Easter Egg Hunt in Beacon Set for 2017 - 7,000 Chocolate Eggs

Easter Weekend in Beacon, as in most places, means church mornings in pretty dresses. Here, we also have the Easter Egg Hunt in Memorial Park. This year, Beacon's Easter celebration in Memorial Park is slated for Saturday, April 15 from 11 am to 2 pm, with chocolates provided by Alps Sweet Shop, Beacon's local chocolatier. 

Attendance at this event at Memorial Park has grown over the years. It's usually the first official community-planned outing after a long winter, where neighbors don't see neighbors too often (aside from snow-shoveling sessions) because they are huddled up inside. Entertainment has grown to include a bouncy-something (slide, house, etc.), with a traditional visit from the Easter Bunny, raffles for a bike and baskets, petting zoo, face painting, live music, Dutchess Dog House food truck, and the annual presentation of the Mayor's Egg.

If you are coming with children, prepare yourself for chocolate-chasing chaos. As the crowds have grown, so has the grassy area covered for this Easter egg hunt. While the surrounding activities are manageable, the mad dashes for chocolate have seen an increase in coordination. Perhaps this year, the announcers of the chocolate races might use a larger speaker system, instead of the megaphone the event has outgrown, to direct the waves of kids lined up in different age groups. Hopefully the recent rainfall has started to melt the giant mound of snow that currently sits in the Memorial Park parking lot, where a lot of collected snow was dumped after the March Blizzard of 2017.

Welcome to Spring!

10th Annual Beacon Barks Parade Is Happening for 2017!

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The Beacon Barks Parade went on hiatus last year as the Beacon Barkery, the co-founding institution behind the event, transitioned to new owners. Recently, dog and cat fans have been happy to see the familiar yellow flyers return to storefront windows around town for the event, which raises money for Safe Haven Animal Shelter & Wildlife Center, and raises awareness for homeless animals in our communities.

Slated for Saturday, April 29, from 11 am to 4 pm (with no rain date planned), people and dogs will gather once again along Main Street starting at the west end of Main Street near Mountain Tops to the parking lot at the DMV. Some will be in costume for the Costume Contest, while others will be participating in canine performances while music plays on the street. Rescue organizations will hosting pet adoptions during the day, so be prepared to fall in love with a dog or cat - of any age! Just find someone to love and rescue.

Sponsor Opportunities

As in years past, there are vendor and sponsor opportunities available, and anyone can be a vendor, not just pet-related businesses or organizations. There is no fee for nonprofits, or for storefronts located along the parade route, to have a vendor table. To date, event sponsors include Canine Sanctuary, Tonya’s Tasty Treats, the VCA, Beacon Barkery, and Safe Haven.

To be a vendor, stop into Beacon Bakery at 190 Main Street to pick up or drop off an application (download one here from Hudson Valley Pet Expo's website) and leave a $50 vendor fee. The application deadline is April 15 (so get your taxes done early so that you can do this without panic!). Vendors get space for a 10'x10' table. Tables aren't provided, but details on renting a table and chairs are in the application. You could always invest in a table and chairs at Home Depot.

Costume Contest and Marching in Parade

To enter the pet costume contest, you also will need to fill out an application, but there is no fee. Anyone can march in the parade, and marchers do not need to register. 

Details for the parade can be found here at Hudson Valley Pet Expo.

3rd Annual Sausage Fest Returns to Barb's Butchery!

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Barb's Butchery first burst onto the scene with an Annual Sausage Fest to rave reviews and high attendance by people who wanted to try Barb's wild and creative flavors. Now in its third year, Sausage Fest returns to 69 Spring Street on Sunday, February 26th from 10 am to 6 pm. You'll be able to try (and take home!) 40 different flavors of sausage.

Yeah, that's right... 40 different flavors of sausage. If you don't know where to even begin to concoct that many recipes, Barb is way ahead of you, with her tongue-in-cheek style. She starts with a classic recipe and builds layers of flavor to complement the taste and texture of her locally farmed pork, chicken or lamb in surprising ways.

Example 1: Take the new 11 herbs and spices chicken sausage, with a seasoning blend that packs a bucketful of fried chicken flavor.

Example 2: Skip the sports bar and go straight for Barb's incredible buffalo wing sausage, with melt-in-your-mouth buffalo sauce spices and blue cheese in a chicken sausage. "It’s everything you love, without the celery!" say insiders at Barb's Butchery.

Example 3: For something more sophisticated, try the fragrant herbs and cayenne kick of her North African mint sausage.

Example 4: Keep it classic with the Cordon Bleu blend of house-made ham, Swiss cheese and Dijon mustard in a chicken sausage.

Sausage Fest is a not-to-be-missed event, so make room in your fridges and freezers! If you want to know the butchery's back story before visiting, read our interview with Barb here.

Editorial Note: Barb's Butchery is an advertiser in A Little Beacon Blog's Restaurant Guide, but this article is not a sponsored post. It's pure editorial because it's just that good.