Important update: This event has been postponed due to COVID concerns. Stay tuned for the new date!
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Didn’t make it to a sunny, warm beach during Spring Break last week? No worries, Lala of Webster is bringing the beach to us!
It’s Jimmy Buffett Night in the Village this Thursday night. From 5 to 7 p.m., Lala will be featuring Jimmy Buffett-themed music, food and drink. Everyone’s encouraged to come dressed in your favorite tropical attire and bright colors, and escape for some beach-time (or at least beach-like) fun.
Then, just like Betty White Night in February, the party continues next door at Jojo Bistro, which will have live music and be serving up some Buffett-themed drink specials. Need dinner? Across the street, Webster Hots will have a Cheeseburger in Paradise and Margaritaville combos, featuring a burger and fries for $8 or two burgers and a large fry for $13.
There’ll be door prizes as well, so make sure to head into the village this Thursday night and shake off the spring chill. (P.S. keep an eye out for parrots.)
Lala of Webster is located at 38 East Main Street.
OK, OK, it’s not summer yet. But I came away from the most recent meeting of the Webster Business Improvement District (BID) very excited by the long list of special events our local merchants are planning for late spring and summer, reminding us what a normal summer feels like in the Village of Webster.
The BID is the organization, remember, that organizes the very popular Trick or Treat Trail, White Christmas in the Village, Movie Nights, Friday Night Gazebo Concerts,Wine Walks and others. Those events are definitely returning this year, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg. Basically, every month this summer — from June through September — the BID has scheduled at least one entertaining, family-friendly event, and sometimes two or three or more.
It all starts in late June with the first Family Games Night and Movie Night. Then in July things really kick up a notch with more movies, another Family Games Night, the return of the Friday night concert series in the gazebo, and a second Wine Walk (the first one is on May 21).
In August, there are more concerts, yet another movie night and game night, plus the Webster Jazz Festival hits the pubs and West Main St. later in the month.
Things don’t cool down too much in September, either. The BID will be getting involved with the second annual ALS Awareness Concert, and are talking about a brand new (albeit tentative) event called a “Parking Day.”
Looking ahead to the fall, the Oktoberfest, Beer Walk and Trick or Treat Trail will return in October, and the annual Bourbon Bash in November.
There are still a lot of details to work out with many of these events, and some of them are not yet set in stone. As dates are finalized, you’ll find all the information you need at the Webster BID website. For example, you’ll already find dates there for the two Wine Walks, some of the gazebo concerts and the Jazz Festival.
Basically, Webster summer fun is back big time after two long summers without much to do. So get your calendars out and start filling them in!
The weekly Town of Webster newsletter is always packed with information, and I always get good blog ideas from it. But this week’s edition outdid itself. There are so many events mentioned in its 15 digital pages that it prompted me to post another mailbag, even though the last one was just a few days ago.
So here’s a quick list of what you can see in the newsletter, then I’ll tack on a few more events at the end.
The Town of Webster will hold a special ceremony this Friday April 22 to rename North Ponds Park to the Charles E. Sexton Memorial Park in honor of Webster’s first Recreation Director and the first African American Recreation Director in New York State. The ceremony will begin at 4 p.m. at the park. Read more about the event here.
The Webster Quilt Guild’s 2022 Quilt Show, called “Envision the Possibilities,” will take place on Saturday and Sunday April 23 and 24 at Holy Trinity Church, 1460 Ridge Rd., just east of the village. There will be several special displays and a raffle. Read more about the event in my blog here.
Your chance to meet Adam Traub, the new director of the Webster Public Library, is coming up Wednesday April 27 at the library’s Open House from 3 to 5 p.m. You can read more about Adam in this blog I posted after meeting him.
If you’ve ever hiked the Four Mile Creek trails and noticed the old rotting cars in the woods, here’s a great chance to learn about them. The Friends of Webster Trails is holding a “Cars Along the Creek” hike on Saturday April 30 from 10 to noon. There are actually six old cars there (I’ve only seen three) and you’ll learn about all of them. I’ll be posting a blog about this soon, but more details in the flyer below.
