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Pub full of new Webster friends help the Barrys celebrate

22 May

Hubby and and I had a terrific time Sunday afternoon at a surprise baby shower for Jessica Barry of Barry’s Old School Irish at Webster’s four corners. She and her husband Danny are expecting their first child in July, so naturally, friends and family had to throw her a shower.

Jessica was taken completely by surprise, which made the event a whole lot more fun. She thought she was going out to dinner at Sticky Lips with Danny and some other family members. But first, they stopped by the pub. It’s normally closed at that time of day, so she was a bit confused by the balloons and patio table decorations. She caught on pretty fast, though, when they pulled up in front and she saw family and friends spilling out the door to greet her.

Jessica and Danny Barry with a few of their gifts.

Baby showers are always fun affairs, but this one was particularly neat for one main reason: It was less than a year ago that Danny and Jessica Barry came to town to open up their new business.  Nobody knew who they were, just a couple of kids trying to start up another bar. One with a bakery attached, no less. (Go figure.)

Now, a mere nine months later, their little place was overflowing with Webster people who have come to know and love them.

Just a small sampling of the Barrys’ new friends who came out to celebrate.

The Wednesday afternoon gang was there, the Friday night regulars, and the Saturday night crowd. Debbie and Pat Bush from Webster Hots brought a whole tray of Jessica’s favorite chocolate chip brownies, and Mike Broikou from the Goodie Shop brought one of his incredible five-layer ice cream cakes.

It’s not often you see this kind of affection shown to pub owners by their patrons and fellow business owners. But that’s the kind of place Barry’s is, and that’s the kind of people the Barrys are. These kids aren’t just pub owners — they’re family.

P.S.  It seems like ages ago, but do you remember how ugly and embarrassing that southwest village corner was for years? Then Barry’s Old School Irish moved in and immediately improved it with a nice iron fence and patio seating. This summer Danny and Jessica have added some very nice gardens. Now it’s a corner Webster can be proud of.

Before. Ugly.

And now. Beautiful.

Webster Cadettes earn silver

21 May

Congratulations to these young ladies from Webster Cadette Troop 60434, who received their prestigious Girl Scout Silver Award on Friday, May 4th.  They’re all sixth graders at Spry Middle School.  (Thanks to Deb Hill for passing along the news!)

(L-R) Hannah Ippolito, Ryan Morency, Rachel Hill, Annika Schouten, Kaylee Gibb, Meaghan Gartland, and Alyssa Zaft

Bay Bridge construction means major headaches

11 May

Get ready for some major traffic hassles this summer.

Word has come down from the NYS Department of Transportation that the Irondequoit Bay Bridge will be closed for several weekends this summer to complete a $14.1 million renovation project.

We haven’t yet been told exactly when it will be happening, but what we do know is this: the closures will take place on four weekends, twice in each direction, sometime between June and October, from 8 pm Friday through Sunday evening.

The good news is that only one direction will be closed at a time, and the other direction will flow normally. Bad news is, the work will still displace about 30,000 vehicles each weekend day. That’s 30,000 more vehicles that will be shunted onto Empire Blvd between Bay Road and the 590 on-ramps.

Boy, THAT’S gonna be fun.

Click here to read the D&C article for more information and Supervisor Ron Nesbitt’s reaction.

 

 

Fate of village water decided — at least for now

11 May

A battle royale brewing this week over the future of the Webster Village water supply seemed to fizzle out a bit at last night’s Village Board meeting.

At issue is the quality of the village’s water supply and what — if anything — should be done about it. On one side of the argument is a vocal group of residents called Webster Village Residents for Monroe County Water. At a community meeting earlier this week, the group presented its position that village water is not only caustic, but downright unhealthy, and the village should make the switch to service from the Monroe County Water Authority (MCWA). On the other side is the Webster Village Board, which appeared poised to authorize a controversial reverse osmosis water softening system.

The issue was expected to come to a head at last night’s Village Board meeting, when Mayor Peter Elder and the village trustees were planning to take a final vote. About 30 people in the audience waited patiently through several procedural matters, noticeably perking up a bit when the discussion finally came around to water. Everyone was curious to see what the final verdict would be: reverse osmosis or MCWA.

Two resolutions were presented. The first authorized the board to contract with MCWA to provide village water. The second authorized the village to bond out a reverse osmosis system. Neither resolution was approved. (Read today’s Democrat and Chronicle article about the meeting here.)

So in the end, after more than two years of surveys and studies, meetings and public comments, the board decided to do nothing. At least for now, village residents will continue to get their water from the village, from the Dewitt Road well fields, from the Irondo-Genesee aquifer.

I think the non-vote came as somewhat of a surprise to many in the audience (including myself) who really expected the board to press forward with the reverse osmosis plan. Not having to fight tooth-and-nail against RO was a victory for the Webster Village Residents group. But the village’s decision to keep the status quo fell short of the group’s ultimate goal of ditching the wells and switching to Monroe County water.

After the meeting, Webster Village Residents representative John Cahill admitted he didn’t really know what the group’s next step would be. But he made it clear they would continue to fight the fight, and try to convince village leaders to do what they say most village residents really want:  switch to Monroe County water.

It’s a fight they pledge to take all the way to next March’s village elections, if they need to.

 

Silver Woods now developing … garbage?

29 Apr

My husband and I were taking our after-dinner stroll through the neighborhood last night when we came across this pile of garbage alongside the road:

What was interesting about this pile was it was deposited nowhere near any residence, but in a common green space at the entrance to the Silver Woods development off of Hatch Road.  I asked a passing neighbor about it, who said she first saw it there on Friday.  As of this morning, when I took these photos, it was still there.

So here are my questions: Did some inconsiderate blockhead dump it there because they missed their own garbage pick-up day? I prefer to think that maybe someone had cleaned up the nearby woodlot and left the results there to be picked up. You’d think that whoever had agreed to do that (Silver Woods management?) would have done so by now.

Whichever the case, whoever is responsible for that land (Silver Woods management?) should get on the ball and pick up the garbage. If I lived across the street from it, I’d be rather annoyed.

email me at missyblog@gmail.com

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