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Uncle Buck’s is ready to open!

20 Jul

I don’t usually post two blogs in the same day, but I found out some exciting news yesterday.

I happened upon the Uncle Buck’s food truck serving up dinners at the Joe Obbie Farmers’ Market at Charles Sexton Park, where Geoff and Carrie Buckert told me that they’re finally ready to open the doors of their new scratch kitchen to the public.

Well, kind of.

They’re starting out slow, for now opening just one day a week, for their Fish Fry Fridays (and more)! Every Friday (starting this week, July 21), you can get a battered or broiled fish fry, their famous boardwalk fries (or baked potato) and coleslaw for $17. Or if fish isn’t your thing, there will be several other items on the menu each week. Check out this week’s menu below.

The fish fries will be served from 4:30 to 8:30, and I have a feeling they’re going to be very popular, so you might want to call ahead.

Uncle Buck’s is located at 9 South Ave., in the former Carl’s Pizza Kitchen location. For more information, check out their website or Facebook page.

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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 “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

(posted 7/20/2023)

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Hope grows at Simply Crepes

16 Jul

There’s a very special garden growing in front of the Simply Crepes restaurant on Bay Rd. It’s special not only because of its beauty, but because it shows what great things can be accomplished when our community comes together.

The lush vegetable garden fills 18 raised beds surrounding Simply Crepes’ front patio, almost 300 square feet of growing area. They’re thick with eggplants, peppers, herbs, beans, radishes, beets and tomatoes. And the harvest is all earmarked for Webster NY Hope and the families that agency serves.

The project was conceived by Simply Crepes’ owner Pierre Heroux. A gardener himself, he had the beds installed — complete with an irrigation system — when the restaurant first opened two years ago, and has had his eye on doing something with them from the very beginning.

“My wife and I have had gardens at our home all the time,” he said. “So for us to put another garden in our ‘home’ was kind of a natural. But the reality is we’re in the restaurant business. We’re not really in the gardening business.”

Instead, he decided to have the gardens benefit the community which has been supporting his restaurants for 20 years.

After investigating various Rochester-area agencies which might benefit from the gardens, he ultimately connected with one right in town: Webster NY Hope, which provides food, clothing, household goods and financial assistance to families in need.

After consulting with Hope staff members about what herbs and vegetables would best benefit their food pantry, Heroux purchased all the plants. Hope volunteers then planted them, and are doing all the weeding, separating, pruning and harvesting. Some of the lettuce has already been harvested and given to a Ukrainian family.

The staff at NY Hope are happy to put in the work and are thrilled to have the ready supply of fresh herbs and vegetables.

NY Hope Director Margery Morgan said, “We continue to have our own garden at Holy Trinity, and now the one at Simply Crepes is a great reminder of what businesses can do to make a difference for the community.”

Simply Crepes general manager Nick Ferraro and owner Pierre Heroux

For Heroux, giving back just seemed like the right thing to do. He said,

There’s a lot of food insecurity in this community, a lot more than we know of. So I thought if we could create something to give back to those folks in need, it would be a good thing.

It’s a joy to give back to the community. It’s just pure joy. There’s nothing like it to know that you’re able to help people.

Simply Crepes‘ Webster/Penfield location is at 1229 Bay Rd., near Wegmans. They also have restaurants on Schoen Place in Pittsford and South Main St. Canandaigua.

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

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.

(posted 7/16/2023)

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News from Revelle’s Home Decor

11 Jul

I heard some news the other day about one of our village’s newest businesses, Revelle’s Home Decor, and it’s kind of a good news/bad news situation.

The GOOD news is that business is good for Revelle’s. The BAD news is that means they’ve already outgrown their new place on East Main Street.

Revelle’s Home Decor only opened two months ago at 5 East Main, right next to the (also brand new) M.O. Pasta. I stopped in there several times and always had a wonderful chat with owner Peggy Revelle, who clearly was looking forward to becoming an integral part of the local business scene and participating in Village events.

So the loss of Revelle’s is really a loss for the village. But, as I said, this is good news for the family-owned business. Clearly, business has been so good that they’ve already realized they need more space for all the things they want to do, including featuring more new furniture and local crafters and vendors. Peggy also said their paint parties have really taken off, and they need a lot more space for them.

Revelle’s has already found a new space in Ontario at 1864 Rt. 104 East, less than a mile east of Ontario Center Rd.

In anticipation of the move, Revelle’s Home Decor’s Webster Village store is now closed. But in just a few weeks — sometime in August — you can visit their much bigger shop in Ontario, just 10 minutes down Rt. 104.

In the meantime, another business is already planning to move into the empty Revelle’s space, so stay tuned for news about that.

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

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.

(posted 7/10/2023)

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Webster community mailbag

22 Jun

Summer is officially upon us, and Webster has teed up a whole schedule of live music, festivals and special events.

