It Was A Week. Eclipses. Earthquake. :: Retail Therapy Guide 4/13/2024
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The Eclipse April 2024 As Viewed In Ohio's 100% Totality and In Beacon, Plus A Poem From Inside The Totality
/Drove away to Ohio to experience the eclipse in 100% totality there from a farm. Which turned out to be ideal, as the wide open space allowed for us to see the red glow happening down low above the ground. View that in the video below, which was taken inside of the 3 minutes of total moon coverage, where we could safely look up without eclipse glasses on to stare directly at the moon with the sun glowing around it. We could see one sun flare in the bottom left corner, peeking out from the moon.
Was able to capture the color in an iPhone video, and tried to translate into a poem below (it’s still rough…but for timing…has been published).
The Beacon-based photographer Meghan Spiro captured the eclipse color in Beacon from a side of Mount Beacon. Her spit-screen photo is shown here.
Eclipse Poem
Total Totality
From inside the eclipse
In Total Totality
The 3 minutes of total moon coverage began.
The dome came over us.
A silver dome of protection
Shooting out of the dark light.
Touching the grass
The weightless silver holding.
Shadows gone.
Like we were all dead,
Our lives held in dark white light,
Our passions pouring into the dark depth above us.
Where are we?
“Mommy! Take a picture of the sunset! Take a picture of the sunset and send it to me!”
Sunset?
But the sun is above us.
But the sun is black.
But the set is aligned with us.
We are surrounded by a lasso of red glow.
The sun has stretched around us.
The moon has spilled over us.
Pouring out the silver light,
The dark air curling around our bones
Clutching our skin.
The crows climb the wind.
Is there wind?
All is still.
The light slipped into gray.
The ground turned silver, a mirror of the sky
The shadows inking black.
Silver all around us.
“Look up!! You can look up!!!”
White light
Shooting out of the smooth circle of the black depth.
Sends the weightless dome of protection.
Protection from what?
Protection inside.
The Howland Public Library Presents: In Eclipse - Opening April 13, 2024
/Art and astronomy come together in the upcoming exhibit, In Eclipse, at the Howland Public Library, opening on April 13th. The group show features the works of over 20 local artists inspired by the April total solar eclipse. This eclectic showcase offers a glimpse into different interpretations through drawings, paintings, and photography. From illustrations of the celestial event to metaphorical interpretations, each piece reflects the multifaceted meanings of the word eclipse.
Join the library for the opening reception on Saturday, April 13th from 5-7 PM, featuring a special reading by writer Donna Minkowitz, as we celebrate the artistry of the eclipse in all its forms. In Eclipse will be on view until May 4th.
Tuesday's 4-9-24 Planning Board Agenda - What's On Deck
/The Planning Board will meet on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at 7:00 p.m., in the Municipal Center Courtroom. A work session will take place at 7:00 p.m., for a training workshop, discussion of agenda items and/or topics of interest to the Planning Board. The regular meeting will begin immediately thereafter, but not later than 7:30 p.m.
Peek at the details below…
Public Hearing of application for Amended Site Plan Approval, 11 Mirbeau Lane, submitted by Mirbeau of Beacon, LLC (Edward Kellogg).
Public Hearing of application for Amended Site Plan Approval, 248 Tioronda Avenue, submitted by Beacon 248 Holdings LLC (Bernard Kohn).
Continue review of applications for Site Plan Approval, Subdivision Approval, and Special Use Permit, place of worship, 409 Fishkill Avenue, Fishkill Avenue, and Mead Avenue, submitted by Soka Gakkai International – USA.
Continue review of application for Site Plan approval and Special Use Permit, car dealership, 410 Fishkill Avenue, submitted by Carvana, LLC c/o Jenn Roldan.
Review of application for Subdivision Approval, residential, 39 Howland Avenue, submitted by John Vergara.
New Single-Family House – 52 Townsend Street, Lot #7
Monday’s 4-8-24 City Council Meeting Agenda - What’s On Deck
/Peek at the agenda below...
