Archive | October, 2021

Once a Titan, always a Titan

9 Oct

Most of you probably know that I retired at the end of last school year, after 20 years as a library teaching assistant.

I should qualify that statement a bit. I officially retired in June, but I’ve already been subbing in various buildings for 14 days. For those who are counting, that’s more than half of the school year so far. Many of the students (and staff members) in my old schools are beginning to look at me with puzzled expressions and asking, “I thought you retired?”

For most of those 14 days, I’ve been helping out in the elementary schools — especially Schlegel Rd. and Plank Rd. North — where I spent the last five years of my district career. But yesterday I filled in as a library teaching assistant at Webster Thomas High School. And I have to say, it felt like coming home.

I spent the first 15 years of my career as a T.A. in the Thomas library, and during my time there I made a lot of good friends. So one of the first things I did yesterday morning when I got to school was take a walk through the halls to see how many teachers’ names, posted over the doors, I still recognized. I was pleased to see that most of my former colleagues are still there, even after all this time. If I saw one of them at his or her desk, I popped my head in to say hi, and was invariably greeted by a big smile and a hearty “welcome back”!

It was a great day to be subbing at Thomas: Pep Rally Day, the rollicking culmination of Homecoming Week. This was always one of my favorite days of the year, when all the students would dress up in their class colors, decorate the halls, and come together at the end of the day for a boisterous, rowdy pep rally.

In previous years the rally took place in the gym, and the noise was deafening. This year for the first time, no doubt in deference to COVID-19, it was held outdoors in the stadium (fortunately the weather was gorgeous). The pep band performed, and mini-contests like Can-Jam and “who can scream the loudest” were played for class points. The noise was still deafening.

It was just like I remembered it. So much fun.

A lot has changed at Thomas in the last five years, most notably the library itself, which got a complete overhaul two years ago. But seeing the students again, walking down those halls again, it felt like I had never left.

It was truly a homecoming.

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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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Webster community blood drive returns at a critical time

7 Oct

This October’s bi-annual Webster Community Blood Drive is coming at a critical time. 

The Red Cross’ national blood inventory is the lowest it’s been at this time of year since 2015. There have been some days this past month when there’s only been a half-day’s supply of type O blood. Fall is normally a time when the blood supply rebounds from summer, but that hasn’t happened this year, thanks in large part to COVID. 

So Webster, when the Community Blood Drive returns in a few weeks, we really need to step up to the plate.  

The two-day drive will be held Wednesday Oct. 13 and Thursday Oct. 14, from noon to 7 p.m., both days at the Firemen’s Exempt Building, 172 Sanford St. To assure proper social distancing, appointments are required. Click here to set one up, or call 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767).

Regular Community Blood Drive donors will be pleased to know that Bruster’s will once again be offering a coupon to every presenting donor, good for a free small cone or dish of ice cream.  Plus, the Red Cross will also be giving all donors a $5 Amazon e-gift card, good for use at a merchant of their choice. (make sure your donor account is up to date so you can get the email.) 

This is always one of the best-attended drives of the entire year, and the Red Cross really has come to count on our community in times like these. Let’s not let them down.

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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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Webster community mailbag

6 Oct

The Village of Webster is hosting its third Family Game Night/Beer Garden on Saturday Oct. 16, and this one will be extra fun — it’s going to be an Oktoberfest, complete with a top-notch Oktoberfest band, the Krazy Firemen.

Activities start at 5 p.m. with lots of street games, food and drink. Dancing with Denise will be on hand to get the whole family up and dancing, there’ll be crafts for the kids and lots more. The Krazy Firemen will provide live music from 5 to 8 p.m.

This is a great chance to gather with friends and neighbors in a family atmosphere with something for all ages.

The Friends of the Public Library’s Fall Book Sale is returning next week.

This is one of the library’s biggest book sales, held over three days, Oct. 14 through 16. Not only will there be TONS of books to choose from, the Friends will have two special raffles to celebrate the return of this bigger book sale: one for a gorgeous handmade quilt and another for a pink Apple Watch SE. Tickets will be $5.

Click on the flyer for details about hours and specials.

Shoppers are asked to follow CDC guidelines while at the library sale, including masks and social distancing.

You definitely want to get your flu shot during these Covid times, and here’s an easy way to do it.

The Webster Public Library is hosting a flu shot clinic on Thursday Oct. 19 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the library, 980 Ridge Rd. All vaccinations will be administered by a registered nurse, and no appointment is necessary.

Please remember to bring your insurance card!

The biannual Webster community blood drive returns next week.

The two-day drive will be held Wednesday Oct. 13 and Thursday Oct. 14, from noon to 7 p.m., both days at the Firemen’s Exempt Building, 172 Sanford St.

Appointments for this drive usually fill up pretty quickly, in large part because this is the Bruster’s drive; every presenting donor will get a coupon for a free ice cream cone at Bruster’s. Every donor will also get a $5 Amazon e-gift card.

Appointments are required to assure social distancing, so Click here to set one up, or call 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767).

You’ll also want to mark your calendars for Oct. 16, when Webster’s very own Rochester Challenger Miracle Field will be featured in a half-hour program on Channel 8 at 7:30 p.m.

The special, which will feature highlights of Miracle Field, their programs, and many of the players and families, will double as a fundraiser. Stay tuned for more information about this exciting event.  