But first, this important community event: The Webster Health Education Network (WHEN) is sponsoring a drug take-back event on Saturday June 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Webster Wastewater Treatment Facility , 226 Phillips Rd. This is your chance to safely dispose of unused, expired or unwanted medications. Only pills will be accepted; please no liquids or sharps.

Learn more at Whendfcc.org

***

And since we’re talking about doing good things for our community, here’s Webster HOPE’s Home’s June Wish List:

  • canned pineapple
  • canned beets
  • dish soap
  • laundry detergent
  • cooking oil
  • ketchup, mayonnaise
  • shampoos and conditioner
  • diapers (size 4 and 5)

Webster HOPE is located at 1450 Ridge Rd., and open Monday from 5 to 7 p.m., Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon, Wednesday from 3 to 5 p.m. and Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m.

Find out more at websternyhope.org.

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Schutt’s Apple Mill‘s Summer Celebration returns on Saturday July 1 from 5 to 8 p.m.

This is a great family-friendly event complete with a food truck, ice cream, a bounce house, magic show, animals, face painting, wagon rides and lots more.

There’s a charge for some of the activities, but there’s lots of free stuff for everyone.

Schutt’s is located at 1063 Plank Rd.

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The Summer Concert Series at Cherry Ridge is in full swing. The next concert is scheduled for Tuesday July 11, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., featuring Eight Days a Week. The concerts are held outside, and the grounds open up at 5 p.m. with food available for purchase. So bring your lawn chair and enjoy some beautiful music.

On August 8, the GateSwingers Big Band will perform, also beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Registration is requested. Click here to do so.

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The Friday Night Gazebo Concert series in the Village of Webster is coming together. Here’s the schedule:

  • July 7: The Red Hot and Blue Band
  • July 21: Celtic Cross
  • July 28: Eight Days a Week

The concerts run from 7 to 9 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Park on North Ave. in the village, and are free. Bring a lawn chair and blanket and a cooler if you’d like! Information about more concerts as they’re added can be found at websterbid.com

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The United Church of Christ’s Caring Community Concert series is returning this summer, beginning July 12.

These concerts benefit local nonprofit organizations through free-will donations. The first one will feature Allegro, and proceeds will benefit the Webster Hope Food Pantry. The rest of the summer features:

  • July 19: Ruby Shooz
  • July 26: Prime Time Brass
  • Aug. 2: Dady and Ryan
  • Aug. 9: 8 Days a Week

There’s no admission charge, but each week the church collects a free-will offering benefiting that week’s chosen non-profit organization.

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On July 22, mark your calendars for the Summer Splash Family Event from 3 to 5 p.m. at First Responders Splash Park, on Chiyoda Drive next door to the Rec Center. If you’ve never been to this spray park before, you owe your children a chance to check it out because it’s good for hours of water fun. The event will include a bubble foam machine and Rich the Magic Man, plus FREE Snowie Ice sponsored by Gleason Orthodontics.

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The 50th annual Waterfront Art Festival returns on Saturday and Sunday July 29 and 30 at Charles E. Sexton Park (formerly North Ponds). It’s open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, and features quality fine art and crafts stretching all along the park’s beautiful, shaded pathways.

There’s live music, food vendors, free alcohol tastings, dozens of local artisans and plenty of free parking. Admission is only $5, with children 12 and under free.

Click here for more information.

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Looking ahead to August, mark your calendars for the Webster Jazz Fest, scheduled for Friday and Saturday August 18 and 19. More information to come about that, but you can check out details in the meantime as they’re posted at websterbid.com.

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

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.

(posted 6/22/2023)

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Uncle Buck’s Catering is coming to the Village of Webster

20 Jun

The Village of Webster will welcome another new business in July, when Uncle Buck’s Catering Company opens at 9 South Ave., in the former Carl’s Pizza Kitchen location.

The new restaurant, which owners Geoff and Carrie Buckert call their “scratch kitchen,” is the culmination of a whirlwind year for the young couple.

A little more than a year ago, on Mother’s Day 2022, the Buckerts bought a food truck. They already had a well-established and very successful catering operation, and a food truck seemed like a natural next step. Their thinking was that they’d run the truck part-time, and do a little catering on the side.

But life had other plans.

They quickly realized how fast their businesses were growing and how much more they wanted to do. In a blink of an eye, the catering and food truck business became Geoff’s full-time job, and Carrie found a job as a school nurse so she could have summers off.

Then Geoff heard that the Carl’s Pizza Kitchen location on South Ave. would soon be available. Business was booming, so opening their own scratch kitchen, kind of a nerve center for the operation, just seemed like a natural next step.

Which is how, just about a month ago — again on Mother’s Day — they signed the lease for their first scratch kitchen.

