Episodios
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World War II radio operator interred in Wappingers Falls
As the World War II bomber Heaven Can Wait was hit by enemy fire off the Pacific island of New Guinea on March 11, 1944, the co-pilot managed a final salute to flyers in an adjacent plane before crashing into the water.
All 11 men aboard were killed. Their remains, deep below the vast sea, were designated as non-recoverable.
Yet four crew members' remains are beginning to return to their hometowns after a remarkable investigation by family members and a recovery mission involving elite Navy divers who descended 200 feet in a pressurized bell to reach the sea floor.
Staff Sgt. Eugene Darrigan, the 26-year-old the radio operator, was buried with military honors and community support on Saturday (May 24) at the Church of St. Mary in his hometown of Wappingers Falls, more than eight decades after leaving behind his wife and baby son.
The bombardier, 2nd Lt. Thomas "Toby" Kelly, was buried Monday in Livermore, California, where he grew up in a ranching family. The remains of the pilot, 1st Lt. Herbert Tennyson, and navigator, 2nd Lt. Donald Sheppick, will be interred in the coming months.
The ceremonies are happening 12 years after one of Kelly's relatives, Scott Althaus, set out to solve the mystery of where exactly the plane went down.
"I'm just so grateful," he said. "It's been an impossible journey - just should never have been able to get to this day. And here we are, 81 years later."
March 11, 1944
The Army Air Forces plane nicknamed Heaven Can Wait was a B-24 with a cartoon pin-up angel painted on its nose. It was on a mission to bomb Japanese targets. Other flyers on the mission were not able to spot survivors.
Their wives, parents and siblings were of a generation that tended to be tight-lipped in their grief. But the men were sorely missed.
Sheppick, 26, and Tennyson, 24, each left behind pregnant wives who would sometimes write them two or three letters a day. Darrigan also was married, and had been able to attend his son's baptism while on leave. A photo shows him in uniform, smiling as he holds the boy.
Darrigan's wife, Florence, remarried but quietly held on to photos of her late husband, as well as a telegram informing her of his death.
Tennyson's wife, Jean, lived until age 96 and never remarried. "She never stopped believing that he was going to come home," said her grandson, Scott Jefferson.
Memorial Day 2013
As Memorial Day approached 12 years ago, Althaus asked his mother for names of relatives who died in World War II.
Althaus, a political science and communications professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, became curious while researching World War II casualties for work. His mother gave him the name of her cousin Thomas Kelly, who was 21 when he was reported missing in action.
Althaus recalled that as a boy, he visited Kelly's memorial stone, which has a bomber engraved on it. He began reading up on the lost plane.
"It was a mystery that I discovered really mattered to my extended family," he said.
With help from other relatives, he analyzed historical documents, photos and eyewitness recollections. They weighed sometimes conflicting accounts of where the plane went down. After a four-year investigation, Althaus wrote a report concluding that the bomber likely crashed off Awar Point in what is now Papua New Guinea.
The report was shared with Project Recover, a nonprofit committed to finding and repatriating missing American service members and a partner of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). A team from Project Recover, led by researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, located the debris field in 2017 after searching nearly 10 square miles of seafloor.
The DPAA launched its deepest-ever underwater recovery mission in 2023. A Navy dive team recovered dog tags, including Darrigan's, partially corroded with the name of his wife, Florence, as an emergency contact. Kelly's ring was recovered. The stone was gone, but... -
Take time today to remember those who sacrificed
Memorial Day is a U.S. holiday that's supposed to be about mourning the nation's fallen service members, but it's come to anchor the unofficial start of summer and a long weekend of travel and discounts on anything from mattresses to lawn mowers.
Iraq War veteran Edmundo Eugenio Martinez Jr. said the day has lost so much meaning that many Americans "conflate and mix up Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Armed Forces Day, July Fourth." Social media posts pay tribute to "everyone" who has served, when Memorial Day is about those who died.
For him, it's about honoring 17 U.S. service members he knew who lost their lives.
"I was either there when they died or they were soldiers of mine, buddies of mine," said Martinez, 48, an Army veteran who lives in Katy, Texas, west of Houston. "Some of them lost the battle after the war."
Steve Merando, who has marched in Cold Spring's Memorial Day parade since he was 10 years old, agreed. "People forget that Memorial Day is supposed to be a memorial to those who were killed in action while serving their country," said Merando, who served with the U.S. Navy Seabees from 1969 to 1973, including in Vietnam and Thailand. He played Little League baseball with Keith Livermore, one of three Philipstown residents killed in the Vietnam War.
In Memoriam: Philipstown and Beacon
Here is a look at the holiday and how it has evolved:
When is Memorial Day?
It falls on the last Monday of May, which this year is May 26.
In Cold Spring, a parade will begin at 9 a.m. at Stone and Main streets and progress to Cold Spring Cemetery in Nelsonville for a ceremony. Hot dogs and refreshments will follow at the American Legion. Rain or shine.
In Beacon, a ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. at 413 Main St. It will include the dedication of a plaque to mark the 100th anniversary of the Veterans Memorial Building, which was completed in 1925.
Why is Memorial Day celebrated?
It's a day of reflection and remembrance of those who died while serving in the U.S. military. The holiday is observed in part by the National Moment of Remembrance, which encourages all Americans to pause at 3 p.m. for a moment of silence.
What are the origins of Memorial Day?
The holiday's origins can be traced to the American Civil War, which killed more than 600,000 service members - both Union and Confederate - between 1861 and 1865.
The first national observance of what was then called Decoration Day occurred on May 30, 1868, after an organization of Union veterans called for decorating war graves with flowers, which were in bloom.
The practice was already widespread. Waterloo, New York, in Seneca County, began a formal observance on May 5, 1866, and was later proclaimed to be the holiday's birthplace.
Yet Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, traced its first observance to October 1864. And women in some Confederate states were decorating graves before the war's end.
David Blight, a Yale history professor, points to May 1, 1865, when as many as 10,000 people, many of them Black, held a parade, heard speeches and dedicated the graves of Union dead in Charleston, South Carolina.
A total of 267 Union troops had died at a Confederate prison and were buried in a mass grave. After the war, members of Black churches buried them in individual graves.
"What happened in Charleston does have the right to claim to be first, if that matters," Blight told the Associated Press in 2011.
When did Memorial Day become a source of contention?
As early as 1869, The New York Times wrote that the holiday could become "sacrilegious" and no longer "sacred" if it focused more on pomp, dinners and oratory.
In an 1871 Decoration Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery, abolitionist Frederick Douglass said he feared Americans were forgetting the Civil War's impetus: enslavement.
"We must never forget that the loyal soldiers who rest beneath this sod flung themselves between the nation and the nation's destroyers," Douglass said.
His concern... -
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Protestors gather at academy gates, Garrison's Landing
President Donald Trump used the first service academy commencement address of his second term on Saturday (May 25) to laud graduating West Point cadets for their accomplishments and career choice while also veering sharply into a campaign-style recitation of political boasts and long-held grievances.
"In a few moments, you'll become graduates of the most elite and storied military academy in human history," Trump said at the ceremony at Michie Stadium. "And you will become officers of the greatest and most powerful army the world has ever known. And I know, because I rebuilt that army, and I rebuilt the military. And we rebuilt it like nobody has ever rebuilt it before in my first term."
Wearing a red "Make America Great Again" hat, the Republican president told the 1,002 members of the class of 2025 at the U.S. Military Academy that the U.S. is the "hottest country in the world" and underscored an "America First" ethos for the military.
