to empty every day, a clear sign indicating the dire need for direct aid for the Beacon Community, especially during these tough times. Any person can stock the refrigerator at any time with new, fresh, unopened items. Produce is accepted.
Maintenance of the fridge has been tended by organizers from Beacon4BlackLives, Fareground, and Mark of Binnacle Books. A schedule of volunteers is being organized as the fridge will need cleaning and upkeep moving forward. Members of the community can get involved by simply swinging by to put food in the fridge or take what they need for themselves or to provide for others.
A Venmo is also set up to accept funds used to buy groceries, non-perishables, toiletries, tampons/pads, as well as cleaning supplies. Says Binnacle in their directions on Instagram: “the money will be used in one of a few ways: 1) to cover ~$20 / month to keep the fridge plugged in, 2) to keep the fridge stocked and clean, and 3) to keep the tiny food pantry out front stocked with non-perishables, toiletries, etc.”
The Venmo handle is @binnaclefoodjustice.
Future Growth For The Fridge At The Tiny Food Pantry
As for plans for future installations, there are no announcements yet, but there is definite interest in expanding the project. The City of Beacon has been discussing adding food security to their budget and discussions in 2021.
Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro announced via press release on December 22, 2020, that more than $150,000 has been allocated for local municipal projects promoting food security and safety for seniors.’ Beacon was a municipality that applied for and was awarded CARES funding, based on the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) income guidelines, for efforts to promote food security and safety at local senior centers to enable them to be open for seniors.
Beacon was awarded $25,000 “for assistance to a local food bank to purchase food for distribution to low- and moderate-income households.” A Little Beacon Blog is following up on the destination of that allocation.
Thank You! So many of you last week contributed financially as readers, bought a tote bag, and came on board as a sponsor. Please welcome our newest sponsors to A Little Beacon Blog's super special Guides, where we can bring more about them to you:
Lewis & Pine: The adorable shop on Main Street from the designer Yali Lewis who designs the jewelry inside. Beacon is very fortunate to have her, as her style is sleek and stellar.
Beacon Mercantile: Your answer for your summertime aromas and perfumes. Toni Hacker handcrafts all of her products right in the store, and even has secret collaborations with other makers.
Find our all of this in more in this weekend's email edition!
Communities Unite: A March For Justice
Day: Saturday, July 25, 2020 Time: 11am Location: Memorial Park
Organized by Ali T. Muhammad, sister cities are encouraged to attend, from Newburgh, Cold Spring, Poughkeepsie, etc. From the organizers: "Calling all Black, Indigenous & People of Color (BIPOC): We need you to share your voice in this demonstration of excellence and community." Club Draw Beacon is leading a solutions-oriented sign making session open for all and kid friendly at Memorial Park. Beacon4BlackLives will be leading the March down Fishkill Avenue and then down Main Street, stopping at PohIll Park and walking through the police station. They will stop for a 8:46 second pause and continue marching down through the train station. Then they walk to river front and have speeches at 1:30/2pm and then breakout sessions 3pm. Information >
Howland Cultural Center Member Art Show
Day: Saturday, July 25+26, 2020 Time: 1pm
Take a peek into the Howland Cultural Center this weekend with their Member Arts Show. Mask up, social distance, and enjoy the art. Information >
Towne Crier: Stories & Songs with Jeff Daniels Day: Sunday, July 26, 2020 Time: 7pm Location: LIVESTREAM - The Towne Crier, Beacon, NY Price: Tickets $15 (Please note that Towne Crier is NOT selling tickets for the live stream. They are being sold by Jeff Daniels via Crowdcas).
The Towne Crier is presenting a live-streamed show with award-winning actor and singer-songwriter Jeff Daniels for an intimate concert experience full of original songs, personal stories from his stage and movie career that only he can tell - and plenty of smiles. Stick around for a 15-30 min audience Q&A following the show. The questions submitted will be reviewed, with some then passed along to Jeff for reply. Tickets >
Beacon's Summer Concerts In The Park Day: Tuesdays, July 28, 2020 Time: 5-5:45pm
Performances at Pete And Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park. Come out for a free evening of performance, song and magic brought to you by Beacon Recreation. Performances from Compass Arts & Gwen Laster of Creative Strings Improvisers Orchestra. Each week, different performers will be bringing different experiences for all ages to Pete And Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park Information >
Fishkill's Summer Concerts In The Park
Day: Wednesday, July 29, 2020 Time: 6:30pm
Fishkill's Summer Concerts in the Park Series. Each week features a different local band. All concerts are free to the public. Concerts are held on Wednesdays (Thursdays will be the Rain Date). From the organizers: "Please wear a mask or face covering whenever you are not in your seat such as when you are using the restrooms, to and from your car, and whenever else you are unable to practice social distancing. You do not have to wear your mask to dance but we recommend doing your best to distance yourself from the closest dancer." Information >
EAT CHURCH
511 Fishkill Avenue, Beacon
"I don't know how you do the voodoo that you do so well...!" That fresh flavor voodoo that Eat Church is known for is going back to the kitchen for a menu re-do, or menu-refresh - to deal with all of this hotness weather. Keep it tuned here for when they are BACK. Stalk Them In Instagram > Eat Church is a ALBB Sponsor!
BAJA 328
328 Main Street, Beacon
New Temporary Hours! Looks like it's dinner during the week (closed Mondays), and lunch and dinner during the weekend. Pictured here: The Baja Paella. Tuesday - Thursday: 4-9pm Friday - Saturday: 12pm-10pm Sunday: 12pm08pm Order This > Baja 328 is a ALBB Sponsor!
The Pandorica’s 6th Anniversary
165 Main Street, Beacon Day: Saturday, July 25, 2020 Time: 6pm
The Pandorica invites you to join in helping celebrate their 6 years of bringing fans together for a unique experience that pays homage to their favorite show, Doctor Who. Participate in the fun and come in cosplay, there will be prizes!!! The Pandorica Open's/The Big Bang with a live introduction from Jon Davey, the man behind the mask. Jon has played over 40 characters on Doctor Who including but not limited to the headless Cyberman in The Pandorica Opens, he will follow up his introduction with a Q&A from you the fans. RSVP: Seating is limited. Reservations only. Call (845) 831-6287. Call right now.
