It’s hard to turn a corner these days without bumping into a cute little boutique of some kind. They’re so common, I imagine it’s rather difficult for these shops to distinguish themselves from one another in a meaningful way.
That’s not the case for Holly-Wood Decorative Creations in BayTowne Plaza, where owner Holly Pearson has found a way to make her new boutique stand out from the crowd.
Holly proudly features only products created by women and minority-owned businesses, and an impressive variety of those products, to boot. While many boutiques focus on a particular kind of merchandise, like children’s or maternity items, Holly-Wood’s shelves are filled with something for all ages: wood products, artificial flowers, jewelry, drinkware, stuffed animals, bows and bags, signs and candies. Soon, she’ll be stocking even more food products, including baked goods and sauces.
And every single one of them is made by a woman or minority-owned business.
Another distinction Holly believes she has from similar shops is the close relationship she has with her vendors, which translates to more personalized service for her customers. For example, if a patron were to see an item they particularly liked but wanted in a different color, Holly said, “I can text (the vendor) with a special request and I’ll get a response, usually while they’re still in the store.”
Holly opened Holly-Wood Decorative Creations last May, after beginning her own online woodcraft and home decor business during the COVID shutdown. When the world began to open up again, she started showing her work at art and craft festivals. There, she got to know many of the other vendors, and they would talk about the difficulties of selling their products in local shops.
“I noticed that you’re either overly packed in a store or your items aren’t showcased,” Holly said.” So I wanted to have a store where I focused on displaying everybody else’s items.”
“I advertise everybody else’s stuff all the time,” she continued. “My husband yells at me because I don’t really advertise my stuff. But I think that it’s good to help everybody else. That’s what you need to do. If you help somebody else out, in the end it will help you out.”
So about a year ago, she decided to open her own shop. It took a long time to find a perfect place, not very big (“we weren’t sure it was going to be feasible”), and where the management would be willing to work with her as a new business owner (“a lot of them spit out business mumbo jumbo”). She found everything she needed at BayTowne.
“They were wonderful with me here,” she said. “I really enjoy being in this plaza.”
Clearly the decision to move into BayTowne was a wise one. Holly-Wood opened last May with just 17 vendors, and a lot of empty floor space. Since then, Holly said, “we’ve grown massively.” She now features 32 vendors, with more arriving soon. She can actually accommodate about 45 vendors, and envisions that kind of growth happening sooner rather than later.
Business has been so good, Holly and her husband have considered moving to a bigger space in BayTowne Plaza when their lease is up this spring. But that’s as far as she’d go; there’s no way she’ll be leaving the area anytime soon.
“I love this area,” she said. “Everyone has been wonderful, everybody is so happy and friendly. They love the products. They love hearing the story.”
Holly-Wood Decorative Creations is located at 1900 Empire Blvd., Webster, in BayTowne Plaza. Connect with Holly on Facebook here. She’s open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
I’m very excited about the news that came across my email box a few days ago: the Village of Webster is thinking seriously about putting together a country music festival.
I think this is a great idea. I mean, the Webster Jazz Fest has been a tremendous success every year, so why not dip into another musical genre, and a very popular one at that?
The event is being organized by the fine business owners who comprise the Webster Business Improvement District (BID). Plans are in their very early stages, but BID chair Elena Bernardi was able to tell me that they’re picturing an event similar to the Jazz Fest, but on a smaller scale, perhaps featuring three or four bands. It would probably be scheduled for sometime late summer.
Right now the organizing committee is looking for interested business owners and community members who’d like to be part of the planning process. They need ideas and definitely could use some sponsors to help get the new festival up and running.
If you’d like to add your two cents and help plan this exciting new village festival, email the Webster BID at info@websterbid.com.
One of Webster’s most valued organizations, Webster Comfort Care Home, located at the corner of Holt Rd. and Klem Rd., is marking a significant anniversary this week: 20 years serving the comfort needs of those in their final weeks of life.
