Archive | Neighbors and neighborhoods RSS feed for this section

A heartfelt thank you from the West Webster FD

4 Jan

West Webster Fire District Chief James Deisenroth posted this blog yesterday. If you haven’t seen it yet, I am pleased to share it with you now. I am so very proud to be a part of this community, and proud to call Webster my home.

Thank You Message from Chief Deisenroth

The West Webster Fire District family would like to extend our sincerest appreciation to our loving and caring community. We are enormously overwhelmed with the generosity of each and every one of you and as unbelievably amazing as you have all been, we should not be surprised. We have witnessed the true meanings of honor, community, brother and sisterhood, and family. Our family extends well beyond our firehouse and our community well beyond Webster!

To thank you all for each and every gift of love you have given would be impossible as we are still learning of the many ways people have shown and continue to show their support. You have visited our home with cards, monetary gifts, food and drinks, flowers, candles, teddy bears, plaques, hand-crafted crosses, drawings, and even coffee and treats from Abbott’s. Facebook Groups have been formed by many to show support, share comforting words and pictures, and even arrange for transportation and housing for the funeral services. We notice signs in front yards and we see your flags are lowered. We notice when you tell us to be safe and we know those words hold more weight than anyone could ever explain. We appreciate each and every person who stood outside to watch the funeral processions and every vehicle that stopped on the side of the road. We saw flags waving, people saluting, hands over hearts, and we have seen so many tears. Each and every one of you not only reminded us but also taught us what it truly means to be a strong and loving community.

Brothers and sisters came from all over, including other countries, to pay their respects and to share in our grief. Each and every one of you not only reminded us but also taught us what Brotherhood/Sisterhood truly means.

You have prayed for us and with us and we know that you will continue to pray, as will we.

“Thank you” doesn’t begin to express our appreciation to all of you. Please know that the good you have all shown will always be remembered and cherished by all of us. You have truly honored our brothers!

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the various media outlets for respecting the wishes of the families through this difficult time. We appreciate them working with us to make sure the highest level of respect was shown during all of the events that they attended.

May you all have a safe and happy 2013.

James Deisenroth
District Chief
West Webster Fire District

Lighting up the holidays — and the night sky

20 Dec

Well, we’re finally supposed to get some measurable snow this weekend, so I thought today might be a good day to post my Exceptional Christmas Lights blog.

I did, indeed, go out several days ago in search of awesome outdoor light displays — particularly in search of a few especially nice displays that my readers suggested.  Well, to be more specific, the TWO displays that my readers suggested. (That’s not counting the one my friend Edna in Fairport wants me to go see out there.  “YOU HAVE TO GO TO BEAUMONT!” she wrote. Even wrote it on my Christmas card.) No, the two local displays that readers wrote to me about were on Klem Road just east of Route 250, and on Yorktown Drive just off of Plank Road.

This house is just east of Rt. 250 on Klem Road. I love the frog.

Now, the one on Klem is nice. But nothing can compare to the display that lights up the sky — literally — on Yorktown every year.  I chatted briefly to the homeowner when I was there, who told me that every year he tries to add a new element. This year it was the 6-foot-tall dancing, singing, motion-activated Santa at the end of the driveway. He also installed reflectors on the neighboring lawns to reduce damage from the constant traffic. The display is so well known that it has become a regular stop on senior citizen bus tours;  the owner told me that ten vans came through the night before.

Here are a few photos of individual portions of the display.  But the photos don’t really do it justice, so I also took video. CLICK HERE to see the video.   His back yard is almost as impressive, but I didn’t get any photos of that. If you want to see this one for yourself, Yorktown runs between Plank Road and Creek Street, but the house is closer to the Plank Road end. Just look for the glow.

Click on either of the photos to get a closer look, or click on the link above to see a video.

And I just had to include these photos from our own little village. The lights aren’t nearly as impressive, but I love the snowflakes and the twinkly lights in the trees, and the garland of lights wrapped around the gazebo. Simple and classic, and pure Webster.