Also on Saturday April 30, the Webster Health and Education Network is holding a Drug Take-Back Event at both the Holt Rd. and Baytowne Wegmans locations. No appointment is necessary. More details in the flyer below.
The Lions Club will hold a Mother’s Day Rose Sale from Thursday May 5 through Saturday May 7. Roses will be $20 per dozen and can be picked up any one of those days, but they must be ordered in advance. For more information, check the flyer below.
The Town of Webster will host a blood drive on Tuesday May 10 from noon to 6:30 p.m. at Webster Parks and Recreation on Chiyoda Drive. Call the Red Cross at 1-800-733-2767 or visit redcross.org (search for WebsterCommunity) to schedule an appointment.
More news from the Webster Public Library. The Friends of the Library will host their annual spring book sale from Thursday to Saturday May 12 to 14. Nothing costs more than $1. For more details, check the flyer below.
Got stuff to shred? Reliant Federal Credit Union is hosting a free ShreddingEvent on Saturday May 14 from 9 a.m. to noon at their Webster branch, 870 Holt Rd. There’s no quantity limits, but please remove file folders, binders and plastic bags. There will also be raffles and giveaways, refreshments and entertainment.
Don’t forget to get your ducks for Webster Comfort Care‘s second annual Duck Derby on Saturday May 21. Cost is $5 per duck, and all proceeds will benefit the home. Click here to read more about this event.
The Webster Museum is planning a whole month of programs in May highlighting the rich history of West Webster. I’ll be posting a blog about those events soon, but for some details right now, check out the flyer below.
The people of Ukraine still need our help. ROC Maidan is soliciting donations of new clothes and camping cots. Check out the wish list and drop-off locations on the flyer below.
Looking ahead, here are a few other things I’m working on for the coming weeks:
The West Webster Cemetery Tour on June 19
A new business coming to the Village of Webster
the second annual Luminaria Walk for our Webster CSD seniors on May 15
Cold and drizzly weather didn’t deter more than 500 kids and their parents from attending last weekend’s Easter Egg Hunt, sponsored by the Webster Business Improvement District (BID).
The event was held Saturday April 16 at the Firemen’s Field. Excited children and their parents started arriving shortly after 9 a.m. and were split into three age groups. At 10 a.m. everyone was released to the field to hunt for plastic Easter eggs and various other surprises. Not that there was a whole lot of “hunting” required; business owners had donated so many eggs (about 5,000) and prizes that they simply had to be scattered around the grassy field for the children to find.
Two lucky children in each group found tickets which could be redeemed for special prize baskets. But all of the other eggs held something pretty great, too, because the participating businesses were very creative and unbelievably generous with their donations. There were gift certificates and coupons, dental floss and lapel pins, small toys and rings, and Kelly at Burke’s Grill even stuffed $1 bills into her eggs. There were even a lot of prizes that were too big to hide in eggs, like toothbrushes, sunglasses and fidget spinners.
The Easter Bunny himself was even there to greet the children.
The event was a terrific follow-up to February’s Fall in Love With Webster festivities, demonstrating how committed our business owners are to collaborating on outstanding community events. More than 45 businesses participated in the hunt by providing filled Easter eggs and/or items for the grand prize baskets.
An event like this cannot be pulled off without a lot of help. A huge thank you to:
the team of dedicated volunteers, led by Lisa Scholnski and Jody Laurer, including Rhonda Gefell, Ray Gefell, Evan Gefell, Karl Laurer, Steven Schlonski and Stephen Vitello
Dennis Montgomery and the Webster Volunteer Fire Department
Jake Swingly, Superintendent of Public Works
Jake’s son Kyle (“Mr. Bunny”) Swingly
Brian and Nolan Bernardi and Robyn Whittaker
Kudos to everyone who helped organize and run this event, and gave our young people a special Easter memory.