A lot of people have heard about Webster Comfort Care Home, but fewer realize the incredibly positive service the volunteers and staff members there offer the residents and their families. Providing round-the-clock care for a terminally ill family member can be very difficult and stressful, especially while grieving. The dedicated and compassionate staff members and volunteers at Webster Comfort Care Home work to completely remove that burden, upholding the dignity and ease the suffering of its residents while supporting their loved ones in a warm, home-like atmosphere.
It’s a service that most people don’t think about until they find themselves, or a family member, in need. Now, on the occasion of its 20th anniversary, Webster Comfort Care hopes that lots more community members will take the opportunity to get to know them better.
It was September of 2000 when a group of friends gathered around the kitchen table at the home of Dave and Kathy Whitlock. They’d come together to discuss the possibility of creating a comfort care home in Webster, a place which helps ease the transition of the final journey for residents, their families and loved ones, by providing symptom control, pain relief and quality of life.
Pulling off a project of that magnitude was an ambitious undertaking. It would require finding a house, creating a board of directors, hiring a director, recruiting volunteers, and navigating a mountain of paperwork.
By the end of the evening, however, driven by the rallying cry of “What do we have to lose?”, Webster Comfort Care Home was born, and this month the home is celebrating its 20th anniversary of serving the Webster community.
The idea to build a comfort care home in Webster originated with a similar facility, Pines of Peace in Ontario. Shortly after he retired, Dave Whitlock started volunteering at the Wayne County-based comfort care home. After a few months, the director pulled him aside, and told him that while she appreciated his commitment to volunteering, perhaps his time might be better spent starting another home in Webster. She explained that she often had to turn away Webster residents because of her need to prioritize Wayne County applications.
So Dave recruited his fellow Pines of Peace volunteers Kathy Fulton and Noelle Schabel, their husbands, and his own wife Kathy, and on that September evening in 2000, created the first Advisory Board and got the wheels moving.
After establishing the project as a 501(c)(3), the first order of business was to start fundraising. The organizers started knocking on doors, holding public meetings, reaching out to churches and community agencies for donations. No one turned them down, and before long they had raised about $35,000. Still, that was far short of the estimated $100,000 it would take to purchase a house and make the needed renovations.
That’s when Norm Gerber, a local home builder, stepped in. As former president of the Rochester Home Builders’ Association, he went to his group and asked each member to donate one day’s worth of labor to build a house. He also asked them all to contact their suppliers and get all of the materials donated. Even the building parcel at the corner of Klem and Holt roads was cheap; part of it was donated by builder John Schantz, and the rest by a member of the Klem family who asked only that they pay the back taxes.
On Sept. 18, 2002, ground was broken for the Webster Comfort Care Home. Less than five months later, on Feb. 3, 2003, the first resident was admitted.
From the very beginning, turning the dream of a Webster comfort care home into a reality was a true community effort.
A huge poster hanging on one of the office walls at the facility lists more than 200 community agencies, businesses and individuals who helped build the home. It includes builders, restaurants and bars; there’s a nursery, a nail salon and a pizzeria. Their contributions ranged from small monetary donations to manual labor and entire pallets of building materials. The United Methodist Church of Webster held a “house shower” for the new home just before the doors opened, providing much-needed kitchen, pantry and bedding supplies. Two other women worked together to make curtains, some of which are still hanging in the kitchen today.
What the community created was not so much a facility, but a home much like any other, with two resident rooms, a spare bedroom, a kitchen, dining room, living room and a big garage. A place where family members and their loved ones feel welcome, supported, and comfortable during those last difficult days and weeks.
And believe it or not, it’s a happy place.
Even though patients and their families come to Webster Comfort Care Home at a terribly difficult time in their lives, being able to hand off the burden of care to a compassionate team of doctors, nurses and volunteers is a huge relief.
“They realize how tired they were or how (the) lines were blurring,” WCC Director Julianne Groff said, adding,
It’s normal to become bitter or angry. We do a lot of validating here. It’s ok to cry, it’s ok to not cry. It’s ok to feel a little resentment, it’s ok to be angry that your loved one is sick. The volunteers here do amazing things with families, too. Just listening, comforting, validating, allowing people to be where they are.
The staff members are certainly known to cry, too, but it’s really not as distressing an environment as you might think.