"We're getting rid of distractions and we're focusing our military on its core mission: crushing America's adversaries, killing America's enemies and defending our great American flag like it has never been defended before," Trump said. He later said that "the job of the U.S. armed forces is not to host drag shows or transform foreign cultures," a reference to drag shows on military bases that Democratic President Joe Biden's administration halted after Republican criticism.
Trump said the cadets were graduating at a "defining moment" in Army history as he accused political leaders in the past of sending soldiers into "nation-building crusades to nations that wanted nothing to do with us." He said he was clearing the military of transgender ideas, "critical race theory" and types of training he called divisive and political.
Past administrations, he said, "subjected the armed forces to all manner of social projects and political causes while leaving our borders undefended and depleting our arsenals to fight other countries' wars."
At times, his remarks were indistinguishable from those heard in a political speech, from his assessment of the country when he left office in January 2021 to his review of November's victory over Democrat Kamala Harris, arguing that voters gave him a "great mandate" and "it gives us the right to do what we want to do."
Frequently turning the focus on himself, he reprised some of his campaign rally one-liners, including the claim that he has faced more investigations than mobster Al Capone.
At one point the crowd listened as Trump, known for his off-message digressions, referred to "trophy wives" and yachts during an anecdote about the late real estate developer William Levitt, a billionaire friend who Trump said lost momentum.
But the president also took time to acknowledge the achievements of individual graduates.
He summoned Chris Verdugo to the stage and noted that he completed an 18.5-mile march on a freezing night in January in just two hours and 30 minutes. Trump had the nationally ranked men's lacrosse team, which held the No. 1 spot for a time in the 2024 season, stand and be recognized. Trump also brought Army's star quarterback, Bryson Daily, to the lectern, where the president praised Daily's "steel"-like shoulder. Trump later used Daily as an example to make a case against transgender women participating in women's athletics.
In a nod to presidential tradition, Trump also pardoned about half a dozen cadets who had faced disciplinary infractions.
He told graduates that "you could have done anything you wanted, you could have gone anywhere." and that "writing your own ticket to top jobs on Wall Street or Silicon Valley wouldn't be bad. But I think what you're doing is better."
His advice to them included doing what they love, thinking big, working hard, holding on to their culture, keeping faith in America and taking risks.
"This is a time of incredible change and we do not need an officer corps o... -
Voters also approve $98,150 annually for Butterfield Library
Haldane
Voters approved the Haldane Central School District's proposed $30.2 million budget by a vote of 474-125, or 79 percent. Turnout was 13 percent.
Voters also approved spending $205,000 on school buses (476-120) and increasing the maximum amount held in the Facilities Improvement Reserve Fund to $3 million and its duration by 10 years (480-117).
In addition, the ballot included a proposition to support the Butterfield Library with $98,150 in taxes annually, which was approved, 508-86. Voters approved referendums in 2015 to provide $73,150 annually to the library and in 2006 to provide $276,000 annually.
The Haldane spending includes a 2.8 percent tax-levy increase. Using the state's tax-cap formula, the district could have asked for a 3.38 levy increase. Board members debated this spring whether to go "to cap" but opted to forgo about $132,000 in revenue after voters last year approved an increase of 6.95 percent over three years to pay for $28.4 million in capital improvements. State aid for 2025-26 will be $4.55 million, an increase of $73,000 (1.6 percent).
The budget includes funding for a science-of-reading curriculum; software to improve student outcomes; a new pre-K program; special education funding for out-of-district placements; increased field trip spending; a softball field dugout; classroom air conditioners to comply with New York state's maximum temperature requirement; auditorium stage and performing arts equipment; and a transportation system analysis.
The district estimates taxes on a home valued at $500,000 will rise by $197 annually.
Sean McNall and Ezra Clementson ran unopposed to retain their seats on the five-member school board. Clementson will serve his second, 3-year term and McNall his third.
Garrison
Garrison district voters approved its proposed $14.7 million by a vote of 210-64, or 77 percent. Turnout was 12.5 percent.
By a 232-41 vote, district residents also approved a proposition that allows the district to enter into a contract for two to five years to continue sending high school students to Putnam Valley. Garrison includes grades K-8; its older students can attend Putnam Valley, Haldane or O'Neill.
There were two open seats on the seven-member board, and two incumbent candidates. Sarah Tormey was elected to her third, 3-year term and Kent Schacht to his second full term after being elected in 2021 to fill a vacancy.
The tax-levy increase of 3.58 percent was far below the 5.78 percent allowed for the district under the state's tax-cap formula. To avoid raising the levy further, Garrison administrators proposed paying for two pilot programs - an armed police officer and a lunch program - with $1.4 million in savings. State aid will be $1.23 million, an increase of $51,000 (4.4 percent).
With the budget approval, the district will hire a Special Patrol Officer, a retired police officer whose role would be limited to security. (A School Resource Officer, or SRO, which Haldane has, is a sheriff's deputy who also teaches classes on topics such as personal safety, cyberbullying and drug awareness.)
Student lunches will be available Monday through Thursday; on Fridays, the school will continue to sell pizza as a fundraiser.
The district estimates that a Philipstown home assessed at $300,250 will see its taxes rise by $306 annually.
$1.4 million in savings. State aid will be $1.23 million, an increase of $51,000 (4.4 percent).
With the budget approval, the district will hire a Special Patrol Officer, a retired police officer whose role would be limited to security. (A School Resource Officer, or SRO, which Haldane has, is a sheriff's deputy who also teaches classes on topics such as personal safety, cyberbullying and drug awareness.)
Student lunches would be available Monday through Thursday; on Fridays, the school will continue to sell pizza as a fundraiser.
The district estimates that a Philipstown home assessed at $300,250 will s... -
Voters approve 5.09 percent tax-levy increase
Voters on Tuesday (May 20) approved $87.7 million in spending for the Beacon City School District for the 2025-26 academic year by a wide margin. The vote was 805-240, or 77 percent approval. Turnout was about 6 percent.
The budget includes a 5.09 percent tax-levy increase, just under the maximum allowed for the district by New York State. The levy will generate more than $50 million in property taxes.
At $31.6 million - an increase of $572,000 (1.9 percent) - state aid makes up the bulk of the remaining revenue. The district will spend $2.5 million of its savings in 2025-26, an increase of $500,000 over this year.
District officials say the budget will allow them to maintain improvements made in recent years, including smaller elementary class sizes, increased mental health support for students and a full-day pre-K program. For the first time, the district will launch a summer workshop program for incoming high school students and create an in-school mental health clinic at Rombout Middle School. It also will add teachers for elementary students struggling in math and reading and hire a part-time elementary speech instructor.
While the proposed levy increase is more than 5 percent, the addition of new households to the tax rolls means homeowners' bills may not go up by the same percentage. The district estimates that the owner of a $420,200 home (the median value) in Beacon will see their taxes increase by $240 annually.
In addition, voters returned Meredith Heuer and Semra Ercin to the nine-member board. Heuer will begin her fourth, 3-year term, while Ercin will serve her first full term after being elected in 2023 to complete the final two years of a vacated seat. The seat held by Alena Kush, who did not run for a second term, will be filled by Catherine Buscemi, who also ran unopposed. -
Beacon fifth graders help restock trout
If you saw 37 fifth graders marching with fish signs down Churchill Street in Beacon on May 16, they were off to release 60 trout friends into Fishkill Creek.
The children, who attend South Avenue Elementary, had given the 3-inch brown trout names like Holiday, Jeremy, Jeff, Billy Bigback, Patricia Felicia Petunia, Little Jim Bob and Li'l Shoddy.
