This is the latest in my on-again, off-again series of Bygone Blogs, in which I’m re-posting some of my favorite blogs from the last 18 years.
This was an amusing little interlude which made me chuckle so much I just had to write about it. It was originally published on November 26, 2012.
Why did the goose cross the road?
I saw the most amusing little scene play itself out yesterday afternoon. As I was driving home from Thomas High School on Publisher’s Parkway, I passed a flock of about 30 Canada geese gathered on the north side of the road. To a goose, they were all peering at the roadway, and standing very still on the grass, a safe distance from the passing traffic.
Well, not quite all of them. One solitary goose was inching his (her?) way closer and closer to the road. As I drove slowly past, I watched him creep every so slowly onto the shoulder, while the rest of the flock stood and watched.
I was hooked. I just HAD to see how this was going to play out. So I pulled off to the side of the road to see what was going to happen next.
Step by step, the goose waddled tentatively into the roadway. For almost a minute, he was close enough to the roadside that drivers just went around him. But at long last, the goose had made his way to the middle of the road, effectively stopping traffic.
Then, and only then, did the rest of the flock start across.
I didn’t hang around long enough to see if all the other geese gave their brave friend a high five or slap on the back. But as I drove away, I did wonder how that poor sap had landed such a dangerous mission. Did he volunteer? Maybe he pulled the short straw. Perhaps it was some sort of goose gang initiation. Or maybe a Birda Poopa Epsilon fraternity hazing.
Or maybe, just like all of us after a long day of work, they just wanted to have a little fun. So they decided to play a game of … you guessed it … chicken.
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(posted 8/4/2026)
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For some people, running is a natural passion, a non-negotiable part of their daily routine. For others (like me) it takes a concrete goal just to lace up the sneakers. Two Webster women found a creative way to bridge that gap, doing something that fills both buckets.
Karen Seidel and Angela Oldfield have been running buddies ever since meeting through a Webster Women Runners Facebook group about eight years ago. They meet several times a week somewhere in town and run various distances.
In early 2024, Karen saw a story on the television news that intrigued her. It told of a woman who walked every street in Monroe County. “I knew I didn’t want to do that,” she remembered, “but I started thinking about a goal we could achieve that was not running a marathon, or even half marathon. We could get a map of the Town of Webster and run every street.”
Having set the goal (and getting Angela on board), the first step was to plot the routes. Using a detailed map she secured from Town Hall, plus Google Maps and a program called OntheGoMap.com, Karen starting planning, driving the routes to check details like the route’s distance, where to park, street lights, traffic density, shoulder width and more.
On July 23, 2024, they set their plan in motion with their first run from Dewitt Road Elementary School, guided by directions Karen had written on a 3″ x 5″ card she kept in her pocket.
They started incorporating their goal into their regular routine, eventually shifting the “run every street” runs to the daytime for safety. This also allowed them to actually see the neighborhoods they were running through, which was a major part of their original plan. Every time they completed a route, Karen would color it in on the huge map.
As you can imagine, Karen and Angela learned quite a bit about our little town in their travels. They noticed, for example, that lots of Webster residents own campers and RVs, people are very supportive of the Marching Band bottle and can drive, there are a LOT of deer (and the occasional skunk and horse), and you can smell donuts baking when you run by the cider mills. Most importantly, though, they learned that Webster is a very friendly town. Fellow runners always waved and made a comment about the weather, and one homeowner even let them use her bathroom.
They also discovered some gorgeous neighborhoods. Among their favorites were the Herman Rd. neighborhood, Inspiration Point, and The Bluffs on the west side of the bay.
In general, the whole project went very smoothly, but there were a few hiccups and difficulties. Like last October when they were planning to run six and a half miles, but got talking and forgot to turn around, so they ended up running nine miles instead. Also, running along Empire Blvd. between Five Mile Line and the AMC Theater was “not ideal.”
“We ran those areas early in the morning when there was no traffic,” Karen remembered. Pre-sunrise darkness, heavy rains and blistering heat were other challenges they needed to overcome — or endure.
