Less Than A Week Away From Thanksgiving! Whaaat?! | Retail Therapy Guide 11/18/2022
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HUDSON VALLEY FOOD HALL
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WELCOME Hudson Valley Goldsmith To ALBB's Shopping Guide!
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Voted Best of The Hudson Valley, Hudson Valley Goldsmith has been in New Paltz for the last 10 years and has now opened a 2nd location in Beacon!!!
They are a full-Service Jewelry Store Specializing in Custom and Repairs. They create custom one of a kind fine jewelry including engagement and wedding rings using recycled precious metals, conflict free diamonds and unique gemstones.
Their workshop is headed by David who started making fine jewelry as a teenager. He is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz, receiving his BFA in Metals. He also worked as a stone setter and fabricator making high end jewelry for Tiffany and Co. They have been working hard to make sure their new Beacon boutique is well stocked with silver and gold jewelry, both with and without diamond and colored gemstones. You can see many of their original designs in their storefront where they also carry the work of several other designers. They pride themselves on having a range of styles from classic and trendy to totally unique, and at a wide range of prices!
Check them out in person or online here >
PS* We compiled a Shopping Guide that includes every single shop in Beacon for your shopping and bookmarking pleasure! If you run a shop or boutique in Beacon and want to sponsor this guide, See here about how to be a regular sponsor and supporter of this publication!
Level 2 Includes the following:
Storefront Photo: A square photo (your choice) of your business placed in the shopping guide + Logo.
Photo Gallery: A few pictures of your establishment.
Event Listings: List any and all of your events.
Newsletter Weekend Feature: Guaranteed placement in our weekend newsletter, known as the “Happening This Weekend Guide,” but during the pandemic, has been renamed to the “Retail Therapy Guide”
Weekly Instagram Post: We will pull a photo from your Instagram every week & re-share it to our Instagram! Sometimes, we will come in & take photos of things we love in your shop & share them with our readers as well. *If you have a photo & specific writing that you want us to share, please email it to us by Wednesday of each week.*
Beacon Lions Club Complete Food Drive For Veterans At Key Food
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Beacon Lions Club Food Drive Collection at Key Food.
PHoto Credit: Beacon Lions CLub
Beacon Lions Club at the 2022 Spirit of Beacon Day.
PHoto Credit: Beacon Lions CLub
The Lions Club helps provide needed services to the Southern Dutchess County area including, sight/vision, hearing, hunger, childhood cancer, diabetes and others. Lions Clubs International is an American secular, non-political service organization founded by Melvin Jones in 1917. As of April 2020, it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members in over 207 countries around the world.
Here in Beacon, the Lions Club just completed a food drive collection for Veterans at Key Food. Says the Beacon Lion's Club: "Our motto at Beacon Community Lions Club is: 'We Serve'. If you ever dreamt of being great in your life, be of service to others." If you are interested in getting involved as a volunteer or by donating, visit their Facebook page.
You may have also seen them at the Spirit of Beacon Day, or the Beacon Back To School event from I Am Beacon, and several other mission-driven services.
Until November 18th, the Turkey On Every Table food drive collection is happening at Key Food as well. Donate at the checkout.
Replaying Lieutenant Edie Meeks' Moving Speech From Memorial Day About Veterans
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Photo Credit: Screenshot from video taken for A Little Beacon Blog. Watch the full video below.
On a Monday morning for Memorial Day 2022, outside of The Memorial Building on Main Street in Beacon, a tiny woman with short white hair, wearing a pale blue dress, took steps to the podium to deliver a speech for the 2022 Memorial Day ceremony hosted by the American Legion Post 203. She had been sitting next to a Veteran to the on the right side of the stage, engaged in what looked like a captured conversation. When it was time for her to speak, she barely made the top of the podium. But her story and shared memories of her services as a nurse in Vietnam were so big. They were memories, we learned through her speech, that she did not share often. A video of her speech has been placed at the bottom of this article so that you may hear it.