It was the culmination of an eight-month school project about trout, their habitat and conservation, and the importance of caring about nature.
"Why would you care about the environment if you're not connected to it in any way?" asked Aaron Burke, the school librarian who runs the project. "This is a way to help make that connection. Every time they drive over that bridge, they'll think, 'I wonder if Fred is in there.' "
Students in 5,000 schools nationwide and more than 350 in New York are conducting similar releases as part of Trout in the Classroom, a program organized each spring for more than 30 years by the conservation group Trout Unlimited.
"The big goal of the program is to create this connection with students in their watershed and their drinking water," said Cecily Nordstrom, the nonprofit's stream education manager.
Burke has worked with Trout in the Classroom for five years and starts each fall with a small jar of trout eggs hatched in an aquarium in the school library. He gets the eggs from the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The DEC uses the same stock in hatcheries that annually produce 2 million trout to stock streams and lakes.
The state adds 6,100 brown trout each spring to Fishkill Creek, which starts in Union Vale and flows 33 miles through Dutchess County before passing through Beacon and emptying into the Hudson River. About 90 percent of those trout are 9-inch yearlings. Starting in 2020, about 10 percent of stocked trout were 13-inch two-year-olds, giving anglers "a shot at catching one of those nice larger fish," said Fred Henson, the DEC's cold water fisheries leader.
Photos by Ross Corsair
Henson explained that Fishkill Creek is a "put-and-take" fishery, which means the fish are put in the stream and quickly taken out by anglers fishing in places like Madam Brett Park off Tioronda Avenue. Stocked trout rarely survive to reproduce.
Without stocking in Fishkill Creek, Henson said, "you wouldn't have a fishery."
Development along streams like Fishkill Creek undermines the clean, cold water needed for trout to thrive, he said. As with many waterways in developed areas, stormwater runoff pollutes the creek and fewer trees leads to rising water temperatures.
Henson said that the state reduced stocking last year in Beacon's section of Fishkill Creek to 400 trout because fewer property owners allow fishing. Until 2023, the state was stocking the section with 1,100 brown trout, he said.
"As more and more large properties are subdivided and development increases in the Hudson Valley and in Dutchess County, we're limited by landowners who are unwilling to let the public access trout streams for recreation," said Henson.
The South Avenue Elementary release was at a public greenway behind the Hudson Valley Brewery. Burke had a tabletop model of a watershed to show how development impacts a waterway. Teachers led scavenger hunts while children took turns releasing trout.
Mark Jones, a board member of the Mid-Hudson chapter of Trout Unlimited, was there to teach fly casting. While most of its members are anglers, Jones emphasized that his chapter's mission is "to show the importance of stream preservation." On Fishkill Creek, he said the chapter has done clean-ups and tree plantings that reduce bank erosion.
April Stark, another member of the Mid-Hudson chapter, demonstrated fly tying and explained that a river with healthy bugs produces healthy trout. "Trout only live in good, clean water," she said. "So, when you see trout who are able to thrive wi... -
Mase buyer expected to soon sign contract
The Beacon City Council has approved the sale of the 114-year-old Mase Hook & Ladder fire station, although city officials said the buyer and price won't be revealed until the contract is finalized.
The council voted, 6-0, on Monday (May 19), with Jeff Domanski of Ward 2 abstaining. He said that while City Attorney Nick Ward-Willis had moments earlier provided an "excellent explanation" of the sale process and council members' responsibility to seek the highest return, he felt "that could have been communicated earlier; it might have allayed a lot of concerns."
City Administrator Chris White said Wednesday that he was hopeful the sale would be finalized next week.
Earlier this month, a real-estate agency hired by the city listed Mase, at 425 Main St., for $1.95 million and the former Beacon Engine Co. firehouse at 57 East Main St. for $1.75 million. Both properties became surplus after a $14.7 million centralized fire station opened near City Hall last fall.
On Monday, Ward-Willis explained that state law allows a municipality to withhold details of a sale until a contract has been signed. "Similar to a private deal, you don't negotiate in public, especially on the financial terms," he said.
The council's vote authorized White to move forward with the sale and acknowledged that an ownership transfer would not negatively impact the environment. If the new owner, as expected, submits plans to redevelop the three-story brick building, they will be subject to Planning Board review, including for environmental impacts.
At the Monday meeting, Beacon resident Theresa Kraft criticized the pending sale, saying a council member voting "yes" could be labeled "a traitor, a crook, a pawn in a larger game."
"It's like pawning your grandfather's gold watch to pay a bill," she said. "The bills keep piling up, and once the watch is gone, you lose a cherished family heirloom." She asked the council to call for a public referendum before proceeding with a sale.
Ward-Willis responded later, noting that state law permits only certain situations, such as the issuance of bonds or a change to the city charter, to go to voters. As elected representatives, he said, the council must decide most matters.
"With the sale of a property or the purchase of a snowplow, you're not allowed to go to the public and do a poll," he said. "You don't have the authority to send it to the public. You've been elected and you need to do your job."
Addressing other suggestions made recently, Ward-Willis said the city had considered repurposing the building but a law that requires multiple contractors for public construction projects made conversion impractical. Modern accessibility codes also do not apply to the building as long as it is a fire station, but "when you kick it over to a different use, whether it's a community center, whether it's a city hall, that triggers a whole set of rules which the city has to comply with," he said.
The city received multiple offers for the former station, Ward-Willis said. Charlotte Guernsey, the owner of Gate House Compass Realty, the city's broker, recommended the pending offer as "the highest and best," he said.
The decommissioned Mase and Beacon Engine stations are both part of Beacon's protected historic district. City officials said both former firehouses would be sold with covenants that restrict renaming the properties or altering or defacing their historical features. Any changes to the exterior of the buildings will require a "certificate of appropriateness" from the Planning Board.
While a sale is pending at Mase, Beacon Engine's ownership has been challenged. State Judge Thomas Davis on Tuesday (May 20) recused himself from litigation brought against the city by retired members of the volunteer fire company that used the station as its headquarters for 136 years. Davis, who presided over the lawsuit filed in 2023 by St. Andrew & St. Luke Episcopal Church over a city-owned parkin... -
Tony Moore mounts show of works by friends and neighbors
After more than a year of curation, Tony Moore is poised to open his remote Philipstown gallery space and its lush grounds to display his work and that of 14 other artists whom he admires and calls friends.
The show, Destination Earth, contains over 70 pieces spread across the wooded property and inside the light and roomy interior spaces. The main upstairs gallery seems like an airy treehouse, with vistas complementing the art.
Moore and his wife, Cynthia Ligenza, met in New York City nearly 30 years ago at a gathering for people wanting to imbue their lives with health, art and sharing. Two years later, they moved to a 5-acre property on a ridge abutting Fahnestock State Park.
The two married that summer under tall oaks, and the expansive surroundings continue to nurture creativity. "We are living in paradise," says Ligenza. Crediting her husband's vision and efforts, she says "every inch of our property is curated, and it brings me to tears to look at it because it's so beautiful."
Moore has been producing beauty since childhood, even before his grandfather recognized his interests and gave him woodworking tools. Born in the midlands of England, Moore went to art school in the U.K. and Yale University. After graduating with an MFA, he installed exhibits at the Guggenheim, which would later acquire four of his works. The Brooklyn Museum owns two.
Ligenza became a physician, with a practice in Cold Spring, while maintaining a lifelong devotion to music. The Ligenza Moore Gallery has hosted recitals featuring Ligenza on violin and with other musicians.
