Stage 1 Drought Declared For City of Beacon; Burn Ban Of All Outdoor Burns Remains In Effect

During last night's City Council Meeting, Mayor Lee Kyriacou issued a Stage 1 Drought Advisory for the City of Beacon, following the Village of Cold Spring doing so on October 4th, which they elevated to a Stage 2 Drought in early November. Cold Spring’s drinking water sources are different than Beacon’s, where they need to pay New York City to draw water if necessary. Cold Spring’s Stage 1 Drought trigger was 79.16% capacity. The Stage 2 was 59.8% capacity, where it had dropped from 67% a week prior. The capacity triggers for the City of Beacon are different, as Beacon pulls from different reservoirs and wells.

The Mayor cited the City of Beacon's Superintendent of Water and Sewer, Ed Balicki, who advised that the city's 3 reservoirs have reached 60% capacity, which is the trigger set in the City of Beacon’s code.

Mayor Lee stressed more than once that there is ample water, but that people should conserve and reduce water usage. Mayor Lee recommended the following:

• Fix water leaks.

• No washing of cars except at a commercial Car Wash.

• No washing of patios driveways and outdoor areas.

• No refilling of and drawing City water for fountains, waterfalls, pools, lakes, or ponds on your properties and then the.

• No watering of lawns or golf courses.

This would also be a good time to schedule your water meter reader which can detect leaks in your home and alert the City of Beacon.

Mayor Lee educated on where Beacon's water comes from, explaining that water is pulled from 3 wells, which is why he is not concerned with how much water the City has, even though the code is requiring him to issue a Stage 1 Drought and recommend water conservation.

He confirmed with City Administrator Chris White that the City is pulling from 2 of the 3 wells right now. City Administrator White responded that there is a water quality issue with the Melzingah well, which is offline as a result. Further information about the cause of the quality decline was not given in this meeting.

Earlier, the Mayor confirmed that the Burn Ban remains in effect, and will be reissued every 5 days. He was comfortable with extending beyond the November 30 state-wide ban Governor Kathy Hochul issued earlier. However, the Mayor stated, Beacon’s ban is more restrictive in that it bans all exterior open burning. He clarified: “If you have a grill that closes and you're grilling outside, that is okay. But open campfires other open burnings outside are not permitted.”

As lawns and soccer fields remain dry and dusty, Councilmember Paloma Wake asked how the Burn Ban was being enforced. City Administrator Chris advised people to call the police if they see a fire. There is a $1,000 fine for breaking the ban. "We had a fire on Saturday from someone not extinguishing a smoking device. I think it was a cigarette and somebody's deck almost went up and FL so please be really careful. It's so dry out there."

Easy Local COVID Vaccination Drugstore For 5-11 Kids, Older Kids, and Adults - Plus Shopping For Prizes!

The little pharmacy in Cold Spring - Drug World - has been on the hunt to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to the area since the vaccination for adults first became available. The Highlands Current covered the behind-the-scenes in what was required to administer the vaccine in their article “Drug World Chases COVID Vaccine.” This, followed by a letter from a reader, “Thanks To Drug World” which described what owner Heidi Snyder did to secure doses and partnered with Mark Snyder and Father Steve Schunk from St. Mary’s Episcopal Church to organize a team of community volunteers to administer it, according to a letter from John and Eva Humbach, followed by several other letters of support published in the newspaper.

Soon after the child’s dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5-11 became available, Drug World secured doses and made scheduling available on their website. Drug World’s website is also connected to the national database of vaccination locations, called Vaccines.gov, an easy to use online tool filtered by zip code, age and vaccination brand to book a vaccination for any available age.

Locations that do not have online booking do offer a phone number to call, or directions on if walk-ins are accepted. In Beacon, for instance, the new local pharmacy Beacon Wellness Pharmacy with the black and white awning across from Rite Aid offers the flu vaccination for walk-ins, and needs an appointment made online for the COVID-19 vaccination. The kids ages 5-11 will be available soon at Beacon Wellness Pharmacy, said the owner Enrique Reynoso, RPH, M.B.A., BCMTMS (review to come of Beacon Wellness Pharmacy’s shopping selection! we totally shopped it while flu-shotting).

Benefits Of Going Local Pharmacy - Shopping!

At any pharmacy, you are going to find a shopping selection. If you know A Little Beacon Blog, you know we love a good drug store and hardware store. Drug World did not disappoint Their Hanukkah selection is front and center at the front doors, while inside, there is a well curated selection of designer band-aids, coveted poppet stress toys (they are the new fidget-spinner and are all the rage on Tik Tok - kids collect them), and even picture frames! Not sure if you know, but picture frames are hard to find.

Take a look at our shopping pictures below, and book yourself a vaccination or booster today! Drug World also offers COVID-19 testing.

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Writerly Happenings: October Edition

Beloveds, it’s been a long, long time since we last met here; I hope you are all well and surviving if not all the way to thriving.  So there’s much to catch up on. What did you read and love this summer? My summer reading favorites were:  Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans (who is an extremely talented writer), Interior, Chinatown by Charles Yu (innovative structure for a novel-as-screenplay), and The Porpoise by Mark Haddon (trigger warning in an Ancient Greek kind of way). 

I just finished The Matrix by Lauren Groff, which, oh my goodness, knocked my socks off and also made me feel slightly self-conscious that I was reading about nun sex in a public place. Currently reading Fault Lines by Emily Itami which may veer too far into the sad mommy genre, but also delivers whoppers like “It’s hard to remember who you are without people who know you that way.”

I took an amazing field trip over the summer to Hobart, NY – the used bookstore lover’s dream. Made me incredibly grateful we have Binnacle Books here in Beacon with their used book selection, but how great would it be if there were, say seven more used bookstores?

So what’s happening this month in the world of literary pursuits? 

