Super Happy :: Let's Do This Climate And Save Ourselves :: Retail Therapy Guide 10/22/2021
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HUDSON VALLEY FOOD HALL
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Immersive Climate Theater Experience Comes To Long Dock Park: "Climate Change Theatre Action 2021"
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SOON IS NOW is an immersive climate theater experience paired with activism presented in Scenic Hudson's Long Dock Park Beacon, NY on Saturday afternoon October 23rd, as part of the Climate Solutions Week (October 17-24) sponsored by Sustainable Hudson Valley. Theatrical performers showing their activism through spoken word and movement, and many of your favorite climate justice and education groups have come together to present solutions in a theatrical way called Climate Change Theatre Action 2021.
Hudson Valley and NYC based artists will read a selection of plays commissioned by Climate Change Theatre Action, a worldwide series of performances of short climate change plays presented biennially to coincide with the United Nations COP meetings. In addition, actors will read a portion of full length play and eco-parable, Escapegoat, by May Treuhaft-Ali. There will be poetry readings by Edwin Torres and Tom King, music by Elizabeth Clark (Seeds Under Nuclear Winter: An Earth Opera) and visual art and activism. Additional participants include: Hudson River Playback Theatre, Katiana Rangel, Twinkle Burke, Andrew Brehm, Chloé Hayat, abigail jean baptiste, Eric Magnus, Jean Brennan. Beacon Conservation Advisory Committee, Sustainable Hudson Valley, Fareground, Clearwater, Climate Reality Hudson Valley & Catskills chapter and others will be present to provide ways for the community to take action.
Schedule:
1pm Activism & Art: Environmental groups present to provide actions & Beacon based artist Jean Brennan will share FRUIT&ROT, an imprint centered around art and ecology.
2:00pm Performance Walking Loops: Sign ups begin at 1:30pm for the 3 walking tours of micro-performances that will take you along the wooded paths, tall grasses, and beach areas of the park. Tours start at 2pm, 2:15pm, and 2:30pm and last approximately one hour. 20 ppl max each tour and first-come, first-served. These tours are not catered towards young children. We can provide masks. Wear comfortable shoes!
2:15pm Sitting/Standing Performances: performances by Hudson River Playback Theatre, Edwin Torres, and Twinkle Burke will take place around the perimeter of the green field next to the Long Dock. These 3 performances are open to all including young children! They will take place in a loop and last until approximately 3:30pm. Bring your folding chair!
Parking Recommendations
Parking in Long Dock is limited. Walking, carpooling and the Free Beacon Loop Bus are encouraged. The Loop Bus drops you at the train station, and you can walk over to Long Dock. The best place to park is in the train station on the side closest to the Hudson River, where all spots are free on the weekends!
About The Producers
This event is part of Hudson Valley Climate Solutions Week organized by Sustainable Hudson Valley. Produced by Eve Morgenstern, Brian Mendes and Connie Hall. Contact: Eve Morgenstern for more information, evemorgenstern@gmail.com.
Use of Long Dock Park for this event has been provided by Scenic Hudson (scenichudson.org). The leading environmental organization focused on the Hudson River Valley, it is dedicated to creating environmentally healthy communities, championing smart economic growth, protecting working farms, opening up riverfronts to the public and preserving the valley’s beauty and natural resources. Since its founding in 1963, Scenic Hudson has permanently protected 25,000 acres of irreplaceable landscapes and created or enhanced more than 40 parks.
Look For Signs
Several graphic designs have been created to represent this initiative. You may see crossovers of them in social media and in other news outlets. Keep your eyes out, and read the messages to learn more.
