Newly Repaired Dummy Light Pops Up - Beaconites Cheer

After being accidentally hit by a City of Beacon vehicle during the highly anticipated and appreciated milling of paving of Main Street this spring 2022, Beacon’s iconic Dummy Light hardware has been repaired by the City of Beacon’s Highway Department, financed by the City. The re-painting was commissioned to artist Erica Hauser to refresh the re-paint job she voluntarily did years prior (ALBB covered it in 2015), that had since gotten chipped from various vehicle collisions.

City of Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou hugs the Dummy Light after its restoration of parts and paint, after a City of Beacon employee accidentally hit it during milling and paving this spring.
Photo Credit: City of Beacon

During this week’s 8/15/2022 City Council Meeting, Mayor Kyriacou announced the restoration: "You may have heard this, the Dummy Light is back where it is." Mayor Kyriacou is known for his adherence toward historic preservation. Read the City’s full press release here.

During that meeting, City Administrator Chris White said: "I just want to thank Micky Manzie (Beacon’s Superintendent of Streets) for such a terrific job in locating all of the pieces of the light. And thank Dave Way and Sean Duturo for doing a fabulous job for putting it back."

After the unfortunate incident took place, City Administrator Chris told A Little Beacon Blog during a rally at Pohil Park for preserving abortion rights: “The employee who it hit is one of our best, and they felt so badly after it happened.”

Financing For The Dummy Light Repair

During City Council Meetings in weeks prior, City Administrator Chris mentioned that some funding for the acquisition of parts to repair this Dummy Light had been allocated from film fees generated from film projects being filmed in Beacon, like the recent regular, Poker Face.

Statement From The Artist Who Re-Painted The Dummy Light, Erica Hauser

After hearing City Administrator Chris note that a person was paid this time to repaint the Dummy Light, A Little Beacon Blog remembered that the person not paid prior was the local artist Erica Hauser, formerly of Catalyst Gallery, that has since closed during the pandemic (but her art lives on and on). ALBB reached out to Erica to learn more about the commission. Here is a brief interview with her:

ALBB: I thought I heard during a City Council meeting that someone was commissioned to recently repaint the Dummy Light during its repair. If true, was it to you?

“Yes it was me! Mark Price at Beacon Recreation called me after he heard that I had carefully low-key repainted it in 2012 - which was inspired low-key by Dan Weise, after I'd done a painting and shirt of the light in 2009 - and touched it up in 2015.

“I'd been thinking it needed a repaint anyway, even before it was hit in April by the paving truck. But it was nicer this time to be employed and paid by the City - or by the Beacon Recreation Department - to do it!

“I did it in early July, meant to coincide with the re-installation of the repaired light, but as we know that just happened last week, to great jubilation by all. Well maybe not by those who are worried about people hitting it.

“As for the paint job itself: these were the original colors and design circa 2006 when I first saw the thing. So in 2012 I wanted to match it. The yellow diamonds were actually faded peeling reflective stickers, so I just sanded it clean and painted yellow diamonds instead.

“I don't know how long ago the base was yellow, but people on the Beacon page surely know. I asked Mark if he wanted me to paint it all yellow, but he said no, it should be as it has been most recently. I'm saying this, because I had doubted it after some people were blaming the dark green color for the accidents!

“I was worried that they thought some artist had made the decision, which I would never take it on myself to do, in fact, I had meticulously matched the dark green and historic red!”

Thank you, Erica, for sharing these painting details. For Beacon history enthusiasts, you can add these details to your trivia cards.

Dummy Light In Pictures

According to Brian of @SpandexandSprinkles, the Dummy Light was in the last episode of “Severance,” which filmed in Beacon in March, 2021. ALBB has not fact checked this yet, as we need to check our subscription to Apple TV, but if you can confirm, let us know.

Dummy Light Safety Discussions

The paving collision prompted discussions about safety and the Dummy Light. Located at the intersection of Main Street and East Main (near Dogwood), the Dummy Light was supposed to replace a traffic cop decades ago near the train tracks. At this point, it is an obstacle in an already very unclear intersection which involves a hill and inconsistent crosswalks.

People in social media have suggested some sort of roundabout be created. Beacon’s City Planner John Clark has indicated that something be done to improve traffic and walking flow there. And Beacon’s City Administrator Chris has indicated that other vehicles have hit the cement base since the toppling of the Dummy Light during milling and paving of spring 2022.

It seems as if the campaign to Save Beacon’s Dummy Light is not quite over…

The Artists Behind The "Greetings From Beacon" Mural At Beacon Bread Company

Many people in Beacon double as something else. The owner of Beacon Bread Company, Kamel Jamal, happens to be an extremely creative person, both visually and with phrases. He not only doubles the number of restaurants he creates, but enables others to share their talent as well.

It was no surprise when he commissioned one of his Beacon Bread staff, Shannon J. Ramos, to cover the side of the building he leases with an inviting and celebratory “Greetings From Beacon!” mural. Shannon is a muralist and tattoo artist from Poughkeepsie, who developed this design with her boyfriend and fellow artist, Sean who is from Wappingers Falls.

“We met through art,” said Sean. “She’d go to my art shows, and I’d go to her art shows. I love her art. I was in a grumpy mood this morning, but this changed me today. Being able to paint with her is so much fun.”

