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Some more thoughts on the Bay Bridge’s birthday

26 Mar

I’ve said this before, but it always surprises me how many people enjoy my blogs about local history.

Case in point, the recent History Bit piece I wrote about the Irondequoit Bay Bridge. It celebrated a birthday in February, and I commemorated the occasion with a quick look back at when it was built.

Even though I posted it two weeks ago, it continues to get at least a few hits every day, and has received a lot of interesting and amusing comments. I want to thank everyone who chimed in, and would like to share a few of those comments today. (Make sure to read all the way to the end to see the special email I got this morning.)

  • Cindy Frank wrote, “I have pics from construction of the bridge … My dad would drive to Dewitt Rd. and we’d walk down to construction area.” 
  • Ralph Derleth and his grandpa watched from Point Pleasant while carp fishing.
  • Several people report having driven over the bridge before it was officially open. Ralph Derleth, Brian Hegedorn, Tom McCoy, and Don and Judy Herman reportedly it on snowmobiles.
  • George Baker remembers “driving around the barricades of the unopened new bridge and testing the limits of the speedometer of my GTO, more than once.”
  • Linda Abson remembers that her neighbor on Oneida Lake, Bob Patriage, was one of the engineers on the project. He passed away two years ago at age 98.
  • Carol Lindquist posted, “I grew up next to the bridge, my parents took us down to walk on it. One time we took our bikes and I rode my tricycle across it. My mom told me a story: Our first house was on the original Inspiration Point Road which was bought by the state. Our house was put on a trailer and moved all the way across Webster to John Glen Blvd. My mom was driving down the road and had to pull to the side for an oversized load, it was our house! We built a new house in the new Inspiration Pt. Rd.”
  • Nell Herman did some research, and reported, “I Googled the little boy that was taken across the bridge to the hospital. It looks like he became a detective. It looks like he followed in the footsteps of that police officer who made the decision to drive across the bridge.”
  • Dave McKibben sent along this nice story: “My mom told me a funny story of when this was being built… Her grandfather lived close by and would go down to the construction site and “take his tools back.” After realizing he had dementia, the workers would come to his house before their shift to “borrow his tools.” Some would even play along enough to return them after their shift. It was a different time back then…”

Finally, I just heard this morning from Mary Alice Moore, the mother of the little boy with the medical emergency who was transported across the bridge that cold morning. She wrote,

That little boy that was taken across the bridge to save his life was my son, Kevin Lohse. It was one of the scariest days of my life. It happened a couple days after his first birthday. I always checked on him and his sister if I got up in the night. When I checked Kevin he was barely breathing and had a very high temperature. Immediately called 911. His bedroom was upstairs but for some reason my husband carried him downstairs to the dining room table and started giving him mouth to mouth.

The first policeman that arrived minutes after we called almost passed out when he saw Kevin. I think he must have been very young and new on the job. Yes, they made the quick decision to open the barricade to get to Rochester General quickly in order to save his life.

I am convinced that I found Kevin as he was experiencing SDS. We came home from the hospital the same day and he was fine after the temperature came down. Only God knows for sure! Kevin and I participated in the ribbon cutting of the Bay Bridge that summer! Yes in fact Kevin is a detective in Ohio.

Do you have some memories from when the Bay Bridge was built? Add a comment on my blog or on my Facebook post!

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 3/26/2024)

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Neighborhood tradition that began during COVID is still going strong

24 Mar

Those of us fortunate enough to live in Webster know the feeling of community we get from being part of a small town. We wave at our neighbors as we take our walks, hang over the back fence to talk about the news of the day, maybe even organize a block party. But the residents of one Webster neighborhood have taken the idea of neighborliness to a much greater level, with a nightly — and very long-running — happy hour.

The tradition began in March 2020, just as the pandemic was shutting the world down. We were all resigning ourselves to putting our lives, and relationships with our our friends and family members, on hold for the foreseeable future.

That idea didn’t sit well with Jack Turan. He’d heard about how, in small towns all across Italy, residents were opening their shutters, sitting in their windows with their glasses of wine, and singing. The story gave him an idea: how about meeting up with his neighbors, outdoors, to enjoy a beverage and socially-distanced conversation?

That was the evening of March 22, 2020, and the beginning of a nightly tradition in one north Webster neighborhood that has continued every day since.