Permanent Road Closure Of Matteawan Road At Fishkill Correctional Facility - Will Impact School Bus Routes
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Matteawan Road at the end of Beacon High School near the entrance of the Fishkill Correctional Facility.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
Further impacting an already strained busing system, Beacon City School District Superintendent Matthew Landahl announced to district families yesterday that the Fishkill Correctional Facility will close to the public the part of Matteawan Road that runs through their facility. After Matteawan loops through the Fishkill Correctional Facility, it turns into Prospect Street Md (according to Google Map), which runs through a residential area. Prospect Street Md intersects with Route 52 (aka Business 52 aka Fishkill Avenue depending on what map you look at) diagonally across from Old Glenham Road. According to Dr. Landahl, the closure possibly starts with the guard stations on both ends of the Fishkill Correctional Facility.
It is unknown at this time if this closure is related to the car accident that happened on Route 52 near Old Glenham Road last week at around 3:30pm, which is a high traffic time for school and a shift change at the Fishkill Correctional Facility.
In an email dated 10/19/2021, Dr. Landahl stated:
The Fishkill Correctional Sign on Matteawan Road.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
“I am writing to inform you about the permanent closure of Matteawan Road by Fishkill Correctional Facility. We were informed yesterday that officials at the Fishkill Correctional Facility are permanently closing the part of Matteawan Road that runs past their facility. This closure will take effect on Monday, November 1, 2021.
“Many of our school busses use this road as well as parents and students driving to Beacon High School and Rombout Middle School. The closure will cause increased traffic congestion at arrival and dismissal time at Beacon High School and Rombout Middle School and will cause delays for many of our bus routes.
“We are currently analyzing all of our bus routes and we will update the community with revised pick-up and drop-off times for the impacted routes. The bridge construction on 84 has already caused delays this year for many of our routes, so I apologize for this in advance. We will also work with the City of Beacon to see if anything can be done to help alleviate traffic congestion on Matteawan Road heading to Verplank Avenue.
“We will update the community next week with more information about bus routes and this situation.”
On Matteawan Road: Rombout Middle School on the left, and Beacon High School on the right.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
Pedestrian and bike activity picks up significantly in Beacon at 3pm, which is when all 6 public schools dismiss. According to the police officer on the Traffic Commity during a May 2020 public meeting, the Fishkill Correctional Facility also has a shift change at 3pm, contributing to increased traffic on Matteawan, running past the Beacon High School, and in the other direction toward Route 52, which is across from Old Glenham Road, which leads to Glenham Elementary.
Both the Beacon High School and Rombout Middle School are located on Matteawan Road. Picking up kids Rombout Middle School is an already congested situation, both within the Rombout pickup loop, and at the intersection to exit in either direction out of Rombout.
An alternative to driving into Rombout, is to meet a child behind Rombout by their outdoor school basketball court, on Robert Cahill Drive (inside of Memorial Park), which is already a traffic area for after-school sports. Speed bumps used to exist on Robert Cahill Drive for safety, but have not been placed down for years.
Biking Home Is An Alternative To Driving, But Biking In Beacon Is Unsafe
Map of Matteawan Road and Robert Cahill Drive.
Photo Credit: Google Maps
An alternative to car pickups is having kids walk or bike home. However, several drivers in Beacon are so impatient when driving, they often recklessly and illegally pass cars on the left, crossing a double yellow line, with no regard for why a car in front of them stopped. Twice, I personally have stopped for a pedestrian crossing the street, and a car, driven by a local Beaconite, has tried to drive around me, crossing the double yellow line, and would thereby hit the crossing walker or biker. I have also almost been hit when I was crossing the street when an impatient car crossed the double yellow line to pass the stopped car in front of it on the left.
Biking in Beacon is quite unsafe, with no sidewalks dedicated to bikers (it is illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk), and only a small section of Main Street is indicated with biking encouragement painted lines. Yet biking on Main Street for children is not recommended and is unsafe. Kids bike on neighborhood roads mainly, so this focus is beyond Main Street. Bike safety and enforcement of crossing yellow lines and doing U-Turns should be enforced.
Years ago, Beacon’s Park and Recreation Department proposed a continuous bike loop through the public parks. It is unknown at this time what became of that drawing or proposal. Should anyone remember the date at which it was presented, please contact us.
Map that shows Rte 52 labeled as such, as well as Business 52, as well as Fishkill Avenue. Also along I-84, 52 runs.