After 2 months of working for Beacon Bread as a server, Shannon and Sean began researching the design, and after looking at tons of postcards, went with this rainbow connection that “brings happiness,” Shannon said. Painting on the brick wasn’t so much of a challenge, she felt. Shannon used house paint for the hand/detail work, and Sean’s medium is spray painting.

“Murals are a lot of work” Shannon explained. “So it’s fun to have someone to balance off and bring different aspects of art to it. He’s good at spray paint. I’m good at hand-paint. It’s fun to play off each other.” Sean points out that they enjoy the interactive process of having passer-byers walk past to watch them paint. The flowers were left un-colored so that BEACON could stand out. The entire mural took about one day to complete.

Shannon is a full time restaurant server and artist. She has remained at Beacon Bread after starting there in the Spring of 2021, and was surprised to experience the creatively supportive vibe she got from the management. “I got the job, and then…you know…you want to be as available as possible for hours, but then I could only work certain days, and they were totally cool with that and wanted to make it work. It’s cool about them, as they are cool about flexible schedules, and having me do this mural and highlighting what I like to do.”

Follow Shannon at her Instagram.

COVID Case Update: Asthma, Oxygen Readers, And Memories Of Being In Labor

In good news, the Quarantine for my family and myself has lifted! My last day was Christmas Day, as told to me by my doctor, based on my testing date and symptoms not surfacing. The school nurses from the Beacon City School District have been amazing, calling in every now and then to check on the kids, even though one tested positive, and the other did not (also no symptoms for that one).

I hadn’t intended to write another entry about COVID, but after seeing a news segment tonight from a family who had lost a daughter-in-law, it seems people are wanting to know how to prepare once they test positive for COVID. This family had made a COVID-Kit with helpful things in it, with intentions on helping people know how to deal with the symptoms. So I decided to continue posting, in case it helps to give you direction and comfort.

Most importantly, always call your doctor with questions, and to get guidance. Be persistent with your doctor if you are feeling discomfort or not well. You know your body.

Additionally, the Mayor of Cold Spring, Dave Merandy, who has a son who is a nurse and who got quite sick with COVID but pulled through, thought the media wasn’t doing a good job covering COVID. Perhaps I’ll reach out to Mayor Merandy to learn what he wishes to see, since it’s all many in the media talk about, but in the meantime, I’ll share some symptom related items.

Get The Oxygen Reader - The Pulse Oximeter

When I first got the positive result, of course I wanted to know what to do to help myself and my family manage through the symptoms. What to do? There wasn’t much advice, except to take Vitamin C, D, and Zink. Fine. Done. My mom told me to get an oxygen reader. She’s been watching the news, was up on Chris Cuomo when he had it, and we are an asthmatic family. So we have had this oxygen reader pictured here (the pulse oximeter) on our fingers in the doctor’s office before. It’s easy to get. Find it at Target.

You want the oxygen number to be between 95-100. Anything below that, the doctor encourages you to call them or call in an emergency. One early morning, my oxygen hit 94, and I texted my neighbor and my mom, and then my sister wanted to hop on a plane to get here to watch my kids. I didn’t allow any of this to happen, but we kept monitoring.

My pulse is usually in the 60s-70s (it’s how I stay so calm, cool and collected, of course), but you want to watch that too, and track what is a high number for your normal.

Asthma, COVID, and Essential Oils

If you are going to be one of the people to say: “Put these essential oils in your diffuser… this is all so overblown,” I will warn you now to step back. I have used the essential oils, as an allergy-induced asthmatic. The last time I did was 3 years ago when I was pregnant with my 3rd (and final) child. My asthma got triggered worse with each child. By the time I was pregnant with him, my very pregnancy made me have asthma. Want to know what helped? The Grandma’s Pizza at Brothers. That pizza has so much garlic, which is an anti-inflammatory, that it actually opened my lungs.

Yes, food works. Oils work. I eat sautéd garlic and spinach every morning, with lemon water. I’m a fan of these homeopathic methods. My great grandfather was a homeopathic doctor! But this is nothing in the face of COVID. Ok? Ok. I have a lot of food quirks. I won’t humor you in the details this round, but know that I do value the magic of food and fitness. With COVID, however, I want an inhaler by my side, and an oxygen reader. Because COVID has its own mind inside of your body.

When pregnant with my 3rd child, in December 2017, my asthma was so bad, that my midwife, upon hearing me speak to her, told me to go to the ER. She could tell that I was having trouble pushing through the words. For me, I thought nothing of it. I was whispering to my family, but I thought I was just tired.

Upon driving to the ER, and arriving, my lungs began opening. As I was sitting in the ER, my asthma lifted. Why? Because I had a real Christmas tree at the house, and it was permeating into my lungs. A year’s long problem that I forget about every year. When I was out of the house, I was away from that pine. We finally have a fake tree now. It’s only taken 43 years.

Point is: asthma is usually not alleviated until the thing permeating into your body triggering the asthma is gone. In the case of COVID, it’s crawling all around your body. So it’s calling the shots.

Asthma and COVID-19

COVID-19 is in part a respiratory disease, it is giving people who do not regularly have asthma a hard time breathing. People speak of tightness in their chest, having shortness of breath, and having a low oxygen read. If you are not one to normally take an inhaler, consider talking to you doctor about having an inhaler.

