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Webster couple celebrates long life

12 Jun

75th in 2015

I’d like to send out a few happy birthday wishes today to Don and Virginia Brush, a long-time Webster couple.

And when I say “long time,” I mean looooong time.

Several weeks ago, Virginia celebrated her 100th birthday, and Don will be turning 101 in July. Those alone are some incredible milestones. But just as impressive is the fact that on March 16, 2017, the couple celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary.

Don Brush and Virginia Wahl were neighbors on Plank Road, and both graduated from Webster High School at a time when it was the only school in town, encompassing all grades K through 12. Don received a degree in mechanical engineering from Syracuse University and worked at Kodak for 37 years. Virginia got a degree in nursing from Genesee Hospital and served there as an emergency room supervisor.

Aside from his longevity and obvious love for his dear wife, Don has another claim to fame. In the early 1970s he purchased a 1910 one-cylinder, 10-horsepower Runabout. Over the next two years he completely rebuilt it, bringing it to mint condition.

In 1980 the car won the Grand National award from the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) and can now be seen at the AACA Museum in Hershey, PA.

Best wishes to the happy couple.

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Webster Marching Band wants your bottles

8 Jun

WMB Logo

It’s time to clean out the garage.

If you’re like me, you have a huge garbage bag or two of returnables hanging out in your garage, awaiting your motivation to take them back to Wegmans or Hegedorns. Well, the Webster Marching Band will be happy to take them off your hands.

The band’s next Bottle and Can Drive happens this Saturday June 10 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. All you have to do is place those bags outside your house or at the end of the driveway, with a little note indicating they’re for the band, and they’ll be whisked away for a good cause.

Or, if you plan to be out and about on Saturday, you can drop them off at the collection site, Webster Schroeder High School, 875 Ridge Road, by 4 p.m.

OR, you can call the Bottle and Can Hotline (234-8684, option 1) ANYTIME to arrange a pickup at a time convenient for you.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!

Along with the bottle and can drive, there will also be an electronics disposal event at the Schroeder parking lot from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

So while you’re gathering up all those returnables, throw some old electronics in a box and bring them along. The items accepted include desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, LCD monitors, laser printers (not ink-based) and networking equipment. Sorry, no TVs, CRT monitors or ink-based printers can be accepted.

Stay tuned for news of the Webster Marching Band’s next events, an Applebee’s pancake breakfast on July 17 and a food truck rodeo on July 21.

(Marching Band folks, you WILL be letting me know more about these, right?)

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A shout out to our Special Police

30 May

special police 4

Do you know those Special Police officers you always see working crowd control at parades, helping us cross the street during the carnival, and helping out at accident scenes?

Did you realize they’re all volunteers? Not only that, they have to go through a lot of training just to even become a volunteer.

Here’s a more detailed description from the Town of Webster website:

The Webster Special Police are a group of volunteers, appointed by the Town Board of Webster, whose mission is to assist the Webster Police Department during emergencies and special events. As certified NYS Peace Officers, our goal is to provide citizens with a professional organization that stands ready to fulfill this mission whenever activated. Our vision is to maintain the highest standards of organization, training, and professionalism in order to aid the police department in upholding the laws of the State of New York, County of Monroe, and Town and Village of Webster.

They were out in force during the Memorial Day Parade. I always make it a point to thank them for being there, and this time around I also snapped photos of as many of them as I could to single out this great organization for their service.

So take a look at these faces and when you see them at the Firemen’s Parade, make sure to give them a smile and a “Thanks for being here!” Because they don’t have to be.

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Photos from Webster’s parade

29 May

 

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So the weather could have been a little bit better for Monday’s Memorial Day Parade, but it also could have been a whole lot worse.

This is the first year I can remember that we’ve had any kind of rain for the parade. But even this year it wasn’t too bad; a few sprinkles during the marching, and a shower during the ceremony at Webster Rural Cemetery. The crowds lining Main Street and Ridge Road were noticeably thinner this year, probably thanks to the threatening weather, but there were still plenty of onlookers. Many of them came prepared with umbrellas and pop-ups, or found space under some of the large trees that lined the route.

