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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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I need photos!

20 Mar
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A stunning view of Webster Park by Joe Altieri.

If you follow my Webster Blog Facebook page, you’ll see that I regularly change the photo at the top of the page. Usually the photo goes with my most recent blog post, but sometimes I just don’t have anything interesting to put up there.

So this is where you all come in.

I would love to have a collection of great photos representing our great town, which I could tap into when I need a cover shot. Your photos could be a stunning landscape, like the one above by Joe Altieri, or perhaps just a shot of your kids sitting watching a sunset at Sandbar Park.

I made this request a few years ago for exactly the same reason, and received some wonderful photos. But I have long since run out and need to re-stock.

Of course, when I use your photo, I’ll be sure to give you credit. So please go through your images, or get out there and start snapping. Then send your favorites to me at missyblog@gmail.com. Please be sure to include information about who is in the photo (if necessary) and where you took it.

Thank you!

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Penfield fifth grader wins essay contest

11 Mar
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Lawson Drabik reacts when he hears he has won first place in the Monroe County Fire Prevention Essay Contest. Standing behind Lawson is Harris Hill fifth grader Jordan Dawson, who won sixth place, $25 and a trophy. (Provided photo)

Congratulations go out today to Lawson Drabik, a fifth grader at Harris Hill Elementary School in Penfield, who recently won first place in the Monroe County Volunteer Firemen’s Association Fire Prevention Essay Contest.

This year’s challenge was to write an essay explaining why people should change their smoke detectors every ten years. For his first-place essay, Lawson received $100, a plaque for his school and a traveling trophy which will be kept at the school for the next year.

Lawson learned of the award last Monday, when representatives from the Penfield Volunteer Fire Department came to his school for a surprise presentation. His reaction, which you can see in the photo, was priceless.

In addition to his other prizes, next year at the beginning of Fire Prevention Week, Lawson will get a ride home from Bay Trail Middle School on a fire truck.

Amanda Notareschi, Lawson’s teacher, believes that while Harris Hill has had finalists before, she doesn’t think the school has ever had a first-place winner.

If you’d like to read the essay for yourself, a photo of it is below.

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Barry’s Old School Irish one of best places in U.S. to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Yelp says so.

9 Mar
Rory and Maley

Rory and Maley Barry are all ready to go for this coming week’s St. Patrick’s Week festivities at their mommy and daddy’s pub.

All of us here in Webster already know that Barry’s Old School Irish is one of the best Irish pubs in the country. And now the whole country knows, too.

According to a new survey just released by Yelp.com, Barry’s Old School Irish is one of the top 50 pubs in the United States for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, coming in at #45.

Granted, the “survey” was conducted by just ranking the rating and number of reviews each pub received. Still, the fact that SO MANY people have ranked Barry’s favorably is a pretty good indication of the quality of our little pub, our very own, authentic little corner of the ol’ sod. (Click here to see the whole list, which was re-posted on travelandleisure.com.)

And if you’ve seen the lineup of activities Barry’s has planned for what we Irish (and Irish-at-heart) call the “high holy week,” you’ll understand why the pub is so popular. Basically, at Barry’s St. Patrick’s Day becomes St. Patrick’s WEEK.

It starts this Saturday morning, the city’s Parade Day. The pub will be open for a pre-parade breakfast and Irish coffee at 8 a.m. The Foxhunters will be back — as they are every Parade Day — with live Irish music from 2:30 to 7 p.m. Irish Dancers from the Jameson Irish Dance School will pop in at 5 p.m., Everheart takes the stage (actually a corner at Barry’s) to play from 7 to 11 p.m., our favorite Webster bagpiper will stroll through at 9 p.m., and at 9:30 p.m. there’s a Tullamore Irish Whiskey toast on the house.

Plus, there will be Guinness give-aways all day

And that’s just SATURDAY. Click here to see the full lineup of events for the whole week, including a whiskey tasting on Sunday, the weekly Barry’s Run/Walk on Tuesday (when we’ll paint the town green), an extra-special trivia night (of course) on Wednesday, a food and beer pairing on Thursday, and then… well, Friday needs no introduction. But one of the most exciting things about Friday is that there will be a heated tent on the patio. (Which means that’s going to be one of those 70-degree days, no doubt.)