Photo Credit: Google Maps
Map that shows where Matteawan Road turns into Prospect Street Md after looping through the Fishkill Corrections Facility.
Photo Credit: Google Maps
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HUDSON VALLEY FOOD HALL
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All Beacon City School Students Receiving Free Meals At School - Why That's Major
/The pandemic has kicked social economics into gear, such as removing income and demographic requirements from qualifying for food assistance. For example: while Beacon once qualified for a free Summer Meals Program, a meal prep service many children in Beacon relied upon when school was out for summer, Beacon lost qualification for that in 2019 due to the changing demographics with new people moving in who have higher incomes.
Statistics were not provided on if the same number of children still needed the food, but were outnumbered by higher income earners also calling Beacon home. Back then, a Beacon business owner, Wendy Savastano, who previously owned Beacon Bagel, wanted to continue feeding children over the summer, and reached out to this blog, as well as to the Beacon Superintendent, Dr. Matt Landahl, to figure out how to make that happen. Dr. Landahl organized a meeting with several leaders in Beacon’s food access community who were boots-on-the-ground feeding people, to try to coordinate efforts.
Consensus was: the same amount of children are still here, but Beacon lost qualification. Attendees included Captain Leilani Rodríguez-Alarcón, Corps Commanding Officer / Pastor for The Salvation Army Beacon Citadel Corps (located on Main Street). She had been cooking and delivering food to children in housing communities like Tompkins Terrace. She often ran low on food to prepare. Meanwhile, she was sitting next to a representative from Dutchess Outreach who had access to a food pantry right down the street, and had food to provide.
Other attendees included Beacon’s Parks and Recreation Director Mark Price, who had direct experience with receiving the free meals and setting up distribution of them at the Beacon Recreation Center, located near the Beacon Housing Authority, where many kids could walk to pick up the meals. Losing that location when the Free Meal qualification was lost was detrimental to how the kids would access the food.
Delivery Of Free Meals During Pandemic
When the pandemic hit - or was declared - and all students had to stay home, the federal government made free meals available to everyone, regardless of income. No one needed to apply, or fill out forms, or prove how much money they earned or lost.
Beacon School Lunch Is Going Local For National Farm To School Month
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On October 14th, elementary students will be served pasta with NYS beef meat sauce, tossed salad with Common Ground Farm greens, local cucumbers, and NYS apples and pears!
Middle and high school students will be served loaded baked potatoes with school made NYS chili, NYS potatoes, tossed salad with Common Ground Farm greens, local cucumbers, and NYS apples and pears!
More About The Partnership Between Common Ground, Land To Learn, and The Beacon City School District
According to Sember Weinman, Executive Director of Common Ground Farm, told A Little Beacon Blog that they started working with the Beacon City School District leading Farm to School education programs in 2012 and began developing a relationship with food services director, Karen. They started a Vegetable of the Month taste test that allowed Common Ground and partner organization Land to Learn (was Hudson Valley Seed at the time) to encourage students to try fresh seasonal vegetables while the cafeteria expanded their veggie side dish menu options.
In 2016 Common Ground gave Karen a U-Pick membership that helped her to understand farm operations. They began donating lettuce and other greens to the schools in spring of 2016, and in 2017 worked on a micro purchase agreement to sell to the schools and participate in the bid process. Karen conducted a site visit and made several food safety recommendations, which Common Ground implemented.
Common Ground Farm focuses on lettuce because it has a short grow time and is very popular with students, but also sells smaller amounts of items that can be showcased through the Vegetable of the Month program like cucumbers, kale, carrots and tomatoes.
Common Ground Farm thinks that nutritious food is a right regardless of economic background. They see public school as a way to reach a diverse cross section of the community. They were already leading education programs in the schools so it seemed like a really natural fit to begin working with the schools as a distribution point as well.
