It’s beautiful out today, and if you don’t have anywhere to go, it’s a great opportunity to just cozy up with a good blanket and some junky TV and take some time off from life.
I know a good many teachers who are lamenting the fact that, given this is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and already a holiday from school, today’s storm is a waste of a perfectly good snow day. BUt on the plus side, knowing that it was coming gave us all a chance to plan ahead to how we might spend it.
For me, of course, it meant a barefoot snow walk. For those of you not familiar with this craziness I do every year, it was a tradition started by my grandmother more than 75 years ago and has been handed down through the generations. My Gia Gia would have been 120 years old this month, so today’s snow walk was done in her memory.
This isn’t the first snow walk I’ve done this winter. That was Dec. 24, when we got our first measurable snow on Christmas Eve. I gave a little more background in this blog into how we’ve carried on this tradition through the years, if you’re interested.
Thinking of my Gia Gia has also motivated me to drag down some of our old records and photo albums from the attic and get them organized today. Seems like a great day to do that.
All this snow is definitely an annoyance, especially if you don’t have the day off of work or school. But we live in Upstate New York. Let’s have fun with that! Make a snow angel! Make a snowman! Have a snowball fight! Then send me photos I can post in my blog.
Or better yet, strip off your socks, run outside and get a little crazy.
Since Facebook began, it’s been a place where people can reconnect with old friends, old classmates and extended relatives. For those who long ago moved away from the towns where they grew up, as I have, there are plenty of Facebook groups to join where you can reminisce about old times.
My main “memories” group is called “Growing up OWEGO.” I don’t visit it too often, since I’ve found that most of the discussions involve people I never knew and years I was never there.
That definitely was not the case last week, however, when — thanks to Facebook — I reconnected with almost a dozen old friends and neighbors from the street where I grew up, and relived countless memories of the fun we had and friendships we shared.
It all began when my old neighbor and friend Ann Hartman Buckley posted on her Facebook page a blog I had written. It’s titled “We All Have a Story — This is Mine,” and it recalls how one of my high school English teachers, Linda Yanchus, said four simple words one day which changed the direction of my life.
That one post prompted more than 70 comments, just about every one of them from old friends and neighbors who lived on my street in Owego, NY back in the 1970s.
It was a delightful walk through memory lane — or down McMaster Street, I should say. Here are some of the memories we shared (I’m sure many are much like the things you remember growing up in simpler times):
“Remember making Laurie puke?”
“Your parents always let me take care of your pets when you went away on vacation. That $10 bought me a lot of candy at Mullens!”
“I do remember the night you, Janie, and I snuck out to watch the Pumelly house burn down. Your Dad ripped us a new one! We deserved it.”
To Mindy, my sister: “I have countless fond memories of you guys. The first time I met you, I walked by your house and you and Missy were using magnifying glass and the sunlight to burn holes through newspaper. I knew then that I was gonna hang out there more.”
We remembered playing “Go Go Go,” dodgeball, football and baseball in the neighbor’s spacious back yards, watching the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show at the fair, the community pool and sledding at the high school.
My brother Greg summed up a lot of it with one of his posts:
Our parents divorced just before we came to Owego and you guys and the neighborhood crew were a needed constant in our lives. I remember basketball in Richie, Ricky and little sis Mary Dee’s driveway, my first girlfriend, Karen, yard games behind Little Richie’s barn, cross country (Wayne), our bike gang, causing mischief each Halloween, baseball at Nick Raftis Park, adventures in the fire department’s hook and ladder company with Chris, fishing for suckers and anything else that would bite at the “crick” and Susquehanna River, Joie Chitwood at the fair, swimming at the pool, watching the Chiefs handle the Vikings with big Richie, Super Bowl 1970, and tackle football at Stackmore’s lot. (I thought I was tough until faced with tackling my good friend Paul).
A few people even remembered my mother fondly, and also recalled also taking English from Ms.Yanchus.
