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Webster mailbag

9 Jun

Just a few notes in the mailbag today. I haven’t been getting a whole lot of press releases lately from local organizations about their upcoming events. I know there’s a lot going on, but if I don’t find out about them until I see a sign about them a day ahead of time, there’s not much I can do!

If your group or club has a special event or fundraiser coming up, and you want some help publicizing it, PLEASE send me an email about it!!

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This Sunday June 11, the The Webster Fairport Elks are having a Flag Day Ritual commemorating all the American flags used in our history, about 10 in all. It’s a great way of educating our youth in patriotism while also giving the opportunity for merit badges.

All Webster residents are invited free of charge. The ceremony will be held at the Elks Lodge, 1066 Jackson Road, beginning at noon on Sunday June 11. It will be about 35 minutes long, and a light lunch will follow.

Please RSVP by email at paul@ontariorecycling.com.

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Klem Road North Elementary School has a new principal.

Laura Ballou web

Laura Ballou

The district recently announced that Laura Ballou, formerly Klem North’s assistant principal, has accepted the position of the school’s principal, effective July 1.  She will be taking over for Steve LaMonica, who was named the new director of physical education and athletics for Webster Thomas High School and Willink Middle School.

Ballou has served as the school’s assistant principal since July 2009. Prior to that, she was an elementary special education teacher in Weedsport CSD and an elementary teacher in West Irondequoit CSD. She also served as assistant principal for two elementary schools in the Katonah-Lewisboro CSD and district director of ESL before returning to the Rochester area to begin her work in Webster.

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And you thought the high school drama season was over.

Several students at Webster Schroeder High School will be closing out ther year with the school’s first-ever student-run play, Almost Maine.

The show, produced and directed by seniors Alaina Messineo and Sarah Smagala and managed by Ally Watson, will be staged just two days before graduation.

Almost, Maine is a romantic comedy created by John Cariani. Here’s a synopsis:

Welcome to Almost, Maine, a town that’s so far north, it’s almost not in the United States—it’s almost in Canada. And it almost doesn’t exist. Because its residents never got around to getting organized. So it’s just…Almost. One cold, clear Friday night in the middle of winter, while the northern lights hover in the sky above, Almost’s residents find themselves falling in and out of love in the strangest ways.

Webster Schroeder’s show features a cast of 21 students ranging from freshman to seniors as well as five members of the crew. It will be presented on Thursday and Friday, June 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Webster Schroeder High School auditorium. Tickets cost $6 and can be purchased online at showtix4u.com or at the door. All seats are general admission.

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Webster Marching Band wants your bottles

8 Jun

WMB Logo

It’s time to clean out the garage.

If you’re like me, you have a huge garbage bag or two of returnables hanging out in your garage, awaiting your motivation to take them back to Wegmans or Hegedorns. Well, the Webster Marching Band will be happy to take them off your hands.

The band’s next Bottle and Can Drive happens this Saturday June 10 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. All you have to do is place those bags outside your house or at the end of the driveway, with a little note indicating they’re for the band, and they’ll be whisked away for a good cause.

Or, if you plan to be out and about on Saturday, you can drop them off at the collection site, Webster Schroeder High School, 875 Ridge Road, by 4 p.m.

OR, you can call the Bottle and Can Hotline (234-8684, option 1) ANYTIME to arrange a pickup at a time convenient for you.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!

Along with the bottle and can drive, there will also be an electronics disposal event at the Schroeder parking lot from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

So while you’re gathering up all those returnables, throw some old electronics in a box and bring them along. The items accepted include desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, LCD monitors, laser printers (not ink-based) and networking equipment. Sorry, no TVs, CRT monitors or ink-based printers can be accepted.

Stay tuned for news of the Webster Marching Band’s next events, an Applebee’s pancake breakfast on July 17 and a food truck rodeo on July 21.

(Marching Band folks, you WILL be letting me know more about these, right?)

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Community Blood Drive returns this week, with a new twist

4 Jun
0604171158b

A peek at some of the prizes that can be won at this week’s Webster Community Blood Drive

The Webster Community Blood Drive will return to St. Paul’s Church and the Webster Rec Center this week,  and it’s got a brand new feature this year.

The semi-annual two-day blood drive, heralded by the huge white signs placed all around town, is always one of the most popular and best attended drives of the entire year. It stands out among all others by the tremendous support it receives from Webster businesses.

This year, instead of receiving a packet of coupons, every presenting donor will be handed ten raffle tickets, which can be used to take chances on 30 different prizes provided by local businesses.

The raffle prizes will include:

  • Gift cards from Abbott’s Frozen Custard
  • Gift certificates from Barry’s Old School Irish
  • Paul Mitchell products from Beyond Cuts Salon
  • Gift certificate from The Chicken Coop
  • Gift card from Eastway Liquor
  • Free hair cut certificates from Great Clips
  • Gift basket from Hegedorn’s
  • Gift basket from Kittelberger Florist
  • Grumblers and pint glasses from Knucklehead Craft Brewing
  • Free month of classes from Matsunami Karate
  • Gift certificate from Natural Alternatives
  • Gift certificate from Ron’s Auto Repair
  • Gift certificate from Rubino’s
  • Fruit gift basket from Schutt’s Apple Mill
  • 10 free classes from Strike Back Martial Arts
  • Decorative vase and Lenox candle holders from The Garage Sale Store
  • A free ice cream cake from The Goodie Shoppe
  • Free month’s membership from World Gym

And there will be even more prizes that aren’t on this list.

Donors will also be pleased to hear that not all the coupons are history. One of the most popular coupons of all — from Bruster’s — will be returning. Every presenting donor will receive Bruster’s “Pint for a Pint” coupon, good for a free pint of ice cream or a free ice cream cone.