Soup4Greens 8th Annual Soup & Ceramic Bown Fundraiser - This Sunday, April 7, 2024
/Soup4Greens 8th Annual Soup & Ceramic Bowl Fundraiser is happening this Sunday, April 7, 2024 at the Beacon Farmers Market from 10am-2pm.
Shop savory soups & handmade bowls for a good cause. Purchase soup donated by local restaurants & homemade bowls crafted by local artisans. 100% of proceeds contributes to GREENS4GREENS food benefit program. This program contributes to a community where fresh, healthy food is accessible to all.
The goal is to reach $6,000 to fund the GREENS4GREENS program - an internal food benefit program.
See the delicious menu below…
"I Meant What I Said." :: Letter To The Editor From The Editor, Katie Hellmuth
/Editor’s Note: This is Katie the Editor of ALBB, writing a Letter to the Editor (me). This week, some businesses in Beacon (possibly 20) received a 6 page letter from an anonymous person that spoke with disparaging words about ALBB, and threatened businesses for removal of patronage for ALBB supporting and reporting on Palestine’s liberation. Initially, we were not going to say anything about the letter, and let the letters sit in the recycling bin trash, but after hearing from 5 businesses who were looking out for us, checking in on our safety, we decided to go public with the letter. That article is coming next.
For now, this is the publishing of my second speech to the City Council. In this time, the poem I wrote at the end of of my speech to City Council is relevant to right now. I delivered the poem while my 3 minutes time had elapsed, as the Mayor was yelling at me to sit down. So people may not have heard it. My second speech with this poem can be seen here.
My name is Katie Hellmuth from A Little Beacon Blog in Ward 1.
I urge you to remove the statement concerning harassment, intimidation, "doxxing," and shame.
It protects the people in this room in from their discomfort. It was copy / pasted from a local-anti resolution petition that circulated the day after 51 people spoke at this podium to give their input about crafting and passing a resolution.
Our showing up inspired Mayor Kyriacou to want to legislate out our right to do this, by forming a statement that says City of Beacon government does not speak on global issues.
This is not the first time he has said this. Recently, after past councilperson Justice McCray presented and passed a Resolution calling for New York to pass Reparations, the Mayor said he wanted the Council not to comment on things that do not impact Beacon. But reparations do impact all people living in Beacon. Some people will receive it, and we all pay the tax supporting it.
Regarding "intimidation"
I was intimidated on October 7th the day I posted an Instagram Story, which had a prayer emoji and said "Prayers for Palestine" and called for an end to the occupation. A person with a New York City number deep Googled my phone number, called me, talked to me about now debunked babies and terrorists. Was I scared? Yes.
In response, a person close to me called me to tell me stop being public. That this was not my fight. That "they" would come get me. I asked my close person "Who? Who will come get me?" They said: "You know...what are they called?" I said: "Hamas?" "Yes!" they said. I said I'm not afraid of Hamas. I'm afraid of the lady from the New York City number who just called me.
On October 8th I promoted the podcast we recorded with Kamel on his devotion to Palestine's liberation. We recorded it 2 years ago during the Shirik Jarar movement. When I re-featured that this year, Kamel was scared and said "Why?" He didn't want people coming into his restaurant all over again harassing him. Next day, he changed his mind and opened up on his own platforms. A reader replied to me. They said: "How dare you promote this podcast now. You owe the entire city of Beacon an apology."
In my mind, I responded but didn't press send. So I'll say it out loud now: "You sir, owe the entire Arab community an apology for resisting this violent occupation so hard that has harmed so many."
Regarding "shame"
Shame is what is felt when one is usually wrong. All of us can feel shame after we do something we didn't intend. A common reaction is to feel defensiveness and then denial. Denial of ones actions. It takes great courage to step forward through it to learn, educate one self, and change. And even then, mistakes will be made, and the process will be repeated. It is a daily effort.
Regarding "doxxing"
"Doxxing" suggests that someone is trying to get someone out of a job. Reporting on what someone did or said is presenting information. The readers' reaction is their own.
As for myself, I have been "doxxed," privately, maybe even by people in this room, trying to get to A Little Beacon Blog by targeting our revenue sources, making people not even associated with this uncomfortable.