I lived in a handful of towns when I was young: Cedar Rapids, IA; Raytown, MO; Lake Zurich, IL. But when people ask me “Where did you grow up?” the answer is simple: I grew up on McMaster Street in Owego, NY, and I have the friends and memories to prove it.
Many of you know that I have a direct line to the North Pole. Santa and I are kind of on a first-name basis.
His name is Jim Lockwood, and he’s Webster’s resident head-elf, appearing at functions all over town, in both winter and summer. He’s also been an Eastview Mall Santa for years.
I got to know Santa Jim when I interviewed him for my East Extra column seven years ago. I’ve since come to know him as a kind, generous soul, befitting his alter-ego. He’s appeared many times in my blogs, but perhaps my favorite is from Christmas Day, 2017. Jim had emailed me, offering me a look at several of the letters he had received while working at Eastview. He wrote,
There isn’t anything special in them. It’s just a peek into the hearts, minds and eyes of these precious little children who truly believe in Santa Claus.
It was such a charming blog that I wanted to do it again. Jim was very happy to meet me a few days ago and handed me a bag stuffed with almost a hundred wish lists, thank you notes and drawings that he and an Eastview Sanra colleague had collected earlier in the week.
Some were typed on a computer, others were fill-in-the blank forms that looked like they were done in school. Children used crayons, colored pencils, and markers. Others were neatly printed, others were just scribbles, and several were clearly penned by the parents, with the child adding a drawing or signature. Some lists filled a page or more with dozens of items, others had just one or two. Many had multi-colored words, holiday sketches and portraits of Santa and his elf. (There were several mentions of “Buddy,” whom I imagine is their Elf on the Shelf.)
They asked for a lot of the “hot” toys, like a Nintendo Switch, Paw Patrol characters and Legos. But the sheer variety of requests took me by surprise, everything from Barbies and Squishies to a real F150 truck and a hamster. Several put stars or stickers next to the items they REALLY wanted. Others tried to help Santa by drawing detailed pictures of their favorites AND including prices. Some got really specific (like the children who wished for 11 peacock feathers, a $40 iTunes gift card and $30 worth of Roblox.)
It was so much fun reading some of the things these children wrote, like
I want a red firetruck with a ladder. I also want a real Mama kitten and a dog. I need bones for him.
Hi Santa it’s a charm having buddy over it’s so fun finding him
dear Santa, I know I’ve been a little nauty I will try to tern it around
(this at the end of a two-page computer-generated list) After that long list, let’s get to the end. Thank you very much for your generosity every year to not only me but to every other kid in the world. We deeply appreciate your thoughtfulness to us.
One 3-year old big sister, asked what her little brother might like from Santa, suggested bottles, food, dinosaurs, parrots, bananas and ice cream.
The one which made really laugh, however, was obviously written by Santa’s co-conspirators, the child’s parents. It read,
Dear Santa,
I have been pretty good for a two year old. Daddy says if I don’t start pooping in the potty he is going to disown me. I’m sure he’s kidding though … I think.
Thank you, Santa Jim, for reminding us what it was like when believing in Santa Claus was one of the best things about Christmas. And Merry Christmas to all my readers. May it bring you simple joys and happiness.
Here are some of those letters and drawings:
Here’s one where the child included drawings for handy reference
I liked it when the children were straight with Santa about their behavior
This little girl divided her list into “expensive” and “cheap” items.
I think this young man included the entire Lego catalog. He forgets that Santa is old and has bad eyes
Another handy diagram
Not a gift suggestion, just a fun drawing for Santa
There were lots of elf drawings
Here’s another one with prices included to help Santa
This jam-packed list was typical.
Just … wow.
Colorful AND stickers
This one, clearly from a toddler, was neatly stuffed in a sealed envelope addressed to the North Pole.
In many cases, children even took the time to decorate the envelopes
This is an amazing story. It’s rather long, but read through to the end, because it will warm your heart.
When I first started writing this story, it was going to be all about the power of the internet and crowdsourcing. But in just two days, it morphed into something much more meaningful. It became a testament to the incredible positivity that can spread from one simple act of kindness.
