Spirit of Beacon Day Committee: From left: Jeana Pearl Fletcher, Jennifer Garfield-Abrams, Ali T. Muhammad and Junior Zayed Dabashi.
Photo Credit: Erin-Leigh Hoffman of The Groundhog at Marist College

Written by Katie Hellmuth:

Living in Beacon for me has meant learning what community service really means. I do what I do at A Little Beacon Blog because I want to find information, and I want to be sure those around me have access to that information. Unintentionally, this became my community service.

Through my coverage as a blogger of the Spirit of Beacon Day over the years, and as a citizen experiencing the day, I saw the schools and organizations who I only read about, out on the street. The people in those organizations - the people of whom change all the time as they need to in their lives - those people did everyday volunteer work without needing of acknowledgment. They were people who paid attention and wanted to impact how life is lived here in Beacon.

The Spirit of Beacon Day was a day to see the people making social change out on the streets. Their spirits would come out however they wanted to show it. Vendor tables were reserved for non-profits and service organizations. This was and remains their day to shine.

As a blogger, I have covered 2 instances where the Spirit of Beacon Day almost ceased to happen, when the chair and committee needed to step aside in order to fulfill commitments in their personal lives. The Spirit of Beacon is its own entity. It is not a committee of the City of Beacon, and for a long time, it did not receive money from the city. It did receive complimentary police overtime.

Both of the times the Spirit of Beacon committee needed to cease, there was a releasing of the torch because no one would or could step up. The second time was two years ago, and with only months to spare to produce this huge event that so many people relied upon. I didn't have the time to lead this effort, but I knew that I could do it. I knew I had all of the contacts in my phone, I owned a branding agency who could voluntarily design what was needed. Everyone that could do anything was one text away.

I threw my hat into the ring. But I wasn't the only one. Longtime community members Ali T. Muhammad and Junior Dabashi also threw their hats into the ring. It was decided that I would lead the Spirit of Beacon Day as its Chair and Ali and Junior would serve as Board members. Weeks later, Jeana Pearl Fletcher and Jennifer Garfield-Abrams also came on to serve on the Board to make this event happen. As a Committee, we produced two Spirit of Beacon Days together.

The time has come for me to step aside so that I can get back to blogging and running my businesses to produce for my family so that I can continue to afford living in Beacon.

I am thrilled to announce that Ali T. Muhammad has stepped up and into the Chair position, with Junior, Jeana and Jen continuing to serve on the Board committee. Ali is a born and raised Beaconite, a natural leader, a proven leader in Beacon during his time serving on Beacon’s City Council years ago, and now in his organizing capacities in Newburgh for Next Step Hudson Valley and Melanin Unchained.

I will step off the board and continue to support by giving my Institutional Memory as guidance. My branding agency, Katie James, Inc., will continue to provide volunteer services to the website. A Little Beacon Blog will continue as Media Sponsor in order to get the word out for the Spirit of Beacon Day as needed.

I am so looking forward to seeing and experiencing what Ali produces this year. He is a visionary, gifted with seeing the big picture, and rallying those around him into action. Look for possible changes, and continued spirit.

To the People of Beacon: Thank you for having me.

Anyone interested in joining or rejoining the Committee, or volunteering in any capacity (big or small), please email spiritofbeacon@gmail.com with your interest.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Spirit of Beacon Day 2023! We hope you enjoyed the day, and that the non-profit and community service groups were able to reach many more people on this day. Please send us your photos at any time to spiritofbeacon@gmail.com.

Thank you to the City of Beacon for approving our permit and connecting us with the Highway and Police Departments to make this day run as smoothly as possible.

Thank you to our vendors, Durrants Party Rentals, Herring Sanitation, Aaron Verdile (sound equipment rental) and Bosco and the Storm (sound and stage equipment rental) for working with us as we moved the entire day to the rain date as the storm worsened.

Thank you to our local Sponsors who made financing this possible! And for your cheerleading and support. We could not do this without our local sponsors!

