Beacon Bits -- Makers and Shakers

This year, January, known as the month of new beginnings, felt longer than usual with five weekends to explore Main Street, which was virtually untouched by snow and sunnier than the recent years past. Second Saturdays are exploding with music and art, as per Beacon Arts listings. Diners have more choices for breakfast with Homespun now serving on weekends. And hikers have continued to traverse the Fishkill Ridge and learn about the Mt. Beacon Incline Railway at the exhibit found at the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries. However, this year, it seemed more natural to begin the year with some spiritual renewal and a meditation retreat with a good read of the book, Befriending Silence; a trip to the Dia Beacon with a service-dog-in-training in tow for its natural light and sculptural creations; and the purchase of some new yarn for practical projects worth effort and time spent in knitting. So I found it curious that my propensity towards interiority won out despite the call of the mild weather to walk about town on Sunday afternoons. But to my delight, on one such outing, I came across the Hudson Valley Maker and Artisan Cooperative located in Clay, Wood, Cotton at 133 Main Street. Filled with eclectic and diverse creations, this artisan space highlights the 'maker movement', with its hands on, innovative design using raw materials and recycled artifacts to make objects that are both whimsical and functional.

I had a nice conversation with one of the makers, Chris Faroe, and was not at all surprised to learn of his Scandinavian background since many of the creations in the store that are made of wood evoke cabinetry and woodworking made by craftsmen through the ages from the north countries. Fellow makers, Keith Decent and Rob Hughes also demonstrate their innovative design and talent in lamp fixtures, tables, refinished wood pieces, and metal adornments. I look forward to arranging a custom handmade object fashioned by one of the makers that will blend with a unique mix of modern and shabby chic.

Food for thought:  It's a relief to know that our faster Internet speeds for downloads and uploads are being balanced with an eye on renewable construction from scratch materials leading to curious creations that Rube Goldberg would surely appreciate. Add the maker movement to the slow food movement and we can stand still in time. Or go back in time when the Hudson River Valley was home to the Shakers and their own movement of utilitarian furniture; 'tis truly a gift to be simple. And simple is always a great way to start the new year.

 A Simple Knitted Head Band

CO 26 sts. Knit one row across.

Repeat Pattern

R1: K4, P18, K4

R2: K3, P1, K18, P1, K3

R3: K4, P18, K4

R4: K3, P1, (C6B)x3, P1, K3

R5: K4, P18, K4

R6: K3, P1, K18, P1, K3

R7: K4, P18, K4

R8: K3, P1, K3 (C6F)x2, K3, P1, K3

C6B - Slip 3 sts onto cable needle. Hold in back. Knit 3 from left, knit 3 from cable. 

For C6F, hold 3 sts on cable in front.

Ella Rae Chunky Lace Merino, purchased on sale at Clay Wood Cotton, knitted with size 4 needles

Beacon Bits -- "Buy-In" Beacon

If you missed Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, don't panic; everyday can be "Buy-In Beacon" Day -- be it for the holidays or for all the other gift giving occasions throughout the year.

Here's my top ten reasons to shop in Beacon

10.  One of a kind handmade gifts (and a skein or two of yarn) at Clay Wood and Cotton  .........

(And for handmade, don't forget all the pop-up stores around town, and scheduled workshops to make your own gifts at Jessica Wickham's wood studio during the weekend of December 6th and 7th and blowing glass ornaments at Hudson Beacon Glass throughout the month of December and D-I-Y workshops at Nixie Sparrow.)

9.  Warm clothes and boots suited for cold weather and outdoor sports at Mountain Tops Outfitters........

8.  The best of the valley's arts and crafts at Riverwinds Gallery........

7.  The best wine and spirits selection with expert advice about food pairings at Artisan Wine Shop..........

6.  Thoughtful treats and toys for all the furry, four-legged friends in your life at Beacon Barkery........

5.  A unique book about hiking, kayaking or local history throughout the Hudson Valley or a monetary donation for all the wonderful 'free' programming in honor of that special someone on your shopping list who already has everything they need at Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries........

4.  Seasonal plants, festive bouquets or floral home decorations at La Bella Rosa........

3.  A wide selection of gourmet gadgets and kitchenware at Utensil........

2.  Whatever you find (or smell or taste) that you may not have been looking for but that you find intriguing at Heart and Soul........

1.  Something elegant, fashion forward, artistic and custom made for your home or to wear as your signature garment or accessory at Gwenno James........

I bemoaned the fact that another one of my favorites, an iconic hat store -- Jaqueline's --could not make the list this year because it just closed. However, there may be more to report about what this talented creator and purveyor of hats will be planning for the future.

