Beacon Dispatch

Photo Gallery: Inside the Sloop 'Woody Guthrie'

I took these shots on Sunday, March 13 to accompany the piece written by Nate Binzen...

Inside the Sloop Woody Guthrie

Restoration Efforts Extend the Life of a Beacon Icon

by Nate Binzen

During the winter months, if you go upriver to New Hamburg and walk down the gravel lanes of White’s Marina, you’ll find yourself surrounded by a gauntlet of looming dry docked boats wrapped in shrunk blue plastic. It looks like an installation by a Christo disciple. Right now, down at the end of the dock, under one of the sling lifts used to haul boats in and out of the water, there sits a jury-rigged, tarp-covered, wood-framed temporary shack. Peeking out from underneath is the venerable green hull of Beacon’s own 32-foot sloop, the Woody Guthrie.

The weather is turning to spring now, and not a moment too soon. Throughout this icy winter, on any given Sunday a hardy, determined group of sailor-builders has been drilling and chopping the mastless nine-ton pride-and-joy of Beacon Harbor into an impressive state of deconstruction. Years of sailing have taken their toll on the ship’s wooden structure. Walk up the heavily-salted ladder, pull back the shroud, and you’ll see the guts of the boat opened before you.

Beacon Voices: John Fasulo, Cameraman / Photographer

by Michael Daecher

About a month ago, John Fasulo started spreading the word about a photography project documenting a day in the life of Beacon. He's been taking pictures around town since he was a boy, and this project, based on the "Day in a Life" series, seemed like the perfect way to capture Beacon at a crucial juncture in its history. On the Sunday of his first meeting, the chthonic Clash coffee house was packed with people interested in participating. John said he would have been happy if 8 or 9 had shown up. With John leading the way, the "Spirit of Beacon: One Week of Photography" project will take place during the first week of May, with participation from 30 amateur and professional photographers.

Born and raised in Beacon, John has spent the past 25 years working behind a camera for all the major networks. I recently spoke to John at his Exeter Circle home about his motivation for the Spirit of Beacon project, working for Rush Limbaugh, and fishtailing in a C5A Galaxy. You can also see some of John's pictures immediately following our interview.

Hudson River Almanac

Observations From Locals Help Scientists Learn

by Steve Stanne

From the 1609 journal of Robert Juet, mate on the Half Moon, to the fantastical novel World’s End by modern day author T. Coraghesson Boyle, the Hudson River has inspired people to record observations, reflections, and reactions to the natural wonders displayed on its waters and shores. Over time, many of these observations have become source material for curious scientists and historians trying to understand the workings of the estuary and of the human communities along its course.

The Hudson River Almanac, published by NYSDEC's Hudson River Estuary Program, began in 1994 as an effort to collect and archive these records. It enlisted anglers, boaters, scientists, schoolchildren, railroad engineers, and others willing to write brief descriptions of what they were seeing on the river. Reports came in from sites ranging from the High Peaks of the Adirondacks to New York Harbor, and were compiled in annual volumes by Estuary Program naturalist Tom Lake. Over the years, more than 1700 volunteers have contributed observations.

Hudson River in Spring

A 10,000 Year Old Ritual Takes Place in Our Back Yard

by Wayne A. Hall

Beacon – In early March a seal hitchhiking on a melting ice flow below Poughkeepsie brought shouts of glee. Urgent reports went to the state. Was it a record? Nope.

Just another 10,000-year-old springtime moment on the Hudson River. The seal spotters kept their eyes peeled.

But you can miss the Hudson's hidden springtime treasures if you simply glance at the broad sheet of water flowing under the river's bridges and dismiss it as a lot of water.

Get down to the river itself. Take a couple of deep breaths. You'll often get a whiff of the tang that identifies the Hudson as an estuary of the ocean. You may get lucky. Like this 10-minute magic convergence of history and nature at Cornwall Landing: wind whipped whitecaps bashing the replica of Henry Hudson's Half Moon beating its way upriver. Just 40 feet overhead an adult bald eagle also rides the same gusts.

Hudson Rivermen

Generations of fishermen once made the Hudson their livelihood

by John Cronin

For as long as humans have inhabited the Hudson Valley, they have fished the river for food and trade. The rites of this ancient occupation are among the biological events that signal spring, as reliable as the annual migration of American shad to the fresh water reaches of the Hudson River estuary.

Hudson rivermen, as the river’s commercial fishermen are known, are part of an unbroken chain of tradition older than historical records can document. They are the trustees of some of the region’s truly indigenous skills, such as boatbuilding and netmaking, that date back to methods that Dutch settlers learned from native Americans.

There was a time when every river community had rivermen. In late winter, basements doubled as net lofts. Backyards became boat yards. And every local waterfront held outposts where rivermen had worked for so many generations that the litter of their trade -- nets, scales, oilskins, grapnels, hawsers, rope, buoys, traps, seines, oars, anchors – long obliterated any reminder of the land’s former use.

Editorial: Let's Get Smart Together

The Hudson River is many things to many people. What you see depends on where you stand.

There is the picture postcard Hudson: the river of quaint towns, pastoral scenes and the Hudson River school of painting. There is the embattled Hudson: the river of environmental controversies and national headlines. There is the urban, suburban, rural, agricultural, industrial, ecological, commercial, historic and cultural Hudson.

There is the mythic Hudson of Washington Irving, the mystical Hudson of John Burroughs, the natural and unnatural Hudson of Robert H. Boyle, the people’s Hudson of Pete Seeger.

There is your Hudson. What do you see?