Sports Attendee Drives White Mini-SUV Through Memorial Park In Road Rage During Kids Beacon Bears Flag Football After Softball Game
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The Beacon Bears building located across from the grassy field for the young football players. When there are no vehicles parked in the lot, a car could drive all the way around this building, in a circle. During busy game days, the left side of the building is usually blocked off for protection of people sitting in bleachers right across from the building, and for people using the building when it is open as a snack shop.
The bright orange Jersey barriers, previously known as “parklets” when they protected diners outside of restaurants who were eating in parking spots, are now protecting families with young children who play flag football, known as the Beacon Bears, from adult road rage. The games are played in a grassy field adjacent to a volunteer-run Beacon Bears building in the middle of a parking lot at Memorial Park, which houses a snack bar and is a destination for kids to sit in front of and go to the bathroom at a porta-potty outside of the building during games and practice. For years, parking on the left side of the building has been blocked off during games and practices to protect players and fans.
Adults from other sporting events such as adult baseball and softball games scheduled at the same time at Memorial Park have reportedly been annoyed at the blocked off parking in front of the building, and have been storming the cones that are placed there by Beacon Bears coaches and parents, people who have been attending the young football games for years say.
Last weekend, a white woman participating in the softball game who wanted to drive through the cones but could not, was so incensed, that she yelled at other parents protecting the blocked parking area.
Shortly after the woman’s outrage, a white mini-SUV was seen by several people to be driving through the middle of Memorial Park at high speed. The vehicle’s path was through the grass, in between additional baseball diamonds where people usually set up volleyball nets, and slightly to the right of the tot park where children play on the playground.
Some Background
Three weeks ago, a white man in a black 4-door pickup truck drove himself and his child through the blocked off area in front of the Beacon Bears building. This was while 15 flag football fans sat on the ground of the parking lot in the shade of the front of the building while the snack bar was open. The afternoon sun was very hot, and the blocked off area outside of the snack shack was the only available shade.
The man removed the cones, and drove his large truck through. At first, everyone sitting on the ground, just inches away from his wheels, thought he was in a position of authority. Spectators later learned that he was not of any authority, and was simply a person used to moving parking blockades at his own digression at that parking lot.
What Happened With The Softball Game
Last weekend, during a double header of flag football, which consists of kids ages 7-14 and the family members who come to cheer them on, including younger siblings, were rivaled by an adult women’s softball team on a nearby baseball diamond. The team consisted of mainly white women and their men-folk during what some at the event said was a Breast Cancer Awareness themed game. A tent was set up at the softball diamond, and many of the female players wore hot pink tube socks.
Parking was tight, as it usually is on the weekend during games. Cars were parked all down the base of Memorial Park hill, which is normal for a day of Saturday games. If there are several cars, any seasoned Beaconite knows not to park deep into the parking lot near the field, as many cars pile up and make their own parking choices, sometimes blocking each other in. The driveway is gravel and not marked with parking spots.
At the end of the softball game, and at the height of the kids flag football game, the softball players and fans wanted to exit. They stated that the open lane of the parking lot was blocked by a double-parked car. They wanted to drive through the official parking blockade on the opposite (left) side of the Beacon Bears building where the spectators and children stand.
Earlier, they had taken to driving over traffic cones, according to people who saw them do it. A Beacon Bears parent then moved his car to replace the cones, so that softball cars could not drive through, flattening the cones. Some female softball players were upset, and began yelling at the flag football parents who set up the car blockade. One woman yelled: “Everything was fine until the football people showed up!” Which sounded sureal and straight out of a 1970’s kids coming-of-age movie.
According to people at the scene, the softball players called the Beacon police, who arrived to asses the situation. This was after an ambulance had been called by the softball people earlier to answer someone in need. At that time, a car had double-parked in the open lane on the opposite side of the Beacon Bears building.
The police officer determined that the Beacon Bears were within their right to block the section of the driveway to protect the players and families, which had been common practice over the years. He said that the driveway opening on the other side of the building was sufficient to be used as an exit. Unless that side had a double-parked car, which would need to be moved by the people who parked it.