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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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Autumn Fanfare is a show like no other

4 Oct

The Webster Marching Band’s annual Autumn Fanfare takes place this Saturday Oct. 9, and it’s something you really don’t want to miss.

I attended my first Autumn Fanfare in 2018, which is kind of embarrassing to admit since this year marks the band’s 35th annual Fanfare. But I’d heard so much about it, and mentioned it in my blog countless times, so I decided I really needed to see it for myself.

And let me tell you, it was outstanding.

Autumn Fanfare is what the Marching Band — the “Pride of Webster” — calls the field show and competition it hosts every year around this time. Bands from all over the Rochester area come together for an evening of musical performance. Each band crafts a different presentation each year to showcase its musical and marching skills. But these perfomances also include lots of theatrics, complete with elaborate set pieces and detailed story lines. (Click here to read the post-performance blog I wrote in 2018.)

This year’s Pride of Webster theme is “Unbroken.” The press release explained,

Often in our lives, we find ourselves trapped in a routine/repetitive cycle with no end in sight. Within the vicious cycle, we experience anger, sadness, and self-doubt. The fight to break free from the cycle can be heard in movements one and two. However, when we finally break that cycle we will be free to be who we want to be and we will come out of that cycle unbroken.

Webster’s performance begins at 6:26 p.m., and will include original music written by Band Director and Music Arranger Jerbrel Bowens. The show will also welcome marching band competitors from Greece, East Irondequoit, Medina, Lancaster, and Victor.

Autumn Fanfare will take place at the Webster Schroeder Stadium, 875 Ridge Road. Gates open at 5 p.m., the National Anthem will play at 6 p.m., and the first band will take the field at 6:15 p.m. The evening will conclude with recognition of the Webster Marching Band seniors and awards.

I should add that I just found out that the Pride of Webster is currently ranked #1 IN THE STATE in their class! That’s how good these musicians are.

Tickets are $7 in advance, available at Hegedorn’s, and $9 at the door. It’s a great evening out for the whole family.

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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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DVD and VHS fans still have a shop to call their own: Village Mall Video

2 Oct

Tucked away on the second floor of an old church at the west end of the Village of Webster is a relic of days past; a time before Netflix and Hulu, when choosing a movie to watch on Friday or Saturday night actually meant leaving the house to rent one at Blockbuster or Wegmans.

It’s Village Mall Video, in The Old Church Mall at 75 W. Main. Like most of us, I’ve walked and driven by this little shop thousands of times in the years I’ve lived in and near Webster. And many of those times, I’ve crinkled my brow and wondered, “How can a video store still be in business?”

Last week I decided to take the plunge and get an answer to that question. I stopped in and had a very nice conversation with Karen Fideor, who’s been managing the store since the day it opened 40 years ago.

As its name implies, The Old Church Mall was originally a Methodist church, dedicated in 1860 and active for more than a century. In the 1970s, following the merger of three local congregations, the church was vacated and the top floor — the former church sanctuary — morphed into a discoteque. The former classrooms on the lower floor became a “street of shops” which to this day has hosted a rotating series of offices and independent businesses.

It was about 1980 when Karen’s husband Bob and his brother purchased the building and opened the video store. It’s been there ever since.

It’s that longevity that intrigued me and motivated me to see what was behind that church door and all those signs I’d driven by so many times. What I found when I climbed the stairs to the second-floor store was a bright, good-sized shop lined with movie posters and filled with shelves stacked top-to-bottom with DVDs. And from behind the counter, Karen Fideor welcomed me.

Apparently there are still a lot of people who still like to rent movies. “Pretty much they’re all regulars,” Karen said, “people who don’t want to pay money to watch a movie on their TV so they come and rent.” Even with streaming services, you often have to pay a steep premium to get some of the classics or older popular titles. But at Village Mall Video, you can rent a DVD for just $3.50, and keep it for a whole week.

And VHS tapes? They’re still very popular with collectors, who often come in to check out her extensive collection. Some customers are also suprised to find out that many movies aren’t even available on DVD, but are often on VHS (VHS tapes only cost $2.50 for the week, by the way). Karen still actually has more VHS tapes than DVDs in stock.

So Village Mall Video is still in business because, well, people still love their movies. But a lot has changed in the last 40 years. When she opened the shop, Karen started with only 500 titles, offering each title in VHS and Beta. At one time, she also rented video games and had several different gaming systems set up to try them on.

The computer games have been phased out, and DVDs have replaced Beta cassettes (although the Betas are all upstairs, if you really want one). Karen’s not sure how many titles she has now, but estimates it’s in the tens of thousands.

What hasn’t changed is the personalized service. When you ask for a specific title, if it’s in the shop, Karen will usually know exactly where it is. When she doesn’t, she’ll look it up in her old-fashioned card catalog. And the prices are hard to beat.

So, how about a movie night tonight?

Village Mall Video is located at 75 West Main St., in the Village of Webster. Hours are Thursday and Friday 1 to 7, and Saturday 11 to 7. For more information, call 585-872-0140.

Here are some photos from inside the shop and the “street of shops” downstairs:

  • Many of the stained glass windows from the old church are still there
  • These stairs lead up to the video store on the second floor
  • The “street of shops” these days includes some offices and a tattoo parlor.
  • Another stained glass window, this one downstairs in the street of shops.

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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.

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