So, squeeze me, but I will open somewhere else.
I will go to the sea to catch my fish.
Unless you shoot and drown my boat.
If you drown my boat,
I will swim to shore and dig for crabs.
If you bomb the beach,
I will look for and catch and eat dragonflies.
Free Palestine.
Free the hostages.
Free the unjustly imprisoned Palestinian prisoners, Muslim prisoners living in Israel, Israeli citizens refusing to serve in the Israeli military IDF, and anyone else unjustly taken that I am not aware of yet.
Lift the occupation.
Live together.
Free Palestine.
But Did You FEEL The Earthquake? Where Were You? Tremors Shake Beacon In April 2024
/Beacon felt the tremors of the earthquake that shook Whitehouse Station, New Jersey (about 99 miles from Beacon) on the morning of Friday, April 5, at around 10:30am. Areas from New York City to Philadelphia felt the quake, as reported by WTNH News 8. It measured 4.8, and was “a result of oblique reverse and strike-slip faulting at shallow depths in the crust. Although this event did not occur near a plate boundary, such ‘intraplate’ earthquakes can and do occur,” according to USGS.gov.
“I was leaning against the brick Free Palestine building, talking to a friend, when the building rumbled a little bit,” recalled this blogger, Katie Hellmuth. “It had been windy, and I thought it strange that a brick building would shake in the wind. Then I wondered if the building had a garage in it, where a truck might have pulled in to make a delivery. Which is odd because I know that there is no garage inside.”
Another Beacon citizen also mis-identified the occasion, and wrote in to ALBB: “At first I thought I was having a stroke! Then wondered if somehow my house had been damaged in the storms and was about to collapse…Then I thought it must be crazy military planes…Wow…I felt it roll.”
Farmer Carrie and her brother Tom of Eggbert’s Free Range Farm were driving around the Town of Newburgh making deliveries in their refrigerated van, when they felt the tremors on the road: “I thought it was pothole hell roads. Until I heard the news and received 2 emergency alerts on my watch that there are aftershocks coming that will be felt throughout our area.”
In the grocery store, another Beacon citizen told ALBB that the walls of their house shook so much, they were convinced it was going to collapse.
New Yorker’s aren’t used to earthquakes. Creators of earthquake humor on Instagram were plenty. Hopefully you caught some before they disappeared from people’s Stories. Please share your experience in the Comments below!
Infrastructure Program Grant For Youth Programming Updates Opens For Applications, Funded By Dutchess County
/The Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development has opened the application process for the 2024 Agency Partner Grant (APG): Infrastructure Program. A total of $200,000 was allocated in the 2024 Dutchess County Budget for the APG: Infrastructure Program. Funding is available through a competitive grant process to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that provide a venue for youth programming in Dutchess County. In order to be eligible to apply, applicants must own or have a long-term lease (25+ years) for the facility that provides the space for the youth activity.
This year’s grant program focuses on capital infrastructure initiatives only. Projects should help maintain or improve an organization’s asset, such as the renovation, replacement or expansion of an existing facility. Examples of eligible expenses include, roof, windows and/or doors replacement; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) improvements or replacement; as well as plumbing, electrical, and/or security upgrades; and furniture, fixtures and/or equipment that will be used by youth for a specific activity. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements to promote accessibility and communication to ensure that individuals with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in a specific activity are also eligible.
County Executive Serino said, “Our children deserve every opportunity to learn and grow in safe and appropriate facilities. Our APG: Infrastructure Program will help our community partner agencies that serve young people make capital infrastructure improvements and enhancements to venues that house youth programming. We thank the County Legislature for its continued support of this program, and we encourage eligible organizations to take advantage of this funding opportunity.”
The County’s Community Development Advisory Committee and the Department of Planning and Development’s staff review all APG: Infrastructure grant applications and send their recommendations to the County Executive for final approval.
Additional information, application instructions and guidance about the 2024 APG: Infrastructure Program is available online. Applications will be accepted via an online portal through May 10th at 3 p.m., and awards will be announced in summer 2024.
Registration Open for Beacon High School Career Fair 2024 - Will You Display This Year?