Thomas student follows his passion — despite his challenges

10 Dec

D&C photo by Jamie Germano

Today I was going to blog about something rather boring, but instead I’d like to draw your attention to a very nice article in the D&C this morning. It’s about former Webster Thomas High School student Mark Houppert. It’s on the front page of the sports section, or you can click here to read it.

Mark has been struggling with early-onset Parkinson’s disease since he was three years old, but that has not dampened his love of sports — basketball in particular. When I knew him at Thomas, he served as manager for the varsity basketball team. I was pleased to see this morning that as manager of the St. John Fisher basketball team, he is still following his passion.

Once again, you can read the whole story here, and also check out the nice sidebar about when Mark met his basketball hero, Kobe Bryant, back in 2010, courtesy of the Dream Factory.

email me at missyblog@gmail.com

“Like” this blog on Facebook

Webster’s own Justin Bieber?

29 Nov

Now here’s a young man you’re gonna want to keep an eye on.

I found out yesterday that Webster has an up-and-coming blues guitar star in its midst. His name is Jon Dretto, and he’s a Webster Thomas High School freshman.

Jon has been playing guitar since he was 8 years old.  Now just 14, he’s already tucked some impressive gigs under his belt, including the Niagara Falls Blues Festival, where he performed with the Nighthawks and Shrimp Daddy.

Jon’s budding music career got a big boost this month when he was featured in the music classroom magazine In Tune.  The feature was a follow-up to a contest sponsored by the magazine in July, where he won the top prizes: a brand new Paul Reed Smith SE guitar, an SE50 amplifier, and the opportunity to perform at In Tune’s Race to the Stage concert at Watkins Glen Grand Am in August.  In addition to being the opening act, he was also invited to play onstage with the PRS professional band.

Jack Higginbotham of PRS posted on his blog after the event,

Our fourth and final concert for the season featured 14-year old Jon Dretto, who rocked the 10,000+ fans that attended our Watkins Glen concert. Jon joined our PRS band the Rocky Mountain Stoneflies and British Blues phenom Davy Knowles for a few in front of the huge and enthusiastic crowd.

Congratulations, Jon. You’re making Webster proud, and we are all looking forward to following your career.

 

Webster folks doing their part for literacy

8 Nov

Book Festival patrons can take a chance on winning this gorgeous quilt from Altrusa.

Book lovers from all over the state will gather this weekend at MCC for the Rochester Area Children’s Writers and Illustrators Annual Book Festival, and some Webster folks are going to be right in the middle of it.

Those folks are members of the Rochester branch of Altrusa International, a service organization dedicated to promote literacy worldwide.  Webster resident — and Altrusa member — Karen Marquardt has really taken that mission to heart.  Karen has befriended city school librarians and has learned how under-funded they are. To help, she scours public library used book sales, and using Altrusa funds, stocks up on books to donate to city schools. She recently donated more than 800 books to School 42, including 149 which she picked up at the Webster Public Library book sale for just $89.

Altrusa will be hosting a table at Saturday’s book festival, and accepting monetary and book donations to support their city school cause.  They’ll also be raffling off a beautiful quilt; anyone who donates a dollar or a book will receive a raffle ticket.

The Book Festival itself is a book-lover’s wonderland, a full day of author talks, workshops, presentations, activities and story-reading.  Plus there’s all sorts of information and vendor booths. Popular authors including Vivian Vande Velde and Linda Sue Park will be on hand to chat and sign your books.

The Festival runs Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm at Monroe Community College in Brighton. For more information, check out the Rochester Children’s Book Festival website here.

 

News from our Webster Trails Friends

2 Nov

I’m playing catch-up again today.