Bill Fulton explained, “One of the things that you hear when you say you volunteer is “Oh, that’s got to be a depressing place. But everybody who’s ever volunteered will counter that by saying we laugh more than we cry.”
Julianne agreed.
There’s much more laughter here than there are tears. Because it’s not about dying as much as it is about living whatever time you have left. To try to make each day count however they want it to count. Whether they want to sleep all day and be left alone, if they want to come out and do a jigsaw puzzle, they want to watch Price is Right, or they just want someone to sit with them, whatever it is. Whatever they want that day to look like.
In the last 20 years, Webster Comfort Care Home has served 433 residents, and the facility continues to rely on community support to stay up and running. Funding comes entirely from donations, which cover overhead costs and keep their pantries stocked. Residents and their families are never asked for payment. There are lots of ways to help, including donating supplies or attending one of the annual fundraising events like the annual Duck Derby (coming up May 20), the Webster Masonic Lodge spaghetti dinner (May 5), or the United Church of Christ summer concert (July). And of course they can always use more volunteers. You can read more about these opportunities and see an entire wish list at webstercomfortcare.org.
Congratulations on your anniversary, Webster Comfort Care Home. I think I speak for the entire Webster community when I say we hope you enjoy many more.
* * *
More about Webster Comfort Care Home (from the website):
The Webster Comfort Care Home management team is a group of citizens who believe in the dignity and value of every person, and who care about our community. United in our desire to provide hospice-based care, our role is a privileged one. We believe in individualized care to accommodate the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of the home’s residents. We also wish to embrace each resident’s family and friends with love and support that would continue throughout the grieving process. Partnering with local hospice agencies, we provide complete and comprehensive around-the-clock care.
Read more about the facility and how you can help at webstercomfortcare.org, or by calling (585) 872-5290
The Village of Webster’s Fall in Love With Webster month-long community celebration has begun! All month, residents and visitors will enjoy merchant discounts and special events, all embracing the theme of love.
The goal is to promote a fun way to unify the village residents and business owners. But it’s also all about helping community members get to know our village a little better, find out more about our many fine businesses, and encourage everyone to get more involved in all of the activities found here.
Here’s what’s coming up this week. Check back next weekend to see what’s scheduled for week 3. And for a whole list of the month’s events, visit the Fall in Love With Webster Facebook page.
Kick off your Fall in Love With Webster experience this week by stopping by the Village Hall, 28 West Main, to reach into their “Random Acts of Kindness” jar and select a slip of paper suggesting a random act of kindness you can do this week. And while you’re there, check out information about the wide variety of services the Village Hall offers.
Come into Yesterday’s Muse bookshop anytime this month and choose a mystery book — wrapped in brown paper — for just $5. Each has a description on the front hinting at what the book is about. All you have to do is find your perfect match, unrap the book and enjoy your blind date! This was a hugely popular Fall in Love With Webster event last year.
A monthly club for you to use those scraps making small projects. The projects are from the book Little Handfulls of Scraps by Edita Sitar. The instructor is Debbie Lester.
Perplexed by paper piecing? Join this beginner class! You’ll learn foundation paper piecing with this low-pressure project, designed specifically for The Village Quilt Shop. The instructor will provide the foundations in the class kit, included with your class fee. You bring your sewing supplies, and we’ll have a positively pleasant time paper piecing. You’ll leave with a finished block that you can finish as a potholder on your own. The instructor is Jane Beamish.
Join singer/songwriter Marty Roberts, along with percussionist/conga player Donny, at Cobblestone on Main restaurant for a few hours of music from this dynamic duo. Cobblestone on Main is located at 109 West Main Street.
Do you have a project that you are stuck on, or one you’ve never started because the pattern is written in gibberish? Or, do you just need some help? Then Technical Thursday is for you. Michelle has the ability to decipher just about any pattern she’s come across. If the project that you need assistance with is not a pattern the shop sells please bring it in a week ahead of time to give Michelle time to review. Class size will be limited to four students to allow individual instruction. Instructor is Michelle Coon.
Serenity Life Creative Arts Therapy is “Falling in Love” with their new location AND excited to offer a class called Love Yourself Art Reflection. You’ll work with an art therapist to create a piece of art signifying self-love, at their new location, the Dean House at 93 West Main St.
