Archive | July, 2020

This family-friendly Webster Village history tour is like no other

31 Jul

A Webster resident and geocache aficionado has devised a fun way for entire families to learn a bit more about village history.

I’m sure you’ve heard about geocaching. This extremely popular hide-and-seek challenge uses GPS coordinates to guide participants to hidden “caches.” Each one includes a logbook and some trinkets. You choose one of the trinkets and leave one of your own.

I’ve never been a big fan of geocaching, being a letterboxing gal myself. But this brand-new “Webster Walkabout” history geocaching challenge created by my friend Gerry Sander is something I would recommend to anyone and everyone, especially families.

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The Webster Walkabout is not your typical geocache puzzle, where you download the coordinates for one cache and then search for a physical, hidden box. Instead, this activity is part of the relatively new “Adventure Lab” geocaching platform, which guides participants to a series of virtual caches — in this case, historically significant properties within the Village of Webster.

At each stop, the game prompts you to answer a question by typing in a word that can be found on a sign or plaque nearby. The correct answer unlocks the clue to the next location. Some of the walkabout stops even include videos, which is cool.

Then the whole experience gets even better. Once you complete the Adventure Lab, you’ll be given a code to unlock a special bonus puzzle geocache located at the Webster Museum, 18 Lapham Park.

When Gerry started planning out his Adventure Lab series, he immediately thought of a historical tour, and first considered making it a town-wide hunt. But after discussing his idea with Webster Village Historian Lynn Barton, he narrowed his focus.

I met with Lynn Barton and the Webster Museum and she gave me all kinds of ideas. Just talking with her that initial time, we decided to limit the focus to just the village. There were enough places around the village which have historical significance. Since it’s only five (stops), we could basically make it a walking tour so people can come to the village, visit these historical places, get the feel of the village, maybe visit Barry’s or some of the restaurants, and drive people to the museum. 

It kind of meshed really well. 

Gerry also got support from Webster Village Mayor Darrell Byerts and Webster Supervisor Tom Flaherty, both of whom recorded videos for the walkabout.

Gerry has been hunting geocaches for 14 years, has found more than 2800 of them and placed another 24 of his own. This, however, is his first Adventure Lab challenge.  If it’s successful and people seem to have fun with it, perhaps he can follow it up with one that teaches us even more about the Town of Webster.

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Outside the Webster Museum with the newly installed gadget box are Museum President Tom Pellett, Gerry Sander, and Museum board member Jill Kraft. The box can be unlocked only after completing the 5 virtual caches in the Webster Walkabout Adventure Lab.

Want to try the Webster Walkabout? Here are the details:  

The Webster Walkabout guides participants to five historically significant Village of Webster buildings, on a walk that’s about 1.5 miles. The route is entirely along village sidewalks, so it’s handicap accessible and great for all ages. It should take about an hour.

After the last stop, you want to stroll over to the Webster Museum at 18 Lapham Park. There, attached to the front of the building, you’ll find the ultimate geocaching award, a “gadget box.” This is a bonus puzzle cache which the kids especially are going to LOVE. You’ll need a combination to get into the lock on this one, which is provided once you complete all five stops.

Participants need a smart phone (Android or iPhone), with the Adventure Lab app installed (it’s free). Because it’s multi-media and location based, you’ll need to use your data and have location services enabled.

To open the Webster Walkabout Adventure Lab in the mobile app, click on this URL:  https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/WEBSTER

Have fun!

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Library collecting school supplies

30 Jul

school supplies

It’s that time of year, and it looks like plans for this coming school year are finally being sorted out. So everyone’s thoughts are beginning to turn once again to school supplies.

While you’re out and about in the stores, please consider picking up a few extra supplies to help out those families who have a hard time affording their own. (And there are probably more families in that boat this year thanks to the economy.)

The Webster Public Library has begin its annual school supplies collection to make donating easy. There’s a big box right in the library’s lobby where you can drop your supplies. They’ll be accepted through Aug. 21, then delivered at HOPE Ministry, who will distribute them to Webster families with children and teens.

If you have any questions, email webster.reference@libraryweb.org.

For a complete list of requested supplies, click on the image below.

individual bookmark 2020 front & back (1)

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Movies in the Park are back!

29 Jul

The Village of Webster is trying its best to give our community something resembling a normal summer.