It began several days ago when I received an email from DP Dunn. He told me that while taking a stroll along the lake, he’d come across a small GoPro camera which had washed up on the shore. He attached several photos which he’d been able to pull off the camera. They showed a young family enjoying a gorgeous summer day at a big house on the lake, time-stamped July 6, 2021. He thought that if I could post the story and photos in my blog, maybe SOMEONE would recognize the family in the photos.
Boy, was he right.
DP (Don) sent the email last Monday, but I didn’t get around to writing the blog until Thursday. (You can read that blog here.) I posted it to my social media feeds about 7:45 that morning. Less than two hours later I’d received emails from two people who could identify the home and homeowners. One of them even sent along the homeonwer’s LinkedIn profile so we could contact him. But that proved to be unnecessary.
By this time the blog was being shared widely on social media, where in no time it found Michelle Odenbach. It was her lakefront home in the photo, and her friends Ollie and Raquel Bartholomew splashing in the pool. Turns out the Bartholomews had been visiting the Odenbachs last summer from their home in Westchester County. Ollie lost the camera while tooling around the lake on a jet ski.
Michelle tagged her downstate friends in the Facebook post, and Raquel and Ollie responded almost immediately. I connected them with Don, the camera finder, and by noon the circle was complete. Almost four months after the camera had gone into Lake Ontario, it had been found and would soon be going home.
You might think the story ends there. But the flurry of emails and messages that followed was delightful, and took this already nice story of kindness to entirely new level. Bear with me as I share several of those.
First, some of Ollie’s initial reactions to the news that his camera had been found (and I am liberally combining several messages here…)
This is absolutely incredible! An example of good will and humanity at its very finest! Thank you, kind reader, and thank you to the publisher for this thoughtful process and effort you’ve gone to.
This is my camera. It fell off a jet ski mid-ride whilst we were celebrating 4th of July weekend with relatives in Webster. I am just so astonished and grateful to everyone involved here. That camera contains valuable photos and videos of our 3 children enjoying the holidays!
I and my wife are absolutely delighted! I was in SO much trouble cuz this thing has photos and videos of our eldest daughter learning to swim etc. I love stories like this, rare though they are, to be at the centre of one is an honour and pleasure of the highest order!
Our discussion then moved to email, where Don introduced himself.
Hi Ollie,
By way of introduction, I’m Don. Seems I found this little gem of yours.
You know the story, my friend. When I found the camera on Monday it had been washed ashore at Webster Park, on the walkway just west of the pier. The waves were 3-5 feet that day, with a strong wind out of the east, I think. What you don’t know is how hard I laughed when I viewed the very last video file saved on the memory card. You know, the one where the camera fell in the lake. On the audio, you can hear the sea-do circling as you look for the camera. And the camera sinks deeper and deeper … It just moves me to tears (of laughter) every time I watch that. Does that make me a bad person?
Seriously, Dude – send that video into America’s Funnies Videos. If you don’t win, you’ll likely place in the top 3.
Ollie responded,
Dear Don,
What a huge pleasure to meet you.This is nothing short of extraordinary and I am indebted to you for the effort you’ve gone to here. These kind of stories are few and far between and rarely (I’m guessing) yield a successful outcome! I am overjoyed to be part of a successful one.
And then he did a wonderful thing. As his way of repaying his “debt to humanity,” Ollie offered to donate $100 in my name and Don’s name to charity. As it so happens, Don has a good friend, Kevin Woolever, who is fighting ALS, and for whom a GoFundMe page has been set up to help with medical expenses and paying off his house. Don and I both asked Ollie put the $200 towards Kevin’s cause.
Within hours, Ollie had made the donation and reported back, adding that he had also encouraged his friends to consider supporting the GoFundMe page. He wrote,
Donation made and karma officially balanced.