/Registrations are open for the Beacon High School Career Fair 2024! This is a great chance to make an impression on kids in Beacon who are thinking about their careers at large, as well as local job prospects. Throughout the years, business regulars like Twins Barbershop, the Carpenters Union, drone flyers, A Little Beacon Blog, independent journalists and filmmakers, and others have tabled at this event.
“Last night, I had a dream that more artisans showed up this year,” said Katie, writer and publisher of A Little Beacon Blog. “They brought out tools and products they made for all to see.”
The annual career fair is on Friday, May 17th, 2024 from 10:30am to 1:30pm in the gymnasium. Signups free and are open for businesses, organizations, and individuals to participate.
Click to register for Beacon High School's 2024 Career Fair >
Included With Each Table
Participants will be provided with a table (6 ft.) on which they can display items that represent their career/profession and which can serve as talking pieces with students.
Access to power is limited, but if needed, they will do their best to place you next to a power source. Some extension cords are available, but consider bringing your own.
Set-up and breakfast will begin at 9:30am. Lunch will be served around 11:30am.
Deadline to register is Wednesday, May 1st.
April 2 Leave it Blank on Primary Day, PK & New Paltz Actions, Newburgh Iftar, and More
/This Press Release was distributed by the Beacon Coalition:
The Beacon Coalition was formed while trying to pass the Ceasefire Resolution in Beacon. They continue to send out updates. Below is their latest update:
“As the U.S. continues to undermine progress made towards a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, it is all the more important that we keep up local pressure. There are lots of ways to show up for Palestine this week at the ballot box, in local parks, online, and beyond. Starting with…”
LEAVE IT BLANK NY: Did you know that you can submit a blank ballot in the New York Presidential Democratic Primary on April 2nd (and in early voting), to send a strong signal to Biden that New Yorkers want a permanent ceasefire? While there is no uncommitted or write-in option in New York, blank ballots are counted, and we strongly encourage primary voters to use this powerful opportunity to make our voices heard for a ceasefire. Find out more information on the Leave it Blank Campaign here, and sign up to phone bank here The campaign needs all hands on deck between today and the April 2nd primary, and phone banking is a great way to connect with other New Yorkers about how our tax dollars should be invested at home, not funding the destruction of Gaza.
THIS WEEK:
SATURDAY 3/30 at 8PM: Land Day Vigil (Peace Park, New Paltz). In solidarity with the liberation of Palestine. Flowers & masks encouraged. More info here.
SUNDAY 3/31 from 12-3PM: Poughkeepsie Protest. Gather at Harriet Tubman Park (72 Market Street, Poughkeepsie) in support of Poughkeepsie’s ceasefire resolution.
FRIDAY 4/5 at 7PM: Community Iftar at the Newburgh Masjid (25 Washington Terrace, Newburgh). Community event organized by the Newburgh Masjid board and congregation. All are welcome regardless of faith, affiliation, etc. Please be sure to RSVP to info@newburghmasjid.org so that the Masjid can prepare enough food for all to enjoy.
Looking for ways to support from home? Check out this call for creative submissions to the “Seeds of Resistance” Zine (deadline April 1st) from Qader Voice, Cosmic Dog House Press, and Celebrate845, and this opportunity to share art with children of Gaza.
Finally, we’re still looking for folks who wrote to the Beacon City Council and/or who spoke during public comment in support of Beacon’s ceasefire resolution to submit their written letters and speeches to this email address (beaconceasefirecoaltion@gmail.com). These submissions will be compiled and distributed in a public forum that may serve as a reference for other municipalities who are writing letters and speeches for their own councils. So, please be sure to include in your email whether you’d like to be named as the author of your piece in this public compilation (and by what name if so), or if you prefer to remain anonymous.
Monday’s 4-1-24 City Council Meeting Agenda - What’s On Deck
/Peek at the agenda below...
1. Declaring the City Council's Intent to be Lead Agency under SEQRA with regard to the Mount Beacon Water Tank Replacement Project
2. Supporting an Application to Round 8 of the Restore New York Communities Initiative for the GarageWORKS Studios Redevelopment Project
Last Day! Best Blog In The Hudson Valley Voting
/Today is the last day to vote for A Little Beacon Blog for Best Blog of the Hudson Valley! Please forward to your friends if you already voted, and have them too!