They call it the neighborhood “Yack with Jack Happy Hour.” Sometimes only two neighbors show up, especially if the weather is iffy. Other evenings it might be as many as 10 or 12. But the nightly streak has been unbroken now for four straight years, and on Sunday afternoon, almost two dozen adults and children gathered at the end of Jack Turan’s driveway to celebrate.

Pizzas on the grill by Jack Turan

Everyone brought a snack to share (there was an abundance of sweets) and someone popped a bottle of champagne for a toast. But that was pretty much all of the officially planned activities for the evening; the rest of the time was spent just like every other night, chatting and laughing with friends and neighbors.

Even after four years, and even though COVID is becoming just a bad memory, there’s absolutely no plans to call an end to the happy hours.

“It will go as long as people want it to go,” Jack said. “There’s times when we say, how long should this go on? Then we look at each other and say, why would we want to end this? … It would be tough if all of a sudden we said, this is our last night.” 

And even after four years, “We still find fun things to talk about,” added Sue Coulon. “I have not been out a night when I haven’t chuckled and laughed.”

Wouldn’t it be great if all had neighbors that would do that for us every night of our lives? 

Jack raises a toast
Duck races — a new tradition? Stay tuned

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 3/24/2024)

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Serving up burgers your way for almost 40 years

23 Mar

It’s not at all unusual to hear about people who’ve been working for the same company for 20, 30 or more years, especially when we talk about Kodak and Xerox. But working for 40 years at Burger King?

That’s the case for one longtime and very loyal employee at the Burger King on Hard Rd. in Webster. If you’re a regular customer there, you most certainly know Gail, or at least would recognize her, because she’s been serving up Whoppers there — and at Burger King’s previous location on Main Street in the village — for almost 40 years.

Gail began her Burger King career in 1977, shortly after she moved from the city to North Penfield with her husband and three children. It was that year her youngest began kindergarten, and she decided she wanted to get a part-time job to fill the time when her kids were in school.

But why Burger King? Simply because “it was available,” she said. “They had a sign out.” Gail was hired as a cashier, and worked there for 23 years, welcoming customers every morning with a smile and a friendly face.

Clearly, the job was a perfect fit. “I love people,” Gail said. “I like the camaraderie, the customers and the great crew.”

When her husband passed away in 1997, life took a turn and she had to leave her beloved position at Burger King for a full-time job as a housekeeping manager at the Fairfield Inn. She worked there for eight years, then spent some time babysitting her grandchildren, until they, also, were all enrolled in school.

It was time to find a part-time job again. Naturally, her first stop was her old home, Burger King. The restaurant had since moved from its Main Street location to Hard Road, but Jen, the manager who had originally hired her, was still there.

“I told her I wanted to come back,” Gail said. “I asked her, would you hire me part-time? That was 15 years ago and here I am again.”

You’ll see Gail behind the front counter 20 to 25 hours a week, mostly in the mornings. “I like the front counter because there’s more interaction with the customers,” she said. “I have my customers and I know what they want. … I like the customers and I love the crew I work with. … It’s fun.”

I asked Gail if she was planning to hang around for a while. She didn’t even have a chance to answer before her manager yelled from across the dining room, “She’s not going anywhere!”

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It’s worth noting that Gail is not the only staff member at our Webster Burger King who’s been there pretty much forever.

Nicolle Barnhart got her first job at the Main St. restaurant in 1987, right out of high school. She began in the kitchen, moved up to cash register and ultimately became restaurant manager for the Webster store. Aside from being moved around to other locations a few times, in 37 years she’s never left Burger King.

“I never thought I was going to do this for a living,” Nicole said. But, she added, working there is like having “another family.”

Sounds like a pretty cool place to work.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 3/23/2024)

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Happy 100th birthday, Frank!

11 Mar

The Webster Recreation Center held a very special birthday party last Thursday afternoon.

Long-time Thursday Webster Rec euchre player Frank Amering celebrated his 100th birthday on March 1, and last Thursday his senior center fellow euchre players and Rec Center staff members threw him a party, complete with balloons, cake and official proclamations.

Frank was born in Rochester on March 1, 1924. He attended Aquinas, where he played football, and then enlisted in the Navy, serving as an engineer on the Catalinas in WWII. He was married to his wife Mary Louis for 71 years before she pssed away six years ago. He worked as an electrician until he was 80 years old, still lives on his own and still drives.

