The Howland Public Library Calls For Photography: Show Us The Spirit of Beacon!
The Spirit of Beacon Day is a citywide celebration for the community of Beacon, NY, held annually since 1977 on the last Sunday of September. The parade and festival highlight local community groups, volunteer organizations and schools, all joining together with local businesses on Beacon's vibrant Main Street. A day to bring the city together, especially the children and youth. Members of the community should get to know one another better, learn to know what each other likes through conversation, feelings, entertainment, education, and food.
The Howland Public Library wants to know: “What does The Spirit of Beacon mean to you?”
The Howland Public Library and the Spirit of Beacon Day Committee are looking for photographs that best capture the essence of The Spirit of Beacon. What makes our community so unique? Can you capture it in an image? Is it the beautiful mountains, the historic architecture, the connection to the river, the vibrant community, all of the above, or something else? Share your vision with us! Photographers of ALL ages and skill levels are invited to submit their original photos.
Selected photos will be exhibited in the Community Room Exhibit Space at the Howland Public Library in Beacon, NY, during the month of September as part of the Spirit of Beacon celebration. A reception for the community will be held on Second Saturday, September 14.
How to Enter
Email up to three of your photos that you feel best capture the Spirit of Beacon for consideration to communityart@beaconlibrary.org.
Images should be in jpeg format. Maximum file size 1MB. Name your files as follows: Last Name + First name + underscore + title.jpg. Example: SmithJohn_MountBeacon.jpg.
In your email, please include the following information for each photo, 1) the title, 2) location and 3) year taken (approximate.)
Deadline
All entries must be received by Thursday, August 1.
Selection
The winning entries will be selected by a committee and all photographers will be notified by Saturday, August 10, if one of their photos has been accepted into the show.
Delivery
Photographs (unframed, prints only) must be dropped off at the Howland Public Library between Friday, September 6 and Sunday, September 8. All photos should be printed 8” x 10” or 8” x 8” for square images.
If you need help printing your photo, reach out to Accuprint on Main Street, next to Isamu Sushi.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Notification of Acceptance: No later than Wednesday, August 7. Accepted Photos Delivered to Howland Public Library: Friday, September 6 to Sunday, September 8. Exhibition Dates: Saturday, September 14, to Saturday, October 5. Opening Reception: Saturday, September 14, 5 to 7 pm.
To honor Clara Lou Gould after 18 years of service as Beacon’s Mayor (she left office in 2007), and in recognition of her support of arts and culture in Beacon, BeaconArts created a special Fund for the Arts named for Beacon’s former Mayor.
The 2019 round of applications for the Clara Lou Gould Fund for the Arts is now open. Projects to be supported include projects or programs not generally supported by other area arts organizations, including individual artists' projects, unique exhibition, performance or public art projects, arts education programs, and community projects that promote area artists and arts activities and that draw attention to the valuable role of arts and culture in our community.
Applicants themselves may be located outside of Beacon, but must provide programming or art in Beacon or support activities that benefit Beacon's arts and cultural community.
Awards will be considered up to $1,000, and the Fund Committee reserves the right to grant multiple awards of smaller amounts.
Deadline For Submission
September 6, 2019
Date Of Projects To Go Live
The 2019 Clara Lou Gould Fund for the Arts grant award(s) fund projects taking place between October 1, 2019-September 30, 2020.
Note About Nonprofit Status
Applicants must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or be fiscally sponsored by one. For information about fiscal sponsorship through BeaconArts, contact the office via beaconarts.org/contact/.
If you have questions about the application form or uploading your work samples and supporting financial documents, please contact Christina Jensen at christina@jensenartists.com.
With severe weather events becoming more frequent and more extreme, it is more important than ever that New Yorkers are prepared for disasters. Remember the macroburst storms that came through the area last year? How can we forget! The NY Citizen Preparedness Corps Training Program teaches residents to have the tools and resources ready to go, to prepare for any type of disaster, respond accordingly and recover as quickly as possible to get back to pre-disaster conditions. The City of Beacon will be hosting a Citizen Preparedness Training Class on Thursday, August 8, 2019 at 6:30 pm.