There’s still a lot of painting and cleaning to do, but Geoff and Carrie are trying to have their restaurant open by the middle of July, hopefully in time for the Firemen’s Carnival and parade. When they do, customers will find the food truck menu they’ve come to know and love, featuring specialty sandwiches and all the sides (and their famous Boardwalk Fries). But now with a brick-and-mortar kitchen, the menu can expand to include things like fish fries and soups, all made from scratch, fresh to-order, with their own homemade stocks and sauces.

The kitchen will be open for take-out and limited inside and outside dining. In the meantime, the food truck and catering company will continue full-speed ahead.

Geoff and Carrie, both Webster Thomas grads and current Webster residents, are thrilled to be setting up their scratch kitchen in the village.

“The biggest thing,” Geoff said, “is being where we grew up and where we have our family. That’s why we like it so much about being here. And it’s ours. It’s not anyone else’s.”

When they open in July, let’s be sure to stop in and let them know we’re happy they’re here, too. Stay tuned for more information about their opening date, but in the meantime you can visit their Facebook page or website to stay up to date.

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

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.

(posted 6/10/2023)

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Joe Obbie Farmers’ Market is back for the summer

18 Jun

One of the most colorful signs of summer in Webster is the return of the Joe Obbie Farmers’ Market to Webster Towne Center Plaza on Holt Rd.

The market opened for the season on Saturday June 10, and will be set up every Saturday at the plaza from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. through October, rain or shine.

If you’ve never been to this market you should start making it a regular Saturday morning stop. Varying with the season, you’ll find baked goods, pies, meats, poultry, goat cheese and goat cheese products, flavored nuts, herbs, spice blends, honey, maple syrup, cider, soap and body care products, plants and cut flowers, jewelry, crafts and of course a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.

Occasionally there are special events scheduled as well, so make sure to stay on top of the latest news at the Joe Obbie Farmer’s Market website and Facebook page for details.

The very popular Evening in the Park Market will also return in July to Charles Sexton Park (formerly known as North Ponds) on Wednesday evenings.

Starting July 19, the market will be set up at the park from 4 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday through August 30. These events will also have food trucks and live entertainment, in addition to the vendors, so remember to pack your quad chairs!

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

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.

(posted 6/18/2023)

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Dancing With Denise wraps up 38th season

16 Jun

Denise Baller (“Miss Denise”), the enthusiastic, fun-loving owner of Dancing With Denise, was very excited to share news with me about the school’s recently concluded 38th season, which featured all kinds of special events and special people.

The recap she sent to me began,

When the season starts, I’m always grateful for the new classes, new students, new parents joining our dance family and excited to see returning families with  students who walk into the studio a little taller and a little wiser. This year was especially happy because the waiting room reopened and everything went back to normal.

The year progressed with learning, laughter and fun and the seasons and special events around Halloween and Christmas filled the studio with excitement and joy! Nutcracker! Magical Christmas Ballet returned for auditions and the performance was amazing.

Recital practice began in January and the resulting performances were “heartwarming,” Denise reported. She especially loved her “buddies” classes and the “Gramma Dance,” where grandmothers danced with their granddaughters.

In September, Dancing With Denise’s 39th dance season will begin, and everything starts over. But the arrival of summer does not mean that Denise is slowing down. She’s got camps planned, a summer series in the park, birthday parties, yoga, Zumba, Fun Nights, and even a class teaching wedding couples to be confident for their first dance as man and wife.

Dancing With Denise is at 1077 Gravel Rd. Check out their Facebook page and website for more information.

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

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.

(posted 6/15/2023)

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A follow-up on the Hegedorn’s ceiling tiles

10 Jun

Holy cow, have I gotten a huge response from the blog I recently wrote about the Hegedorn’s ceiling tiles.

If you’re not familiar with this story (which is hard to believe), the gist of it is this: 32 years ago, students at Klem North Elementary School painted ceiling tiles which have been hanging above the registers at Hegedorn’s Market since around 1991. But rather than toss them in a dumpster when the store closes at the end of this month, the folks at Hegedorn’s are making an effort to return them to the students who painted them.

The blog has received dozens of comments and hundreds of “likes” and has been shared almost 70 times. I’ve heard from former students all over the state and the country who remember painting tiles, and are interested in getting them back — or at least seeing photos of them.

Hegedorn’s Produce Manager Fred Palmer has been taking the lead in removing the panels, and had originally planned to put them all on display above the produce case so customers would notice them and maybe recognize one.

Well, since the blog has received so much attention, putting them on display has not been necessary. Instead, people are being asked to call Hegedorn’s (585-671-4450), and the service desk is keeping a list of everyone who’s interested in retrieving their tile. Fred is planning to start making phone calls sometime this coming week.

In the meantime, all of the panels have been removed and are being kept in the back room of the store’s produce department. Fred was kind enough to let me spread them all out and take photos of them. It might help even more former students recognize their work, and it might be fun just to remember what all their classmates did.