Thanks again Missy for graciously putting your share towards Kevin and Sharon’s cause. It is truly heart warming and I have shared it in turn on my Facebook in case friends / family are able to dig deep and help also. I was glad to see my donation pushed it over the $8k mark – what a phenomenal response and I know the money will work hard for their needs during this very trying time. I wish them all the best in the world.
Don put the waterlogged GoPro in the mail yesterday, only about 36 hours after I posted that blog. Ollie is going to contact the company and hopefully get it replaced. In the meantime, he and Don and I are planning to grab a pint together at Barry’s when they’re in town again. Maybe I’ll get to meet the famous GoPro.
An unplanned walk along the lake, a simple kindness and a short blog. Who knew where they would lead?
Or, as Don observed,
Look at all that’s happened since: Ollie and family get their camera and photos. Missy and her crew of ‘junior detectives’ solved a mystery and her readers get a neat story. Kevin gets a step closer to saving his house. New friendships have formed.
Whoda thunk?
* * *
For those who have stayed with me this far, here are some fun tidbits:
Ollie had the foresight to note the exact GPS coordinates where he’d lost the camera. Don put this map together, showing where he found it west of the pier, calculating that in four months it traveled roughly 1.26 km or .8 miles, including the distance it had to go around the pier.
And as a EXTRA SPECIAL treat, here’s that video from when the GoPro went into the lake.
And by the way, by Thursday evening — the DAY I posted the blog — it had received more than 8,000 hits. By far (and I mean by several thousand) the most hits I have ever gotten on a blog. And they’re still coming in. That’s the power of social media.
I make it a habit to stop at every lemonade stand I encounter when I’m walking or biking, or even driving. I like encouraging young entrepreneurs, and adding to the thrill they get from earning a few dollars. If you feel the same, then you’re going to enjoy hearing about this very special lemonade stand.
It was set up at the corner of South Ave. and Park Ave. in the Village of Webster, at the home of Doug and Patty Pucci.
It was no ordinary lemonade stand, however. Not only was it about the most official-looking stand you’ll ever see — complete with an American flag, pinwheel, umbrella for shade and an “open/closed” sign — it also raised almost $500 for St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
Nixie-Blu and a thirsty customer
The proprietor was 6-year old Nixie-Blu Howes, who was in town this summer with her mother, visiting her grandparents. Like any kid, Nixie-Blu loves the idea of making money, even though she said, “I don’t know what I want to spend it on.” But it was also her idea to donate half of her lemonade stand proceeds to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, in part because her aunt works there.
Just setting up shop in a highly visible location wasn’t enough, however. Nixie-Blu also made her own signs and posted them on trees throughout the neighborhood, pointing patrons to the stand.
Nixie-Blu first set up her lemonade concession when she was visiting in April. You may have noticed the stand and advertisements back then, and perhaps you even stopped by. This summer, however, she was really able to up her sales game when her grandpa Doug surprised her with the fancy new wooden stand.
The lemonade concession was open pretty much every day for the few weeks that Nixie-Blu and her mother were visiting. Business was steady; the stand attracted walkers and motorists nearly nonstop, paying what they wanted for their cup of lemonade. Nixie-Blu never set a price, instead asking her patrons to donate any amount they want to give. If they didn’t happen to have any money, she’d even give you some for free
Because kindness always begets kidness. And that’s the sweetest deal there is.
In the 13 years I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve taken a LOT of photos.
I mean, they easily number into the tens of thousands. You know me; I can take 150 at one parade alone. Through the years, they’ve captured adults and children, chronicled events both happy and sad, helped announce new businesses and shined a spotlight on unsung heroes and hidden gems in the community. They are sometimes whimsical, sometimes very serious.
In a sense, the photos have become a historical record of Webster people, places and events.
One of the 24 photos I chose for the display
It’s probably partly for that reason that Laureen Anthony-Palmer at the Webster Public Library invited me to put together a display of my photos for the library’s Artist’s Wall. It took me a while to warm up to the idea, but eventually I decided it would be kind of fun, and I started digging into a dozen years’ worth of backed-up photo files and Facebook galleries.