Despite the dampness, I didn’t hear any grumbling. I think we all realized that the men and women we were honoring had suffered much worse.

The only disappointing thing about the day was seeing how many people forgot to stand when the flag came by.

I’ve posted a few photos here, but there are plenty of more here in my gallery, including some from where everyone was lining up, through to the ceremony.

P. S., if you got any great photos which I can add to my gallery, please email them to missyblog@gmail.com.


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Calling the Webster Schroeder Class of 1977

23 May

class of 77The time is drawing near for the Webster Schroeder Class of 1977’s 40th reunion, and if that means you, you’re going to want to get your tickets soon.

Plans are for a picnic at Webster Park on Sunday July 16, catered by Bad to the Bone Barbecue. A wide variety of craft and mainstream brews will be provided by The Beverage Center in Canandaigua, a store owned by classmate Carlo Jannotti. (There will be plenty of other beverage choices as well for anyone who doesn’t like beer.)

A lot of your classmates have already signed up, but there are still a lot of “missing” ones. So organizers are asking everyone to log onto the event Facebook page to find out who’s on that list and see if you can help track them down. Former teachers are also encouraged to attend.

Tickets for the barbecue dinner can be purchased by clicking here.  To contact the reunion organizers, email hwsclassof77@gmail.com.  For more details about when things are happening and who’s coming, follow the reunion page on Facebook here.

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The U.S. is reborn at Plank North

21 May

united states

If you’ve ever attended — or had children who attended — Plank Road North Elementary School, you’re likely very familiar with the huge United States map painted on the playground near the southwest corner of the school.

Depending on how long ago you were there, you might also remember it as a very colorful representation of our great country, each state sporting a bright prime color.

But that hasn’t been the case for a long time. Over the years, the once vibrant map has faded, the colors almost completely unrecognizable.

Plank North kindergarten teacher Peggy Garritano has decided to do something about that. The map sits outside her classroom window, as it has for the 17 years she’s worked at the school. Apparently she got tired of looking at the faded states, so she’s taken it upon herself to restore the map’s original vibrancy.

For several weeks now, Garritano has been coming around 6:30 a.m. every day — weather permitting — to paint a state or two. And even though she’s doing all of the work, Garritano is still able to use the slowly blooming map to teach her students about the United States.

When I was in their classroom the other day, the kids were excited to tell me about the states that had already been completed (including “Montania,” according to one little boy); why Texas would take a long time to paint and Rhode Island a very short time (“Look how little it is!” said one little girl); and apparently they had already taken issue with how the map shows Alaska and Hawaii so close to the mainland.

I’ll be following the map’s progress, including writing an East Extra column when the project is complete. So stay tuned.

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Post office helps Hope House Stamp Out Hunger

18 May

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Hey everybody, if you participated in last weekend’s annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive sponsored by the post office, I thought you might be interested in seeing where some of your donations wound up.

I got these photos from my friends at Hope House in Webster, a social justice ministry supported by Holy Trinity Church. Hope House provides food, clothing and other assistance to individuals in need.

Hope House staff members estimate that postal workers collected over 4,000 pounds of food, helping to fill the shelves.

Thank you to Kerri Kiniorski for these photos.

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Mini Webster mailbag

16 May

Just a few interesting notes this morning.

For starters, Webster Schroeder and Webster Thomas high schools will both have new assistant principals next year.

Karen Murray has accepted the position as assistant principal (alpha M-R) for Webster Thomas High School’s Gold House, effective July 1. Murray is replacing current interim assistant principal Jeremy Slack.

New APs for web

Karen Murray and Dan Sepka

Murray, a Webster resident and graduate, previously served as a middle school ELA teacher and literacy specialist at both Spry and Willink middle schools. She also was a high school literacy specialist at Webster Thomas HS.