LUXE OPTIQUE
181-183 Main Street, Beacon
Here we have Brendon effortlessly styling a pair of Jacques Marie Mage, and guess what...you can front that style pretty easily too. The stylists at Luxe Optique make you feel amazing every time you are in there, and are looking forward to helping you find the right next pair of frames for your personality and face. Go Shopping > Luxe Optique is a Sponsor, thank you!
BINNACLE BOOKS
321 Main Street, Beacon
Binnacle Books is filling up their Prison Project initiative! This project brings books to prisoners. Each book can be sponsored (bought) by you, and Binnacle Books sends it along to the right person. See details here, and get on their newsletter or follow their Instagram for alerts on when the next batch is available to participate in. Subscribe > Binnacle Books is a ALBB Sponsor, thank you!
LEWIS & PINE
133 Main Street, Beacon
Lewis & Pine is reopening! Located steps away Bank Square Coffee, it's that cute little shop that you always want to go into, but has been closed because...designer Yali was having her first baby with her husband Steve! Liora is their daughter's name. Welcome her to the world by treating yourself or your someone special to any piece of jewelry from Lewis & Pine. Featured here is the "Transformer Necklace." is minimal and elegant, but it's not simple. Their signature design hides a secret: it's actually two necklaces in one! Wear the center bar vertically to create an elegant v-shape or turn it horizontally for a unique crisscrossed style. The perfect necklace for every day, the Transformer goes with everything but looks like nothing else. Designed to transform your outfit. Materials: Sterling silver, Oxidized (darkened) sterling silver, 14K Gold-filled Price: $89 Sale! Use the code: REOPENING for buy one, get one at 50% off on all jewelry purchases! Start Shopping > Lewis & Pine is a ALBB Sponsor, thank you!
BEACON MERCANTILE
493 Main Street, Beacon
Beach house vibes on tap? Yes, please! Beacon Mercantile's scent collab with @salt.and.umber is inspired by the perfect beach day. Sun warmed skin on sand. Crashing waves at sundown. Salty beach clothes left to dry in the sun. Pop by the shop today and catch a W A V E. Start Shopping > Beacon Mercantile is a Sponsor, thank you!
ANTALEK & MOORE
340 Main Street, Beacon
Antalek & Moore works with a lot of different insurance carriers. One of their favorites is Travelers, who has published a few pool safety tips you'll want a refresher on. Get it...refresh...in a pool... Get These Tips > Antalek & Moore is a Sponsor, thank you!
TIN SHINGLE
Tin Shingle is a resource and empowerment platform for business owners, artists and makers to get the word out about their business. This is done through webinars (called "TuneUps") to be watched on replay any time; an online safe-space forum to ask questions and get answers and support; and in-person opportunities to bounce ideas off experts in a live video format. Learn More >
KATIE JAMES, INC.
Couture branding boutique, Katie James, Inc. has started the redesign of the website for Barb's Butchery. She has outgrown her current one, and wants to be able to work the website herself more. Using Squarespace, elements of ecommerce and blogging are going to be used to sell her new candles and merch, as well as upload videos of her viral TikTok videos. Keep your eyes here. Reach out if you need a new website too! Consulting also available if you're going it yourself. Learn More >
Luxe Optique Is Hiring Private Airbnb Manager For Apartments
The owners of Luxe Optique own their building with 4 apartments above the storefront. These have been redesigned and include washers/dryers for the short term rental market using Airbnb’s platform. Job Details >
Luxe Optique Is Hiring Cleaner of Airbnb Apartments
Luxe Optique is hiring a regular cleaning person or service to clean 4 apartments between Airbnb guests. Job Details >
Readers: OMG - when some of you asked to contribute financially, we were so humbled. To date, we have raised over $1,500 from YOU, and that has made a huge impact on paying our team. You can contribute any time - from $5 to $1,000 - any amount is appreciated. You can remain anonymous or have your name listed. One Time Contribution > Monthly Subscription Contribution >
Promotion Package For Main Street Retail: For $200/month, your boutique or restaurant can be featured in this newsletter and the Guides too, with a new message each week. Get into the lovely details of what you got going on! Did you just put up a parklet? We want to talk about it. A Little Beacon Blog will continue to promote online classes for fitness studios, who remain closed. Shopping Guide Signup > Restaurant Guide Signup > Beauty Guide Signup > Submit Events Free For Consideration Here >
Got questions? Email Teslie@alittlebeaconblog.com. She's super friendly and has great ideas on how to make things work.
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and we have 3 words to kick off this weekend edition of the newsletter: THANK YOU Veterans. Re-read this speech from LTC Caroline Pogge on a woman's perspective during her time serving in Iraq. She reminded the audience that women first started serving in the armed forces in secret.
Dutchess County Memorial Day Drive-By Parade
Day: Monday, May 25, 2020 Time: 11am Location: Throughout Dutchess County
This may be the largest Memorial Day parade the county has seen with a cavalcade of vehicles from the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office and fire vehicles from various municipalities and districts. The convoy will depart at 11 a.m. from Poughkeepsie and the Dutchess County War Memorial.
Beacon of Love Fareground Fundraiser Preview
Day: Tuesday, May 26, 2020 Location: beacon-of-love.myshopify.com
Beacon of Love, a coalition of area residents, are announcing an online art show/fundraiser to benefit Fareground, a Beacon-based nonprofit organization, that has ramped up its efforts to combat food insecurity in the wake of Covid-19. On May 26, the online fundraiser will go live for previews only at https://beacon-of-love.myshopify.com/. Featuring works by 30 local artists and with prices tiered at $100, $150, and $250, the sale will go live on May 30 and run through June 2. Information >
The Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) Virtual 5K Run & Walk
Days: Sunday May 17-June 17, 2020 Time: At Your Own Pace Location: Favorite trail, your neighborhood, the park, your treadmill!
