GUIDE: Forget Target This Time (yes, we all love those plastic eggs): Shop Main Street By Mail For Easter Egg Hunt!

Actual question from the reader. ALBB delivered!
Photo Credit: A Little Beacon Blog

A reader reached out and asked for suggestions on ways to support locals for Easter this year. We took a deep dive into A Little Beacon Blog’s Shopping Guide, which lists all of the shops on Main Street in Beacon, and found the BEST items for a “Spring Hunt.”

Lots of Main Street shops are shipping or personally delivering, so you can check out their websites, and order in time for the Spring hunt!

UTENSIL SHOP
Cookie Cutters
Buy HERE

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UTENSIL SHOP
Candy Club
Message or email to arrange: MESSAGE HERE

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ZAKKA JOY
Unicorn Skipping Rope
Buy HERE

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BEETLE + FRED
Just Do Your Best Embroidery Kit
Buy HERE

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ZAKKA JOY
You Are Beautiful Holographic Stickers
Buy HERE

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LUXE OPTIQUE
Cat Eye Glasses
Buy HERE

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ZAKKA JOY
Cattitude Buttons
Buy HERE

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ZAKKA JOY
DELFONICS Legend Twist Ballpoint Pens
Buy HERE

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ZAKKA JOY
World’s Smallest My Little Pony
Buy HERE

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ZAKKA JOY
Message Capsules
Buy HERE

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SALLYEANDER
”No-Bite-Me” Bug Repellent Set
Buy HERE

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BEACON MERCANTILE
Hooray All Day // Wooden Matches
Buy HERE

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LIVE LIGHT TRAVEL OFTEN (LLTO)
The BEST Antibacterial Buckwheat Pillow
Buy HERE

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LIVE LIGHT TRAVEL OFTEN (LLTO)
Crane Grater
Buy HERE

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LIVE LIGHT TRAVEL OFTEN (LLTO)
Air Purifier, Chikuno Cube
Buy HERE

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LAMERE CLOTHING & GOODS
Organic Sheet Masks
Buy HERE

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LAMERE CLOTHING & GOODS
Roll-On Perfume
Buy HERE

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LAMERE CLOTHING & GOODS
Butter Lip and Cheek Balm
Buy HERE

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LEWIS & PINE
Wary Meyers Soap
Buy HERE

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COLORANT
Electra Knit Hat & Scarf
Buy HERE

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LUCKY THIRTY ONE
Mini Gold Tag Necklace
Buy HERE

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LAMERE CLOTHING & GOODS
Bath Bombs
Buy HERE

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HYPERBOLE
Osaka Hand-Painted Journal - Mogela
Buy HERE

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KAIGHT
Cheek & Lip Balm
Buy HERE

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LAST OUTPOST STORE
Enamel Camp Mugs
Buy HERE

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KNOT TOO SHABBY
Detail Brushes
Buy HERE

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ZAKKA JOY
Three Starts Crayons
Buy HERE

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FLORA GOOD TIMES
Peperomia “Happy Bean”
Buy HERE

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BEACON D’LITES INC
8oz Jelly Jar Candle
Buy HERE

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BEACON MERCANTILE
Lip Sheer- Rose Sauvage
Buy HERE

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RAVEN ROSE
Mindfulness with Sage
Buy HERE

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LOOPY MANGO
DIY Kit- Mini Loop Hat
Buy HERE

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SOLSTAD HOUSE
sigikid- Patchwork Sweety Horse
Buy HERE

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FLOWERS N GIFTS
”Happy Thoughts”
Buy HERE

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BLACKBIRD ATTIC

Candles, Handmade Earrings, Scrub, Hand Rescue, Matches, Body Wash, Soap, Essential Oils, etc.

All can be purchased via Instagram message, Facebook, or email: info@blackbirdattic.com
Or, call (845) 418-4840
Free local delivery available or curbside pick up at 442 Main St., Beacon, NY
Some items shippable - follow Blackbird Attic on Instagram HERE for updates and videos.