2023 Beacon Of Light Sponsors

2023 Mountain Sponsors

2023 River Sponsors

2023 SPIRIT SPONSORS

Last Outpost
314 Main Street, Beacon, NY
Really cool boutique with a handsome and rugged style. Shirts, hats, sunglasses, custom Beacon mugs and merch, etc.

The Pink Unicorn (aka David Shelley
Look for The Pink Unicorn almost every Saturday and Sunday in Beacon. As the pink unicorn makes its way down Main Street.

The Beacon Creamery
134 Main Street, Beacon NY
Beacon’s go-to for ice-cream on the train-side of the mountain (west side)

Supreme Pianos of NY
1004 Main Street Fishkill
For all your acoustic piano needs, including tuning, sales, repair, moving and storage.

Sara Mikulsky Wellness Physical Therapy, PLLC
18 W. Main Street, Suite 3
Beacon, NY 12508
Sara Mikulsky Wellness Physical Therapy provides holistic healthcare to the Hudson Valley. We provide services such as physical therapy, personal fitness and nutrition coaching. We work with all kinds of clients looking to decrease pain, recovery from surgery, get fit, improve posture and live healthier lives. Feel free to contact us at www.saramikulsky.com to find out how we can help you!

Kitchen Sink
157 Main Street
Beacon, NY 12508

Feeds R Us
351 Main Street
Beacon, NY 12508

JonCar Realty
451 Main Street
Beacon, NY 12508

District Social
511 Fishkill Avenue
Beacon, NY 12508
Axe throwing, full bar, live music, and more.

M+T Bank
200 Main Street
Beacon, NY 12508

Main Office Co-Work Space
234 Main Street
Beacon, NY 12508
The Main Office Space is a collaboration and co-working space located on Main Street in Beacon. We rent out corporate retreat space, conference rooms and desks by the day, week or month.

The Spirit of Beacon Committee presented the agenda to the City Council and the public tonight, September 11, 2023. Listen to it here.

Beacon's highly anticipated event, The Spirit of Beacon Day, takes place on Sunday, September 24th from 11am-4pm. This event was established in 1977 in response to racial tensions between Beacon's youth and the community. As a result, various community leaders from our local churches, library, police, City Council, and others came together to figure out what to do. A solution proposed was a community day. Said one of the original backbones of the Spirit of Beacon Day, Nan Whittingham, about the origin in the Beacon Evening News in 1986: "Everyone was in agreement that we, the community, should get to know one another better. It was agreed we should learn to know each other's likes and dislikes regarding conversation, feelings, entertainment, education and food."

Come to enjoy a variety of different foods from professionals, churches and organizations, as well as get to know services available at vendor tables. Music performances at 2 stages will be going all day at the Main Stage at Veterans Place, and the secondary stage at Cross Street. The big parade kicks off at 1pm and goes down Main Street.

The day starts at 11am, where Main Street is blocked off from South Brett Street (Key Food) to Teller Avenue (Yankee Clipper Diner). Both businesses are one of our sponsors this year, and we thank them very much. It is with sponsor support that this day can get produced. Sponsors this year include:

Beacon of Lights:

Key Food
The Roundhouse
The Station
Carter's Restaurant
For the second year in a row, Beacon Recreation Department where financing of Stage and Sound at Veterans Place Stage, and the Stage at Cross Street was provided.

Mountain Sponsors:
Remark Printing
Verplanck Auto
Faust Design Build

River Sponsors:
Hudson Valley Food Hall
Rabe and Co.
Yanarella Dance
Beacon Natural
Hudson Valley Credit Union
Dennis Vetrano Law
Bar Down Studio

Spirit Sponsors:

Last Outpost
The Pink Unicorn
Feeds R Us
JonCar Realty
Sara Mikulsky Wellness Physical Therapy
Supreme Pianos of NY
Kitchen Sink
District Social
M+T Bank
Beacon Digital + Main Office Co-Work Space