Choosing just a small percentage of those photos, as you might imagine, was rather difficult. But it was indeed fun to look back through the years at all the events I’ve been to and people I’ve met. Eventually I selected 24 of my favorites for the display, wrote captions, mounted them and — with my husband’s help — hung them at the library a few days ago. They’re organized into three sections representing the main things I like to highlight in the blog: kids, community and events.
The photos will be on display through August, so I invite you to stop by any time during normal library hours and take a look. You might even see yourself or someone you know in one of them.
I love living in the Village of Webster. The people are friendly, the streets are extremely walkable, there are parks within walking distance, and great restaurants and pubs just around the corner. We live on a street, but feel like we are part of a neighborhood.
Saturday (June 12) was a great example of what’s to love about Webster. For starters, that afternoon our Park Ave. neighbor Doug Pucci hosted his second annual Village Block Party, featuring two food trucks and a free concert by his Red Hot and Blue Band, playing from Pucci’s spacious porch.
Everyone in the village was invited, and more than 100 answered the call. Adults spread their quad chairs across the lawn and closed-off street and listened to the music, or stood in small groups visiting with neighbors. Children chalked in the street, played with bubbles and danced in the grass.
It was the perfect opportunity for long-time neighbors to reconnect after a long pandemic. It was also a chance for new residents to meet their new neighbors and start to to know the feeling that they are part of the village community.
It was the quintessential village experience.
The lemonade sales force: Emilio Martinez, Owen Knapp and Will Brunswick
The home office
Earlier in the day, I was riding my bike and happened upon a woman setting up chairs and a table in the lawn of the apartment complex near my house. She was taping some kind of sign onto the table. Curious (and being who I am), I stopped to find out what was going on.
Her name was Jennifer Martinez, and she explained that she was setting up the table for her son and his friends, who were going to hold a Free Lemonade stand later that afternoon.
Apparently every year since her son Emilio was very young, Jennifer’s mother Gail had held a garage sale. And every year during that sale, Emilio would set up a lemonade stand. This year, Gail wasn’t able to hold her sale, so Jennifer suggested that Emilio simply set up his stand outside their home instead.
In years past, Emilio had charged for his lemonade. But not this year. When I asked Jennifer about that, she said that the idea to hand out the lemonade for free was “just to be kind.” Then, after giving it a bit of thought, she added, “It’s nice to be among people again.”
Emilio and his fellow business owners Will Brunswick and Owen Knapp, all 7th-grade friends at Spry Middle School, were enthusiastic lemonade hawkers, even though they weren’t earning any cold, hard cash. They stood out on the sidewalk yelling “free lemonade!” to all the cars driving by on busy South Ave, and any time a biker, walker or runner got within 50 yards of the table, one of them (usually Owen, wearing a flag cape), would chase them down “selling” their wares at full volume.
At first the salesmen were only getting a lot of honks and waves from passing cars. But while I was there (getting my free lemonade), they were able to wave down a passing FedEx delivery truck, whose driver gratefully accepted the refreshment. And if yelling to someone didn’t work, they would take the lemonade to their customers, at one point skittering across South Ave., two-fisting cups of lemonade, to deliver them to people who were setting up for the block party.
The highlight of the day was probably when the boys were able to attract the attention of a passing police car. The officer didn’t stop, but she did come back a few minutes later and invited another colleague to join her. So at one point two Webster police officers were standing at the table enjoying some lemonade.
The kids even earned a little money after all. Some patrons couldn’t resist throwing a dollar on the table, and one family brought them some fresh-picked strawberries.
A friendly neighbor who didn’t mind at all a random stranger stopping to chat. Free lemonade and kids having fun doing something other than sitting in front of a screen. Just two more things I love about village life.
Two of the boys’ favorite customers
Jennifer handing out a free lemonade
Owen, Emilio, Jennifer and Will with Jennifer’s parents Gail and Rich
Today I bring you a short tale about a young Plank North family, a bully, and resilience.