And of course, he joins about 40 to 50 friends to play euchre at the Webster Recreation Center every Thursday.

Webster Supervisor Tom Flaherty and Nick Stefanovic, Director of Monroe County Veteran Services, each presented Frank with a proclamation honoring his life and WWII service. Several servicemen also attended the party, to honor Frank and show their appreciation.

I didn’t chat with Frank for very long — he had a pretty long line of admirers — but as a euchre player myself, I did have to ask him one question: how often does he steal the deal?

He grinned slightly and paused, then politely declined to answer.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 3/11/2024)

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Civil War-era revolver has a Webster connection

5 Feb

Here’s an interesting bit of Civil War history which hails from Western Pennsylvania, but has a direct link to one of our Webster neighbors.

It’s the story of John William Glunt, a farm boy from the tiny borough of Munhall, PA, nestled along the Monongahela River southeast of Pittsburgh. He was born in 1843, and joined the Union Army a few months before he turned 21, part of the 15th Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry.

Pvt. Glunt fought in several skirmishes, including at Wilkesboro, NC, and likely participated in several raiding parties responsible for capturing Confederate railroads and destroying supply trains. He served in the cavalry for eight months, fighting in Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia until he was discharged at the end of the war.

Glunt died during the U.S. Steel strike in 1901 at the age of 57. To this day, his family has stories and photos to remember him by.

But they also have his pistol.

John William Glunt was the great grandfather of Webster resident Dan Glunt, who recently shared with me the story of the Colt 44 that his ancestor carried during the Civil War. It was passed down through generations, a treasured heirloom that was not only admired, but also fired.

Dan remembers,

My father, John H. Glunt, was a metallurgical engineer at U.S. Steel and an amateur gunsmith. I was one of five sons who were taught to shoot and appreciate guns from an early age. With regard to the .44 revolver … we learned how to melt down zinc bars into pumpkin ball ammunition and to grease the cylinder, plus pour black powder down the barrel. We all shot this gun and even hit the target over time.  

The gun eventually wound up in the hands of Dan’s brother Tim, where for many years it mostly collected dust in a closet. Then, in 2016, the brothers got together and decided to donate the piece to the Soldiers and Sailors Hall museum in Pittsburgh.

The museum’s curator, Michael Kraus, remembers the donation well, even after all these years.

It was a “very generous donation,” he said. “We were excited about it because it was an identified piece from the Civil War. To find one that’s identified to an individual, and to know where he was and traveled, it’s pretty amazing. It helps us interpret. It’s not just a gun, it’s something real that someone carried.”

Kraus also said that the gun was “pretty high-tech” for the day, accurate for up to 50 yards. It’s what’s called a “percussion weapon,” meaning that each cylinder had to be individually filled with powder and a ball. It had to be reloaded after five or six shots. It was the museum’s first Colt 44 with a traceable history.

Many thanks to the Glunt family for helping preserve this interesting and important piece of our nation’s history.

Read more about the Soldiers & Sailors museum and its collections at soldiersandsailorshall.org.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 2/5/2024)

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A heartfelt thank you from the “Truck Parade” birthday girl!

3 Feb

Today I’m pleased to bring you one more blog about the truck parade held a week ago in honor of 88-year old Ruth Childs.

The parade was inspired by a single Facebook post, in which Ruth’s daughter Bonnie asked if anyone knew who drives the “long white truck with a lot of lights” that goes past Ruth’s apartment window every evening. She was hoping the driver could flash their lights and beep their horn on Friday night, Ruth’s birthday.

You can read the whole story here about how the resulting truck parade turned out, but simply said, it was an incredible outpouring of Webster community love that brought Ruth to tears. It came to her as a complete surprise, and she wanted to make sure to express her thanks.

“I did not know what my daughter had done,” Ruth said. “She just told me there was going to be a surprise. I had no idea until we had to get outside and start waving.”

I just wanted to thank all of the people that were involved, who came to wish somebody happy birthday that they didn’t even know. I thank them for giving up their evening, because once you work all day, especially on Friday, you just want to go home and do your own thing. I thought it was just wonderful and I was overwhelmed.

It was the best birthday ever.