Art beckons as one approaches the show, which explores "where we are, how we got here, what may endure, and what is to come." When coming from the plateau below the buildings, a ceramic platter by Jeff Shapiro sits before ascending stairs. Kurt Steger's wood-and-steel abstraction is adjacent to the gallery sign. More Steger pieces pepper the grounds.
"Vipassana," by David Provan
"Reverb," by Don Voisine
"Summer Walk," by Katherine Bradford
Sculptures by Kurt Steger and David Provan
"The Thousand-Eyed Present (from Ralph Waldo Emerson)," by Meg Hitchcock
Once inside the vestibule, there are graphic etchings and collages by Judy Pfaff, who attended Yale with Moore. Entering the upstairs space, Moore's dark painting on paper features a bright blue hand, echoing the hand imagery in Pfaff's work.
On the landing leading to the main gallery, the shapes in each work mimic others in proximity. "The works start talking to each other," Moore says. "As a curator, you try to foster that conversation. I've spent a great deal of time moving things around in the gallery to try to achieve that balance and harmony."
Moore's work in the show includes a mysterious painting that suggests a chrysalis or womb; a wall of pictorial ceramics he calls "fire paintings;" wood-fired ceramics with surface and interior interest; an early wood-fired ceramic wall tile; and one bronze and one ceramic-and-steel sculpture placed outside that shift in appearance depending on weather and light.
"I'm not a figurative artist," Moore says. But he is also not an abstract artist such as his friend David Provan, who died last year. Instead, evocative imagery and forms with a spiritual component mark his work, which he suggests might be characterized as "symbolic abstraction."
The gallery also has three small acrylics by Katherine Bradford, whose swimmers, while figurative, respect formal principles and abstract composition, with faces that are nothing more than slabs of color. Perhaps the most traditional art in the show is by Moore's neighbor, Simeon Lagodich, who is completing a series of Hudson Valley plein air paintings. An iguana poses with an adorned woman painted by Garry Nichols, and around her is a ceramic piece by Moore that might look like a pair of animals - dogs, bunnies?
On a lawn behind the gallery and near the sheltered Anagama-Noborigam... -
My first experience growing plants in containers was in a rooftop garden in Brooklyn. The previous tenant left behind troughs and pots, and I was delighted to make use of them. I grew sweet corn, 8-foot sunflowers in clay pots and herbs of all flavors.
I learned from my farmer uncle that corn had to be planted in two rows, not a single line, because it's wind-pollinated. I staggered a row of five in a curving line. That doesn't yield a lot of corn, but I liked the way it looked, and it felt grounding to have these sturdy, waving stalks among the industrialness of the neighborhood.
The sunflowers were cheerful and untouched by the squirrels and chipmunks that keep me from growing them in Philipstown. At the end of the season, I would lop off the heads and give them to my neighbors, who kept chickens in an empty lot on the corner. The herbs were a sensory blast and sometimes used for cooking among the people who shared the space.
The setup dictated the growing conditions. The rooftop was accessible after many stairs and walking through the kitchen and a bedroom. Lugging heavy bags of soil or other materials was a drag. I improvised compost and filler with leaves I collected in the street for mulch.
There wasn't any shade, and the black tar paper under the containers was blazing hot. Setting the pots on stands helped. Water came from a hose that ran up the fire ladder from the courtyard below and had to be turned on and off at ground level. Getting that parkour workout was a bonus.
Now I'm a flatlander, with acres of greenery and containers that form a border to keep people from falling off the patio. It was useful when my daughter was learning to walk. All were inherited from a previous owner or repurposed.
I appreciate having herbs like chives and basil nearby for cooking and dill to attract caterpillars that become butterflies. I grow lettuce because it's close to the kitchen and easy to gather for salads. Sun-warmed cherry tomatoes, a summer luxury, are close at hand because everyone likes to grab one for a quick snack.
I have two window boxes to plant - a gift handmade and installed by my husband. I considered how nice they would look on the stone wall of our house but realized I don't want to block the view from inside. I'm planning a low-growing mix with creeping thyme and stonecrop plants.
A few things to address when planting containers:
For vegetables, look for plants labeled "patio," which are bred to grow in small spaces.
Watering is the most demanding part of container gardening. Larger pots allow for more soil volume that will dry out less quickly.
Metal containers heat up fast and hold heat. Pottery is more stable temperature-wise but porous. Plastic is relatively stable, but it's got all the relative issues of being plastic; it's better to repurpose or acquire used plastic pots. Wood is a fine material.
Commit to watering and set up a rain collection system nearby if possible. Monitor the soil daily if it isn't raining.
Think about layers and maximize space by using tall, medium and shorter plants to fill out the container.
If you enjoy fresh mint, grow it in a container to avoid its inevitable colonization of a flowerbed. The same is true for other vigorous plants.
Soil sold in bags labeled as "potting mixes" is blended to maximize nutrients and drainage. Avoid using garden soil or topsoil, which are denser.
I've never used mulch in container gardening but in larger troughs or with bare soil it could help with water retention.
It's a myth that a layer of rocks at the bottom of a pot will help drainage. It makes it worse. Fill it with soil and make it snug around the plants to avoid air pockets.
Mix perennials and annuals to lighten your workload. You don't have to start from scratch every year.
Many pollinator-attracting plants will happily grow in pots. A few of my favorites are butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa), foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis) and little bluestem, a native grass (Schizachyrium ... -
Beacon artist opens studio to beginners
Not too long ago, Beacon High School offered woodworking classes in a space now occupied by Rexhill Studio. An old sign outside one of the warren of rooms in the KuBe Art Center reads: "GO4 Wood Shop."
Today, students can access a Construction Trade curriculum that includes some woodworking instruction through Dutchess BOCES. Two are enrolled.
Exemplifying the decline of practical manual arts education, studio co-owner Justin King attended the Oregon College of Art and Craft, which shuttered in 2019 after 112 years.
To fill the instructive void, King launched an eight-week introduction to the basics, Woodshop Beacon, which sold out fast and wrapped up on Wednesday (May 21).
"We have fewer places to do this kind of thing," he says. "With YouTube and other videos, you're starting in the middle and backtracking to the beginning, so this helps plug in the knowledge gap."
The endgame for the class is a handmade square box, a task that requires several basic skills. A model jewel case that King created is shaped to near perfection, with seamless joints; the top tray nestles inside with zero wiggle room. Press a button in the back and out pops a hidden drawer.
"Boxes can be simple, but they require time, dedication and ability," says King. The name Rexhill, incorporating the Latin word for his last name, harks to the family farm in Ohio. After making his way to Portland, he met his wife, Paula, who plays an instrumental role at the studio.
The couple drifted east with stopovers because there are lots of woodworkers in the Pacific Northwest and she grew up in New Jersey. In 2006, when they settled in Beacon, "it was pretty rough," she says. "But you could feel a change in the air."
Justin King's first love is fine furniture, and he makes tables and credenzas with artistic and technical flair. The studio also devises custom installations in collaboration with architects, homeowners, contractors and interior designers.
For the Woodshop Beacon class, students began by "playing around with planing," according to the curriculum. They progressed to joinery and working with machines, taking advantage of hands-on shop time on Saturday mornings.
Building the box requires choosing the type of wood and assembling, sanding and completing the project. "Even if a finished piece is functional, it is art because no two designs are alike," says King, who worried about filling up seats and was comforted by the response.