The Howland Library has a great program set up for October: Stop by at any time starting Friday, October 15th to pick up a cookbook titled, "Vietnamese Food Any Day: Simple Recipes for True, Fresh Flavors" by famed chef and author, Andrea Nguyen. FREE! 2021 Big Read's chosen title is the graphic novel memoir "The Best We Could Do" by Thi Bui. The memoir follows a family's journey from Vietnam to America and is being discussed on October 20th outside in Memorial Park. 

Split Rock Books in Cold Spring has a couple of great events lined up this fall, as well as their graphic novel and fiction book clubs which meet at the end of the month. Their fiction pick is one that has been on my list: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead: A Novel by Olga Tokarczuk, and translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.

Over the bridge in our sister city is the Newburgh Literary Festival at the end of the month. I’m so happy to see this event return, it was so fantastic the first year it happened. The festival will begin Saturday, October 30 at 11am with a full day of readings, interviews, and conversations with eight featured writers. Sunday, October 31, will feature a series of in-person writing workshops with award-winning, Hudson Valley-based authors and artists. The Saturday event, which has been curated by writers Ruth Danon and Belinda McKeon, will include paired readings and moderated conversations and will feature an in-conversation event with Joe Donahue, host of The Book Show and The Round Table on WAMC, Northeast Public Radio. We stan for Joe Donahue!

Here in Beacon, our very own Donna Minkowitz is putting on Lit Lit, a monthly writer’s salon at Homespun Foods on Main Street. This month the reading is October 7th, from 7-9pm, and going forward will meet the first Thursday of every month, with Friday as the rain date. Writers can read their own writing of any genre, up to five minutes in length.

Zoom Readings?!

If you want to attend some killer zoom readings with famous authors, may I suggest The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence, who has some heavy hitters booked for later this month and November. If you want to take a workshop, The Poetry Project in NYC has some really far-out offerings coming up. The Hudson Valley Writer’s Center has a number of readings and workshops, including a Legend of Sleepy Hollow family storytelling workshop on October 17th that looks like a lot of fun.

Here’s to cozy reading and blue skies and bright leaves for the next little longer, friends. I promise not to let it be so long before we meet again.

Racist Zoom Bombing Targets Desmond-Fish Library Bake-Off Awards Ceremony While Black Employee Hosts

During the holiday season of December, 2020, the Desmond-Fish Public Library in Garrison held a month-long bake off contest for kids, who could bake at home and submit their entries. The submissions would be presented in a video montage Awards Ceremony on January 2nd, 2021, where participants could gather on a Zoom call, hosted by Justice McCray, a well known lover of books and creative programming, having worked at Beacon’s Howland Public Library, and currently works at the Desmond-Fish Public Library, as well as Split Rock Books in Cold Spring. Justice is also an emerging local activist in the social revolution to make Black lives matter more, and has been a leader in most of the protest marches down Beacon’s Main Street and educational story circles held at Memorial Park and Pete & Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park.

The bake-off program was well marketed in advance across social media channels and in the local press. As the program got started, with eager children, parents and caregivers on the call to look at delightful attempts at baking, the The Great Desmond-Fish Public Library Bake Off award ceremony was interrupted by people or a person masquerading as participants on the call - using participants’ names like a wolf in sheep’s clothing - typing words such as the N-word dozens of times in all caps across the screen. The Desmond-Fish Public Library Director Jen McCreery confirmed to A Little Beacon Blog: “The interloper appropriated the identities of several program participants, which is how they were able to access the program through the waiting room.”

The program had been “hacked by one or more interlopers who used the platform to spread racist and sexist messages” the library director explained in an email press release sent soon after the incident, and on the library’s Facebook page, in a message from the library’s Board of Directors, posted 2 days after the event, and after the authorities had been notified, and participants began to process what had happened. As to if the library or Justice himself were targeted, Jen emphasized: “I do want to clarify that we have no way of knowing whether this was a targeted or random attack on the library and Justice specifically.”

The program’s host, Justice McCray, expressed in his social media that he wasn’t sure what to do after the targeted incident. He has since co-hosted an evening vigil at Pohil Park in Beacon, in honor of finishing the Election Certification that was derailed at the Capitol yesterday (1/6/2021) by people, some of whom were armed, climbing the building and breaking windows to get inside to sit in offices and put their feet up on the desks of people who had evacuated.

This was the first time that the Desmond-Fish Public Library had ever been Zoom Bombed, Jen confirmed. Library staff was able to handle the breach “as quickly as possible in the moment, but, sadly, the Zoom participants were exposed to this hateful and illegal behavior,” Jen told A Little Beacon Blog. In their message to the public, the library Board expressed: “The Library Staff and our Board of Trustees are horrified that a program created as a positive and joyful celebration of our community was derailed by one hateful individual, We are especially sorry that this attack was witnessed by children. No family should have to encounter such hate speech.”

According to Jen in response to A Little Beacon Blog’s questions, the library notified Putnam County Sheriff's Department. “They have taken our full report and it's my understanding they are looking into what charges might be brought against the perpetrators.”

In terms of moving forward, “we are looking into alternate online platforms as well as additional security measures we can take for future online events,” Jen told A Little Beacon Blog.

Jen also expressed: “Everyone at the library is grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support we've received from local organizations and families and we hope that, going forward, we can channel that support into creating programs and educational resources to help our community members come together in addressing the larger systemic issues that contributed to this incident.”

Justice McCray told A Little Beacon Blog in response to an email asking him if he had comments he wanted to share regarding his and this experience: “This was a traumatic incident for me. There’s no way for me to not take this personal. To be the first Black staff member at my job to host an event and to have this happen cuts deeper than I can explain. I’m glad the library and community aren’t sweeping this incident under the rug. It’s necessary to center to voices and needs of those most impacted by this event. It’s also equally necessary not to center them in a way that amplifies the trauma.