According to people at the scene, the police officer wrote down the license plate of the car being used as a blockade, so that he could let the rest of the police force know that if police were called for this incident again, that the car was a known vehicle, and was there to protect from aggressive adults driving through where children are playing.
The Police Decision Did Not Stop The Adult Softball Players
After the police officer left, a woman who was initially screaming about the parking situation continued to scream at the parent who owned the car being used as a protective block. Another flag football parent, Tracy Way, who is well known to the South Avenue Elementary community as the Keeper Of The Lobby at South Avenue, stepped in to answer to the screaming softball woman and to keep the parking blockade strong.
Tracy and the owner of the protective car were by themselves confronting the angry team, until the softball woman got into her vehicle. Shortly after, a white mini-SUV could be seen speeding across the grass of Memorial Park, toward Route 52 where there are even more children playing.
From Left: The owner of the car used as an approved blockade against adults wanting to drive through parking blocks, who remained seated on the car during verbal altercations; the daughter of Tracy Way who supported her mother; and Tracy Way, who dealt with the women and men who shouted at her about the parking setup.
After the angry woman left, the softball crowd was not done. A man confronted Tracy. Towering over her small frame, the man told Tracy that her communication style was all wrong, and this never would have happened if she had said things differently. Tracy, meanwhile, had moved a metal trash can to be closer to the protective car, since a softball participant wanted to squeeze through the protective car and the bleachers - where people were sitting watching flag football.
The trash can was filled with White Claw beer cans and Twisted Tea bottles. Every now and then, as the man berated Tracy, different softball players came to put newly empty cans into the trash can.
A child reported that softball players were smoking during soccer practice days prior. This past summer, Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White proposed a smoking ban of tobacco, vape and cannabis in all city parks, to “give people more teeth” to ask neighbors stop smoking during soccer games. Beacon’s City Council voted to approve the smoking ban weeks ago. While smoking anything during soccer games had not previously been noticed as even happening, it appears that smoking tobacco does on other fields. The smoking ban was inspired by the legalization of cannabis. But it looks like tobacco is the culprit in this case.
While the man told Tracy that she was the only one putting up a fight about the parking situation, Tracy tried telling the man that the flag football coaches supported her decision, but were busy on the field coaching a game. Other women including her teenage daughter stood behind her to show support.
When the man shouted at her: “Do you own this field?” and “Why do you let children play in this parking lot anyway?” (answer: the snack shop and bleachers are right there), Tracy calmly told him that the police officer stated that the parking could be arranged this way. A second man joined the first, and tried lecturing Tracy. When she retorted to him: “Let me ask you a question…” the second man shouted: “NO!” The women around Tracy continued to support her and spoke up to let the men know that the parking block was necessary.
The first man then encouraged the second man to walk away, and the tension receded. The rest of the softball team who who was still there broke down their tent, and lingered in the parking lot, drinking from various cans and making trips to the porta-potty. One woman, upon walking to her car, shouted an obscenity against Beacon, and then spit on the parking lot.
What Happens Next?
The leaders of the Beacon Bears wrote to Beacon’s Parks and Recreation Department Director, Mark Price, who accepts scheduling for these fields. He told the Beacon Bears directors that the softball team would not be allowed to book the field again, but this remains to be seen if they are to show up again.
According to the Beacon Bears, Mark had the orange barriers sent down to be placed on either side of the building, creating safe passage for children and adults to walk between the porta-potties, snack shop, and bleachers. Cars can exit through the other lane on the other side of the building. The entire parking lot is gravel, so there are no marked spaces. The entrance of the parking lot is paved, and is completely crumbling with potholes.
In order for the orange barriers to be effective, they need to be filled with water. Otherwise, they are light orange plastic blockades that wobble. When the restaurants had them, Beacon’s Highway Department dropped them off filled with water. Restaurant owners were unable to move them very easily, as they were so heavy. It remains to be seen if the Highway Department will fill these barriers up with water to make them more difficult to move at will.