The photo below was taken at an event which I attended last Saturday at the invitation of the Friends of Webster Trails. It was the Friends’ annual Volunteer Recognition gathering and Open House, held at the Whiting Road Nature Preserve. Its purpose was to celebrate and thank all the volunteers and youth groups who contributed about 3000 hours of hard labor to build and maintain the trails this year.

The photo represents only a fraction of the dedicated volunteers who provide thousands of hours of hard labor every summer creating and maintaining the miles upon miles of beautiful trails that wind through our town.  We owe these folks and all the others not pictured a huge debt of thanks.

(L-R) Rich Morrill, Ron Happ, Buzz Weetman, Larry Yost, Craig Pratt, Dennis Kuhn, Sharon Galbraith, Hal Harris and Judy Harris

This year the Friends opened the second phase of the Green Trail in the northern section of Whiting Road Nature Preserve.  They also oversaw the opening of the Hojack Trail extension through the village. And thanks in large part to some invaluable assistance from the Scouts, the Friends also made tremendous strides in creating and extending the brand new trail system at Four Mile Creek Preserve at Phillips and Lake roads.  Not only that, within the next few weeks the Town Highway Department should be creating a new parking lot at Four Mile Creek, with help from several local contractors who will be donating their services.  The lot will allow access to the trail-head for a .8-mile loop trail and for fishing access to Four Mile Creek.

A special shout-out to these Scouts who contributed greatly to this summer’s efforts:

From Troop 262:

Graham Price built a 20′ bridge and did trail work at Four Mile Creek Preserve
Sam Lewis built three benches, two tables and did trail work at Four Mile Creek Preserve
Andrew Fulkerson built a bench and 24-foot boardwalk, and did trail work at Whiting Road Nature Preserve.
Christopher Peffley built a 40-foot boardwalk and did habitat and trail work at John Ungar Nature Trail
Michael Hohl built three benches and a 16-foot boardwalk, and did trail work at Gosnell Park Big Woods

From Troop 108:

Peter Armbruster, built an 8-foot split-rail fence and did trail work at Whiting Road Nature Preserve
Wes Britton built a kiosk at Gosnell Park Big Woods

From Troop 163: David Brunette built a bench and table and did some weed whacking at Four Mile Creek Preserve

From Troop 363: Will Cobb built a table and did some gravel work at Bird Sanctuary Trail

CHECK OUT THE TRAILS FOR YOURSELF

This weekend is the perfect opportunity for you to check out some of this fine trail work for yourself.

The Friends are hosting a Hike Around Webster Sunday from 10 am to 3 pm. And literally, that’s what’s going to happen. The hike will begin at 10 am at Vosburg Hollow Nature Trail parking lot and for the next 4-5 hours will meander through the Friends’ extensive interconnected trail system.

Wear comfortable foot gear and hiking clothes (layers are good). Bring water and a lunch, Homemade cookies will be provided mid-hike at the lunch break. For details about where the hike will go, and to RSVP, click here.

It looks like we might actually see some sun on Sunday, to celebrate with a great autumn  hike!

 

 

Neighbors helping neighbors

1 Nov

I’ve been meaning for a while now to give a Webster Blog shout-out to one of our community’s greatest assets.

The Webster Community Chest is in the middle of its annual fund-raising drive. You probably received a solicitation in the mail not long ago, and I hope you didn’t toss it in the garbage, because this is an organization which really needs and deserves our support.  And that’s because every penny we put into it comes back to our local community, in so many ways.

Last year, for example, the Webster Community Chest provided emergency food 132 times for families in crisis; distributed 221 holiday food baskets to families who would otherwise have had little to eat; provided 60 children with Christmas gifts; sent 32 children to summer camp; assisted families with rent, RG&E bills, medication and car repairs; and more.

It’s hard to imagine how important these services are if you don’t need them yourself. But needless to say, the Webster Community Chest is a critical lifeline for so many families in our community who have fallen on hard times.