“The work ahead is as vital as it is difficult and painful. Now is a necessary time for or communities, especially Philipstown, to reflect on the impact its history of racism has on its dreamed future of inclusivity. The next questions that need to be asked are not “how can we improve security on our events to prevent this from happening?“ but rather, “How is this something that can happen in our communitiy? What behaviors have we dismissed or ignored that led to this escalation? How can we create a community where harm like this doesn’t continue?”

Cold Spring Residents Resist Blue Line Flag Decal On Police Cars - Citing White Supremacy Association

In an article published at the Highlands Current, a Cold Spring resident spoke out against the decal that was placed on police vehicles last year. The decal (sticker) is a black flag with a thin blue line running through it. The symbol is a display of support for fallen and living police officers, and has been created by the Blue Live Matters movement, which has become known as an anti Black Lives Matter movement. According to the article, the resident is concerned that the symbol has racist overtones.

The article brings up the violent, Unite the Right march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, where “the flag was raised by white supremacists alongside the Confederate flag.” The Confederate flag has 13 stars for the original colonies. The current United States flag has 13 stripes, and 50 stars for all of the states. One blue line is a stripe in the Blue Lives Matter flag. The Blue Lives Matter sells hoodies and sweatshirts for their movement.

The Highlands Current article pointed out: “Last year, the police department in Germantown, Maryland, removed a donated thin-blue-line flag after a public outcry. In December, flags appeared outside two police stations in New York City, prompting similar protests. And on May 31, in Hamilton County, Ohio, the sheriff’s department flew the flag following days of unrest in Cincinnati, prompting a rebuke from the county commissioner, who said, ‘I know I am not alone in my view that flying the flag was provocative and inappropriate, especially in the context of this weekend’s events.’”

The board members in Cold Spring debated the topic while on a Zoom meeting (which is how most public town meetings are happening now, including Beacon’s), with most of them wanting the decals removed. One board member, Trustee Lynn Miller, pointed out that altering the flag is against flag code. One board member disagreed with removing them, in favor of showing support for police.

Trustee Steve Voloto acknowledged that police departments fly the flag “to show support for the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect us. That’s why our guys have them on their cars.” But he also added: “Did they not know the history? Did they have it before and the [white supremacists] used it as their symbol? It doesn’t belong on our cars with what’s going on in the world. If the stupid bumper sticker pisses people off, take it off the cars. Why are we even talking about it? Pick a sticker that has more positive meaning.”

To recall Beacon and Cold Spring’s recent documented run-ins with white supremacy, in October 2018, white supremacist flyers were posted to churches and public poles in Beacon along Main Street. From that article:

“In October 2018, a swastika was sprayed onto the home that is owned by a Jewish man in Nelsonville. So far, three teenagers have been arrested for that crime. One teenager is a male who is 18, and is a graduate of Haldane High School in Cold Spring. He was arrested in February 2019, and just appeared in court last week. The other two were arrested in December 2018, one from Philipstown and the other from an unspecified location. They are 18 and 17 years old.”'

It should be noted: LinkedIn has made the editorial decision to not display the blue line flag on its platform when an article is being shared.

Does Beacon have a position on this? We asked to find out…

Fire On Breakneck Ridge - Cars and Brush Fire - 9D Closed Between Beacon and Cold Spring

UPDATE 3/10/2020: Route 9D is open; the fire has been contained but may still be burning.

The text came in from a train commuter at 8:29 pm: “The fires by Cold Spring were crazy today. There were at least 9 cars totally burned up.” This blogger had just left the City Council Workshop meeting in order to switch gears into another work assignment, and then drove to a high point in Beacon in order to see the orange glow at Breakneck still blazing at 9:30 pm. The Highlands Current reported that Route 9D had closed between Beacon and Cold Spring.

The Fishkill Police Department confirmed that the cars were destroyed, as first reported by WRRV and the department’s own Facebook page. We do know some information from other reports coming online this evening: The Dutchess Junction Fire Department was dispatched to a brush fire at 8 Hartsook Lane, according to an article at Mid Hudson News. The Rombout and Glenham Fire Departments were called to assist in fighting that fire. Fire departments from Eastern Orange County were called out to help battle the Breakneck Ridge brush fire, according to the article. The Fishkill Police Department was one of several agencies to respond and make updates. The Fishkill Police department reported that all hikers came down safely from the mountain.

The City of Beacon’s Fire Department was not called to assist in these fires, as they were fighting two other small fires near the train tracks in Beacon at the same time, according to Beacon’s Fire Chief, Gary Van Voorhis. We may have more information about those fires on Tuesday, so refresh this article if you’re looking for updates.

According to the Mid Hudson News article, several other brush fires have ignited during the day. This could be for a range of reasons, but know this: A burn ban is going into effect for the State of New York, which prohibits some open burning of trash, painted wood, leaves, and other items. Read all about it here.

Writerly Happenings: 2020 Edition

Happy New Year sweet readers! Have you been reading anything good, or just floating around on a graham cracker raft in a sea of egg nog? I’ve been busy recovering from surgery and have been reading nonstop in the absence of anything else to do besides “heal.” Feel free to send me a pillow with an inspirational message on it if you like, OR just tell me what to read next.

Top Picks

Here are my top picks from an array of genres: Garments Against Women by Anne Boyer (poems); Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh; Bluff by Jane Stanton Hitchcock; The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner; Good and Mad by Rebecca Traister; and I reread the still-transformative Women Who Run With the Wolves for good measure (by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D.). And I’m reading Dr. Dolittle with my kids in anticipation of the movie coming out next week. It’s still funny. Chapter 8 is basically a feminist manifesto.

What is ALBB up to in the reading department these days? Well, magazine devotee Katie Hellmuth Martin is turning those mags into 2020 foresight with Vision Boarding at the A Little Beacon Space. Check back for more workshop dates!