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s New York City and now LA require proof of vaccination at restaurants, bars and gyms, some Beacon restaurants are voluntarily wanting proof of vaccination. The Roundhouse announced their proof policy last week for people dining.
HUDSON VALLEY FOOD HALL
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The Roundhouse Requires Proof Of Vaccination At Restaurant, Outdoor Patio Or Lounge
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Photo Credit: The Roundhouse
Announced late in September to prepare people, The Roundhouse in Beacon is requiring proof of vaccination against COVID-19. Published at their Facebook page:
“At The Roundhouse we are dedicated to providing a safe space for all to enjoy, and the safety of our guests and staff is our top priority. "As of October 7th, all adults and children 12 and older must show proof of Covid 19 vaccination to dine in our restaurant, outdoor patio or lounge. Children under 12 that are not yet eligible for the vaccination may accompany a fully vaccinated adult.”
For private events in their other buildings, The Roundhouse has a COVID-19 Event Safety FAQ page that outlines how private events can work, which are in line with how some other event locations have been running.
The Roundhouse is not the only restaurant in Beacon to require vaccinations: Quinn’s is also requiring proof of vaccination. All restaurants, bars and gyms in New York City are requiring proof of vaccination, as is LA.
Stop The Internets - Quinn's Will Reopen, But With New Rules: Admission Price & Proof of Vaxx
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Photo Credit:
The subject line of Quinn’s press release announcing their reopening (again) had a kicker at the end of it: “Joe McPhee 82nd Birthday Kicks Off Return of Live Music at Quinn's in Beacon NY (We Mean It This Time!)” Very cute and real, as everyone flows with the pandemic times.
Days before most people woke up to the raging Delta variant, Quinn’s had announced an aggressive lineup of long awaited jazz performances, including a clever “Joevember” themed month of November featuring musicians named Joe.
Shortly after that, Quinn’s announced a last call for a pause on their being open at all. In that time, the parklets (outside dining on the street) had been picked up, and their loyal customers began dreaming of ways to help them reopen.
This week’s reopening announcement will come with a sigh of relief, but it also comes with a new set of directions: live performances now require an admission price to enter; and there’s a new definition of getting carded - Quinn’s is carding for proof of vaccination. Masks will also be required for admission during all live performances.
Quinn’s will be open for food dining during non-performance days as well. Check with them for latest hours and days.
Quinn’s is the second restaurant (that we know of) to require proof of vaccination. The Roundhouse in Beacon has also imposed this rule, which begins today. All restaurants, bars and gyms in New York City are also requiring proof of vaccination, as are Broadway theaters. The Los Angeles City Council voted to require vaccinations for restaurants, bars, gyms, shopping centers, entertainment venues, and personal care establishments.
Normally, during a pause in a performance, band members go around the restaurant with a donation box, hoping people will give cash. With this new policy, performers are guaranteed a payment. Initiating the new policy, read the press release, “will be a celebration of the 82nd birthday of our dear friend, Hudson Valley legend and internationally recognized multi-instrumental titan, Joe McPhee (pictured above), on his actual birthday: Wednesday, November 3 at 8:30 PM. Admission for this very special event will be $20.”
The next performance will be the iconic Beacon punk band Ate Bit, with special guest Social Standards opening. Making it up as they go along (which is the beauty of running your own business), is a twist to “Joevember” with two musicians not named Joe scheduled to perform: Jessica Jones and Tony Jones on November 15th.
From the press release: “Highlights of Saturday night concerts include a devastating one-two punch from one of our favorite Beacon bands, Knock Yourself Out. First, on Second Saturday, November 13, we present KYO Surfers, featuring members of Knock Yourself Out, Dirt Bikes, and The Nighttimes performing songs by the infamous Texas psych-punk band Butthole Surfers — then, on Saturday, December 18, KYO bids us all farewell with their final performance, joined by special guest musicians Mimi Sun Longo, Daria Grace, Jonny Taylor, and Ken Fox. Other Saturday highlights include the bands 100 and Zero with opener Wall of Ego on November 20, and another Hudson Valley legend, DJ Bill Skillz, brings his Diggin' in the Crates Radio Roadshow back into Quinn's during Thanksgiving weekend on November 27.”