Most important, in the midst of all this shopping, I'd be remiss not to mention Giving Tuesday. While there are a multitude of nonprofits worthy of your donation in Beacon (see my previous blog about becoming a friend of our local organizations), this year I'd like to draw attention to a program taking place at Beacon's two local prisons--Downstate Correctional Facility and Fishkill Correctional Facility--(as well as four other prisons) called Puppies Behind Bars (PBB.) Inmates are trained to train Labrador retrievers to become service dogs for the disabled, those who are blind or for veterans healing from physical and emotional wounds. In addition to the staff for the non-for-profit PBB and the inmates, volunteers from neighboring towns are trained to become puppy sitters who socialize the pups in the community. Read more about this 16 year old program to find out why it is so deserving of recognition as a highly effective, win-win proposition for the rehabilitation of inmates, for the ultimate recipients of the dogs when they are placed in homes, and for those who volunteer to help raise loving companions. Consider giving a donation--or learning about how to become a puppy sitter--it will truly be a gift that keeps giving.

Food for thought:  It's all in the giving. Generosity and altruism are gifts of and for the spirit. So when you are in search of the gifts with monetary value, feed yourself with pleasurable pursuits and worthy causes. You will be giving a gift to yourself as you support local business, meet and greet proprietor-friends, and revel in the assortment of beautiful opportunities that Beacon has to offer.

As you shop, remember to feed your body as well. Make time for a snack or meal at  

Beacon Bread Company, Tito Santana, Beacon Pantry, 

Homespun, Poppy's, Bank Square, Ella Bella's and Beacon Bagels.

And if you need a place to spend an overnight, call ahead for a room at Botsford Briar Bed & Breakfast!

Beacon Bits -- Winter's Reprieve

I had an irresistible urge to get my car washed today. I wasn't in denial that it will soon rain and snow again as this brief interlude of spring comes to an end (don't blink) and when we return once again to winter's version of March madness. It just felt like it was a great day for a good car wash - 'the ultimate' a.k.a. 'the works' - and that shedding the layers of road salt was in order. And long overdue. It really felt like spring! 

 

I imagine that we all are looking around for signs of a lasting spring............

 

The changing light on the face of Mt. Beacon and Fishkill Ridge.

 

The literal signs that spring really does arrive betwixt and between the short days of winter and the long days of summer.

 

The rumors that Zora Dora will soon be re-opening its doors with seasonal favorite paletas to entice every one's palate into tasting spring's arrival before it actually does.

 

Food for thought:  The lengthening of the days with the return of Daylight Savings time is energizing the birds and those who delight in spring cleaning rituals. It's always good to greet the change of season with an openness and lightness of being. For those who have been out and about on Main Street or who attended last week's Second Saturday, you know that the increased number of opportunities to get out of the house is growing exponentially; the voracious appetite to explore and ingest is as palpable as watching a hibernating bear emerge to forage for its long-awaited nourishment. The early smorgasbord of spring delights for Beaconites include:

 

o  the return of Marion Royael Gallery with its current show featuring the 'onion';

o  sampler ballroom dancing classes at Yanarella Dance studio;

o  the birthing of chocolate bunnies, jelly eggs and marzipan chicks at Alps Sweet Shop;

o  renewed planning to revive fundraising efforts to further renovate the Beacon Theatre;

o  Water Way: The Paintings of Fredericka Foster exhibit at the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries with a dialogue of the creative process with the artist planned for Saturday, 4/12 at 5pm.

 

Snow showers or not, it's time for another walking tour of Main Street before it comes into full bloom and well before parking becomes nearly impossible!

Beacon Bits -- Only the Best

I just finished a two-week "stay-cation" in the Hudson Valley. I don't think there is a more perfect time of the year to experience the variation of weather conditions that are invigorating as the leaves go through their medley of colorful changes. I had the full gamut from frost to fog to the finest and clearest of days that suggested the need for a morning wrap, which unfolded during the day as the clouds marked the advancing time to an earlier sunset and need to bundle up once again. But what better time of year than this to have some freedom and lots of choice for a variety of events that are as plentiful as the multitude of apples for the munching. (Oddly enough, to the day of our early snowstorm this time last year, the weather is once again on my mind as I chose to post this blog today while taking an extended vacation day in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy.)

 

I sampled the annual Woodstock Film Festival at the Upstate Films in Rhinebeck with a viewing of the documentary Chasing Ice, which provides the visual evidence of climate change with James Balog's time-lapse photographs; they convincingly capture the dwindling size of glaciers (EIS.) A picture is worth a thousand words. See it to believe it.

I attended the Friends of Boscobel Applefest on a glorious Sunday afternoon under a tent on the lawn of this historical landmark in Cold Spring. Enchanting. Despite the bee sting.



 

I went to the Francis Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie for the first time and know that it will be the first of many visits; next time I will take the 2pm tour led by a docent who is an art history major at the school. What an amazing valley treasure!