Happening In January

On Saturday, January 11, there’s another amazing edition of The Artichoke at the Howland Cultural Center. It promises to be “a superb evening of storytelling with Sam Dingman (The Moth Grand Slam Winner & host of Family Ghosts), Micaela Blei (The Moth Radio Hour), Erin Barker (The Story Collider), Sandi Marx (Stories from the Stage), Mike Cho (Risk!) and Beacon's own Mike Burdge (Story Screen).” 8 pm; $17.50 in advance, a cool $20 at the door.

On Saturday, January 25, the Spring Street series kicks off the new year at Atlas with an evening of international writers and translation. “The writers are: Mercedes Roffe, whose wonderful book Ghost Opera was translated by Beacon's own Judith Filc. Also appearing that night are Pierre Joris, whose translations of Celan and Adonis will be featured along with his own work. Jeanne Bonner will be reading her translation of the amazing work by a Hungarian writer who actually wrote in Italian, and, following up on the terrific discourse on cheese in The Odyssey at our last food fest event, we have Charles Stein, who will be presenting from his translation of The Odyssey and maybe even the Iliad.” 6:30 pm; donations appreciated.

Writing Workshops Galore!

Did you resolve to write more, even at the risk of harming your social standing and neglecting your family? Well, we support you 100 percent! There are a number of workshops you can join that are starting soon. Find a group to make you accountable!

Danielle Trussoni, writer and organizer of the fantastic Newburgh Literary Festival in October, is leading a writing workshop that will begin Sunday, January 26, 4 to 6 pm, and go for six weekly sessions. “This course is a reprisal of the sold-out course that I taught at Hudson Valley Writers Center, in 2019. It was designed to offer another opportunity to participate - especially for the people in and around Newburgh who could not make the trip, or were closed out.” RSVP to danielle@danielletrussoni.com to reserve a spot.

Ruth Danon is offering live writing poetry-centric workshops beginning in early February. She’s planning to run a “six-week session, take a break and then run another six-week session, the second of which would culminate in a reading by the workshop participants. The fee for the six-week session is $250 and will include private conferences.” Email Ruth for details about time and day: ruthdanonpoetry@gmail.com.

Also in Beacon, Donna Minkowitz is offering a memoir-writing workshop starting Wednesday, January 22, at 7 pm and it “goes for eight Wednesday nights, [until] March 11. The focus is on craft, especially on using the senses, lyricism, emotion, critical thinking, and storytelling to create meaningful and relatable works of memoir. Students get frequent feedback in a supportive atmosphere, and all levels of writers are welcome.” The cost is $275, and people who are interested can write her at Minkowitz46@gmail.com. 

Split Rock Books in Cold Spring is rolling into 2020 with a cute new baby, some great book clubs and events and a writing workshop with Lynn Seeger Strong, author of Hold Still. The course is described as a “hybrid craft and reading seminar/workshop.” Spend the first three weeks reading short stories and excerpts, and generating work. The second half will be a more traditional writing workshop: Each student will submit up to 25 pages of work and get written feedback from the instructor as well as from the class. Cost: $395 for six weeks. Meets consecutive Mondays. Capped at 12 people. Sign up at the store. Check out their website (www.splitrockbks.com) for book club info!

Coming In February!

In Beacon, Binnacle Books continues to tempt me with all their beautiful instagram photos of books I want, as well as the promise of a book release event for Jenny Offill (author of Department of Speculation) and her new book Weather. She'll be in conversation with Lynn Seeger Strong, leader of a workshop above. It'll be in the evening of Saturday, February 15, and we’ll be writing more in depth about that soon.

No. 3 Reading Room is wisely hibernating for the rest of January, but you can make an appointment or get in there in February to check out works by a legion of talented artists and writers, as well as the latest book of poetry by Edwin Torres and photobooks by Ronnie Farley, both of whom reside in Beacon.

Deeper into the winter we go, my loves; let’s leave a trail of bookmarks behind us.

Attempted Child Enticement Charged Against Former Mayoral Candidate In Cold Spring

Photo Credit: A Little Beacon Blog

At 10:32 pm on a Thursday evening, right before bed, I checked Facebook for any updates. A link was shared in a Moms group I’m part of. The link was to an article at Medium by a 37-year-old mom who works for BARK who posed as an 11-year-old girl in order to catch and trap any online lurker trying to send sexual content to children. BARK uses AI (artificial intelligence) to alert parents and schools when children are experiencing issues like cyberbullying, depression, threats of violence or targeting by sexual predators.

I reluctantly read the article, learning how easy it was for a sexual predator to find and talk to young people using Instagram - like, in seconds thanks to hashtags and selfies - and begin a conversation with an 11-year-old who doesn’t know much about birds and bees. I made a mental note to think about how to make my kids aware of this reality, as we constantly navigate their use of devices, which in many cases, make online social interaction required in order to play them (Nintendo Switch and XBox, etc.).

This morning in this week’s issue of the Highlands Current, editor Chip Rowe reported on a related story of what I read about at BARK - but IRL (In Real Life) - in Cold Spring. A former mayoral candidate, Charles E. “Chuck” Hustis III, who served two terms as a Village of Cold Spring trustee and worked as a substitute teacher who last was in a Cold Spring classroom in 2016, was arrested by the FBI on Monday and charged with “attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity,” according to federal officials, the article stated. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. He was released to home confinement on a $150,000 bond, as reported in the article.

The article went on to expose how the man was caught - from the first report by a 16-year-old male who received solicitations from the accused - who was one of his substitute teachers - via Facebook Messenger.

The rest of the details of this step-by-step almost-encounter are made clear in the Highlands Current in this week’s edition of the paper, or any time after the print issue is gone it’s published online. After the teenager reported it, an FBI agent took over his Facebook account to pose as the teenager. The FBI agent was able to get photos and other evidence that were sent by the accused, and agree to meet (while posing as the teenager). The suggested meetup by the accused was to take place at the Foodtown parking lot, where he has been a manager.

The article suggested that anyone with relevant information should contact the agency at (800) 225-5324.