FOOD
We heard from the people, and the people wanted more street food. Last year, Beacon's restaurants were so happy because people ordered and filled the tables. This year, we dedicated more vendor tables to food choices, so come prepared to eat from:

St. Rocco's
Sons and Daughters of Italy
Beacon Boi hot dogs from Paul Yeaple formerly of Poppy's
I Am Beacon
BHS Class of 2025
Pat's Yard Vibes
St. Joachim - St. John the Evangelical
Coast 2 Coast
Beacon Light Tabernacle
The Mosque Masjid Ur Rashid
Tabernacle of Christ Church
Mama Mama La's Food for the Soul
Key Food grill
Key Food fresh Kettle Corn
Tommy Empanadas
Carter's Restaurant
Single and Hungry

MUSIC
Playing on the Main Stage at Veterans Place:
The Beacon Players
School of Rock Band
GG & the Shades
The parade will roll through, and then Bosco and the Storm will kick off followed by the Beacon Rising Choir and closing out with TonyE, returning all the way from NYC for us.

PARADE
Most importantly, who will we be seeing in the parade?
So many of you, and if you haven not registered yet, please do so now! Even if you march every year, please get into our spreadsheet.
The Rombout Middle School band will be marching and playing this year.
Yanarella School of Dance
Artists on the March
Passion The Adult Dance Studio
The incredible Marching Cobras are returning this year!
As are the Highlands Bag Pipe Band.
Slater Chemical Fire Company
Beacon National Honor Society
Ballet Arts
Beacon Girl Scouts
Beacon Light Hawks Pathfinders
And others.

For our Table Vendors, lots of awareness is coming to you, and we have saved tables specially for After School Clubs of the Beacon City School District.

We saved you a spot to come out of the school and onto the street so that everyone can meet you and see the effort you bring to the students in the district.

Students for Gender Equality have signed up, and we hope more do as well.

KIDS SECTION

The Kids Section this year will include activities from Compass Arts and Kumon.

PARKING
Please tell your friends to park in the free parking lots in Beacon. These include the DMV Parking Lot, the Police Station parking lot right here at Town Hall, and down at the Train Station. Dutchess County has agreed to consider running the free Beacon Loop to help bring people up from that parking lot.

VOLUNTEERS

As for volunteers:

We need a sign painter for 2 big wooden boards.
People to pass out flyers.
People to chalk yard signs with bathroom and parking lot signs.
Stay up to date at Spirit of Beacon's website: www.spiritofbeacon.org and follow at Instagram @spiritofbeacon and on Facebook @spiritofbeaconday

Verplanck Auto! Thank you for your sponsorship of the Spirit of Beacon! You have been there for many community events before, and you did it again. Located on 133 Verplanck Avenue, the little auto shop is a powerhouse for vehicle repair. Thank you!

Heating up like the summer are table registrations for the Spirit of Beacon Day 2023. Early Birds have been flying in, securing their tables. As registrations come in, we cannot promise the “same spot” and such, but we will try very hard to accommodate! Please be mindful that if you’re not in your same spot, sometimes change is good, and you might love your new spot, where you will meet new table neighbors.

Spirit of Beacon Day is saving at least 10 spots for After School Clubs. We really want to showcase them so that the community - not just students - can see what these teachers are offering to the students of the Beacon City School District. Please sign up and commit the day! Registration Fee is waved for After School Clubs. We are working on getting prizes from the community for those who work your table. We know what an extra effort it is for teachers to organize and host these After School Clubs.

Before we introduce the tables who have signed up so far, we want to share who is in this picture: Don Raskopf. A dedicated community member and lover of the Hudson Valley River who served as a Board Member of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater who did pass away in 2023. He attended last year’s Spirit of Beacon Day, and was a friend of many. He could be seen often on his bike with his little dog. Don is missed in Beacon, but his spirit lives on.