Are you wondering if they ran down your street during their quest? They got that question a lot.
“When we told people what we were doing (such as dog-walkers or passers-by),” Karen said, “they inevitably started listing street names they knew and asking us if we had run them. The answer is yes.”
Ultimately, the entire project was a journey of discovery on several levels.
“Overall,” Karen said, “we learned so much about our beloved town. We learned there are beautiful trees and gardens all over Webster. There are all kinds of neighborhoods, dog-walkers, and people who sit on their porch drinking coffee and waving hello.” But they also learned how the power of friendship can help you meet a goal and work through life’s challenges together.
“Some of my favorite runs didn’t necessarily have to do with the place we were running,” Angela said. “It was the conversation. Karen and I have helped each other through highs and lows of life. We’ve given each other advice, we’ve supported each other by listening, and have NEVER once canceled on each other.”
At the finish lineFamily and friends welcomed them Highlighting the final route
On Saturday morning, July 25, almost exactly two years after they began their quest, Angela and Karen completed the last of their “run every street” runs. It was a 6.4-mile route that took them through the village and along the Rt. 104 bike path, ending by Village Bakery. Several runner friends joined them and family members met them at the finish line to congratulate them on their incredible achievement.
In total, Karen and Angela ran 89 different routes and more than 476 miles. And while they’re not planning another grand adventure like this anytime soon, they are planning to repeat some of their favorite routes in the future.
“We feel great,” Karen said, and “we got to know our town really well.”
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Perhaps the most rewarding part of writing this blog is watching how it connects our community. Today I have a follow-up to one of my recent posts which is a perfect example.
A little more than two weeks ago I posted a blog titled “History in a cigar box.” It described a treasure trove of information about the veterans buried in our Webster cemeteries, which had been found in a cigar box in a storage room at the American Legion. On more than 150 small notebook pages, someone had meticulously recorded, in hand-written notes, each veteran’s name, personal details, which cemetery he is buried in, and what lot number. Most of them also included much more information, including the soldier’s rank, war(s) and battles he fought in, enlistment and discharge dates, even his commanding officer’s name. No one seemed to know who had gathered all that information and kept such detailed records, or why.
A few days after I posted the blog, it was re-printed in the Webster Herald as my History Bit, which I write monthly for the Webster Museum. The photo which accompanied both the blog and the Herald article was the one you see above, with the cigar box and a soldier’s photo.
Just a few days after that, I received this email from Janice Smith, which cleared up one of the mysteries:
Your story on page one of the Herald shows my dad Harry Brewer. And I’m about 99.8% sure that it was him who collected the notes about Webster soldiers. He ran his own gas station on Empire at Plank Rd., and he saved everything. He had at least 25 empty cigar boxes upon his death (he sold cigars, never threw out anything). He was a dedicated member of the Legion for 67 years.
Also, the photo on page three shows the kind of little flip-page note book he used to record credit purchases in for his best customers. At the end of each month he’d tally up each customer’s charges and write them a statement and mail it to them. That’s some of his handwriting.
I connected Janice with Cherie Wood, the current caretaker of the pages. About a week ago, we all met at the Webster Library so Janice could look through her father’s old records and hopefully shed some light on why he created them.
Her father, she remembered, was very interested in genealogy and in his Webster neighbors. He grew up on East Main Street in the village, and even as a teenager would sit at his uncle’s gas station at the corner of Empire and Plank, and listen to the men talk and tell stories. Later, when he owned the station, he started writing those stories down on his little notepad.
“He was curious,” Janice said. “I can remember sitting in the station when he was talking with someone whose grandfather had been in the wars, and was writing notes about them.” And he clearly kept adding to his records as he learned more; on some of the pages, subsequent notes are written with different pens, and often there was so much information it flowed onto the back of the page. Like the one soldier who fought in 18 Civil War battles, each one listed individually, and was present at Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.
Janice also added a very interesting footnote to the story of Sylvester Brewer, whom I mentioned briefly in the original blog.