Here’s a short slideshow of more photos from the morning, courtesy Jody Laurer:
Afterthoughts is a completely separate blog, where I’m reposting some of my favorite columns from when I was the Our Towns East Extra columnist for the Democrat and Chronicle.
I chose this particular column today because April is World Autism Awareness Month, and this piece highlights a jujitsu school which has for years offered classes for children on the spectrum.
Strike Back Martial Arts’ dojo used to be at 55 East Main St. in the Village of Webster, in the same building as Webster Hots (the sign is still there). COVID caused it to close in 2020, but it’s landed on its feet.
The column was originally published on June 4, 2015.
Martial arts helps children with autism
At a recent class at Strike Back Martial Arts in Webster, eight-year old Alex Maenza stood on the mats, awaiting instructions.
When “Sensei Mike” gave him the cue, he turned around, ran backwards toward the opposite end of the room, and caught a ball thrown at him from 20 feet away.
Alex beamed and bounced with delight. His instructors told him “Good job!” His parents were proud.
For most kids, this would be a simple skill. But for Alex, it was something to cheer about.
Alex and the seven other boys in his class are part of Strike Back’s Jujitsu Buddies program, for children ages 4-12 on the autism spectrum. For these children, skills like catching a ball, navigating an obstacle course, even interacting with their peers can be a major accomplishment.
Strike Back Martial Arts owners Mike Palmer and Dave Nicchitta describe the class as a comprehensive introduction to Jujitsu and martial arts for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. But these kids won’t be applying headlocks or throwing their classmates to the mats anytime soon. Other skills are much more important.
Click here to go to Afterthoughts and read the rest of the post.
With the conclusion of Webster Thomas High School’s recent production of Little Shop of Horrors, the final curtain has come down on the high schools’ 2022 spring musical season. But each school actually has a spring drama in the works.
Mark Stoetzel, the drama director at Webster Thomas, emailed me not long ago with some exciting news about their production of The Neighbors, planned for late May: it’s going to be staged outside.
The Webster GeoTech Class is building an outdoor stage in one of the school’s courtyards, complete with a pergola. On May 27 and 28, students will hit the stage to perform several one-act plays they’re writing themselves, each set in a townhouse complex.
More details to come as the date approaches.
The Webster Schroeder Theater Company is also working on a drama, The Secret Garden. Shows are scheduled for Friday and Saturday May 6 and 7 from 7 to 9 p.m. Tickets are available now, but I’m having trouble finding a link or details on how to purchase them. If anyone can fill me in, please email me so I can share that information.
The Webster Museum has all sorts of programs planned in the coming weeks. They seem particularly excited about their upcoming exhibit focusing on the history of West Webster. The little hamlet had its very own zip code not too long ago (14581) and is currently anticipating a revitalization.
Among the materials the museum has collected are the two maps below. The first was drawn by Maguerite Collins around 1938, possibly as a class project. It shows the names of some of Webster’s earliest settlers and when they arrived. The second map, created in 1852, adds more names.
Descendants of some of these early settlers still live here today, and many of them never left. Interested community members are invited to “meet” some of them on Sunday June 19 from 2 to 4 p.m., when the Webster Museum hosts a West Webster Cemetery Tour. Costumed characters will on hand representing many of the hamlet’s former residents who are buried there, and guaranteed they’ll have some interesting stories.
More information to come about this fun event. (Teaser: I’m going to play a character!)
Stay tuned also for more details about the museum’s upcoming West Webster exhibit. Among the history to be shared will be photos and artifacts from the West Webster Fire Department. It was originally housed in Webb’s garage, then Brewer’s barn, then the former Goetzman Store, followed by its move to its current home on Gravel Road. A number of former West Webster residents have shared memories of turkey raffles, liverwurst sandwiches, craft shows and ice rinks in the firehouse parking lots.
Several programs have been scheduled in May to highlight West Webster history. I’ll tell you all about them in a future blog.