The class will cover training for natural and human-made disasters, and will include active shooter training. Participants will be advised on how to properly prepare for any disaster, including developing a family emergency plan and stocking up on emergency supplies.
Training will take place at the Lewis Tompkins Hose, 13 South Avenue in Beacon. To RSVP, contact Collin Milone at (845) 838-5010 or email cityofbeacon@cityofbeacon.org. For more information about this training and other training events, visit prepare.ny.gov/.
The Howland Public Library is pleased to present Art With Flavor, an exhibition of paintings by the Beacon Thursday Painters. An artists’ reception will be held on Second Saturday, August 10, from 5 to 7 pm. The Beacon Thursday Painters exhibitwill be on display in the Community Room Exhibit Space through Friday, September 6.
The Beacon Thursday Painters are taking over the Howland Library’s Community Room Exhibit Space for the month of August. "Thursday Painters," a group of seniors that includes some experienced painters as well as some new to painting, have been painting each week at the Beacon Recreation Center for nearly five years, guided by local artist Jan Dolan. The theme for the show this year is favorite dishes. The artists have painted their favorite foods, and they’re including the recipe with the artwork. Some of the dishes will even be available to try at the reception. This opening will truly be a feast for all of the senses!
The Howland Public Library is located at 313 Main St., Beacon. The Community Room Exhibit Space is open during regular library hours. Please note: The gallery may not be accessible during some library programs. Please consult the library calendar at beaconlibrary.org.
Here is a quick browse of what you might find in the Little Free Library right now, in Polhill Park, the little triangle of land at the beginning of Beacon’s Main Street near the train station, on Wolcott.
If you’re walking with kids, it’s a nice literary treat for little hands to pick up a book. If you have a few books that are ready for re-circulation back into the world, you can leave a book at any time too (as long as it fits inside the tiny Library - no ground drops!).
There are other Little Free Libraries around, including one up at Stony Kill Farm on Route 9D. This Polhill Little Free Library was built in 2015, and we wrote about it here.
It’s a small display, located in the Beacon Public Library, around the corner and to the left of the library’s front desk, but the Beacon Public Library’s Apollo 11 exhibit is a quick and easy way for you to see artifacts from that era, commemorating celebration of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The exhibit closes on Wednesday, July 31, 2019.
Step inside, take a peek, and enjoy the air conditioning on your way to or from other happenings on Main Street (check A Little Beacon Blog’s Happening This Weekend Newsletter, republished here at the Blog). If you’re feeling extra space-age, go on down to The Pandorica, the Beacon restaurant that became famous for following a “Doctor Who” theme. You will find lots on the menu to satisfy any appetite, including a variety of good desserts. There’s a small exhibit of “Doctor Who”-type things. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a super-fan or even a viewer of the show to enjoy this lunch/dinner spot.
EDITOR’S NOTE ABOUT THIS BOOK SERIES, “READ LOCAL” Writers have always been a-plenty in New York, but the ones who live in Beacon just keep being published and putting out amazing books! We are featuring them here in our new series, “Read Local.” Sometimes these pieces will be interview-style, while other times they might simply dive into the book. The writer of this series is Phoebe Zinman, who also pens (types) the Writerly Happenings series. Enjoy! Story Sponsor Opportunity: If you are interested in sponsoring this series, please reach out to us! It is through sponsorships with businesses and individuals that we are able to produce articles like this one.
By Phoebe Zinman
We are going to do a series of articles on some of the extremely talented authors in Beacon. We have a few lined up but we’re very excited to kick it off with food bloggers Matt Clifton and Emily Clifton ahead of the release of their new cookbook, Cork and Knife, published by Page Street Publishing, available Tuesday, August 6!
For those who don’t know Matt and Emily yet, they are well-known food bloggers over at Nerds With Knives, and they keep an impressive real-life garden. Matt is an IT ninja who is British and has helped many a Beaconite with their computers and other various electronic things, and Emily is a visual artist (and in charge of the garden, I am told).