 

Dan Sepka will be the new assistant principal (alpha A-E) for Webster Schroeder High School, also effective July 1, replacing current interim assistant principal Jim Vitale.

Sepka is currently an integrated co-teacher at Spry Middle School and prior to that, worked for 10 years at State Road Elementary School as a consultant teacher.
He has spent his entire teaching career in Webster CSD as a co-teacher in all subject areas, and has been a Warrior varsity assistant coach since 2005.  He is also a graduate of Webster Schroeder HS and a Webster resident.

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The Webster Parks and Recreation Department has asked me to remind everyone about their great summer camp programs.

Right now is the time to sign up for programs to keep your kids active and entertained this summer. The Rec offers both full-day camps for children ages kindergarten through 5th grade, and fun camps for teenagers.

In full-day camp, kids are grouped by grade and rotate through a variety of indoor and outdoor activities. Campers will also enjoy several field trips to miniature golf, Seabreeze, bowling, movies ad more.

The Fun Camps will take teenagers to a new exciting destination every dayfrom ice skating to RocVenture, a baseball game to paintball.

The Rec also offers a preschool camp for children ages 3 to 5, and half-day fun camp for kids in kindergarten through 3rd grade.

For more details about all the options, click here.

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opioidThe Monroe County Legislature and the school district are teaming up for a very important presentation on May 31 to raise awareness about the rising threat of opioid abuse in our community.

The presentation will be held Wednesday May 31 at 7 pm at the Webster Community Center, 1350 Chiyoda Drive. Click on the poster for more information.

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Plank North welcomes return of former student, now a Marine

5 May
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Plank North Elementary teacher Marcia Napolitano welcomes her former student.

Here’s a heartwarming story that happened at Plank Road North Elementary School this week, when students got an extra special visit from a freshly-minted U.S. Marine.

For the last three months, the students of Marcia Napolitano’s fourth grade class have been following the progress of Jason Ingerson, one of Napolitano’s former students, as he worked his way through Marine Corps recruit training.

Ingerson, who was in Napolitano’s class during the 2006-2007 academic year, first visited his old classroom back in January, just after he signed up with the USMC and just before he shipped off for boot camp. He answered the students’ questions about his decision to enlist and his family’s reactions, and described the challenges he was expecting to face once he reached Parris Island.

While Jason was away, Plank North Principal Craig Bodensteiner — himself a Marine veteran — gave Napolitano’s students a taste of what boot camp is like, running them through physical drills and lessons on saluting and standing at attention. He also demonstrated the kind of verbal abuse a recruit would have to take from the drill instructor (physical education teacher Kevin Sayers got to play the part of the recruit for that demonstration).

Last Tuesday, Jason Ingerson returned once again to his old Plank North classroom to greet the students who had helped him through 12 of the most difficult weeks of his life. Standing smartly in blue dress uniform at the front of the room, he answered questions once again. But this time he was a United States Marine.

WHAM Channel 13 was on hand for the reunion, and featured the story as their Tuesday evening Bright Spot segment. You can see that video by clicking here.

Many thanks to Jennifer Calus of the WCSD for her great photographs.

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Webster Community Chest needs help finding new space

2 May

community chest

The Webster Community Chest (WCC) is currently reevaluating the location where it provides services for the Webster community, and the organization needs your help.

The WCC is actively looking for a new location from which they can continue to provide assistance to individuals and families in our community. That especially means the food cupboard. The new space will house non-perishables most of the time, and fresh donations on distribution days.

Their ideal location would be in Webster (of course), on the smaller side (maximum 2000 square feet) and available for minimal rent. The WCC budget is limited and they’re hoping the vast majority of their donations could continue to go directly to neighbors in need and not to rent. (So donated/shared space would be IDEAL!)

If you know of a landlord or business who might be interested in sharing their space — or if YOU own a business which could help out — please contact Community Chest board member Andy LaManna at alamanna18@gmail.com.

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

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