More details about all these events and what’s coming up the rest of the month at the Fall in Love With Webster Facebook page. Make sure to “like” the page to get regular updates, because new events are being added every day.
After 13 years anchoring the northwest corner of the Village of Webster’s four-corners downtown business district, Heart to Heart Bride is preparing to move to a much larger building.
The beautiful bridal shop will be relocating into the former Rochester Linoleum storefront at 1170 Ridge Rd. With 13,000 square feet of floor space, the new location will be more than four times the size of her current shop, allowing for additional inventory (including mothers’ dresses), larger and reconfigured fitting rooms, a large private fitting room, and more.
Owner Sarah Ashworth says that she hopes to have all of the renovations completed and be ready to open by April 1. Stay tuned for more details about the move and opening date.
What’s going on at Empire Lanes?
If you’ve wondered about all the activity happening at Empire Lanes lately, I have your answer, courtesy Barry Howard, President of the Webster Chamber of Commerce. He wrote,
Bowlero Corporation operates Bowlmor Lanes, a chain of bowling centers. Bowlero acquired all the AMF bowling centers in 2013, essentially saving them (AMF) from bankruptcy. My latest information is that they are remodeling the Empire Blvd location and rebranding the AMF name to the Bowlmor name.
Ruff Day Resort is on the move
Ruff Day Resort, the dog boarding and daycare business at 1999 Empire Blvd. will be expanding this spring to a much larger facility on Gravel Rd.
Owner Amy Holtz wrote that the decision to expand was driven largely by the fact they’ve been at capacity for overnight stays, training and daycare. Their new location at 1085 Gravel Rd. will double the outdoor space they now have. They’ll also be adding turf which “will be fabulous during the mud season.”
Three new training rooms will accommodate larger classes and private lessons during the day, evenings and weekends. Luxury boarding suites will be available, plus lots of fun spaces for the smaller pups who want to play separate from the big dogs.
Amy hopes to be able to open the new location by May 1, provided all construction goes as planned. Stay tuned for more information as the move is finalized.
Serenity Life has expanded in the village
Serenity Life Creative Arts Therapy, which for a year and a half has operated out of a cozy little house at 98 North Ave., has just opened a second office, dedicated to providing services for young children.
The new offices are located in the historic cobblestone Dean House at 93 West Main St. in the Village of Webster. Since the beginning, Serenity Life has served patients of all ages, beginning even at 2 years old, with counseling and creative arts therapies. But in the time they’ve been open, owner Mattye McKibben says she and her staff members have noticed there’s a lot of need to support younger children — which they affectionately call their “littles” — but there are limited options.
So they’ve renovated the new location specifically to serve patients ages 10 and under, especially focusing on providing art and play therapy. Adults and teenagers will still be seen at the original North Ave. location.
The Village of Webster’s second annual Fall in Love With Webster month-long community celebration begins Wednesday, Feb. 1, featuring four weeks of merchant discounts and special events, all embracing the theme of love.
Almost three dozen business owners are participating, offering discounts or hosting special events all month, with a few surprises thrown in for good measure. Village Hall has even gotten into the act, lighting up the gazebo at North Ave. and 104 with red twinkly lights.
The idea is to promote a fun way to unify village residents and business owners. But it’s also all about helping community members get to know our village a little better, find out more about our many fine businesses, and encourage everyone to get more involved in all of the activities found here.
Here’s what’s coming up this week. Check back this weekend to see what’s scheduled for week 2, and get ready to Fall in Love With Webster!
Kick off your Fall in Love With Webster experience this week by stopping by the Village Hall, 28 West Main, to reach into their “Random Acts of Kindness” jar and select a slip of paper suggesting a random act of kindness you can do this week. And while you’re there, check out information about the wide variety of services the Village Hall offers.
SEWcial Day is the perfect day to come hang out with your friends. Bring your sewing projects and use this time to get caught up without home distractions. Snacks will be available. Sign up is required due to limited space. Vanetta and Monique will be available for help and encouragement.