Edie Meeks was the main speaker for the Memorial Day service in Beacon, NY. She said she decided to enlist because her brother Tom was drafted. He was in the Marine Corps. She thought: “If something happened to him, I would want to be there. Someone who really cared, and wanted to take care of him."
Edie went through basic training, were enlistees were “taught everything we needed to know in case things ‘escalated’ in Vietnam.” She flew to Saigon [Editor’s Note: now known as Ho Chi Minh City] where she said the nurses received everyone, because soldiers were flown to her station from other places. “There were mines all around us, and people shooting.”
Edie shared her first big memory that follows her with the audience, and it is based on the memory of another nurse: it was during a situation where the nurse was working in a shift where they had to triage, and decide who would be worked on. Edie’s friend said that one severely injured lieutenant who was lying on a stretcher would ask her every time she walked by if he was next. She walked by him several times, and each time he asked: “Am I next? Am I next?” And every time she walked by, she answered "Yes, you are next."
Finally, he died before he was treated. Edie’s friend the nurse revealed her secret thought to Edie: "I always wondered, if I hadn't told him yes, would he have died earlier, and not suffered?"
Edie answered her with certainty: "I am a mother today, and I'm telling you, I would have wanted you recognize my son, and to speak to him, and to comfort him. So I think you did absolutely the right thing."
Edie observed that when she worked in the Emergency Room in the United States, everything made sense. Kid fell out of a tree, and broke their leg. Over there, she said, nothing made sense. All of the patients were healthy, but blown up.
Eventually, working there became harder. She became so filled with rage. "Young men were coming in saying: 'Lieutenant, they aren't letting us win.'"
Edie appreciated the Corpsmen who helped her, often passing by after working a 12 hour day. They'd casually ask her, "What's going on, Lieutenant," and then lend themselves to wounded soldiers who were coming in. Described by Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund: “Corpsmen were enlisted ‘first responders’ of the Vietnam War, saving countless lives, often at great risk to themselves. Besides providing trauma care on the battlefield, they were responsible for the day-to-day prevention and treatment of a wide range of injuries and diseases among the troops.”
One of the final soldiers she saw there nearly broke her. A young man who came from Kansas, who was 19 years old and came from a farm. “He had a terrible abnormal wound,” Edie recalled, and was holding a letter from his mother that he asked Edie to read to him. “It was all of the little news from the people around town. Talked about his dad coming in with the dog, hunting pheasants. At the very end, she said: ‘We are so proud of you, son.’"
Three days later, he died.
By that October, Edie said she really had to shut down. “I can't feel another thing here." She asked for a change of venue, which ended up being no less violent or heartbreaking. She said she made lifelong friends there. "You needed to. You needed the backup."
She often wondered if she impacted someone's life for the better - who was really suffering - when she saved them. She asked herself: "Did I do him a favor by working on him?" She didn't know how they turned out. They were sent home. They were stabilized, and usually sent to Japan, she said. "We supported each other, because we supported the fellas who came in."
Edie continued with what made her service difficult for her. "That was another thing I felt difficult: to not be able to tell the parents how brave their sons had been. I saw this one patient. He fought and fought and fought to stay alive. And finally, because of an infection, he died. And I couldn't write to his mother to say 'He was so brave. He tried so hard.'"
Edie wanted to write, but was advised not to, in case her letter reached his mother before the official military letter did.
Edie said that one thing she noticed was how the soldiers kidded each other. Poked jabs at each other, like "Come on, get up." Edie knew: "The laughter kept them going."
Most of Edie's memories were dark with sorrow. And she noted that she did not remember the bright moments so well. "As a nurse, you remembered the ones who died. But you didn't remember the ones that you helped to get better."
At the 5th anniversary of the Vietnam's Women's Memorial, she was at the statue, and heard her name called from behind her. She turned around, and saw a lieutenant who she worked with. She asked "Gary, what are you doing here?" Gary said: "I came to see you."
Gary went on to describe what he remembered about Edie: "One of the things I remember about you is, you'd come in in the morning, and you'd start cracking jokes." Edie said that a lot of their patients at that time had chest wounds, so they had tubes that went to the bubbly bottle because the soldiers were taking a breath. "All of them were bubbling like crazy because they were laughing."
