Popping on the art wall at the Beacon Skate Park is this new design, fresh in yellow and orange shades from a background of blue.
The art wall was erected last year as part of the Participatory Budget Program the City of Beacon has with Beacon High School, and has seen a series of designs. Even someone who popped a prom question. That’s in ALBB’s archives, and will be published so that you can see.
Editorial Note: The reader should know, that as far as the public knows, David Ross was not currently in the National news. His initial news around February 3rd, 2026 had died down after his resignation from his Chair and teaching position at SVA (School of Visual Arts in NYC) after ARTNews broke the story by publishing his correspondence and travel flight log to New Mexico. ALBB’s published on his local resignations here as they happened on March 4th, 2026, with a News Digest sent to our newsletter on March 10th.
It should be noted that When the New York Times published their 2nd article on David regarding this topic, they did so with a photo spread of his local life here in Beacon. He took them to his 9-hole golf club; inside of his home; a shot from outside of his home while he baked muffins at night from the POV of the photographer outside peeking into him through his dimly lit kitchen window; and on his nature walk. These actions are indications that David and Peggy either requested the article to be written in the New York Times so that he could better control his narrative, or somehow agreed to it if it was the idea of the New York Times. But a question is, how did the New York Times even learn about David’s local news, and why did they not mention A Little Beacon Blog when they quoted the questions I emailed David. Articles about David at that the New York Times in the past have been glowing. The initial piece they published about him regarding the files was cushion-y.
From a publicity point of view, this was a staged, or “planted” piece of writing. From a journalistic point of view, the New York Times article did quote some of his emails that enabled the behavior of the pedophile class. Based on the response from the response of the New York Times’ own readers, from a publicity point of view, that article was a mistake. But I am not a publicist. I am a journalist.
The reason why A Little Beacon Blog was not mentioned in the New York Times article - which is locked behind a paywall - is probably because that publication and David and Peggy did not want local coverage of it. It was pure coincidence that I saw it on Instagram as I made my lunch, at which time, I scan headlines to stay current. After that, I started receiving texts, asking if I or ALBB was the “community blogger” mentioned in the article.
Today, the New York Times published a second article about David Ross’ appearance in the January 30th, 2026 drop of the Epstein Files. The first two paragraphs of the Instagram caption alluded to an email that A Little Beacon Blog sent to David to clarify or confirm details from those files that were first published by ARTNews and mentioned a travel log to New Mexico, which, as we have learned, is the location of Epstein’s 7,500 acre Zorro Ranch, the scene of lots of terrible things.
“I would say that David is not tainted. He was seen.”
The reporter did not name ALBB by name, and seemed to quote David’s referral as “The sender was his neighbor, a community blogger who lived a few blocks away. She wanted to know about a flight he’d taken to New Mexico in the 1990s. She wanted to know if he was still volunteering on a city tax board or serving as chairman at a local nine-hole golf course.”
Editorial Note: One reader asked me how I knew David Ross was in The Files, and if I searched the files for random people like they did. No. A different reader of ALBB commented on a Facebook post linking to the Hudson Valley Post article about it. This person may have been a Troll Groupie of ALBB (we have a few) who was using it as a distraction piece from a different topic we were publishing about - maybe ICE. Pro-ICE readers like to distract a lot. But. I knew who David was from past reporting I’d done, so I began researching.
So many pieces of this situation to reflect on. But first - The Comments. The Comments of the New York Time’s Instagram post weren’t having the entire piece. Most people in the comments were mad at the New York Times for giving David a platform on which to apologize again, and bare the shame he felt after being written about by ARTNews, Hypoallergic, the New York Times, the Hudson Valley Post, and other publications. ALBB hasn’t even published the article yet that analyzes the emails in the time frame of Epstein’s known actions. Published at ALBB are developments that happened in Beacon:
“David Ross From The Epstein Files No Longer On City Board; Beacon Was Not Going To Announce That”
I haven’t published my analysis of his email correspondence yet, and what was so troubling with it, but it is coming. It’s been half-way finished for some time, as I needed to introduce some of his involvements in Beacon, and then get to the emails. But this New York Times piece did divulge some of them.
