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Our friendly neighborhood ospreys

19 Jun

Next time you’re driving along Hard Rd. by the Webster Highway Department, keep an eye on the sky and you might just catch a glimpse of one of the area’s most graceful residents: an osprey.

Ospreys are large members of the hawk family, with slender bodies measuring up to 24 inches, and long, narrow wings that can reach 71 inches across. They’re brown on top and predominantly grey underneath.

I recently got an email from Anne Clarkson, a school bus driver, who told me that for many years, a pair of ospreys has been nesting on the top of one of the communication towers located on the property line between the bus garage and the Webster Highway Dept.

Anne did such a great job of telling the birds’ story, that I’m reprinting her email pretty much verbatim. She wrote,

They first built their nest probably close to 10 years ago and have raised quite a few chicks over the years.  When the summer ends and the babies are flying, the whole family does what all ospreys in North America do — they fly to South America or the Caribbean for the winter!  Then in late April or so, they return and repair or rebuild their nest.  They are really amazing birds! 

Since they eat only fish, they can be seen diving into the lake and the bay (of course), but also in local ponds such as North Ponds and some of the ponds in local subdivisions.  When they have youngsters, you’ll see them flying back to the tower carrying a fish in their talons.  Unlike eagles who also catch fish that are at the top of the water, ospreys dive right down into the water — beak-and-feet first — and “fly” back up out of the water with their catch to a perch or to their nest.

As for info on our pair, I believe they first appeared in maybe 2013 or so.  I took a brief retirement from driving over parts of 2015-2016 and I know they were there before I left and I was ecstatic to see that they were still there when I returned!  They raised babies every year, but it’s almost impossible to know how many.  That tower is so tall and the babies are only flitting around in the nearby trees for a few days after they leave the nest and before they are out really flying with their parents.

Many of the drivers were concerned last spring when the renovation of our fleet parking lot began. Virtually all of the existing trees were bulldozed and the whole area was paved.  I assured the drivers that the birds would not care. They were very secure up on their tower, and since they don’t hunt in woods (they ONLY eat fish), they would not be affected at all by the noise and activity way down below them. Even the tower guys doing maintenance work on the tower, did not bother the ospreys. They just perched in different areas on the tower and periodically lifted off to circle the tower and/or change perching locations. Later in the year when the guys came along and tore down the massive nest, the birds were already on their way south. And, by the way, the logs used to build that nest looked a whole lot bigger when falling to the ground — especially with average-sized men standing right there tossing them down!

(The tower guys) always seem very careful and respectful of the birds… I would think that having a predatory bird with a wingspan of 5 feet or more quietly circling and watching as you work on ’their’ tower … could be a little intimidating. Or it could be the coolest thing they do all year — who knows?

Nonetheless, I was grateful and relieved when I heard and saw the birds returning this spring!  One interesting note about ospreys is that the older babies that have spent a few years in the southern oceans will accompany their parents back to their birthplace. This year, I saw at least four or five extra ospreys flying around the tower. It looked like a typical family reunion — lots of conversations and what looked like happy greetings before the ‘kids’ started flying off to other destinations.

Once they got settled and the ‘kids’ were off to their own new homes, it took the parents several days to build their new nest. It looks just as big as the last one! It’s pretty cool to watch them building it. They fly through the nearby woods and break off branches as they fly, carrying them back in beaks or talons (depending on size) and weaving them into their gigantic nest.

I would absolutely love it if we could get some entity (DEC?, WWF?, Seneca Park Zoo???) to install a webcam up there at the top of the tower so everyone could see just how cool these birds are. The one thing they do all day long that impresses me is their takeoff from the tower. They do not jump. They do not flap their wings. They simply open their wings and are lifted silently and effortlessly into flight. They also make the sweetest chirping sound when talking to each other. Very different from birds like crows or the typical screechy sounds expected of hawks or eagles.

And don’t get me started on their amazing hunting skills!  You can find lots of videos and still shots of ospreys literally diving underwater to grab a fish.  They are under the water long enough to make the average observer nervous for their well-being!  But these birds are so strong and so efficient they even catch the fish in such a way that it is oriented in line with the bird’s body with the fish facing forward for maximum aerodynamics when flying home.

Even though the tower is technically on the Highway Dept. property, and it’s the cell tower guys who bravely climb up to do maintenance (and every couple of years, remove the nest), we at the bus garage have kind of adopted them as “our ospreys.” 

Thank you, Anne, for this terrific story! (And thank you Jerry Salamone for the photos, from 2019.)

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

(posted 6/19/2023)

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A follow-up on the Hegedorn’s ceiling tiles

10 Jun

Holy cow, have I gotten a huge response from the blog I recently wrote about the Hegedorn’s ceiling tiles.