The Webster Museum, located at 18 Lapham Park in the Village of Webster, is open 2 to 4:30 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Beer lovers will want to be a part of a program scheduled for this Thursday April 21. Will Cleveland, former investigative reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle, will talk about the past and future of the Western New York beer scene, a beat which he has covered since 2014.
The program, called “Rochester Craft Beer: The History and Future of the Scene,” runs from 7 to 8 p.m. and registration is required.
Tweens and teens, you can make your very own hair scrunchies on Wed. April 20 from 1 to 2 p.m. Materials will be provided. Kids in grades 4 to 12 are welcome. Registration is required.
This month’s make-and-take crafts include recycled milk cap fish (for kids), clothespin peek-a-boo eggs (for teens) and a bead bracelet (made from magazines) for adults. Materials can be picked up at the library during regular business hours while supplies last.
This is a drive-through event. Dinners will include a half chicken, salt potatoes, cole slaw, roll and butter for $12. There will be no advance sales; cars can pay when they enter the parking lot, first come, first served. Signs will direct cars to the pay station, and then to the side entrance where you can pick up the boxed dinners.
Proceeds will support St. Martin’s Christmas Stocking Project which reaches more than 500 youth in Monroe and Wayne counties.
The Tour de Cure is returning to Webster on Saturday June 11, and even if you don’t plan on riding, you can still help out.
In this annual premier cycling event, riders sign up to cycle anywhere from 12 to 100 miles, to benefit the American Diabetes Association. It begins and ends in one of the old Xerox parking lots near the Webster Recreation Center. If you’d like to participate, you can sign up here. Or you can help the cause by becoming a volunteer. More information about those opportunities can be found here.
Finally (and this is especially for all of you who are still reading this long blog, because I know you appreciate local news) I want to draw your attention once again to what’s happening with the Webster Herald.
Our little town newspaper recently experienced another editorial change, when Colin Minster left in March. A new editor, Tim Young, has since taken the reigns, and accepted the daunting challenge of publishing a weekly newspaper.
And it is daunting. I’ve said this before, but it deserves repeating: with a small, hyper-local, weekly publication like the Herald, the editor has to be a Jack-of-all-trades, not only managing the layout and editing, but actively searching out and writing stories of local interest. It’s a 24/7 position from which you can never take a vacation.
The job is made that much more difficult without support from advertisers, contributors and subscribers. I think we can all agree that local news is a dying breed. The Webster Post isn’t around any more, and the Democrat and Chronicle couldn’t care less about Webster local news. The Herald is now one of the few places we can go to to find news about our community. So we need to do everything we can to make sure the Herald doesn’t go anywhere anytime soon.
Tim touched on a few of these concerns in the column he wrote a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, it’s not online anywhere, but you can click here to see a photo of it. In the column, Tim talks about how staffing issues are a challenge and that advertising is hard to come by. He also notes that people are actually complaining about all the legal advertising in the Herald, pointing out that those legals are the only things that are keeping the paper afloat.
It’s not fair to criticize the job a weekly editor is doing without being willing to help do something about it. Like make sure to renew your subscription every year. Encourage your friends to subscribe. Send in sports stories and photos, and your child can be pictured in the paper. Advertise your business. And how about stretching your writing chops and consider becoming a free-lancer? You’ll be paid for your work, and see your own byline in the paper.
Tim would love to hear from you. Email him at tim@empirestateweeklies.com. Let him know that this community is behind him and we still appreciate local news.
Do you know of any event coming up in Webster, or sponsored by a Webster organization, which you’d like publicized in my blog? Pretty much anything that comes across my email will find its way in sometime or another, so let me know about it!
You’re gonna want to get your ducks in a row for this fun family event coming up in next month, to benefit Webster Comfort Care Home.
Webster Comfort Care Home’s second annual Duck Derby will take place Saturday May 21 at Webster Park.
The idea is simple: participants purchase rubber duckies for $5 each, and each has a number on it. At the appointed time, the ducks are dumped into Mill Creek, where they leisurely float down towards the lake. The “owners” of the first three ducks to cross the finish line win cash prizes.