But Edie was stunned at herself. "I never remembered any of that. I just remembered the sorrow."
Coming Home A Veteran
“Whatever you do, don’t just sit on the sidelines. Participate in what’s going on. That’s what we did as soldiers. We participated in life. We didn’t just complain.”
When it was time for Edie to come home, she was told by the incoming nurses "'As soon as you get stateside, take your uniform off. You will not be welcomed.' And so we did."
Going home, Edie said, you couldn't talk about it. She said she didn't want to talk about it, because she thought no one would understand.
An old acquaintance saw her and asked asked her: "Oh Edie, I heard you were in Vietnam. What was it like?"
Edie said she turned around and walked out. "There was no soundbite," she said.
Edie spoke of veterans spiritually and mentally wounded by that war. When Edie went to the dedication of the Vietnam Women's Memorial, she found out how many nurses died of suicide after that war. "There were an awful lot of guys that did too. And a lot of guys who disappeared into the woodwork. Because how do you describe how you feel? You don't."
Edie said that she read a study that determined that the nurses' brains changed after being under that much stress.
"To me, if we are going to ask people to serve for us, we should give them everything they need. Without having to beg. Because if you go to the VA, you have to beg."
Edie’s parting words for the audience were: Whatever you do, don't just sit on the sidelines. Participate in what's going on. That's what we did as soldiers. We participated in life. We didn't just complain. I'm proud to say that I'm a Vietnam Veteran, and that these are my brothers. And I'm so proud that I'm an American.”
Congratulations Beacon Historical Society For A Sold Out Event For "Beacons Of History" - ALBB Proud To Sponsor
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Congratulations to the Beacon Historical Society for their sold out event, ”Beacons of History”! Learn more here about the honorees: Sgt. Tony Lassiter and the Melzingah Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
A Little Beacon Blog was able to be a sponsor this year, with our ad projecting onto the screen with other sponsors. Without the work of the dedicated volunteers maintaining Beacon’s history, research that media publications like A Little Beacon Blog conduct would not be possible for deep dive articles. We would not have the visions of what Beacon has looked like over the decades. Beacon’s history is so vast, part of ALBB’s mission is to preserve it, as it explains why things are the way they are in a moment.
Here at ALBB, we focus on “Beacon now,” and what Beacon becomes tomorrow or in the next few hours. Knowing where Beacon came from up until this minute is vital in understanding each other in this community, as the lines between families and intersections between communities is what made Beacon’s history and where we are today living in it.
A Little Beacon Blog’s sponsorship is only possible thanks to the ongoing support of our sustaining sponsors (and reader contributions, job listings, event promotions, and advertorials!). For the “Beacons Of History” event, ALBB dedicated our advertisement to our sponsors:
From A Little Beacon Blog'’s Business Directory, thank you Antalek and Moore Insurance Agency, Main Office (co-work space inside of Beacon Digital), Poughkeepsie Day School, Faust Design Build, and Gold Tax Standard.
From A Little Beacon Blog’s Shopping Guide: Luxe Optique, Witch Hazel, and Brett’s Hardware.
From A Little Beacon Blog’s Restaurant Guide: Eat Church, BAJA328, and Hudson Valley Food Hall.
From A Little Beacon Blog’s Adult and Kids Classes Guides: Yanarella Dance and Serios. Comedy Theatre.
Start your advertising campaign today to promote your business and support A Little Beacon Blog.
Contribute any amount if you like what you read, or become a monthly sustaining contributor.
Denise VanBuren Commissions Local Podcast Studio Partnership To Produce DAR's "Our Patriots" Podcast
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Denise VanBuren, well known in Beacon for her deep community involvement as the former President of the Beacon Historical Society, and Melzingah Daughter and former President General of the National Society Of The Daughters Of The American Revolution, commissioned the local podcast production studio partnership Tha’Max and Tin Shingle to produce 65 episodes of DAR’s breakout podcast, “Our Patriots.”