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FOOD: Easy Breakfast/Lunch For All Kids (Toddlers to Teens) From Beacon Schools: New Pickup + Delivery Details

Photo Credit: Top Left and Bottom Right Photos are from Sargent Elementary PTO.

PUBLISHED: 3/23/2020
UPDATED: 4/27/2020

School children registered in the City of Beacon School District are eligible to pick up food packages from two locations: The Beacon High School and South Avenue Elementary. All are welcome to come pick up this food. Social distancing is being practiced. Safe systems are in place to get the food to your hands. Drive your car or walk to pickup. Delivery options are also available and being further developed.

All Kids and Families Are Encouraged To Use The Food - Even You (Yes, You!)

All are encouraged to use the food. Even you if you have a stocked pantry. The food has been rationed for you, and there is plenty of it. In fact, not everyone has been using it. Possibly with the mentality of: “I don’t want to take from someone else - let someone else in need have it.” If that is your mentality, that is a beautiful thought, but go forward with participating in the plan.

If it means you have a little extra, then you’re able to give that to someone in need that you come across directly in your hyper-hyper local neighborhood. Your kids also may be excited to see their old snacks. Even the “alternate lunch” bread of the PB+J. Seems to be that the brown bread of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a particular favorite with my little ones. As are the sugar cereal boxes and apple bags. They are next looking for the pizza. Not sure if that will happen, but so far, the cafeteria staff and the superintendent have been pretty surprising about what food options they are slinging out of there. My cat even likes the turkey and cheese cubes.

New Times and Food Package Pickup

The cafeteria staff is modifying this food distribution plan based on usage and feedback. As of today, it is moving to a two-day pickup schedule. The idea is that you pick up enough meal slots to last between the pickup times. Delivery options exist, and those details are blow.

Pickup Times

MONDAY: 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches

WEDNESDAY: 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches

Pickup Locations

10-10:45 am: Beacon High School or South Avenue Elementary

Please pick up from one location only.

Drive or Walk: Says Superintendent Matt Landahl: “A convenient drive-up option is available at both locations, and walk-ups are welcome too. The meals will require some heating up as some items are frozen.”

Frozen meals! Maybe the pizza is coming!

Delivery Options and Sign Up

If you need meal delivery to start on Wednesday (or any day after reading this), you can email the superintendent himself: landahl.m@beaconk12.org or text at 845-372-2286. Please give your address and kids' names. But keep it to this delivery request only. Please do not call. Use his email for other types of correspondence as you normally would.

Says Matt (because honestly, he insists you call him Matt… he has kids in the district too): “You don't need to give a reason, just ask and we will do our best to help. We will confirm before delivery. We are working to increase our delivery and neighborhood drop-offs as well and will notify everyone as we expand.”

Parents: Avoid Each Other At Lesson Pickup. Resist Bringing Kids (I Know - Hard!) Or Keep Them And You In The Car

Published Date: Monday, March 16, 2020

Hi everyone,

Today is the first day of lesson pickup for the kids to learn at home (or, let’s face it - pretend that we have some semblance of something normal for now).

This is amazing that the teachers have created these alternative learning tools for us.

The most natural feeling for all of us as we go to pickup is to want to see each other and catch up. Our kids are pining for each other. Totally normal. We may forget to social distance, and hug or stand next to each other, thinking that we are immune.

Please, don’t do this. Delete this temptation by figuring out a plan to not bring your kids to pickup, and to not get close to each other at pickup. All of us could be carriers and show no symptoms. If you must bring your kids to pickup - if you are solo - keep them in the car. It’s too hard to control them when they get excited and want to see each other.

If you are feeling symptoms - even the slightest ones - consider asking a neighbor to pick up your lessons for you. If you have coronavirus/COVID-19, chances are your entire house does too. Even though they may not feel symptoms ever, or they may feel mild symptoms.

If you had a mystery cold last week, or the week before, consider really isolating. It’s also allergy season, so add that to the list of “Am I feeling a symptom?” circumstances. It’s OK. Just keep taking your temp. Call your doctor with questions. It’s all good.

