Archive | December, 2020

O Christmas tree….

10 Dec

Continuing my theme of it’s-such-a-stinky-year-I-want-to-get-Christmas-started-early, I convinced my husband the other day to make our annual trek to the Christmas tree farm a good week earlier than we usually do.

It was actually a more complicated process than it might sound, requiring quite a bit of unexpected research. It started when we got a mailing from the farm we usually patronize, informing us that the price for a cut-your-own tree was going up from $35 to $50.

That was a bit of a shocker. And it got us thinking that we might need to shop around.

I start asking friends for recommendations, hoping to find someplace a bit more reasonable. Long story short, those places do exist, but most of them are too far afield to make it worth the gas money trade-off. Because so many people recommended Woody Acres — which happens to be about three miles from our house — we ultimately decided to go there, even though their trees also cost $50. Our original choice seemed to be getting picked over a bit anyway.

I was blown away by the incredible selection of beautiful trees I saw there. It only took us 15 minutes, and only a few steps off a main path, to find a great tree, so perfectly shaped that it looks like it came from a movie. My eyes were a bit bigger than my Christmas tree nook, however, and we had to angle and shove it in much like the Grinch tried to shove a Christmas tree up the chimney.

A lot of you out there probably still have to find your perfect tree, and I know that this weekend will be a busy one for tree shoppers. So if you need to shop around, here are some local options. You’ll want to check their websites or Facebook pages to check pricing and see if they have pre-cut, cut-your-own, or both.

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Village of Webster hosts three fun holiday contests

9 Dec

The Village of Webster is doing its best to put some sparkle and fun into this very unusual holiday season.

In the next few weeks, the Webster Business Improvement District (BID) will host three contests designed to get community members out and about and exploring the village.

The first, a Gingerbread House Contest, is going on right now through Dec. 12. Six village businesses have created some very fanciful gingerbread houses. Community members can see each one at the participating business or online at websterbid.com and vote for their favorites. Three prizes will be awarded for Most Creative, Best Decorated and Most Traditional.

The participating businesses include:

  • Bernardi & Company CPAs, 40 Barrett Dr.
  • Beyond Cuts Salon, 33 North Ave.
  • Finn’s Automotive, 45 E. Main
  • Martino’s Pizza, 160 W. Main
  • Xceed Credit Union, 189 W. Main
  • Maplewood Nursing Home (must be viewed online)

This contest ends on Dec. 12, so get your votes in soon.

And by the way, get together with your family and come up with your own gingerbread house creation. Take a photo and email it to Elena@websterbid.com, and you could win a prize, too!

Next is the Snowman Scavenger Hunt, which runs for one week from Dec. 13 to 19.

The kids are especially going to like this one. Each participating businesses will hang a snowman poster inside the store or in the window, and each poster will have a different word on it. Players need to collect all the words to reveal a secret phrase. There will be 15 snowmen in all, and hints for where to find them will be posted on the BID website. Participants are also encouraged to take a creative picture with each snowman.

The top two puzzle solvers and the most creative photo with a snowman will each win a prize.

Finally, the week before Christmas, make sure to get downtown to see the village sparkle as shop owners decorate their windows and doors for the BID’s Window Display Contest. Community members can vote online for the Most Creative, the Most Colorful and the best Spirit of the Season.

For more information about all these upcoming holiday events, visit the BID website.

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Parade of Lights recap (photos and video!)

6 Dec

Click these links for more photos:

I’ve also posted several videos at the end of this blog.

The Village of Webster tried something new last night: a reimagined Holiday Parade of Lights to replace the very popular parade which winds down Main Street during the village’s White Christmas celebration every (non-COVID) year.

It most respects, it was very successful. Most would say too successful, actually.

While organizers expected only 4,100 cars to weave through the 1/2-mile long “parade,” many more unexpectedly showed up, creating very long wait times.

It was an unfortunate and aggravating situation for everyone, to be sure. But those who endured the invonvenience were rewarded with a magical and spectacular display courtesy more than 50 first responder agencies, community groups and local businesses who came out in force and endured the weather, their bodies and vehicles covered in twinkling lights.

People waiting their turn in the staging parking lot might have been grumpy, but when they saw what awaited them in the main lot, their frowns disappeared.

What I saw during my time there were kids and parents beaming, leaning out the windows waving back at the exhibitors. One girl yelled “This is AMAZING!” As they finally came to the end of the parade, the children positively exploded with delight upon seeing Santa wishing them a “Merry Christmas,” and many parents took the time to honk their horns, show a thumbs-up or yell “thank you!”

There’s been a lot of grousing on various social networks by families disappointed with the event. The criticisms are legitimate. But I’m sure the organizers and exhibitors would love to hear from folks who enjoyed themselves, despite the aggravations. These are people who spent hundreds of hours pulling together miriad details to create a much-needed holiday event, some of whom were outside in the cold and rain and snow for more than 12 hours.