The upcoming schedule is listed below, but do check first before going, as dates and status could change.
MONDAY JAZZ SESSIONS (except for Wednesday 11/3):
8:30 PM EACH NIGHT, $15 CASH ADMISSION
NOVEMBER
11/3 Joe McPhee 82nd Birthday Celebration
11/8 Joe Giardullo w/ Vance Provey, Billy Stein and Harvey Sorgen
11/15 Jessica Jones/Tony Jones and Friends
11/22 Joe Fiedler's Open Sesame "Fuzzy and Blue" Record Release Party, w/ Jeff Lederer, Steven Bernstein, Sean Conly and Michael Sarin
11/29 Joseph Vincent Tranchina w/ Robert Kopec and Don Devine
DECEMBER
12/6 Mike Dopazo
12/13 Eric Person's Music of Ronald Shannon Jackson Project w/ Neil Alexander, Robert Kopec and Dean Sharp
12/20 Karl Berger & Friends
JANUARY
1/10 Iris Ornig
1/17 MLK Day 2022 Celebration w/ Ray Blue
SATURDAY NIGHT CONCERTS:
9 PM EACH NIGHT, $10 CASH ADMISSION (except for 11/27)
NOVEMBER
11/6 Ate Bit/Social Standards
11/13 KYO Surfers: Music of Butthole Surfers
11/20 100 and Zero/Wall of Ego
11/27 DJ Bill Skillz' Diggin' in the Crates Radio Roadshow (holiday open house — no cover, donations requested)
DECEMBER
12/18 Knock Yourself Out Farewell Performance, w/ Mimi Sun Longo, Daria Grace, Jonny Taylor, and Ken Fox
Writerly Happenings: October Edition
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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.
The Time Has Come To Replace The Clutter In Your Home; ALBB Has Some Suggestions
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Got a clutter problem? Replace clutter with beautiful dried bouquets from Flora Good Times! Once your fresh bouquet runs out, pick the flowers that dry the best. Put those in a vase from Hudson Beach Glass or Raven Rose and place on desired clutter spot.
Challenge: you *must* file away the clutter items, and replace the fire alarm that is sitting there instead of in its protective spot in the kitchen. And lay more adhesive sandpaper for the mail person on the front porch steps so they don’t slip in the rain or otherwise (find at Bretts Hardware)
Find more vases and flower destination boutiques in A Little Beacon Blog’s Shopping Guide!
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HUDSON VALLEY FOOD HALL
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Quraan Smith Remembered In Poughkeepsie :: 16 Year Old "Gave A Beautiful Energy"
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Quraan Smith, holding a basketball at Arlington High School.
Photo Credit: Screenshot of his family’s Go Fund Me Page created by a friend after his death.
My kids and I were at a Beacon Bears flag football game on Saturday, September 18, 2021 in the boiling hot 4pm sun at Memorial Park in Beacon. A press release from the Dutchess County Executive’s Office popped into my inbox, titled “Dutchess County Trauma Team Assisting Arlington Community Following Student Death.”
I didn’t know what they were talking about. I hadn’t read the Poughkeepsie Journal yet about how 16 year old Quraan Smith had been stabbed at around 9pm during a big fight after a big-kid football game on Friday, September 17, 2021, at Arlington High School the night before. As I Googled to find out what was going on, parents around me were talking about it as our boys threw the football, fighting for a successful pass.
Parents were shocked and so sad. “They have made an arrest,” someone said. “How do they know who it was?” another asked. “There were several eye-witnesses. People saw it. They watched it happen.”
And the articles came. Explaining what has been made public so far. Quraan had moved with his family from Poughkeepsie to attend Arlington High School. He wanted to go to the Arlington High School football game that night against Scarsdale High School. Her and Quraan’s mother, Na'tara Smith, re-arranged her schedule so that she could make that happen, according to his family’s Go Fund Me page created by a friend in response to the loss. At some point on Friday evening, a fight broke out, and at 9pm, Quraan was fatally stabbed.