David never answered ALBB’s email. Which is par for the course here in these parts. The two articles that ALBB has written so far only discuss his resignation from the board of the nine-hole golf course that the New York Times refers to - and featured with a photo in their article! Southern Dutchess Country Club made the New York Times.
Neither of us were mentioned by name, actually. And that may have been David’s choice. To protect us. As both the golf course, and possibly this blog, or the community it reaches, are very special to David’s heart. They are part of his home.
National media is one thing. Home is another. After all of the emails that David received, this one was from Beacon. He told the New York Times: “Ross, 77, scanned through the message as his stomach dropped. He noticed that the sender was not a lawyer or a prosecutor but his neighbor, a community blogger who lived a few blocks away.”
When I started this publication 14 years ago, and as I started listening to City Council Meetings each week - each week!! - I knew that I would have to report on hard things. I was petrified of then Mayor Randy Casale. The things he said were…who knows how they would be received! And his grammar. When people got mad at him, they went for his grammar. Now, after I publish hard things, people go for my grammar. That’s how I know I hit a nerve by reporting the right thing. Randy remains one of my sources for All Things Beacon to this day.
But I had to learn to look past personal feelings, and get the facts for an article.
As for David Ross. He revealed in today’s New York Times article that Beacon was home to him. As he has told a local podcast, Beaconites! in 2020, he has lived all over he world: “I’ve lived in amazing places,” he told Beaconites!. “I lived in San Francisco at the top of Telegraph Hill when I was director of SFMOMA. I lived on Madison Avenue when I was director of the Whitney. I lived in Cambridge when I was running the ICA. But I have to say, living in Beacon, this is the first place I’ve ever fallen in love with. This is where I feel I belong.”
From the New York Times article:
Left: Photo of the Southern Dutchess Country Club with the 9-hole golf course in Beacon that David was on the board of.
Right: David making muffins.
David probably feels safe here. Lots of people do. We drive through the woods and exhale (if they aren’t bulldozed down for new developments, or if we aren’t attacked by random assaulters).
We film Bannerman Island on the train on the way into New York City on a Moody Monday, knowing that we are going into a very fast paced life, but will return to a nice and slow life. Which works on its own clock.
The photographer of the New York Times article went into his home to photograph him and his wife, Peggy Ross, a former Beacon City Council Member, at one of their tables. “This mess is swallowing every little corner of our lives,” Peggy told the Times. “What does the golf course have to do with anything?”
The golf course is everything. First of all, golf courses are where lots of these deals and networkings get done. And people in Trump’s life are buried (that we know of so far)! But really, a golf course doesn’t need to be fancy to matter. People want to know who people are around them. The only reason we knew David was on this board is because Mayor Lee Kyriacou thought it mattered when he used David’s position there to justify his appointment to the Board of Assessment Review.
Which leads us to the next board: the “tax board” that the New York Times glazed over. Taxes are not sexy, fun, interesting, but they are also everything. Yes, David “volunteers” his time to be on this board, but what he is doing impacts people’s properties.
Further, Mayor Kyriacou did not tell the public that his appointment was married to a former City Council Member, or had been very involved in wanting to develop the Madame Brett factory to be a private contemporary art museum with an architect who owned 20 other properties at the time. All of this matters.
But the public was not told this - or reminded of this - at the board appointment. And nothing disastrous may have happened. But we need to know. Because lots of people in Beacon know that we are not told the full picture in some matters.
In fact, we were not told that David was no longer on that board after ALBB sent him that email. Which he never responded to. To this day - he’s never answered my question about New Mexico. But he answered it to the New York Times in their article.
ALBB’s questions did not matter to David, in that, he never responded. He may have made actions in his life because of the questions, but otherwise, ALBB’s questions did not matter. I had to find the answers a different way.
Personally, I’m used to disappearing. That’s the beauty of living in NYC. You can disappear in the crowd of NYC. If you fall down, the people might see you and help you back up, and then keep walking. I loved that about NYC.
