Archive | August, 2024

Village Quilt Shoppe celebrates five years

30 Aug

A bit of happy news came across my email the other day: the Village Quilt Shoppe has just celebrated their fifth anniversary. That’s especially encouraging news since we’ve been hearing so much about businesses closing or leaving town in recent months.

It doesn’t seem like it’s been five years since Vanetta Parshall and Monique Liberti opened their cute, friendly little Village Quilt Shoppe at the corner of East Main and Lapham Park in the village. But it’s so great to see their continued success, since they had a rather rocky start.

Just three months after they opened their doors in August 2019, and just days before the Village of Webster’s White Christmas celebration, disaster struck when a water leak from the apartment above the shop came through the floor and destroyed much of their merchandise. They had to close for almost a month to regroup and restock. But, determined not to lose their dream shop, they persevered and survived that early setback.

Then COVID struck, and they had to close again for three more months.

But thanks to a solid core of loyal customers, the little business navigated a global pandemic and came back stronger than ever.

To celebrate the occasion, Vanetta and Monique are hosting a special celebration week during the first week of September. From Sept. 3 through 7, they promise “a week filled with fun, special offers and daily surprises. Each day will bring a new special, and there will be free gifts and treats to enjoy.”

To cap off the week, on Saturday Sept. 7 they’ll be hosting a Color Workshop, perfect for anyone who finds choosing colors for their projects a bit challenging. There’s all sorts of other special events coming up, too, so check out their website for more details.

The Village Quilt Shoppe is located at 21 E. Main St. in the Village of Webster.

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

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(posted 8/30/2024)

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The Irish are coming to town!

29 Aug

Danny and Jessica Barry and their beloved Barry’s Old School Irish pub might not be gracing our village’s four-corners anymore, but they’re coming back into town next week in a big way.

The Barrys will be holding their 5th annual Barry’s Irish Festival on Saturday Sept. 7 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Webster Fireman’s Field, just down the road from their former pub.

This is great news for anyone who trucked all the way out to Hilton for the Barrys’ last four festivals, which they held on their farmhouse property. And it’s also good news for those who didn’t want to truck all the way out there, but who love Irish dancing and music, because this is a rip-roaring festival.

Barry’s Irish Festivals feature everything we love about Irish culture: live Irish music, Irish beer, dancers, bagpipers, and Celtic crafts. There’s plenty of non-Irish stuff too, including food trucks, kids’ crafts and games, raffles, lots of vendors, lawn games and more. It’s also going to be a great opportunity to reconnect with the Barry’s Old School Irish community, many of whom we haven’t seen in a year. Basically, it’s a great family event, hosted by a great family.

  • Bands will include the Connemara Social Club, Rusty Kettle, Lucky Enough, Everheart, Gavin Barry’s Rebel Banjo Circus, The Irish Lassies, Celtic Cross and 1916.  
  • Food trucks will include Netsins, Sammies n’ Sweets, The Melt Truck, Schutt’s, Rustic Taco,
    and Webster Hots

Admission is $19.98 ($17 plus $2.98 Eventbrite fee). Click here to get tickets (but I imagine they’ll also be available at the gate.)

Click here to visit the Facebook event page for more details.

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

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(posted 8/29/2024)

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Happy (your name here) Day!

27 Aug

A few weeks ago I posted a blog about how I happened upon a fun group of people at The Coach celebrating Helen Miller Day. It got me to thinking about what other “days” have been named in honor of people.

The Village and Town both hand out these proclamations fairly regularly, and I asked my friends there to look back into their records to see who else has been recognized recently. Many thanks to Webster Village Clerk Heather Halstead and Webster Town Clerk Danene Marr for doing that for me. Following are some examples I pulled from their lists.

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The first time I really became familiar with this practice was back on Nov. 17, 2017, when the Village of Webster proclaimed that day to be Carol Klem Day.

Carol was a well-known face and well-loved personality in the Village of Webster before she passed in 2018. For more than ten years, Carol penned the Village Focus column in the Webster Herald, and was basically the village’s biggest cheerleader. She was the eyes and ears of Webster and her name became synonymous with all things good about the Village of Webster. I was honored to attend her proclamation ceremony.

Several years earlier, the Village of Webster proclaimed March 26, 2009 to be Patti Cataldi Day. Before her current term as councilwoman for the Town of Webster, Patti served in many capacities for the Village of Webster, including as a trustee, director of the Business Improvement District, Planning Board member, and several others.