Dylan Assael, a friend, jumped at the chance to attend. "I thought, 'How great would it be to acquire this skill and level up my abilities?' " he says. Assael also took a sewing class and creates flags that mesh with the decor at boat and yacht clubs.
Though woodworking presents inherent danger, he faced his fears. "Those tools can maim and injure and that scares the shit out of me, so I'm glad to get instruction from a pro and keep my digits intact," he says. "Sifting through videos is frustrating; it's so much easier to talk to a human being and get instant feedback."
Rexhill Studio is located at 211 Fishkill Ave., Suite GO1 & 4B, in Beacon. See rexhillstudio.com or call 503-490-7280. -
Roni Horn exhibit elevates her work at Beacon museum
Memo to visitors at Dia Beacon's Roni Horn exhibition: Keep your heads up to avoid tripping or stubbing a toe. "Objects of Constancy," which weighs in at 300 pounds and looks like an oversized stick of licorice (or seven strands of intertwined rebar), rests in the middle of a walkway.
Other dense works, made of cast lead, are tucked into a nook and also placed on the floor by the artist. "Mass Removal II" and "Mass Removal III," created with hand-hammering and a pneumatic drill, resemble elongated clamshells with scuffed-up interiors.
The tops of four rocks-from-another-planet, an excerpt from the eight-piece Space Buttress series, look like petrified wood (one of which conveys the illusion of a knot). In contrast, the sides evoke moss-covered stone.
"Things That Happen Again," another floor-based sculpture, consists of two shiny 1,752-pound copper cylinders placed at 90-degree angles. In a separate room, the cast iron pieces that make up "Post Work 3" resemble textured loudspeakers on poles and hint at an Easter Island vibe.
"Vertical sculptures generally suggest the human form, just as horizontal works are often associated with landscapes," says curator Donna De Salvo.
"Object of Consistency" (1980)
"Post Work 3" (1986)
"Things That Happen Again" (1986/90)
"Space Buttress I" (1984-85)
More than a sculptor, Horn installed this long-term exhibit that elevates her work into the pantheon of artists occupying permanent and semi-permanent spaces in the massive museum, like Donald Judd, Richard Serra and Andy Warhol.
"Horn was friends with Serra, and Judd arranged for the permanent install of another version of 'Things That Happen Again' at Marfa [his 45,000-acre ranch and gallery in Texas], so she fits right in," says De Salvo.
Of the exhibit's 23 works, nine are owned by Dia; the abstract color and texture studies hanging on the walls are on loan from the artist and her gallery.
These framed works date to the mid-1980s. Horn deployed similar motifs and techniques in later, larger creations, says De Salvo. Building on a back-mounted sheet of paper, she created a second layer with smaller fragments of thicker, mottled paper arranged in a collage style covered with colorful, slate-like shapes seemingly outlined in black.
Three works titled "Brooklyn Red" are accompanied by a couple of Brooklyn whites, Hamilton reds and Brooklyn grays. Some of the shapes seem three-dimensional, especially in "This 1," where the colored blotch looks bent like a butterfly wing.
Horn enjoys pairing subjects, like the paper work "Untitled (Hamilton)," which looks like a couple of nuclear reactors. The objects in "Double I I' " and "Double N N' " seem more risque.
In 2001 and 2002, as her international renown began to grow, Horn held two solo shows at the Dia Center for the Arts in Manhattan. Now, she's on the same level at Dia Beacon as Robert Ryman, Gerhard Richter and Louise Bourgeois. It's rare for a living artist to achieve such recognition (she is 69).
"We've had a real commitment to her for more than 20 years," says De Salvo. "She's one of the major figures of her generation and there's a dialogue with our other artists on view."
Dia Beacon, at 3 Beekman St., is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday to Monday. Admission is $20 ($18 seniors, $12 students and disabled visitors, $5 ages 5 to 11, free for members, ages 5 and younger and Beacon and Newburgh residents). See diaart.org. -
Proposal also would steer revenue to towns, villages
Four Putnam legislators who supported lowering the county's sales tax rate acquiesced on Monday (May 19), endorsing state legislation that will maintain the current 4 percent rate and send some proceeds to Cold Spring, Nelsonville, Philipstown and six other towns and villages.
Convening for a special session, the Legislature voted 7-1 to support bills introduced by state Sen. Pete Harckham and Assembly Member Matt Slater, whose districts include eastern Putnam, that would extend the 4 percent sales tax rate for another two years. Without the bill, the rate will return to 3 percent. Consumers pay a total of 8.375 percent on eligible purchases, which includes portions that go the state (4 percent) and Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (0.375 percent).
The state legislation also requires that one-ninth of 1 percent of Putnam's sales tax revenue be shared with the county's nine municipalities.
State lawmakers first approved the increase from 3 percent to 4 percent in 2007, at the county's request, and a series of extensions have kept it in place. The most recent extension expires Nov. 30. In April, five county legislators voted to lower Putnam's tax to 3.75 percent as a give-back to taxpayers amid a $90 million surplus in unrestricted reserves.
But County Executive Kevin Byrne vetoed the reduction and announced an agreement to share with the towns and villages proceeds from the 1 percent increase if it were extended. Municipalities can spend the money on infrastructure projects, with each receiving an amount tied to its population and each guaranteed at least $50,000.
Harckham and Slater endorsed the agreement, which would take effect Dec. 1 and last through Nov. 30, 2027, if their bills pass the Legislature and become law. In addition to enabling what Byrne calls "a first-of-its-kind sales tax-sharing arrangement," the extension will fund a $1 million reduction in the property-tax levy for the 2026 budget that he said would be the largest in county history.
"The alternative was allowing the county's sales tax rate to drop, immediately creating a revenue shortfall of tens of millions of dollars, forcing the county to borrow, raise property taxes or both," Byrne said.
Facing those same pressures, Putnam's municipalities have for years demanded a share of the sales tax revenue, something that 50 of New York's 62 counties do with their cities, towns and villages, according to the state Comptroller's Office. Dutchess' 2025 budget includes $46 million in sales tax distributions, with an estimated $6.1 million for Beacon.
Putnam Sales Tax
What do you think?
The Putnam Legislature should...
The Putnam Legislature should...
Keep the sales tax at 4 percent with no distribution to towns and villages.
Keep the sales tax at 4 percent and distribute some money to towns and villages.
Lower the sales tax from 4 percent to 3.75 percent
Let the sales tax revert to the 3 percent rate from 2007.
If the proposed revenue-sharing agreement had been in place in 2024, Putnam would have distributed $2.4 million to the towns and three villages on a per capita basis, Byrne said during a news conference last month.
"I haven't heard a single constituent ask us to lower the sales tax," said Nancy Montgomery, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley as the Legislature's sole Democrat, on Monday. "What I have heard loud and clear is stop the back and forth, stop the chaos and work together."
Legislator Dan Birmingham, who led the effort to lower the sales tax rate, did not participate in the vote because his law firm represents three of the municipalities that would benefit from the revenue-sharing agreement. Another supporter of the cut, Paul Jonke, was the only legislator voting against endorsing Harckham and Slater's legislation, which must pass the state Legislature before its session concludes on June 12.
Amid that pressure, legislators who voted for the vetoed sales tax cut la... -
Known for its bread, bakery relocates from Peekskill
There's something in the air in Garrison - the smell of fresh bread.
Signal Fire Bread opened a new, wood-fired bakery on Thursday (May 15) on Route 9D in Garrison just south of the post office.
