Fires Rage In And Around The Hudson Valley During Warm Fall - Smoke In Air In Beacon

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"Mommy, it smells like smoke outside. Is someone burning something in their yard?"

"No sweetie, parts of the Hudson Valley forests are burning."

On November 1st, City of Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou declared a State of Emergency in the City of Beacon "due to extreme drought conditions, wind, and an areawide increase of wildfires which threaten the public health, safety and welfare of our citizens and private property." At the same time, he issued an Emergency Order banning all exterior open burning until November 6th. As of November 8th, the ban was re-issued until further notice.

This burn ban was the day after Halloween in Beacon, where fire pits are lit for driveway gatherings as trick-or-treators make the rounds

On November 2nd, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar issued a Drought Watch for downstate New York, and published on the DEC.ny.gov website: "Recent unseasonably warm weather and lack of precipitation have led to dry conditions for many counties in New York, resulting in some downstate areas being put under drought watch. Local water restrictions and educating residents about how to help conserve our water resources are crucial steps to help prevent a more severe shortage until conditions improve."

On Saturday, November 9th, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office announced a forest fire had been going on since 3:30am in the area surrounding the North End of Indian Lake. They said that multiple Fire Departments responded to the scene, including: Putnam Valley Volunteer Fire Department, Cold Spring Fire Company No. 1, North Highlands Engine Company # 1, Kent Fire Department, Mahopac Falls Vol. Fire Department, Continental Village Vol. Fire Department, along with Buchanan, Montrose and Verplank Fire Departments from Westchester.

Also on Saturday, fire crews were battling a 2,000 acres forest fire in New Jersey in Passaic County, which then spread to Orange County, PIX11 reported. An 18 year old New York forest ranger died while fighting that fire. Dariel Vasquez was fighting the fire in Greenwood Lake when a tree fell on him MidHudson News reported.

On Sunday, November 10th, the Ulster Sheriff's Office announced that firefighters were battling a forest fire in the Whitehouse Forest: "Our agency is assisting state and local agencies including several volunteer fire departments from Ulster, Sullivan and Delaware counties in the Town of Denning with a large forest fire in the Whitehouse Forest between the Rondout and Ashokan Reservoirs. Please limit travel in the area as there are road closures."

The Times Union reported that the Town of Denning fire is approximately 422 acres, Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger said, based on a flyover estimate. “Some 185 firefighters from 20 agencies from Sullivan, Ulster and Delaware Counties have been involved in fire suppression efforts. The incident is being managed through the unified command system by Ulster County Department of Emergency Services, Sullivan County Division of Public Safety, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Grahamsville Fire Department,” the Times Union reported.

This area is in New York City's watershed, which "contains reservoirs that feed into New York City's water supply system," News12 reported. NYC Water issued a statement via X (formerly Twitter): "DEP & New York State Police helicopters are conducting aerial firefighting operations to assist local fire departments battling the Whitehouse forest fire ranging across 384 acres of mountainous NYC watershed between Rondout & Ashokan reservoirs in western Ulster County in the Catskills."

According to the New York Times, hundreds of forest fires have been reported in New Jersey since October 20th. Also this weekend, a brush fire in a "heavily wooded section" of Brooklyn's Prospect Park burned 2 acres, where 100 firefighters responded to contain it, the New York Times reported.

Beacon's Last Day Of Free Trash Dumping Up To 250 Pounds Is Coming Up

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The City of Beacon’s opportunity for you to dump your trash for free at the Transfer Station is ending soon. Residents who are current in paying their taxes can dump up to 250 pounds for free. The deadline is the third Saturday in September. An earlier version of this article printed an old date. Trash can still be dropped off at the Transfer Station throughout the year, but there is a cost for it. See here for how the division of trash works, what is not accepted, and pricing per type of item.

Please note, there are 2 URLs for this date. An old one, and apparently the current one. The City of Beacon should consider putting a permanent 301 Redirect on the old URL, since it is ranking in Google and the 301 Redirect would seamlessly send people to the current URL (or whichever URL the City decides to use). Thanks to Citizen Reporter Will Duffy @willmanduffy for confirming with the Transfer Station employees and supplying the new URL.

“Gypsy Moth” Renamed To "Spongy Moth" Because “Gypsy” Is Racially Offensive To Formerly Enslaved Romani People In Romania

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Photo Credits: Left is a screenshot from the Smithsonian Magazine website; Right is a screenshot from Europeana website.

When the news broke about those spongy moth caterpillars dropping from the sky, research revealed that they were the moth traditionally known as the “gypsy” moth. So is “spongy moth” a new moth? No. Thanks to an ALBB reader pointing it out, a decision was made in 2021 by the Entomological Society of America (ESA), where there was discussion about equity in naming. They announced the renaming with the launching of the organization’s Better Common Names Project, as reported by the Washington Post.

