As I like to do at the end of the year, a few days ago I took a stroll back through all of the blogs I wrote in 2023. It’s always a fun exercise, as I’m reminded of all of the events, business openings and closings, people and places that I found to share with you all. It’s a nice reminder of the rich and close-knit community we have here in Webster.
In the last 12 months, counting today, I posted a whopping 313 blogs. Some months I posted one every day, and in September I posted 32 times. Those numbers reflect how much is going on in our little town, and all of the great stories to be discovered about the great people who live here. Even still, sometimes I feel like a lot of really interesting stories and events are slipping under my radar.
As I reviewed all those posts, I realized there’s no way I can summarize them all. So instead, I’ve identified a few favorites from each month, which more often than not feature stories of kindness shared. Hopefully you’ll remember them as fondly as I do. (Click through any of the hyperlinks to see the original blogs.)
In January, my blogs touched on the schools, some new businesses and some upcoming events. But my favorite is actually the first one I posted that month, which recalled The Case of the Mystery Ornament, a feel-good story about a lost-then-found handmade Christmas tree ornament that my husband and I found at Helmer Nature Center. A few days later that month I dipped into some Webster history — a favorite topic of mine — to report on the History of the Webster Public Library.
In February I wrote A Heartwarming Story of Kindness, about a young Girl Scout who lost some money in a windstorm, and the neighbor who plucked most of it out of the trees in her backyard and returned it.
In March, I wrote about David Tinnes and his quest to play catch for 30 straight days, as a way to connect with people. Titled How a Simple Game of Catch Can Bring People Together, it was the first of several blogs I would write about David and his 30-day catch journey, which as of this writing is still going on, more than 300 days straight.
Barry’s Old School Irish has long been one of my favorite places and favorite blog topics for a lot of reasons, one of them being that it was the home for my weekly running club. In April, Barry’s Runners celebrated seven years, giving me the opportunity to reflect on the club’s history and recruit some new members. Also in April, M.O. Pasta opened on Main Street, and it was my pleasure to let everyone know about that. I frequently report on new businesses coming to town, but this was one of my favorites to write about, because Mike is such a great guy.
It’s not unusual for one of my blogs to draw a lot of comments, but one of the historical pieces I posted in May drew more attention than most. It was called What’s in a Name?, and it told the history behind many of the street names we’re all familiar with, like Five Mile Line and Plank roads. It was so popular that I actually wrote a follow-up, using some of the comments I got on the first one.
I also like to write about neat things that are happening in the schools, and in May I did that twice. One was about how the 12:1:4 functional life skills class at Willink Middle School pulled together a collection of lost and found items to donate to Webster NY Hope. The other was a look at a fairy trail set up in the State Rd. Elementary School library.
In June, one of the saddest things to hit Webster happened: Hegedorn’s closed. Fortunately, a piece of Hegedorn’s history was salvaged when the ceiling panels above the registers, hand-painted some 30 years earlier by Webster elementary school students, were saved from the dumpster. The story of how they were salvaged and returned to the original artists ran in early June, with a few follow-ups posted later in the month. They proved to be among my most popular blog posts ever.
Three of my blogs from July stick out as favorites. The first was Giving Thanks for Newfoundland Kindness, the story of how Bob Freese and Peg Schaefer were planning to travel to Newfoundland in August and hand out hundreds of candy bars to the residents there as a thank you for their kindness on 9/11. (You may remember that story was told in the hit Broadway musical Come From Away.) This was another blog which I followed up on at least twice.
Also in July, I brought you the story of how one family in the Finchingfield Lane neighborhood puts out hundreds of luminaria along their neighborhood streets for the Fourth of July. And I shared the very sad news that Barry’s Old School Irish was closing.
In August, I reconnected with “The Boys,” a bunch of guys I had met 15 years earlier when they would meet for coffee every morning at Hegedorn’s and I would have to drive my kids to school early. Over the years I had lost touch with them, but always fondly remembered our time together.
I had reposted one of my “bygone blogs” from those days, which attracted the attention of one of the original “boys,” who reached out and told me they were still meeting, at Burger King. I went out that morning to say hi, and told the tale in this blog.
One of my favorite blog topics is the Friends of Webster Trails. I write about them as often as possible because they do such great things for our town. So when I heard about the brand new State Rd. Preserve trail in September, I wanted to let everyone know about it.
I’m often surprised at how much a particular blog hits a chord with people. That was the case with another I wrote in September, titled SchROder or SchRAYder? How DO you pronounce that school’s name? It got tons of comments. Earlier that month, I posted a thank you to the Village of Webster community for all their support — and cowbell ringing — during the First Reponders 5K.
In October, I told everyone about how Schroeder grad Samantha Hake won an Emmy for her work on a National Geographic film. And I reposted an article written by the Webster Recreation Center about the Man in the Yellow Truck who picks up trash along Rt. 104. Apparently a lot of people wondered who he was, because it was very well read.
In November, I featured a family and their unusual tradition which I had originally written about when I was doing a column for the D&C. In Raking Leaves, Tossing Kids, Making Memories, I wrote about how, one day every autumn, the Baker family makes a huge pile of leaves, invites friends and family over for a party, and tosses every willing person — child or adult — into the pile.
You may have also noticed that once in a while, usually when I don’t have much to write about, I pull out a personal story. In November, it was about the kittens I had started fostering for Lollypop Farms. They were definitely distracting me from my regular blogging duties.
My blogging year has ended much as it began, with some news from the schools, interesting people, some bits of Webster history. But among them, my favorite December blogs include my report about Wreaths Across America Day; a super uplifting story about Webster resident Chris Costello, his wedding and his best man; and why the fact that 900 people hiked one Webster trail over a week last summer was significant.
Whew. If you’re still with me, thank you for reading this far. I hope you found it interesting to revisit some of this year’s blogs. And remember that if you ever think of something or see something that you think would make an interesting blog, PLEASE drop me an email. I rely on all of you to keep me busy.
Please have a safe and happy new year.
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(posted 12/30/2023)
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