David was very upset about being in the files. “Because I’m tainted,” he answered Peggy to her question about the golf course. “I’m in the files.”
I would say that David is not tainted. He was seen.
In this New York Times article, David went on to explore his role in the art and fundraising world that Epstein was so relied upon. These fundraisers needed his money. He gave it. But with strings attached. Those strings were stories that he wove to protect himself. To create reality and normalize things like pedophilia and rape so that his world could continue.
David was very honest about his reflections in the New York Times piece. “The best thing to do is to call up the golf course and resign,” David said that he told Peggy.
“You’re guilty of poor judgement,” Peggy responded. “You never saw any girls. You never witnessed any crimes.”
This feeling of fear is not unique to Peggy. Several wives of fundraiswers like David may be harboring the same fear of the unknown. The Times reported that “Peggy had assumed Ross cut ties with Epstein aftre he retired from full-time museum work in the early 2000s. She hadn’t known about the emails until the files were released, beacuse Ross never thoguht they were worth mentioning to her.”
David took the Times reporter to his backyard studio to reflect on the famous people he was in pictures with. He prided himself on getting artists money. When at the San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art David wanted to acquire the artist Robert Rauschenberg’s personal collection for the museum. “He remembered asking Rauschenberg to write down any price. The artist scrawled $22 million on a piece of paper, and Ross agreed without haggling and closed the deal.”
But in Beacon, David could disappear into his more comfortable life of music and muffins. Guitars and bands. No pressure from needing to make deals like that, with people who have enormous amounts of money to deliver. “Some donors were great, wonderful people who became friends - people who cared deeply about art.” David told the reporter. “Some were horrible assholes with just unbelievably troglodyte points of view, and I was the karma wash.”
The Times took a video of David making muffins. Baking is what people do when they need to go to their soul. The Times reported: “He had survived cancer four times, and he found himself reflecting on his career and writing about legacy. ‘There’s more integrity in making something that nobody will ever see than in trying to hustle and blow smoke.’”
About the music he makes with local musicians in Beacon: “It’s taken years to shrink my ego down to size. I’ve made progress, but I’m still trying to get there.”
We’re in this spot because we have been lied to for(ever) so long. So many presidencies. Even local politics - the lies are thick. It takes a lot of digging, interviewing, cross-referencing to find the lie. With Epstein, women and men have been telling about what happened to them. They have gone on record. But nothing.
We are still going through a genocide of Palestine, and now Lebanon. By our country - What more do people need to see or be told to realize that small things matter? People are done. Ownership is required. It doesn’t mean that one’s soul is done. Or cooked. Or…it just means that everything matters.
This is why the Comment section at the New York Times is backfiring for young David. No more victimizing. The concern should be for the people abused, killed, tortured, threatened, harassed by Epstein and those around him. Forward motion. Impacting something in forward motion that makes a difference that makes a change in this hellscape we are currently swirling in.
David should keep breathing. Keep making muffins. Keep making music. Keep taking ownership. Move forward.
No more covering. No more excuses.
Free Palestine.
After I identified this blog to the readers of that New York Times Instagram post of their article - since that publication named so many other names here in Beacon except this publication - their readers responded. Here is what some of them said:
@raquel_is_sovereign: @alittlebeacon Excellent work. Thank you
@charukumarhia: @alittlebeacon you did good work! Thank you!
@parisakaramiinsta: @alittlebeacon every community should be so lucky to have such a diligent journalist.
@thestorywithcharu: @alittlebeacon 👏🏽 👏🏽 👏🏽 well done!
@lothcatnip: @alittlebeacon good on ya
@jenpastifloff: @alittlebeacon 🙏🙏
@oregon.small.fry: @alittlebeacon thank you! Appreciate great local journalists
@bruuuse: @alittlebeacon did anyone at @nytimes reach out to you or did they just take Ross at his word that you’re just some “community blogger”?
- No. Nobody from the New York Times reached out to me. Nor did they mention the name of this blog.