I made a quick stop at the Apple Pie Bakery at the CIA in Hyde Park and spent a leisurely half-day at the famous Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck. Yum :)

I didn't make it to Manitoga, home of designer Russell Wright, because of the flooding deluge of rain on the scheduled day of the hike-tour. (Oddly, it's the second time I didn't make the tour; last year it was canceled by the October snowstorm! Beware 10/29 when making plans for next year!!) But the rainy day was the perfect opportunity to go to the Dia Museum in Beacon for a walk in and around the large installation sculptures housed in the renovated Nabisco box factory; a space with north facing clerestory windows that made the most dreary day bearable with the presence of its inner light and the diffuse autumnal colors through the opaque glass windows to the south, east and west.

In between these wonderful outings and catching up with errands and house projects, other enjoyable local events on Main Street in Beacon included an author's event at BIRE where Trudie Grace, curator at the Putnam Historical Museum, presented a slide talk about the history of Cold Spring (Images of America: Around Cold Spring, www.arcadiapublishing.com) and two wine tastings at the Artisan Wine Shop: Wines of the Loire Valley (10/7/12) and Wines of Spain (10/21/12.)

 

 

I've already described the classes that CIA grads Tim Buzinski and Mei Ying So host at their specialty wine shop in a previous blog (see 4/6/12 posting), but the joy of watching this

 

 

Beacon "power couple" at work is worth mentioning repeatedly.  Both classes allowed their expertise to shine: Tim and Mei had just visited vintners in the Loire Valley, so we saw their personal slide show for a visual representation of the olfactory and gustatory pleasures at hand.

 

 



We learned about Sancerre and Vouvray (my favorite), cabernet franc and Muscadet. We sampled and commented and tasted an array of complementary goat cheeses, a marriage made in the Loire valley, and longed for more as we were assured that these wines are particularly appropriate for the autumnal weather and fare.

 

The encore event took us to Spain where we found out about Tim's passion (yes, above and beyond his usual enthusiasm) for Spanish regional wines including sherry, rioja, malvasia and  regional delights from Galicia, Andalucia and the Canary Islands. I sensed something special was going to happen when the usual six glasses for tasting had multiplied to nine, along with exquisitely paired tapas; the nine glasses were a lot to handle for an evening, but with bottles to go, they will be there for further enjoyment with "big food", friends and family. (I must admit I was too busy to take photos at this tasting.)

 

I especially appreciate Mei's 'behind the scenes' touches that make the presentation and organization of materials for personalized tasting notes a treasure to keep for future reference.  While the tastings book-ended my vacation, the good news is that there are two more to come: Wines for Holiday Meals (11/10/12) and Sparkling Wines from Champagne to Prosecco (12/5) with food pairings; bound to be true gifts of the season.

 

Some Food for Thought:

While I was driving along our local roads, such as 9D, from Breakneck down to Bear Mountain on weekends during the month of October, I couldn't help but think -- when or if Indian Point melts down -- I really hope it's not during the height of the annual autumnal pilgrimage of leaf peeping, mountain climbing, apple and pumpkin picking and oompah-pahing during Octoberfest. We would surely go up in a blaze of glory.  www.closeindianpoint.org

 

 

Beacon Bits -- B-"ECO"-FRIENDLY

A recent visit to the new materials recovery facility, ReCommunity Recycling, at 508 Fishkill Avenue (Route 52) during an Open House, sponsored by the Beacon Chamber of Commerce, was quite informative and a far cry from last year's publicized resistance to the project voiced by some concerned Beaconites fearing additional truck traffic in neighboring areas. The public relations presentation touted all the virtues of recycling that has come of age because companies, such as this local affiliate of the largest recycling company  in the U.S. headquartered in Charlotte, NC, can turn a profit on the abundant waste of plastics, bottles, aluminum, and paper.  The business opportunity for the resale of recycled refuse has fostered education and encouragement for consumers to use their increased awareness that garbage needs to be separated while capitalizing on the ease of "single stream" recycling, which does not require pre-sorting materials at home; this is left for the automatic conveyors and 44 newly hired employees in a 7.5 million, 52,000 square feet, renovated building that opened in the Spring 2012. ReCommunity Beacon promises to reduce the local carbon footprint by recovering material that would ordinarily add to greenhouse gases and take up landfill space.

My choice for a theme song for this venture is clearly Dan Einbinder's "It Really Isn't Garbage"....."til you mix it all together.....it really isn't garbage til you throw it away". The song, popularized by Pete Seeger and the Rivertown Kids, can now be front and center, but it doesn't eradicate the history of recycling since the 1970's when volunteer environmentalists would sort through garbage for "free". Nor do the 'de rigeur' recycling plants negate efforts of local heroes from the Beacon Sloop Club who led the way to convert the former  garbage dump north of their current building by the train station into the popular Riverfront Park.