Complete a 5 Kilometer run and/or walk (5K kilometers = 3.1 miles) in the comfort of your own neighborhood or on a treadmill between May 17th and June 17th, 2020. You choose the date, the time and location. Information >
THE VAULT The Vault is now offering free local delivery! Call (845)202-7735 to place your order! Their hours are:
Tues-Thur 12-7pm
Fri & Sat 12-8pm
Sun 12-7pm
They have $5 off $35, $10 off $50 discounts from Tuesday to Thursday. Information >
BEACON PANTRY
Beacon Pantry is open 10am-6pm - closed Mondays but you can still order or pick up. The store is stocked full of goods. Check out what is on their shelves through their Instagram (@beaconpantry) and plan ahead for your next curbside pick up order. If you do come to the store, please wear a mask and follow their capacity guidelines posted on our door. View their product list HERE. Contact Beacon Pantry by email or phone at Beaconpantry@gmail.com or (845) 765-1933. Information >
EAT CHURCH
Thursday through Sunday you can grab a bite to eat from Eat Church. You can grab their daily special or pick from their menu. Visit their website to view current menu & place your orders for pickup or delivery or call (917) 364-0838. Online ordering is super easy! And the view of the mountain is spectacular. Eat Church food truck located on the hill at Industrial Arts at 511 Fishkill Avenue. Plenty of parking in the swooping parking lots.
Follow them on Instagram (@eatchurch) for daily specials only available at the truck. Eat Church is a ALBB Sponsor!
KITCHEN SINK
Kitchen Sink has been popping open on the weekends with a stuffed theme. Lots of things are stuffed and little, and available in limited quantities. Their menu opens up on the weekend, and you got to go to their website fast to place your order. Same with Eat Church if you want to snag their specials!
HOMESPUN FOODS
Homespun is hanging in there as a wine shop at the moment, and specialty grocery destination or delivery service! The wine list at Homespun is selective and extremely special, if you value where the vine is rooted and how the growing season was. Saturdays are their days for pickup of grocery and wine bundles, and delivery is available for other days. While the kitchen is not open, you can still get carrot cake logs! Start browsing here.
SOLSTAD HOUSE Solstad House asks "what exactly does an open retail shop look like in the COVID-19 era?" They want to hear from YOU. While there will mandates in place (ie: wearing masks, etc.) they want to know what else can be done to make you, the customer, feel safe not only in their shop but other local businesses in Main Street. Leave a comment in their Instagram post with your thoughts. Information >
BINNACLE BOOKS
Beacon artists @daniel_weise and @kalener (@clubdrawbeaconny) have put together an incredible initiative called WearTogether which pairs local artists with local businesses: the result, beautiful t-shirts with proceeds supporting both the artists and the businesses. You have TWO weeks to get your hands on this limited edition BINNACLE BOOKS / URSULA K. LE GUIN T-SHIRT drawn by @shamblanderson! Order by visiting this link. You can find more Beacon businesses participating and support at https://weartogether.shop/pages/beacon-ny Binnacle Books is a ALBB Sponsor, thank you!
PTACEK HOME
We don't have to tell you how beautiful Hudson Valley wood is, let the endgrain speak for itself! Save a chunk of wood this Memorial Day! Order now on PTÁČEK Home's website at www.ptacekhome.com with curbside pickup or front door delivery! This One Chunk Console is now 30% off, now at $664. Visit their website for more information! Shop Now > PTACEK Home is a Sponsor, thank you!
LUXE OPTIQUE
Luxe Optique is featured in A Little Beacon Blog's latest article on how some boutiques who were slow to build an ecommerce side of their websites, quickly dove in to develop this option when the shut-down happened. While Luxe Optique did have a website, they are currently building a new ability to order contacts online - even if you got your prescription with another doctor. Read all about it! Luxe Optique is a Sponsor, thank you!
ECHO BOUTIQUE
Don’t all rush at once…space yourselves…but one of the most innovative shop windows in Beacon right now is at Echo Boutique at 470 Main Street, on the east end of town near the mountain. This boutiques with a wide curated selection of women’s clothing, kids toys, and some men’s accessories as well, was one of the first stores to voluntarily shut down - even before the Executive Order. Now, they are one of the first windows on Main Street to organize inventory in such a way that people can shop by number from the other side of the glass.
BEAUTY TIP
Are you trimming your own bangs? Shaping your own beard? Plucking your own eyebrows? Massaging your own neck? If you miss your stylist for these things, go ahead and send them some cash when you're doing this beauty update to yourself. They will thank you, and it helps them see you on the other side.
Change is hard! Adapting to learning online through Zoom and other meeting platforms can be intimidating. Our Managing Editor, Marilyn Perez, shares her own experience overcoming her anxiety when she had to take her yoga teaching from the studio to her bedroom (!!) for Firefly Yoga's online Zoom classes. And while she's referencing yoga, this can be applied to any kind of online gathering from classes and workshops to meetups! You can read more in her personal blog Ink+Coffee+Yoga.
Not Quite BOB Teen Zoom Book Club
Day: Tuesday, May 26, 2020 Time: 3pm Host: Howland Public Library
The library's annual summer program Battle of the Books has been cancelled. So, while you'll have to wait until next year to compete to for the banner, that doesn't mean you can't meet to share your love of reading. Interested in joining? Email Coach Michelle at community@beaconlibrary.org. You don't have to be a former High School Battle of the Books team member to join. Information >
Zoom Trendy Stitching Workshop For Tweens and Teens
Day: Thursday, Day: Thursday May 28, 2020 Time: 3:30pm Host: Howland Public Library Grade 5 and up
This virtual hand-sewing workshop, presented by Ellen Brown, is geared for students grades 5 and up. Via Zoom, participants will learn how to use a trendy one-straight-stitch embroidery technique to accessorize or fix clothes and other items. Information >
Zoom Stay Put Bookmark Workshop For Tweens and Teens
Day: Thursday, May 28, 2020 Time: 5pm Host: Howland Public Library Grade 5 and up
This virtual hand-sewing workshop, presented by Ellen Brown, is geared for students grades 5 and up. Via Zoom, participants will learn how to use material and hand stitching techniques to create a personalized bookmark. Information >
BEACONARTS
Have you seen the makeover done to the brick man on N. Chestnut St just off Main Street? Located on the side of Last Outpost next to Dennings Point Distillery, BeaconArts caught up with building owner Joe Darmetko adding a mask to "the duke". Meet Joe in this Instagram video. Watch here >
ANTALEK & MOORE
A friendly reminder from Antalek & Moore that their offices will be closed on Monday, May 25, 2020 for the Memorial Day Holiday. And if you're planning a cookout at home with your immediate family, don't forget to clean and maintain your grill as our friends at Antalek & Moore recently reminded us in this video they shared from Lowe's on their Facebook page.
PS: It's Friday, and Antalek & Moore wants to know what you're doing this weekend to get your foodie on? Chime in on their Instagram post! ALBB is ordering mozzarella sticks, at the very least, from Max's. Antalek & Moore is a Sponsor, thank you!
