• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

  • Home
  • Advertise
    • Advertise in One or All of our Magazines
    • Advertising Payment Form
  • Print Subscription
  • Digital Subscription
    • Subscribe
    • Subscriber Login
  • Contact Us

Bill Flooks

Imagining the Possibilities

February 24, 2022 by Grace Bennett

Hello everyone!  Welcome to our first 2022 editions, including Inside Pleasantville & Briarcliff Manor (Inside P&BM). We gratefully brought a third title back after a Covid pause. I chose a theme called ‘Spring’s Possibilities’ as we set out to produce three editions.

To that end, you’ll find our press enthusiastically supporting local commerce as in the Inside P&BM  cover story written by Stacey Pfeffer and photographed by Donna Mueller. It hopefully conveys our focus and was even generously taped by Pleasantville Community Television. Stacey’s entire interview with Bill Flooks, president of the Pleasantville Chamber of Commerce, is available for viewing at https://www.pctv76.org/video/2907/.

Meanwhile, for all our editions, Christine Pasqueralle interviewed Mary Jo Ziesel, the new Jacob Burns Film Center director, for an always welcome update on ‘all things Burns.’ Christine also gathered a host of fun and rewarding activities ‘to do’ in Briarcliff Manor–amazing to consider in a small village. 

The debut of Orchestra 914 in Pleasantville, with new conductor Russell Ger, as reported by Jean Sheff, is reason alone to celebrate. At Arc Stages, too, I’ve discovered there are always so many creative offerings to engage the community. Rich Monetti shines a spotlight on a fascinating spring exhibit at Arc Stages, as just one example, that of photographer Chad David Kraus’s work.

A real special treat is a Pleasantville Puzzle, created by Will Shortz, who took time out from running his amazing Westchester Table Tennis Center to produce it. The idea for a puzzle came my way from the newest addition to our Inside Press team, John Fisher, a (very) long time Pleasantville resident and now Inside Press Director of Business Development. Lisa Samkoff, our long-time Art Director, designed all the beautiful pages for us.

In the interest of ‘Sharing the Heart of the Community’–our mission–we support Briarcliff Manor’s Irene Unger who describes living with Multiple Sclerosis and who spotlights the MS Walk on March 27th in Briarcliff. In Inside Armonk we share resident Jennifer Drubin Clark’s journey with breast surgery, and the poignant thoughts she courageously shares, surrounding her community of healing and support. 

There’s a big ‘sports’ component this go round too, as we celebrate an Armonk Girls Varsity Tennis Team’s path to victory–Girl Power!–and in Chappaqua, Nolan Thornton’s interview with Geoff Curtis, the district’s athletic director, gets to the heart of what sport team efforts are all about, too.

Enjoy the online stories, and please do consider the online subscription. As we inch toward 20 years of publication, print advertising can be a tough sell,  so reader support is deeply appreciated more than ever to help fund the editions and maintain a healthy online presence. 

We have an awesome team! We also have two more spring editions coming, one mailing April 8 and another mailing June 1, so keep an eye out! And this spring, as always, keep imagining the possibilities.

 — Grace

Grace Bennett with Bill Flooks (left) and Paul Alvarez Photo by Donna Mueller
Stacey Pfeffer with Bill Flooks.
Photo by Shane McGaffey, Pleasantville Community Television

A real special treat is a Pleasantville Puzzle, created by Will Shortz, who took time out from running his amazing Westchester Table Tennis Center to produce it. The idea for a puzzle came my way from the newest addition to our Inside Press team, John Fisher, a (very) long time Pleasantville resident and now Inside Press Director of Business Development. Lisa Samkoff, our long-time Art Director, designed all the beautiful pages for us.

In short, we have an awesome team! We also have two more spring editions coming, one mailing April 8 and another mailing June 1, so keep an eye out! And this spring, as always, keep imagining the possibilities.

Filed Under: Pleasantville Just Between Us Tagged With: Bill Flooks, Imagining, Just Between Us, Pleasantville Chamber of Commerce, Possibilities, Stacey Pfeffer

Beecher Flooks Funeral Home Owner Discusses the Impact of COVID-19

March 27, 2020 by Grace Bennett

March 27, 2020, Pleasantville, NY– “No time is a good time to die,” said Bill Flooks, owner of Pleasantville’s  Beecher Flooks Funeral Home which he has run for the last 16 years with his son Billy, Jr. “But this is not a good time at all.”