When I first spoke to Matt about the book, it was by phone and I was walking through the Poughkeepsie Galleria trying desperately to find something appropriate to wear to a big work event. Matt, on the other hand, was preparing to leave for a last-minute lesbian cruise to Alaska. That had come about last-minute because his wife and cookbook co-author Emily would be filming as well as screening her new documentary on lesbian country singers. People are the deepest of wells, no?
The next day he dropped off a cookbook that I could peruse, and peruse I did! I put in about 15 Post-It notes on recipes that I decided would make my life way more complete. So far, I’ve made exactly none of them. Which is what I do with every cookbook I’ve ever had. I adore cooking, and I do it all the time… I’m just more of an “instinctual” type of cook as opposed to a recipe-following type.
So, I thought I’d ask Matt and Emily for some advice and also about the process of writing their very gorgeous cookbook, and about some of their favorite recipes. Our interview is below:
A: Matt: We started in spring of 2013, the year after we moved to Beacon. I think the most accurate origin story is that we were always looking for the best way to organize our Thanksgiving and holiday recipes every year, many of which had been adapted from family members, and a blog seemed like a good fit for a visual artist and an IT professional! Probably about two years in, once Emily developed a visual style for the photography and I found a writing style that fit (funny but informative), the blog started getting more attention.
Q: Was a book always the goal?
A: No! I think honestly we were surprised that the blog got as much traction as it has, and for a long time it really was just something that we just enjoyed working on for our own benefit and enjoyment. When we started getting visits from random faraway countries (and not just our mums) we realized we’d got an actual live human audience.
Q: Were you approached or did you approach a literary agent or publishing house?
A: We were approached last spring by Page Street and asked if we’d be interested in working on a book for their cookbook range. They have a pretty wide range of recipe books and have worked with a lot of people we know in the blogging community, including Katrin Bjork, a writer and food stylist/photographer who lived right down our street until this year.
We had been approached for a book by a different publishing company a few years ago and we put together some samples but never heard from them again, so possibly our sense of humor scared them off.
Q: What recipe do you recommend to someone who can’t follow a recipe? I’m an incorrigible improviser, so which recipe is the most forgiving? I was all set to make the Roasted Radishes With Sake and Brown Butter on page 88… and then it was too hot to put on the oven so I just sliced them up and put them on a baguette with butter and salt.
Photo of the Roasted Radish With Sake and Brown Butter recipe. Photo Credit: Phoebe Zinman
A: Emily says: I’m an incurable recipe tinkerer too and before we started the blog, I don’t think I had ever cooked a dish the same way twice. Braised dishes, like the Chicken Thighs with White Wine, Meyer Lemon and Fennel are perfect for improvising because the technique works well with many different flavor combinations. Switch out the Meyer lemons for limes, and shallots for the fennel, add a little cumin and the dish becomes Latin-inflected. Add cherry tomatoes and basil in place of the lemon and fennel and it’s Italian.
Also the sauce for the Roasted Tofu and Butternut Squash Curry is the perfect refrigerator empty-er. You could throw just about anything in that spicy red coconut curry and it’s going to taste good.
Q: Which are your favorite recipes and is there a good story about why?
A: Emily: That’s like asking a parent to pick a favorite child! They’re ALL our favorite (just kidding, we definitely like one kid more). Probably for me it’s the Beet and Gin-Cured Salmon because it reminds me of when my family would bring bagels and lox from Zabar’s to my grandparent’s house in Queens. Also it’s just so damn pretty. Also the Chicken Roasted with Sake, Scallions and Ginger because it was one of the first dishes I made for Matt when we were dating.
A: Matt: I have to say the Pork Belly: That crackling (that we would make for a family Sunday lunch) might just be the best thing in the world.
Q: The tone of the introduction and chapter intros is really relatable and I like the balance between the historical info, the scientific info and then your practical/personal take on what tastes good together. Did you write them together?
A: Thank you! We did. We wanted the book to be as useful as possible to people with all sorts of skill levels, whether you’re just starting out cooking with alcohol or have been using some spirits but wanted to experiment with flavors. We’re pretty nerdy in general about researching ingredients and techniques, but we tried to keep the information useful, and not just interesting.