TIN SHINGLE
Thinking of becoming a screenwriter? Are you dusting off your keyboard to finally type it out? Tin Shingle Members get to watch this interview with a person such as you, Patty Carey, who lost sight of her writing dreams when her career in Location Managing in New York City took over her life. When she had children and took the summers off, her itch to write grew stronger, and she listened. Her first show was produced last year, after winning a contest of 300 other writers. Watch This >
KATIE JAMES, INC.
Do you need to build your website? You do, and it's a daunting task. Sometimes, all you need is a sounding board. An expert to hold your hand as you plot your way through. Many tools are out there for you to turn the lights on, but which one do you use, and how? Square, Squarespace, WordPress, Shopify, and other niche platforms that offer special tools for specific industries. Katie James Inc. and Tin Shingle are introducing a 3-session series where people can sign up and call in to workshop their websites in a group setting. FREE: For Tin Shingle Members, and Beacon businesses with a storefront on Main Street. There will be a fee for others taking it, and registration is limited. Details with signup link will be posted soon.
We got a suggestion in from a reader, who wanted to know how to send A Little Beacon Blog financial support to help us continue to produce. Even just $5. First of all: THANK YOU to that reader for wanting to do this! Support Here >
People Who Have Given Reading your comments of what ALBB means to your life has been humbling and keeps us going. Thank you. See Who Supported >
Tuesday was the day! Jenny Offill’s new book, Weather, is being released by Penguin Random House and on Saturday the Syracuse resident is blessing us downstate babies with a reading for free at Binnacle Books from 7 to 9 pm at 321 Main Street. Yes, the very same Jenny Offill that wrote the amazing Dept. of Speculation, Last Things, and Sparky - a book for children that is very beloved in my house.
Binnacle made these beautiful posters for the event and promises that “wine and literary wit and beauty will be served.” The book’s main character is a librarian (swoon), and there’s a family member with addiction issues (love), and a podcast that is bringing together left-wingers and right-wingers who are all afraid the end is nigh. So it sounds very timely, does it not?
Even more exciting is that the evening is framed by a conversation between Jenny Offill and local author Lynn Steger Strong. A Little Beacon Blog was able to ask her some questions about what to expect Saturday night and also about her own forthcoming book.
ALBB: I always start my article with what some vaguely linked assortment of people I know are reading. What are you reading and loving right now? Or what’s topping your reading list for 2020?
LYNN STEGER STRONG: I'm re-reading Iris Murdoch's The Bell for a class that I'm teaching ,as well as Deszló Kosztolányi's Skylark, and Willem Frederik Hermans' The Untouched House. I also just finished Rufi Thorpe's extraordinary new novel The Knockout Queen, which comes out in April.
JENNY OFFILL: I am reading the new novel by Eimear McBride, Strange Hotel.
ALBB: So, Saturday night! What do you think you’ll be talking about? Is there anything in particular that you hope to be able to discuss or have Jenny elaborate on? Have you gotten an advance copy of Weather to read ahead of time?
LYNN STEGER STRONG: I have read Weather, and think, like Jenny's previous novel, Department of Speculation, it is an extraordinary exploration both of the intricacies of daily life as well as an engagement with some of the largest and most daunting questions and issues of today. I think I'll ask her about this combination. How, in such a short span, in these sometimes paragraph-long missives, she is able to crystallize the specific wants and fears and anxieties of our daily lives in ways we've not yet seen or thought them right next to and in congress with the anxieties and wants we feel globally. I want to ask her about precision and acuity and how she achieves it, as I feel like her books are informed as much by what they include as in this extraordinary ability to leave almost everything but the absolute most important details out.
ALBB: Are there stylistic or narrative threads that you feel connect your novels (and maybe even your children’s books? Sparky is quite deep, in my opinion)?
JENNY OFFILL: I think I write a lot about loneliness. And Sparky is about a particular kind of loneliness you feel as a child when your grand plans don't work out. Dept. of Speculation is about the loneliness that can exist even within a good marriage. Weather is about a wider kind of loneliness, the loneliness of humans having cut ourselves off and placed ourselves above the other creatures of the world.
ALBB: Also, let’s talk about how it feels to have so many double letters in a row in your first and last name. Do you think that’s contributed, along with your intensely awesome use of language and interesting writing perspective, to your success? Lynn Steger Strong also has a double letter in her name, so I think this event will be something really special.
JENNY OFFILL: Maybe it's lucky! I have certainly had a lot of good luck lately. When I was younger, I heard that my last name was Welsh and came from of the field, but now I have an aunt who is really into genealogy who says we are not Welsh, so who knows?
ALBB: Lynn, would you like to tell us something about your own forthcoming novel, Want? When is that being published?
LYNN STEGER STRONG: Want takes place over a period of a few months in the life of a mother and teacher who, along with her husband, is declaring bankruptcy, and, in this process and during the gradual unraveling that follows, she decides to reach out to her oldest, now estranged, friend, who also happens to be in an extreme moment of flux. It comes out in July and attempts to explore topics of womanhood, motherhood, friendship, privilege, anger, and downward mobility.
ALBB: We can’t wait to read that one. Unraveling and flux are never not-timely.
And there you have it, friends. See you Saturday night for Jenny Offill at Binnacle. We are betting it is going to be crowded. I need to find a babysitter ASAP!
Happy New Year sweet readers! Have you been reading anything good, or just floating around on a graham cracker raft in a sea of egg nog? I’ve been busy recovering from surgery and have been reading nonstop in the absence of anything else to do besides “heal.” Feel free to send me a pillow with an inspirational message on it if you like, OR just tell me what to read next.
Top Picks
Here are my top picks from an array of genres: Garments Against Women by Anne Boyer (poems); Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh; Bluff by Jane Stanton Hitchcock; The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner; Good and Mad by Rebecca Traister; and I reread the still-transformative Women Who Run With the Wolves for good measure (by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D.). And I’m reading Dr. Dolittle with my kids in anticipation of the movie coming out next week. It’s still funny. Chapter 8 is basically a feminist manifesto.
What is ALBB up to in the reading department these days? Well, magazine devotee Katie Hellmuth Martin is turning those mags into 2020 foresight with Vision Boarding at the A Little Beacon Space. Check back for more workshop dates!