So in a few weeks, the Movies in the Gazebo Park series will return for kind of like a trial run. in Veterans Memorial Park on North Ave.

Monsters uniMonsters University will be shown on Tuesday Aug. 11, and Charlie Wilson’s War with Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman on Saturday Aug. 15.

Both movies will begin around 9 p.m. To encourage social distancing, the park will be marked off with specific “family areas” spaced six feet apart in the grass. There will be plenty of room for chairs and/or blankets within each spot and facial masks must be worn when outside your family space. There will be room for about 60 family spaces and are first-come, first-served.

No popcorn will be served so feel free to bring your own snacks and drinks. For more information visit websterbid.com.

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Veterans Memorial Park will also be host to a return engagement by comic Rudolph Valentino this Friday July 31.  He’ll be joined by his co-host and funny friend Kevin Markman.

gazeboThis is a family-friendly show. There’s no admission, and water and snacks can be purchased, if this show will be anything like the last. And you’ll laugh a lot.

Bring your quad chairs and a cooler if you like, and bring a mask in case you have to sit too close to anyone or want to hit up the vendors. But it’s a spacious area, so there shouldn’t be any problem social distancing. The show is slated to start at 7 p.m. But it started late last time so don’t worry if you’re running late.

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Ooooooo Lala!

28 Jul

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Lala of Webster has expanded, and the new place looks beautiful.

Owner Lisa Schlonski of Lala of Webster, a lovely gift shop and boutique at 38 East Main in the village, celebrated her grand opening last weekend, introducing her newly expanded space to the Webster community.

In business for just a little more than 18 months, owner Lisa doubled her space by expanding next door into the former Pickled Paintbrush shop, which unfortunately lost the pandemic economic battle a few months ago. Lala now has not just two, but three floors.

The shop’s two original spaces still look much the same, with a wide variety of gift items, jewelry and wellness products. But now with the added space, there’s a lot more room for everything, and more.

The new, adjacent room has a dedicated spot for local vendors (about 30 of them) and so many cute inspirational gift items (I bought a few myself). Upstairs is a ladies’ boutique with clothing and more jewelry, and a children’s room with baby items, toys and stuffed animals for all our young friends.

There are too many adorable things to mention here. You just gotta see it to appreciate it. I’ve always said that Lala is exactly the kind of shop we need here in Webster. I didn’t think it could get any better, but it sure did.

Lala of Webster is located at 38 East Main Street. For more information and hours, visit their website here or Facebook page here.

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Honoring our first responders

27 Jul

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Better late than never, I’d like to post a follow-up report on the mini-parade that took place along East Main Street on Thursday night.

There obviously was no Firemen’s Parade this year, but Lori Allen and her family was undaunted, setting up their parade chairs outside their Main Street home anyway, at what would have normally been parade time (albeit a week late thanks to the monsoon). They handed out free flags to passersby, accepted donations for our first responders, and welcomed visits by officers from the Webster PD and Webster Volunteer FD firefighters.

I wasn’t able to make the festivities, but Lori posted this on her Facebook page:

Not a bad turnout ! Thank you all who stopped and got a lag, beeped your horn and waved, and those who donated! Thank you Webster Police Dept for stopping and also thank you to the Webster fireman and woman for coming as well and to all the firemen THANK YOU for what you do! 

Before the end of the evening, Lori raised $218 through donations from passers-by.

I don’t know exactly who took all these photos, but here are a few from the evening:

Many thanks to the Allen family for reminding us what community is all about.

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St. Rita’s to host blood drive next week

24 Jul

blood-dropTwo opportunities to help save lives through blood donation are just around the corner.

The first is Thursday, July 30 at St. Rita Catholic Church, 1008 Maple Drive in West Webster.  The drive will run from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. To make your appointment, go to redcrossblood.org and search for sponsor code 9390nyp.

Cherry Ridge Assisted Living Community, 900 Cherry Ridge Blvd. (across from Webster Schroeder High School) will host a drive on Thursday Aug. 6, from 1 to 6 p.m. For this one, search for sponsor code cherryridgecommunitycenterrochester.

As you can imagine, the Red Cross is in desperate need of whole blood and platelet donations right now, so please consider donating.

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Webster Public Library reveals a hidden treasure

22 Jul

The Webster Public Library has posted a new video in their “Let’s Explore Webster!” series. This one highlights the Hickory Bark Trail,  which I consider one of Webster’s best-kept secrets.