There are mainly two types: the “rescue” inhaler, and the long-term steroid inhaler. The “rescue” inhaler usually uses Albuterol and is used when your chest first begins feeling tight and/or you are weazing, or you are coughing (you could have one without the other). The Albuterol goes into your lungs and opens them up for a bit. When I was a kid, my mom would listen to my chest to see if she heard “ghosts.” These are wheezing sounds of lungs being inflamed.

There- are pros and cons of taking this inhaler, including making your heart beat faster. I usually warn those around me that I have just taken my inhaler, and to forgive me if I am snappish. Usually this mindfulness keeps me in check.

The longer term inhaler is usually known as Prednisone and is used for management of the lungs, if a person is using the rescue inhaler for days in a row. There are pros and cons to this as well, including an immunity suppressant. You should Google this to look for articles on how and if doctors are using this to treat COVID-19 patients.

For long-term asthma coughs, my kids have used Singulair. This is a daily pill that is a management of asthma or asthma cough. For my kids, their asthma cough was worse when they are younger, and can at times require days in a row of nebulizing (air-pumped Albuterol to calm the lungs and stay ahead of the asthma cough from getting too bad).

As asthmatics, in normal life (as in, pre-pandemic) we are trained to take the rescue inhaler right away and consistently, to stay ahead of the asthma. If we do not, then the asthma gets worse, and our chances of going into the ER increase. This is usually discussed during with us during flu-season.

Please ask your doctor any questions. This is just my experience from our medical treatment over the years.

Women’s Cycle Triggered By More Than One Woman

I am excited to report that I have heard from other local Beaconites, that other women had their cycles triggered when they first got COVID too! This is only a theory, but if estrogen is helping calm the immunity storm, I’ll welcome it!

“This Is Like Being In Labor! I Can’t Tell What’s Going On!”

As friends texted in to see how I was doing, and how my symptoms were, I answered back: “This is like being in labor! Aside from me having really annoying cramps right now. But I don’t know what signs to look for! This is like being in labor for the first time when you don’t know what a contraction feels like. ‘Is that it? Was that pain a contraction? Or a Braxton Hicks? Was that the mucus plug that just dropped? What does a mucus plug even look like?!?!?!?” I never did learn the answers to some of these questions. With all 3 of my pregnancies, my water never broke. I never had that right of passage. I also so far have not lost my sense of smell or taste, and I never had a fever or runny nose.

For COVID-19, I did (and sometimes still do) have chest tingling. Is that tingling in my left arm a sign? Is that random pain in my left collar bone a sign? Is me breathing in and feeling a pain a sign? My partner’s best friend did end up testing positive and having a heart attack (he’s doing well with a stint) the week we were symptomatic. So a person wonders these things.

Deep Breath = Strange Soreness In Bottom Of Lungs

Sometimes, there is a soreness in the bottom of my lungs when I take a deep breath. Not all days, but some days. I am a runner, and on some days, I need to pause mid-run from being tired or tight. Not all days. But some days. I’m still running. And stretching!

Getting COVID Again - Yes You Can

So…it’s ideal to think that once you get COVID, and have antibodies, that you won’t get it again. Sadly, friends of mine have already reported that friends of theirs who got it, have gotten it again. Symptoms seem to be inconsistent, meaning, some of those friends had the same symptoms, some less severe, and some worse.

My doctor told me that I might be immune for 1.5 months to 3 months. And I don’t know if that includes the new strain. I am pursuing the antibody test.

So I’ll still be social distancing, wearing a mask, and learning about the vaccine to see how it works, and when my family and myself can take it.

Wishing you health and safety.

Reminder About Comment Policy; No Grammar Shaming; Bias In The Media

After last week’s reaction to news, we are running an article to remind everyone about the Comment Policy at A Little Beacon Blog. As a result of the insults being thrown around throughout the pandemic, which peaked during election week, and will continue as we cover racial and pandemic topics, and quote people (any people), the insult darts from neighbor to neighbor are going to continue. This is how we deal with them at A Little Beacon Blog:

Comments Are Privileges, Not Rights

Back in the days when print media was the only way to get the news delivered to you in some format that was not word of mouth, people had the opportunity to write in a Letter to the Editor. Of the letters received, only a few could be selected. So it’s a big deal to be printed. Now with website platforms, people can publish comments usually un-moderated. Some websites thrive on this activity. ALBB does not. We do not relish in discomfort, hurt, punches through words.

While a news story might hurt someone’s feelings, it is usually a reflection of what happened. In a news story, reading the truth might hurt, or reading yourself quoted when you spoke at City Council Meeting or other public meeting might feel awkward, but that’s another matter.

The following types of comments will be deleted if left on our Instagram or Facebook, and will not be accepted to be published here on this blog:

• Name Calling, like “They are stupid!” Phrases that disrespect people, especially those phrases that combine a word that implies a mentally disabled person. No matter what side you are on, or if you are blended into both sides, if you imply others as being stupid, your comment may be deleted.

• False Accusations. When an implication is made in a comment, sometimes we will know who the person is, and if the claim is true. If we cannot validate an event mentioned in a comment, usually we use the comment as a lead to follow up on with the proper authorities, or get more information from that person.

• First and Last Names Required, usually: When publishing a comment here at the blog, you need to include your first and last name, and your actual email. If you include just your first name, and your correct email, we may consider publishing it. But really, if you stand behind what you say, you won’t be afraid to include your first and last name. If you use a false email, we won’t publish it. Emails are kept private. They are not published, and we do not add them to our newsletter list.