There have been many instances when the Village didn’t name an actual day in honor of someone, but just sang their praises and thanked them for their contributions to our community. One of those times was Oct. 28, 2021, when the Village recognized John Bucci, owner of The Music Store, on the occasion of his retirement after 32 years in the business.

And, just a few months later, on Dec. 9, 2021, Danny and Jessica Barry and their beloved corner pub, Barry’s Old School Irish, were recognized on the occasion of the pub’s 10th anniversary,.

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As I mentioned, the Town of Webster also hands out these proclamations on a semi-regular basis. Here are a few of their honorees:

Feb. 19, 2021: Caleb Hoag, Savage Kitchen Day. Caleb Hoag owned Savage Chef, at 5 East Main St. in the village, before closing a few years ago. In addition to running a successful meal-delivery business, Caleb also would donate hundreds of meals every week to various community groups, and made financial contributions to World Central Kitchen and Feeding America.

May 20, 2021: Bella’s Bumbas Day. Run by Webster residents Marty Parzynski and Rebecca Orr, Bella’s Bumbas builds miniature wheelchairs for children with a wide variety of mobility issues. To date, they’ve shipped 2,650 chairs to children in 66 countries, charging the parents only for shipping.

April 22, 2022: Charles Sexton Day. Charles Sexton was Webster’s first Recreation Director, and the first African-American Recreation Director in New York State. During his 34-year career with the department, he introduced the town’s first programs for senior citizens and launched the summer youth camps. He was also instrumental in establishing what was once known as North Ponds Park, renamed Charles Sexton Park in 2022 in his honor.

Sept. 1, 2022: Ruth Hilfiker Day. A long time resident of Penfield and Webster, Ruth worked for more than 20 years in the Penfield School District. On Wednesday Aug., 31, 2022, Supervisor Flaherty was invited to her 102nd birthday party, and at the next Town Board meeting, named a day in her honor.

So there you go. Several more holidays you can celebrate, if you like, and raise a toast to these people who have made a difference in our community.

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

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(posted 8/27/2024)

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Rec Center child care lets adults enjoy the facilities while their kids and grandkids have fun

26 Aug

Every so often, while I’m in the gym at the Webster Recreation Center doing my workout, I look over and see several little faces in a window, peeking out at everyone from a small room adjacent to the gym.

The room is the Webster Recreation Center’s child care space, and the kids were taking a break from playing with toys, or doing a craft or coloring. As a regular Rec Center visitor, I’ve often wondered about their child care services. Although I’ve never had to take advantage of them myself, I think it’s a valuable offering for their members. So I thought maybe it’s something I should highlight for others.

The program is actually called Stay ‘n Play, and it’s a totally FREE service provided to Rec Center members. Basically, it’s supervised childcare, provided by fully vetted and trained staff members, which parents and grandparents can use while they participate in Rec Center activities.

It’s a win/win for everybody. Children have fun playing and crafting and socializing, while their adults are having fun working out, taking part in a fitness program, or relaxing in the lounge doing some of their own socializing.

Fitness Coordinator Jay Verna said about the program, “Our goal is to create the best experience for our members and their families to live their best lives.” For the adults, that means they can better their lives by working out or visiting with friends. For the kids, it means the opportunity to play with other children, make friends, take part in inter-generational activities and more.

Jay added,

In today’s busy world, life happens, and too often parents and grandparents focus so much on the kids that they neglect their own sanity and well-being. At the Webster Recreation Center, we’re always looking for ways to better serve our community and give them opportunities to relieve the stresses of daily life. Our Stay ‘n Play child watch program allows parents and caregivers a chance to focus on themselves while our caring staff engage with their kids.

The Stay ‘n Play program is for children, nieces, nephews (and don’t forget grandchildren!) ages 6 months to 12 years. All staff members are certified in CPR and first aid and must pass a background check before being hired. It’s offered Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. (Please note: potty training is not required but parents, grandparents etc. must be prepared to attend to their child’s bathroom needs when called upon.)

The Webster Recreation Center is located at 1350 Chiyoda Dr.

Jay Verna

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

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(posted 8/26/2024)

Where are you, 14580?