Writerly Happenings: Your Fall Reading And Writing Checklist

by Phoebe Zinman

To honor the passage of bright summer days into the crisp academia of autumn, I decided to talk to Beaconite and Exceptionally Smart Person Sarah Uzelac about her summer reading list that she always posts on Facebook. All these other exceptionally Smart Women respond to it, and then I crib the whole thing and work on it all year long. 

Sarah! I love your summer reading list posts! Do other people talk to you about it or is it one of those weird Facebook things that you don’t talk about in real life?

Other people totally talk to me about this in real life and it is one of my favorite uses of social media. It makes me feel super connected to people to know we share a love (or hate) for a text - even if we can’t ever meet up IRL to discuss it.

What were some of the highlights of this year’s summer reading? Did you try anything you expected to not like and love it?

I’ve been on a real nonfiction jag this year and I can’t seem to step away from it for long. Usually I’m all fiction all the time, but I think maybe, given the state of our country at the moment, I’m subconsciously hungry for truth and information and super smart people telling me stuff? This summer I really loved The Furious Hours, by Casey Cep and the grief memoir Tell Me More, by Kelly Corrigan, and my favorite fiction from this summer was Fleishman Is In Trouble, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. I just realized those are all women authors - I think that might be another unconscious theme for me these days: Enough with the dudes, already.

(I’m so with you. Enough, already. Grab your pom poms and warm the bench.)

 What are you reading right now? 

Right now I’m reading Edith Wharton for the first time ever (even though my husband has been trying to get her on my radar for like 10+ years). We took a little visit to her estate (The Mount) in upstate NY this summer - seeing her space and learning more about her life is what tipped the scale for me. I started with a couple of short stories (Xingu and Roman Fever) and they blew my mind with the perfectness of her descriptions and how incredibly dead on and absolutely CUTTING the social interactions were.

So right now I’m about a third of the way into House of Mirth and am loving it. And if you’ve never made the trip up to The Mount - do it this fall! Have a glass of Prosecco on her amazing terrace overlooking her incredible gardens and wander through her beautiful home and see for yourself what a genius she was.

[Editor’s Note: Sarah is married to NY Times Magazine staff writer Sam Anderson, whose most recent book Boom Town is available at Binnacle Books in Beacon, where he read earlier this year.]

What’s next?

I’m not sure - what are YOU reading??

I just borrowed The Flick from my Mom and read it in one night. It’s by one of my favorite playwrights, Annie Baker. And I just discovered, amazingly, that it’s being put on at Vassar on Wednesday to Saturday, October 9-12. Thanks, Hudson Valley. Keep it local, babies.

Speaking of Vassar College, I’m ashamed to admit I have never investigated their Elizabeth Bishop collection and am adding that to my Fall Goals checklist along with this Edith Wharton jaunt. 

Ok, so, back to Sarah… Who has lived in Beacon for a hot minute (over 10 years) and so of course I want to know what is your favorite new spot in town? What old spot do you miss?

We moved to Beacon in 2005 back when there was only *one* coffee shop and the Mountain Tops shop and that was basically it! I love this town so much. I love the new connections through town to the Madam Brett walking path along Fishkill Creek, I love Big Mouth Coffee, and the Himalayan stall in the new food hall, and the Beacon Yoga Center (because they have hatha and hatha is the best yoga). I miss the unobstructed view of the mountain while walking down Main Street and the comedy shows David Rees and Sam used to host – those were the good old days.

[Author’s Note: An Aside: Those comedy shows were as spectacular as the view of the mountain! But things change like the leaves, which lets me transition gracefully into our official Writerly Happenings round up for September…]

Writerly Things To Do

Speaking of recommendations, I discovered that Binnacle Books has this super sweet matchmaking feature on their website and you can order up a custom Binnacle Book match! 

How was the Artichoke??? We are so sorry to have missed it on the 14th. I’m guessing the next one will be in November. There’s still so much glowing Fall weather in between [fingers crossed].

On Saturday, September 21, we’ll see you at the Spring Street Reading Series at Atlas in Newburgh, which is dreamily titled “The Exile’s Child is Also an Exile” in which Faisal Mohyuddin, Natania Rosenfeld, Ruth Danon and Edwin Torres “explore the ways in which the children of the displaced carry the experience of exile into the next generation.” I mean. That doesn’t resonate or anything. 

Then head down to the Hudson Valley Writers Center in Peekskill on Sunday, September 22, for the ferocious billing of Sean Thomas Dougherty, Jeffrey McDaniel (Cold Spring local and Sarah Lawrence prof) and Michelle Whittaker. Have lots of fun and then go back on Friday, October 4, for master class with Arthur Sze (um, wow).

Split Rock Books in Cold Spring is keeping it pretty chill as we all settle in to Back to School land, but their graphic novel book club on the 23rd looks pretty spectacular. Kingdom by Jon McNaught portrays the realness of a family’s summer vacation. On Sunday, October 6, from 10:15 to 10:45 am they are having a storytime for little ones and award-winning author and illustrator, Elisha Cooper, will be reading from River - as in, our very own Hudson.

Want to do some of your own writing? Writer (and Artichoke storyteller) Donna Minkowitz’s fall workshop will begin September 25 from 7 to 9 pm, and goes for eight Wednesdays. Participants in the small workshops will “work on writing about our lives using the senses, emotion, lyricism, critical insight, and storytelling come to create profound and relatable works of personal writing.” Email her for more info at minkowitz46@gmail.com.

And Ruth Danon is starting up live writing in October, so you should check her website for more details. But only if you like doing experiential, improvisational writing to generate unexpected results and language in the company of really interesting and talented people and getting lots of insightful feedback. You don’t want that.

Then get your head out of that notebook on Sunday, October 13, and head down to Oak Vino for monthly literary salon Get Lit, featuring Matt and Emily Clifton. Matt and Emily wrote the beautiful Cork and Knife (locally profiled to an extreme extent on Published Local on A Little Beacon Blog, written by yours truly). If you aren’t yet getting the email newsletter, previewing articles from A Little Beacon Blog, you must get on that. Fall goals! Check!

Go fight your way through an apple orchard on a Saturday if you must, but treat yourself to some writerly nourishment afterwards. Don’t anyone talk to me about pumpkin-flavored anything, though. We’ll see you back here to jump in some leaves before Halloween…

Writerly Happenings: Live Storytelling, Book Releases & New Writing Opportunities!

Hi Hi Hi! It’s Phoebe here. It’s been so long, I know, did you miss me? We wanted to wait til after the holidays to round up the best of the local literary scene and now we have eaten all the brie and there are so many good writerly happenings afoot to attend! We will do them all! We are leaning in to 2019! Actually, we are so tired, we are mostly falling over, but the love of the written word sustains us, does it not? (Love of the written word, and brie - life sustainers.)

But first we need to discuss what to read right now. This is the transitional part, like when Mr. Rogers changes his shoes and cardigan. (Why, oh why, won’t he ever pick the red one?) 

So… I’m currently reading “The Mastery of Love” by Don Miguel Ruiz, which is threatening to turn me into the woman with too many rings on who can’t shut up about the amazingly transformational book she is reading. Also I just ate up the delicious entirety of the new memoir “She Wants It” by Jill Soloway, the creator of “Transparent,” and I highly recommend. Still working on “Warlight” by Michael Ondaatje.

I also asked around for recs. Kristen Holt-Browning, writer and editor and co-producer of Get Lit, just finished reading “Northwood” by Maryse Meijer, a sort of novella-in-poems. She says it's a dark, twisty, fairytale-ish story of desire and obsession and also a physically gorgeous object, with white text printed on black pages. Sounds fierce.

Extremely well-published and well-coifed writer Lily Burana is reading “Thick” by Kiese Laymon, and “How to Write an Autobiographical Novel” by Alexander Chee. She’s happily frolicking in the bumper crop of essay collections that have been published in the past few years.

Ok. I’m ready now. Let’s lean/fall/dive/plunge/bellyflop on in.

January 2019 Writerly Happenings 

This Weekend!

The Artichoke at the Howland. Saturday, January 12, 7:30 pm, is sold out online, but not sure if there will be additional tickets at the door. Mentioning here anyway because it is just so cool that this is coming to Beacon. It’s an evening of live storytelling by The Artichoke, hosted by Drew Prochaska and featuring Sandi Marx (seven-time Grand Slam Winner, The Moth), Jeff Simmermon (Grand Slam Winner, The Moth; This American Life), Drew Prochaska (Risk!; Story Collider), Richard Cardillo (Risk!; Stories from the Stage, Susan Kent (The Moth), Micaela Blei (Grand Slam Winner, The Moth), Vanessa Golenia (Risk!) and John Blesso. Can’t get in? Well there’s another chance to do something similar on Sunday the 20th, but you must read on.

Also on Second Saturday is a book release event for Traffic Street Press’ "Trafficking in Poetry" series. The book "Manos Sucias/Dirty Hands" is a collaboration between Paulette Myers-Rich, the visual artist Greg Slick and poet Seán Monagle. A limited number of copies are available for purchase at the book signing at No.3 Reading Room & Photo Book Works on Main Street from 3 to 8 pm. 

Get Lit is happening this Sunday, January 13, from 5 to 8 pm at Oak Vino. The featured speakers will be authors Jessie Chaffee and Brendan Kiely, and as always, anyone who wants to read is invited to sign up to do so at the beginning of the event - bring two or three pages of original writing to share. But also if you are new to writing, or sharing your writing, you answer the monthly prompt about what your New Year’s resolutions are, and then sign up for a one-minute slot. Literally, it’s just a hot minute.

Also In January!

On Sunday, January 20 at Dogwood at 5 pm, John Blesso will be hosting the first installment of “Adult Stories,” a new and developing monthly storytelling series that intends to be like The Moth, but edgier. He’s looking for people willing to share “funny stories, harrowing stories, sex stories, emotionally charged stories, and inebriation/bad-choice stories.” If you’re interested please send him pitches for stories between six and ten minutes long! He’s working with Donna Minkowitz and Drew Prochaska on this, if you miss The Artichoke, or just want more storytelling. All the stories!

What’s that about local memoir writer Donna Minkowitz? Funky Spunky Literature Night (Redux) is a game-show-like Community Memoir Write-a-Thon with prizes for the best sentences and scenes that audience members write about their own lives. She will be joined by professional storyteller Lorraine Hartin-Gelardi at Quinn’s on Wednesday, January 30, from 7:30 to 9:30 pm. She’s also got an 8-Week Memoir-Writing Workshop coming up, focused on craft, particularly on using the five senses, lyricism, emotion, storytelling, and critical insight to create profound and relatable works of memoir. Wednesday nights from February 6 through March 27, 7 to 9 pm. To apply, please email minkowitz46@gmail.com with a one-page writing sample.

Poet and teacher extraordinaire Ruth Danon (to whom I’m a bit partial, not going to even pretend otherwise) is going to start writing improvisation classes the week of January 29. Currently she’s planning on Tuesdays, from 9:30 am to 12 pm and 7 to 9:30 pm, but the time can be flexible based on everyone’s schedules… The fee is $275 for eight weeks and includes a private conference (at least one) and a public reading. Contact ruthdanonpoetry@gmail.com for more information.

Beacon’s magnificent Binnacle Books is featuring “The Great Believers” by Rebecca Makkai for its next book club. I loved that book. So, so much sobbing. This month the book club will meet at the bookstore, but often is at Dennings Point Distillery.

And just downstream (or not, as our majestic and tidal Hudson River flows both ways) in Cold Spring, Split Rock books has a million events, or at least five, to get you through January and smarter on the other end.