Her daughter Bonnie was also extremely grateful for the outpouring of support, writing,

The effort put forth to make a complete stranger so happy was beyond heartwarming. When they sang Happy Birthday I don’t think there was a dry eye. I think it was a morale booster for the entire community!

Just reading the Facebook comments is evidence that we are all looking for the good that exists in the world and Webster has proven to be a shining star. I challenge you to find any post with more than 200 comments and  ZERO negative remarks. That’s when you know something special is happening! 

We live in an amazing community.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 2/3/2024)

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Gathering Place Webster: a place for adults and kids to volunteer together

29 Jan

Earlier this month I posted a blog spotlighting the many organizations in Webster which offer ways for people to give back to their community through volunteering.

I’ve been surprised by how many people commented that they’re looking for something they could do as a family. So I thought I’d highlight a few organizations which really stood out to me as offering volunteer opportunities for both young and old.

The first of those is Gathering Place Webster. Operating out of the community room at the United Church of Christ on Klem Rd., Gathering Place Webster offers a wide variety of easy and accessible community service opportunities, like filling diaper bags for moms in need, making bag lunches for the chronically homeless, and to making “COZY bags” for kids and teens at the homeless shelter. What’s really neat about all these projects, however, is that not only can very young children get involved, but each one is specifically designed so that children of all ages can participate.

Gathering Place director Wendy Lesko explained, “We started this so that young families could get their kids started volunteering early … to show families with children how they can do community service from diapers all the way up; start teaching them when they’re young.”

Even though the organization is located within the United Church of Christ, it’s not officially affiliated with the church, and receives no funding from the UCC. It’s a completely separate 501c3 which rents space from the church.

Basically, Lesko explained, “the church made room for the Gathering Place to exist.”

We call it Gathering Place so that we could try to have nonreligious programming that would be comfortable for non-church people to come and participate in. … We don’t want people to think they can’t do community service because they don’t belong to a church.

Families interested in finding out more Webster are invited to attend the group’s next Community Service Sampler on Saturday Feb. 3 at 10 a.m. at UCC Webster, 570 Klem Rd. Participants can choose among a dozen different projects spread out on large tables set up around the church’s community room. Each table will include the project description, the agency it serves, the agency’s contact information, and step-by-step instructions on how to assemble the project. You can choose which project you’d like to work on, or stop by all the tables to sample the many different ways you can serve your community.

Here’s a quick look at all of the projects:

  • Bag Lunch Outreach: make 80 bag lunches to feed Rochester’s chronically homeless
  • Purse Project: fill purses with care items for women in need
  • Snack Bags for Baber: fill snack bags for the guests of the Baber hot lunch program
  • Buddy Bags: fill grocery bags with kid-friendly groceries
  • You for Youth Cozy Bags: fill drawstring bags with items for unhomed kids and teens (like socks, stuffed animals, blankets) to help them create a cozy space
  • You for Youth Backpacks: fill backpacks with care items for teens like a journal, Chapstick, lotion, socks
  • Care Kits: fill bags with personal hygiene items for people in need
  • Care Kits for Women: fill bags with personal hygiene items for women in need
  • Diaper Bag Project: fill diaper bags with baby items for women in need
  • Birthday Kits: create birthday kits with items to help struggling families celebrate
  • Warm Fuzzy Blanket program: make fleece blankets to be given to kids/teens having a hard time
  • Happy Birthday Cha Cha Cha: wrap birthday gifts to be distributed to kids via the RCSD

The event has plenty of easy ways for very young children to help out, too, like coloring lunch bags or making personalized notes to include in each kit. And if the kids get tired, they can go off in the corner of the room and play while moms and dads continue to work.

“It’s a social thing as well,” Lesko said. “Moms and dads are chatting and connecting with each other in community, while their kids are safely doing a community service project just steps away from them. It’s a dream come true.”

What a great way to get kids involved in our community in a fun way, and get them used to the idea that giving back and helping others is not only the right thing to do, but just feels good. Teaching responsibility and compassion today will go a long way towards raising responsible and compassionate adults. Not to mention we’re helping those in our community who need help the most.

Basically it’s a win/win for everybody.

