The TCW Archives

Owner Brenda De Leon What I do:  I own a landscaping & garden care company. We service Dutchess, Putnam, & Westchester Counties.  How it began:  I spent 10 years managing a high-end construction firm and learned everything from building a home to landscaping. At the same time, I freelanced as a consultant and helped small contractors start their own enterprises. Many flourished and are still in business today. I also became fascinated with the numerous health benefits that a well-designed landscape can bring to a homeowner. I love spending time in nature. It’s soothing, therapeutic and healthy, and with proper planning, anyone can have the same environment in their own backyard.  Always having an entrepreneurial spirit, and my love for the outdoors, in 2007 I felt it was time. I started a company with a vision to focus on its employees because I strongly believe that happy employees are more productive on the field and ...

Helping Hands Baby, it's cold outside - but just imagine how much colder it would be if you had no home in which to seek shelter from the elements. For too many, that is a stark reality – but that’s also where  HONOR  comes in.  Since 1974, HONOR – Helping Others Needing Our Resources – has been offering temporary housing, food, counseling services and more for Orange County's most needy residents. Located in Middletown, their housing programs serve approximately 3,000 men, women and children annually and another 24,000 people are helped through HONOR’s food pantries, street outreach, after-care services and help line. Guests are provided three nutritionally balanced meals each day, along with transportation and counseling to help them to become self-sufficient. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days each year, HONOR serves with compassion, respect and, of course, honor. The Genealogy Connection Looking for help connect the dots on you...

by Brilah Harris Leaves crunching underfoot and a chill in the air can only mean one thing: The holidays are just around the corner. ​ Whether you are a holiday gift hoarder who shops for gifts year 'round or you like to do your gift buying all in one fell cold weather-induced swoop, our guide to a few of the coziest shops should help get you into the gift-giving spirit. Dutchess County Ever return home from a shopping day only to find your dog has thoughtfully chewed up half of the most comfortable pair of slippers you’ve ever owned? Skip the drama this year and bring Toto along for the ride – being sure to stop at  The Beacon Barkery  while you're out and about. Located at 192 Main St., The Beacon Barkery is a local shop carrying all-natural gourmet foods that your pup or kitten will be sure enjoy, fun toys and accessories, holistic, chemical-free products for managing medical conditions and even a grooming spa at their New Windsor location. Gift certificates...

by Rena Meyer She wakes. The sun will not rise for at least two hours, yet she knows that it is going to be one of those days. She stretches and gets out of bed. It is quiet, but her children will be up soon. She stops, leans against the doorway and peeks into their bedroom. It has always been one of her favorite things to do. ​ Her son looks so much like his father, who has been gone almost a year now.  He was so sick at the end, so small; the memory still makes her heart ache.  Mostly she just misses him. ​ She wipes the tear that is rolling down her cheek and takes one more look at  her children. She breathes them in hoping that when it is her time she will  remember them. Eventually, she turns away. There is no time for dwelling –  there are things to do. For almost 40 years we’ve heard the statistics and listened to the personal triumphs and the inevitable, sorrowful outcome ...