@bruuuse: @alittlebeacon thanks for the background and, more importantly, thanks for your work on this!
@scotcherg: @alittlebeacon excellent public interest journalism. Well done
@loba_toledo: @alittlebeacon 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
@amyslysly: @alittlebeacon Your reporting skills are 💯x that of @nytimes
@c.hugger640 @alittlebeacon you are amazing. Truly. never forget that the work you’re doing is important, the MOST important of our time, for survivors.
@aldmannor: @alittlebeacon keep this up. GO GET EM! 👏👏👏 all power to you. May we all go read your pieces. Shame on the @nytimes for yet another scrub piece. Yuck nyt.
@sorta_smith: @alittlebeacon thank goodness there are small “community bloggers” carrying on the critical role of the fourth estate while outlets like @nytimes fail us on so many levels
@thrilhelm: @alittlebeacon now THAT is journalism. Thank you for this!!!
@dina411: @alittlebeacon great work helping to get pedophiles and apologists out of our local government and cultural spaces. Thank you!!!!
@blue_eyed_nazarlik: @alittlebeacon 👏
@heidigretchensophia: @alittlebeacon !!!
@nichole_elis131: @alittlebeacon oh thank you so much for your work and efforts bringing information forward. 🙏🏼
Over at Instagram, the New York Times published a second article about David Ross, since publishing their first article about his appearance in the Epstein Files and participation in emails and fundraising from Epstein. In that article, A Little Beacon Blog was mentioned early in reference to an email I had sent to David to clarify his position on 2 local boards here, and more details on his trip log to New Mexico that were referenced in ARTNews, the original publication that broke the story.
The New York Times didn’t mention ALBB by name, just a “community blogger,” which is fine. A text came in asking me if I saw that ALBB was “sort of” in the article. Yes, I saw that A Little Beacon Blog was “sort of” in that New York Times article today. Always an enigma, I suppose.
Followup article to come. After these dishes. 🫧
According to a passenger on the 8:04am G Line (the Beacon Free Loop Bus) that was headed north in the turning lane of 9D (aka North Avenue and Wolcott Avenue) to turn left down Beekman Street to the train station, was hit twice by a gray 2-door Honda car headed in the opposite direction (south on 9D, with the Police Station on the car’s right side), at around 8:15am on Monday morning, the passenger told A Little Beacon Blog, and supplied all pictures published here.
The Honda that hit the bus, which spun around upon collision.
According to the passenger, the car was driving “a lot faster than the bus,” which was preparing to turn left down Beekman Street. From what the passenger could tell, the car veered into the lane that the bus was in, hitting the front left corner of the bus, and then the back left tire of the bus. Upon colliding, the car spun around, and came to rest horizontally in the middle of the road.
“Just before the bus driver could turn onto Beekman from 9D,” the passenger told ALBB, “a grey car veered into our lane and hit the bus. There were 3 passengers on the bus and the driver and we’re all physically fine. The driver of the vehicle seems like he’s okay too.”
The passenger told ALBB that Beacon Police, Fire, and EMS responded within 3 minutes. “After the accident, police and paramedics came onto the bus to check if any of us were injured.”
The bus was towed away soon after, and in the pictures, was at an angle. The passenger does not know if the car pushed the bus into that angle, or if the driver had turned the bus away from the oncoming vehicle.
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Enchanting. Mysterious. Hidden. The Factory Hotel was the perfect location for a Crime Writing Workshop led by New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Weiner, who lives in Beacon, from the Beacon Lit Fest as the festival organizers build up to their main event this June (early bird tickets on sale now) with learning opportunities and a dance party orbiting the calendar.
A writing table at the Crime Writing Workshop from the Beacon Lit Fest at the Factory Hotel.
The setting was dark. The mood was light as writers, aspiring writers, budding writers and retired writers sat in velour chairs and couches around mirrored tables with their pens and computers, ready to listen to Cynthia lead them down pathways on how to set the scene for the perfect murder. Or missing person. Stories that would grip the reader and reveal more behind motive and who did it.