If you haven’t yet been back to the pub since Danny and Jess completed their renovations, this would be a good time to check it out. There’s actually more room now, so there’s less chance you’ll have to go outside to walk around to the bathroom.

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2016 Reflections Contest winners advance to state level

7 Mar

HERO-Reflections

The PTSA Reflections contest is in full swing in anticipation of this year’s Community Arts Day celebration on April 8 at Webster Schroeder High School. Hopefully  there are a lot of students out there working diligently to prepare their creative entries, based on this year’s theme, “Within Reach.”   (Learn more about Community Arts Day and the Reflections competition by clicking here.) Entries are being accepted through March 15.

But coincidentally (or perhaps not), I just receive notification about some of LAST year’s Reflections winners, 13 of whom who have advanced to the state level for judging.

The press release goes on to say,

The theme for the 2016-17 Reflections program was “What is Your Story?” WCSD students had their artwork recognized as the Best of Show in their categories and age divisions at the district level. Their artwork progressed to the Genesee Valley Region PTSA level of the competition and was judged against entries from other schools in the region. Before Christmas GVRPTSA held a ceremony to announce the winners, whose artwork now moves on to the New York State level for judging.

Representing WCSD are: Taisia Badulescu, Katherine Kovacs, Olivia Rye, Riley Dieter, Anthony Randazzo, Amanda Longhenry, Sydney DeZutter, Annabelle Sero, Rachael Dioguardi, Jane Bradstreet, Kaitlyn Dushuk, Sean Devlin, and Emily Hansen. Their entries range from literature to visual arts and photography to music composition and film production. The students themselves range from prekindergarten to high school.

The Reflections Committee expects to hear the results of this stage of the competition sometime in April.

Congratulations to these students, and good luck! You make Webster proud.

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Webster Community Mailbag

3 Mar

mailbagLots of great events and good news to share with everyone today!

If you’ve got nothing to do tonight, consider enjoying a basketball game, courtesy the Webster Willink and Spry Middle School Student Councils. Their annual benefit basketball game takes place TONIGHT, March 3.

The game pits Willink and Spry students and staff in several entertaining and occasionally competitive contests.

This year the Spry Student Council will be donating their proceeds to Autism Up, and the Willink Student Council will be donating their proceeds to the Veterans Outreach Center.

The games take place at the Webster Schroeder High School gym beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door for $5. Refreshments and other concessions will be available for purchase.

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Andrew Kennedy

Boy Scout Troop 110, sponsored by St. Martin Lutheran Church in Webster, has proudly announced that Andrew Kennedy has earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

Andrew’s Eagle project was in two parts: An Interfaith Youth Day of Service and an Interfaith Festival. As a part of his Eagle Project, he selected four possible work sites that youth volunteers could work at. These sites were the Islamic Center of Rochester (ICR), the Baber African Methodist Episcopal Church (Baber AME), Asbury First United Methodist Church, and Foodlink. He also recruited work site leaders to lead the four different work crews, because he clearly would not be able to be everywhere at all times.

For the Interfaith Festival, he recruited and selected eight faith-based musical groups to perform and 12 community service organizations to have information booths around the stage. On August 10, he split up 30 volunteers into three groups, dropping Foodlink as a work site, and completed the projects at Baber AME, Asbury First and the ICR. Respectively, he created and distributed back to school supply bags, sorted over 100 5-gallon bags of clothing for the Asbury First Storehouse, and did serious landscaping.

Wow.

In addition to now being an Eagle Scout, Andrew is an accomplished trombone player and soccer player.

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The Community Volunteer Fair returns to the Webster Public Library on Wednesday March 15 from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Residents can connect with the following organizations that have volunteer opportunities available in the Webster community:

AutismUp, Challenger Miracle Field, Friends of the Webster Public Library, Friends of Webster Trails, Heritage Christian Services, Hill Haven Nursing and Rehab, Hope Ministry, Maplewood Nursing Home, Never Say Never Foundation, WASP Webster Association of Senior Program Supporters, Webster Arboretum, Webster Central PTSA, Webster Comfort Care Home, Webster Community Chest, Webster Museum and Historical Society.