Knight Patrol is rocking The Coach Sports Bar on Saturday, February 4 from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Performing all of your favorite 80’s high energy rock hits including Journey, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Bryan Adams, Van Halen, Bon Jovi and many more. Visit The Coach website or call 585-872-2910 for more information.
More details about all these events and what’s coming up the rest of the month at the Fall in Love With Webster Facebook page. Make sure to “like” the page to get regular updates, because new events are being added every day.
If you’ve never heard about this really fun event, you’re going to want to keep reading, especially if you like eating those yellow (and now pink and purple and whatever other colors) marshmallow chicks and ducks. I’ve never been a big fan. I put them in the same category as those faux-orange circus peanuts. They squeak when you bite into them.
But I LOVE the Peep Show. This is a two-day event at the Webster Recreation Center, where at least four entire rooms are filled with incredibly creative sculptures, dioramas, and various other works of art created with Peeps. It’s simply the cutest thing ever. Plus, there are craft vendors, a kids’ activity room, pizza and a snack bar.
This year’s show is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday March 25 and 26 at the Webster Recreation Center. More details will come (but it’s free and great family fun). But for now, Peep Show organizers are looking for Peep creators.
Businesses, organizations or individuals are encouraged to enter a display for judging. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the show for the display that gets the most visitor votes.
Not feeling very artistic? You can support the event in other ways as well. You can hang a poster, donate a prize or become a partner in underwriting the show. Several levels of sponsorship are available, and all proceeds will benefit the Webster Community Chest.
I’ve posted some photos from last year’s show below. You can see more photos, check out last year’s winners, find out more about the show and how you can help by visiting the Rochester Peep Show website here, or email peepshow@frontier.com.
Congratulations to Jerry Christopher from State Farm Insurance for receiving this year’s Webster Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year award.
The presentation was made at the Chamber’s monthly breakfast meeting and was presented by Barry Howard, President/CEO of the Webster Chamber of Commerce and Carolyn Montanaro, Chair of the Chamber’s Board of Directors.
The Businessperson of the Year is recognized as having set a standard of accomplishment in both business and the community. Nominations are from the Chamber’s business members who have made a significant impact on the role of business in the community. The nominee must be a member of the Chamber for at least 18 months. They must be an active member who is always willing to go above and beyond and be a leader that motivates others. They must have a level of community participation by contributing resources in the form of time, talent or money to our community via projects, clubs, churches and not-for-profits.
Jerry is an active member of the Webster Chamber of Commerce and the Webster community. He is a father, husband, business owner, volunteer and philanthropist. He sings often at church, local sporting events and Veterans Day ceremonies, and he led the National Anthem at the Chamber breakfast where he was honored. He is a regular attendee at Chamber events, a familiar face at breakfast meetings and sings his way through a multitude of community activities as a participant or supporter.
Barry Howard, President/CEO of the Webster Chamber said, “Jerry always volunteers and never says no when asked. He isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and help with the heavy lifting. He has been a Webster Chamber member for 35 years, singing for us and the community for decades.”
Jerry operates a State Farm Insurance agency located on Empire Blvd and has been helping Webster residents with their insurance needs since 1984.
Jerry’s singing gigs, in addition to church and the Chamber breakfast, include the Veteran’s Day ceremonies, Webster parades (including singing and marching with the Chamber in the 2022 Webster Parade of Lights), singing and bell ringing with a Salvation Army kettle, Webster Theatre Guild performances or a local ball game. If he isn’t singing, he’s supporting local theatre groups and Webster High School musicals.
Jerry is a member of the Penfield Rotary, where his service includes serving chicken barbecue to raise money for scholarships, bringing food to veterans at Nucor House and sharing the meal, judging singing contests for Rotary scholarships at Penfield High School, and working on the bike drive for R Community Bikes in the city of Rochester. Jerry also sponsors Wedge Wattle, raising money for St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality, supports Boy Scout troops with their activities and award ceremonies, and is a regular blood donor.
The Chamber presented Jerry with a plaque which read, “Businessperson of the Year presented by the Webster Chamber of Commerce to Jerry Christopher in recognition of your outstanding contributions to the Webster Chamber of Commerce and your commitment to the community – 2023.” The Chamber will also be making a contribution to a charitable organization selected by Jerry.