Denise is Vice President of Central Hudson, and in her marketing role, can be heard delivering soothing yet important safety messages about gas and electric during storm or unexpected situations. Denise served as the reader for all of the episodes, which were first published in DAR’s magazine, American Spirit Magazine.
Features include John Stark, Horatio Gates, Joseph Plumb Martin, Margaret Cochran Corbin, Nancy Hart, Frances Wright, and others.
“Brandon is gifted with bringing out special qualities in people,” said Katie Hellmuth, owner of Tin Shingle and publisher of A Little Beacon Blog. “Under his direction, Denise’s voice lifted the words from the page into our ears with the committed and loyal energy she is known for.”
Brandon Lillard, owner of Tha’Max Studio, observed: “Working with Denise was a pleasure! Her patience and professionalism made this project both special and easy.”
Listen to all of the episodes here on DAR’s website, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Learn more about producing your own podcast with Brandon and Katie’s help here at Tin Shingle. Katie and Brandon are the co-hosts for the super Beacon podcast, “Wait, What Is That?”
"Hometown Heroes" Banner Campaign Honors A Woman For First Time In Poughkeepsie - Helen Murphy
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As first reported by the Beacon Free Press, the “Hometown Heroes” banner campaign in Poughkeepsie has honored the first woman to be featured in the series: Helen Murphy. As reported by Kristine Coulter, Helen joined the Women’s Army Corp (WAC) in the U.S. Army in 1942 when she was 20 years old. According to one of Helen’s five daughters, Patricia Maio, Helen “worked for the NY State Army Ordinance Division with an office at IBM. In 1942, she joined the Women’s Army Corps in the US Army. She was an Air WAC.”
“I was aware of the Town of Poughkeepsie’s Hometown Hero banners and noticed that all of the banners hung in the Arlington were of men.”
As another first, while at Boot Camp, Helen was the first woman to be selected to be in the first contingent of WAC’s to go out west. While stationed in California at the Santa Ana Air Force Base, she was then selected to model the uniforms in Hollywood. According to her daughter, Helen was in a recruiting film starring Eleanor Parker, Faye Emerson, and Nina Foch. She also made recruiting appearances on the radio show “Queen for a Day,” and was on stage with Frank Sinatra.
More of Helen’s story is published in the Beacon Free Press, which you can pick up now. She was honorably discharged at the rank of Staff Sargent in 1945 and worked for the U.S. Veterans Administration in Poughkeepsie until 1947. She married Lt. Warren Murphy, who was from Fishkill, and began life traveling and moving her family every 2 years, which her daughter said was hard on her, yet she loved the service and being a service wife, her daughter Patricia said.
Patricia noted that Helen loved working at the American Legion Post. She eventually ran for Commander of the Arlington American Legion Post 1302, and was the first Female Commander of that Post. “She was very proud of that,” Patricia told the Beacon Free Press. Helen was involved in the Legion until her 90s. Helen died in 2016.
How The Honor Came To Be
Second page of the article on Helen Murphy, the veteran and first woman to be honored in the “Hometown Heroes” banner campaign in Poughkeepsie. Anne Shershin initiated the vision and effort to get Helen honored.
Another woman with the Post, Anne Shershin, had the idea to honor Helen in the “Hometown Heroes” banner campaign. “I was aware of the Town of Poughkeepsie’s Hometown Hero banners and noticed that all of the banners hung in the Arlington were of men. I knew Helen Murphy from the American Legion Auxiliary Post 1302,” Anne told the paper.
“I thought it would be lovely for Helen to be remembered with a hometown hero banner. My Auxiliary unit agreed to sponsor the banner. I contacted Helen’s daughter, Patricia Maio, and the Dutchess County Veterans Affairs, and they helped to get Helen’s discharge papers. The American Legion supplied the picture of Helen. We put everything together and submitted the application to the Town of Poughkeepsie. It took a whole community to make the banner happen.”
Read the full story in the November 9th issue of the Beacon Free Press, which dedicated most of its coverage to Veterans on Veterans Day.