There are several ways you can help.  Slip a check into that envelope you received and give a generous monetary donation. Designate the Community Chest (agency #1469) as a recipient for your United Way contribution, donate new clothes or toys for Christmas gifts, or volunteer you time.

If you tossed that envelope, here’s the address:

Webster Community Chest
1000 Ridge Road
Webster, NY 14580

For more information about how you can help, call (585) 671-2060. Neighbors helping neighbors. That’s what community is all about.

 

An anniversary party to remember

30 Oct

The Barry’s gang, all dressed up for the occasion.

The Village of Webster came together in a big way Saturday night to congratulate Danny and Jessica Barry on a very successful first year of business for Barry’s Old School Irish.

The little pub on the village’s four corners was standing-room only all evening as friends old and new came to lift a pint and help celebrate. Several special guests were also in the crowd, including Mayor Elder and his wife Pam, board member Jude Lancy and “Village Focus” writer Carol Klem.

The reason everyone wanted to be there was simple: Barry’s Old School Irish has done wonders to revitalize this village. Danny and Jessica Barry are not only two of the nicest people I’ve ever met, they have created a place where anyone who comes through the door feels like family. My friend Chris summed it up perfectly when he said, “Coming here has always felt like coming to somebody’s house; somebody’s living room, kitchen.”

Halfway through the evening, several patrons accepted the invitation to come up and tell the Danny and Jessica – and the assembled crowd – what Barry’s has meant to them. After that, the entire pub serenaded the young couple with a song written especially for them.

You can check out videos from both events by clicking on the images below.

Jess and Danny Barry listen as pub patrons tell them exactly what they think of their little pub. (Click on the photo for a video)

Barry’s Crossing performs “The Ballad of Barry’s.” (Click on the photo for a video)

A special tree made even more special

25 Oct

A year ago Tuesday, 11-year old Simon Harris lost his courageous battle with neuroblastoma. Simon was a student at Plank Road North Elementary School, where last May the staff members planted a tree in his memory. (Click here to read my blog about that nice ceremony.)

On Monday, to remember that sad anniversary, Plank North staff members dressed up the tree for Halloween, complete with a Jack-o-lantern sporting a Fedora (Simon’s signature headwear) and notes from his teachers.  They chose to do the decorating on a day with good weather so that Simon’s little brother Manny — who still attends Plank North — would be sure to see it.

Climbing wall fundraising update (Have you bought your bracelet yet?)

22 Oct

I know a lot of my readers have been closely following the story about Bay View YMCA’s efforts to raise funds to replace the climbing tower which was destroyed by arson at the beginning of the summer.  Today I’d like to share an update on those efforts.

The news is very good.  The original fund-raising goal was $100,000. Thanks in part to some very generous anonymous gifts — including two recent donations of $40,000 and $5,000 — Bay View is only $1,000 away from that goal.

Joey Gerrard with his bracelets at the Food Truck Rodeo in September.

The YMCA expects to hold an official press conference soon to announce the overall status of the campaign and present more details about the rebuilding plans.  But we already know that what will rise from the ashes will be more than just a climbing wall, but a much larger, handicap-accessible climbing complex, including a bouldering wall and dual zip line.  And most exciting of all, it will all be ready when the kids return to Camp Bay View next June.

And do you remember Joey Gerrard, the young man who has almost single-handedly raised thousands of dollars by selling bracelets? (See an earlier blog about Joey by clicking here.)  Joey has about 400 bracelets left and is committed to selling them all. Here’s how you can help him do that, and help chip away at that last $1,000.

This Saturday, Joey will have a table at the annual Courage Bowl, which begins at 2 pm at Webster Thomas Varsity football stadium. This is the final game for the YMCA’s All Star Flag Football program, designed for children with special needs. At the Courage Bowl, these kids get a chance to play in the spotlight on a real varsity football field in front of hundreds of fans.

So come by the game, pick up one of Joey’s bracelets for $5, and support both a great cause and some great kids.

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →