Music Events In Beacon Celebrating Pete Seeger's 100th Birthday This Weekend

Photo Credit: Jake’s Main Street Music

Beacon Sloop Club, near the Beacon train station.
Photo Credit: Jeremy Baum

You won't want to miss the Pete Seeger-inspired song circle happening down on the Hudson River at the Beacon Sloop Club from 2 to 4 pm. The friendly musicians from Jake's Main Street Music, who played with Pete many times, encourage everyone to come down and bring their instrument and/or voice to join in and sing by the river.

If you are new to Pete Seeger and his involvement with the Hudson River, and why there is a celebration of him, know this: He is one of the biggest reasons the Hudson River is being cleaned up. Carrying on his legacy helps ensure that the river stays protected and that cleaning continues even when corporations who caused damage want to pull out. Read this journalist's feature about Seeger that ran in Hudson Valley Magazine after he died.

The Beacon Sloop Club is down by the train station. It's on the west side of it, literally right next to the Hudson River. It's quite relaxing, so even if you don't sing, do go down and enjoy.

Pete Seeger Centennial Celebration at Towne Crier Cafe (Free)
Day: Friday, May 3, 2019
Time: 7 pm
Location: Towne Crier Cafe, 379 Main St., Beacon, NY
The Pete Seeger Centennial Celebration will feature many local, regional and national performers paying tribute to Pete's music and life. The roster so far includes The Costellos, Carla Springer, Jerry Kitzrow, co-hosts Thom Joyce and David Bernz, singer-songwriters extraordinaire David Massengill, Christine Lavin and Don White.
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Celebrating Pete Seeger’s Centennial at the Howland Cultural Center
Day: Saturday, May 4, 2019
Time: 8 pm
Location: Howland Cultural Center, 477 Main St., Beacon, NY
Featuring David & Jacob Bernz, Betty & The Baby Boomers, The B2s, Carolyn Doctorow, Lydia Adams Davis with Annalyse & Ryan, Pat Lamanna and much more! $20 at the door, $15 in advance at peteseeger.bpt.me.
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Pete Seeger-Inspired Song Circle at Beacon Sloop Club (Free)
Day: Saturday, May 4, 2019
Time: 2 to 4 pm
Location: Beacon Sloop Club, 2 Red Flynn Drive, Beacon, NY
Information >

Photo Credit: Jake’s Main Street Music

$400K Grant Awarded for Music and World Language Programs for Beacon City School District

Photo Credit: Beacon City School District's Website. Photograph by Dawn Sela.

The Beacon City School District was busy this summer. According to Beacon's Superintendent Matthew Landahl, the Beacon City School District was awarded a $400,000 grant from the New York State Education Department to "expand the instrumental music program and to offer an additional world language program at the secondary level" said Dr. Landahl. Parent involvment influenced the results of this grant. “Both aspects of this grant were deeply influenced by community input through either surveys or community conversations that took place last year,” confirmed Dr. Landahl.

The grant money will be implemented over the next two school years, and will pay for:

• instructional staff salaries

• materials and supplies

• professional development to both expand the instrumental music program and to begin an additional world language program.

Music Program Expanded for 4th Graders

Third grade students receive a special musical experience called The Calico Ball, courtesy of the Beacon Arts and Education Fund (BAEF) which was innitiated by Pete Seeger years ago. This dance residency is for every 3rd grader in the Beacon City Public School District. After weeks of practice, a performance happens in the Beacon High School at the end of the school year.

This newest grant provides an easier continuation of music to the 4th grade. According to Dr. Landahl: “The music portion of the grant will allow us to expand our instrumental music program into the 4th grade this year. We are working on hiring the teacher and the 4th grade program will be in place later this fall. The grant pays for the teacher's salary for a year and all of the materials, supplies, and most important instruments to get the program going.”

Mandarin Might Be Coming To Beacon Schools

Beacon currently offers Spanish as a world language that is taught in school. This grant will bring Mandarin closer to the classroom. “The grant is for us to offer Mandarin in the 2019-2020 school year. A key part of the grant is that it allows us to explore the best ways to do this for a year before we implement the following year. If we are not able to offer Mandarin, we will explore offering a different language. The grant pays for a year of a teacher's salary and all of the materials and supplies to get the new program going.”

Dr. Landahl gave a special thanks to Assistant Superintendent Cecilia Dansereau-Rumley for "heading up the effort," according to his article on the Beacon City School District's website.

The grant was part of a larger one totaling $28.5 million, awarded to 38 school districts across New York State as part of the Student Support and Academic Enrichment federal grant program. Read more about that here.

New Corn Bread Contest at the Corn Festival 2018

CORN FESTIVAL
When: Sunday, August 12, 2018
Time: Noon to 5 pm
Price: Free
Ages: Family-friendly

This year, enjoy a new flavor at the Beacon Sloop Club's Corn Festival, down at the Pete and Toshi Seeger Park (Riverfront Park) in Beacon, NY, on Sunday, August 12, 2018 from noon to 5 pm. The event is rain or shine, so pack a poncho just in case!

How To Enter the Corn Bread Contest

1.  Anyone can enter. The only rule is that the corn bread must be made from scratch.
2. Prize for first place is $25.
3. To enter, bring your corn bread to the Contest Tent before 2 pm. Bring your corn bread on a dish or plate, along with a card with your name, phone number, and recipe. Besides the name of your recipe, please include the ingredients used. Attach the card to the plate. If you would like your plate returned, please note that on the card.
4. The judging will start about 2:15 pm and consider such aspects as taste, appearance, and texture.
5. Winners will be announced from the tent at 3 pm.

About the Corn Festival

Fresh picked, ready‐to‐eat, local‐grown sweet corn on the cob is the feature of this festival down at Riverfront Park, now known as the Pete and Toshi Seeger Park for their decades of work to improve and protect the Hudson River. Enjoy cold drinks and other summer treats. Environmental displays will be set up, and fun activities for all ages will be available.

The sloop Woody Guthrie will give free public sails (weather permitting), and there will be lots of craft and food vendors. Two solar music stages will feature great sounds. Free admission.

Music on the Main Stage:

• April Mae and the June Bugs
• Caroline Doctorow
• Cosby Gibson
• Hank Woji
• Spook Handy
• The Offshoots
• The Roadhouse Roosters.

Music on the Children's Stage:

• Bindlestick Bill
• Lydia Adams Davis
• Miss Vickie
• Solar Sound
• The Hudson Valley Troubadors
• The Quahog Quire

Vendor Opportunities

Those interested in vending can email rmthomas99@yahoo.com or call (845) 463-4660. For more information, check out the Beacon Sloop Club's website - www.beaconsloopclub.org.