The divine “Out Stealing Horses” by Per Petterson was the January book club choice at the Beacon Library, and we were sad to miss it, but the pick for February is “The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper” by Phaedra Patrick and it sounds charming. The Butterfield Library in Cold Spring has a writing workshop with Susan Wallach in January and almost always a box of free books to rummage.

As always, we want to big up independent bookstores that may be a bit farther afield:

Rough Draft in Kingston has happy hours, sip and writes and plenty of other happenings; the Golden Notebook in Woodstock has a terrific event lineup, as usual; and we are wanting to go check out Oblong Books which has somehow escaped our research until now. We’ll report back next month.

Now dear reader, go put on a cardigan and some fresh slippers and get to it. Write! Read! Make it happen!

Writerly Happenings: Growing Local Community of Writers and Readers - November 2018

Hi There, Reading Anything Good These Days? 

It’s Phoebe here - kicking off this column with what everybody is reading here at A Little Beacon Blog before we dive into the second installment in this new column, Writerly Happenings.

I just returned Peter Carey’s new “A Long Way From Home” to the library without getting too far, though he’s usually a favorite. Now I’m starting “The Glitch” by Elizabeth Cohen, which passed me by when it was published in 2012, but I’ve heard good things. 

Katie is reading edible Hudson Valley’s Fall issue about the secret hotel created by an app developer of luxury cars (what?!). He wouldn’t even let them take full photos - all secret photos.

Marilyn, our Managing Editor, is actually blogging about her yoga teacher training experience at her blog, Ink and Coffee.

Catherine, our Editor of the Art Gallery Guide, is reading science. Science! Actually it’s Anatomy this week. She is back in school to be a nurse.

Speaking of good things, here’s the second installment of this new A Little Beacon Blog Guide to Writerly Happenings. Every couple of weeks I round up the best events happening in our growing local community of writers and readers and the people who love them.

WRITERLY HAPPENINGS IN BEACON & COLD SPRING

On Wednesday, November 7, Binnacle’s Book Club meets from 7 to 8 pm at Denning's Point Distillery to discuss “Lake Success,” by Gary Shteyngart. If you are going and want to buy the book at Binnacle, you get 10% off this title. I’m sorry to have missed the reading of “The Seas,” by Samantha Hunt, on Wednesday the 24th, but staying tuned for more events to come.

The littlest Halloweenies and literary types might love the storytime and costume contest at Split Rock Books in Cold Spring on Sunday the 28th with David Quinn, author of “Go To Sleep, Little Creep.” Grown-ups should check out local author and journalist Virginia Sole-Smith’s reading from her first book, “The Eating Instinct” - described as “a personal and deeply reported exploration of how we learn to eat in today's toxic food culture,” on Saturday, November 10, from 7 to 8 pm.

Get Lit Beacon has its monthly writer salon at Oak Vino on Sunday, November 11. Featured speaker will be notable author Leland Cheuk. Get Lit offers an option for any writer to read their own stuff, so you should also sign up to read some of your work. And - they made T-Shirts! So far you can only buy them at the event, so go. Last month featured a very engaging professional storyteller explain how to tell a story, as well as local journalists Brian Cronin of the Highlands Current, and Katie of A Little Beacon Blog.

On Tuesday, November 13, poets from Ruth Danon’s Live Writing workshops take over Quinn’s for a reading of their work. We’ll be back with an update once the Facebook event page is up. 

Beacon’s new Poet Laureate, who has not yet been announced, will be inducted on Tuesday, November 20, at the Beacon Library in the Community Room from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. 

OPEN MIC NIGHTS THAT LITERARY TYPES MIGHT LIKE

For monthly musical open mic nights, check out The Falcon Underground in Marlboro, the Wherehouse in Newburgh, the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon and Fiesta Friday in Poughkeepsie.

Calling All Poets is having an open mic night at the Towne Crier in Beacon on Thursday, October 15, and on Friday, November 2, at its First Friday reading series up in New Paltz at Roost (the open mic on Friday, December 7, will feature Beacon local Ruth Danon).

FARTHER AFIELD 

Rough Draft Bar & Books hosts a reading on Tuesday, October 30, with local author John Langan reading from his horror novel set near the Ashokan Reservoir. Sounds scary and also totally worth a trip to Kingston.

We are prepared to tailgate to hear Roxane Gay discuss her book “Bad Feminist” on Wednesday, November 7, at Vassar. And we might have to because it’s first-come, first-serve to get in. Get your elbows ready!

And we are super excited that former Beacon resident Jon Beacham is back in the Hudson Valley and has opened The Brother In Elysium Books. This Tivoli bookstore had its grand opening at the end of September, a poetry reading earlier this month and in addition to focusing on poetry, literature, art, design, photography and film, also carries used and out-of-print books, actively buys books and “is also home to The Brother In Elysium publishing imprint and letterpress studio.”

We’ll see you back here in a couple weeks with more upcoming events. Tell us where to go and what to read in the meantime, if you like. phoebe@alittlebeaconblog.com

Writerly Happenings: New Literary Guide for Book Lovers & Writers

Hey there, reading anything good these days? 

If you want to know where to find your next book, and where to go to mix it up with other literary types, this new ALBB Guide to Writerly Happenings has you laced up. Every couple of weeks we’ll round up the best events happening in our growing local community of writers and readers and the people who love them.

Writerly Happenings in Cold Spring

Sunset Reading Series presents another stupendously located and top notch reading at The Chapel of Our Lady Restoration in Cold Spring on Sunday, October 7, at 4 pm when Sam Anderson, local author and New York Times Magazine Critic at Large, will read from his widely and wildly acclaimed book BOOM TOWN The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-Class Metropolis.

This event is being co-hosted by Split Rock Books, who is also kicking off their inaugural book club event on Thursday, October 11, from 7 to 8 pm with If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin. The film adaptation of this book, by Moonlight director Barry Jenkins, is due out in November. They are also having a storytime for kiddos with Bear and Wolf author Daniel Salmieri on Sunday, October 14 from 10:15 to 10:45 am.