The term “gypsy” was a racially offensive term given to the The Romani people, who were enslaved in Romania for more than 500 years. According to Europeana, it is unknown how this group of people ended up in Romania, but some believe they were from India. “The main hypothesis is that they left the Punjab region of Northern India either as nomads or victims of unfavorable circumstances, such as war or natural disaster. Some theories state that the Roma population arrived in the Principality of Wallachia (the southern part of today’s Romania) as free people, but they were soon enslaved by the princes of Wallachia and Moldavia, who needed a workforce.”

As the Washington Post reports: “They were victims of persecution and genocide during the Holocaust, and the community still faces human rights abuses and marginalization. ‘Roma are dehumanized in so many ways: being associated with insects, being associated with animals,’ said Margareta Matache, director of the Roma Program at Harvard University’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. ‘And that is really how structural anti-Roma racism is justified.’”

The origin of the word “gypsy” came from England, who apparently mistook the Roma people to be from Egypt. A study was conducted in 2020, titled “Romani Realities In The United States: Breaking The Silence, Challenging The Stereotypes” led in part by Margareta.

They were victims of persecution and genocide during the Holocaust, and the community still faces human rights abuses and marginalization. Both the moth and the ant known as Aphaenogaster araneoides were named with the word “gypsy” in them to indicate a wandering nature.

But the person who came up with the name, Terry McGlynn, who had been studying this species for more than 20 years, wrote a blog post in 2019 titled: “Fixing a racist common name that I coined.” said it wasn’t until years later that he became aware of the implications of the name, according to the Washington Post.

According to the Smithsonian Magazine, “The new name, ‘spongy moth,’ refers to the insect’s light brown, fuzzy egg masses that resemble sponges. It stems from France’s common name for the Lymantria dispar— ‘spongieuse,’ per the ESA. Other countries like Germany and Turkey, also reference sponges in their common names for the moth.”

Strawberry Festival This Sunday - A Little Beacon Blog Will Be There Face Painting

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The annual Strawberry Festival from the Beacon Sloop Club is here! This is their opening festival for their series of harvest-inspired (Strawberry, Corn, Pumpkin) celebrations and fundraisers held down at Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park. Look forward to Hudson Valley locally grown fresh picked strawberries, homemade strawberry shortcake topped with the Beacon Sloop Club’s famous real whipped cream. You will also find strawberry smoothies and other strawberry delights.

Live music will be played and will be powered from two solar power stages. The event is dedicated to the environment, so look for environmental educational displays, activities for children, and a variety of food and artisan hand-made crafts.

Free sails on the sloop Woody Guthrie will be available. To sail, you’ll need to sign up at noon at the Beacon Sloop Club’s merchandise table. Bring a blanket, or a chair and enjoy the festivities of the day surrounded by the Hudson River. There is a kids park in the park, so little ones will have swings to swing on an slides to climb.

A Little Beacon Blog’s Face Painting Table

A Little Beacon Blog will be there with our face painting! Kids and adults are welcome. We take requests, and can even paint your spirit animal. The face painting chair is a relaxing experience.

About The Beacon Sloop Club

According to the Beacon Sloop Club, here’s what you can expect at the festival: “.

Founded by folk singer and activist, Pete Seeger, The Beacon Sloop Club is a 501-c3 volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation, protection and restoration of the Hudson River and surrounding waterways through advocacy, education and celebration.

As part of our mission, we provide free river access through free sails and sail training on the ferry sloop Woody Guthrie, a replica of the 18th and 19th century sloops that once plied the Hudson River.

The Beacon Sloop Club offers free seasonal music festivals to the people of the river, as well as other events, lectures and classes throughout the year.

Our monthly meetings are the first Friday of the month, starting with potlucks at 6:30 and ending with a Circle of Song. Everyone welcome!

Caterpillars/Spongy Moths Descend From Silk Threads Across Fields To Irritate Skin

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During the first Rombout Middle School track meet of the season, people were walking into spider webs just like in the Gwen Stefani No Doubt song. Even while on snack pickups at the grocery store, spider webs were flying. Countless webs were glimmering as they floated across Hammond Track in the setting sun, with bugs flying in between them. Soon, the curiosity turned to annoyance as little black caterpillars were walking across shirts, arms and legs everywhere. They could not be brushed off quickly enough.

The next day, Beacon City School Superintendent Matthew Landahl sent an email update to district families, saying that these flying caterpillars were spongy moths, which have been causing rashes if come into contact. He provided reassurance on what the school was doing to deal with them: “We value our students having time outside and our facilities team will clear our playground equipment before recess daily so our students can access our playground equipment. Our building principals will monitor playgrounds and they may decide to implement indoor recess if there are too many present on our equipment.” He did not not anticipate an impact to extracurricular activities.

And so begins the season of the gypsy moth, according to Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). The allergic reaction comes from the hairs of the caterpillar, according to Cornell: “The tiny hairs (setae) of spongy moth caterpillars carry histamines that can cause an itchy, red rash in some individuals.”

The caterpillars begin in an egg mass laid by gypsie moths in July/August. The mass is stuck on a tree, and if it survives the winter, 100-600 eggs will hatch as larvae. They grow into caterpillars, and leave the mass, often on a single silk thread that is carried by the wind until it lands on a surface that the caterpillar likes and can feed from. According to Cornell: “Early instar larvae are small, dark brown-to-black, and very fuzzy. Later instars lighten in color and have a showy display of two rows of colored spots: five pairs of blue and six pairs of red.”

Then in June/July, “larvae pupate in hiding spots under bark or similar protection,” explains Cornell. They are about 2” and dangle. “Once they complete pupation, adult male spongy moths emerge and fly erratically during the daytime in search of mates. Heavy-bodied adult females have wings but don’t fly. They rest on trees and wait as males follow female pheromone trails to find them.”

White footed mice and fungus are the killers of the caterpillars, according to this report by the Highlands Current. And a stress-induced virus. “Eventually, the caterpillar population will get so big that it will get stressed trying to find enough food, weakening their immune system and making them more susceptible to a virus that is always present in the population, but sub-lethal when stress levels are low.”

The Eclipse April 2024 As Viewed In Ohio's 100% Totality and In Beacon, Plus A Poem From Inside The Totality

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The eclipse in 100% Totality in Ohio, during the 3 minutes of total coverage, when all went dark, except for the red glow down below. We could look up at the moon covering the sun 100% at this point.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth

The eclipse of April 2024 as seen from Mount Beacon.
Photo Credit: Meghan Spiro

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.

But Did You FEEL The Earthquake? Where Were You? Tremors Shake Beacon In April 2024

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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!

New Facts: Hudson River Regularly Floods Long Dock and Train Station Parking Lots In Heavy Rains

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The morning after the wild winds and rain blew through Beacon all night, knocking porch swings around, tossing trash cans, and keeping sub-pumps on overdrive, the high tide of the Hudson River once again rose into the parking lots of Lock Dock Park and the Beacon Train Station. Cars were parked at Long Dock, and at least one of them was floating. Beacon Police were called when some hikers who returned from hiking through Madame Brett Park came to see that their cars at Long Dock were surrounded by water.

“I didn’t want to open my door so I opened my window by pressing and holding down my unlock button,” one hiker told ALBB. “I climbed through the window, turned on the car, and drove it here,” recalled the hiker at the base of Long Dock Road, squeezing out their socks and putting their shoes back on as they sat in the back of their Hyundai Santa Cruz pickup truck.

Another hiker, parked behind them with all doors open, was also able to get into their car by crawling through the window and driving it through the water. In the Subaru, which is lower to the ground than the pickup truck, water did get into the vehicle. Further down the parking lot, another hiker’s car was floating. The plan for that car was to wait until the water went out with the tide.

Neither the Beacon Police nor the hikers could confirm what time the water came in. One Beacon Police Officer said they had put up a barricade down at the train station at 11am, where the water had completely blocked off access to Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park and consumed the parking lot. It was around 12:45pm when the police, fire and ambulance were called to the scene of the flooded cars at Long Dock.

One hiker said that they did see twigs and other debris on the ground when they parked and left for Madame Brett Park, but didn’t think anything of it. Now they realized those were remnants of the river as it went back out with the tide. The parking lot could have been flooded throughout the night.

Parking Lot Flooded Again at Beacon Train Station

Once again, the Welcome to Beacon sign was surrounded by water and rows of parking spots were under water. Access to Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park was completely blocked by the Hudson River, which had the current moving through it as if it weren’t disturbing anything, just doing its tide thing.

As this tidal rise becomes a regular occurrence after heavy rains, compounded with melted snow, signs will need to be put up throughout both parking lots, warning of High Tide Flooding, as other coastal towns do.

RELATED LINK: 12/18/2023 “Hudson River Rises During Storm: Flooding In Homes, The Middle School, And The Wastewater Treatment Plant”

Hudson River Rises During Storm: Flooding In Homes, The Middle School, And The Wastewater Treatment Plant

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The Hudson River rose into Scenic Hudson’s Long Dock Park, filling the walking paths and encircling trees.

Heavy winds and rain had been blowing all Sunday night, leaving yards flooded and trash cans spilled over. Students got ready for school as the rain continued to pound, but being December, it felt like, should this be a blizzard, there would be no school. That’s when the call came in from Beacon City School District Superintendent Matt Landahl that Rombout Middle School was flooded, and that students who who already arrived would be dismissed early at 9:30am. Anyone else should not come, and all other schools were open.

In email correspondence, he stated: “This morning we had water coming in from the outside in the art hallway and the science hallway. We made much effort to clean up but we could not operate safely today. I want to give a special thanks to our staff who helped us get through today, especially our building maintenance teams, grounds maintenance teams, and our transportation department and drivers who helped us navigate the day.”

The Weather Channel described the east coast storm as intensifying “in the eastern Gulf of Mexico early on Sunday, Dec. 17, then raced along the East Coast into Monday, Dec. 18, with a combination of flooding rain, coastal flooding and high winds from Florida to Maine.” Fox Weather has reported river rising in Boston, and vehicles getting swept away when trying to cross through the water.

In Beacon, the grasslands, kayak dock and parking lot were engulfed by the Hudson River, which rose so high with the tied, its strong currents could be felt over the pavement.

To those not familiar with this parking lot at Scenic Hudson’s Long Dock Park, this picture looks like a rocky beach, but it is the Hudson River washing into the parking lot. This is not the first time. At least as close as September 24, 2023, during Spirit of Beacon Day and coincidentally during the Soon Is Now, an immersive art experience depicting the overflow of the Hudson River, a tropical storm grew in strength and pushed both events to postpone to their rain dates.

The water was rushing in over the MTA Beacon train station. About one foot of water rose around parked cars. The current crested further in toward Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park where the geese and mallard ducks usually swim. The Welcome To Beacon sign and landing were completely covered by the river. Normally, there are picnic tables positioned for the Number Seven Food truck to serve their steak sandwiches and mozzarella sticks.

The Devil’s Horns, a seed pod of an Oriental aquatic plant that cover this area, were left behind further up the road, as the river tide receded. For those who are captivated by the invasive seed that is hard and hurts feet, you can find stunning jewelry here by this local artist.

Cars drove up to the water’s edge to take photos, risking a chance of dipping a tire into the current that could have swept them out. Water like that may look neat to touch, but the reminder that even shallow water, especially the Hudson River which flows both ways, could sweep away small children or unsuspecting adults.

Fire trucks were buzzing around all day, going into people’s homes to pump water out of flooded basements. During last evening’s City Council Meeting, Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White reported that at least 19 basements were assisted in being pumped out by the City of Beacon. “Thank you to our Fire Department and Waste Water Treatment Department,” he said. “The Treatment Plant was inundated by more an 4" of rain. We avoided significant damage because of how much water was pumped out,” he concluded.

New Day/Time!! "SOON IS NOW," Lovers Of Long Dock Park Will Love This Immersive Multi-Performance Curated Around Climate And Eco On Oct. 1

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SOON IS NOW, the climate and eco art & live performance festival in Scenic Hudson's Long Dock Park is happening on a new date an time, due to last week’s weather. Fitting, being that this performance is all about the climate! This year, it is on the same day as Spirit of Beacon Day, so you have quite a collection of things to do this Sunday.

Important Things You Need To Know:

IMMERSIVE PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Resistance Revival Chorus, coming to Beacon for “Soon Is Now” at Scenic Hudson’s Long Dock Park. On October 1 at 3pm.

SOON IS NOW is from 12pm-3:30pm. Multiple performances happen throughout the nature in the park, ending with the finale of the famous The Resistance Revival Chorus performing at 3pm. Tours take people through the different performances and run every half hour starting at: 12:30pm, 1pm, 1:30pm. If you miss the start of a tour, you could wander around the park and fall into a group.

Lovers of Long Dock Park will get to experience it in a way they have never experienced it before. Located along the Hudson River, this park is mainly covered in tall grasses with winding paths cut through, surrounded by dunes of other grasses, shaded by trees and rocky beach along the water.

WHAT PEOPLE WILL EXPERIENCE ON THE TOURS

Tours will start at the River Center (big Red Barn). Walk straight to the dancers on the berm ahead of the River Center. Walk through the native grasses and the aster and sunflowers currently in bloom, and continue to the shore of the Hudson River. Performances will be seen all along the rocky beach - 3 performances in total. At the edge of the beach is a performance in a bog in the wetlands. The wetlands! The group will then go to the Outdoor Classroom, which is a mini concrete amphitheater located down low in what feels like a sunken part of the tall grasses. People will experience theater in this spot. People will make their way back across the park, past the kayak shelter to go straight ahead to meet a dancer again where they dance with 5 trees.




WHO YOU WILL SEE

Come to the park to see the visual arts exhibition in the River Center (Big Red Barn) with work by Camille Seaman, Jaanika Peerna and Jean Brennan. Meet climate activists from Beacon Climate Action Now and Climate Reality, and sign up for a tour.

This event is FREE of charge and open to the public and there are so many wonderful artists (many from Beacon) participating: Edwin Torres, Andrew Brehm, Elise Knudson, Elisa Santiago, Twinkle Burke and more. Click here for more details >

3PM: THE RESISTANCE REVIVAL CHORUS

Beaconites and those located nearby are in luck, as they get to experience The Resistance Revival Chorus up from NYC to sing a closing concert at 3pm. The Number Seven Sandwich Food Truck located near the River Center in Long Dock Park will have food for sale.

PARKING & DRIVING NOTES

The 46th annual Spirit of Beacon Day is happening up the hill on Beacon’s’ Main Street. A few notes for parking and driving down to Long Dock Park:

12pm-1:30pm Wolcott Avenue will be closed from Beekman Street (Giannetta’s Salon Spa) to Beekman Street (Rose Hill Manor Day Care), as Spirit of Beacon Parade participants will be lining up there. If coming from the south (Cold Spring), take 9D all the way, or if in Beacon, take Teller Avenue down to Beekman (Rose Hill Manor Day Care) and take a left on Beekman, which will take you past the Dia and to the park.

If coming from the north (1-84) take Wolcott/9D to Beekman (Giannetta’s Salon Spa) and take a right on Beekman. Pass Two Way Brewery and Brett’s Hardware all the way around until Long Dock Park.

Free parking is at the Metro North Beacon Train Station. The Spirit of Beacon Day will have a special FREE Dutchess County Bus that is shuttling people from the train up to Main Street from 11am-4:40pm. You can take it to help you experience both events.

Main Street in Beacon will be blocked from Key Food to the Yankee Clipper Diner, so take Henry Street if you want to go around Main Street for any reason.

SOON IS NOW - A Festival Of Climate And Eco Art, Performance And Activism - Here In Beacon - September 23, 2023

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SOON IS NOW is an afternoon of art and live performance about climate change and the ecological in Scenic Hudson’s Long Dock Park, a former industrial site and brownfield transformed by Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architects, the Scenic Hudson Land Trust, and others, into a sustainable park on the Hudson River in Beacon, NY. This site is on the unceded land of the Wappinger, in a region with a vital history of environmentalism rooted in Scenic Hudson’s fight to save Storm King Mountain from industry and Pete Seeger’s fight for an unpolluted Hudson River.

Twinkle Burke, What We Give Back, by Madeline Sayet, photo by Lucas Millard 

Audience walking to the next performance, photo by Flynn Larsen

Part reverence for the River, part cry for what is lost to climate chaos, part response to the pollution and rejuvenation of the park's ecosystem, SOON IS NOW places art in conversation with the landscape and brings audiences into an immersive experience with original works. 

Actors, dancers, musicians, performance and visual artists are curated throughout the park (many of them Beacon-based): Edwin Torres, Alex Waterman, Raven Chacon, Bob Bellerue, Koyoltzintli, Elise Knudson, Elisa Santiago, Randy Burd, Cecilia Fontanesi, Tom King, Jim Fletcher, Jaanika Peerna, Twinkle Burke, Jojo Gonzalez, Camille Seaman, Andrew Brehm and Jean Brennan.

Edwin Torres, Water’s Way: A Poet’s Choir for the Hudson River with E.J. McDonald, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Tamalyn Miller, Kristin Prevallet, Urayoán Noel, Jayden Featherstone. photo by Flynn Larsen  

The Resistance Revival Chorus will be performing a special concert at 5pm including a new song about climate change. 

The Resistance Revival Chorus, photo by Ginny Suss

On SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23rd at 2pm the day starts at the River Center (the red barn) in Scenic Hudson's Long Dock Park with a visual arts exhibition. Meet activists including Beacon Climate Action Now, Climate Reality Hudson Valley & Catskills and Fareground, and learn what you can do. Sign up for an 80 minute tour of performances throughout the park that start at 2:30, 3pm and 3:30pm, first come, first served. Even if you don't get on a tour you will be able to experience performance, visual art in the River Center and the concert by The Resistance Revival Chorus at 5pm. Poppy's Farm 2 Trailer food truck will be at the event selling tacos. Parking at Long Dock Park is limited. Park at the Metro North Beacon Train Station where all parking spots are free on the weekends, a short walk to the event. Free and open to the public. Co-sponsored by Climate Reality Hudson Valley & Catskills and HV Climate Solutions Week. Part of Climate Change Theatre Action's 2023 season. Funded by Arts Mid-Hudson, the Clara Lou Gould Fund for the Arts administered by Beacon Arts, and many local businesses and individuals. 

Tom King, photo by Lucas Millard

Jaanika Peerna, Glacier Elegy, photo by Flynn Larsen

Liz Zito, Eric Magnus, Andrew Brehm, The Oysters, by Miranda Rose Hall, photo by Lucas Millard

Elise Knudson, Sentinels, photo by Flynn Larsen

For more information: soonisnow.org or contact evemorgenstern@gmail.com.

About Eve Morgenstern:

Eve Morgenstern, Director/Founder/Producer is a photographer and filmmaker. She has been awarded artist residencies at The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Workspace and MacDowell, and grants for her work from The New York State Council on the Arts, Chicken and Egg Pictures, The George Gund Foundation, The Park Foundation and Arts Mid-Hudson. Her environmental film Cheshire, Ohio has screened in festivals in the US, Canada and Asia and is distributed by Bullfrog Films and ovid.tv . Her photographic project Facades of Crises had its solo Museum premiere at Bildmuseet in Umeå, Sweden. Eve is also co-chair of her Climate Reality Hudson Valley & Catskills chapter. She lives in Beacon, NY with her daughter Chloe and her beloved mutt Amber. “This started as an experiment to produce plays from Climate Change Theatre Action, a project that uses storytelling and live performance to foster dialogue about our global climate crisis. The project grew to include visual art and original live performance created in dialogue with the site. The idea to curate works throughout Scenic Hudson's Long Dock Park as a tour for audiences is intentional and meaningful as this site was once a brownfield, remediated and revisioned into a beautiful climate resilient public park on the Hudson River.”

CREDITS SOON IS NOW:

Eve Morgenstern, Founder, Director

Connie Hall, Producer

Brian Mendes, Producer

ALBB is a Media Sponsor of this event, and is proud to partner to help get the word out.

River Pool At Beacon Is Refreshing; Annual Beacon Swim Across The Hudson Happens Soon

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Never underestimate the healing powers of the calm part of the Hudson River where the River Pool at Beacon is anchored. A pastime from the 19th Century, riverpools were established as a free way for New Yorkers to cool off in the water. At one point, health advocates called for municipally owned baths, according to NYC Parks.

Once the Hudson River got contaminated by businesses dumping waste into it, the riverpools were lifted out starting in the 1920s, with the last one leaving near 1940. Thanks to the work of local advocate and world-wide star musician Pete Seeger and his wife Toshi, the Hudson River in our parts underwent a major cleaning. The work still continues, as do blockades of no more waste being dumped into it (see Holtec’s continued attempts to dump radioactive waste into the Hudson River, and the people’s strong and consistent fight to keep that from happening…just follow press releases from River Keeper and get involved).

About The Riverpool At Beacon

It’s fun to go to the Riverpool at Beacon because it is so shallow. You’ll be sitting with the vegetation in the Hudson River. Will you feel fish? Maybe, but probably not. According to the Riverpool at Beacon’s organizers: “The pool is secured to the river bottom by elastic hawsers that allow the pool to rise and fall with the tide so that it maintains a constant depth of 24 to 30 inches.” It has a net bottom, so your feet will be touching knotted ropes.

“The pool bottom is made of a high-strength Dyneema netting that allows people to safely walk on the pool floor without contacting the river bottom or vegetation.” Adults will find themselves waste-deep in this water. Tall kids will be able to walk around. It’s a great experience for kids to acclimate to water depth with a colorful bench nearby.

The pool is free! And does not require any reservations. Says one young person who has been trying to find a public pool: “When you come in, you don’t have to give the people your cards.” True. You can just walk down to the Beacon Riverpool and step in. There is a lifeguard on duty. The pool is closed when there is no lifeguard.

The Riverpool at Beacon is located at Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park. To help this all continue, donate to the Beacon Riverpool today.

The Newburgh to Beacon Swim - Fundraiser for Riverpool at Beacon

The River Swim, the great annual swimming event from Newburgh to Beacon, is a anticipated challenge for many each year. Several have wanted to attempt it, and some have actually committed to it. As one of the Riverpool’s fundraisers, swimmers register for a fee, and then raise sponsorships to support them.

The River Swim is on Saturday, August 5, 2023, with a Rain date of Sunday, Aug 6, 2023. Learn more about it here.

Dutchess County's Transportation Council Launches the "Resilient Ways Forward" Study to Assess & Plan for Resilient Transportation as the Climate Changes

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###From the Press Release of Dutchess County’s Mark Debald, Transportation Program Administrator###

Public Input Sought at June 21st Meeting, Online Survey

Poughkeepsie—On June 12, 2023, the Dutchess County Transportation Council (DCTC) announced the launch of Resilient Ways Forward, an assessment of climate change and its impact on transportation in Dutchess County.

Resilient Ways Forward will identify where Dutchess County’s transportation system is most vulnerable to weather impacts, such as flooding, extreme temperatures, snow and ice, and wind. The assessment will also recommend ways to adapt to or reduce the adverse impacts of these events on the transportation system – which includes roads and bridges, buses and trains, sidewalks, rail trails, and other strategic transportation assets. These impacts extend to state, regional, county, and local agencies alike.

Resilient Ways Forward begins with an analysis of climate data to better understand how the climate is changing in Dutchess County, following three steps:

Data collection

  • Gathering climate and transportation data

  • Assessing future climate scenarios

Analysis

  • Understanding the risks of climate hazards for transportation assets at the system level

  • Identifying priority locations for adaption investments at the asset level

Recommendations

  • Developing a toolbox of adaption options, including design guidelines

  • Recommending policy-based actions

  • Implementing and monitoring the recommendations

The DCTC encourages the public to visit the website at www.ResilientWaysForward.com to learn more and provide input through the on-line interactive Map Survey about where extreme weather events have affected their ability to get around Dutchess County.

A virtual public meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 21st at noon. This meeting is an opportunity for the public to learn about Resilient Ways Forward and provide feedback about where the transportation system is vulnerable to extreme weather events. Registration is required: https://bit.ly/RWFVirtualMtg. Feedback gathered from the public meeting will help inform the project team as they develop a toolbox of prioritized adaptation strategies to reduce the transportation system’s climate vulnerability.

Resilient Ways Forward is one of several planning initiatives underway by Dutchess County to better understand and address current and future environmental issues in the county. Though focused on the impacts of extreme weather on the transportation system, the data and analysis done for Resilient Ways Forward will also support the development of the County’s Natural Resource Inventory, as well as Hazard Mitigation Plan, which are also underway.

DCTC Transportation Program Administrator Mark Debald said, “Our goal is to create a more resilient transportation system that minimizes disruptions and better prepares us to meet the uncertainties of a changing climate. Resilient Ways Forward will provide decision-makers and agencies with the needed information to help prioritize how and where we can build resiliency – both countywide and pinpointed more locally, depending on specific need.”

About The Dutchess County Transportation Council (DCTC)

The Dutchess County Transportation Council (DCTC) serves as the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Dutchess County. Federal statutes require that urbanized areas with over 50,000 people be represented by an MPO. The main duty of an MPO is to ensure that federal transportation funds are committed through a locally driven, comprehensive planning process. Since 1982, the DCTC have provided a forum for state and local government to solve transportation issues and reach consensus on federally supported transportation plans and projects in Dutchess County and across the Mid-Hudson Valley.

The World Is (Still) Burning - Let's Start Composting! It's So Easy...Those Food Gases Are Explosive

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ALBB uses this metal ice bucket to collect daily food waste. It is dumped daily (sometimes 2x daily) into a plastic bucket, which is dumped 1x/week. The pink toaster in the background is a bonus and not related to food composting.

Even though the orange haze has lifted over Beacon and we have the sun and blue skies again - as well as gray clouds and shadows - the wildfires are still burning in Canada. The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, blames the climate crisis for the out of control burning. The official who ran the Parks Canada for 23 years, Mark Heathcott, says that Canada needs a better controlled burns of forest system.

Here in Beacon, one way to contribute to helping the climate crisis is by reducing your production of methane gases caused by food waste, by food composting. Which means to put your food waste in a designated bucket, which gets taken by a service or dropped off by you to a food composting collection area available in Beacon.

The food waste is then turned into a nutrient rich soil, called “black gold,” that you would want to spread over your favorite garden growths or flowers.

This article explores both ways.

But First - Why Compost? The Yogurt Smoothie Example

You’ve heard of the methane gases. That the methane gases formed from decomposing food contribute to the climate crisis. The City of Beacon says that methane gases are formed when food waste is burned. According to the City’s website: “Composting is a great way to reduce the waste burned at the county incinerator, which can contribute to unsafe air conditions because ‘waste incineration creates and/or releases harmful chemicals and pollutants’ (NRDC.org, Burned: Why Waste Incineration Is Harmful).

Here is an example so that you can see and experience it: one day, ALBB found an old banana strawberry smoothie in the car. It was in a sealed container. It was days old. Maybe even weeks old. Once taken inside, the top was unscrewed to clean it, where BAM - the top flew off from the pressure inside of the very old strawberry banana smoothie. The top flew clear across the kitchen and hit a water filter jug and cracked it.

Easy Ways To Compost In Beacon

Keep in mind, there are some municipalities who charge for how much trash you throw away. Beacon is not there yet. Hopefully they won’t get there, because we don’t need more fees. But if you removed food from your trash, you are removing a lot of poundage of trash. You could put yourself ahead of the curve, and cut out a lot of harmful product.

There are two ways to compost in Beacon. The free way - using Beacon’s compost drop-off bins, and the paid way via Community Compost. ALBB uses the paid way via Community Compost because we have been with them since Zero2Go launched via KickStarter and eventually was sold twice, the last to Community Compost. If you work in an office, consider organizing a compost collection system where one or some of you rotate dumping the food waste into Beacon’s collection bins. Or pay Community Compost to take it away for you.

Beacon’s Free Compost Collection Bins

Step 1: You collect your food waste at your house or apartment. ALBB uses a metal ice bucket that lives next to the sink, and dumps it daily into a bucket with a lid on the front porch.

Step 2. Once a week, or whenever you want, take your collection of waste to one of 3 different Compost Drop Off Bins. Those are:

  • Memorial Park, near the Dog Park, at the base of the hill.

  • Parking lot of Hudson Valley Brewery, all the way in the left corner. This is the Churchill Street parking lot, which is a free municipal parking lot right behind Main Street, near the Fishkill Creek.

  • The Beacon Recreation Center, at 23 West Center Street.

The rules for what to dump into Beacon’s compost bins are pretty good. You don’t have to be as discerning as you do in other programs.

YES, Dump It
Any food waste can be composted in Beacon’s compost collection bins. You can even use BPI-certified compostable bags for your food scraps. This includes:

  • Fruits & Vegetables

  • Meat, bones

  • Dairy, Eggs

  • Coffee grounds

  • Food soiled paper (coffee filters, tea bags, parchment paper, uncoated paper plates, etc.)