There's A Bear Over There - Where? Crossing Main Street On A Weeknight
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On a quiet Tuesday or Wednesday evening at 10:30pm in Beacon (10/25/2022 or 10/26/2022), just before Halloween night, a driver stopped their car after they said they saw a bear crossing Main Street from Binnacle Books to the Flowers ‘N Gifts near Happy Valley Arcade. Apparently a second driver also stopped as the bear crossed. This hour is generally considered late late night in Beacon.
The driver called the Beacon Police, who the driver felt may not have believed them. Then the driver called their friend, who often walks at all hours of the day and night,. The driver was concerned for their friend as they wanted the friend to be aware of a bear at night in town. The friend is a reader of A Little Beacon Blog, and told us the story.
Reportedly, the driver did not know the color of the bear, or the size, but was certain that it was a bear, and not a overly large NYC size racoon. The driver did not indicate any signs of aggression, or that the bear had anything in its mouth or paws.
A Little Beacon Blog followed up with Happy Valley and with Binnacle Books, who both said they had not heard anything. ALBB did not yet file a FOIL to see if there was a Police Report filed for the call.
What Does Beacon’s Mountain Scout Say About The Bear?
ALBB reached out to Shane Hobel, founder of The Mountain Scout Survival School, to check in on his thoughts about a bear sighting in an urban area. Shane has provided expertise for media outlets including The New York Times, Urban Daddy, Fox News, and others.
“I’ve heard some people see a black bear around. It’s to be expected. If you look at the town from an eagle's perspective, is a big open plain between a mountain and a river. What used to be that corridor is now filled with city. It still has an avenue going from the mountain to the river. We are surrounded by woods, in Beacon. So, we're going to have a visitor."
Shane continued: “It's also a little bit of a confusing time with unseasonably warm temperatures. As people prepare for winter, bears are doing ther same. If there is a trail of smells, of course, the bear will follow.”
Shane answered a few more questions from ALBB:
Do people need to be afraid if they see a bear on Main Street? Or in a grassy area near their home or school?
“Black bears are pretty timid. Very shy. Docile. Easily scared if shooed off. Like a big raccoon looking for food. It’s Mama you need to be a little concerned about when near her cubs.”
What should one do if they see a bear crossing the street?
”Let the bear cross first.”
What if you are carrying a lunch box, and you see a black bear? What should you do?
”If you are that close and you are holding food, best thing to do is to put the food down and walk away slowly.”
“When you look at bear shit, here on the east coast, they eat nuts and berries. When you go out west, it’s the grizzly bear. You look at the bear shit there, you see bells and whistles.”
As in…they will eat you?
”Yes. Out west, they don't care what you are trying to scare them with. They will eat you anyway. Out here, no. The black bears here are shy.”
Where To Vote For Beacon 2022 - Both Early and Election Day - Republican Commissioner Thinks Early Voting Waste Of Money
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Early voting has been available for this election in 2022, and was in several locations, including the Fishkill Town Hall. If you’re trying to figure out where your polling site is now for Election Day, you’ll need to use the Dutchess County Board Of Elections Website or New York State’s Voter Lookup Elections tool. Finding your location is a little tricky. A Little Beacon Blog will walk you through it:
Go to https://elections.dutchessny.gov/ and click on the “Where To Vote” button in the middle of the home page, or “General Election Polling Places” from the top navigation. Or click right here to take you directly to the page.
From this 2022 General Election Polling Site page, you’ll see an alphabetical list of communities. Look for Beacon. Can’t find it? That’s because it’s listed with a C/ . Which means not much to most people, but here on this list, it might mean “City Of.” This code has placed Beacon and Poughkeepsie at the bottom of the list, which is also confusing because even if alphabetized by C, the name would be up with the Cs. Regular readers of A Little Beacon Blog know that we are not grammarians, and do make mistakes from time to time. We also like to make up our own grammar rules, and make questionable organizational choices. But this one takes the cake. We love cake!
Once you find C/Beacon, there are numbers listed as to where you belong. Not sure where you belong? Scroll back up to the top of the website and click the link that says to do the Poll Site Search. Or click right here to go directly to it.