The attendees were given orange journals and a pens to write in for 10-minute writing exercises that were to happen periodically throughout the workshop. Cynthia provided us with several tightly written description of solved and unsolved mysteries that we could choose from to start writing about - or pick our own. Wheels started turning for several writers in the room who indeed had a mental file folder of ideas and unfinished stories in their heads.
Hannah of the Beacon Lit Fest Team with the author Cynthia Weiner.
Next, Cynthia encouraged us to ask ourselves and answer in our new journals (or type into computers) why we would be choosing the story we landed on. This part was personal. It was the “why” behind why we latched on to an idea or concept or situation or character. Several people in the room identified with “The Missing Man” story about a 31-year-old Poughkeepsie man who went missing one night after receiving a text at 11:30pm. He told his parents he was going to shoot pool, and never returned.
This struck a chord with male and female parents of adult children in the room who could not, or did not want to fathom living with the existence or non-existence of a child who went missing; not knowing if they died or not. This led to the next writing exercise of which character voice we would tell the story in. The victim? A witness? A neutral narrator? A mother? The framed murderer?
Ideas began unfolding as pens were scribbling and fingers flying across keyboards for those who brought computers. Memories of past writing assignments or unfinished memoirs were stirred, and the writers in the room were lit.
View of the fluttering white paper tunnel from the black gate of The Factory Hotel.
As for the scene of the event room at The Factory Hotel, located next door to and behind The Dutchess Hotel & Day Spa hotel (same owners) at 147 Main Street, it was surprising to say the least, if you have never been behind the black gate at the end of the fluttering white paper tunnel.
Electric clothes hung on laundry lines under pink lights above private bungalows that would make for the perfect getaway for a writer looking for solitude to get into rhythm for writing these crime stories. Suddenly we weren’t in Beacon anymore. Maybe we were in the bright architectural tropics of Charleston, SC, but colder.
Beacon Lit Fest. Don’t miss future opportunities from them. Follow Beacon Lit’s Instagram, sign up for their newsletter, and donate at any time for them to keep producing these opportunities. Follow A Little Beacon Blog’s Calendar of Things To Do, and Adult Classes Guide, as we post events from Beacon Lit. Sign up for ALBB’s free newsletter to be alerted to these and other news and events (and some unsolved and new real-life mysteries!)
Commuting by train to New York City from Beacon can be a magical time if you’re in the right frame of mind. The fashion and red carpet photographer Jeremy Smith takes photos of Beacon when the mood strikes him when he’s not traveling for a photo-shoot. He occasionally tags A Little Beacon Blog in Instagram during those moments.
What a nice surprise to see this scene of Bannerman Island up in our Stories on Monday morning, when the air was a little warmer than cold in this month of March that has certainly come in like a lion.
Said the couture fashion designer Selma Karaca in ALBB’s IG comments: “Beautiful! I always wanted to make a video of this seen for as long as the train ride to watch everyday. Great one for short movie!❤️”
Watching the new Wuthering Heights movie is really becoming a must.
At long last, one of the large trees on the paved path between the student track and Matteawan Road came down during the violent winds on Monday evening. After most storms involving heavy winds, thick branches from these trees fall onto the path. The branches are moved periodically throughout the day. This tree broke at its base, completely covering the path that students take to school each morning, crushed the fence beneath it, and spilled into the road.
Beacon’s Highway Department responded to the scene to remove the tree on Tuesday morning, blocking school traffic from going down Matteawan Road so that the tree could be carted away in trucks branch by branch, thus causing vehicular confusion at the intersection of Matteawan and Verplanck for parents, grandparents and students driving to school. This is one of the most heavily trafficked areas in Beacon at that hour, as resident vehicles are en route to school, as well as trucks from the Highway and Water Departments to begin their days.
At the intersection of Matteawan and Verplanck, a Highway Department employee parked and directed traffic to turn around to find another way to school. The other way to school, aside from going down Rte 52 to come through the Fishkill Corrections Facility, would be to come down Wilkes Street along the baseball fields of Memorial Park, pop out at Matteawan where the road was closed, and take a right to continue on to the middle and high schools.