The trail is located in a 10-acre stand of woods across the parking lot from the front door of the library on Van Ingen Drive. It’s a beautiful, albeit short walk (only 400 feet), along a boardwalk ending in a spacious deck with plenty of benches.

I could tell you more about the trail, but I’ll let Laureen and Doreen from the Public Library do that:

This is a great video. But unfortunately, it was created before the fairies moved in, so Doreen and Laureen didn’t happen to mention them.

That’s right, FAIRIES.

When you’re walking along the boardwalk, make sure to keep your eyes peeled, because four fairies and a gnome have taken up residence. Look closely and you might see their little homes tucked at the base of several trees along the walk.

But make sure to stay on the boardwalk, because there’s lots of poison ivy around, too.

And if your young kids really like to look for and help out the fairies, show them the library’s Digital Escape Rooms. The easiest one, designed for preschoolers, leads them through several easy puzzles to help the fairies (who all live along the Hickory Bark Trail) get out of their houses. The other two escape rooms are for tweens, teens and adults.

Jason and HaroldBy the way, if you’d like to learn more about how the Hickory Bark Trail came to be, check out this link to this column I wrote about it for the Democrat and Chronicle, which tells about how Harold Krieger saw it to completion in honor of his wife.

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Adult Summer Online Programs 2020There’s so much more going on at the library right now, too, including several online, Zoom-based programs for adults (click on the flyer on the left for a sneak peek). And don’t forget, the library is actually open for business; stop by and check out your next summer read.

The Webster Public Library is located at the back side of Webster Plaza, 980 Ridge Rd. They’re open Monday and Wednesday 9 to 5, Tuesday and Thursday 11 to 7, and Friday 9 to 1.

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The parade will go on!

21 Jul

Well, sort of.

Last weekend I posted about Lori Allen and her family, who were planning to do something special last Thursday night in honor of the Webster Fireman’s Parade.

The plan was, on Thursday evening, which in a normal year would have been Parade Night, they were going to set up their chairs in front of their house at Baker and East Main (as they do every year). Then, during the normally scheduled parade time, they would hand out flags and encourage drivers to honk on their way by.

Well, you may remember that a monsoon blew through town last Thursday night, so that event was cancelled, as would have the parade itself, probably.

But Lori has announced that the virtual parade has been rescheduled for this Thursday, July 23.  So as you’re driving or walking through the village that evening around 6:30 or so, watch for them, grab a flag, toot your horn and join in the celebration!

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The event is as much a celebration of the parade-that-wasn’t as it is a fundraiser for our Webster Volunteer Fire Department.

This is what Lori posted about that on Facebook:

My Dad wants to show support for the firemen, police, all first responders. Thursday we will be sitting up there handing out American flags, and flags with thin blue or red stripes representing our police and firemen along with info on donating.

This is (the WVFD’s) big fundraiser and of course the Carnival has been cancelled due to Covid. So if you’re driving by Baker St., stop and get your flag, or honk as you go by, and please consider donating to the Webster Volunteer Fire Dept. It may be you they come to save.

I imagine that Lori and her family will have a collection jar out there, but if you’re not going to be able to stop by, you can also donate by visiting http://www.donatewvfd.org. Or if you’d rather send a check, make it payable to the Webster Volunteer Fire Dept. Fund, and mail to: Key Bank, 980 Ridge Rd., Webster, NY 14580.

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Some encouraging Webster Village business news

21 Jul

In a time when small businesses are struggling to keep their heads above water, comes some very happy and encouraging local business news.

lala of webster

For starters, Lala of Webster, a beautiful little gift shop and boutique located at 38 East Main St., has not only weathered the pandemic storm but is expanding.

In business for just a little more than 18 months, owner Lisa Schlonski will be expanding next door into the former Pickled Paintbrush shop, which unfortunately lost the pandemic economic battle a few months ago. Renovations are almost complete, and when they’re done, the much larger space will feature not just two, but three floors.

In addition to the shop’s already wide variety of gifts and wellness products, the newly expanded shop will feature a dedicated ladies’ boutique on the upper level with clothing, jewelry, handbags and more, a children’s and baby room, and more than 500 new items.