25 Aug

Here’s an interesting little tidbit I came across several days ago, courtesy my husband, who was looking up the local weather forecast on Weather.com.

We are not the only 14580 postal code in the world. Turns out that Guará, a municipality in São Paulo Brazil, AND Gyeonggi-do, a province in South Korea, share our 14580 postal code.

Guará is a small city of 21,000 people in south-central Brazil, known for its … well, Feira do Guara gift shop. In contrast, 13.4 million people live in Gyeonggi-do province, known for its ceramics, the Hwaseong Fortress, and the Royal Buddhist Temple. We can assume that 14580 is not the only postal code they use in the area.

So that’s kind of interesting, and of course I started wondering if there were other zip-code copycats out there. I first looked for Penfield’s 14526, without much luck. But after a few more minutes of digging, I discovered my old 14609 postal code in Las Tórtolas, Mexico.

But then I had to stop for lunch, so I leave you all to do more investigation should you so choose.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 8/25/2024)

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The 2024 Webster Garlic Fest is just weeks away

24 Aug

The Webster Garlic Fest is returning to the Webster Recreation Center on Saturday and Sunday Sept. 7 to 8!

This is a great family festival for anyone who loves all things garlic, and it keeps getting bigger and better every year. Somehow, organizers have managed to squeeze 140 vendors into this year’s festival, including crafters, food vendors, distilleries, wineries, food trucks and of course lots and lots of garlic growers. There are so many vendors that they’ll fill the gymnasium and spill out onto the Rec Center grounds. Many of them provide tastings and samples. (Click here for a complete list of vendors.)

But even if you’re not a big fan of garlic, there’s still plenty to see and do. Like, you can cozy up to some baby goats and alpacas, and even a huge 70-year old tortoise — and they all love to take selfies. There will be demos, Mr. Wally the Balloon Man will be on site, plus a comedian and entertainers.

And here’s something new this year:

You probably know by now that part of the proceeds from this festival benefit Wreaths Across America, which is dedicated to placing a wreath on the grave of every veteran in the country. If you stop by the Wreaths Across America booth and sponsor a wreath for $17, and you’ll get a free 12 oz. bag of fair trade, freshly roasted coffee from Costa Rica, courtesy Mission Coffee.

The festival will also benefit Blue Star Mothers ROC NY 8 and their efforts to support local military families and send care packages to locally deployed service members; and Gold Star Mothers Rochester, who support veterans in our community.

The Webster Garlic Fest will be held Saturday Sept. 7 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday Sept. 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Webster Recreation Center, 1350 Chiyoda Dr. There’s plenty of parking in the Recreation Center lot, and even more across the street in the former Xerox parking lot, where a free shuttle will transport you back and forth.

Admission is only $5, and children Under 12 are free. Click here to buy your tickets, or you can get them at the door.

Click here for a gallery of photos from last year’s festival.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 8/24/2024)

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First Responders 5K returns to the village next week

23 Aug

One of my favorite 5K races of the year returns to Village of Webster streets next Friday night, and I will definitely be there, as I have for the past several years.

It’s the First Responders 5K, and I especially like this event for a few reasons. First, it’s in the Village of Webster, so I don’t have to travel very far to participate. For that matter, since it begins at the south end of Fireman’s Field, I can walk to the start line from my house. PLUS the course runs right by my house. And a lot of my friends run this race with me, which always makes it more fun.

I also like supporting 5K events that raise money for good causes. The First Responders 5K benefits the First Responders Special Treatment Agency (FRST Agency), which is dedicated to helping first responders and their families deal with mental trauma.

The race is scheduled for Friday Aug. 30 at 6:30 p.m. It will BEGIN AND END at the south side of Fireman’s Field on Sanford St., and take racers through east-side village neighborhoods. Cost is $43, or $19 for active first responders (advance registration required). Each racer will also receive a t-shirt, and food and drink after the race.

My family will once again be setting up our “refreshment” stop on Fuller Ave., with water — and beer — so watch for our signs!

To register for the race, and for more information including a course map, click here . They’re also looking for volunteers, which is an easy gig and nets you a t-shirt, too. You can also find out more about that opportunity on the website.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 8/23/2024)

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Webster students earn top awards at DCI Championships

22 Aug

Here’s a nice feature about some Webster musicians who recently earned some recognition at the International Drum Corps Competition, held earlier this month in Indianapolis. A thousand thanks to Kathy Taddeo, who wrote the following article for me, and her daughter Tracy Dennis, who was at the event watching her son, William Small, compete, who gathered all the details and took the photos.