I woke up with ever-slight asthma this morning. Totally normal for me during the spring. I always get a bad cold in April. Just check my doctor records! But it’s upped our game plan of “just in case.”

Our plan is to ask a neighbor to pick up our materials, or send one of us in the car and make a grab dash. Our teacher also emailed a PDF of things. If you are a single parent, and you are practicing “just in case,” just skip it altogether and ask a neighbor to bring it home for you if you want to. Stay healthy. Stay rested. Stay positive. Do what is best for you to take care of your family.

This isn’t forever. Our kids will learn. They will not be stunted. This will be OK.

Let’s just flatten the curve.

xoxo

NYC Schools Close Until April 20 - Possibly Longer - And NYC Isn't Alone

Published Date: Monday, March 16, 2020

Photo Credit: Beacon Moms Facebook Group (amazing group!)

On Sunday evening, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared that New York City would shut down schools until April 20, 2020, possibly longer. The mayor and Governor Cuomo have both been resistant to closing schools because so many depend on the structure of school as childcare. “I am distraught at having to take this action, but I became convinced over the course of the day there was no other choice,” DeBlasio said.

In Ohio, where only a few cases have been reported, their governor, Mike DeWine, is listening to experts who are telling him that 100,000 cases probably exist. “We can’t stop it, but we can slow it down,” he told a local FOX station. New York’s Governor Cuomo has consistently said during press conferences that as testing increases, confirmed cases will be found and numbers will continue to go up. Kansas also has a handful of confirmed cases at the moment, and has shut down districts for two weeks. DC, Michigan and Oregon have also closed schools to slow the spread.

Schools in NYC will be open for grab-and-go meals for breakfasts and lunches, which is also happening for Beacon kids. However, Beacon kids are picking up meals in the parking lots of South Avenue Elementary and Beacon High School. NYC will try to keep on bus drivers and cafeteria workers to try to distribute food.

New York City will have remote learning in a way that has never been done before. According to the Gothamist article where this has been reported, they highlighted a message on the website for the new materials: “These materials do not replace what your child has been learning at school, but during this unusual time it is important that students continue to read, write, do social studies and science activities, and work on math problems."

Beacon City School kids have received robocalls from their principals this evening (Sunday) with instructions on how to pick up learning materials. Those instructions did include to be mindful of keeping a social distance of 6 feet between each other, which is hard for adults to do, and really hard for little ones to do. But it will be a welcome opportunity to see each other.

Depending on the teacher, parents may already communicate with their teacher via app, and some may use Google Classroom in a way to connect remotely to the plan and get guidance from the teacher. Perhaps we will eventually meet in a field with enough social distance, for teaching by megaphone so that we can see our teachers? Or YouTube or Vimeo?

The prediction of this blogger is that new ideas will develop (if not already in the works) on how to connect with and teach our kids. The first note we’ve received from our teacher said that she misses the students.

As for how long this two-week break for Beacon will turn out to be, if NYC just went to April 20? Ohio has already projected till the end of the school year. Said Governor DeWine: “Look, the projections - and I’m just going by what medical experts are telling us - is that this may not peak until the latter part of April or May. We’ve just informed superintendents, while we’ve closed schools for three weeks, that the odds are that this is going to go on a lot longer. and it would not surprise me if all the schools did not open again this year.”

As for Mayor de Blasio: He also said that there is a real possibility that the schools may remain closed for the rest of the year.

Meanwhile, Governor Cuomo today shared in a press conference that he wrote an open letter to President Trump, asking him to assign the Army Corps of Engineers to retrofit buildings to be hospitals, as he anticipates more ICU beds are needed for ventilators for the critically ill patients with coronavirus. Listening to the governor ask for this during the press conference is actually a lot more reassuring than reading about it here in words. He is doing prep work, but is convinced they will be needed. That the wave of care will hit the healthcare system in New York. People - off the record in texts - who work in hospitals outside of New York have indicated that their lives caring for patients have become already quite busy.

Time to get that schedule together.