  • Paper towels and napkins

  • Toilet paper rolls

  • House plants and cut flowers

  • Pizza boxes: ripped in half + no wax paper

NO, Don’t Dump It!
Not compostable in Beacon’s compost collection bins:

  • Plastics

  • Glass

  • Plastic and wax coated paper products

  • Produce stickers

  • Doggy poo

  • Pet litter

  • Pet waste

  • Metal

  • Plastic bags

  • Styrofoam

Where will you put all of this fabulous food? The City of Beacon has gotten discounts on 3 different bins for you. Some of you may do backyard composting. This article does not explore that, but there is a bin for that offered by the city. Click here to see the options. You can order through the City of Beacon’s Recreation Department website, and/or you can walk in to see them at 23 West Center Street to buy your bin that way. Sometimes going to the Beacon Rec Center is easier. But click here to shop online.

Food composting has been discussed for several years in Beacon. Former Councilperson Amber Grant was a recent leader in bringing the City’s attention to this under Mayor Lee Kyriacou’s administration, with management and education done by Climate Smart Beacon, a committee of the City. Learn more about it in this video below.

If you don’t want to make time to dump your compost, you could always hire Community Compost to pick up from your home or office. Click here for details.

Pictures From The Unhealthy Air Quality In Beacon From The Canadian Wildfires Fires

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A completely smokey view from Mount Beacon. Normally, one would see blue sky and the City of Beacon down below.
Photo Credit: David Martin

Related Link: The Reason Behind The Blood Orange Sun and Air Quality Alert in Beacon

The fires still rage in Canada, which means that the smoke is still in Beacon. For a second day, the Beacon City School District canceled evening events and activities. Children are being encouraged in school to stay indoors. In one elementary school, air ventilation vents went on, which ended up blowing smoke inside from the outside. According to one child, the suggestion was to open the window. And then they all remembered that opening the window would cause the same problem.

Flashbacks of the COVID shutdown are starting, as events are canceling. In New York City, where the orange sky and smoke smothered the city, making it unrecognizable, Broadway and Off Broadway shows canceled, including “Hamilton,” “Camelot” and Shakespeare in the Park. The Writers Strike that is keeping late night shows on repeat as writers fight for more streaming money from big distributors like Netflix canceled their scheduled pickets of film productions, both according to Deadline.

Meanwhile in Beacon, residents could smell the smoke on Wednesday, where the light remained stubbornly orange. Residents in California were probably thinking: “Yes, this is what it looks like. Now you know how we feel.”

The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, the educational platform and advocacy icon founded by legendary folk singer Pete Seeger and his wife Toshi Seeger was in New York City on Wednesday, where the Air Quality Index (AQI) was 342. In Toronto Canada, it was 160. Sloop Clearwater documented this view and experience on Wednesday, and shared with A Little Beacon Blog. Photo Credits attributed to the Clearwater crew: Chloe Smith on the photo of the boat’s mast, and Guevara-Prip on the picture of the boat in full. The other two photos are screenshots of an AQI measurement tool and EarthCam.

“Clearwater and her crew are currently in New York City, where the air quality has plunged today to the worst of major cities worldwide. Climate change IS the defining issue of our time and due to hundreds of uncontrolled wildfires across Canada, more than 800miles away, we’re all at risk. Our education programs were cancelled today from NYC all the way up to Beacon, restricting access to the river and waterfront parks for our most vulnerable students. It’s time for our leaders to take action on the leading causes of climate change. Thank you @nycparks and @hudsonsailing for helping our crew shelter in place during this dangerous time. Gift goggles, KN95 masks, gloves and other protective gear to the crew from the Captains wishlist at the link in our bio. Stay safe Hudson Valley!”

Chris Sanders provided this side-by-side comparison of the Hudson River at different times:

Comparative view of the Hudson River during the smoke.
Photo Credit: Chris Sanders

Buffey Maria also shared a comparative view:

Now What?

THursday morning started off worse than Wednesday morning same time. The afternoon continues to be 167 AQI, an “Unhealthy” designation.

The fires are still burning. President Biden sent 600 American firefighters to Canada to help. The Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, called for all to wake up to the need for climate protection in his news briefing to discuss the unhealthy air quality coming from Canada: “Climate change has accelerated these conditions and we must continue to draw down emissions, improve air quality, and build resiliency.”

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also blamed the fires on the climate. However, reports from Canada are indicating that Canada did not have an effective strategy for creating controlled burns of forest which is done to clear flammable tinder like young trees, dry shrubs and grass in a controlled setting. According to the Daily Mail UK: “Parks Canada had only scheduled 23 controlled burns this year. By comparison, there were 150,000 in America in 2019.”

Also reported by the Daily Mail UK: “In 2016, Mark Heathcott, who ran the Parks Canada burns division for 23 years, said Canada was 'way behind American counterparts' when it came to controlled fires. 'A lot of lip service is paid to it but very few agencies do it. People don’t understand the benefit of fire,' he said.”