The Community Service Sampler is this Saturday Feb. 3, beginning at 10 a.m. at United Church of Christ Webster, 570 Klem Rd. To read out more about Gathering Place Webster, visit their website here or Facebook page here.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 1/30/2024)

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Truck parade offered some heartwarming surprises

28 Jan

It was a cold, spitty evening, but the much-anticipated tow truck parade held Friday night went off (you could say) without a hitch.

The parade was held in honor of 88-year old Ruth Childs, who had come to enjoy seeing the same truck pass by her Holt Rd. apartment window around the same time every evening. She described it as a “long white truck with a lot of lights.” Her daughter Bonnie Smorol shared Ruth’s story on Facebook, asking if anyone knew who the truck driver was, so perhaps on her birthday Friday night, he (or she) could flash their lights and beep the horn. (Read the whole story on the blog I wrote.)

Of course, the Webster community being what it is, that simple request turned into a full-blown truck parade as one company after another offered to help celebrate Ruth’s birthday in a big way.

By last week, at least seven companies from all around Rochester had joined the call. Last Friday night at 6:30 p.m., they met on the south end of the Wegmans parking lot, and by the time they’d all arrived, almost two dozen tow trucks, flatbed trailers, utility vehicles, pickup trucks and even a few SUVs, were lined up and ready to roll, led by two Webster police cars and trailed by a WVFD firetruck.

I’m not sure about everyone else, but I thought the trucks were simply going to drive by Ruth’s Legends at North Ponds apartment along Holt Rd., much like the “long white truck” does every evening. But the truckers had other ideas.

Ruth — who was wearing a birthday tiara and grasping a beautiful bouquet of flowers — knew something was going to happen, but didn’t know what. She was waiting outside the Legends lobby, looking adorable with a birthday tiara and a bouquet of flowers, accompanied by her daughter Bonnie, several other family members, friends and Legends residents.

After pausing at the Legends driveway to make sure everyone was assembled, one by one, each truck pulled right into the circle driveway in front of the apartment complex. Then every driver climbed down from their trucks, gathered around Ruth and sang Happy Birthday.

It was a touching moment that brought Ruth to tears. She shook hands with several of the drivers, one even offering to take her for a tow truck ride some day. Unfortunately, the “long white truck” driver is still a mystery, but I think everyone else made up for it. It was an amazing outpouring of community support, and a great example of how people can make a difference when they work together. It made me proud to say I live in Webster.

I’ve posted a few photos and the video here, but you can see a larger collection in this gallery. A huge thank you to Jet Thomas for sending me some of his photos and video. Channel 10 was there as well, and posted this really nice story. I especially like hearing the reaction from the studio crew in the background when it ran.

Thank you to the truck companies and drivers who made this happen, to Rachael Davey from Ricci and Sons Towing for pulling it all together.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 1/28/2024)

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Carriage block follow-up

22 Jan

I’m always a bit surprised and pleased to see how many of my readers seem to be very interested in our local history. My recent History Bit about carriage blocks was the most recent example of that. I’ve received a lot of “likes” on the Facebook posts about them, and many comments. And what’s been especially cool is that several people actually were able to add to our knowledge of Webster carriage blocks, point out a few which I’m not sure even the Webster Museum knew about.

In that original post from about a week ago, I highlighted the three blocks I knew about then — one on Corning Park in the village, another in front of the Holt Homestead at 757 Holt Rd., and a third in front of 394 Phillips Rd. Thanks to my readers, I’ve since learned about three others.

The first of the three is the smallest, basically no more than a small cement block adjacent to the driveway entrance way of 183 East Main St., in the Village of Webster. Jeannette Chambers, the home’s former owner, wrote, “We always had fun as kids jumping from it or standing on the step pretending to be the doorman. You couldn’t park under the portico because your front door driver side would hit the step.” The house was built in 1917, so it probably dates to then.

The second has been a bit more elusive. I’m told there’s a carriage block at 1319 Lake Rd., just east of Mama Lor’s Restaurant, tucked back on the property, adjacent to a fence. I went by there to see if I could find it and photograph it, but couldn’t locate it. Stay tuned if you’re interested in learning more about that one. (update: I’ve since learned that the home’s owners recently did some landscaping and have removed that small piece of Webster history.)

This third one is the most interesting. It’s not a concrete block, but instead a fancy cast-iron step that sits in front of the home at 1771 Lake Rd. It sports not only two steps, but a decorative hitching post as well (or, as one reader suggested, it might be a grab bar). It’s marked with dates from the late 1800s.