Organizations Who Have Registered So Far For Spirit Of Beacon 2023

Conservation Advisory Committee
Spirit of Beacon Table
Beacon Tree Advisory Committee
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
Family Transformation Church (formerly Faith Temple Church) - we had the booth at the end of N. Cedar Street
Fidelis Care
Astor Services
Beacon Lady Bulldogs Booster Club
Tioronda Garden Club
Salem Tabernacle
Fishkill Rotary Club
Beacon Climate Action Now
SOUTHERN DUTCHESS COALITION
Growing and Empowering Myself and My Sisters Inc.
The ARC Community League New York
Christ Church, United Methodist
Howland Public Library
Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF)
Patriot Swim Team and M2O swim
Beacon Sons and Daughters of Italy, St. Francis of Assisi Lodge #2629
Beacon City Council
Beacon Prison Rides
A Little Beacon Blog

Each year, the Spirit of Beacon Day has had a theme. Last year, it was The Origin Story. To remind people what the Spirit of Beacon Day is, and why it exists. It is not just a day to celebrate Beacon with a street fair. This is a day dedicated to connecting the youth to the community. Born in 1977 out of racial tensions between kids and the community. And those days are not over. They never will be. We have to connect to each other each and every day to ensure that we are understood and heard by each other.

This year, the theme of the Spirit of Beacon Day is “Level Up” (no, we don’t mean 4 story buildings, so don’t go there).

“Level Up” can mean many things, and we want to know how you perceive it. What does Leveling Up mean to you?

The Spirit of Beacon’s Secretary, Jeana Pearl Fletcher, had been thinking about this term a lot. She recently moved to Beacon, found a job in NYC that has her commuting. She joined the Spirit committee in order to get her hands into Beacon to get to know the community. “Level Up is a pump-up message to challenge myself with something new, like a goal or event, and embrace lessons learned. It can be a collective practice too!”

The Spirit of Beacon’s Treasurer, Jennifer Garfield Abrams, felt this: “Love Jeana’s meaning. It really resonates with me! I also think about it in terms of what it would mean for Beacon to ‘Level Up.’ There are so may people in the community who work on different projects to ensure that it’s the best Beacon it can be. Sometimes our visions for Beacon’s ‘leveling up’ are different, but the important thing is that we come together across that difference to work towards an even more thriving community.”

Said the Spirit of Beacon’s Chair, Katie Hellmuth: “In Beacon, ‘Leveling Up’ means to me to learn about new things, that may be old and normal to somebody else, and work to understand its place here in Beacon. Leveling Up in Beacon to me means speaking out about it in order to preserve it. Not to preserve something in stone. But to share what is going on so that people know about it, in case unfairness is persevering by leveling something flat.”

Spirit of Beacon Board Member, Junior Zayed Dabashi conveyed that “Level Up” means to him: “Elevate our everyday efforts to better our present and strengthen the future for our youth.”

What does Level Up mean to you in Beacon? Bring this spirit with you to the Spirit of Beacon Day on Sunday, September 24, 2023.

HELLO BEACONITES!!!

It’s the Spirit of Beacon Day Committee writing. We are BACK. We are back for Spirit of Beacon Day 2023, the 46th year of this day all because you made it happen last year. Yes you.

The City of Beacon has granted us the permit to once again celebrate this spirit on Sunday, September 24, 2023. That gives us the summer to reach out to you, hear from you, and plan for what you want to bring to the day.

The Committee

The returning Spirit of Beacon Committee members:  Katie Hellmuth (Chair), Jeana Pearl Fletcher (Secretary), Zayed Junior Dabashi (Board Member), and Ali T. Muhammad (Board Member) and our new treasurer Jennifer Garfield-Abrams! 

Nickeya Allen-Smith is now Spirit of Beacon’s contract bookkeeper, training our committee for passing the torch for future management. We are so thankful for her and the wealth of knowledge shared from past leadership to guide us into the future.

Last year we worked with volunteer Spirit Coordinators to produce the music and entertainment portion of the day. So far, we know that Goldee Green, Bosco Michael Faison, Kimberly Dei Dolori and Melissa Shae will be returning. We are looking for other volunteers and coordinators as programming opportunities open up. Please see how to get involved below!