Sylvester — Harry Brewer’s distant cousin — was taken prisoner at Spotsylvania during the Civil War and spent three months in the infamous Andersonville prison in Georgia. He survived his imprisonment, and upon his release, traveled by foot all the way home to Webster. Janice estimates it took him about three months. When he got home, he walked into the West Webster Hotel (where the Jade Palace is now) where his father was bartending. Sylvester was so emaciated from the war, imprisonment and long trip home that his father didn’t even recognize him.
Why Brewer was keeping the records is still not clear. But the fact that the pages record exactly where each veteran’s gave is located seems to indicate they were referenced when the American Legion placed flags every Memorial Day.
“I think he was involved in placing the flags,” Janice said. “He was always involved in decorating (the graves).”
Whatever the reason Harry Brewer decided to fill his little notebook with details about our local veterans, we owe him a huge debt of gratitude. His curiosity, connection with the Webster community, and his passion for collecting stories have enriched our knowledge and helped us remember and honor our fallen heroes.
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(posted 6/27/2026)
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If you’re an Irish musician and you live in or near Rochester, chances are good you were at a party up at Webster Park on Saturday the 13th.
The occasion was the annual “Stand Around and Play Some Tunes” gathering, at which musicians of all kinds are invited to … well, stand around and play. The event was begun perhaps 40 years ago by well-known local Irish musician Lynn Pilaroscia, an invitation for his musician friends (whether Irish, folk, bluegrass or others) to hang out together, enjoy some food and drink, and play some tunes.
When everything really got going, it was quite a treat for the eyes and ears. At any one moment during the afternoon you might see anywhere from four to seven small groups of musicians, each in a different corner of the White House property — the front porch, the back porch, under a tree, in the main room — jamming. No matter where you were, music surrounded you: bluegrass, waltzes, folk tunes, and traditional Irish jigs, reels and ballads. And the variety of instruments was always astounding: flutes, concertinas, banjos, guitars, string basses, mandolins, accordions, tin whistles, bodhrans, and lots of fiddles.
Thanks to our significant involvement in the Rochester Irish community back in the 1990s, my husband and I knew Lynn well and attended many Stand Around and Play gatherings. It was a great chance to visit with old and new friends from the Irish community and listen to some trad Irish tunes. My favorite memory is when my son Sean — who at 5 years old was inspired by Joe Dady to take up the fiddle — actually got to chat with Joe at one of these parties, and play his fiddle.
Around 2014, Lynn decided to take a break from the parties, in large part because his friend who had done all the grilling wasn’t able to do it anymore. For a long while, the event was forgotten. Lynn passed away in July, 2024 before resurrecting the annual musical gathering.
But last year, and again this year, thanks to the efforts of John Michael Ryan, Jonathan Kyle, and Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, the Rochester Irish Musician’s Association, Stand Around and Play returned to the White House. Once again, music of all kinds filled the air from all corners of the building (mostly indoors this year since it rained buckets that Saturday). Perhaps because of the threat of nasty weather, attendance was down. But organizers are hoping that in the years to come, the event will continue to grow again, and Lynn’s dream is rekindled, bringing musicians together to do what they love most: play music.
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(posted 6/25/2026)
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You know those whimsical skeletons that show up occasionally at the corner of Holt Rd. and Klem? They’re the ones that were riding bicycles last Halloween and were dressed as Santa and Mrs. Claus at Christmas. Well, they’re at it again. This time, the display honors the graduating class of 2026.
Right now, the three skeletons propped up in the yard are all wearing graduation gowns and clutching diplomas, just in time for the Webster Schroeder and Webster Thomas high school graduations ceremonies scheduled coming up in the next several days.
The banner above the skeletons congratulates all the 2026 grads, but the skeletons themselves are dressed especially in honor of Ryan Moorman, grandson of George and Melissa Baker, who own the house, and his two cousins, Nora Curry and Tyler Martin. Ryan will be graduating from Schroeder on June 18 and Nora and Tyler from Thomas on June 23.
By the way, before they changed into their graduation gowns, the skeletons were dressed to represent the graduates themselves.