If you’re not familiar with this story (which is hard to believe), the gist of it is this: 32 years ago, students at Klem North Elementary School painted ceiling tiles which have been hanging above the registers at Hegedorn’s Market since around 1991. But rather than toss them in a dumpster when the store closes at the end of this month, the folks at Hegedorn’s are making an effort to return them to the students who painted them.

The blog has received dozens of comments and hundreds of “likes” and has been shared almost 70 times. I’ve heard from former students all over the state and the country who remember painting tiles, and are interested in getting them back — or at least seeing photos of them.

Hegedorn’s Produce Manager Fred Palmer has been taking the lead in removing the panels, and had originally planned to put them all on display above the produce case so customers would notice them and maybe recognize one.

Well, since the blog has received so much attention, putting them on display has not been necessary. Instead, people are being asked to call Hegedorn’s (585-671-4450), and the service desk is keeping a list of everyone who’s interested in retrieving their tile. Fred is planning to start making phone calls sometime this coming week.

In the meantime, all of the panels have been removed and are being kept in the back room of the store’s produce department. Fred was kind enough to let me spread them all out and take photos of them. It might help even more former students recognize their work, and it might be fun just to remember what all their classmates did.

Click here to see the entire gallery of panels, plus a few miscellaneous photos. I think I was able to photograph them all, but I see that I cut the name off of one of them. If you recognize the one with the Pepsi bottle, corn and carrots, please let me know!

P.S. If you happen to get your panel back, please snap a photo of you with it, so I can feature them in a future follow-up blog. And wouldn’t it be fun to also have your 4th or 5th grade photo along with it …????

P.P.S. Channel 10 and Channel 13 are both planning do stories about the ceiling tiles, so I’ll let you know when I hear more about that.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

(posted 6/10/2023)

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Paying it forward … with cookies

20 Mar

Here’s a short story about kindness to brighten your day.

It comes to us from our local Troop 60344 Girl Scouts, who a week or so ago had set up a table outside Lowe’s on Five Mile Line Rd. to sell cookies. One of their customers was Cameron Scalzo, the owner of the brand new Nautical Bowls restaurant in Target Plaza. He talked very excitedly about his new place and the fact that he and his wife were expecting their first child at any time. His wife would be very excited, he said, if he brought some cookies home, and chose six boxes from the table.

Another woman happened to be at the table as Cameron was chatting with the Scouts. She overheard Cameron talking excitedly about his new baby and new restaurant, and offered to buy all six boxes of his cookies for him. He tried to decline, but she insisted. She explained that she had misplaced her wallet in the Lowe’s parking lot earlier in the day and was incredibly relieved to find it just under her car. She couldn’t believe no one had taken it, and wanted to pay it forward.

What a wonderful expression of kindness for those young Scouts to witness.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

(posted 3/20/2023)

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Young Webster hero honored with Do the Right Thing Award

5 Mar

Small people can do some really pretty big things.

Case in point: Skylar Jones, a fourth-grader at Webster’s Plank Rd. North Elementary School, who last Thursday morning was presented a Do the Right Thing Award from the Rochester Police Department.

As described in the program from the ceremony,

Skylar was nominated by his grandmother, Judy Nolan, for his calm and brave actions during a family medical emergency that occurred last October. When Skylar got home from school that day, he saw that his grandfather wasn’t feeling well and called his grandmother at work to tell her. After Mrs. Nolan spoke with her husband and realized how sick he sounded, she left work immediately to come home. While enroute, Skyler tried calling his grandmother several times to tell her that Papa fell. When he was unable to reach his grandmother, he called his mother and told her what had happened. One of the women contacted 911, and both were headed to the house. Skylar handled multiple phone calls between the two, and was told that the ambulance was coming. During their conversations, he kept both family members informed of how Papa was doing, assuring them that was conscious and breathing, and encouraging him to talk. He secured the dog, and went to meet the ambulance when it arrived and guided the first responders into the home.

Skylar handled a chaotic emergency at nine years old better than some adults would have. He stayed calm and kept his grandmother and mother informed until medical help arrived. When asked afterward what he would have done if he had been unable to contact either of them, he confidently said that he would have called 911 himself.

Among the half dozen or so relatives and friends who were on hand to watch Skylar receive his award were his grandparents, of course, and Sarah Mossey, one of the EMTs who responded to the house that day, who also happens to be Skylar’s music teacher at Plank North.

Skylar was one of eight students presented with the award at Thursday morning’s ceremony at the City Public Safety Building. They ranged from a Greece Central School District kindergartner who’s doing great things for his community, to a junior at Churchville-Chili High School who called 911 when his two-year old sister was having a seizure. Their individual stories are all very different and all very inspiring.