The trees are rooted on the track-side of the fence. ALBB is awaiting confirmation on whose property they are on - school or city.
On January 7th, 2026, the City of Beacon terminated one of the Highway Department employees who is also a professional tree trimmer, according to the Letter of Termination he received that ALBB has seen. This former employee had his own tree trimming business. He was terminated the day after filing a complaint on January 6th, 2026, which included multiple citations of harassment and retaliation he said he experienced while working for the City of Beacon, according to the complaint that ALBB has seen.
One of his examples was an incident that took place while removing a rotten tree at Green Street Park, where he said he voiced concern that the Highway Department crew responding to the job “did not have proper equipment to safely handle the job,” according to the complaint filing. While his complaint stated that he did not refuse to do the job, he said in his complaint that he was reprimanded later that day by his department head after vocalizing his concerns.
Central Hudson cited 250 damage locations they are responding to in their quest to restore power to those who lost it.
Tonight’s City Council Meeting has ended, coming in at only 1hour long, which was nice for my breaking of fast for Ramadan with a date and cup of the Chocolate & Mushroom Elixir from 4 Wall Farm with milk from Hudson Valley Fresh. A sufficient appetizer to hold me over until dinner/Iftar of a cheeseburger made from the patties from Eggberts Free Range Farm.
Several tidbits made it into this meeting, but the large projects discussed were:
Parade of Green: Generally hailed as perhaps the best parade in years by Mayor Lee, but the cars parked on Main Street and the shorter ending at Fishkill Avenue was criticized by the public. This is not the first parade that was cut short - the Halloween Hocus Pocus was also cut short, those organizers said, even though they requested to go longer. Businesses look forward to certain parades bringing them business or foot traffic, and this Parade of Green ending at Fishkill Avenue (the Yankee Clipper Diner) may have hurt some businesses. During Public Comment, a resident, Theresa Kraft, said that people were lined up on the other side of Fishkill Ave. waiting for the parade, but saw no parade. City Administrator Chris White said that the reason for the shorted route was due to short staffing of Police, that they still have 3 positions open, with two out on Medical, and one out on Paternity leave. He said he could not find enough officers to do the overtime. But in the future, he would consider the route going to Memorial Park, as Dummy Light exit is “chaotic.” But has been done before for years.
Beekman Street Rehabilitation Project: The first phase to authorize this project moving forward was tonight. Expect a topic of discussion to be the new bike lane on that street, and if it will be one-way or two-way. It is slated for one-way now.
Sidewalk Study is coming. To determine where the City of Beacon should focus on adding or replacing sidewalk that is not within income qualifying areas. Public input is wanted. Speak at the podium to request your sidewalk block, in addition to sending email to your ward representative and the Mayor and City Administrator.
The rest is in the video. Dinnertime now.
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The winter weather hit farmers hard at farmers markets, which also impacted storefronts like Matcha Thomas, who listed it as a reason they closed their storefront to focus more on the flexibility of being mobile.
Eggbert’s Free Range Farm was in 3 winter markets, but when their third market - the Cornwall Market - threw in the towel on any more winter, Eggbert’s did not stop. After developing a friendship with their neighboring vendor at that market, Shake ‘n Grind, who tabled when not in their Newburgh café, Eggbert’s partnered with them to pop-up in the brick and mortar café at 190 S Plank Road, Newburgh, NY.
“We had been doing some shopping pop-ups with them before, like Shop ‘n Sips,” Eggbert’s owner, Carrie Sabins told A Little Beacon Blog. “They went well and we met so many more new people.”
Based on that experience, Eggbert’s will be at their first solo pop-up at Shake ‘n Grind this Wednesday, March 11. People can buy all of Eggbert’s regular items, like pork, chicken, bacon, goat, etc. But because of the partnership, shoppers can also enjoy buying coffee, lattes, and shakes from Shake ‘n Grind. “People loved their juices. And baguettes!” Carrie told ALBB.