Flooks took some time out to speak with the Inside Press about the mandate to control coronavirus from spreading which limits public gatherings to ten people who must also follow social distancing rules. He commented that he and his staff are witnessing the impact among newly grieving individuals.

There are clear stages in the grieving process, Flooks explained, and they are disrupted by the new rules. “Individuals may feel they didn’t get what they wanted from the service. They are rescheduling a memorial service for a later date. He spoke of how “a wound may be reopened” to have the memorial service later, but that “many people may still wish to hold one for closure.”

With all houses of worship closed, there are mostly graveside services in which a family arranges for their own clergy to officiate at the cemetery. “Some of the cemeteries are even limiting the number of people who can come to the gravesite, even though it is outside.” Flooks added that he works with each cemetery service and will honor their rules and regulations.

He described it as “especially difficult when you have an elderly mother or father in a nursing home facility… You may not have seen them for weeks because the nursing home is on lockdown, and now they are dead. It is very upsetting.”

To date, Flooks said Beecher has held two funerals for persons with COVID-19 related deaths. “We are taking all the necessary precautions,” he said.

“First and foremost, we are helping families,” he added. “We are also being smart and careful. We have plenty of disinfectant; if we do have a gathering, we will bring in a cleaning service after the service to sanitize the building so we can keep the exposure to a minimum in case someone did have it.”

Flooks said that he and his son and his family are healthy and taking every precaution to stay so, too, and are continuing to meet the needs of those facing loss.  “It’s always a challenge, always a trying time, to help people navigate through a difficult life stage and the loss of a loved one, but with COVID-19, it’s even more difficult because of all the restrictions individuals face. But we are patient. We walk them through it and give the best guidance we can.”

Filed Under: Surviving COVID-19 Tagged With: Beecher Funeral Home, Bill Flooks, Funeral Home, funerals, gatherings, gravesite services, grieving, Precautions, public gatherings, stages

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • “I Have a Dream”: In New Castle, a Poignant Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Black History Month
  • Holocaust Survivor Helga Luden Relates her Story of Escape, Rescue and Survival
  • Four Winters Shines a Light on the Bravery of World War II Survivors Among the 25,000 Jewish Partisans
  • $86K State Grant Awarded to 2023 Phoenix Festival Signals Growing Focus on Tourism
  • Scarsdale Music Festival Gearing Up for a June 3rd Event: Sponsorships, Performers and Vendors Sought
  • Governor Hochul Urges: SHOP SMALL to Help Small Businesses Which Make Up 98% of New York State’s Economy

Please Visit

White Plains Hospital
Boys & Girls Club
Compass: Goldman and Herman
Compass: Generic
Desires by Mikolay
William Raveis – Chappaqua
William Raveis – Armonk
Dodd’s Wine Shop
Houlihan Lawrence – Armonk
Houlihan Lawrence – Chappaqua
Lumagica Enchanged Forest
Compass: Miller-Goldenberg Team
Compass: Natalia Wixom
Eye Designs of Armonk
Stacee Massoni
Club Fit
Beecher Flooks Funeral Home
World Cup Gymnastics
NYOMIS – Dr. Andrew Horowitz
Houlihan: Kile Boga-Ibric
Compass: Aurora Banaszek
Amy Singer – Houlihan Lawrence
Breathe Pilates and Yoga
Houlihan: Danielle Orellana
Houlihan Lawrence – Rusminka Rose Jakaj

Follow our Social Media

The Inside Press

Our Latest Issues

For a full reading of our current edition, or to obtain a copy or subscription, please contact us.

Inside Chappaqua Inside Armonk Inside Pleasantville

Join Our Mailing List


Search Inside Press

Links

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Digital Subscription
  • Print Subscription

Footer

Support The Inside Press

Advertising

Print Subscription

Digital Subscription

Categories

Archives

Subscribe

Did you know you can subscribe anytime to our print editions?

Voluntary subscriptions are most welcome, if you've moved outside the area, or a subscription is a great present idea for an elderly parent, for a neighbor who is moving or for your graduating high school student or any college student who may enjoy keeping up with hometown stories.

Subscribe Today

Copyright © 2023 The Inside Press, Inc. · Log in