The central characters of our story are Mama and Papa Duck. For at least ten years now, these two mallards (we assume they’re the same two) have been returning every spring to Plank North Elementary School to build their nest.
They usually choose a different location on the school grounds every year to settle down. Twice they’ve nested near the second grade classrooms on the west side of the building, once under the pear tree by the receiving doors, and once in front of the office window. One year they even made their nest on the school’s roof, which became obvious when staff members saw the ducklings jumping off the roof one day.
Second grade teacher Sheila O’Hanlon has kind of become the ducks’ overseer, keeping an eye out for them every year, and making sure everyone knows where they are so students don’t get too near the nest and spook Mama and Papa.
“It’s always about this time of year” that the ducks return, Sheila said. “The eggs take about 28 days to mature, and they usually stay for a few days until the babies are big enough to waddle off. We think they head down Scribner to a little pond by the side of the road.”
Yellow tape and signs warned students to stay away
Mama Duck on her nest
Sure enough, about three weeks ago, Mama and Papa Duck returned, this time tucking their nest under the merry-go-round on one of the school’s playgrounds. As soon as the new nest was discovered, staff members put up signs and yellow warning tape to keep kids away.
For a couple of weeks, Mama could be seen every day sitting on her nest, protecting what we all suspected was a clutch of eggs.
Then, one day, a fox was spotted on the school grounds. Not long after that, Mama and Papa Duck were gone and the nest was empty.
For a while the ducks were nowhere to be seen. But recently, we saw Mama and Papa again, exploring the school grounds. The nest is still empty, but at least the young parents are still around. We all hope they’ve made another nest somewhere, better hidden from Mr. Fox. Maybe it’s down by that little pond.
In any case, we fully expect these resilient young parents to return again next year to raise an adorable family of fluffy ducklings. Perhaps they should go back to the roof…..
Two opportunities to help our neighbors in today’s mailbag, and some reader memories from the ice storm of ’91.
Immanuel Lutheran Church at 131 West Main St., in the Village of Webster will hold a food and underwear drive on Saturday March 20 from from 10 a.m. to noon.
The food collected will be shared with needy families via Immanuel’s Weekend Backpack Food program and their Little Free Pantry.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Weekend Backpack Food program. It began with 16 students at one elementary school, and was just a 6-week commitment. It currently supports more than 70 students across all seven Webster elementary buildings.
In his recent email, Ed Huehn from Immanuel explained,
A referral from a teacher, school nurse or social worker and consent from a guardian/parent makes (a student) a part of the program. The food provides support to the student on the weekend. Some, but not all of the kids receive free or reduced breakfast and lunch during the week. The foods included are kid-friendly and easy to prepare. Each bag contains 4-6 food items for meals or snack. They are a supplement for the weekend and easy to prepare. …The Webster School District transports the food from the church to each building and a coordinator there distributes the bags! Many thanks to all involved in this program and their support over 10 years.
Immanuel also maintains one of the many little free pantries in the Webster area, located in the parking lot. The concept is “take what you need and leave what you can.” Some of the donations collected on the 20th will be used to restock the pantry. If you choose to bring donations at other times, please limit them to commercially prepared, non-perishable goods.
Oh, yeah! And remember they need underwear, too. Underwear is one of the most needed and least donated items in community programs. Pleease bring only new underwear and socks, in orginal packaging.
If you happen to be closer to Penfield’s four corners on that Saturday, Penfield First Baptist Church is also holding a drive-up, drop-ff food drive that day, also from 10 a.m. to noon. They’ll be set up in the church parking lot, 1862 Penfield Rd. Donations will support the Penfield Ecumenical Food Shelf “feed the kids” program.
I’m actually bouncing in my chair as I write that, because I am an off-again on-again jigsaw-puzzler (when I can find the time and space) and have burned through all the ones I own. And I fear my good friend Patty will get tired of loaning me ones from her expansive collection.
So when I heard that I can take some of my old standbys (some of which I have done several times) and swap them out for new ones, I was delighted. So grab your ond ones and stop by the library for some new ones. I might just see you there!