Thank you to everyone who chimed in to let us all know about these treasured pieces of Webster’s history. Webster’s carriage steps collection is a great illustration of how different they can be.

If you know of any others in town, please let me know!

And now, a history riddle

Piggybacking this little bit of Webster history, I bring you a plea from the owner of one of Webster’s oldest and finest homes, the Whiting home at 351 Holt Rd.

The property’s current owner, Tom and Gwen Wiederhold, are trying to dig up old photos of their home. Tom writes that he knows there are still Bowman and Whiting families in the area but doesn’t know how to contact them. He reached out to me to help spread the word and see if any of my readers can help. If you can, please email Tom at thomaswiederhold@ymail.com

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 1/22/2024)

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Community truck parade will surprise 88-year old on her birthday, and you’re invited

20 Jan

Once again, the Webster community has come together in a big way to help out a neighbor, this time making sure a sweet 88-year old lady gets a birthday gift she’ll never forget.

This heartwarming story began when Bonnie Smorol posed a simple plea on the Webster Neighbors Facebook page:

This is a VERY random post and I’m not crazy, but here goes. My elderly mother lives in Webster and every night she watches for the white (maybe) flatbed truck with “tons of lights on it” which heads north on Holt usually around 7:30 p.m. She calls it “her truck.” I’ve been hearing about “her truck” for years now.

Her 88th birthday is the end of this month and if I could get the driver to even just flash the lights as they drive by on her birthday she would be overjoyed!

The response from the Webster community was immediate and overwhelming. In the days following that post, it was “liked” more than 900 times, shared more than 400 times and garnered 272 comments, every single one of them cheering for the possibility of finding that white-ish truck. But even beyond that, one trucking company after another chimed in. Before long, that one-truck search had blossomed into a multi-truck spectacle.

Rachael Davey, a tow truck driver for Ricci and Sons Towing, has taken the lead in organizing what has now become dozens of participants in what she’s calling a “Parade of Lights.” She told me that at least four other trucking companies will be taking part — AP Enterprises, Barth Towing, Glen and Sons Towing and Aarango Towing — most of whom will be bringing two or three or more trucks each. Several others have expressed interest, including Roze Property Care, Glen & Sons Towing, Greasy Monkey Towing and Todd’s Towing. So it’s going to be a BIG group. And best of all, they’ll all be escorted by Webster Police cars with lights flashing.

In total, 20 or more professional trucking company vehicles (that we know of) will be parading by Ruth’s window the evening of her birthday, Friday Jan. 26. My bet is that many, many more than 20 vehicles will show up, giving Ruth what will undoubtedly be a very memorable 88th birthday present.

Unfortunately, so far no one’s been able to identify who’s driving that white flat-bed truck that passes by Ruth’s apartment every evening and prompted this outpouring of love. But almost certainly, all of the other trucks — and cars and SUVs and pickups — will more than make up for it.

As for Bonnie, she’s been blown away by the response. She wrote,

I am completely overwhelmed by the heartfelt response to my search for that one particular truck that has made such an impression on my mom, especially during COVID when she was quarantined in her small apartment that faced Holt Rd. I don’t think people realize they might be making a difference in someone’s life and they never even know it! 

My faith in humanity has been restored. It seems you only hear about the bad things that are happening in the world but it’s amazing to know there are so many kind, thoughtful, caring people living among us who are willing to make a stranger happy! They even want to know what size sweatshirt she wears! 

I knew the people of Webster were awesome but I had no idea it was such a tight and giving community. … It’s beyond heartwarming to know there are so many people who truly just want to reach out in kindness. My heart has grown two sizes.

JOIN THE PARTY! Community participation is more than welcome and encouraged!!

If you’d like to participate in the Parade of Lights with your car or truck, plan to meet up with the rest of the drivers in the Holt Rd. Wegmans parking lot at 6:30 p.m. on Friday Jan. 26. Everyone will line up and leave from there, parading north along Holt Rd. past Ruth’s apartment in the Legends at North Ponds. (P.S. at least one television station said they were going to try to be there, too.)

Let’s show everyone what a loving community Webster is.

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(posted 1/20/2024)

 

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