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(posted 6/14/2026)
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This Memorial Day weekend, almost two dozen restaurants throughout Webster and the Greater Rochester area are joining an effort to honor and remember veterans who never made it back home.
It’s a project called “White Tables Across America.” In each participating restaurant, a single, small, empty table is tucked in an area apart from the main dining area. It’s set for one, symbolizing that someone is missing from our lives — a fallen service member, POW or MIA.
The table is covered with a white tablecloth, signifying the purity of the service member’s emotions when answering the call to serve. In addition to a normal table setting, on top of the table are placed:
a single red rose, symbolizing the blood shed to ensure America’s freedom
a yellow ribbon tied around the vase, representing a demand for proper accounting of those who are not with us today
a lemon slice, reminding us of a captured soldier’s bitter fate
a black napkin, representing the sorrow of captivity
grains of salt on the plate, representing the countless fallen tears of families as they wait
an inverted glass, because they can’t toast with us
a white candle, for the hope that all our missing will return someday.
Finally, an empty chair is placed next to the table, a seat that remains unclaimed. Fully arranged, the table is a simple, yet powerful symbol of remembrance, each element representing the physical and emotional burden of a soldier’s absence.
These small memorials — also known as Fallen Comrade Tables or Missing Man Tables — can often be found at various military facilities, museums, veterans’ agencies, public events and civic spaces. Here in Rochester, though, the effort has become more organized, thanks to the efforts of Brockport resident Sarah Fisher and her five-year old son Brax.
Sarah explained how she decided to get involved.
Last Memorial Day, I felt it was the right time to begin having age-appropriate conversations with Brax about the true meaning behind our federal military holidays. Memorial Day is more than a day off from school or a holiday picnic. It is a day to remember and honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
As part of a Memorial Day homeschool lesson plan I created for Brax, we set up a symbolic POW/MIA White Table in our home. Afterward, I thought: why not bring this tribute into our community? That would offer patrons a safe place to pause, reflect, and hold fallen service members and their families in their hearts.
So she reached out to several west-side restaurants to see if they’d be interested in hosting a table, and ultimately set up three White Tables last Memorial Day, then five on Veterans Day. That number grew even larger this year, with 21 restaurants participating across the Rochester area. Here in Webster/Penfield, those include the Mary Wee Pub, Proietti’s, Cobblestone on Main and Flaherty’s. Even if they were a bit short on space, they made room for a table.
At the Mary Wee, for example, Mark Petzing noted, “We don’t have a lot of space here, but we’ll make room for their table. Because some things are more important.”
Brax arranging the White Table at the Mary Wee PubThe completed table
Sarah calls their mission White Tables Across Rochester, and she hopes to continue adding more restaurants every year. Beyond the restaurant displays themselves, Sarah’s also developed mini-homeschool lesson kits tailored for children of different ages. Participating families are paired with a local establishment to help set up their display to generalize their learning and give back to the military community.
“Our hope is to encourage meaningful conversations, foster community involvement, and help younger generations better understand the sacrifices made by our service members and their families,” she said.
Sarah and Brax spent the last few days delivering the White Table kits and setting them up at each of the 21 restaurants. (Brax insists on doing the setup all by himself.) Keep an eye out for them when you’re out and about this weekend, and pause for a moment to remember our fallen and missing service members.
Finally, Sarah shared this touching story:
Yesterday, after completing one of our White Table setups, we noticed a $20 bill left beneath the wine glass. … (I) learned that it can symbolize a quiet act of gratitude and generosity, almost like a toast to those who served and sacrificed. It felt incredibly touching to witness such a meaningful gesture and to see our community coming together in support of honoring our fallen service members. That’s what it’s all about!
If you know of a restaurant interested in becoming part of the White Tables Across Rochester effort next Memorial Day, email Sarah atssegal11@yahoo.com.
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(posted 5/23/2026)
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You might remember a few weeks ago I wrote about an ambitious Bronze Award project that three young Webster Girl Scouts were working on.