We also sought a lot of input from our friends, with special thanks to Sara Milonovich from Artisan Wines (on Beacon’s Main Street), who helped us sound like we knew what we were talking about in the wine sections.
Q: How was the process of writing this book as a couple? I’m picturing some lovely sepia-tinted reel of you tasting sauces in a most loving way, but then also maybe someone throws the wooden spoon at the wall and says they quit. But then you make a batch of homemade onion rings and decide to give it another go. Who was in charge of what part of the process?
A: Matt: Once Emily had worked on the recipes, in some ways, actually making the book was easier than the week-to-week blog. That sounds odd to say it, but we knew what our deadlines were, we could figure out how many recipes we needed to make and shoot per week, and we gave ourselves a few “break” days just to keep our sanity. There were, I think, two days where we cooked and shot three recipes a day, and there may have been a little fatigue-related spoon throwing on those evenings.
Generally, Emily worked out most of the recipes (although I took over for a few of the desserts) and is the principal photographer and food stylist. I did most of the writing and assisted on the shoots, unless I had a strong idea of how the styling should go. We shared cooking duties, although for most of the entrées Em will be executive chef in the kitchen and I’ll do sous duties. The process actually really helped us become better collaborators. We both felt a lot of pressure to both meet our deadline and to make the book as good as it could be, so we really worked well as a team.
Q: What are some of your favorite things to eat in Beacon?
Fried chicken sandwich at Beacon Daily
Coffee and any kind of cheese from Beacon Pantry
In the winter, a turkey-corn chowder from Bob’s Mountain Deli
The granola french toast at Beacon Falls Café
The cherry-cheese danishes from All You Knead
Not strictly Beacon, but we love both the bibimbap and bulgogi at Toro in Fishkill
Nose-to-tail pork ramen at the Roundhouse
Takoyaki (octopus dumplings) from Quinn’s
Fried chicken from BJ’s
Anything with lamb from Kitchen Sink
Warm Brussels sprout salad from Melzingah
Phoebe’s Final Burning Question…
My final burning question was what they like to sip on while they are cooking with alcohol (so meta) and discovered that Emily loves a good gin cocktail but worries that it can turn her “from a fun and loose cook to a sloppy and dangerous one pretty quickly” so she sticks with wine, mostly. Similarly, Matt says he has to “limit the amount of actual danger in the kitchen, so I try to limit my chefs-tastes to wine or beer.”
Solid advice, we think! Stay safe, aspiring chefs of Beacon. And please go congratulate your neighbors (maybe they’ll invite you to dinner)! You can order the book on the usual online outlets like Target and Amazon, or you can get it through Binnacle Books or your favorite local bookstore. Even walking into Barnes and Noble is fun! But don’t forget that the local bookshops can order for you! And then we get to keep the local bookstores here as neighbors.
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?
Lots to do this weekend! Enjoy it, and tag us in your adventures! BTW: In this month's Second Saturday newsletter two weeks ago, we misidentified two artists. This week we wanted to give them proper credit!
LEFT: I'll Melt With You is the show currently happening at Clutter. It is a celebration of Mister Melty from Buff Monster. Participating artists who tricked out their own cool blanks. Pictured here on the left is a piece by Quiccs.
RIGHT: On the right is a painting is by Johann Ayoob, included in BeaconArts' first member show at Hudson Beach Gallery.
Peekskill Film Festival
Days: Friday to Sunday, July 26-28, 2019 Time: See website Location: Paramount Theater, 1008 Brown St., Peekskill, NY Information >
Classic Theater Production of “Arsenic & Old Lace”
Days: Thursday to Sunday, July 25-28, 2019 Times: See below Location: Bannerman Island, Beacon, NY Information >
Improv Comedy July Showcase!
