The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Bill Flooks

Imagining the Possibilities

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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.

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

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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.”