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So, the corner of Five Mile Line and Ridge Road is a mess. I mean a REAL mess in all four directions. Like at most times of the day it’s best to find a completely other way around rather than drive through it.

I know that this is just a temporary situation and eventually the aggravation will be worth it. After all, we’ve been whining about Ridge Road improvements for a long time.

But frankly, I have some nagging doubts that all the work will alleviate the traffic problems. That’s mostly because when they upgraded the traffic lights at that intersection last year, they managed to make things worse by eliminating at least one of the right turn arrows that facilitated turns from Five Mile Line.

And the DOT in their infinite wisdom STILL doesn’t realize that pretty much every light on Ridge Road between the village and Hatch Road can afford to be on blinker after midnight. I can’t believe I’m the only one who’s been stuck waiting for all the traffic to come out of the Kmart plaza and CVS at 2 a.m.

I can’t wait until the construction moves to Hatch Road, which will really flummox my drive to work.

Enjoy spring and construction season, everyone! (Just stay off of Ridge.)

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

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The sun was shining brightly (finally) and the temperatures were reasonable (finally) on Saturday, making it a perfect day for a celebration.

The occasion was the grand opening for Beyond Cuts Salon at 33 North Ave. The salon itself is well known in town — it’s been owned and operated in the village by Robyn Whittaker for ages. But after 15 years at a small location on West Main Street, Robyn finally was able to move up and out in January to her beautiful new location, directly across North Ave. from Gazebo Park and the Waffle Factory.

Dozens of well-wishers were on hand to take part in the official ribbon cutting, and afterwards enjoyed all sorts of snacks and beverages. Robin also had baskets of giveaways for both children and adults, and a raffle.

I had never been in the salon until Saturday, and I have to say it is a thing of beauty, and very sunny. It’s basically huge — at 1500 square feet, it’s five times bigger than the space she had before. All that extra space has allowed Robyn to add lots of services and amenities, including:

• a style station where people can try out curling irons and blow dryers while they wait
• a children’s play area
• a private body waxing room
• an expanded manicure area, and more
• and a huge bathroom (“the last one we had was about as large as this sink,” Robyn laughed.)

Even with all these new services and amenities, Robyn finds something else entirely most exciting: her on-site laundry room. “For 17 years I dragged the towels back and forth to  my house.” she said. “Now I can do them in the back room which is super exciting.”

Robyn also likes the history of the building, which used to be the old Webster Cleaners. .

“People come in here and say, ‘I used to bring my dry cleaning here.’ It’s kind of cool being in a building that people actually came to all the time.”

Check out the new Beyond Cuts Salon for yourself. You’ll find them online here and on Facebook here.

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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 email box has been overflowing of late with good news from our Webster schools. Allow me to regurgitate some press releases for you.

There’s a new AP in town

Congratulations to Chris Callahan, who was named the new assistant principal at Webster Schroeder High School.

Chris is a Webster graduate who began his teaching career at Webster Thomas in 2010. At the same time he began his career, he was commuting to Canisius College to complete his Masters of Science degree in Special Education. He took a brief leave from his teaching assistant position to complete his student teaching assignments at Schroeder.

I had the pleasure of working with Chris for several years at Thomas, and can attest to his enthusiasm and dedication to students.

Chris is replacing current assistant principal Shawn Strege, who was recently named director of physical education and athletics for Webster Schroeder High School and Spry Middle School.

Webster’s music program is tops — AGAIN 

The Webster Central School District music program has once again been honored as a Best Community for Music Education from The NAMM Foundation, for its outstanding commitment to music education.

The Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students. This is the 13th time Webster CSD has achieved this honor. To qualify for the Best Communities designation, the district answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and community music-making programs. Responses were verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.

Give us your drugs

The Webster Health and Education Network: Drug Free Community Coalition (WHEN: DFCC) is partnering with the Webster Central School District, Town of Webster, and Webster Police Department to hold Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 28.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. that day, the public is invited to bring unused/expired over-the-counter and prescription medications to the Webster Wastewater Treatment Plant, 267 Phillips Road to be disposed of in a safe manner. Sharps/needles will NOT be accepted.

Domino’s Pizza will be sponsoring the local event, and each person dropping off medications will receive a coupon for a Domino’s item.

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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.

I think we’re all feeling grateful that the messy weather expected earlier in the day Saturday waited until the evening to arrive. That meant that Community Arts Day 2018 could proceed with nary a hitch.

As expected, I spent more than three hours there yesterday, doing lap after lap of the halls, seeing a new batch of friends, students and colleagues every time.

As expected, I took SO. MANY. PHOTOS. It’s hard to be in three places at once, which would have been required to see everything that goes on at Community Arts Day, but I tried to capture as many highlights as possible. I wish I could have taken photos of all the incredible artistic pieces on display, but I’ve tried to at least provide a nice representation of the incredible talent our students have. And it was fascinating to see the progression from elementary school to high school and see that talent blossom.

Click here to see a full Facebook gallery. (I apologize in advance for it being a little firefighter-heavy. Since my son and daughter-in-law are both firefighters, I’m kind of drawn to that table.)

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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.