Type in your address, and voila, you have your destination.
What time is voting for the General Election? That is on yet a different page, right here, and is from 6am-9pm. If you had done early voting, those times were on a PDF right here. Early voting is not available the day before election day.
Could this information have been consolidated better? Yes. It all could have been on one page. With big buttons to access important lookup tools.
Republican Commissioner Erik Haight Says Early Voting “A Colossal Waste Of Money”
The Beacon Free Press interviewed the Democratic Commissioner, Hannah Black, and the Republican Commissioner, Erik Haight, about Dutchess County Board of Election’s preparation for the 2022 election. They both felt well prepared and balanced when working with each other to ensure an accurate voter count.
When asked by the Beacon Free Press for their thoughts on early voting and if more people were taking advantage of it, Republican Commissioner Erik Haight said: “The facts show that it is a colossal waste of money. While it may increase the convenience of voting for a few people, it has not increased voting [participation]. It is the same in the other 33 states that have early voting. It spreads out the voting.“
For the 9 days of early voting now available, his statement implies no care for the people who do take advantage of early voting. Those people may include parents who have children in school, but since school is closed on Election Day, have their children at home, and need to either lug them to the polling site (good luck with a 5 year old who runs around, or a baby swaddled to the body of the parent, and two pre-pre teens who don’t want to be there, standing in a long line). Or a person with a job during the day who has 9 other opportunities to fit in voting around work shifts. Or a person caring for an aging parent at home and has limited times when they can be left alone.
This sharp disregard for the “convenience” of one’s life in an issue as important as voting is a spit in the face to any person who needs more time in their schedule to vote other than one day when schools and some jobs are closed.
Democratic Commissioner Hannah Black responded to the voter turnout number question by saying: “It fluctuates on the election, depending on voter engagement on the races within each year.”
Republican Commissioner Haight Notes: “We Have Kooks Who Don’t Believe That Trump Lost”
The Beacon Free Pressed asked the Commissioners about how “rampant FOIL requests” are impacting the Dutchess County Board of Elections, as they are across the country. Commissioner Black responded: “There has been an unusual amount of FOIL requests that have to do with the 2020 election,” she said.
Commissioner Haight explained: “Essentially, we have these ‘kooks’ - you can quote me on that; they’re kooks - who don’t believe that Trump lost.” He added: “I can speak for Dutchess County that the results that we certified in 2020 are 100% accurate.”
The Beacon Free Press went on to explain how the FOIL process works for the Dutchess County Board of Elections: “the commissioners will set the terms under which the documents may be viewed. The plan was to have those requesting the FOILs pay up front for the viewing of the materials; because the documents are secured in a bipartisan fashion, the Board of Elections needs to hire a Democrat and a Republican to oversee the viewing.”
Said Height: “They can handle the material, they can view the material, but they’re not allowed to copy it or take photos of it. It will cost the kooks about $40 an hour to view this material. I assume they’ll need a full work week to view the files - they’re required to reimburse the taxpayers for the folly of this task these folks are undertaking.”
Apparently the viewing session is coming. Commissioner Haight told the newspaper: “In the coming weeks, I’ll reach out to these FOILers and give them a little bit of time to get organized. All of our employees are tied up running this election. I will not jeopardize this election because these kooks don’t believe we ran a fair election in 2020.”
Wait, What Is That Bonfire In Beacon? Exploring The First Beacon Bonfire Festival
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Co-Organizer Tim Parsaca sets up the bonfire area at Veterans Place, in preparation for the live music and performances playing there on Saturday, November 5, 2022.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth
Warm November wind swirled crunchy leaves between parked cars on Main Street as the sun came out through the morning fog once again in Beacon, NY, creating the perfect Saturday scene for the first Beacon Bonfire Festival. Starting Friday and erupting Saturday (November 4 and 5) is a schedule of 100 live performers and artists in 14 venues and galleries.
