NARROWSBURG, NY — Early in my relationship with Beth Peck, then president of Tusten Times, Inc., the charitable organization that started the River Reporter, I asked her if she was a native. (Native, in these parts, means a person who is born here.) 

“Oh, no,” she said. “I was born in Beach Lake.” (Beach Lake is eight miles from Narrowsburg on the Pennsylvania side of the river.)

This exacting nature served as the basis of her shepherding the newspaper for the first 10 years of its existence, starting a grocery store chain with her late husband, Art, and assisting in the formation of the Tusten Historical Society and the original Tusten Library, for which she and Art gifted the building on Bridge Street. She also is a long-time active member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.

In a show of love that mirrors her own, her family organized a drive-by parade for her birthday on December 6, complete with fire trucks, and dozens of cars of friends and family.

“During COVID times when we can’t gather with Grandy as a family safely to celebrate her birthday and the holidays, we wanted to show her that we’re all still thinking about her,” said granddaughter Ryanne Jennings. “My sister, Alicia Kraack, and her husband, Derin Kraack, used to participate in the local fire and ambulance companies, so they contacted Narrowsburg and Lake Huntington fire companies, and we all reached out to family and friends to come. My grandmother is one of the most generous people that has walked this earth and we’re so grateful to everyone who stopped by to show how much she’s appreciated!”

And while it may be true that she wasn’t born in Narrowsburg, she has birthed numerous organizations and institutions which, in my book, entitles her to the title of a native Narrowsburg mother. 

Thanks so much, Beth! Happy birthday.