Family Movies Streaming Now - Recommended By This Beacon-Based Entertainment Journalist

Spirits rose in the coronavirus-self-isolating world when Disney announced that it would release Frozen 2 early on its streaming service, Disney+. It was one of the first announcements that gave parents and caregivers hope that someone somewhere was thinking of us, and would help make our lives easier as we were home from school for at least two weeks. While I had zero intention of subscribing to Disney+ before, that changes tomorrow (Sunday).

Suggestions were flying Saturday morning around The Beacon Moms Group on Facebook with suggestions on anything from how to create a daily schedule to how to limit screen time (while valuing screen time as a tool as well).

Gwynne Watkins is a mom in the group, and is a entertainment and culture journalist. You can find her analysis at media outlets like Yahoo Entertainment, Vulture, Elle Magazine, and GQ magazine. Here’s a quick rundown of the kinds of articles you can find from her, such as: “How Prison Theater Is Changing Lives” and “33 Best TV Couples Of All Time.” You can also find her on Twitter for all her latest thoughts.

I asked Gwynne for her recommendations for what to stream now with the family. Personally, my family and I are streaming Lost In Space (modern-day Swiss Family Robinson - fighting for their very survival… much like us maybe in 10 days?), and we really loved Raising Dion. Both have been picked up again to make another season.

Here are Gwynne’s movie recommendations - presented by streaming service! She did some research for you on what movies are available now, and where. Oftentimes, show series with episodes (as opposed to movies) move around the streaming services. Like, one day Odd Squad will be on Netflix, and then it disappears for while because Amazon Prime bought it, and it’s over there for a price.

“My kids are 4 and 12,” Gwynne prefaces. “So I did two categories: one for younger and one for older kids.”

FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY:

• Netflix - Mary Poppins Returns, Coraline, Hugo, The Little Prince, The Croods, Chicken Little, Stuart Little, Space Jam, Adventures of TinTin, Princess and the Frog, Tarzan, Incredibles 2, Ralph Wrecks the Internet, A Little Princess (1995), Bolt, Boy and the World

• Hulu - Chicken Run, The Polar Express, Dr. Seuss: The Cat in the Hat, Curious George, A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Charlotte's Web (1973), How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (Note: many of these are also on Prime)

• Amazon Prime - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, My Little Pony: The Movie, The Court Jester, Odd Squad: The Movie, Sleeping Beauty (Royal Ballet)

KIDS 8-10 AND UP:

• Netflix - Groundhog Day, Hairspray (2007), A Wrinkle in Time, Karate Kid, Monster House, National Treasure, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Miracle, Spy Kids, To All The Boys I've Loved Before

• Hulu - Fighting With My Family, Bumblebee, Rango (Note: many of these are also on Prime)

• Prime - Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, True Grit

What do you like? Tell us in the Comments below.

Beacon Cancels or Postpones Easter At Memorial Park, Beacon Barks Parade, Easter Sunrise Service, and Good Friday Procession

Published Date: Saturday, March 14, 2020

In keeping with State and County directives to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the City of Beacon is canceling or postponing public-supported events involving large attendance scheduled between now and the end of April. That includes Easter at Memorial Park, Beacon Barks Parade, Easter Sunrise Service, and Good Friday Procession.

What To Do Instead

Easter at Memorial Park: Let’s be real here. This is really just a big candy fest, and a highly stressful event for parents with young kids who like to run off. So, there is a chance that parents are breathing a sigh of relief with this cancellation.

Beacon Barks Parade: We will check in with Libby and Nanci, who are (were) taking back their bigger role as parade organizers this year. They had stepped away after selling their shop, Beacon Barkery, to Donald and his son John. Donald has been recovering from an illness, and John just launched the shop’s brand new website, where you can order online! You may even get delivery of pet food from John at the Beacon Barkery, if you call the store to see if he’s available to do so. Back to the parade: We’ll circle back with an update, and ways to support adopting cats and dogs.

Religious Services: If any of your religious services are canceled during this Holy Week time, there may be creative ways of connecting. Consider going outside during the peaceful dawn hours, and perhaps your religious group has recorded a video of a service and uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo, and you can play/watch/listen to it while you take some time to honor the moment. †