Miguel Ovando
Dylan Hickey
Will Small

WEBSTER STUDENTS TAKE HONORS IN INTERNATIONAL DRUM CORPS COMPETITIONS

This year’s World Championships of International Drum Corps included several students and
alumnae from Webster.

Thomas graduate and Clarkson University student William Small and Schroeder graduate and Fredonia University student Dylan Hickey returned last weekend from World Championship Drum Corps International finals in Indiana. Their Spartans corps, organized out of New Hampshire, has been touring the eastern United States for the last seven weeks. Spartans’ beautifully written and choreographed pageant of music and movement, daily grueling training and fierce competitive spirit led them to victory. They are now 2024 DCI World Champions, Open Class; that’s William and Dylan and some 160 other young people ages 14-22.

Watch for the Spartans next Thanksgiving; in recognition of their achievement, they’ve been invited to march in the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Natalia Lopez (right)
White Sabers
Rafael Ovando (front)

Here are some details about the Webster students who participated:

The Spartans Drum Corps, is based in New Hampshire. In winning the distinction of Open Class World Champions, they won by only .5 point, beating out nine other bands. Its members include William Small (Aerospace major from Clarkson) and Dylan Hickey (Music Performance, SUNY Fredonia).

The Bluecoats Drum Corps, based in Ohio, was named Champions in the World Class. They beat 11 other bands by more than a full point. Performing with this band is Miguel Ovando (Music Education SUNY Fredonia).

Jersey Surf Drum Corps, based in New Jersey, also completed in the World Class. They didn’t make it past the semi-final round, but put on an outstanding show nonetheless. Band members include Rafael Ovando and Natalia Lopez.

The White Sabers Drum Corps, based in Rochester, came in 7th place in the All Ages Class. Webster students who perform with this band include Aaron Albert, Jason Auld, Molly Jaeger, Alex Munsuy, David Nilmeier and Bella Olschweski.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 8/22/2024)

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Webster BlueFins swim team is all about community

21 Aug

Today I’d like to introduce you all to the Webster BlueFins competitive swim team. I’ve been considering a blog about the BlueFins for a long time; perhaps seeing all the swimming events in the recent Olympics finally motivated me to do that. But having one of the coaches hand me a brochure at the Webster Fireman’s Parade and saying “You should do a blog about us!” also helped.

So, with brochure in hand, I started doing my research and checked out the BlueFins website and Facebook page. Those sites will tell you pretty much everything you’d want to know about the club, like when and where they practice, the age groups, cost of registration and the like. That’s all well and good, but to really get a sense of what this club is all about, you have to go to one of their practices.

So I went down to the Webster Aquatic Center last week to meet head coach Donna Johnson (“Coach DJ”) and check things out for myself. Before heading into the pool, we sat outside for a bit, and Coach gave me some background about the club. But she also gave me a sense of the quality of the young people who swim with the BlueFins. She kept using words like “really great people” and “remarkable individuals” who have fun together and support one other.

When I finally went inside, I saw what she meant.

The pool was alive with activity, 18 lanes filled with swimmers of all ages, repeatedly propelling themselves from one side to the other and back again. I saw smiles … LOTS of smiles. I saw kids laughing and chatting with their friends as they did their warm-up laps. One group of young swimmers was having a blast playing water polo.

Those are the kinds of things you don’t see online or in a brochure; the joy of not just being part of a team, but being part of a community.

  • Young Pups and Sharks play water polo
  • Swimmers from the Performance and Seniors groups
  • Coach Emily Nicastro with Rashmit Saini and Ella Khan
  • Charlotte Smith
  • Coach Emily Nicastro with Emjay Mykins

The Webster BlueFins is a competitive swim team for children and young adults from age 7 to college age. Right now there are 209 members, split into six different age groups. Most are from Webster, but the team also draws swimmers from as far away as Honeoye Falls and Mexico (east of Oswego). Practice is held four to six days a week, depending on the age of the child. Swimmers are encouraged to participate in local, regional and national-level meets, which average about two per month during the 11-month season.

