This year at the Corn Festival, there were quite a few visitors who stopped by our table who were not from Beacon. People from Brooklyn, Cold Spring, and other areas. They were curious about what is a “sloop” (it’s a one-masted sailboat). Despite having this festival for years and years, it looks like the Beacon Sloop Club still has a big purpose and mission to educate the new people coming to Beacon who want to enjoy Beacon’s beauty, and keep it as it is. But these new people need to understand what Beacon is first.
FAQ: What Is A SLOOP? What Is Beacon Sloop Club?
Let’s revisit briefly: The Beacon Sloop Club was founded by folk singer and activist, Pete Seeger. They are a volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation, protection and restoration of the Hudson River and surrounding waterways through advocacy, education and celebration. When you’re from NYC, you tend to think of the Hudson River as a barrier in the subway system between NYC and Hoboken, NJ, for instance. Here, we look at it as a waterway with ecosystems, one that used to have another name before Dutch settlers renamed it.
The Hudson River’s name before the Dutch renamed it was Muhheakunnuk. According to Riverkeeper: “Henry Hudson 'discovered' what the Lenape called Muhheakunnuk, ‘The River that Runs Both Ways.’ People have lived along the shores of the Hudson River since the last ice age, bathing in its waters, living off its bounty, caring for its future. The Lenape tribe balanced the needs of man and the needs of fish and fowl, plant and animal.”
The Beacon Sloop Club’s mission is to carry out that treatment. As part of their mission, the Beacon Sloop Club provides free river access through free sails and sail training on the ferry sloop Woody Guthrie, a replica of the 18th and 19th century sloops that once plied the Hudson River. The Beacon Sloop Club offers free seasonal music festivals to the people of the river, as well as other events, lectures and classes throughout the year.” Donate to them at any time. Like right now.
FAQ: Why Beacon For Pete Seeger?
This is a great question that I was asked. One I did not know. He’s such an embedded celebrity in Beacon, but I hadn’t considered his origin story as to why Beacon. So I reached out to his granddaughter, Moraya Seeger DeGeare to find out. She confirmed with her brother, and this is what they said: “He and my grandma (Toshi Seeger) lived in Greenwich Village and could not afford $100/month rent controlled apartment. So he came up to Beacon. Hiked the mountain. Climbed a tree and had a dream of building a cabin to raise his kids in. He climbed down. Went into town. Called Grandma and said: “Toshi, I found the place.”
You can next catch the Beacon Sloop Club at the Pumpkin Festival on October 15th, 2023. ALBB will be there too, with face paint! We take cash or card, and a portion is donated back to the Beacon Sloop Club. The rest helps us live our lives here in Beacon and produce this blog.