Since the ducks like to take their time, activities and refreshments are available while you wait. But you don’t have to be present to win, so you don’t have to hang around if you don’t want to.
At last year’s event, participants floated 526 ducks, raising almost $3,500 — pretty good for its first year. For this second annual derby, organizers hope to raise twice that, and would love to see more than 800 ducks floating down the creek. Proceeds go directly back to Webster Comfort Care to support their mission to provide provide end-of-life care to residents of Webster and the surrounding communities.
The race will begin at the Webster Park Beeches Pavilion at 10 a.m. on Saturday May 21. There’s plenty of parking. Ducks can be purchased online here, by calling 585-872-5290, emailing Director@webstercomfortcare.org, or by stopping by the Webster Comfort Care Home at the corner of Holt and Klem. Payment is accepted by cash, check or credit card, and PayPal online. Tickets are available now.
You may not have noticed, but there aren’t a whole lot of organizations out there hosting Easter egg hunts this year. But have no fear, parents, the Webster Business Improvement District (BID) has got your back.
A Webster BID Easter Egg Hunt is scheduled for Saturday April 16, at 10 a.m. at Webster Firemen’s Field, West Main St. in the village.
Thousands of eggs donated by local businesses will be hidden all around Firemen’s Field, filled with candy, prizes, fun activities and merchant coupons. Three different search areas will be staked out for children ages 0 to 2, 3 to 5, and 6 to 10. And in each group, one egg will contain a special golden ticket, which can be redeemed for a large prize basket.
A huge thank you to the Webster Volunteer Fire Department for all their support for this event.
The Easter Egg Hunt will take place rain or shine … so let’s hope for shine. For more information, click here to see the Facebook event page. Then make sure to get this one on your calendar, get your Easter baskets out of the attic and get the kids ready.
The Greater Rochester Peep Show returned to the Webster Recreation Center Saturday, live and in-person for the first time in three years, since COVID made them postpone, then ultimately cancel the show in 2020.
And I gotta say, it’s outstanding.
About 120 families, businesses and community agencies created displays for this year’s show, colorful and creative dioramas depicting everything from sports events and TV shows to schoolrooms and Broadway plays. I especially liked the ones which were made almost entirely of Peeps, like Marge Simpson pictured here.
In addition to the displays, there’s a children’s room, plenty of snacks for purchase, raffles and vendors, all spread through five rooms at the Rec Center. Visitors are encouraged to purchase tickets to be used to vote for your favorite displays. All proceeds benefit the Webster Community Chest.
When I was there Saturday afternoon, I was surprised by how many people were there admiring the displays. It seems like everyone’s excited to get back out and do things like this again, and jumped at the chance to bring the family out for some free entertainment.
I’ve posted a slideshow here of many of the displays, but there are SO MANY MORE you’re going to want to see, and there’s still plenty of time. The Peep Show continues Sunday April 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Webster Recreation Center on Chiyoda Drive (just off of Phillips). There’s plenty of free parking.
And, I’m told that Coldstone Creamery is going to be there Sunday to hand out FREE ice cream!
Just a quick post today to update you all on Amy Stringer’s efforts to raise money for Ukraine by creating and selling hand-made beeswax ornament at her Village of Webster shop, The North Bee.
Sunflowers, or sunyashniki, are the national flower of Ukraine. Amy has created three different designs, each being sold for $10 apiece. Funds raised will be donated to ROC Maidan, who will distribute them to where they’re needed to help refugees and soldiers and offer humanitarian aid.
A second local TV news station has taken notice of Amy’s efforts. WROC-TV Channel 8 stopped by the shop yesterday morning and posted this story later in the day.
Amy originally scheduled the sale to just run through March, but the community has been so supportive (she’s already raised $3,000), she’s decided to continue it. Beginning today, a portion of the proceeds from each ornament sold will be donated to ROC Maidan.
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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