• Try to contribute a thought. If you’re making a comment, please try to contribute a thought that we all can benefit from, as we consider different angles.

• Time to disengage. If a comment conversation gets too heated, with insults piling up, we will ask you to stop. Please respect this and move on.

• Facebook Alias: If you use an alias at Facebook, and we find out, we may delete your comment. Already we have corresponded with people who do use aliases for various reasons. Those who do use an alias have so far left the most bully-ish comments. If you want to be a bully, do it under your full name with your face for us all to get to know you better.

• Instagram Alias: Instagram is a different vibe than Facebook. It was not designed to be like a moving yearbook. If you use a cute name at Instagram, we are fine with this, and may quote you using your Instagram handle.

• Quoting from Instagram or Facebook: When you leave a comment at Instagram or Facebook, it is public for the world to see, so we will not ask your permission to quote it if we lift it for an article.

• Exceptions to these rules: If you leave a horrific comment, we may actually leave it up, so that others can learn more about you.

Grammar Shaming

What has become clear during the 2020 election is that one group is being implicated as stupid, while that group despises the other group for being elitist smarty-pants types. While one group viewed the 45th president as a great leader, others viewed and experienced him as a bully.

Grammar Shaming is an act of bullying. It is taking the distraction of one’s error in using a official word - either spelled or pronounced - and discarding them based on a spelling error or grammar flub. We discussed this with former mayor Randy Casale in a podcast episode on “What, What Is That?” Randy uses his own diction in pronouncing some words, and for years has been discounted and cut down for it in Facebook. And he’s not the only one who is grammar shamed. It happens all of the time in social media when someone spots a misspelling, etc.

Cutting someone down for the way they speak is wrong. If a white person did that to a Black person, it would be racist. If a white person does it to a white person, it is rude and hurtful. Both versions are an act of being a bully and are hurtful.

People love finding misspelled words. It basically makes them feel better about themselves, because they also make mistakes. But there are several things to consider here:

• Ideas are not discounted just because someone spelled something wrong, or uses their own diction. If you see an error, and you want to snicker, keep it to yourself, and do not use ALBB’s social media to point it out.

• The English language really is not logical. For those who are professionals at it - good for you. The logic just isn’t consistent. Why are “dove” and “love” pronounced with a soft “o” and “move” is spelled with a hard “o”?

• Why does “y” sound like a “y,” except when it’s at the end of a word like “happy?”

• There is probably a grammerly type answer for these questions, but that doesn’t mean they are logical or contribute to an easy life :)

• So give everyone a break, and don’t use Grammar Shaming if you disagree with someone.

Editing For Spoken and Written Word

There are times when people speak in their style, and their grammar is unique, or part of a dialect of their community. We tend to not edit for that, especially when we transcribe a speech. The speaker loves the way they speak, and we want to respect that. If a speaker asks that we edit a pronunciation, we can do that.

Usually in press releases, if we feel that there needs to be an extra comma, and we really want to add one, we won’t. We love commas! And run-on sentences. If a press release forgot a word, like “not,” then we reach out if the context doesn’t make sense.

Holding Ourselves Accountable Too

There are lots of times we want to reply to a comment, but don’t, as it’s mainly a conversation space for you. We also know that you like your media on the neutral side. But sometimes we dip in. Know that we too are sitting on our hands and biting our tongues if a really snarky or sarcastic comment is trying to come out. We try to follow a guidline of not responding after 7pm, as that’s when words can get really spicy. We try to give it a minute.

Bias In The Media

Every single media outlet is biased, because it is run by humans. Even if the media was created by a computer, the machines learn, right? So they eventually lean in a certain direction. When a writer has an idea, they have an idea for a reason. From the genesis of their idea, or their clue that they are onto a good story idea, they are biased with that idea.

When they pitch it to their editor, their editor gets to make the choice of if the writer can pursue it or not. That editor is also biased. Everyone putting the publication together has a bias. Even the layout artist who is arranging pictures and words and headlines, to find what stands out more. You can’t not be, because you are alive and process information around you.

To accuse a media publication of being “biased” and that being the reason you stop reading is … a sign that you don’t like that one article. Everyone likes to hate on the Poughkeepsie Journal, except when that newspaper breaks a great story that proves your opinion.

Of the two people who unsubscribed from our last newsletter digest, one person had moved, and the other person, an avid reader and inspiration for our Where To Buy Easter Egg Stuff On Main Street Gift Guide (she DMed us from Target, where she put everything back and wanted to buy on Main Street), unsubscribed to say that the publication had become too biased.

That newsletter digest contained the article about the truck train, and article about the second Black person to be appointed onto Beacon’s Board of Education, and how Beacon’s Superintendent was committed to keeping the theme of Undoing Racism in the school’s curriculum.

So if this publication is biased because it is writing about Black people, and making a point to do so more, then yes, that is how we lean into our bias.

“But I’m not racist.”

That’s great!! This comment has been circulating a lot by people who say they are not racist. One of the first steps of not being racist is to be anti-racist. That little word, “anti,” means that you are putting out an extra effort to not be racist.

Part of not being racist is to believe people. If someone tells you a story, or shares a video of someone shouting “white power” in front of the Beacon Post Office, the comment that shows you are not racist would be: “Oh my gosh. That is dreadful. I am so upset he was part of our rally.” Or “Oh my gosh. I know him. I am ashamed that he did that in our rally. I am going to speak to him later.”

But if you say: “I did not hear that from the car I was in.” or “Did you it see coming out of his mouth? Did you see his mouth move?” This will signal that you are in denial. An person in denial contributes to racism. Which brings us back to being anti-racist. Several people who supported the Trump caravan did say these statements - stating that they did not hear anything and wanting more proof than it captured in a video - and it fueled the tension because it was denial. It also stunned a lot of fellow readers.

Ultimately, all of the readers wanted no racism. Anti-racism is how we get there. If you hear a story told to you, and then you respond by telling a story that counter-balances the testimonial given to you, you have denied that person’s testimony. That is not an act of being anti-racist. That is an act of being in denial, and contributing to racism.

You can also know, that our readership has grown with our racial coverage. White people reading are wanting to know more about Black people and their culture - a culture that exists within this very white community but isn’t covered that much - if at all - by the media. So we are trying our best to increase that.

In between breaking news stories about the pandemic or police or whatever else keeps happening.

Thank you for reading, and for your support. This community wants the same thing. Getting there is a unique journey, and never ends. It is a journey we will always be on, so is daily work.

A Little Beacon Blog Goes Underground: Moves ALBB Space and Tin Shingle Out Of The Telephone Building

With a heavy heart, the day has come to report on the closing of my event space, known as A Little Beacon Space. After three years of hosting community events, pop-up shops, and business retreats in Beacon's historic Telephone Building at 291 Main Street, I have closed that space, along with Tin Shingle’s new CoWork space, which was located in the basement of the building. Both spaces may begin again elsewhere, but for now, they are nestled into my attic, basement, and other living spaces. Happily, A Little Beacon Blog is continuing to publish all the news that you need to know about happening in and around Beacon.

To address some FAQs:

“Did the building sell?”

The Telephone Building sold to The Telephone Building Beacon, LLC, represented by Shady Twal in December of 2019. After negotiating the lease package that was presented to me, it became clear that leaving the building was the best decision for my business.

The weeks leading up to the negotiation, and then the final week of it, were emotionally thick. Making the decision to leave was one of the most difficult I have ever made, and I am so, so grateful for the warm embrace of support I have felt from the Beacon community - friends and family - even if they did not know the details of what was happening. I will take that sensitivity with me as ALBB covers other businesses that must move or close up shop for whatever reasons any other small business owner might face.

“Can I buy your furniture?”

I’m so glad people are asking this question. I miss having the space to offer to people, and I’m really glad you love my new interior design skills. :) However, no, you may not buy all of that new gorgeous furniture because that vision may rise again. Right now, that bar with the love story behind it and those dope purple chairs are in my newly converted home office-living room, and I’m back to work-from-home life. (I did it for 11 years before taking the storefront on Main Street.) I can become quite like a hermit, so ask me out for coffee! :)

“Where are you going next?”

I’m property shopping! I love looking at new properties. What I created in the Telephone Building was unique to that space. My experience in the Telephone Building enabled a test kitchen environment, and I want to keep that level of comfort and offer it to others. I plan to take all of those feels with me to the next spot, wherever it might be, which will allow for meetings, community gatherings, and pop-up experiences.

I’ll be looking at the luxury buildings. The run-down buildings. The buildings in the fringe areas (I love the fringe!). Business friends of mine are encouraging me to come up to Wappingers Falls and over to Newburgh. One never knows which way the wind will blow.

It’s Back To Blogging As Usual

I have a new little P.O. Box, so I’ll be popping into my new post pffoce community of fellow P.O. Box checkers. In fact, I’ll probably see more of you because the A Little Beacon Blogging Team will be blogging from coffee shops and park benches and cars and my cozy living room. So stay tuned…the pop-up side of me may rise again!

Behind The Scenes: Editorial Calendar Article Cards - How We Approach Article Planning

Sometimes we get pitched a story idea, maybe featuring a local business. And we want to feature them all. But here’s the reality for us, and any publication: pictured here is the ever-moving editorial calendar, filled with news trying to make its way out of our planners, and onto your screen of choice to read.

Sometimes our stories get published “on time.” Sometimes they get pushed around. Sometimes they come out a year later. (Just wait for our city snow plow article for the first snowfall of next year! Luckily we had no snow after we’d gotten answers from the city on the strategy behind how they plow.)

This behind-the-scenes photo was first published on our Instagram, and we just thought it might be interesting to see the inside of how article ideas and intentions shift around in here.

We have several articles mostly written already, that we haven’t published (doy!!!!!) because time flies by and we are a small team.

Not getting featured is never personal. To learn how to pitch any type of media (blog, magazine, TV), and how to bump your issue into this lineup of cards (articles), start getting Tin Shingle’s newsletter. It’s all about teaching small businesses how to get attention.

The key ingredient for pitching is timeliness, and following up politely. Tin Shingle and A Little Beacon Blog are run by me at Katie James, Inc., where I also produce websites for clients. Whew! That’s a lot.

OK, back to regular articles!

One Of Beacon's Historic Buildings From 1907 - Telephone Building at 291 Main Street - Is For Sale

You know this building as the brick building across from Key Food. 291 Main Street is the building whose owner and restorer - Deborah Bigelow - is always outside sweeping trash, scraping cigar spit, raking the driveway and tree filler (yes, raking it into a meditative pattern), and who was up on the boom last year gilding the words "Telephone Building" in gold leaf by hand. If you went to her presentation for the Beacon Historical Society, you would have learned that those gold leaf sheets came in small squares that she needed to take up to the top of the building, in strong winds, and do her thing to gild it to the iconic letters.

This detail was her signature and the final piece of work on a building she rescued 27 years ago. Deborah has reached her point of retirement, and is selling the building. She has listed it in A Little Beacon Blog's Real Estate Guide, and is representing it herself. You can read more about the full renovation of the building at the Telephone Building’s website, which has lots of pictures.

Learn more about the love story behind this bar in A Little Beacon Space.

When buildings go up for sale, a wave of uncertainty goes through the community. A Little Beacon Blog is Deborah's tenant in the front office, with windows overlooking Main Street. We did this to physically connect with the community to offer pop-up shops, workshop space, and more in what we call A Little Beacon Space.

We always knew that at some point soon in her life, Deborah would embark on her sale of the building. Therefore, we are 100% supportive and thrilled for her. In fact, it has launched a million dreams of where A Little Beacon Space might pop up next. We wrote a Love Note To Deborah and discussed possibilities of our future plans in this article, which you can read here.

PS: Our South Avenue Elementary School kids are practicing songs from "The Greatest Showman" for their next recital, so it's a nice coincidence that this really inspiring soundtrack is fueling a possible move to... we don't know where! Or maybe staying right here! We wrote a Love Note To Deborah As She Sells Her Building, which you can read here.

Love Note To Deborah As She Sells Her Historic and Renovated Telephone Building, Built In 1907

When Deborah first told me of her intentions to sell her building, it wasn’t a surprise. Selling a building after 27 years of investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into restoring and maintaining it is obviously a retirement plan.

What was a surprise, however, was my immediate emotional reaction to the news: I was sad that I wouldn’t see Deborah (nearly) every day. Deborah has become part of my life. My little Yoda. And she’s other people’s Yoda too. From one business woman to another, I value her more than she knows. That’s why I am so excited for her to be releasing her building to a new “caretaker owner,” as she calls her future prospect, whomever that may be. Maybe another woman! Who knows.

In The Beginning (well… for me)

Filling the space of the front office in the Telephone Building was a dream that occurred to me while attending the going-away party for the Nixie Sparrows. Remember those two creative birds? WOW, did a lot of creativity come out of that office - now this office that I sit in. I’ve been working in the digital space here in this building for two years as a website designer, blogger, motivator, and teacher. Occupying a physical space isn’t necessary for us digital artists, but when you’re mainly prancing on a keyboard, the desire for physical creation and connection grows.

The first space in Beacon that actually cracked into my brain as a potential work home was the tiny hallway of space next to the Beacon Hotel (and I’m not alone… many people have fantasized about having a retail something in that space). The former Howling At The Edge Of Chaos (blessings), and prior to that, it had been something else whimsical. I’d gotten word that it was becoming available, and I considered occupying it for my blogging headquarters. And hey, maybe I’d also rent it out for pop-up shops, since those are so fun in Beacon. And then the Nixie Sparrows flew the coop, and I began stalking their landlord: Deborah Bigelow.

About Deborah Bigelow

Deborah Bigelow is a very small person physically, but a ginormous person in her field, which is the gilded and preservation arts (covering things in gold leaf and restoring anything). Before I even met her, I knew of her via Instagram as @gildedtwig. In fact, she gilded a pumpkin for an article on A Little Beacon Blog once. I never knew at that point that she was the owner of the Telephone Building.

When Deborah interviewed me to take the space, she had other suitors. This room is a very desirable space. It’s very bright, and the Nixies had strung lights and commissioned a really cool metal/wood bar for the room (which I bought from them in order to keep in the space… and it even has a love story connected to it!). So I had to impress Deborah and hope that she liked what I wanted to do with the space.

The Beginning Of A Little Beacon Space

I wanted to use the space for pop-up shops, workshops and retreats. She warned me over and over of the lack of foot traffic (it has since picked up over the years that I’ve been here). I didn’t care. I’m from the digital world, so I’m used to working for every person that walks through the door. I don’t just hang my shingle and wait for the people to come in. I hang my shingle, and the work has just begun. It’s why I named my marketing education business Tin Shingle. Tin is a resilient metal, and Shingle is a store sign. It’s the first of many steps to bring people in.

And A Little Beacon Space has done that. It has brought people in for all kinds of reasons. From the private book club I did a year ago for The Artist’s Way, and formed incredible bonds with a handful of women, to the pop-up shops that have set up amazing displays in here, and had tremendous results. Better than they expected. In fact, one of possibly your favorite little shops in Beacon, Artifact, started as a pop-up shop here and now has their own brick-and-mortar spot near Dogwood. We even did kids’ hair cuts with Salon Dae! And now I go to Audrina for my cut and color.

Back To Deborah

The more I learned about Deborah, and her years here as a landlord and as a restoration artist, the more I couldn’t believe that more people didn’t know about her. I mean - super-local people know her from diligently sweeping the Telephone Building’s steps and using a toothbrush to clean cigar spit from her limestone steps. The owner of Cafe Amarcord is one of her silent protectors, as he’s been watching for years as she picks up the trash people leave around the place, and the challenges she’s faced from those with a little too much moxie out on the sidewalk.

I call Deborah a “restoration artist.” She tells me that it’s not an official term, but she’ll accept it if I call her that. She has binders filled with notes of history of what has happened in the building - from tenants’ agreements to notes to evidence of tomfoolery (really nice word for criminal behavior) that she’s endured over the years. She is one of the founding participators in Beacon Speaks Out, which had been working toward involving the community with the police department. She even has detailed notes on how the Nixies strung the lights on the ceiling here in the office, in case we need to replace them.

Deborah is a very calm and planned person. She’s from Pennsylvania and extremely respectful of others, and an up-lifter of the spirit. When I took this space, it was on a wing and a prayer. She supported me every step of the way. If I was feeling down or doubtful, she was there to lift me up.

Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I watch her reach her point in “retirement” and move into her own next steps. She is selling the building directly herself, and has a website for it that gives plenty of information, like pictures and numbers. You can even see Before and After photos of her renovation. She has listed the building in A Little Beacon Blog’s Real Estate Guide, and when she handed me the layout of photos for the listing (she wanted them in exactly a planned way… so Deborah!) she did so with tears welling up in her eyes. As I took the piece of paper from her hands, I brushed away our tears and kept our eyes on the future.

“You’re Staying… Right?”

My own children asked me this question when I told them the news. Friends on the street who are hearing the news are asking it as well. I’m asking it of myself!

I’m on a month-to-month lease right now. This is actually an exciting prospect to me. I like change. It sparks new creativity. It unplugs some clogs that I didn’t know were there, and makes things flow freely again. It reveals thoughts and priorities that often sit silently on the back burner, being ignored.

So here’s the thing. I don’t know where A Little Beacon Space will be. There are many scenarios that could play out. A new owner could buy the building, and not need the rent money, and keep my rent the same. As you can imagine, this building was bought 27 years ago, and Deborah has been very kind to us for rents. For a storefront space on Main Street in the heart of Beacon, with two walls of windows that let in glorious natural light from historically renovated windows, my rent is below market value at $1,260. If it increased, could I sustain it? Possibly.

Math from a new mortgage tells me that my rent would need to change. Unless the new owner is a collector, and likes to keep things the way they are and can afford to do that! But, if that doesn’t happen, then a few other scenarios could play out. Like…

• Buy the Building? While my first thought was to assume that I’d exit out of the building, my next thought was to buy the building. My husband and I considered this, as a handful of people around us have expressed interest in investing in Beacon. The first building we seriously thought of buying was actually the yellow house with the warehouse behind it, formerly Trendy Tots. That’s what hooked us into Beacon in the first place. It was $450K at the time, and sold for nearly a million! Kicking ourselves! Presented with a perfect building such as the Telephone Building, getting together the down payment would still be tricky and involve me finding grants, such as women-owned business grants or historic building grants, and that’s a lot of homework that is not my specialty. The business model would also be tricky, but could involve me starting a podcast production studio in the basement - to add audio to media available from A Little Beacon Blog with different podcast shows. Writers and production for the web version of A Little Beacon Blog could also come in for shared office hours and write and be a team together. I would keep my current space as a fancier event space for rental income, which it is now.

• Weather the Rent Increase: Possibly. If the new building owner(s) wanted A Little Beacon Blog and Tin Shingle to stay there and continue to offer the space as a venue for creatives and community, I would take a harder look at my marketing plans.

• A Little Beacon Trailer! I really love trucks and trailers. I would love to tow my office behind my ginormous, un-eco-friendly car that can tow 9,000 pounds. What about a mobile office? I discovered the people at Flexetail, and aren’t those trailers gorgeous!?! My friend Sh* That I Knit got one, and when my girl here in Beacon, April from La Mère Clothing and Goods got her trailer for La Mère Petite, I couldn’t take it anymore. I need one. Maybe A Little Beacon Space would be a vendor down at Long Dock and have pop-ups sometimes?!

• Little Beacon Spaces (as in more than one)? Maybe there could be more than one Little Beacon Space… There certainly is a demand for office space and I would love to be a provider of it…This is a bigger project, but is in Research Phase.

• Go Home? I worked from home for 11 years. I could do it again. I’ve worked from my car from parking lots at Panera, skimming their wifi. But maybe I should stay out here in Brick and Mortar Land. What do they say? Go big or go home?

So I’m going to Go Big for now. A Little Beacon Space is going to market like gangbusters to rent out our space for workshops, retreats, photo shoots and pop-ups. Tell your friends! We’re only booking two months in advance until things become clearer of what is happening. Details and to book online are always at www.alittlebeaconspace.com.

Thank you for listening. While change creates uncertainty, please join me in wishing Deborah the best as she enters into this new phase.

The Love Story Behind The Bar In A Little Beacon Space

Upon reflecting on my favorite aspects of A Little Beacon Space in the Telephone Building, I came upon a certain detail about the bar that sits in the front left corner of the office. Did you know that there is a love story behind the bar in A Little Beacon Space? It’s one of the signature pieces in this office, and one that I thought came with the room when I was considering renting it. Turns out it was commissioned by the former occupiers of this space (the Nixie Sparrows), it was designed and built by Brian Kolb of Falls Woodsmith, and if I wanted the bar to stay, I needed to buy it. So I did.

One day, a fellow website creator, Courtney Kolb (formerly Urciuoli) aka @hudsonvalleycompass, met with me to talk about a website she built, Wappingers Rises. As we chatted at the bar, she said: “You know, I met my husband thanks to this bar.”

What? Here’s Courtney’s Story Of “How We Met,” Thanks To The Bar:

The signature on the wood bar in A Little Beacon Space. Created by Falls Woodsmith.

“I needed a dining room table made for a project I was working on - I was buying my great-grandma’s house in Beacon to live in as my personal home - and I asked Meg (Lawrence, former Nixie Sparrow) who made her bar. She referred Brian Kolb because I loved the bar.

“Brian came over to give me a quote. We talked endlessly, and I always say I never got a dining room table, instead I got the best life. My engagement ring was from the first renovation we did in Beacon. An old flooring nail that he set his grandma’s diamond in. I’m pretty sure I’m the one that pulled the nail out because I pulled all the floor nails out 😂😂 Yes, he set it himself and sealed it . 😂😂❤️❤️❤️

“Fast forward and we’re married, eating on the same Ikea dining room furniture I’ve had since college. The very one I wanted to replace when I originally contacted him 5 years ago. I’ve since left corporate America and work with Brian as a husband/wife team restoring homes for our business, Falls Woodsmith. We’ve completed nine huge projects since that first meeting, including several home renovations in Beacon and Wappingers. Our next project, 14 Water Street, Beacon, hits the market May 15!”

Article Planning - View from Yoga Position

Our office in The Telephone Building is really fun to work out in. Well, not so much work out as stretch and do yoga. If we wanted a real workout, fast, we could go to our neighbors at Studio Beacon for a boxing class. Marilyn is more the cyclist/boxer; I would be just boxing (can’t manage that bike) and jogging around the block.

Sometimes during workouts, articles percolate to the surface, letting us know when the best time to publish them will be. That’s what this chalkboard is for - to catch those ideas. They also live in our Excel spreadsheet for our shared Editorial Calendar, but here’s the more fun-looking version. 

Yum Yum Homespun

Afternoon snacky snack. A slice of Homespun’s famous carrot cake and a cup of coffee.

Alright, fine - the honest answer - this was dinner.

Doing a Saturday work session to catch up on publishing some articles that are getting way too backlogged! We’re in the middle of a series on the Shopping Guide Shuffle that highlights businesses who have moved down the street, or moved in for the first time, and the buildings that house them. Then we’re doing a few features on the Real Estate Guide, including a spotlight on Newburgh.

Hence, the need for coffee and sugar. Eyes are blurry at this point.  :)

Meet a Designer for Little Beacon Blog - Allie Bopp!

Meet Allie Bopp. She’s a graphic designer behind some of A Little Beacon Blog’s designs, and sometimes is Event Space Manager when our office in the Telephone Building is rented for a pop-up shop.

I first discovered Allie Bopp in a Beacon bus stop on Main Street. A new babysitter had canceled on me - a second time in a row! - and I was down in the dumps about it because I was supposed to teach a class for Tin Shingle and couldn’t make it. So my kids and I took a walk, and they had always wanted to sit in the bus stop just to sit. So we sat. Taped to the glass, behind my head, was a flyer with the cutest designs. It was black with rainbow fireworks or stars all over, advertising for a babysitter. I took the number and called. Was I crazy? Calling a random phone number from a bus stop? Turned out, it was Allie Bopp, from Wappingers (she’s a Beaconite now). You can see her work at her website, and she also does work for me at my design shop, Katie James, Inc.

Allie is amazing and in addition to staffing A Little Beacon Blog’s table while I marched in the Spirit of Beacon Day Parade with South Avenue Elementary, she rocked ALBB’s table by setting it up with our new totes (!!!) and meeting the wonderfully different people who wander up to the table to ask questions and sign up for the newsletter.

Pictured above is her boyfriend, posing as a signer-upper. (I’m told he really did sign up!) The best question we got of the day was: “Are you going to keep covering the storms?” When we did the story on the macrobursts, it made quite an impression on someone who really wanted more information on the local weather and its aftermath. That meant a lot! We are going to try. When there are big repercussions from big weather events, we do try to produce an article for it to help get information out.

During the research for that article, we became aware of some great sources for confirmations of weather events, so we’ll pursue those when something happens. Great sources found at the time included Hudson Valley Weather’s Facebook and Central Hudson’s Twitter. You can always email pictures of damage or something incredible to Editorial@alittlebeaconblog.com.

The mums at our table were from Key Food next door, purchased that morning for about $5 each! A passerby told us that we could plant them in the ground and they’d come back for years if we cut them back at the end of each fall. Will try!

Putting Up the Spooky Lights on Main Street

We’re setting up the spooky lights in the office ... After seeing orange, purple and pink Halloween 🎃 lights going up already on front porches of Beacon, we had to join in the spooky spirit!

Usually Home Depot has the glorious spread of Halloween yard decorations, but this year, Rite Aid in Beacon has enough choices on the shelves to do in a pinch. Brett’s Hardware, down on West Main, has the mums (flowers, not mummies!) and some other colored lights.

Happy Fall!