Happening In January
On Saturday, January 11, there’s another amazing edition of The Artichoke at the Howland Cultural Center. It promises to be “a superb evening of storytelling with Sam Dingman (The Moth Grand Slam Winner & host of Family Ghosts), Micaela Blei (The Moth Radio Hour), Erin Barker (The Story Collider), Sandi Marx (Stories from the Stage), Mike Cho (Risk!) and Beacon's own Mike Burdge (Story Screen).” 8 pm; $17.50 in advance, a cool $20 at the door.
On Saturday, January 25, the Spring Street series kicks off the new year at Atlas with an evening of international writers and translation. “The writers are: Mercedes Roffe, whose wonderful book Ghost Opera was translated by Beacon's own Judith Filc. Also appearing that night are Pierre Joris, whose translations of Celan and Adonis will be featured along with his own work. Jeanne Bonner will be reading her translation of the amazing work by a Hungarian writer who actually wrote in Italian, and, following up on the terrific discourse on cheese in The Odyssey at our last food fest event, we have Charles Stein, who will be presenting from his translation of The Odyssey and maybe even the Iliad.” 6:30 pm; donations appreciated.
Writing Workshops Galore!
Did you resolve to write more, even at the risk of harming your social standing and neglecting your family? Well, we support you 100 percent! There are a number of workshops you can join that are starting soon. Find a group to make you accountable!
Danielle Trussoni, writer and organizer of the fantastic Newburgh Literary Festival in October, is leading a writing workshop that will begin Sunday, January 26, 4 to 6 pm, and go for six weekly sessions. “This course is a reprisal of the sold-out course that I taught at Hudson Valley Writers Center, in 2019. It was designed to offer another opportunity to participate - especially for the people in and around Newburgh who could not make the trip, or were closed out.” RSVP to danielle@danielletrussoni.com to reserve a spot.
Ruth Danon is offering live writing poetry-centric workshops beginning in early February. She’s planning to run a “six-week session, take a break and then run another six-week session, the second of which would culminate in a reading by the workshop participants. The fee for the six-week session is $250 and will include private conferences.” Email Ruth for details about time and day: ruthdanonpoetry@gmail.com.
Also in Beacon, Donna Minkowitz is offering a memoir-writing workshop starting Wednesday, January 22, at 7 pm and it “goes for eight Wednesday nights, [until] March 11. The focus is on craft, especially on using the senses, lyricism, emotion, critical thinking, and storytelling to create meaningful and relatable works of memoir. Students get frequent feedback in a supportive atmosphere, and all levels of writers are welcome.” The cost is $275, and people who are interested can write her at Minkowitz46@gmail.com.
Split Rock Books in Cold Spring is rolling into 2020 with a cute new baby, some great book clubs and events and a writing workshop with Lynn Seeger Strong, author of Hold Still. The course is described as a “hybrid craft and reading seminar/workshop.” Spend the first three weeks reading short stories and excerpts, and generating work. The second half will be a more traditional writing workshop: Each student will submit up to 25 pages of work and get written feedback from the instructor as well as from the class. Cost: $395 for six weeks. Meets consecutive Mondays. Capped at 12 people. Sign up at the store. Check out their website (www.splitrockbks.com) for book club info!
Coming In February!
In Beacon, Binnacle Books continues to tempt me with all their beautiful instagram photos of books I want, as well as the promise of a book release event for Jenny Offill (author of Department of Speculation) and her new book Weather. She'll be in conversation with Lynn Seeger Strong, leader of a workshop above. It'll be in the evening of Saturday, February 15, and we’ll be writing more in depth about that soon.
No. 3 Reading Room is wisely hibernating for the rest of January, but you can make an appointment or get in there in February to check out works by a legion of talented artists and writers, as well as the latest book of poetry by Edwin Torres and photobooks by Ronnie Farley, both of whom reside in Beacon.
Deeper into the winter we go, my loves; let’s leave a trail of bookmarks behind us.
Maybe you’re done with your holiday shopping (but that depends upon your definition of “done”), so here are a few stocking stuffer ideas you will find on Main Street in Beacon. We don’t call this “last-minute” shopping, because buying stocking stuffers is our favorite part of the gift-curating experience.
This is also the most dangerous time to shop, because you will see loads of ideas for other people that you hadn’t thought of. Pad that budget.
Manic Panic Hair Color
This temporary vegan-based hair color has been available at Play (167 Main Street) for years and years. Perfect for the hair expressionist in your life. Buy a rainbow series for wild experiments, or one or two contrasting colors for a striped design.
The color is temporary, yet stays in decently well post-shower. However, if you wanted the vibrancy to stay, then you would not wash the hair. However, there is a dry bar shampoo at SallyeAnder at the other end of town. We haven’t tried it, but it’s an option.
Art and Socks
Zakka Joy (177 Main Street, formerly Dream in Plastic) is the destination for stationery lovers who also love kitchen decor, Pusheens, stickers, socks, water bottles, pencils, sketchbooks, journals, planners, etc. With glitter pens to match. Socks make great stocking poppers - the part sticking out of the stocking that adds that visual excitement. Most of the themes of these socks are for the sarcastic ones in your life who like a little bit of dicey language, though not all. Sometimes you just need to wear a pretty sock that says: “Delicate f*ing flower.”
Books
Depending on the size of your stocking, for the protesters in your life, this Posters for Change book from Princeton Architectural Press keeps on giving with 50 rip-out-able quote posters that can be hung somewhere. Available at Binnacle Books (321 Main Street). Pro tip: Binnacle Books can order any book for you if it is not on their shelves. Any book!
Hygiene
Alright. So with cancer being rampant, and the quest for deodorant with no whatevers in it grows stronger with each friend who is diagnosed, the answer to an odor-blocking shield is at SallyeAnder (1 East Main Street) is the Deodorant Stone. The stone itself is odorless, and has bacteria-fighting minerals in it (find synthetic-chemical-free perfume and lotion at Beacon Mercantile just up the street, located in the old train station).
To apply it to the skin, you wet it and rub it on. The easiest way to store the stone is in a dish, which you can also find at SallyeAnder, or at most any shop in Beacon (check RiverWinds Gallery for an artisan-made one), or an unused dish in your house that is ready for prime time.
Bonus perk with this deodorant: It uses hardly any packaging. So this is one less piece of plastic you are putting into the trash (or recycling? not sure if plastic deodorant containers are actually recyclable these days). SallyeAnder products are made in Beacon on the west side of town in their manufacturing center, located in the same building as Brett’s Hardware. The 1 East Main Street location is SallyeAnder’s flagship retail shop.