Day: Friday, July 26, 2019 Time: 8 pm Location: The Howland Cultural Center, 477 Main St., Beacon, NY Information >
Beacon Annual Cookout From I Am Beacon
Day: Saturday, July 27, 2019 Time: 10 am to 8 pm Location: South Avenue Park, Beacon, NY
At the basketball court. It's lots of fun. Look for a special sign that The Crafty Hammer made for this year's event! Information >
The Butterfly Festival At Stony Kill Day: Saturday, July 27, 2019 Time: 11 am to 3 pm Location: Stony Kill Farm, 79 Farmstead Lane, Wappingers Falls, NY Information >
Live Concert: The Fred Zepplin Band
Day: Saturday, July 27, 2019 Time: 8 pm Location: Howland Cultural Center, 477 Main St., Beacon, NY Information >
Second Annual Ice Cream Social at Boscobel
Day: Sunday, July 28, 2019 Time: 11 am to 3 pm Location: Boscobel House & Gardens, 1601 Route 9D, Garrison, NY Information >
Danskammer Power Plant Debate - City Council Workshop Meeting
Day: Monday, July 29, 2019 Time: 7 pm Location: Beacon City Hall, 1 Municipal Plaza, Beacon, NY (on the way to the train station) Information >
There are talks of building and operating a new gas-fired power plant with a potential generating capacity of 525-575 megawatts on the shores of the Hudson River in the Town of Newburgh. The plant will use fracked gas, despite New York State having banned fracking "to protect our health and protect the climate," according to the City of Beacon's Resolution to Comment on the decision. Also in that draft resolution, the City of Beacon states that fracked gas is "especially dangerous to air and water quality of the communities outside of New York from which it is extracted, and the City of Beacon does not seek increased harms on any community, including outside of New York State."
Beacon's City Council will discuss their official position on the building of this power plant at this Monday's Workshop meeting after hearing from the developers and groups in opposition, including Scenic Hudson and Food and Water Watch. Beacon's Conservation Advisory Committee has already spoken out against the proposed building of the plant. This discussion is open to the public to sit in and listen, but members of the public are not able to speak at a Workshop. The public can speak in a regular City Council meeting, which happens the week after the Workshop.
Insane Inflatable 5K Run Day: July 27, 2019 Time: 8:30 to 11:30 am Location: Dutchess County Fairgrounds, Rhinebeck, NY Information >
Kids Dash & Orchard 5K Run
Day: Sunday, July 28, 2019 Time: 8 am & 8:30am Location: Fishkill Farm, 9 Fishkill Farms Road, Hopewell Junction, NY Information >
BOUTIQUES ON THE WEST END
Darryl's Women's Clothing Boutique
155 Main Street www.darrylsny.com
Get ready to cool down those hot summer colors! The stylists at Darryl's Clothing Boutique are getting ready for fall with splashes of deep hues of red and brown. Check out their storefront window for a fashion lineup, and step inside to see Joseph Ribkoff’s red swing crop jacket - perfect for any occasion. HOT TIP! Darryl's is now open daily, 11 to 6!
Luxe Optique
183 Main Street www.luxeoptique.com
Locals sometimes look around Beacon these days and wonder: "Where did all of these people come from?" In addition to national press that Beacon has been receiving over the years (and the reach that A Little Beacon Blog creates!), a lot of credit goes to the stores who have rooted down in Beacon. Pictured here is the new billboard at Beacon's Metro-North train station, that Luxe Optique is currently advertising on. Customers seeking out Luxe Optique on Beacon's Main Street come from over 30 states, including New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and California. Some patients even come from the UK!
BOUTIQUES ON THE EAST END
Lambs Hill Bridal Boutique
1 East Main Street, Retail #3 www.lambshillbridalboutique.com (near the Dummy Light)
There's so many different ways to style a wedding dress, with endless possibilities, but some dresses have very specific styles. During your appointment at Lambs Hill, their stylists will guide you through the process of figuring out the best accessory options for your unique look!
SAMPLE SALE!!
Still happening is the National Bride Sale event, through Sunday, July 28! You get an extra 10% off their already discounted off-the-rack samples! Book your appointment while they still have some availability.