Let us know what you pick up.
Before we forget what high heating bills felt like, and the stuffy indoor air of winter, let’s visit the “Passive House” project that Shelter Air @shelter.air is installing for a house designed by River Architects @riverarchitects , a full-service architecture and design studio with a bold commitment to achieving environmental sustainability through intelligent, beautiful design. Both business are Woman-owned.
A “Passive House” must meet air handling requirements to ensure the quality of the air, and management of the temperature, while not using a lot of energy.
Shelter Air owner Kimberly Sevilla walks us through the house, showing us the special insulation used, the 3-pane windows, and the air handling machines that circulate the air in the ducts.
Take a tour with us!
Shelter Air is a Member of A Little Beacon’s Business Blog Squad in the HVAC Heating & Cooling section of our Business Directory.
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Screenshot of Kings of 845 coverage of the Sectional IX Championship that Beacon Bulldogs Boys Basketball secured.
The Beacon High School boys basketball team, the Beacon Bulldogs, won the Section 9 Class A Crown, defeating the Red Hook Raiders at Mount Saint Marry College on Friday evening, earning their first Section 9 title.
The Beacon boys basketball program merged into Section 9 during the 2021-22 season, but the Poughkeepsie Journal reported that it has had a "cloud hovering over the program" ever since. "A program that had been patiently waiting for its opportunity to break through after falling short each and every time, Beacon finally broke through," wrote reporter Eric Decker.
Beacon coach Patrick Schetter told the Poughkeepsie Journal that fueling the team with energy and spirit was a priority. "That's been a point of emphasis for us this year, coming out of the gate in the first quarter with energy. The last couple of years, that's been something we've lacked as a program," the coach said.
Beacon's team is stacked with seniors, and Coach Schemer gave credit to defensive playing and strategy for impacting their win. Emphasis was put on shutting down the Red Hook's top scorer, Matt Simmons, with two Beacon players: Jayden Bostick and Jah'Real Whitted.
Coach Schetter told the Journal: "Jayden Bostick is the greatest high school defender I've ever seen, I think a ton of people would attest to that. He elevates everyone around him in practice to be a good defender."
The Poughkeepsie Journal reported that Beacon earned a double digit lead right away, less than 4 minutes into the game. Beacon's Michai Thompson led with 17 points; Ryan Landisi scored 14 points, and Jahcier Ballard delivered 10 points, with Brady Philipbar on fire, contributing to a 62-38 victory. Excellent rebounding by all.
“From coaching a lot of those boys from age 10, they are a special group and the whole community has their support. As they win, it’s a win for the whole community. Every coach, every family member, every supporter, feels like they are playing for us as a community.”
Reuben Simmons, known as Coach Yogi for various volunteer sports programs in Beacon including Beacon Hoops, told A Little Beacon Blog: “From coaching a lot of those boys from age 10, they are a special group and the whole community has their support. As they win, it's a win for the whole community. Every coach, every family member, every supporter, feels like they are playing for us as a community.” Beacon Hoops was started by and continues to be run by community members and volunteers, and hosts registration through the City of Beacon Recreation website.
“Christina kept that Beacon Hoops going when those kids were at those peewee and rookie levels. This group of boys is the gorilla glue holding this community together right now. I hope that people also noticing the importance of a feeder program like Beacon Hoops and the importance of volunteerism.”
I Am Beacon posted the victory on their Facebook page, emphasizing: "🏀🎉 Congratulations to the Beacon Boys Varsity Basketball Team — Sectional IX Champions! What an incredible night for our city! The whole community showed up, the energy was electric, and these young men delivered when it mattered most. Their hard work, teamwork, and heart paid off in a big way. You didn’t just win a championship, you made the entire community proud. 💙💛 Let’s hear it for the players, coaches, families, and fans who stood behind them all season. Champions! 🏆"
Kings Of The 845 covered the game on their Instagram, posting highlights of the team and crowd erupting into celebration as they accepted their award. "It's a parade inside my city yeahhhhh" commented Elijah Hughes on their page, a Beacon native who was drafted to the NBA for the Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz and currently plays for the German Basketball Bundesliga League.