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The Webster Lions Club’s semi-annual Texas Hold’em Tournament takes place Friday March 31 at 7 p.m. at the Webster Columbus Center, 70 Barrett Drive. Doors will open at 6:30, with the tournament starting promptly at 7. Buy-in is $40 ($45 at the door), and re-buy is $20. There will be a cash bar. All proceeds will be used to support Webster Lions Club charities.

First place winner will receive $500, $150 for second place and $50 for third. ‘

For more information, call 585-234-5480 or email websterlionsclub@gmail.com.

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Pledge not to use the “R-word”

2 Mar

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I missed an important day yesterday. March 1 was officially the day to pledge to Spread the Word, to End the Word.

The “word” is the “R-word,” offensive enough that we don’t even like to write it, let alone say it out loud.  And a few days ago I received an email inviting me to log onto the R-Word.org website  and sign a pledge to stop using the word.

As the website explains,

The R-word is the word ‘retard(ed)’. Why does it hurt? The R-word hurts because it is exclusive. It’s offensive. It’s derogatory.

Our campaign asks people to pledge to stop saying the R-word as a starting point toward creating more accepting attitudes and communities for all people. Language affects attitudes and attitudes affect actions. Pledge today to use respectful, people-first language.

I don’t use the word, and I can also say that I haven’t recently heard anyone else use that word. But I do remember hearing it at least once within the last year, and I recall saying something about it. But I also remember I didn’t do so with as much conviction as I should, because I don’t like personal confrontation.

But I’ve found myself this year working in a school with a large population of children with challenges, and I love them to pieces.  So if I ever hear someone use the R-word again, I will definitely speak up and defend their dignity.

Today more than ever, we need to  stand up for our differently-abled adults and children, and help work toward inclusion instead of division.

You can still sign the pledge here, and visit the website for more information. Plus, check out this great student-made video if you want to get inspired and perhaps even shed a tear.

Thank you to the Edison Best Buddies, Thomas LINK Crew and the YAC and Unified members and players for helping to spread the word.

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Sad news about Sweet Ben

28 Feb

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Last July I wrote an East Extra column about a very special young man, 12-year old Ben Matthews, who was battling cancer. Earlier in the year, doctors had given Ben only weeks to live. His family decided to make the best of the time he had left by renting an RV and taking a cross-country trip to visit family and see the sights.

I met Ben at a lemonade stand he had set up in front of his aunt’s house in Webster. His spirit moved me, and his mother’s positive attitude inspired me. It was a day I will not soon forget.

Sadly, I read today that Ben passed away peacefully Tuesday morning. His aunt Linda wrote on Facebook,

Dear Webster friends, especially those who remember our Sweet Ben and his lemonade stand this past summer, I am so saddened to share this post from my sister-in-law with you: This morning at 1:20 a.m. our Ben ended his time with us here on earth. He will continue to shine in our hearts until we are reunited in the future. Love you always my dear boy.

It is definitely a sad day, but we can take a small bit of comfort in knowing that Ben enjoyed a full life, one more than a year longer than even the doctors had predicted. He brought many smiles to family, friends and the many strangers who crossed his path.

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Boy Scout Troop 110 introduces newest Eagle Scout

13 Feb

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Boy Scout Troop 110, sponsored by St. Martin Lutheran Church in Webster, has announced that Ian Kuebler has earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

Ian’s project involved revamping the back entrance of Holy Trinity Church. During the summer of 2016, he put in new plants (trees and flowers) and replaced the old, outdated plants to make the church look more inviting. Also, the project entailed placing a stone bench for reflection, staining a AC unit fence and washing a retaining wall from mold and dirt. He completed his project last summer with help from 32 volunteers, putting in more than 290 hours.

Ian Kuebler is currently a high honor role senior at Aquinas Institute. He plays ice hockey, lacrosse and golf. In addition, he’s a member of the Principals Club at Aquinas and has earned the Hands of Christ Award.

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