Junior Scouts Julia Meyers, Lily Pettit and Penny Patterson from Troop 60344, all fifth graders from Klem North Elementary School, were collecting games, puzzles, children’s books, colored pencils, crayons, markers and craft kits for children in need. The donations would then be sorted, organized and donated to Family Promise, a Rochester-based organization which assists families at risk of homelessness.
To promote the month-long project, the young ladies posted announcements online, designed flyers to hang around town, and arranged for the Webster School District to send a notice home to all of the district’s families. Finally, they secured several local agencies to serve as host sites for collection boxes. Once everything was in place, they could only wait, hoping people would notice, and their efforts would result in at least a few donations.
The Webster community did more than notice; they responded with overwhelming generosity.
Donations immediately started pouring in, filling the collection bins many times over. Wish lists they’d posted on Amazon for bags, games, activity books, puzzles, crafts, crayons and markers were promptly filled. Several people emailed directly, asking how they could help. Neighbors dropped items off at the house, school friends handed over even more. By the end of April, the young Scouts had collected an estimated 1,500 or more items (actually, they kind of lost count). About a week later, they trucked them all over to the Gathering Place Rochester, where 30 or so family members, neighbors and friends helped them pack 151 “kid kits” for children in need.
Julia, Lily and Penny are thrilled with their project’s success, and know that it wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible support of the Webster community. And for that support, they want to send out a HUGE thank you.
“We never thought that it would go as well as it did,” Lily said, to which Penny added, “I didn’t think we were going to have that much stuff. At the most we thought we’d have 500 items.”
“We really appreciate everyone who donated, filled the Amazon list, and came to the Gathering Place event,” Julia said. Not to mention the businesses that provided space for the donation bins, and the Gathering Place for hosting the sorting and organizing session. It was truly a community effort, driven in large part by countless anonymous donors.
“That’s why we’re doing this community thank you, so we can thank them all.”
Here’s a great video from the Gathering Place event which shows the amazing number of donations received (thank you Emily P. for the video!):
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(posted 5/14/2026)
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As I was shopping at Wegmans recently, I came upon a friend and former work colleague whom I hadn’t seen in years. That happenstance in itself is not unusual, but I actually saw her two weeks in a row, after not having seen her in probably more than a decade. It got me thinking that, if I still had teenage children and we were playing the Wegmans Game, the happy meeting would give me a huge head start.
Did you ever play the Wegmans Game? The idea was simple; during your shopping trip, you and your companion each count how many people you know. Whoever sees the most people wins. It’s a fun and easy game, since if you hang around Wegmans long enough you’ll see just about everyone in the community walk through the doors.
Those teenagers of mine are now young adults, so I haven’t played the game in a long time. But that didn’t keep me from having a little fun coming up with some new rules for the new generation of Wegmans Game competitors.
The Wegmans Game(21st century rules)
Wegmans employees are only worth a half point each. They’re required to be there for long hours anyway, so seeing them is not terribly serendipitous. And you’ll really appreciate this rule if you’re shopping with your high school-aged child, since he or she will know every one of the checkers.
Talkers and stalkers can earn bonus points. These are the people who always seem to shop when you do, and assume you want a half-hour description of their gall bladder surgery. One point for seeing them, a bonus point for successfully avoiding them. Five bonus points for being caught and having to listen to the surgery story.
One point for a teacher if you have that teacher this year. One additional point for every decade back you had that teacher. (For example, one extra point for the 10s, two points for the 00s, three for the 90s, and so on. So Mom or Dad, if you see your grade school teacher, it’s almost a guaranteed win.)
You must know the person’s name to earn a point. Otherwise you don’t really “know” the person, do you? (Whether you need to know both first and last names can be considered a house rule.)
If both players know the same person, point goes to the one who sees that person first. It rewards acute observation skills.
If you skunk your opponent, you must spot said opponent three people at the beginning of the next game.
So I think we have a good start here. Anyone else have a suggestion?
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(posted 4/24/2026)
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Earth Day, 2026 is coming up this Wednesday, April 22. In honor of that day, I’d like to revisit one of my earliest blog posts, written on April 19, 2008. It was a fun — and slightly embarrassing — stroll through memory lane:
Earth Day 1970 Remembered
Do you remember the first Earth Day? (It’s OK; the nice thing about blogs is that you can answer with some anonymity, so you don’t have to admit your age.)