The Webster Public Library is at 980 Ridge Rd., at the back of the plaza.
Finally, I would like to share with you a few reader responses I got after my blog on the 30th anniversary of the 1991 ice storm. I invited everyone to send in their memories from that day, and I received a few. Thank you for sharing!
At that time we lived in Country Manor apartments. And we were lucky because power was restored to that complex quickly. (Xerox was busy back then and I think that our close proximity to the plant helped get the power back later that day on the 4th) But it was one heck of a night listening to the branches cracking and falling in a nearby wooded area and also seeing the flashes of the transformers blowing up. I would rate this storm as probably the worst storm that I have experienced in this area in my life. The blizzard of ’66 was wild, but we did not have the loss of power or the outright destruction that the ice storm of ’91 had. Our county looked like a war zone for sure ! — Bob B.
We were living in the Maplewood area of the city. A branch in our backyard took out our power but we were able to run a large extension cord from our neighbor’s garage for minimal power. We were low priority for the power company so didn’t get power back for a week. My sons wanted to take a walk so I made them wear football helmets because of the ice falling from trees. It was beautiful! — Karen T.
We had moved to Irondequoit by 1991. … Our ice storm experience in Irondequoit similar to yours. Had power, so Greece family moved in. Crowded but fun. Lost some trees, no house damage. Beautiful wind-chime sound of ice-laden branches moving in wind until wind picked up and turned into crashing sounds as branches and limbs fell. — Kathy T.
On a side note, it was fun to discover through these memories that Kathy and I were apparently neighbors back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, living perhaps 10 houses away from each other on the same city street.
Several days ago I blogged about an unusual, decades-old tradition my family has, the annual barefoot snow walk. (Click on the hyperlink to get a little more detail about the tradition’s history and recent interations.)
In that blog I pledged that the crazy tradition would continue, even though I wouldn’t be getting together with my extended family for the holidays. As promised, I set up a Zoom snow walk instead, and invited family members from around the country to participate.
It proved to be as crazy a virtual gathering as it usually is in person.
Just before the appointed time, 11 a.m. Christmas morning, cousins and nephews and brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles from around the country started joining the meeting, and it wasn’t long before we were all barefoot and heading out the door. Many carried their phones to record the event, others had propped their laptop up on the porch or had a non-participant hold the recording device. (These nonbelievers are usally in-laws.)
We didn’t all have snow, but that didn’t stop us. I made sure, for example, to gather up a couple of buckets-full on Christmas Eve before the rains started and threw it in a freezer. The next morning we brought it to our gathering at my daughter’s house in Gates. It had frozen solid and I had to break it up with a hammer, but it was enough for the three of us to stand in.
Here, for your viewing pleasure, is the wild video.
Top row are my eldest daughter Sara and her boyfriend Tom in Cheektowaga; my daughter’s living room; my brother Chris and his family in PA; and my brother Greg in CT.
Middle row: me, my son Sean and youngest daughter Erin at her house in Gates; my sister Mindy in Greene; my cousin Laura in AZ (where she put her feet in a pool); and my cousin Amy in MA (holding a phone where my aunt and uncle are FaceTiming in from Cape Cod and walking in their snow).
On the bottom: my nephew Tim and his girlfriend Manda are watching while they drive; my cousin Paul in Horseheads; and my nephew Drew in MA.
Now here’s the really neat thing about all of this, and one of the few positive things to have come out of this pandemic. In total, 21 children and adults were part of the 2020 COVID Barefoot Snow Walk, from all over New York and four other states, including Arizona. It was something we never would have done in a normal year.
This is the first time all of these people have been “together” in one place. I haven’t seen most of them in more than a year — even years. And I don’t care the reason, or that it was through a computer screen. It was just great to see them all.
Hoping you all had a merry Christmas filled with your own comforting and unusual traditions.
No snow on Christmas morning? No prob. We saved some from Christmas Eve.
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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