Established more than 50 years ago, the team has always focused as much on the swimmers’ character as on the swimmers’ training. It’s driven by a mission to “inspire and motivate our swimmers to become champions in and out of the water,” focusing on core values of inclusion, accountability, leadership, teamwork and perseverance. And you realize they’re sincere in those goals when you see that nowhere on the website or in the brochure is the emphasis placed on competition and winning. Instead, this is what you’ll read:

Our aim is to provide a competitive environment in which children experience the joy of self-improvement, physical conditioning, discipline, and being part of a team. Particularly with the younger age groups, the emphasis is not on winning, but rather on self-improvement.

Coach DJ is also committed to taking that focus on personal growth even further, encouraging her team members to go out into the Webster community and give back by working with charitable organizations. She’s even found a way to help build leadership skills.

She said,

I put it in the hands of a couple of the older kids this year to see what we could do to give back to the community. The kids are really into it. Maybe I’m biased, but swimmers in general are really great people. We’re dealing with 209 remarkable individuals. There’s not a day that I don’t look forward to coming here because of who these kids are. … So I’m 100% confident that once we unleash that, it’s going to take off.

Interested in checking out the team for yourself? Registration is now open for a FREE two-week trial program, running Sept. 16 to 26. The tryout is open to swimmers of all levels who want to experience competitive swimming. For more information, visit the BlueFins website.

You can also find the Webster BlueFins on Instagram and Facebook.

By the way, I have to share this photo, which I took at the 2010 Fireman’s Parade. I didn’t even know what I had gotten until I was looking at the photos later. It kind of sums up everything I said about how this is a fun-loving group of kids and coaches.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 8/21/2024)

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Refurbished Shoemaker Rd. bus stop a reminder of school days past

20 Aug

Remember the good ol’ days when every morning before school all of the neighbor kids would gather in front of one neighbor’s home to wait for the bus? It was like bonus friend time, a chance to talk and laugh, compare lunches, maybe even put the finishing touches on last night’s homework.

Well, that doesn’t happen anymore. These days it’s more common for the bus to stop in front of each child’s home individually, even if they live very close to one another. In one Webster neighborhood, however, the memory of those days is not lost forever, thanks to the efforts of Blaise Midnight.

Blaise lives at 950 Shoemaker Rd., almost exactly halfway between the road’s west end at Van Alstyne Rd. and east end at Holt Rd. He remembers that back in the early ’60’s, when he and his brothers were just starting school, there were still orchards across the street, and a lot fewer houses than there are now. But there were still plenty of kids in the neighborhood, and on school mornings, 15 or more of them would gather in front of his house, all waiting for school buses to take them to Thomas High School, St. Rita School or Klem North Elementary.

“We’d all congregate here and mess around in the morning play a game or something until the bus came,” Blaise remembered. But his house — and therefore the bus stop — is at the end of a very long driveway, so when it was raining, the kids didn’t have any protection from the weather. So around 1962, Blaise’s father Gene built what would become the Shoemaker Rd. bus stop, complete with a bench and generous overhang.

That simple shelter would serve the school children of Shoemaker Rd. for many years, seeing them off to kindergarten, seeing them graduate from high school. But eventually, as the schools changed their busing policies, the Shoemaker Rd. bus stop wasn’t needed as much, and began to fall into disrepair, despite occasional upgrades.

Blaise said,

Originally, it was brown inside, and I painted it green years ago. Over the years my father had put roof on top of roof, on top of roof. It was crooked and leaning and it looked pretty shabby. My wife said, “Just rip it down — it looks like an eyesore.”

Then we happened to run into (our neighbor) Mrs. Dugan in the store one day, and told her we were thinking about tearing it down. She said, “What? You can’t tear it down! It’s a landmark. All of our kids have stayed there.”

So last September, Blaise took it upon himself to refurbish the old bus stop … much to his wife’s surprise.

“My wife was out of town for about a month so I redid the whole outside,” he said. “I just decided to do it and surprise her when she came home.” Fortunately, Blaise reports, “she loves it now.”

It’s possible the Shoemaker Rd. bus stop will never be used by school kids again. For the time being, though, Blaise uses it as a landmark to help direct people to his driveway (“there’s a bus stop out front”). He’s thinking about maybe, somewhere inside, inscribing the names of all the kids who used the stop as shelter through the years.

After all, they might be older now, but many of them still live on the street and remember it fondly.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 8/20/2024)

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