WE ORDERED IT! The light salad to beat the heat right now is The Pandorica's Appalapachia Salad: Romaine, apples, celery, cranberries, in a creamy chia seed dressing. Our salad pictured here has a special order of chicken on it. Plus a dessert of chilled cheesecake!
The Crafty Hammer
4 S. Chestnut Street, Beacon, NY
(845) 834-9665 (WOOD) @thecraftyhammerllc
We love capturing the enthusiasm of our small business friends, so we're going to let The Crafty Hammer say this week's feature in their own words! They made a sign for the Beacon Annual Cookout (see the Events Listings above), and they are so stoked about it! "So happy to help support the Beacon Annual Cookout! It’s this Saturday at the basketball court off Wolcott, starting at 10 am. The Crafty Hammer donated some money and will be bringing lots of desserts!!! We are SO EXCITED!!!" In-store perks: Air-conditioning, and free snacks and juice!
Invasive Species
Day: Friday, July 26, 2019 Time: 5 to 6 pm Location: One Nature, 178 Main St., Beacon, NY Information >
Shamanic Reiki Training with Alison Jolicoeur
Days: Friday to Sunday, July 26-28, 2019 Time: Friday, 6 to 9 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm Location: Createspace Beacon, 145 Main St., Beacon, NY
Harvest Dye Materials Day: Saturday, July 27, 2019 Time: 10 am to 12 pm Location: Common Ground Farm, 79 Farmstead Lane, Wappingers Falls, NY Information >
One-Day Memoir Intensive With Donna Minkowitz Day: Sunday, July 28, 2019 Time: 2 to 5 pm Email:Minkowitz46@Gmail.com for location Information >
FOR SALE: 57 Dinan Street, Beacon, NY 12508 2 Bedroom, 1 Bathroom From Gate House Realty: “A beautiful, cozy and quaint cottage with charming original features with mountain views. A lot to offer for a cozy cottage - three-season porch, car port, detached garage and a covered back deck. “ Price: $329,000 Real Estate Agent: Gate House Realty, (845) 831-9550 Details + Pictures >
Antalek & Moore
Notice anything new about this picture? The "P&L 340 Main" sign to the right of the door! It stands fo Pagones & Lemma! The Antalek & Moore building has new owners: Susan Antalek Pagones and Vince Lemma, executive partners at the insurance agency. Congratulations!
A Little Beacon Space :: Event Venue
Host your pop-up event, business meeting, client presentation, workshop, and more. We're now offering a special rate for teachers and music recitals, so that creative can happen more easily. Details >
Tin Shingle
Need to get the word out about your business? Tin Shingle trains you in how to do this. Also important: having the courage to put yourself out there. Tin Shingle will walk you through this, too! Get Info >
Beacon Chamber of Commerce Business Directory
Is your business in the Business Directory of the Beacon Chamber of Commerce yet? It should be. Join here today. Learn More >
MASTHEAD Producers of this newsletter include:
Katie Hellmuth Martin, Publisher, Writer, Designer, Photographer
Marilyn Perez, Managing Editor
Catherine Sweet, Editor of the Second Saturday Guide
Advertise With A Little Beacon Blog
The support from every advertiser of A Little Beacon Blog helps make local news get produced. You can be part of making it happen, and get your business in front of the community in a meaningful way.
ViaHero is seeking an experienced part-time Web UX/UI Designer. Are you excited about building a new way to travel? Want a fast-paced startup environment where you can try out features, get feedback and iterate? Want autonomy on a small team? Have wanderlust? ViaHero is a Beacon travel startup. We've built a platform where locals plan your trip. We're reinventing the travel agent. It's a brand new way to travel, for those who want to travel independently and see a place through a local's eyes.
Responsibilities
Work with our COO and product team to develop the scope of a new feature.
Develop drawings, wireframes and final designs, through iterative feedback.
Work with our engineering team to ensure the feature is executed successfully.
ViaHero is seeking an experienced full-time Marketing Manager/Director. Are you excited about building a new way to travel? Want a fast-paced startup environment where you can try out features, get feedback and iterate? Want autonomy on a small team? Have wanderlust? ViaHero is a Beacon travel startup. We've built a platform where locals plan your trip. We're reinventing the travel agent. It's a brand new way to travel, for those who want to travel independently and see a place through a local's eyes.