The Do the Right Thing Program was created in 1990 by the Miami Police Department. Rochester joined the program in 1996, one of 60 chapters in the United States, England and Germany. Its purpose is to foster positive relationships between law enforcement and our community youth by recognizing young people for helping officers and other first responders, performing acts of heroism, displaying leadership, role model behavior, and volunteering in their community. The award distinguishes students who strive to make good choices, do well in school, give back to their communities, or demonstrate a “turn-around” or improved behavior. Any student enrolled in K-12 in Monroe County is eligible, including those home-schooled.

Each award winner receives a trophy, a prize package, a trip to Seabreeze Amusement Park, an invitation to the Camp Good Days Leadership Camp, and the opportunity to apply for a college scholarship when they become high school seniors.

For more information, visit the Do the Right Thing website here and Facebook page here.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

(posted 3/5/2023)

Bygone blog — It’s time to update the Wegmans Game

20 Feb

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 15 years. This one was originally published on March 21, 2010.

It’s time to update the Wegmans Game

Chances are good you’ve played the Wegmans Game.

You know what I mean. When you and a companion go to Wegmans, each of you counts 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.

I’ve been playing this game for years with my kids, and I must say it’s getting a little predictable. So this morning as I shopped at the Holt Rd. Wegmans, I began to think of ways to spice up the game for the next generation of Wegmans shoppers.

Here’s what I came up with.  Feel free to add your own.

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 00s, two points for the 90s, three for the 80s, 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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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Instagram.

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

(posted 2/20/2023)

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A heartwarming story of kindness

13 Feb

This is the kind of thing I love to write about, because we don’t hear stories like these often enough.

It comes to me from one of my most faithful readers, Linda Meyers. She and her daughter Julia had gone over to her sister’s house on one of those very windy days a few weeks ago, so that Julia could present her Girl Scout Cookie sales pitch to her aunt in person. When they arrived home, however, they noticed that Julia’s cookie money envelope was gone. Sometime during the visit, perhaps when they were walking back to the car, the wind must have stripped the envelope from the clipboard they were carrying.

Linda returned to her sister’s house and scoured the yard. She was able to find $4 caught in a tree in the backyard, but no more. And no envelope at all. She knew she needed some help. She wrote,

Since I didn’t find the envelope or the rest of the money, I posted about the missing envelope on Facebook … and texted a few friends who live close to see if they could look in their yards, which they very kindly did! A few of my sister’s neighbors also went out to look even though it was dark, cold, and windy! One friend/neighbor even said her neighbor and his grandson turned it into an (unsuccessful) scavenger hunt.

Unfortunately, these valiant efforts turned up nothing and it looked like the money was gone forever.

But then, just a few days later, Lena Budd, an official from the Girl Scouts of Western NY, called to report that a Webster man had found Julia’s envelope, complete with Julia’s name and troop number. Lena had gotten a call from Karla Nichols, a Girl Scout Leader in Hilton who works at Mayer’s Lake Ontario Winery. SHE had been contacted by Fran and Rich Grizzanto, who found the envelope, thinking that Julia Meyers might be related.

Linda got Fran’s phone number and called her right away. “We had a lovely chat,” she wrote. “Turns out (Fran) lives diagonally behind my sister. She said they had found $21 floating around their yard and in their bushes. The envelope itself had gotten stuck in a prickly bush along their front walk.”

Later that evening, Linda and Julia stopped by the Grizzantos’ home to pick up the envelope. They were “lovely,” she said, adding that “Rich said he wished he’d gotten a video of his wife scrambling to grab money in the backyard! Fran gave us a jar of her homemade grape jelly, which is delicious, and noted that it is her 21st batch of jam. Coincidence that she recovered $21?”

In the end, Julia was only able to recover $25 of the $50 she had in the envelope, but since no one was really expecting to get any of it back, that was a big relief. Linda says that they’ll be returning to Fran and Rich’s house in March with some free cookies to thank them for their efforts.

So that’s the story of the missing cookie money envelope. A lot of people had to show a lot of kindness to get that envelope and the money back to a hard-working Girl Scout. Many thanks to all who helped make it a happy ending.

If you like this story and perhaps want to meet little Julia for yourself, she and her Troop 60344 will be selling cookies on:

  • Saturday March 4, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hegedorns
  • Sunday March 12, 1 to 4 p.m. at Lowe’s
  • Saturday March 25, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Walmart’s Home entrance
  • Saturday April 1, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Walmart’s Home entrance

(Julia herself may not be at all of these dates, but will definitely be at Lowe’s on the 12th!)