All of Main Street was open, while Veterans Place (side street between Post Office and Towne Crier and across from Masjid Ar-Rashid Islamic Teaching Center) was closed so that people could enjoy dancing, sitting in patio couches around a fire pit, and watching performances. The casual setting, however, made it feel like Main Street was closed as people slowed down to walk, watch and listen.
This big concept idea is being described as an “immersive music and arts exploration” by its organizers, who include a collection of performers, including Kelly Ellenwood, who is behind some of Beacon’s longest lasting initiatives, including Wee Play, the Beacon Free Loop, and busy time served for BeaconArts.
An aerialist performs during the first Beacon Bonfire as the first band at the Veterans Place stage starts.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth
Starting from the embers of bonfires made during the height of the COVID pandemic, when everyone was separated and could not gather indoors, a group of Beaconites gathered outside around a bonfire in locations that were sometimes not announced until the day of the bonfire. Co-organizers Christian and America Olivo Campbell told the Highlands Current that they started the bonfires as a way to make it through the pandemic. The first one had 20 people, and it grew from there as more dates were put into the calendar spread via group texts. Jeremy Schonfeld came on board to organize the music from his connections in the Beacon music scene, and Kelly’s husband Tim Parsaca, who worked for Madison Square Garden for decades building or “unbuilding” sets, as Christian puts it.
Venues Participating In The Beacon Bonfire
Venues for this festival include the main stage at Veterans Place, which has patio couches set up around fire pits, Reserva Wine Bar, Bank Square, Lotus Works Gallery, Dennings Point Distillery, Quinn’s, Found Space 364, B House, Towne Crier, the Beacon Building, Silica Studio, Masonic Lodge, KuBe Art Center (aka The Old Beacon High School), Howland Cultural Center, Maria Lago Studio, and Dogwood.
Performers Performing During The Beacon Bonfire
Beaconites will recognize several names, and see a few new ones including of the spoken word. Lena Rizkallah who ALBB’s sister company Tin Shingle has written about and is normally associated with financial advice and education, will be storytelling with Bridget O’Neill’s group at the Masonic Lodge. You can find Nina Day and Friends, the Wynotte Sisters, the Whispering Tree, Toybox with Rinde Eckert and Friends, The Costellos, Tara O’Grady, Stephen Clair Band, Spilled Milk, and many others.
Find the full schedule and map here.
“Wait, What Is That?” Podcast Interviews
Brandon Lillard and Katie Hellmuth were able to interview two of the performers before the Saturday got rolling: The Costellos and Beacon Performing Arts Center. The Costellos shared two songs with the podcast, that was live streamed on A Little Beacon Blog’s Instagram. The first song gave serious beach vibes, and the second was a dreamy love note between the two, written during a seven week stint that they were away from each other.
Listen to the full interview at Wait What Is That? when it gets published next week.
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HUDSON VALLEY FOOD HALL
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Pickup Truck Hits Building On Main Street - Driver, Dog, Moose and Building Seem Fine
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At a little before 3pm on Tuesday (11/1/2022) afternoon, a gray, 4-door pickup truck was driving east up Main Street toward the mountain when it drifted left, crossed the double yellow line, hit the curb, plowed over a sapling tree, sped passed the moose sculpture made of driftwood, then hit and bounced off of the old brick firehouse building that is currently Hudson Beacon Glass, on the corner of Cross Street and Main Street.
The truck hit the corner of the building, which has a metal pole mounted to it, and bounced off, where it came to a stop, according to a witness. No major damage was done to the building, which is filled with glass blown pieces on shelves for people to buy. A clock did fall off the wall, according to a glass blower working there at the time. Otherwise, nothing shook or shattered, they didn’t think.
According to a witness, the driver was a local Beaconite who was driving with his small black and white dog, when he thought he dozed off at the wheel, perhaps causing his foot to hit the gas pedal as his truck veered left. Upon impact, the airbag deployed. According to the witness, the only injury he sustained was a scratch to his elbow. The driver was not immediately taken by an ambulance after the crash.