The Mission

The mission of the Spirit of Beacon is to connect the youth with the community. There are ample opportunities for kids of all ages in Beacon. Our mission is to make sure they know about them and have more ways to connect with them. Read about the origins of this day. All parade and vendor table applications are weighed against our mission.

This year, we are especially looking for After School Groups at all of the schools to represent at their own table. Last year, we reserved a block for this. This year, with more time to get the word out, we hope these leaders of those After School Clubs are willing and able to make the time to set up a table, so that the parents, caregivers and kids can see and touch what goes on inside of the schools.

Registration For Parade and Vendor Tables Is Open

You can now register for a spot in the Parade and for a Vendor Table. No fee. A few things to remember:

Parade:

• Is for Beacon organizations and those who serve in Beacon.

• No politicking. Politicians are not allowed to sign up to walk as an individual.

• All parade registrations must be accepted after registration application is submitted.

• Businesses in Beacon can apply for and participate in the parade.

Vendor Tables:

• This is a time for connecting kids and adults with services that enrich their lives. Tables are prioritized for non-profit organizations after school programs If you or your business do not fall in this category, there may be space for your table. Please consider donating and centering your proceedings to a Beacon organization.

How Food Vendoring Will Work

We want your bellies to be full. We are opening food vendoring in a tiered system with deadlines in order to give our non-profits and Beacon businesses priority:

Fees:
$30 Dutchess County Department of Health Food Permit
$35 Spirit of Beacon Table Non-Profit and Beacon Business Rate for Food
$100 Spirit of Beacon Table Food Vendor Rate for Businesses Outside of Beacon.
Deadlines:
First come, first serve based on tier schedule. By the time your tier comes, there might not be space available. No guarantees.

• 1st Priority Tier: Non-Profits and Churches
  Selling food on Spirit of Beacon Day has been a fundraising opportunity for the non-profits, organizations and churches.
  Fee: $35 Table Fee
  Deadline: July 1 - July 31. Don’t wait.

• 2nd Priority Tier: Beacon Businesses
  Our restaurant business friends in Beacon also really need your business. Say all you want about the tourists who come in on the weekends, but very few establishments can survive on weekend traffic alone. With local Beacon not coming out every night of the week, our local restaurants do struggle. We do want you to order from the restaurants.
  This year, Beacon restaurants and businesses can apply for a table. If you are a business (like a barber) who wants to sell food outside your establishment, you can apply.
  Fee: $35 Table Fee
  Deadline: August 1 - August 16. Don’t wait. If space is available by then.

• 3rd Priority Tier:
  If we don’t fill up on food vendors with the first two priority tiers, then food vendors who are businesses and not on Beacon’s Main Street can apply.
  Fee: $100 Table Fee
  Deadline: August 17 - August 31.

Volunteer Opportunities

Throughout the summer, we will post different volunteer opportunities. Most of these will happen in September, as we get closer to The Day. This Committee operates mainly by text. We have lots of group text meetings. We have families and jobs and commitments that make meeting in person very difficult for us.

Right now, we are looking for a Spirit Coordinator for Social Media (in Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok). This person can be well versed in one of these platforms, or all. We can work with volunteers who are good in different platforms.

Register to be a Volunteer here.

Sponsor Opportunities

OMG. We had very little in the bank for 2022, and our business sponsors revived us. THANK YOU. Sponsorship for 2023 will open shortly. We need to do a big Thank You celebration post and social media celebration for our 2022 sponsors first.

The Logo Color

New year, new colors! Continuing with the Tradition. Kim Dei Dolori designed such a cool logo that you all loved and will be available for sale. Volunteers get their own shirts for FREE. Show up and show off Beaconites!

We are looking forward to seeing you on Sunday, September 24, 2023 for the 46th year of this day. We will be in touch with some of you sooner if you sign up for volunteer opportunities.

Look for more updates here at the Spirit of Beacon Day website!

