webster on the web

Summer events are dropping like flies. But kudos to the Town of Webster for finding a creative way to still hold their Summer Celebration in a safe, socially-distant way.

Here’s the information I got from the folks at the Rec Center:

2020 is the year of thinking differently – and town festivities are no exception. While we have made the tough call to cancel Summer Celebration this year, the Town of Webster Parks and Recreation Department is bringing our Webster community together that day…in a different way!

Introducing “Summer Celebration Re-Imagined”! On Saturday, June 20 from 12 p.m. to  – 2 p.mm come to the Rec Center, 1350 Chiyoda Drive, to pick up a FREE bag filled with surprise items to celebrate summer at home!

The bag distribution will be a drive-thru party in a parking lot! We can’t tell you everything we have in store for you… but we are encouraging you to pack up the family and come pick up a bag! (*Bonus points if your car is decorated in fun summer gear!*) So, even though we can’t be together this year, we can still celebrate!

**PLEASE NOTE** There is a limit to ONE (1) BAG PER CAR. Bags are available to the first 1000 cars from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm or until supplies run out. Please wear a mask, remain in your car at ALL times and follow the traffic pattern.

Sounds like fun. I’m hopping for bubbles and sidewalk chalk 🙂

* * *

email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter and Instagram

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

Lots of great news to report about this week’s annual Webster Community Blood Drive, Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 7 p.m. at the Webster Recreation Center.

As I mentioned in a blog a few days ago, this week’s drive is going to look a lot different. Normally for this drive, several Webster small business owners donate raffle prizes for blood donors. But of course, business owners are clearly in no position to donate prizes right now, so the drive’s organizers didn’t even ask them to do so.

But that didn’t stop the generous folks at Bruster’s. They STILL want to hand out free ice cream cones to each and every donor who comes to the drive. So if you’re signed up, make sure to grab your coupon!

And if you’re not signed up, better do so soon. Word from the Red Cross is that every one of Wednesday’s 105 appointments has been booked, and as of this blog only 40 or so appointments are left for Thursday. Make your appointment by visiting  RedCrossBlood.org and search for the sponsor code “WebsterCommunity,” or call 1-800-RED-CROSS.  (Appointments will be required.)

AND REMEMBER, this year all donors are being asked to help support our small business owners by purchasing gift certificates and bringing them along to the drive. All gift certificates and any cash donations will be handed over to our local first responders to thank them for all they do.

Donation boxes will be set up outside the Recreation Center during the entire two-day drive, so even those who are unable to donate blood for any reason can still drive by and drop off their donations. Organizers will also have posters at the drop-off site, where people can write their personal messages of appreciation.

Checks may be made out to North East Quadrant Advanced Life Support, the Webster Volunteer Fire Dept., Inc., or the West Webster Volunteer Firemen’s Association.

This year’s Webster Community Blood Drive is scheduled for Wednesday June 3 and Thursday June 4, from noon to 7 p.m. at the Webster Recreation Center, 1350 Chiyoda Drive. 

For more information, you can also call Monroe County Legislator Matthew Terp at (585) 753-1922.

* * *

email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

You may recall a few months ago when I told you about how Webster’s very own Village Quilt Shoppe was joining forces with Sew Creative in Fairport to make and donate face masks to — at first — health professionals, and then many other Rochester-area agencies.

Hundreds of customers answered the call, volunteering their time and talents to make masks from their homes. Despite having to hang a “closed” sign on their front door because of COVID, Quilt Shoppe owners Monique and Vanetta found themselves coming into their store almost every day to collect fabric and supplies for the masks, prepare mask-making kits, and put together deliveries for people who could not leave their houses.

Now that Phase II is being rolled out, Monique and Vanetta can open for business, so the mask-making effort is beginning to wind down. But I wanted to share some amazing statistics with you as it does.

Monique reports that between the two shops, a total of 15,000 masks were donated in the last two months. Here’s a partial list of where they went to:

Rochester Police Dept.
Monroe County Health Dept.
Rural & Migrant Ministry
Rochester Rehabilitation Services
RGH Hospital and their associated facilities
ACR
Strong Memorial Hospital
Greece Central School District
Honeoye Falls-Lima School District
Heritage Christian Services
Catholic Charity Services
NYC health care workers
Navajo Nation
US Navy
Alternative Wellness
Webster Town Hall
Sisters of Saint Joseph
Highland Living Center
CPA in Webster
Triton Mechanical
Mercy Hospital in Buffalo

A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped in the effort by donating supplies and/or sewing masks. (They include, Monique noted, her mother and lots of elderly folks who had to stay quarantined for the last eight weeks.)

Monique and Vanetta will be updating their website shortly to reflect their opening guidelines and hours. They’re still getting requests for masks, by the way, so they’re still providing mask-making kits and will accept completed masks.

So if you need quilting supplies, or if you’d like to continue making masks, check out their website, and stop by. Or just pop into the shop at 21 East Main Street to say THANK YOU for everything Vanetta and Monique have been doing for Webster and the Greater Rochester community.

* * *

email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter and Instagram

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

Here’s a nice story for you today, about how taking the time to offer a simple kindness can potentially come back around to brighten your own life.

Last week I posted a blog titled “We all have a story. This is mine.”  It told about my participation in a portrait/story project created by my friend and teaching colleague Linda Hayes.

In my story, I recalled something my high school English teacher said to me one day, four simple words that changed my life. When I shared that blog on Facebook, my brother Jim took notice and encouraged me to try to get in touch with the teacher and let her know the positive influence her words had.

Linda Yanchus

My high school self

Her name was Linda Yanchus, my junior-year English teacher at Owego Free Academy. I graduated from OFA more than 40 years ago, so I didn’t hold out much hope that I’d be able to track her down. Still, I decided to give it a shot.

Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I very quickly connected with Linda’s ex-husband’s younger brother’s wife.  She was happy to pass along my phone number.

Early last week, I got a phone call from my former teacher.

She said that she actually remembered me and my writing and the fun way I would put things. We had a very nice conversation, but I didn’t tell her exactly what she had said to me. I wanted her to read the story for herself. I told her about my blog and invited her to read it there.

A few days later I got this note from her:

That IS quite a story and you ARE a good writer! Thank you so much for reaching out to me and sharing what is now an important moment for both of us. I am gratified to learn that I had a positive influence on you and wish you the very best with your writing, your work with elementary readers and your eventual retirement.

I guess the moral of this story is that you never know how something seemingly insignificant can have a life-long effect on someone.

Words mean a lot.

* * *

email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter and Instagram

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

This little nugget is especially for runners and walkers who are trying to keep in shape during this no-races-spring. It was sent to me by my friend and former Webster teaching colleague Mary Heveron-Smith, who is helping organize the event.

It’s the 4th annual ROC Juneteenth 5K Run/Walk, which this year will be held virtually.

The race is a fundraiser for the Rochester Civil Rights Heritage Site, and is taking place in the aftermath of a shooting that killed an unarmed black man, Ahmaud Arbery, who was jogging Feb. 23 in a suburban neighborhood in Georgia, not far from his home. All funds raised will go toward funding construction of Rochester’s Civil Rights Heritage Park at Baden Park in downtown Rochester, which will honor local civil rights leaders throughout history.

Given the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s race is virtual. Participants can run or walk the 5K from home or from anywhere. It can be completed in one day or over several days. All running/walking should be completed by midnight on June 19, 2020.  The date marks an anniversary — June 19, 1865 — the day that 250 years of slavery finally ended in America.

Registration is only $10. Click here to sign up.  Every registrant will receive a commemorative poster honoring Harriet Tubman created by Rochester artist Amber Stokes.

* * *

email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter and Instagram

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

Happy Memorial Day!

Some friends from my old street, Anytrell Drive off of Hatch Rd., came up with a fun way to help all of their neighbors celebrate the weekend.

It’s a street-long chalk art project, organized by Jessica and Tim Ellsworth, my former across-the-street neighbors. Last Friday, Jessica and her three daughters trundled up and down the street with their wagon and delivered packages of chalk to 48 of their neighbors — pretty much every house on the street. Each package had instructions encouraging the residents to get out on Sunday and decorate their driveways.

Jessica said she came up with the idea as a way to encourage community during these difficult times. She wrote,

I just wanted to unify the neighborhood a little bit since we are so spread out. It would be a bonus to inspire other people in other neighborhoods to do something similar. We all need to be kind and support each other especially in a time like this.

By Sunday evening, almost 20 driveways had been decorated with flowers, rainbows, smiley faces and inspirational messages. Chances are, by the end of day today, several others will have joined them. Check out this slideshow to see them all:

What a great way to bring people together!

email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter and Instagram

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

My regular blog readers may remember a post I wrote in November about a wonderful exhibition created by my friend, teaching colleague and exceptional portrait photographer Linda Hayes of Hayes Photography.

It was called We All Have a Story: The Stories Continue. It was a follow-up to Hayes’ first We All Have a Story exhibit in spring of 2018.

You may have seen the exhibit when it was on display in December at the Webster Public Library. It took a closer look at the lives and stories of several Webster Central School District staff members to help illuminate the people inside the classrooms and offices who work with our children every day.

I was honored to be a part of the exhibit, and proud to be among a dozen other heartfelt and touching stories written by WCSD colleagues.

Linda is now posting those stories, and the beautiful portraits she took to accompany them, to her website and Facebook page. (You should go there and read the other stories!) At her suggestion, I shared my story recently on my personal Facebook page. It has received so many positive comments that I thought I should also post it to my blog. After all, it is all about how I became a writer, so this platform is rather appropriate.

The power of words

I was a junior in high school when my English teacher said four words that changed my life.

She told me, “You’re a good writer.”

I still remember exactly where I was standing after class that day, and how proud those simple words made me feel. But I didn’t realize then how powerful they were, how much they would shape my future. Because from that day forward, I knew what I wanted to do with my life: I wanted to write.

After graduating high school, I pursued that dream, studying communications at Cornell University and landing jobs in radio and public relations. Even as a stay-at-home mom, I wrote newsletters for my karate school, My Moms Club, and the Rochester Irish community.

Then, in 2008, my writing reached a new level when the Democrat and Chronicle invited me to write a Webster community blog, followed several years later by the weekly East Extra community column. I had finally found a place where my written words could reach a larger audience, giving them even greater meaning and purpose.

As a blogger and columnist for the D&C, I visit new businesses, post stories about community events, and spread positive news about our east-side Rochester towns, villages and residents.

My words have helped launch new businesses and shined a spotlight on inspirational people. They’ve helped our community through times of unbelievable tragedy and mourning. They’ve spread good news about good people in a time when positive stories are few and far between. They’ve prompted tears and laughter, helped old friends reconnect and new friends meet.

I am a busy, multi-faceted person. I’m a wife and a mother, and a full-time teaching assistant in two elementary schools. I’m a martial artist, a volunteer, a community activist. I enjoy sharing a pint with friends.

But writing defines my life. It’s my hobby, my outlet. Writing fills the empty corners of my day.

Four simple words. “You’re a good writer.” They transformed a talent into a passion, and now my words enrich others’ lives every day.

And as long as people keep reading, I will keep writing

_ _ _ _

email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter and Instagram

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.