From the Board of Directors of BeaconArts, grateful thanks to all who participated in and contributed to the City of Beacon Christmas tree lighting and the Beacon Hebrew Alliance Illumin8tion bicycle menorah lighting in December.
Beacon is so very lucky to have such a dedicated and assured Recreation Department director in Mark Price, as well as his colleagues, the equally wonderful Heidi Harrison and Nate Smith, both of whom were on hand working with volunteers from the Recreation Commission and the Girl Scouts.
We are also very grateful to sculptor and super-volunteer Ed Benavente for once again reinventing the Bicycle Christmas Tree and giving the community and the children of Beacon such unique and meaningful symbols of the season.
And special thanks to the Beacon Hebrew Alliance for all it does to honor so many in our community during the eight nights of Hannukah. Relocating the menorah to the Beacon Building (former City Hall) on the East End of Main Street truly helped to unite our 1.5-mile long Main Street and the two villages that became one beautiful City of Beacon.
Thanks to the Wee Play Community Project for providing a kids’ craft at the tree lighting; to the Center for Creative Education for their “flash mobs” at the tree lighting and on the seventh night of Hannukah; to Emily Ellison for leading our community in song so beautifully; to Jeff McHugh for helping raise the tree; and to Timothy Parsaca for stage-managing the festivities.
Thanks also to Michael Bogdanffy-Kriegh for capturing the event on film; to the Beacon Music Factory for their generosity in supplying equipment and support; and to the City of Beacon Highway Department for creating a Winter Wonderland at Polhill Park, not to mention all of the other things they do for our city and its citizens.
Kelly Ellenwood, Beacon
Ellenwood is president of BeaconArts.