Its co-owners, Erin Detrick and Liz Rauch, are both experienced in the art of baking. Detrick baked professionally in New York City before establishing Signal Fire Bread in 2018. Rauch operated a home-based bakery before joining Detrick at the Sparrowbush Bakery in Hudson. They joined forces in 2019 and two years later moved the bakery to Peekskill.
Rauch said their goal in Peekskill was to run a manufacturing plant for bread, but local zoning required them to include a retail component. "We were able to establish a strong business there, but the retail space was makeshift." Detrick said. "We didn't have great visibility, and we couldn't grow it."
They were not actively looking for a new home but said they couldn't resist when the Garrison location became available. "The space came to us," Rauch said. "We considered it for a while, and it was like, 'Yes, this is what we imagined we'd like to be.'" They closed the Peekskill facility in late 2024 to focus on the move.
Signal Fire's initial retail selection will include 12 to 15 types of bread, from baguettes, spelt, brioche and miche, to East Mountain levain, Ammerland rye and honey whole wheat. There will also be scones, muffins, cookies, biscuits, galettes and rolls.
"We'll add pizzas, sandwiches and salads eventually and, hopefully, soups by the fall," Detrick said. "We want to add more breakfast and lunch items as we get our legs and train staff." Coffee + Beer in Ossining will supply coffee. Signal Fire will continue to have a booth on Saturdays at the Cold Spring Farmers' Market, where it has a loyal following.
Rauch and Detrick are aware that the building, which began life as a gas station, has seen a succession of short-lived cafes and restaurants. "That was an early concern, but we're already well-known in this community and feeling so much support everywhere we go here," Detrick said.
Grain and the flour derived from it are the raw materials that fuel a bakery. Signal Fire works with Farmer Ground Flour, which grows organic grain on five farms in the Finger Lakes region and grinds it into flour using pink granite millstones.
That process mills together the grain's three elements - bran, germ and endosperm - to maximize flavor and nutrient value. "It can be sifted if you want a lighter wheat, or left whole," Detrick said. They sometimes source flour from New Jersey and Maine, as well.
Rauch said 90 percent of what they bake uses natural wild yeast. "Sourdough is natural wild yeast; it's in the air," she said. They mix flour, water and yeast twice a day. "We've been maintaining that culture since we opened; it's a constant process of keeping it healthy and happy."
The name Signal Fire is tied to the region's geography and history. Signal fires were lit on mountaintops in the Highlands as a means of communication, both during the Revolutionary War and probably earlier by Native Americans. "I loved that image of fires burning on the mountaintops," Detrick said.
Both bakers admitted to a slight case of the jitters as opening day approached. "We've been prepping for a year," Detrick said. "It's a blend of excitement, nerves and curiosity about what's going to actually happen when people come through the door."
Rauch added: "I'm feeling positive and optimistic. I'm also nervous because we've never run an operation like this. We're jumping off the diving board!"
Signal Fire Bread, at 1135 Route 9D in Garrison, will be open today (May 16), Saturday and Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Beginning May 22, it will be open daily except Wednesday. See signalfirebread.com. -
Says deputies punished for writing too few tickets
The union representing Putnam County Sheriff's Office deputies said it has filed a complaint with the state labor board alleging that its members are penalized for failing to meet quotas for writing tickets.
The Sheriff's Office PBA announced on May 10 that an action has been filed with the state Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) against Sheriff Kevin McConville, Putnam County and County Executive Kevin Byrne.
Neither the union nor the sheriff or county executive's offices responded to emails about the allegation, but a Facebook post by the PBA said Capt. James Schepperly, who heads the Sheriff's Office's patrol division, has used quotas "as a gauge of a deputy's performance," in violation of department policy and state law.
The Sheriff's Office only publicizes its use-of-force policy. But state labor law bars police agencies from penalizing officers - including "reassignment, a scheduling change, an adverse evaluation, a constructive dismissal, the denial of a promotion or the denial of overtime" - for failing to meet quotas for writing tickets or arresting or stopping people.
Putnam deputies who did not write enough tickets "had their schedules changed and were subjected to a change of duty assignment or location as punishment," according to the PBA. "It's our expectation that once our case is heard by PERB they will side with the PBA and these unlawful, retaliatory actions, that create an increase in tax dollars, will stop."
According to data provided by the state Department of Motor Vehicles, Putnam deputies wrote 5,422 tickets in 2024, 20 percent fewer than 2023. Most drivers were cited in Southeast, followed by Philipstown and Putnam Valley. The most common infraction was an expired or missing state safety inspection, followed by driving without a license, lack of registration, speeding and disobeying a traffic device.
According to Jackie Fielding, a fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice in New York City who co-authored a 2022 report on ticket quotas, they "can incentivize officers to prioritize enforcement activities that can be completed quickly and easily," rather than "investigating more complex or violent crimes that significantly impact public safety."
"In the more extreme case, officers can resort to malfeasance to meet their quotas: fabricating a reason for a stop or arrest, assigning tickets to fictitious drivers or even recording tickets for dead people," she said.
One case occurred in February 2023, when the Westchester County district attorney charged a state trooper, Edward Longo, with writing at least 32 tickets over 10 years on the Sprain and Taconic parkways for drivers he never stopped, including someone who had died before the ticket was issued. Longo was charged with 32 felony counts.
The trooper who filed the paperwork charging Longo said his division "monitors its officers for performance-related goals in the issuance of traffic tickets," according to The Journal News, and may counsel those "who do not meet expectations or whose productivity falls below their peers." -
Waterway runs near Route 9 projects
A mining company's proposal to build a cement plant on Route 9 just north of Philipstown is drawing concerns about risks to Clove Creek and the aquifer beneath it, which supplies drinking water to several municipalities.
Ted Warren, public policy manager with the Hudson Highlands Land Trust, joined Philipstown residents in expressing reservations to the Fishkill Planning Board during a May 8 public hearing.
Century Aggregate wants to add the 8,050-square-foot plant to its 310-acre property at 107 Route 9, as well as 11 parking spaces, a well to supply 10,000 gallons of water daily and an on-site septic system. The portion of the property was formerly occupied by the Snow Valley Campground.
The plant would operate from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 6 p.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, the firm said. Vehicles would use an existing bridge over Clove Creek, a protected waterway that snakes through the property.
Along with concerns from residents about truck traffic, noise and dust, and endangered and threatened wildlife such as the timber rattlesnake, Warren said newly paved surfaces risk sending contaminated runoff into the creek, to the detriment of water quality and fish.
"Given the increase in extreme precipitation events that we are facing these days, and the fact that the proposed plan is located at the base of steep slopes, the potential for storms to overwhelm the proposed containment and drainage systems during heavy precipitation events should be closely examined," he said.
Century Aggregate's daily withdrawal of 10,000 gallons of water could also affect the creek and its underlying aquifer, said Warren. The aquifer parallels Route 9 from East Mountain Road South to the town border with Fishkill. Its groundwater feeds private wells that supply residents and businesses along Route 9, the towns of Fishkill and Wappinger, the Village of Fishkill and Beacon.
"The dust and the pollution that's going to come from the operating of that plant is going to definitely have an impact on the environment, the creek and the living conditions of businesses and houses," Carlos Salcedo, a Philipstown resident whose property on Old Albany Post Road borders the creek, told the Planning Board.
Clove Creek's waters bisect the front and back parts of another property where a proposed project is raising concerns: 3070 Route 9, whose owner is seeking Planning Board approval to convert the former Automar into a gas station with a convenience store and Dunkin'. Clove Creek flows north toward Fishkill about 50 yards from the front of the property.