Responsibilities
Develop and execute the marketing strategy across all ViaHero channels including content marketing, affiliate partner marketing, customer referral marketing and performance marketing (email, retargeting ads, prospecting ads).
Craft a marketing plan that accelerates momentum and evangelism among our 20,000 paying travelers.
Demand generation: Develop, test and implement new high-impact, multi-channel strategies.
Define and own marketing metrics and goals, including owning the marketing stack and attribution models.
Work strategically with founders to drive quarterly and yearly goals.
ViaHero is seeking an experienced full-time Mid-Level Full-Stack Engineer. Are you excited about building a new way to travel? Want a fast-paced startup environment where you can try out features, get feedback and iterate? Want autonomy on a small team? Have wanderlust?
ViaHero is a Beacon travel startup. We've built a platform where locals plan your trip. We're reinventing the travel agent. It's a brand new way to travel, for those who want to travel independently and see a place through a local's eyes.
Responsibilities
Design, develop, test and deploy new, innovative features on our web app.
Collaborate with the team on product management, UX design and feature prioritization.
Track and evaluate new features using site metrics and A/B tests, and iterate quickly based on results.
If you are interested in any of these positions, email greg@viahero.com with a note about the role is perfect for you, along with your resume or LinkedIn profile.
This month, I wrote my column for our friends at the Highlands Current about journaling. By hand. Preferably in the morning before you do anything else. The article talked about the exercise of moving your hands and fingers for writing in print, cursive or just doodling. It also talked about how to bring your kids into it. Read the article here online if you didn’t catch it in print this week on newsstands.
PS: Yes, there is a misspelling of a word in that photo above. And yes, it is the misspelling of my son’s name. It is missing the “r.” And yes, I am aware of it. And yes, it is what happens when you have three children. Remembering all of the letters in a word can become besides the point as you rush to get things done. :) Or if you need to maybe get tested for dyslexia, which I would actually love to pursue and learn more about.
Journals at Binnacle Books
Binnacle Books is first known for selling new books. But they also sell journals when they come across distinguished versions, because in addition to new books, Binnacle buys old or used books and writerly things.
Like a classic old trusty black leather journal with a wrap-around tie. Good for any person, and not declarative of any kind of whimsy or emotion that you might possibly be putting in there. It is ready for every mood.
For those with a more outreach-writerly mood, Binnacle has postcard books! Because why simply send a postcard, when you could send a postcard book, designed and produced by a publisher here in Beacon - Paravion Press - out of the old Beacon High School.
Postcard books from Paravion Press, a Beacon-based press. Available at Binnacle Books Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
Blank but stately journals at Binnacle Books Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
Journals at Dream In Plastic (soon to be called Zakka Joy)
I know - before we get into this journal roundup at Dream In Plastic, you must know that shop owner Jenny has been working in the paper world for a while now - curating her storefront to be filled with stationery and kitchen fun - and is moving on from the word “Plastic.” More on that to come in an article. Because right now, we are focusing on what journals are in her shop.
Like these Japanese-inspired journals of many colors. Some are lined with regular old lines, and some are collages of different pieces of paper woven together. One could call these “blank” pages, but they may include grids or other designs. Great for those who fear staring at the blank white empty page.
The most non-committal form of journaling is to scribble onto random scraps of paper. You could then slip them into this rainbow-hued accordion paper filing book.
You might think these playful gray elephants below with polka-dotted ears are birthday invitations for a little person, but really, they are mini-journals for YOU. For those who are starting thin - you might not want to commit to a thick book - you could get a mini-journal. If you filled it up, and wanted another, you could have a library of these little journals, and then you could decide how to decorate the cover of the journal with a dated system to order the mini-journals that you accumulate…
PS: Loving those glossy purple nails? Shop owner Jenny got them done at Kim Nails in Wappingers Falls.