Writing Groups In Beacon

If you are looking to join a writing group, on Monday, October 8, or Monday, October 15, you might check out Words & Womyn. This fresh weekly workshop from the Wyld Womyn, a new space on Main Street, is described as “a safe space that welcomes anyone female-identifying to sit and soak in the power of thought and prose.” 

The night before, you could also get your book club on with Binnacle Books’ ongoing book discussion at Denning’s Point Distillery. On Wednesday, October 10 at 7 pm that group will be diving in to There There, by Tommy Orange. 

Get Lit Beacon continues to work the room at Oak Vino in Beacon on the second Sunday of each month! Have a glass of wine and enjoy the salon there on October 14 at 5 pm. Katie from A Little Beacon Blog will be on hand to answer questions about local news media, as well as Brian PJ Cronin (Update: Danielle Trussoni, a memoirist and novelist, was slated to speak, but won’t join in this month). You can sign up to read for 5 minutes yourself. Get the lineup here.

Book Talks in Beacon

Later in the month, the Beacon Library is hosting a discussion of the much-acclaimed book Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng, so start reading now if you want to get in on that on Tuesday, October 30, from 2 to 3 pm. The discussion will be led by Dr. James Cotter as part of the NEA Big Read program.

Open Mic Nights That Literary Types Might Like

For monthly open mic nights check out The Falcon Underground in Marlboro, the Wherehouse in Newburgh, The Howland Cultural Center in Beacon and Fiesta Friday in Poughkeepsie.

Farther afield, but well worth the drive, are two favorite bookstores that host loads of writerly happenings: Golden Notebook in Woodstock, and Rough Draft Bar & Books in Kingston.

We’ll see you back here in a couple weeks with more upcoming events. Tell us where to go and what to read in the meantime, if you like - email phoebe@alittlebeaconblog.com.

Watch for Giant Turtles Crossing - What Do They Do On The Other Side?

In last weekend’s edition of the Highlands Current, the reporting was turned on Beacon beat reporter Jeff Simms, who normally writes up Beacon news for the newspaper. His animal-rescue experience landed him front-page treatment. Normally, his own article would be in this spot. Last week, however, he himself was in ink (not the ink on his arm, but on the page).

While riding his bike down Route 9D from Beacon to Cold Spring on his way to the Current's production meeting, Jeff spotted this snapping turtle gradually making his way across the road. According to the article, Jeff pulled his bike over and attempted to encourage the turtle to go faster or move away from the busy road.

May and June is prime time to see snapping turtles, which are one of 11 species native to New York. In the late spring and early summer, they're on the move, laying their eggs in sandy areas or loose soil, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The DEC issued an advisory last year reminding motorists to watch out for migrating turtles, whose populations are declining. "The reptiles lay just one small clutch of eggs each year, which means the loss of a breeding female can have a significant effect on the local turtle population," according to the advisory. Suffice to say, the turtle that Jeff spotted was on a mission and would not be deterred.

But its slow progress left it vulnerable, so Jeff’s next move was to call in the professionals: Mark Price, Beacon’s own director of the parks and recreation department. Together, they moved the turtle by lifting it by either side of its shell, the method DEC recommends if you need to move one (see the DEC's full recommendation on how to move a turtle to safety).

Exciting times for this Tree City! Beacon is an official Tree City, as designated by New York State’s Urban Forestry Program, which “fosters comprehensive planning, management and education throughout New York to create a healthy urban and community forest and enhance quality of life,” as stated in their mission. Spotting snapping turtles is a reminder that we are surrounded by an an ecosystem of fauna and flora, turtles to treetops, and it's good to keep them healthy!

Sponsor Opportunity: Fundraiser for Episcopal Church of St. Mary’s Golf Outing

The Episcopal Church of St. Mary’s in the Highlands in Cold Spring.
Photo Credit: Google Images. Graphic Design: Katie James, Inc.

From time to time, we hear laments from business owners who saw an opportunity to be involved in an event, or to sponsor something, but didn't know about it in time to apply. Therefore, when we are able to and if we know about it, we'll share a sponsor opportunity with our readers in case you might be interested. A Little Beacon Blog is not affiliated with this event; we just thought you might like to know about it, as we are advocates for local businesses getting the word out, and for fundraising for a good cause.

Sponsorships for Golf Outing at Beekman Golf Course

Stinson’s Hub is fundraising for the Episcopal Church of St. Mary’s in the Highlands in Cold Spring. They "are in desperate need for funds to keep their doors open," says Wendy Stinson, owner of the hub. Stinson's Hub is holding its annual golf outing on Friday, June 8, 2018 at Beekman Golf Course, and is looking for businesses who are interested in sponsorship at different levels. You can learn more about the St. Mary’s Episcopal Church here. The church's parish hall is also home to the Philipstown Reform Synagogue.

The sponsoring establishment’s information would be posted at the outing, and signage would be posted on the hole/tee that is sponsored by the business. According to Wendy, "Every year our golf outing grows bigger and bigger, and we are very excited to see what this year will bring." 

If you are interested in sponsoring a hole or tee, please call Wendy at 845-234-8807 or email wendelrina69@gmail.com.

Sponsor Options:

• Sponsor a $200 hole or $100 tee.
• Sponsor the purchase of golf balls with your establishment’s logo on them to be given out at the outing
• $200 per 5 dozen golf balls with your logo on them (taken)
• Sponsor for 15 dozen golf balls with your logo on them
• Sponsor the Par 3 Challenge - $300 (taken)
• Sponsor the Par 5 Challenge - $400
• Sponsor the Hole in One Challenge - $600 (taken)
• Sponsor a Car Giveaway (Car Dealership)
• Dinner Sponsor - $800
• Lunch Sponsor - $300
• Sponsor Refreshments Station - $200
• **All sponsorships will have their establishments advertised at the event