Continuing with the bath theme, Beacon Bath and Bubble has all the bribery you need to get a child into a bath. If the deodorant stone is going to be introduced to the new 9-year-old who needs odor blocking - but you don’t want to hurt her feelings telling her this so why not make it more fun and unusual with the stone and pretty dish - the colorful bath products at Beacon Bath and Bubble will get them into the bath. The soap is made right in the store, so you can expect good ingredients in here as well.
Denise Gianna Designs Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
Interior Design
While these chairs and lamps won’t fit into a stocking, walking by the design store Denise Gianna Designs (494 Main Street, formerly Utensil before they moved to the other end of town) will be one of the perks of walking around finding stocking stuffers IRL (in real life) vs clicking online. Gianna is a longtime Beaconite and interior designer who opened up shop in various other shops (you may remember her from her Chocolate Studio days, which is now occupied by the beef jerky shop, The Village Jerk). Stop in to see what kind of furniture may fit into your space, and if she can help you visualize.
Your Eyewear Game
Photo Credit: A Little Beacon Blog
An easy and flat gift that can slip into a stocking is a gift certificate from Luxe Optique. Especially if you have HSA Flex Spending to use before year end, Luxe can help with that. They also make filling your out-of-network insurance claims easy - they do it for you. So if you haven’t tried Luxe yet, walk in this time. If you collect shoes or jewelry, having the same perception of your eyewear is similar. When you go to Luxe Optique, your adjustments are complimentary, as your vision is their top priority. As featured in last weekend’s newsletter edition, ask about the end-of-year specials they have running, including the 50% off shelf.
Darryl’s Clothing Boutique in Beacon always has a good sale running, and right now is no exception. Perfect for matching sweaters! If you once went all out on Christmas morning with family PJs, now you can with sweaters if that’s your thing.
Lambs Hill Bridal Boutique has the sample sales you want to tell your friends about. Not that a dress fits into a stocking, but you may find an accessory or two in the store. You know what would make a great stocking topper? A tiara.
Summer is a haze of rush and lull with lazy days stretching like evening shadows and busy days of bustling afternoon traffic. Sunny seasons in Beacon are filled with expressions of travel: tourists flooding in for the various festivals and serenity of this riverside city; residents trickling in and out of town.
Traveler or not, postcards offer a distinctive alternative to a stale phone call or a routine text as a way of staying in touch. Especially intriguing, however, are postcard books - mini books to be mailed - available at Binnacle Books, published by Beacon-based Paravion Press.
What is a postcard book? The publisher at Paravion Press, Will Brady, enlightens us: “The concept came about at the shop in Greece [Atlantis Books, which Will co-founded] because we wanted to give customers an alternative to postcards, something they could mail easily but which had a bit of literary substance to it.”
The first page of a postcard book, intended for your short letter to your recipient. The rest of the essay or short story is printed on the pages behind this one. An envelope is included. Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
Binnacle Books, a charming bookstore nestled on Beacon’s Main Street, sells a collection of these postcard books. Postcard books are short reads meant to be sent by mail. Each book comes with an envelope and a blank first page titled “for your correspondence” for the sender to add in a few words of their own. Postcard books reveal a sense of thoughtfulness to the receiver, the sender having chosen a specific title to express a particular theme or message creatively through stories or essays in place of mundane phrases and cliché sayings.
Says Kate, co-owner of Binnacle Books about the postcard book project: “We love Paravion Press because the books are really beautiful, and because we think that the power of literature is the strongest when people connect with each other through it: Paravion builds in a charming and unexpected way to share literature and we love that. Will Brady designs and prints new editions of all the works, specifically to be mailed and shared. It's a whole engaging intellectual and aesthetic experience in a mailable form.”
What Inspires A Person To Send A Postcard Book?
One girl in the bookstore said that she loved the postcard books because they made available essays that were otherwise hard to find, usually lost in other larger collections of essays. Years ago, she said, a friend had sent her a PDF of an essay she loved. She re-discovered the essay through a postcard book from Paravion Press, and sent it back in postcard book form to her friend with a handwritten note on the intended first page. Postage is the same as a regular letter.
What Titles Are Available In These Postcard Books?
Inside of Binnacle, I found seven postcard book titles. Five are included in their first collection, appropriately titled “The First Series.” The collection includes:
“The Beauties” by Anton Chekhov
“On The Decay Of The Art Of Lying” by Mark Twain
“Sophistication” by Sherwood Anderson
“The Lumber-Room” by Saki
“Feuille d’Album” by Katherine Mansfield.
The single titles include “The Hunting of the Snark” by Lewis Carroll and “How the First Letter Was Written” by Rudyard Kipling. Available in a variety of muted colors, from dusty maroon and delicate ivory to powder blue and subtle green, the sophisticated aesthetic adds to the appeal of miniature books in the mail.
A postcard book, “On The Decay Of The Art Of Lying,” by Mark Twain. Available in Binnacle Books. Envelope is included with the package. Postage is the same as a regular letter. Photo Credit: Izdihar Dabashi
On Sending A Postcard Book To One’s Self…
Mark Twain’s “On The Decay Of The Art Of Lying” immediately caught my eye in my search for a birthday card to send to a friend; I figured a postcard book would provide sentiment and provoke conversation. I could not help but skim over the words inside, and before I knew it, I thoughtfully read the brief 11 pages of this curious piece. A balance of sharp critique and tongue-in-cheek remarks, Mark Twain crafted a refreshing, clever piece unraveling the psychology of lying.
To my delight, Paravion Press sells three more postcard book collections online including “The Madrid Series,” “The London Series,” and “The New York Series.”
Is it strange that I wish to collect as many as I can to send to myself?
Ideally, I’d like you to have heard that “Helloooo” in the voice of Nicole from “Nailed It,” but since that’s not likely we will move on immediately to…
“What Are You Reading?” The Co-Worker Edition
At my new full-time job, I surveyed women I work with, who are surviving working with me, in order to bring you these highly skilled and marketable reading recommendations. To keep their persons anonymous, I have revealed them only by nicknames.
The HBIC sent an email marked with High Importance and instructions not to delete her cosigning of Karen Moning’s “Highlander” series (this co-worker is indeed a fan of all things magic and supernatural and Irish).