Beacon has been and will continue to be at the forefront of environmental activism; people here seem to always be leading the way. Just take a sample of recent and upcoming events in town that focus on water pollution (Poisoned Waters, a film on new toxins from everyday life on 8/16/12 at CEIE at Dennings Point), environmental crises (Plan B, Mobilizing to Save Civilization, a film shown on 7/24/12 at The Beacon Theatre), and ecological concerns (One Earth, an upcoming group exhibit at Fovea, opening night on Second Saturday, 9/8/12)

Beacon still has further potential for leadership in this groundswell of renewed fervor to save our planet. With Pete Seeger as champion of the cause living in our midst, being home to the Clearwater organization and having the support of neighbors like Scenic Hudson, Beacon has many role models, including Victor 'Roland' Mousaa, inventor of the Solar Electric Sun Bulb, a Rocket Hub project to be premiered at the Solar Expo Jam Festival on 8/18/12 at 12 noon at Rickey & Son's Organic Farm, 442 Rt. 94 North, Vernon, NJ.* This may just be the newest chapter for Beacon to once again stand as a 'shining light' for the Hudson River Valley; from the historical signal fires of the revolutionary war to the current urgency of creating alternate energy sources, using solar, wind and geothermal technology.

*Pete Seeger will be playing at 2pm on Saturday 8/18 at the Solar Expo Jam Festival along with Princess of WOW and Her Smile Revolution Band, Roland Mousaa and many other musicians from Friday night (8/17) through Sunday (8/19).

Some food for thought: Beacon's role may be truly 'enlightening' for environmental issues. For those of us who have always been aware, we are in good company. For those of us who need encouragement to prace eco-friendly habits, we have the social support and resources at hand to do so. For those of us who need that extra push, someone will be willing to apply some peer pressure. Hopefully, there will be an appropriate showing of 'b-eco-friendly' advocates in the form of educational floats and community activities at this year's 35th annual Spirt of Beacon Day in September to light the way.


Beacon Bits -- Beacon's Buzz

When you look at a beehive, you know there's a lot of productive activity going on inside. Every bee has a purpose and mission to fulfill, and collectively, the outcome is greater than the sum of its parts. So it's no coincidence that the Common Ground Farm Fair Food Committee* chose to host a free showing on July 15th of the documentary The Greenhorns, about young farmers, at BEAHIVE, the innovative and progressive workspace in the center of Beacon. The "hive" was the perfect venue to bring Beaconites together to view this film, which depicts the choices and challenges of sustainable farming, and to personally meet the local farmers and apprentices of our CSA with time for Q&A, refreshments and prizes.

In speaking to Scott Tillitt, founder of the BEAHIVE's Beacon site, the mission of the BEAHIVE was greatly clarified; I understood that the hive is more than renting work space to those who need an office, rather, it is an interconnected system of individuals who have common goals and values for sustainable living while advancing the level of community for all participants. It is a place  to come together to support the larger Beacon community and collaborate on projects of mutual interest. It is a place for belonging and membership.

*The Fair Food Committee offers support in the form of stipends for individuals who qualify for a subsidy to purchase a share for Common Ground's CSA; purchases a share that is distributed to two local food pantries (St. Andrew's in Beacon and First Reformed in Fishkill); and collaborates with the Cooperative Extension's Green Teens program that educates students about food justice by scheduling deliveries to seniors and those who may not ordinarily seek out healthy food choices based on convenience, habits, or limited funds.
Some food for thought: The buzz about Beacon has reached notoriety with the recent CNN advertisement with designer Mark Bastien's drive to Beacon and the New York Times article by Paul Appelbome after his July Second Saturday visit. But the real buzz in Beacon occurs in the center of Main Street, which Appelbome characterizes as middle America--"waiting for better days", the stretch between the east and west coasts--"where the cool people hang out". However, it is this very middle ground that brings Beaconites together as a community in the form of partnerships, meetings, gatherings and events, such as free film showings at the Howland Library, community chorus at the Howland Cultural Center, dancing at Rosa's Exercise Dance Studio or Yanarella's, purchasing chocolate delights at Alps Sweet Shop or bread at All You Knead, working together on a fundraiser at BEAHIVE and attending a book signing or  lecture sponsored by BIRE--where former Mohawk tribal chief James Ransom shared insights about Native American spirituality and the environment on July 19th at BIRE's Dennings Point location. He spoke volumes about community spirit; his comments about building community through common interests and activities amplified my own beliefs about finding meaning and purpose through participation and engagement in diverse activities (i.e., occupations) that are valued and important. This shared sentiment is what the real buzz in Beacon is all about. Take time to get involved. Sign up. Join in. Gather together. Reach out. Meet up. Support local business and nonprofits. Do something new. Contribute. Receive. Belong. Become a member of the hive!