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

(posted 2/13/2023)

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The case of the mystery ornament

5 Jan

Yesterday, as I was dragging my Christmas tree to the curb for the Village to pick up, I was reminded of a nice story that happened seven years ago this week.

In the first week of January 2016, My husband and I had decided to take a winter hike at Helmer Nature Center in Irondequoit. It happens that Helmer is the location where the Town of Irondequoit collects Christmas trees every year for recycling. We noticed that someone had placed an ornament on top of a post near the pile of trees. Clearly, some family had left it on their tree, a kind person had noticed it and put it somewhere obvious in case the family came back looking for it.

At my husband’s suggestion, I snapped a photo of the ornament and posted it on my Facebook page. I was still writing a weekly column for the Democrat and Chronicle at the time, so the page had a lot of readership. Someone at Channel 13 saw the post and did a short piece on their newscast. That caught the attention of the Irondequoit family who had lost the ornament, the Rusters.

Turns out the photo is of (then) 22-year old Teigan Ruster, who was just a year old when it was taken. The family returned to Helmer Nature Center the next day and was thrilled to get the ornament back.  

The whole story was picked by by Channel 13 reporter Matt Molloy, who actually came to interview me at the Webster Thomas High School library where I was working at the time. Click here to see his report.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

(posted 1/5/2023)

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Looking back at the year in blogs

30 Dec

As I like to do at the end of the year, a few days ago I took a stroll back through all of the blogs I wrote in 2022. It’s always a fun exercise, as I’m reminded of all of the events, business openings and closings, people and places that I found to share with you all. It’s a nice reminder of the rich and close-knit community we have here in Webster.

In the last 12 months I posted a whopping 276 blogs, which I credit in part to having more time to research and write now that I’m retired. Most of those were about special events. They began in February with the month-long Fall in Love With Webster, which highlighted our village businesses, restaurants and pubs. In April, we welcomed the return of Community Arts Day and the Greater Rochester Peep Show, and a brand new event, the Webster BID Easter Egg Hunt. Also in April, I reported on the official renaming of North Ponds Park to Charles E. Sexton Park in honor of the town’s first recreation director.

Later in the spring and summer I posted photos from the Memorial Day Parade and Firemen’s Parade, the Jazz Festival and a special Thank You Celebration honoring Revolutionary War patriots, the military and first responders. In September I dragged myself through the mud to tell you about the Webster Recreation Center’s annual Mud Run. October brought the Beer Walk and Village Oktoberfest, the Pumpkin Parade and the Trick-or-Treat Trail. And in December, I wrote about the newly christened Webster’s Winter Wonderland and Wreaths Across America Day at Webster Union Cemetery.

Businesses were also a frequent blog topic. I wrote about new businesses including M/Body Fitness, My Roommates Closet, the new Mama Lor’s on Lake Rd., Curated, Woodland Silk Screening, Woof’s Indoor Dog Park, Chad Cassano Studios and Crafty Christy’s. I also shared news from many existing businesses, like when Cobblestone on Main presented a huge check to Miracle Field, when Amy at the North Bee was selling hand-made beeswax ornaments to benefit the Ukraine, when Barry’s Old School Irish celebrated their 11th anniversary, Serenity Life celebrated its first, and some cute stories about Goat Yoga and Happy Feet Dancers.

I also shared positive news from our schools, like the Webster Marching Band’s annual Autumn Fanfare, the OWL Cafe at Schlegel Elementary School, the fairy trail behind State Rd. Elementary, and the beautiful murals decorating the halls of Webster Thomas High School.

I was there when Webster Thomas presented a mock DWI crash scenario before prom, and wrote about a moving exhibit on race at the library created by Schlegel Rd. fifth graders. I followed the class of 2022 as they paraded through their former elementary schools, and as they strolled through a luminary walk in their honor along the Chiyoda Trail.

Some of my favorite blogs were about the people who make up the fabric of our community. Like Jim Lockwood, Webster’s very own Santa Claus; Florence Kinney, “Mrs. Claus,” who reached her goal this year of donating 100,000 holiday gifts to children; Mike Fitzsimmons, the only known person with spina bifida to ever run an ultra marathon; Webster lacrosse standout Dr. Steve Cochi; and Cadet Nurse Corps veteran Marie Gyles. I also remembered two well-loved Websterites we lost this year, Lee Burgess and Pat Copeland.

I introduced you all to some organizations you might not have heard much about — or even known about — before: the Webster Chamber of Commerce, Heroes on the Water, the Senior Singers, Heritage Christian Stables, the Joe Obbie Farmers’ Market and the medical equipment loan closet. I also shared some good deeds from our local Girl Scouts.