Lisa will continue to support about 30 local vendors as well, with products (including masks) now all concentrated in one “shop local” area.

A good time to check out the new shop is during Lala’s Grand Opening this Friday and Saturday July 24 and 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In celebration, Lisa is offering a 25% discount on products both days of the grand opening (exclusions will apply).

I asked Lisa straight up how it is she was able to not only survive the storm, but come out even stronger. She wrote,

I wasn’t ready to give up on my dream of owning a shop. So many customers kept asking if I was going to reopen, so I knew there was interest in what I had to offer, which was the fuel I needed to look past the short term and focus on the long term.

Also, an opportunity presented itself with the availability of the space next to me. I gave it some serious thought and decided why not? If it doesn’t work out I can at least say I tried. I look forward to the upcoming holidays and trying new things and ways to engage with my customers, in the shop and online.

That attitude pretty much sums up the philosophy which Lisa has brought to her shop. After all, “LaLa” stands for “Laugh and Love Always.”

Find out more about Lala of Webster here on their Facebook page.

quilt shoppe

Since we’re talking about new-ish village businesses, I’m happy to pass along the news that The Village Quilt Shoppe will be celebrating its first anniversary the week of August 4 through 8.

This little shop, at 21 East Main St., has become near and dear to my heart, and not only because owners Monique and Vanetta are wonderful people. They have faced some unique challenges trying to keep their dream business afloat, including dealing with a flood from the apartment above them. And during the early weeks and months of quarantine, when their shop was closed, they still went in regularly to coordinate an effort by their customers to make face masks for medical personnel.

So stay tuned for more information about this anniversary, then let’s all pop in and show them some love — whether we’re quilters or not.

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Webster community mailbag

20 Jul

 

garlic festival

You’ve probably already seen this news, but in case you haven’t: the 2020 Rochester Garlic Festival, scheduled for Sept. 12-13, has been canceled.

The news, which comes on the heels of the cancellation of pretty much everything else this summer, certainly comes as no surprise. But after the festival’s strong return in 2019 after taking a year off, I was looking forward to seeing what it had in store for this year.

But we’ll have to wait until next summer.

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gazeboDid you miss out on attending the terrific, family-friendly comedy act that came to the gazebo a few Fridays ago? (Click here to read the blog I wrote about that show.)  Well, your next chance to enjoy some laughs is coming up on July 31.

Rudolph Valentino will return to the gazebo in Veterans Memorial Park on North Ave. on Friday night July 31. He’ll be joined by his co-host and funny friend Kevin Markman.

There’s no admission, and water and snacks can be purchased, if this show will be anything like the last. And you’ll laugh a lot.

Bring your quad chairs and a cooler if you like, and bring a mask in case you have to sit too close to anyone or want to hit up the vendors. But it’s a spacious area, so there shouldn’t be any problem social distancing. The show is slated to start at 7 p.m. But it started late last time so don’t worry if you’re running late.

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Finally, some news from the schools.

Congratulations to my former Webster Thomas teaching colleague Carol Saladzius, who was recently hired as assistant principal at Hilton High School. Carol and I worked together for several years at Thomas — me in the library and she a Spanish teacher — and I am happy for her new adventure.

Congratulations also to the Webster Thomas Best Buddies program, which last week was named the most outstanding high school chapter in New York State for 2020.

Best Buddies is a nationwide program which matches special education students with peer buddies who have similar interests.  The peer buddy makes a commitment to reach out to their buddy once a week outside school via email or telephone, and to get together and do something outside school with their buddy once a month.

The program came to Western New York four years ago and Webster Thomas was one of the first high schools to sign up. To read more about the program here in New York State, click here.

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Have you signed your school-age child up for school yet?

Our students will be going back to school one way or another this September, and the district really needs to know how many students to expect. So if your child isn’t already registered for the 2020-21 school year, please do so ASAP.

The New York State Department of Education requires all school-age students age 5-6 (in the given school year) and older be registered in some sort of education program in the district in which they live. This includes students who will be attending public school, those who will be going to private and parochial schools, those who have moved into a new school district, and those who will be home-schooled. (These can be changed at any time, but prior registration is still required.)

If you have a child who will be 5 years old on or before December 1, that child is eligible for kindergarten enrollment. Families new to Webster CSD with children grades 1-12 may also enroll their children at this time. For more information and to download registration packets, click here.

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