The owner, Misti's Properties 3070, notified the Philipstown Conservation Board in March that it had decided to revise its proposal. An engineer for Misti's told the board that the owner found "substantial environmental impacts - a lot of earthwork" and other conditions that would make it difficult to construct a planned office building and solar farm.
Andy Galler, chair of the Conservation Board, said on Tuesday (May 13) that the previous owner used fill and allowed old vehicles and other debris to accumulate within the 100-foot protective buffer required for watercourses and wetlands. The abandoned vehicles have been cleared, he said, but the fill remains, along with a bridge connecting the front and back sections of the property.
The bridge is "not ideal" because it constricts the creek's flow, he said, and could spur a blockage from debris carried during heavy rainstorms.
"The ideal situation would be, if somebody is going to develop the front part of the property, that hopefully the giveback is that there is some remediation to put back a flood plain area that would be natural and native," said Galler.
Despite continued industrial development along Route 9, the creek is "amazingly intact" and rated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation at "just about the highest standard" for water quality and trout habitat, he said. "It runs clear," said Galler. -
Beacon actors will 'cold read' work
Like thousands of actors before him, from Australia to Zimbabwe, Alexander Florez will rip open a sealed manila envelope tonight (May 16) and cold read a 2010 play, White Rabbit Red Rabbit, in the backyard of his Beacon home. Two other performers will take the plunge in yards on Saturday and Sunday.
The premise - some call it a gimmick - is that everyone in a confined space takes an hour-long journey akin to a one-off jazz solo. Though details have leaked, audiences and the theater community (including reporters) have kept the broad outline and most revealing moments under wraps.
The playwright, Nassim Soleimanpour, includes a clause in the contract for producers: "This play is not overtly political and should not be portrayed as such. It operates on a deeper, metaphoric level, and very expressly avoids overt political comment. All media and press agents have to keep in mind that the playwright lives in Iran. We therefore ask the press to be judicious in their reportage."
Florez is a math teacher who will never pass muster with the grammar police. He avoids capital letters as an act of resistance and his email tag links to "the case for lowercase" style guide on his website, which includes instructions about turning off caps on devices and in programs.
"I have a lot of respect and disdain for academia," he says. "I'm impressed with education but also dismayed with the gatekeeping and barriers to entry. One way to oppress is by making complicated grammar and spelling rules the standard for everyone, even though a select few invented them."
Pushback against authority is reflected in the play. According to Soleimanpour, he wrote it after he refused to serve in the Iranian military and the regime denied him a visa to leave the country. (He is now thought to live in Berlin.) The production requires props, but the playwright's website touts the lack of sets, directors and rehearsals.
Studying for his practical teaching certificate at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, Florez fell in with the acting crowd (he works at the Manitou School in Philipstown). After bouncing around the Hudson Valley, he moved to Beacon in 2022 and got involved with the improv and comedy scene.
White Rabbit Red Rabbit had an off-Broadway run in 2016: Nathan Lane, Whoopi Goldberg and Alan Cumming, among others, unsealed the script and got to work - for the first and last time. Playbill called it "the most-talked about (and least-talked about) new show."
Beacon resident Jamie Mulligan read the script to prepare the actors, gather props and make staging suggestions. But per the legal agreement, the plot and other elements may not be divulged or discussed by anyone involved.
At first, Florez figured he'd reach out to local performance venues, but Mulligan suggested staging the play at an art gallery, coffeehouse or other offbeat space. James Phillips, a theater professor at Mount Saint Mary, will read in his yard on Saturday and Twinkle Burke walks the high wire on Sunday outside the home of Hannah Brooks (with contingency plans for inclement weather).
The play stems from experimental theater of the 1960s, Mulligan says, and "requires the audience and actor to encounter these subjects simultaneously, a connection that creates a level of spark that can only happen when everyone learns about this together."
Broad outlines address elements of existential oppression and the role of individuals in society. "Someone told me that every play is about hope, so it places the human condition into primal conflicts, like man versus nature or man versus god," says Mulligan. That so many details have remained a secret for 15 years "speaks to the integrity of theater-makers."
White Rabbit Red Rabbit will be performed by Florez at 7 p.m. at 119 Howland Ave. in Beacon, at 7 p.m., on Saturday (May 17) at 24 Willow St. by Phillips and at 3 p.m. on Sunday at 99 E. Main St. by Burke. Tickets are $10 to $32.24 at dub.sh/white-rabbit. -
Russell St. George, retired welder, plays with fire
Any band would relish having a cheerleader like Shirley Maloney. At a recent show by Last Minute Soulmates at the Towne Crier in Beacon, she acted out the words, exhorted the crowd to sing along and pounded on tables during the final song, a funky cover of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)."
A good portion of the rowdy crowd almost reached Maloney's level of enthusiasm. House staff created an impromptu dance floor by clearing tables near the stage as people swung their partners with elbows locked together during "Maggie's Farm" and danced in circles during a heavy version of "Hound Dog." At one point, two men started screaming, ostensibly out of joy.
The group's founder, Russell St. George, moved to town in 1986 and is a dean of Beacon's music scene. He focuses on original songs but likes to mix in atypical versions of covers, including "Your Cheating Heart" as a deliberate shuffle.
"I'm not good enough to play them like the record, but I do like to shake things up with the arrangement or approach," he says. "And I still write, including songs about what's going on, like one about gun violence called 'When's it Gonna Stop?' "
His originals, some of which feature a reggae tinge, keep things simple and rely on hooky choruses that get people singing. At one point, almost the entire audience, including the waitstaff, belted out the words.
Working as a welder in Peekskill, a job he held for 37 years, St. George heard that houses in Beacon could be had on the cheap. His first local band, Daarc Ages (an acronym of members' first names), released a couple of CDs and opened for Dee Snider, Uriah Heap and Blue Oyster Cult at The Chance in Poughkeepsie and other venues.
"We'd make a CD and someone would quit, so we had to keep finding musicians and never really got off the ground," he says. "Besides, I was kind of shy."
That's odd because he sports flowing hair, a goatee and moustache. His fashion sense includes hats, big round glasses and black, accented with scarves, a look that leans more toward the hippie camp than the blue-collar world.
Over the years, he played every local venue and hosted a 17-year monthly jam at Joe's Irish Pub (now MoMo Valley) that he called St. George and Friends.
"The whole time, I never missed a date," he says. "But I turned 60, COVID hit and the end arrived." Last Minute Soulmates started as an acoustic duo that grew into an electric project by 2011. Self-effacing, he credits band members for any success.
Not shy about his left-leaning political views, he lost some followers over the years. He feels no compulsion to record his new tunes, in part because working in the studio is a drag compared to playing for a responsive audience.
"Streams and other delivery systems don't get a lot of traction," he says. "If people want to hear my songs in their best light, come see me live."
Last Minute Soulmates, with St. George (vocals, guitar), Carla Springer (vocals), Rik Mercaldi (guitar), Harry Lawrence (bass) and Mitch Florian (drums), will perform at 9 p.m. on May 23 at Gleason's, 23 S. Division St., in Peekskill. -
State must approve three-year agreement
Central Hudson on Tuesday (May 13) announced a three-year agreement with the state and other parties that would raise electricity and gas delivery rates for most customers.
If the plan is approved by the state Public Service Commission, a typical Central Hudson customer will pay $5.43 (5.09 percent) more per month for electricity delivery during the first year, beginning July 1, and $6.25 and $6.62 more for the subsequent two years. Lower-income customers enrolled in an energy-assistance program would see decreases of $3.85 (4.2 percent) per month. The delivery charge for gas would increase by $7.73 (6.6 percent) per month during the first year and $11.27 and $12.37 in subsequent years.