Whenever I could, I tried highlight what I considered snippets of small-town life, like my neighborhood lemonade entrepreneur, stories about the kindness of strangers, how Covid brought one bunch of neighbors together.

And on the 10th anniversary of the Christmas Eve shooting in West Webster, I pulled together a publication with several stories showing how that tragedy truly brought our community together.

I often indulged in my love of history. Encouraged by my new role as author of the Webster Museum’s monthly History Bit feature, I wrote about the beautiful, hand-carved Burkhardt Family Creche; found out more about the two houses on Corning Park which used to be one; and shared some “Rules for teachers” from 1872 that proved that teaching has always been a labor of love.

I even got to be a part of Webster’s history myself when I portrayed Martha Cottreall during the West Webster Cemetery’s history tour. There were even a few history mysteries, like when I tried to learn more about John S. Gerling, Milton R. Case and the Webster Women’s Hall of Fame, and helped return an old photo album to its family.

Occasionally (usually when I needed something to post during a dry spell) I’d dredge up a “bygone blog.” Among those were the parental stupidity index, my diaper bag theory of motherhood, the psychology of dinner dishes, the resort town of Webster, NY, and a letter to my son as he moved out of town.

Finally, there were many times when I asked your indulgence, dear readers, as I wrote about some things happening in my life. These were sometimes funny, but mostly thrown out there for my own enjoyment.

Among my favorites were: admitting that I have a word problem; reflecting on hikes I took through Four Mile Creek in the fall and winter, and Whiting Rd. Nature Preserve; thoughts on my first week of school post-retirement; my magnet collection; the Tale of the Wandering Box Spring (I was the fairy, BTW, if you didn’t figure it out); looking like a terrorist when I run in the winter; my annual barefoot snow walk tradition; and recollections from my old neighborhood.

And I started the year with the most personal story of all, titled The Power of Words, where I revealed the four simple words that sparked my career in writing.

Whew. That was really long and complicated. And it didn’t even come close to touching on all of the blogs I wrote this year.

But I know lot of you are still reading, because you are the folks who’ve been with me all year. And you’re the reason I write this blog. I’ve said it before and it’s worth repeating: even though I enjoy doing this, it would get pretty old if I thought my words weren’t making a difference.

So thank you all for being faithful readers. I wish you all a very happy, healthy and successful 2023, and I look forward to continuing to spread good news from our hometown.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

(posted 12/30/2022)

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A very Webster Christmas tree

24 Dec

As we near the end of the year, here’s a festive look back at many of the stories I covered in my blog in 2022. Perhaps you’ll remember a few of them.

Merry Christmas my friends. I hope you’re able to spend the holidays with family and close friends.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

(posted 12/24/2022)

A walk down memory lane to fill a dry spot

5 Dec

Just two weeks ago, I had so many blog ideas piling up that once, maybe twice, I actually published two blogs on one day to get them all posted in a timely manner.

Fast forward to this week, and I got nuthin’.

Oh, I’m working on a few things. Later this week, or example, I’ll be telling you about the new MBody fitness studio in the village, and I want to stop by the new Mexican restaurant on Ridge Rd. Plus, of course, I’m waiting for news about when the Wreaths Across America truck is scheduled to come through town.

But in the meantime, I got thinking about two years ago, when we were deep in the throes of the pandemic, and we were all looking forward to a rather untraditional holiday season. I was reading through the blogs I wrote that month, and came across a few which I thought you might like to see again (or never saw the first time).

This first one just made me giggle…again. I posted in on Dec. 15, 2020:

Some holiday giggles

We all could use a little laugh right about now as Christmas-time stress compounds the stress we already have thanks to COVID.

So I thought I’d share these images with you, of a scene I came across in Irondequoit last weekend. All I could think of was, “Arlo Guthrie told us all about the ‘Thanksgiving Day Massacree.’ How come we haven’t heard anything about this obvious Christmas Day Massacree?”

It got worse when I got to the Rec Center, where I saw clear evidence of a hit-and-run.

Webster’s “Reverse” Parade of Lights

Do you remember how, since the Village of Webster couldn’t hold its annual Parade of Lights, we held a “reverse” parade instead? It was a very ambitious idea where participating businesses and first responders would set up in a big Xerox parking lot, and community members would drive through the line-up to enjoy the lights and music.

It worked very well, but was so popular that traffic backed up for hours, even onto the highway.

I was there most of the day, and took several videos of the event. I won’t repost them all here, but you can click here to see them and read the original blog from this week two years ago, Dec. 6, 2020.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

(posted 12/5/2022)

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