Thank you SO MUCH for voting for us last year. ALBB was awarded Best Blog Of The Hudson Valley 2023 because you made it happen. You value our articles and commitments to promoting the Beacon business community.
This year, we are moving into the affordable housing community, because living in the affordable housing system is very difficult. It's not safe for our neighbors - there are many loopholes they can fall victim to. Your financial contributions to ALBB help make this happen.
ALBB is our business! We don't run a deli selling turkey sandwiches, we make a blog making blog articles that we don't get paid to do. We are sponsor and reader supported. Thank you for considering donating to us! We accept contributions in any amount! Love the $5 and even the $1,000! LOL. Somewhere in the lower middle.
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Ireland's Unending Support For Palestine Represented In Beacon's St. Paddy's Day Parade
/It was when someone called my parade car a “bomb” that I decided to open my moonroof to stand out my car during Beacon’s St. Paddy’s Day Parade, wearing my keffiyeh scarf in a traditionally knotted cover over my head, waving the Palestinian flag. My trusty sidekick and lead designer, Allie Bopp, at my side, driving. I’ve reported on racism in Beacon before at A Little Beacon Blog. Racism put upon Black and Brown community members, and racism put upon Arab community members. And then I personally experienced the insult calling in the parade. Most people in Beacon were supportive - giving big smiles and silent thumbs up. Some people called out “KATIE!” and “LITTLE BEACON BLOG!” and cheered. Some people who cheered during Black Lives Matter, were silent this year. New people cheered this year.
I remain proud to have represented Ireland’s unwavering support of Palestine’s freedom and dignity by riding with and waving the Palestinian flag, as Palestinians are murdered by homicidal Zionist maniacs who are in Israel, who are weaponizing the Jewish faith to do so. Some would argue my waving of the Palestinian flag spoke for Jewish people also, who are screaming for this to stop, and who feel that having a state is Israel does not mean protection for them, and has not since its settlement 75 years ago in 1948.
Now that I have “broken the 4th wall” as one reader put it, where I came out front and center on the blog in videos sometimes to talk about Palestine, I have had the racist insults thrown at me. However. Never did I have a better time at Beacon St. Paddy’s Day Parade. I didn’t think anything could top driving through the blizzard, but being called “White Power Hamas” by some racist genocide deniers, while simultaneously being cheered on and given many silent thumbs-ups by Beacon community members - this was something I will never forget.
Reporting on Islamaracism in Beacon and in Palestine has been enormously triggering and healing at the same time. To face it. To call it out. I know I’m not speaking only for myself. From the two speeches I gave at Beacon’s City Council Meetings, being one of 50 people pushing the City Council to draft and pass a Ceasefire Resolution, to reporting on local developments about it.
Ireland’s Consistent, Very Strong Support For A Free Palestine Presented In Instagrams
What Irish History Can Teach Us About The History Of A Free Palestine
More Irish/Palestine Similarities, As Played/Taught By Violin
Ireland’s Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, Stating Ireland’s Support For Palestine To President Joe Biden on St. Patrick’s Day: “We see our history in their eyes.”
Anonymous Letter Sent To House
After the parade, an anonymous note written on pink post-it paper was sent to the house. The note asked for no Palestinian flags to be in the parade. At this point in the genocide, and the consistent movement for Palestinian liberation, to not carry a Palestinian flag in a St. Paddy’s Day parade would be uncivilized, and unIrish. Begging the question: why then are you at the parade? Foe the unofficial pub crawl? And the fun floats? Which are both good reasons! But also, Irish Pride includes Falestine Liberation 🇮🇪☘️🇵🇸.
St. Paddy Parade Photos
There were other parade photos. Which were published in another local newspaper. Quite a few of them. But that newspaper didn’t publishing anything about the Palestinian flags waving. It’s like I’ve always said: I’m more interested in what that newspaper doesn’t publish, then what it does. Useful as it is sometimes.