Despite the fact that we really haven’t had much in the way of winter, we’re definitely not anywhere near spring yet. But planning has already begun for a very busy spring and summer in the Village of Webster.
At their most recent meeting, members of the Webster Business Improvement District (BID) started sketching out the long list of special events our local merchants are planning this year. The BID is the organization, remember, that sponsors the very popular Trick or Treat Trail, Winter Wonderland, Friday Night Gazebo Concerts,Wine Walks and others. Those events are definitely returning this year, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg. Just about every month this summer, beginning in April, the BID has scheduled at least one entertaining, family-friendly event, and sometimes two or three or more.
Things kick off around Easter with the return of the very popular Easter Egg Hunt. More than 500 kids and their parents participated in last year’s first-ever event, which was successful in part because of the incredible support from local businesses. (Click here to read the blog I wrote about it.)
Later in the spring and summer, these events will also be returning (although dates have still not been finalized):
Friday night concerts at the gazebo
Two Wine Walks
Webster Jazz Fest
Two Family Games Nights
Beer Walk
Bourbon Bash
Trick or Treat Trail
Webster’s Winter Wonderland
There was even some talk about perhaps adding a scarecrow contest to the mix. And who knows what other events the BID might pull out of their sleeves in the coming week.
And make sure not to forget about the month-long Fall in Love With Webster event, which will kick off on Feb. 1. I’ll be providing lots more details about this soon, so stay tuned.
Danny and Jess Barry and some of the firefighters at the pub Saturday night
Anyone who knows Barry’s Old School Irish knows how much Danny Barry likes to make toasts to just about anything, often handing out mini shots of whiskey to everyone in the pub when he does.
Last night was no exception, but the occasion was rather exceptional. Saturday night’s whiskey toast was to our Webster firefighters, and the occasion was to present a $1,000 check to the Webster Volunteer Fire Department (WVFD), a portion of the proceeds from last August’s Barry’s Irish Festival.
As an illustration of the bond between Barry’s Old School Irish and the WVFD, Danny pointed out the Barry’s-emblazoned firefighter jacket hanging just inside the front door. “It’s one of our favorite things in this pub,” he said, “a reminder of the friendship we’ve had for the 12 years we’ve been open.”
WVFD Chief Andrew Vorndran accepted the check and spoke for the many firefighters assembled last night, thanking Danny and Jessica for “being family and for always being there for us.”
Barry’s also donated a portion of their Irish Festival proceeds to the Ancient Order of Hibernians in support of their efforts to build an Irish Center in Rochester.
When I stopped into Woof’s Canine Club and Indoor Dog Park on Thursday, things were still in significant disarray. So I was pleasantly surprised on Saturday, when I went back for the grand opening celebration and saw an amazing transformation and an impressive facility.
There’s a very large, astro-turfed area for large dogs to run around in, which owner Christine Gigante had sprinkled with some agility equipment. Fenced off to the side is a smaller area for smaller dogs, and both areas have benches along the walls for the pups’ parents to sit while their dogs play.
But what I really liked was the nice little cafe area and social area, designed for pet owners to relax while they watch their dogs play, and maybe even get to know others. There’s a small work-out area, some retail, and even dog-friendly baked goods.
A steady stream of dogs and their people were coming and going while I was there, and the opening even got some attention from the local TV stations.
On her Facebook page last night, owner Christine Gigante couldn’t hold back her excitement. She wrote,
“Wow! Just wow. We cannot thank you all enough for such an AMAZING DAY! Thank you to 13 WHAM ABC and WHEC TV for coming to cover our grand opening event and to our phenomenal neighbors and partners for supporting us.”
Woofs Canine Club and Indoor Dog Park is located at 187 West Main St. in Webster, in the old World Gym building. Official business operating hours will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 25. Hours will be posted on the Woofs Facebook page, so check back there often for updates.
I feature the people and places and events that make Webster the wonderful community it is — and throw in some totally-not-Webster-related personal ramblings every once in a while as well.
I love it when readers send me news about the great things happening in their schools or the community, so please email me anytime at missyblog@gmail.com
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