So I would ask that comments here be positive and supportive. Because despite everything, The Holiday Parade of Lights gave everyone who waited in those long lines one magical night when we could forget about COVID and life seemed a little bit more normal.

Here are some videos from the event:

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Webster seniors host successful Thanksgiving food drive

4 Dec

I love hearing about it when otherwise ordinary people do extra-ordinary things. Especially when those “ordinary” people are young people.

  • Rachel
  • Giuliana
  • Eve

Such is the case with three Webster Schroeder students — seniors Rachel Kucewicz, Giuliana Zane and Eve Kowalczyk — who took it upon themselves recently to make sure the school’s annual Thanksgiving food drive was not canceled by the pandemic.

Traditionally, a small group of Webster Schroeder High School students runs a food drive in the fall to provide Thanksgiving meals to families assisted by Mt. Hope Family Center. The pandemic looked to put a damper on this year’s collection,. But these three young ladies, with help from their advisor Elizabeth Gefell, came up with an alternative.

Driven by the goal to feed as many Rochester families as possible, they asked students, staff, family, and friends for tax-deductible contributions made out directly to Mt. Hope Family Center Thanksgiving Basket Fundraiser. The trio hoped to raise $1,700, enough to feed 20 families. By their deadline on Friday, Nov. 20, they had easily surpassed that goal, bringing in $1,844.

Well done, ladies!

Mt. Hope Family Center, located on Edinburgh St. in Rochester, is dedicated to improving the lives of children and families who have experienced violence, abuse, neglect, or trauma. For more information, visit their website.

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

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Holiday music coming to you, courtesy Webster Library and WTHS

3 Dec

We can’t go to the schools to enjoy holiday concerts this year, but no worries. Next week, the Webster Thomas High School Select Choir is bringing the concert to us!

On Thursday Dec. 10, the Webster Thomas Select Choir will present a holiday concert via Facebook Live from 3:30 to 4 p.m. The event is hosted by the Webster Public Library and can be found via their Facebook page.

These kids’ beautiful voices will just blow you away. It’s a perfect way to kick-start your holiday season.

You do not have to have a Facebook account to see this concert, so put it on your calendar now and log in next Thursday. Questions? Email the Webster Public Library at webster.reference@libraryweb.org.

And while you’re on the library’s Facebook page, poke around a bit for information about some other fun activities the library has coming up.

Like their Gingerbread House Contest, for example. Starting Dec. 7, you can vote for your favorite, and help crown the Best Gingerbread House in Webster.

And the Virtual I Spy Game, which is designed for kids of all ages. On Monday Dec. 14 from 4 to 4:30 p.m., a series of I Spy challenges will have your kids racing throughout the house to find an object that matches the game’s description. Participants will also enjoy some I Spy puzzles. Click here to register for this online event.

Finally, just for fun, check out this video of library staff members showing their silly side:

https://www.facebook.com/websterlibrary/videos/3459896117390721

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

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Chorus of the Genesee is driven to perform despite COVID

1 Dec

Nothing, not even a global pandemic, was going to stop Webster’s own Chorus of the Genesee from making beautiful music.

The Chorus, which normally rehearses every week at the Harmony House in the Village of Webster, has found a creative way to continue their rehearsals while maintaining safe social distancing.

Like many of the chapters in the district, the Chorus has been meeting regularly via Zoom. But since mid-October, the’ve also been gathering in a parking lot off of East Main Street for live, stay-in-your-car rehearsals.

Steve Caso, the 2021 Chorus of the Genesee’s incoming president, knows his way around IT, and set up a system of wireless mics that broadcast to a specific FM station on everyone’s car radio. (The frequency, 91.1, is a jazz station out of Toronto. Anyone in Webster who might have tried to tune them in on Tuesday nights might have heard the rehearsal.)

  • Music Director Steve Caso, illuminated by headlights
  • Chorus President Dave Bay readies his microphone for rehearsal

Ten Chorus members attended rehearsal last Tuesday night, their cars arranged in a semi-circle in the parking lot. They surrounded Music Director Steve Link, who wore small lights on his hands so they would show up in the dark. He’s the only unfortunate Chorus member who has to brave the cold, while everyone else stays in their warm cars.

The Chorus is preparing for a virtual holiday season contest on Dec. 17 called Holidays in Harmony. It will feature choruses, quartets, special guests and celebrity judges, all presented via Zoom. Stay tuned for more information about that.

Be prepared for a surprise or two with this event, too. Chorus President Dave Bay wrote,

Like all barbershoppers, our visual impact is as important in the delivery of a song as the singing, which is clearly a challenge when each of us is in a vehicle in the evening.

We’ll be unveiling our solution to this dilemma, inspired by the challenges posted by COVID: car-eography (as delivered by the Car-us of the Genesee).

The Chorus of the Genesee is a non-profit, educational organization devoted to preserving the original American art form of Barbershop Harmony. The Chorus rehearses in Webster, New York, but performs all over the greater Rochester area. A portion of their proceeds support both local and national service projects.

For more information about the Chorus, check their website.

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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.

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