Click here to see the entire gallery of panels, plus a few miscellaneous photos. I think I was able to photograph them all, but I see that I cut the name off of one of them. If you recognize the one with the Pepsi bottle, corn and carrots, please let me know!

P.S. If you happen to get your panel back, please snap a photo of you with it, so I can feature them in a future follow-up blog. And wouldn’t it be fun to also have your 4th or 5th grade photo along with it …????

P.P.S. Channel 10 and Channel 13 are both planning do stories about the ceiling tiles, so I’ll let you know when I hear more about that.

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

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.

(posted 6/10/2023)

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Hegedorn’s will save ceiling tiles for Klem North artists who created them 32 years ago

6 Jun

At the end of this month, when Hegedorn’s Market closes for good, Webster will be losing one of its oldest and most valued businesses. Fortunately, however, plans are in the works to preserve some of the most colorful pieces of Hegedorn’s long history.

For more than three decades, 32 hand-painted ceiling panels have decorated the length of the checkout area, entertaining any shopper (who happened to look up) with pictures of flying food items, snacks and beverages.

The panels, each measuring 2 x 4 feet, were created during the 1990/91 school year by teams of fourth and fifth grade students from Klem North Elementary School. Carrie Frank was a fourth grader that year, and her father Matt was Hegedorn’s Maintenance Manager. It was Matt who first approached art teacher Jack Morse about the unusual, grocery-themed art project.

Carrie remembers the assignment well: to take a product with a label and create it “flying in the sky” above the registers. Matt installed the completed tiles in the ceiling, and the art classes took field trips to the store to see them in place.

Carrie remembers, “It was a great experience as children growing up, every week going shopping and seeing our tiles at check out.”

Now, even though Hegedorn’s is closing, Carrie and her classmates are getting a chance to rekindle those memories and take their panels home.

Fred Palmer, Hegedorn’s current produce manager, has taken on the time-consuming task of removing the panels, and the more difficult challenge of tracking down the original artists. Even though the job means climbing up and down a very tall stepladder and dodging paying customers, Fred knows how important it is.

Pointing at one of the three panels he’d already removed, he said, “This is a piece of history. I’d hate to have it thrown into a dumpster and just be lost. It’s a connection to these kids.”

“It’s the sentimental value more than anything,” he added. “It’s priceless.”

The students signed the back of the panels, so Fred is going to make a list, then display all of the panels along the top of the produce case with name cards. That way, any former student who comes into the store can claim their artwork.

Hegedorn’s last day of operation is Sunday June 25, but Fred hopes to have all of the panels removed well before then.

Carrie Frank’s panel was one of the first to be retrieved. She lives out of town now, but will be back in town soon to reclaim her panel, complete with its flying Campbell’s Soup can. And she’s already got plans for it; she’s going to put it in her kids’ tree fort.

Which means that at least one of the Hegedorn’s tiles will fly again, for the next generation of young artists.

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

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.

(posted 6/6/2023)

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Oh Bella Co opens this weekend in the village

31 May

The Village of Webster’s business scene just keeps getting better, with the opening of another new shop on East Main St.

Oh Bella Co, located at 24 East Main, is a charming shop featuring clothing items and accessories especially for young women, but really perfect for most any age.

Owner Isabella Proietti is excited to bring her store to the village, after operating an online shop for five years.

“I’ve always wanted to open a retail shop,” she said. “I like the personal connections you can make. Online for clothing is a little hard because no one can feel the material and try it on. … Although I’ve done well online, I think it would be awesome to have a space, have people come in, talk to them,” she added.

A lifelong Webster resident, Isabella is especially excited to have found what she calls “the perfect space” right on Main Street.

Isabella describes her offerings as

kind of based on my style. I love traveling. I’ve been to different boutiques in Boston and Florida. So it’s a weird mix of beach vibe with a city Boston-girl vibe. I have both of those styles so I’m going to mix them. Cute and comfortable, based on what I look for when I go to the store, with lots of different options, for all ages.

Even though the storefront has been vacant for several years, she and her very helpful family members didn’t have to do too much to fix it up. Just some painting, updating the restroom and installing the changing areas. This week she’s been working hard to get all of the clothing racks set up and her merchandise tagged and ready to go.

That will officially happen this Saturday morning June 3 when Oh Bella has its grand opening celebration — complete with ribbon cutting ceremony — beginning at 10 a.m. The rest of the day, shoppers can browse Oh Bella’s charming selection of clothing and accessories, and grab some delicious desserts and treats made by @OliviaBrynCakes while you shop. Madison Sophia Jewelry will also be on hand with a selection of her beautiful jewelry items.

Take a moment to stop in on Saturday to welcome Oh Bella to the village!

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

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.

(posted 5/31/2023)

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