Dianne Marie commented: "FIRE!! This team was straight FIRE this season!! Making Beacon proud!!!"
Beacon's Superintendent Landahl said in an email to district families: "I am super proud of our Boys Basketball team's Section 9 Championship last night!"
Also in that email, Athletic Director, Mike Carofano emphasized that this was the first sectional title earned since 2003, and said: "Congratulations to the boys, Coach Schetter, and his staff on a great accomplishment!"
The Bulldogs will compete next in the NYS Tournament on Tuesday 3/10 at 7pm at Mahopac High School vs Section 1 Champion Tappan Zee in the NYS Subregionals. Tickets can be purchased here.
Per Mayor Lee Kyriacou’s recommended appointment of David Ross to Beacon’s Board of Assessment Review, a board David no longer serves on since being discovered with having a forgiving friendship and correspondence with sexual predator and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, David was the “finance guy,” as Mayor Kyriacou referred to him, for the Southern Dutchess Country Club (SDCC) in Beacon on Wolcott Avenue. Per the SDCC’s website, David was the Vice President and Chairman.
On Sunday, A Little Beacon Blog emailed the email listed next to David’s name on that website to inquire if he was still on the board after he resigned from his Chair position of the MFA art practice program at New York’s School of Visual Arts (SVA), as reported by ARTNews. ALBB did not receive a response as of Monday evening, the night of the City Council Meeting, where ALBB asked the City Council if David had resigned from Beacon’s local assessment board.
In an article reported on ALBB’s Facebook reporting on the potential for David to no longer be on Beacon’s Board of Assessment Review, the Southern Dutchess Country Club was mentioned as reference. The evening after the City Council Meeting where it was revealed that David was no longer on that board, Geoffrey Robillard, a person identifying himself as a “lifetime member” who “sits on the board” of SDCC, insisted via Facebook Comment that David did not hold those positions.
Geoffrey commented at Facebook: “First of all get your facts straight! David is not nor ever has been SDCC President and or chairman! You want to spew crap take time to fact check! It isn’t hard.”
Upon review, ALBB corrected the publishing of the President position, as the SDCC listed David as Vice President and Chairman. ALBB responded to Geoffrey that all articles had shown screenshots of David’s position on the board, and linked to ALBB’s original article that quoted Mayor Kyriacou verbatim from the October 9, 2025 City Council Meeting where he identified David as being linked with SDCC as “the finance guy.”
Geoffrey responded: “I sit on the Board and am a lifetime member and I am telling you he is not President or Chairman nor ever has been.”
A few hours later, the email address from the SDCC website, which is membership@southerndutchesscc.com, responded to ALBB’s initial email, confirming that David had been on the club board:
Hi Katie
David has resigned from the board of SDCC.
Sdcc B.O.D.
ALBB responded:
Hello,
Thank you. Can you tell me who you are that is responding.
Screenshot as of 3-4-2026 11:30am of Directors and Officers at the Southern Dutchess Country Club on Wolcott Avenue.
Can you confirm:
1. Your name.
2. What position on the board David Ross held.
The writer responded that he is Barry Winter, the President of the club.
Barry later confirmed that David was the Membership Chairman, and held no other board positions.
ALBB pressed one more time for confirmation on why David’s name was listed as Vice President on their website. Barry responded: “Yes I forgot he was VP. The VP doesn’t really do anything. I have updated the web page and Dave is no longer listed. At our next board meeting we will elect a new VP and membership chairman. For now I'm filling the membership chair role.”
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The City of Beacon entered into a contract with Legal Services of the Hudson Valley to provide increased access to Beacon tenants facing eviction. They may also be able to help with sources of rent arrears assistance. Call the paralegal, Steven Mihalik at 845-253-6953 to inquire.
Dutchess County Helpline. Open 24/7 to take your calls, listen, and give you resources.
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