The Chorus Line duo is all about jazz hands. One is reading “The Alienist” by Caleb Carr, which combines suspense, historical fiction and justice (what more does one really need?), while the other is feeling the women’s empowerment of “We” by Gillian Anderson and Jennifer Nadel.
“What’s Going On? I’m Losing My Mind In This Weather!”
So what’s going on in the writerly corners of the Hudson Valley that you can get out to, since we are all about to lose our minds in the weather soup that is March?
LOTS OF WRITERLY HAPPENINGS!
GARRISON INSTITUTE A new game in town (at least to me) is the Writer’s Circle at the Garrison Institute on Wednesday, March 20, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, looking super lovely and free of charge. Bonus round: It includes time for meditation, reflection, writing, and sharing.
BINNACLE BOOKS BOOK CLUB Binnacle Books in Beacon is doing its boozy book club at Denning’s Point Distillery on Wednesday, March 13, and you want to be there. “Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah (of The Daily Show) is what’s on the menu. Get 10% off the book at the store, and $5 cocktails to sip whilst you tilt your head thoughtfully.
P.S. EDITOR’S NOTE: Thank you Binnacle Books for becoming a regular sponsor of A Little Beacon Blog’s Shopping Guide! It’s quite an honor to have an independent bookstore show their appreciation and value with a sponsorship!
HUDSON VALLEY WRITER’S WORKSHOP Hudson Valley Writer’s Workshop has their monthly meeting on Wednesday, March 6, and a Facebook page full of other things to investigate.
SPLIT ROCK BOOKS Split Rock Books in Cold Spring is on winter vacation until Monday, March 4, with limited hours until then. I’m personally pleased as punch for any small business owners who take a little time to recharge. And they are going to need it for March, because whatever your book club preference may be (History, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Kids Club) they have you covered this month. Also on tap in March: a drawing night, fermentation workshop, and readings by locals and beyond.
ADULT STORIES AT OAK VINO John Blesso is hosting the second Adult Stories reading series at Oak Vino on Friday, March 8, with a great lineup of writers telling “true stories of an offbeat, edgy, or emotionally-challenging nature told without notes or pages.” $5 and please arrive on time at 7 pm so as not to interrupt. (I’m side-eyeing myself here, if that’s anatomically possible.)
GET LIT AT OAK VINO Get Lit on Sunday, March 10, features two speakers about award-winning children’s literature power couple James Ransome (illustrator) and Lesa Cline-Ransome (author). In addition to their collaborations on books about Serena and Venus Williams, Harriet Tubman, Louis Armstrong and Alvin Ailey, James is also the artist behind the beautiful mural at the Adriance Library in Poughkeepsie.
GET LIT WRITER’S WORKSHOP Lucky us! Get Lit founder Julie Chibbaro is doing a an ongoing writing workshop for teens called “Write Your Own Adventure” for ages 12-15 on four Thursdays (March 7-28), and an adult writing intensive on Saturday, March 30, at the Howland Library in Beacon. Also free! See here for details.
WRITING WORKSHOP AT QUINN’S Stop in to Quinn’s on Tuesday, March 12, and stay a while as readers from Ruth Danon’s Live Writing workshop take to the stage at 7 pm. I am not reading this time, but I will be eating some pickled plum and clapping like mad for them.
THE ARTICHOKE STORYTELLING SERIES Meanwhile, The Artichoke Storytelling Series at the Howland Cultural Center, hosted by Drew Prochaska, is SOLD OUT! It features storytellers from The Moth, Risk! and Story Collider, as well as Comedy Central’s This Is Not Happening. If you were considering moving to Beacon, Fishkill, or Wappingers (anywhere close to the Howland Cultural Center), this new series is a pretty compelling reason!
NATIONAL POETRY MONTH IN TIVOLI On Tuesday, March 26, you can start your National Poetry Month festivities early (move over, St. Paddy’s Day) up in Tivoli with this brilliant mashup of poetry and philosophy at Murray’s Coffeeshop (the coffee is super good there) from Bard College and the Poetry Foundation. “The Words We Live By: Poetry and Philosophy in Conversation” features poet Fred Moten and author Robert Gooding-Williams, and looks to be a deep well. It’s introduced by this quote by Hannah Arendt: “The storehouse of memory is kept and watched over by the poets, whose business it is to find and make the words we live by.”
Phew! That was a lot of must-dos for this month. If you hear of any throughout the year, email me at phoebe@alittlebeaconblog.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Surprise! An Editor’s Note, because we couldn’t just stop writing in the Writerly Happenings section! If you love this Writerly Happening series as much as we do, and if you love helping promote writers and illustrators and books, then consider becoming a regular Supporting Sponsor! You can get your logo published bright and shiny at the top of this article, and each article we publish a month. Or, if you are a regular person with no business but really want to be a Sponsoring Individual, you can! Please see our Media Kit page for details, and other opportunities for sponsorship. All of our sponsoring advertisers help us get the word out, pay our writers, and grow this publication as a self-sustaining, family-friendly business. Thank you!
This is a Guide we created that includes all shops in Beacon (if we missed you, email us!), and businesses have the opportunity to stand out with a Sponsor Spot to show readers photos inside of their shops, and special events.
Supporting Sponsors include Luxe Optique, Lambs Hill Bridal Boutique, Binnacle Books and La Mère Clothing + Goods. Thank you so much! Your ongoing support helps us maintain these Guides, and produce the Happening This Weekend newsletter that everybody loves that comes out on Fridays. We’re busy working on that today!
An exciting weekend is coming up, with Second Saturday and the Parade of Green! You can always visit the Shopping Guide here, that lists all shops with addresses and links. Share with your friends who are visiting! Or use it yourself to go inside the stores! You'll be so happy you did.
Books meant to be mailed - better than a postcard, according to and available at Binnacle Books. We agree! In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, #putastamponit!
Binnacle Books is a sponsor of A Little Beacon Blog’s Shopping Guide, and helps make it possible for us to get the word out about everything local! Thank you for supporting businesses who support us! Click on the Guides + Calendars tabs above to get the Shopping Guide, and get the lowdown on all the shops in Beacon from one place.
Night walking for fresh air! Binnacle Books looks so cozy at night. In honor of the latest Writerly Happenings article on the blog from Phoebe Zinman, happy book clubbing tonight!