Original Color T-Shirts and Hats Still Available! Limited Supply

Yes, the OG t-shirts are still for sale! Limited supply. Hats also. Click here to shop our store. Free local pickup available.

YES. Spirit of Beacon Day 2023 is happening!! We ducked under the water after completing the comeback 2022 for the first time, and we are opening 2023. Same Committee. Same Energy.

There will be new volunteer opportunities. New table opportunities. New food opportunities. And new colors of the logo!

Those who volunteer will have a new opportunity to get this exclusive Volunteer shirt. Thank you SO MUCH to our 2022 sponsors who made this possible. We could not have done it without you.

The Grand Marshal Car, for former Mayor Randy Casale, will be in this Corvette, sponsored by Pedego. You’ve seen Pedego on Rte 52 and it’s where some of you (now more of you) will get your electric bikes from! They also sell cars! Mama Cervone is in seen in the photos. She was recalling the days when they used to lend the Cervone towing truck to their elementary school for the float.

Spirit of Beacon Day
Sunday, September 25, 2022
11-4pm Music and Community Tables
1-2pm Parade

Another sign UP!

This one has the programming of the day. Thank you Key Food Beacon for allowing us to put the sign in your building! Junior Mo Dabashi, their Builder With The Truck Full Of Gear, and JB Said.

Spirit of Beacon Day is this Sunday, September 25, 2022!!!
11am-4pm Music and Community Tables
1-2pm Parade

Flyers! We need volunteers to pass flyers out to storefronts who will take them and lampposts! We left a few for you in Accuprint (next to Isamu and Ziatun and Maxs On Main.

Ask for the Spirit of Beacon flyer bags and take a few to the places you go to help spread the word.

Send us a picture and we will repost! Thank you!

New Sponsor Alert!

Verplanck Auto - you are always at everyone’s service! Thank you for sponsoring the Spirit of Beacon Day at the Mountain ($1,000) level!

Spirit of Beacon Day:
Sunday, September 25, 2022
11am-4pm Music and Community Tables
1-2pm: Parade

We have a banner!

We weren’t allowed to hang it across Main Street anymore, so Key Food Beacon generously offered their roof to hang it. Now people are asking about the date! Their wheels are turning!

Sunday September 25, 2022.
11-4 Music and Community Vendor Tables on Main Street
1-2pm Parade down Main Street

Thank you Junior, JB Said, Noberto and Angel for helping the overall installation to get it up there. Thank you to Remark Printing Company for magically expediting this order early when you said it was impossible. Thank you Brand New Dei for the logo design and banner design, and Allie Bopp Design and Katie James, Inc. for finishing and submitting to print. Not possible without our top Beacon of Light Sponsors! Sara Mikulsky, Round House, Playmaker University Pumas, Hudson Valley Goldsmith, and Key Food Beacon!

The flyers are ready!

Sunday, September 25, 2022!!!

11-4 is Community Vendor Tables + Music at Veterans Place, Cross Street, and things to do at Salvation Army Lawn for Kids, and Howland Cultural Center.

1-2pm is Parade. Starts at Main Street and Wolcott and goes to Tioronda.

We need Spirit Volunteers to help pass out these flyers! To storefront windows who accept them, and lampposts.

Bags of flyers are in Accuprint intended for Beacon, Wappingers, Fishkill, Cold Spring, Poughkeepsie.

Go in and pick up (located next to Ziatun and Isamu.

Take what you need and you think you can distribute. Even if you work at Chuck E Cheese or something, post it there!

Finalizing the musical lineup for the Main Stage at Veterans Place with these two! Goldee Green has been an integral part of this Spirit of Beacon Day, pushing the planning details along every day with Katie James, Inc. and A Little Beacon Blog!

A reporter by nature (you’ve read her articles in the Beacon Free Press) she is the front woman for her band GG and the Shades, is a teacher, and producer. She was one of the first Spirit Coordinators we could pay this year for her hard work, thanks to our donors and sponsors.

Bosco we are blessed with to use his stage and tents as he has lent in years past. This year, the City of Beacon is paying him to rent the stage, tents and sound and Bosco will be running sound and performance transitions on the day. Bosco and the Storm will be closing the day with their energetic performance - despite the heavy lifting they are doing to set up the stage and keep everyone running smoothly!

Releasing the musical lineup to you soon!

Former Mayor Randy Casale has accepted the Spirit of Beacon Committee’s humble request for him to be this year’s Spirit of Beacon’s Grand Marshall of the Parade, for our 45th year!

Randy Casale is a Beaconite who served the City in various ways, including as Beacon’s Highway Superintendent for 16 years, City Council member, and as Beacon’s Mayor. Randy told a friend once that he always wanted to be the Mayor of Beacon. That is how deep his commitment to the city was and is. Randy will always let you know what he thinks, and while your debate with him may get spirited, you will both know where you stand. Next day, friends again. As Mayor, Randy may have pursued a direction, but after he heard from the public who attended City Council Meetings to voice their opinions during Public Comment sessions, Randy was known to change his position based on his constituents.

Today, Randy has not slowed down. He can be spotted walking all over this city, and currently works in the The Roosevelt Bar. We only took a minute of his time to get his acceptance as he was preparing for a Friday evening behind the bar, serving the weekend crowd. Thank You Randy!

Spirit of Beacon Day is *not possible* without our Spirit Coordinators! Stephen Claire of Beacon Music Factory is our Spirit Music Coordinator for the stage at Cross Street. He is also a sponsor.

We locked in the 12x12 stage and tents today with Durants Party Rentals. Stephen is working with our central Spirit Music Coordinator Goldee Green of GG and the Shades to create the lineup, sound checks, transitions, etc. We wanted to help spread the Spirit of Beacon to either end of town.

Look for performances by Beacon Performing Arts Center and Ballet Arts Studio (all of us are named Katie, so that’s a trip for organizing this). Gwen Laster’s jazz ensemble and Beacon Music Factory students. We booked Aaron Verdile for his sound equipment. Thank you Nick Page for letting us use the property, and the new store for working with us to be there and use their power.

September 25 is almost here! Woo!

Making the Table arrangements now! Jeana is using her landscape architecture skills to modify the Table Map, and has added color coding (joy) and porta potty locations.

She will be helping vendors on the day to find their spot. Vendors bring their own table, chairs and tents. Have you registered yet? We know! Time is ticking. Even A Little Beacon Blog hasn’t registered yet, but just did. Highlands Current was on it early. St. Rocco’s just registered, and Slater Chemical just register.

After School Clubs: we REALLY want you to have your own tables! Like Kaleidoscope, Drama, Textile, etc. Lets everyone see how awesome you are!

Yay to everyone who registered so far. Still open.

See you Sunday September 25, 2022 from 11-4pm

City of Beacon Police Chief Sans Frost was kind enough to take us around to different porta potty location points. We want to make them convenient to you, and he wants to make sure we can find a spot that isn’t a parking spot, because he *really* wants to make all of the city’s free parking lot spaces available to you… Stay tuned for a fill list of free parking lot spaces in Beacon!

With his help, we have a great porta potty plan! Volunteer Jennifer Garfield-Abrams has excitedly taken this on to help coordinate!

Oh the things you don’t necessarily think of right away but are super important!

One of everyone’s biggest concerns for this 45th Year of the Spirit of Beacon Day was the bagpipe bands. Beacon must have the bagpipes! Thankfully, both the Hudson Highlands Bagpipe Band and the Amerscott Bagpipe Band are available for our day!

Thanks to our early sponsors, Key Food Beacon and The Roundhouse, we were able to heavily pursue both bands in the middle of summer vacations to secure that enough bagpipers would be available to perform in Beacon’s 45th Spirit of Beacon Day on Sunday, September 25, 2022. Bagpipers do travel to England every now and again to participate in bagpipe things, so we were lucky that they were available this particular weekend.

Checks have been written, contracts signed. We’re on!