Arlington High School on a map. Poughkeepsie is west, and Beacon is south west.
Photo Credit: Google Maps
An 18 year old named Nestor A. Ortiz-Ocampo of the City of Poughkeepsie has been charged with stabbing Quraan in the chest, according to the felony complaint as reported by the Poughkeepsie Journal. Nestor has so far been charged with first-degree manslaughter, a felony. He was arrested on Saturday and held on $400,000 bail. His court date is October 5, 2021 in LaGrange Town Court.
Nestor was a former student of Arlington High School, according to Arlington Superintendent David Moyer, but did not graduate, and has not been a student this year, according to reporting by the Poughkeepsie Journal. The Superintendent could not confirm why Nestor left the district.
Also according to the newspaper’s reporting, the police said that the two boys knew each other, and that it was an isolated incident. Events for Saturday and Sunday were canceled, said Arlington’s Superintendent.
In a statement, the Superintendent said "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family and friends." Later, he is quoted to have said: "For the people that are associated with the family, the family and the people on the scene and all of that — it was very, very, very traumatic, difficult and painful," Moyer said. 'It is the type of thing that will never go away. It will be here forever. Nobody that was in any way associated with it will every forget it. It is just a tragedy."
Quraan Remembered In Vigil In Poughkeepsie At Waryas Park
Quraan Smith’s Grandmother, during his vigil in Poughkeepsie in Waryas Park.
Photo Credit: Seth Harrison. Screenshot of Poughkeepsie Journal.
Mi-Rose Smith, the 7 year old sister of Quaaran, was one of hundreds of people who attended the vigil held on Poughkeepsie’s waterfront at Waryas Park later that week on September 26, 2021. His mother, Na’tara Smith cried into the microphone while speaking during the vigil, while being supported physically and emotionally by friends.
Said Na’tara as reported in the Poughkeepsie Journal: "The youth, the children, the young adulthood ... you all have given me the strength each and every day," she said to crowd. "I've been feeling good despite what happened to my son. These young children are reaching out on their own ... these children have done an awesome job with supporting me and my family ... I tell you, they give me strength."
Quraan was not only remembered for being an athlete, but for his many traits. According to the education reporter for the Poughkeepsie Journal, Katelyn Cordero, Quraan was known by his friends as Ronny James, a comedian who loved to dance and play sports. He was working on a clothing line after conversations with his father who discussed business with him during the Remote Learning season last year during school. His father found videos and the beginnings of the clothing line after his son’s death.
According to his father, Everton Smith, in the Poughkeepsie Journal: "Coming from an urban community and a poverty-stricken community, he was a legend. He was one year away, he almost made it." Everton said, noting that his son had dreams to play Division I basketball or football on a full scholarship.
Everton continued: “I truly can't believe how many people from the community came. It wasn't even just his athleticism, it was just the person that he was. He was kind, respectful, sentimental. It was the energy that he reflected, when he walked in the room, he gave a beautiful energy."
Everton hoped that the kids would get the emotional support they needed, by saying: "This impacted the children's lives, it's not just that one person that's affected, it impacted the hundreds of children that are going to that school," he said. "Unfortunately, it doesn't just end with a burial. After that, the kids are going to need mental health (support). It's two victims, but all those kids, it's a pain you can't imagine."
Read more reflections from Quraan’s family and friends here.
Road Closures In Beacon Start Now For Milling And Paving
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Roads in various parts of Beacon will be closed for milling and paving. The City of Beacon has posted a road closure schedule that shows dates from September 30, 2021 - October 6, 2021. Families with children at South Avenue Elementary received a phone call today from new Principal Daniel Glenn that parents should be aware of the road closure, as it is a main route for car drop-offs and “walkers” (aka kids who walk or bike to school).
A screenshot of the schedule has been published below:
Screenshot of the City of Beacon’s posted road closures for milling and paving.
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