After the truck hit the building, a glass blower on the second floor heard the bang. After the bang, another glass blower on the first floor heard a dog barking wildly. According to a witness, a local pedestrian on the sidewalk had been glancing at something nearby, and was about to move forward to study it, when the truck whizzed by them and crashed into the building.
Both the pedestrian and a glass blower immediately assisted the person in the car. After the air bag deployed, it caused smoke to come out, triggering the pedestrian who almost got hit to run toward the vehicle to open it to help the victim and the dog who was barking wildly from inside. Police arrived moments later to block the area. After things settled a bit, the driver could be seen sitting in a stoop of an apartment slightly up the street.
According to a witness, the driver had just completed work to his truck, and was very shaken about the incident.
Beacon Historical Society Hosts And Seeks Donations For 6th Annual "Beacon Of History" Award Night At The Roundhouse
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The Beacon Historical Society is back in-person for their 6th Annual “Beacons of History Awards” at The Roundhouse on November 10, 2022. Some call the event “a great old Beacon cause,” as the Society honors and celebrates the city’s rich past and deep sense of community as one of its main fundraisers of the year to guarentee their rental expenses for the following year.
Hors d’oeuvres, beer/wine/soft drinks will be served within the $75 ticket for a night under the twinkling lights of one of the main event spaces in The Roundhouse. Sponsorship opportunities are still open (but closing soon! email Denise Doring VanBuren @dvb1776@gmail.com). Tickets are $75. Donations are accepted even if you can’t attend.
2022 Honoree: Tony Lassiter
Individual Honoree
Born in Highland Hospital in 1947, Tony Lassiter was educated in the Beacon City Schools and drafted into the Army as a combat engineer. In February 1969, Sgt. Lassiter was sent to Vietnam, where he was injured by hostile forces 6 months later. Awarded the Purple Heart, he was honorably discharged in November. Tony then enjoyed a 30-year career at IBM, served as a Sergeant with the Dutchess Co. Sheriff’s Office and volunteered for 15 years on the Beacon Planning Board. He also volunteers on the City’s Housing Authority, as Vice Commander of American Legion Post 203, Quartermaster of the VFW (Military Order of the Purple Heart), Treasurer for the Beacon Lions Club and with the St. Andrew’s/St. Luke’s Church Food Pantry and has served on the Spirit of Beacon Day Committee.
- Copy credit: The Beacon Historical Society Invitation Letter
2022 Honoree: Melzingah Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
Organizational Honoree
Founded in 1896 by Katherine Wolcott Verplanck, the Melzingah Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is one of the largest and most active DAR chapters in the nation. It is most notably known for its rescue of the c. 1709 Madam Brett Homestead from Demolition in 1954, when plans called for an A&P Supermarket to be built on the site; the property is not only the house of the community’s first European settler, but also the oldest building in Dutchess County. It is filled with a significant furnishings collection. In addition to operating the property as a house museum, the DAR chapter has long supported historic awareness in Beacon, including ts erection of the Mount Beacon Monument in 1900. Members also volunteer at the Castle Point VA Medical Center, conduct annual history essay contests and complete other volunteer work as part of the worldwide service organization committed to promoting historic preservation, education and patriotism.
- Copy credit: The Beacon Historical Society Invitation Letter
Sponsorship Levels
If you didn’t get the sponsorship invitation letter this year, email Event Chair Denise Doring VanBuren dvb1776@gmail.com to be put on the list. Each level comes with different promotional opportunities and some with tickets.
Mount Beacon Sponsor: $2,000
Newburgh Beacon Ferry Sponsor: $1,500
Main Street Trolley Sponsor: $1,000
Twin Villages Sponsor: $500
Half Screen Ad: $250
Program Supporter Listing: $100
Checks can be made payable to the Beacon Historical Society and mailed to PO Box 89 Beacon NY 12508 and explore at the Beacon Historical Society at their location at 61 Leonard Street (near Mount Beacon) and at their website.
Learn about more events from the Beacon Historical Society at their Calendar,
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Serious. Comedy Theatre Presents Improv Witchy Jam
HUDSON VALLEY FOOD HALL
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HUDSON VALLEY FOOD HALL
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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.
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