“Spirit of Beacon Day” Successful despite Rain Setback
As the Spirit of Beacon Day committee chair, Katie Hellmuth and her team had to make a big decision. Muddle through the rain or gamble on the weather for a better day.
“This year with the forecast flickering on both weeks, we thought we should vote because we could debate the weather forever,” Hellmuth explained.
Spirit of Beacon Day was established in 1977 as “A day to bring the city together, especially the children and youth” to address tension in the community, according to the Spirit of Beacon Day Website. Since the first Spirit of Beacon Day 46 years ago, rain has accompanied some of the past Spirit of Beacon Days. However, this time was different with Tropical Storm Ophelia on the way, making the prospects for the September 24th day lesser.
When the time came, Hellmuth and her committee voted to postpone from the original date to the rain date, October 1st. “We reached out to everyone that we made the decision, and I did the Spirit of Beacon blog post on the ‘A Little Beacon Blog.’ I got the word out as quickly as possible,” Hellmuth recalls.
For the first time, one of Beacon’s biggest and most important end-of-summer events was postponed because of a tropical storm. Yet, the decision made to postpone allowed for the event to be far more successful with an added week to make valuable changes.
One of the most important shifts to the original Spirit of Beacon Day programming was the inclusion of The Beacon Farmers’ Market. For several years, the Beacon DMV parking lot where the farmers market is held, has been used for parking for those attending Spirit of Beacon Day, thus closing the farmers market year after year.
Hellmuth advocated for the inclusion of the farmer’s market into Spirit of Beacon Day to the city of Beacon. It is her opinion that “The Beacon Farmers’ Market not only enhances the Beacon experience here, but it helps bring people out of the closed area that is in the center of the street where the festivities are so people can spread out, and you want people to do that.”
With the new-found time between the original Spirit of Beacon Day and the rain-date, Hellmuth and the committee worked together with the farmers market and the City of Beacon to allow the farmers market to operate that day. A statement posted on Instagram by the Beacon Farmers’ Market read, “We are delighted to announce that we have emerged victorious in our endeavor to operate the Beacon Farmer’s Market on (and in conjunction with) Spirit of Beacon Day!”. They add, “Spirit of Beacon Day has just become even more spirited!”
In addition to the inclusion of the Beacon Farmers’ Market, Hellmuth was able to secure a public bus route for the day to allow for easier access for the community and visitors to the day’s events. Through a team effort, accommodations were made for the wider community.
Thankfully, the day of Spirit of Beacon Day on October 1st had clear skies with slightly above-average temperatures. The community came out in full force with hundreds of people lining Main Street from Bank Square to Fishkill Avenue.
The main events of the day included a parade featuring several elementary, middle, and high school groups who created floats or carried props to represent their schools. A chorus of cheers from students and parents saying “Let’s Go Glenham” erupted, followed by similar chants from the other schools to show their school spirit. The parade also featured the local fire department, law enforcement, color guard, community groups, and other local organizations.
Spirit of Beacon Day is unique, as vendors did not include retail, but as Hellmuth explains “Table vendors who are basically maybe school, or church groups, or mental health services, just put a face to the names of all these different things.”
Key Food Marketplace, Hudson Valley Food Hall and the Salvation Army were all present as the food vendors for the day, along with small businesses. Performances occurred throughout the day with live music from local musicians and bands.
Despite the initial setback from the tropical storm, Spirit of Beacon Day found a way to adapt and proved to be as spirited as ever.