Hi Hi Hi! It’s Phoebe here. It’s been so long, I know, did you miss me? We wanted to wait til after the holidays to round up the best of the local literary scene and now we have eaten all the brie and there are so many good writerly happenings afoot to attend! We will do them all! We are leaning in to 2019! Actually, we are so tired, we are mostly falling over, but the love of the written word sustains us, does it not? (Love of the written word, and brie - life sustainers.)
But first we need to discuss what to read right now. This is the transitional part, like when Mr. Rogers changes his shoes and cardigan. (Why, oh why, won’t he ever pick the red one?)
So… I’m currently reading “The Mastery of Love” by Don Miguel Ruiz, which is threatening to turn me into the woman with too many rings on who can’t shut up about the amazingly transformational book she is reading. Also I just ate up the delicious entirety of the new memoir “She Wants It” by Jill Soloway, the creator of “Transparent,” and I highly recommend. Still working on “Warlight” by Michael Ondaatje.
I also asked around for recs. Kristen Holt-Browning, writer and editor and co-producer of Get Lit, just finished reading “Northwood” by Maryse Meijer, a sort of novella-in-poems. She says it's a dark, twisty, fairytale-ish story of desire and obsession and also a physically gorgeous object, with white text printed on black pages. Sounds fierce.
Extremely well-published and well-coifed writer Lily Burana is reading “Thick” by Kiese Laymon, and “How to Write an Autobiographical Novel” by Alexander Chee. She’s happily frolicking in the bumper crop of essay collections that have been published in the past few years.
Ok. I’m ready now. Let’s lean/fall/dive/plunge/bellyflop on in.
January 2019 Writerly Happenings
This Weekend!
The Artichoke at the Howland. Saturday, January 12, 7:30 pm, is sold out online, but not sure if there will be additional tickets at the door. Mentioning here anyway because it is just so cool that this is coming to Beacon. It’s an evening of live storytelling by The Artichoke, hosted by Drew Prochaska and featuring Sandi Marx (seven-time Grand Slam Winner, The Moth), Jeff Simmermon (Grand Slam Winner, The Moth; This American Life), Drew Prochaska (Risk!; Story Collider), Richard Cardillo (Risk!; Stories from the Stage, Susan Kent (The Moth), Micaela Blei (Grand Slam Winner, The Moth), Vanessa Golenia (Risk!) and John Blesso. Can’t get in? Well there’s another chance to do something similar on Sunday the 20th, but you must read on.
Also on Second Saturday is a book release event for Traffic Street Press’ "Trafficking in Poetry" series. The book "Manos Sucias/Dirty Hands" is a collaboration between Paulette Myers-Rich, the visual artist Greg Slick and poet Seán Monagle. A limited number of copies are available for purchase at the book signing at No.3 Reading Room & Photo Book Works on Main Street from 3 to 8 pm.
Get Lit is happening this Sunday, January 13, from 5 to 8 pm at Oak Vino. The featured speakers will be authors Jessie Chaffee and Brendan Kiely, and as always, anyone who wants to read is invited to sign up to do so at the beginning of the event - bring two or three pages of original writing to share. But also if you are new to writing, or sharing your writing, you answer the monthly prompt about what your New Year’s resolutions are, and then sign up for a one-minute slot. Literally, it’s just a hot minute.
Also In January!
On Sunday, January 20 at Dogwood at 5 pm, John Blesso will be hosting the first installment of “Adult Stories,” a new and developing monthly storytelling series that intends to be like The Moth, but edgier. He’s looking for people willing to share “funny stories, harrowing stories, sex stories, emotionally charged stories, and inebriation/bad-choice stories.” If you’re interested please send him pitches for stories between six and ten minutes long! He’s working with Donna Minkowitz and Drew Prochaska on this, if you miss The Artichoke, or just want more storytelling. All the stories!
What’s that about local memoir writer Donna Minkowitz? Funky Spunky Literature Night (Redux) is a game-show-like Community Memoir Write-a-Thon with prizes for the best sentences and scenes that audience members write about their own lives. She will be joined by professional storyteller Lorraine Hartin-Gelardi at Quinn’s on Wednesday, January 30, from 7:30 to 9:30 pm. She’s also got an 8-Week Memoir-Writing Workshop coming up, focused on craft, particularly on using the five senses, lyricism, emotion, storytelling, and critical insight to create profound and relatable works of memoir. Wednesday nights from February 6 through March 27, 7 to 9 pm. To apply, please email minkowitz46@gmail.com with a one-page writing sample.
Poet and teacher extraordinaire Ruth Danon (to whom I’m a bit partial, not going to even pretend otherwise) is going to start writing improvisation classes the week of January 29. Currently she’s planning on Tuesdays, from 9:30 am to 12 pm and 7 to 9:30 pm, but the time can be flexible based on everyone’s schedules… The fee is $275 for eight weeks and includes a private conference (at least one) and a public reading. Contact ruthdanonpoetry@gmail.com for more information.
Beacon’s magnificent Binnacle Books is featuring “The Great Believers” by Rebecca Makkai for its next book club. I loved that book. So, so much sobbing. This month the book club will meet at the bookstore, but often is at Dennings Point Distillery.
And just downstream (or not, as our majestic and tidal Hudson River flows both ways) in Cold Spring, Split Rock books has a million events, or at least five, to get you through January and smarter on the other end.
The divine “Out Stealing Horses” by Per Petterson was the January book club choice at the Beacon Library, and we were sad to miss it, but the pick for February is “The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper” by Phaedra Patrick and it sounds charming. The Butterfield Library in Cold Spring has a writing workshop with Susan Wallach in January and almost always a box of free books to rummage.
As always, we want to big up independent bookstores that may be a bit farther afield:
Rough Draft in Kingston has happy hours, sip and writes and plenty of other happenings; the Golden Notebook in Woodstock has a terrific event lineup, as usual; and we are wanting to go check out Oblong Books which has somehow escaped our research until now. We’ll report back next month.
Now dear reader, go put on a cardigan and some fresh slippers and get to it. Write! Read! Make it happen!
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The City of Beacon entered into a contract with Legal Services of the Hudson Valley to provide increased access to Beacon tenants facing eviction. They may also be able to help with sources of rent arrears assistance. Call the paralegal, Steven Mihalik at 845-253-6953 to inquire.
Dutchess County Helpline. Open 24/7 to take your calls, listen, and give you resources.