Back by the beard oil in the back of the shop, you’ll find this crackly little journal (and others, it has cousins) for if you are feeling especially literary. And introverted. If you are over-caffeinating, you might as well have the coffee with a chocolate croissant from All You Knead Bakery, to smooth you out a bit.
PS: See that nail color? That’s mine! Not quite as glossy as Jenny’s, but covered. Picked up this polish at Rite Aid, but you can also find nail polish at La Mère on the other side of town on Main Street.
So… under the sock wall, you’ll find rows and piles of journals. Pick up some of them, and you’ll see pages with flower prints and other prints to make you less scared to face the blank page. Don’t be fooled, though, into thinking this is a totally serious store. Sometimes this shelf holds rows of piles of birthday party plates and cups that sometimes are iridescent and involve unicorns.
Journals At Play
Located just down the block a smidge from Dream In Plastic is the store called Play. They have journals too, and in different styles. Some covers are heavier than others, and some paper thinner than others. If you’re the kind of person who writes on the reverse page of each page of your journal, then you’ll want to check to make sure these pages are thick enough to handle your ink.
For the young (or old) musicians in your life, there is the Songwriter’s journal at Play. Parts of the design inside the journal are dedicated to taking special notes if you were to capture sounds from your head, putting them onto paper.
Journals At No. 3 Reading Room and Photo Book Works
Some real heavy-hitters in the bookmaking business in Beacon are No. 3 Reading Room and Photo Books Works, located down on the east end of town near the mountain, in a quaint building that the business owners and artists bought in order to fit their needs. While mainly closed for a long summer vacation, they will have custom journals using handmade indigo-dyed paper over purse-sized journals, and letterpress-printed bookmarks with quotes about books, poetry and reading available during the holiday season. So be sure to check back!
Pens and Pencils
There are also pens and pencils at both Dream in Plastic and Play, which you could play with as you write in these journals. I know that when I was at the DMV getting amazing service at 4:30 pm to renew the registration on my car (it was weirdly empty at that hour midweek - so weird), the woman helping me loved the pink pen from Dream in Plastic that I took out of my bag to sign the receipt. You might say she was delighted, and wanted to buy that plus kitchen decor for her family member who just moved into an apartment.
Treat yourself. A really easy small spend to make you feel good for weeks and maybe months.
A Little Beacon Blog’s Shopping Guide!
For more shopping tips like this, and to find more shops that also might carry a journal or two in their store - maybe your next favorite journal - see A Little Beacon Blog’s Shopping Guide.
A picture of what a breastfeeding pod might look like in its new location in Stewart International Airport, taken from the pods’ website, Mamava. Photo Credit: Mamava
Earlier this year as its new construction project started, Stewart International Airport set up breastfeeding and pumping stations for women who are nursing or pumping while waiting at the airport. The pods are stand-alone mini-rooms and are Bluetooth-activated. Fancy! So far, according to Stewart International Airport’s website, there are two such pods: One is next to Gate 4, and one is in the waiting area of Gate 2 on the second floor.
The breastfeeding pods, created by Mamava, can be booked in advance via the company’s app. Once found or booked, the pod can be unlocked via the person’s smartphone using the app. Inside, there are benches, spaces for a stroller, and an outlet to plug in a pump.
We have not seen this pod with our own eyes, or tried it, but it appears to be an advancement in breastfeeding accommodations.
Lunch time! After featuring the Appalapachia Salad (say that five times) from The Pandorica in last weekend’s newsletter to highlight the Restaurant Guide, we needed to bring one back to the office to enjoy! Here’s the verdict:
The crunch from the celery and green apples set to the sweet chia seed dressing is quite delightful. This salad pictured here is a special order because of the add-on chicken - to pack it with protein.
Just before we left with this salad in its to-go box, we spied two slices of cool cheesecake that had just been delivered to a couple of diners in the restaurant who were watching a popular episode of Doctor Who on the big screen. On a hot summer day, cool cheesecake seemed perfect! So we added that to our order, and perfect it was. A real spot-hitter on a late Friday afternoon.
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A podcast from A Little Beacon Blog. Your hosts: Katie Hellmuth martin & Brandon Lillard.
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.
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