YouTube video highlights the return of the Beacon brand

ActTWO stories, a YouTube Channel produced by Brenda Parks Hughes,  is now showing a video about the re-birth of the Beacon brand. 

Shot in Black Mountain and Swannanoa in early October, the five-minute story features the Swannanoa Valley Museum and History Center, Swannanoa native Tedd Smith and his partner Steve Hutcherson. The team revived the Beacon brand through their company, Beacon Linens.

The documentary-style video also includes appearances by Jerry Brownstein, who with his wife Kathy, wrote “Beacon Blankets Make Warm Friends,”  former Beacon employee Terry Price and former Swannanoa resident, “Dot” Sims Hughes. 

“This is a most personal story for me,” said Hughes, who shot and edited the YouTube video, Looking for a BLANKET? The BEACON brand is back!  

Hughes grew up in Swannanoa during a time when Beacon was the backbone of that community.  A time when everyone seemed to be connected in some way to Beacon, which touched people’s lives on so many levels. 

“Knowing Tedd and how passionate he is about this re-birth of the Beacon brand makes me so happy for him and all of us because these 'new' blankets are just beautiful. It’s also great to show viewers through pictures and interviews what life was like in Swannanoa at that time,” she said. “I just feel so lucky to have grown up where and when I did.”

The video can be found at acttwostories.com, or on the actTWO stories channel on YouTube. 

Hughes, a native of the Swannanoa Valley, has featured several area residents in the series.

She can be reached at acttwostories@gmail.com and the new Beacon blankets can be found at beaconlinens.com.