It was April 22, 1970, and I was in the sixth grade. I remember being very excited about Earth Day. I was also quite the radical. I remember my friends and I considered taking bag loads of trash and dumping them on the lawn of the town hall. Why we would do that, I can’t recall. Whether we actually did it, I can’t recall. Probably blocked out that memory of our audacious civil resistance.
Of course, back in the early 1970s (the time of the first oil crisis) it seemed that everyone was much more concerned with the environment. It’s nice to see that Earth Day is still around, and that environmental concerns are addressed at the grass roots level at least once a year.
I know that there are more 70s radicals like me out there. It’s time for us to pass the torch onto our kids and get them more interested in helping protect our environment.
Perhaps I’ll head out on Wednesday and pick up some trash in the neighborhood. Just for old times’ sake.
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(posted 4/21/2026)
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Today I bring you a heartwarming story of kindness, respect and reconciliation.
The story was told to me by Webster resident Kathy Hertzel, whose father Bill served in the Pacific Theater in WWII. In November 1944, after fighting on the island of Leyte in the Philippines, he removed a silk battle flag from the body of a fallen Japanese soldier. Such battlefield souvenirs were common among Allied servicemen.
The red disk in the center of the large flag, symbolizing the Rising Sun, was surrounded by names and symbols written in Japanese kanji. They included the soldier’s name – Matsujiro Yonaiyama – and well-wishes from family members and friends. A bullet hole and blood were also still visible. Bill realized the profound personal significance of what he had found, so he folded the flag carefully and tucked it inside a leather pouch to keep it safe during the long trip home after the war.
Bill stored the pouch in his dresser, bringing it out only occasionally to show visitors. Kathy remembers how carefully her father took care of it, making sure she knew it was a precious artifact that should be respected. As a young girl, she was fascinated by the flag, slowly yellowing with age, and often wondered about the young man who wore the flag so bravely as he fought in the war.
For years, the flag remained mostly forgotten, until 1978, when Bill showed it to a Japanese colleague. She was able to translate some of the writing, including the soldier’s name. That discovery gave the flag a human identity.
Bill died later that year, so he was never able to continue his search. But in 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the end of the war in the Pacific, his daughter Kathy took up the cause.
Her first efforts – writing to the Japanese consulate in New York City and the U.S. Ambassador to Japan – fell on deaf ears. Several years later, a friend suggested she contact a colleague of hers in California whose roommate was Japanese. That attempt was much more successful.
The roommate, Tishi Washizu, agreed to help. He carried photos of the flag back to Tokyo, where the national newspaper Asahi Shimbun picked up the story. On January 28, 2000, Shigejiro Yonaiyama saw the article, recognized his brother’s name and contacted the local newspaper bureau; they, in turn, relayed the message to Kathy.
Kathy knew it was imperative that the flag be returned to the family, so she quickly arranged for its journey home. After carefully packing the heirloom, she sent it back to where it had started more than 55 years before. In an accompanying letter, she wrote, “It is with much joy that I send this flag on its final voyage.”
On March 19, 2000, the flag was placed in the hands of Matsujiro’s brother and nephew, and that same day it was presented at Matsujiro’s empty grave.
Here’s an especially touching twist to this story: the family never knew what had happened to Matsujiro. They’d been told that he’d died when the ship carrying him from Manchuria to Leyte sank, and never even knew the time or place of his death. All they had received to remember him by was an empty box with his name on it. Now, thanks to the efforts of Kathy Hertzel and many others, the memory of Matsujiro Yonaiyama lives on, in a battle flag which hangs proudly on a shrine in his brother’s home.
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(posted 4/6/2026)
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I feature the people and places and events that make Webster the wonderful community it is — and throw in some totally-not-Webster-related personal ramblings every once in a while as well.
I love it when readers send me news about the great things happening in their schools or the community, so please email me anytime at missyblog@gmail.com
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