After applying $44 million in bill credits, Central Hudson would collect $144 million in new revenue over the three years, according to a summary of the proposal. The company said it would spend that revenue on infrastructure, higher labor costs and bonuses, energy-efficiency and heat-pump programs and a 9.5 percent return on shareholder equity.
Central Hudson also agreed to provide customer bills in Spanish, continue outreach to households about energy assistance and award up to $200,000 in grants for workforce training in green-energy fields.
The 52 representatives for businesses, nonprofits, municipalities and public officials who joined the rate case as parties have until May 23 to file statements of support or opposition to the agreement, whose signatories include the state Department of Public Service. The PSC also scheduled an evidentiary hearing beginning on June 16. Public comments on the rate proposal can be submitted online to the PSC.
"At Central Hudson, we understand the financial challenges that rising bills place on our customers, and we are committed to easing this burden by implementing a rate plan that balances essential system investments with the need to keep costs as low as possible," said Steph Raymond, the utility's president and CEO.
Those costs, however, have been rising for Central Hudson's 315,000 electric and 90,000 gas customers. The most recent rate increase, approved by the PSC in July 2024, was for a one-year hike of $12.65 per month for the average electric bill and $12.25 for gas.
The following month, Central Hudson submitted a request for another one-year increase to electric and gas delivery rates of $9 a month. The agreement announced on Tuesday replaces that request.
Assembly Member Jonathan Jacobson, a Democrat whose district includes Beacon, issued his verdict on Wednesday (May 14), urging the PSC to reject the proposed agreement. He said the return on equity is "good for shareholders of Fortis [Central Hudson's parent company] but not for its customers," who include 6,853 households in Beacon, 3,646 in Philipstown, 1,270 in Cold Spring and 326 in Nelsonville. -
Marbled Meat to host house concert
Strolling down Main Street in Beacon while eating, drinking and making merry on a beautiful weekend day, Aaron Miller outlined his vision for a music series that "builds community," a phrase often bandied about.
But he gets things done. His first show with blues guitarist Jon Shain takes place on Sunday (May 18) at an unusual venue: the Marbled Meat Shop on Route 9 in Philipstown. Miller created a logo for what he calls his "butcher block party."
"I always wanted to do house concerts and thought it would be a bougie thing with wine and cheese for 20 friends, but my girlfriend figured that we might ruin the carpet," Miller said.
The couple decided to hold it outside, but when Lisa Hall of Marbled Meat heard about the plan, she urged caution. "Lisa goes, 'You know, you'll trample the lawn and maybe affect the septic tank, so why not have it here and we can do a pop-up barbecue?' "
The BYOB event will raise money and collect non-perishables for the Philipstown Food Pantry. "When I heard about cuts to meals programs, I got fired up and decided that I had to give back," says Miller, who moved to Beacon in January. "On Saturday morning, 63 families signed up to get fed, and that kills me."
Hosting the show provides a kid-friendly alternative to live music in a bar, says Hall. After Marbled opened 10 years ago, it presented Tall County and other groups. "Now the tunes have come back in an organic way," she said.
Shain, who lives in North Carolina, attended Duke University in the 1990s. So did Miller, a fan of the guitarist's college band, Flyin' Mice, which broke up long ago. "I guess I was on his short list all these years," says Shain, who will teach and perform at the Acoustic Getaway guitar camp in Stony Point this weekend.
Specializing in post-World War I Mississippi Delta blues, Shain plays with bare fingers and often uses a thumb pick to pluck the bottom strings. Strumming is rare. Masters of this mesmerizing form seem to simulate two instruments playing at once.
After branching into jazz, ragtime and bluegrass, Shain partnered with a music publisher to release two instructional books, Jon Shain's Fingerstyle Guitar Method and Gettin' Handy With the Blues, a reference to W.C. Handy, author of "St. Louis Blues," one of the genre's oldest and most popular songs.
The concert will take place on the covered patio. Inside the shop, shelves showcase goods from local craft creators like LL Pottery and Maria Pierogi, along with Understory Market and Split Rock Books on Main Street in Cold Spring.
"We know the experience of running errands down there on the weekends, so we brought some of them up here to support other businesses and help people avoid the crowds," says Hall.
Miller is already planning his next butcher block party. "I'm good at stirring up trouble and trying to make a difference," he says. "There's always a sense of community that centers on eating, drinking and music. Marbled Meat was crazy enough to let me do this."
Marbled Meat is located at 3091 Route 9 in Philipstown. The concert begins at 3 p.m. on May 18; a $20 donation is requested. -
Towne Crier hosts monthly dance night
Rhoda Averbach hires a roadie to lug three bulky speakers so she can present Latin Dance Nite at the Towne Crier Cafe every month.
But her sparse DJ rig consists of a laptop. "Other DJs use all that stuff to look impressive; that gear really isn't necessary," she says segueing seamlessly between salsa, rumba, merengue, bachata, cha cha, reggaeton "y mas," according to one of her flyers.
Beyond the laptop, Latin night unfolds in analog. Dancers peruse notebooks filled with lists of song titles, write down their selections on a slip of paper and hand them to Olive Jones, who sits next to Averbach onstage.
The two, who both live in Beacon, also host Funky Dance Night at the Elks Club on the first Saturday of each month, with numbers from the disco era.
One slogan is, "If the music is good … dance." Averbach has a fine ear for music and knows how to get the dance floor bumping. A trained composer who melded jazz and classical, she worked with David Liebman and Michael Gerber to record several CDs and tour the country.
She became enamored with Latin music after realizing that it "gives people pleasure, and I like to see them happy."
Reading the room is an essential skill. "For me, it's about the music. If a song doesn't take off, I'll fade it out within 30 seconds and move on to something else," she says. "You can't go wrong with Marc Anthony."
Fast songs featuring hypnotic bass lines populate the floor. Latin dancing is akin to ballroom styles but offers more fluidity and room to improvise. As the repetitive music pulses through the room, bodies spin like tops, feet keep shuffling and hands are clasped over heads and behind backs.
When the first notes of the 2004 reggaeton hit "Gasolina," by Daddy Yankee, spilled from the speakers, people popped from their seats. One couple picked a spot in front of the kitchen door and almost caused a collision, but the waitstaff acclimated.
The music - and the scene - draws people from all over the Hudson Valley. There are similar events in New Rochelle and Middletown, and many of the dancers knew each other from Nyack.
Sitting with a group of friends she met across the river, Joanne Williams, who lives in Poughkeepsie, slipped in and out of her padded high-heel dance shoes, which help keep a dancer's center of gravity leaning forward. "I've met a lot of people through Latin dancing," she says. "It's a nice community."
For self-proclaimed salsa addict Lisa Rodriguez, who lives in Bloomingburg, "the music is contagious and there aren't many places to dance in the area."
Mastering the steps is all about counting, she says: Salsa is 1-2-3 / 5-6-7 (out of eight) and bachata is straight 1-2-3-4.
"I like playing sports, so it's good exercise that gets your dopamine going," Rodriguez says. "I enjoy the challenge of following the cues as the man leads. To do it well, you can't think too much - you have to go with the flow."
The Towne Crier is located at 379 Main St. in Beacon. The May 29 dance was canceled. The next event is scheduled for June 26; see dub.sh/latin-dance-june. Tickets are $11. - Mostrar más