Wait! There’s  more! On top of all that, each donor will also be handed a free t-shirt from the Red Cross (while supplies last).

The Webster Community Blood Drive is scheduled for Wednesday June 7 at St. Paul’s Church, 783 Hard Road, and Thursday June 8 at the Webster Recreation Center, 1350 Chiyoda Drive, from noon to 7 pm each day. Make an appointment by calling 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767) or by logging onto http://www.redcrossblood.org. Walk-ins are also welcome.

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Photos from Webster’s parade

29 May

 

IMG_4854
So the weather could have been a little bit better for Monday’s Memorial Day Parade, but it also could have been a whole lot worse.

This is the first year I can remember that we’ve had any kind of rain for the parade. But even this year it wasn’t too bad; a few sprinkles during the marching, and a shower during the ceremony at Webster Rural Cemetery. The crowds lining Main Street and Ridge Road were noticeably thinner this year, probably thanks to the threatening weather, but there were still plenty of onlookers. Many of them came prepared with umbrellas and pop-ups, or found space under some of the large trees that lined the route.

Despite the dampness, I didn’t hear any grumbling. I think we all realized that the men and women we were honoring had suffered much worse.

The only disappointing thing about the day was seeing how many people forgot to stand when the flag came by.

I’ve posted a few photos here, but there are plenty of more here in my gallery, including some from where everyone was lining up, through to the ceremony.

P. S., if you got any great photos which I can add to my gallery, please email them to missyblog@gmail.com.


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D&C reporter Gary Craig introduces new book

22 May

History and mystery buffs will be interested in a book-signing event scheduled for Barnes & Noble this Saturday May 27.

My Democrat and Chronicle colleague Gary Craig has just published a new book, titled Seven Million: A Cop, a Priest, a Soldier for the IRA, and the Still-Unsolved Rochester Brink’s Heist.

Gary has spent several years researching and writing the book, and the result is a fascinating, in-depth exploration of one of the twentieth century’s most notorious unsolved crimes.

Here’s some more information about Seven Million, from Amazon.com:

On a freezing night in January 1993, masked gunmen walked through the laughably lax security at the Rochester Brink’s depot, tied up the guards, and unhurriedly made off with $7.4 million in one of the FBI’s top-five armored car heists in history.

Suspicion quickly fell on a retired Rochester cop working security for Brink’s at the time—as well it might. Officer Tom O’Connor had been previously suspected of everything from robbery to murder to complicity with the IRA. One ex-IRA soldier in particular was indebted to O’Connor for smuggling him and his girlfriend into the United States, and when he was caught in New York City with $2 million in cash from the Brink’s heist, prosecutors were certain they finally had enough to nail O’Connor. But they were wrong.

In Seven Million, reporter Gary Craig meticulously unwinds the long skein of leads, half-truths, false starts, and dead ends, taking us from the grim solitary pens of Northern Ireland’s Long Kesh prison to the illegal poker rooms of Manhattan to the cold lakeshore on the Canadian border where the body parts began washing up.

Seven Million is a fascinating real-life tale of cops and FBI agents, prison snitches, the IRA, and the unfortunate fate of one Ronnie Gibbons, a down-and-out boxer who was in on the early planning of the heist, only to disappear after he came to Rochester to demand his cut.

You can learn more about the case, and meet Gary Craig in person this Saturday when he holds a book-signing from 2 to 3 pm at the Webster Barnes & Noble, Towne Center Plaza. Read more about the event on the Barnes & Noble website and event Facebook page.

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It must be summer, because….

17 May

fiesta

… I just received a press release about the St. Rita Fiesta!

This little festival is one of my favorite ones of the entire year, and not just because it’s close to home. There is always so much to do for the whole family, and organizers seem to keep adding new things every year.

This year — the fiesta’s 63rd — there will be a zip line and bounce houses for the kids, and live music by The Breakfast Club and Ruby Shooz. There’ll be an expanded list of food trucks, as well as the fiesta’s traditional pancake breakfast, fish fry dinner, and chicken barbecue. And of course the plant sale and book sale will be back again.

This year’s big raffle prize is $10,000 cash or $15,000 towards a lease from Vision Automotive.

The Fiesta also features  5k and 10k races on Saturday, June 3. I’ve run this race, and it’s a nice flat course which is perfect for strollers and new runners as well as seasoned competitors. The race is followed by a pancake breakfast.

Families can order wristbands early, which gets kids all-access passes to the bounce houses, zip lines, and bungee trampoline at a discounted price. Discount wristbands can be purchased through the Fiesta website or at the St. Rita’s Parish Office.

Admission to the Fiesta is free. For more information, visit the St. Rita Fiesta website. St. Rita Church is located at 1008 Maple Drive in West Webster.

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Mini Webster mailbag

16 May

Just a few interesting notes this morning.

For starters, Webster Schroeder and Webster Thomas high schools will both have new assistant principals next year.

Karen Murray has accepted the position as assistant principal (alpha M-R) for Webster Thomas High School’s Gold House, effective July 1. Murray is replacing current interim assistant principal Jeremy Slack.

New APs for web

Karen Murray and Dan Sepka

Murray, a Webster resident and graduate, previously served as a middle school ELA teacher and literacy specialist at both Spry and Willink middle schools. She also was a high school literacy specialist at Webster Thomas HS.

 

Dan Sepka will be the new assistant principal (alpha A-E) for Webster Schroeder High School, also effective July 1, replacing current interim assistant principal Jim Vitale.

Sepka is currently an integrated co-teacher at Spry Middle School and prior to that, worked for 10 years at State Road Elementary School as a consultant teacher.
He has spent his entire teaching career in Webster CSD as a co-teacher in all subject areas, and has been a Warrior varsity assistant coach since 2005.  He is also a graduate of Webster Schroeder HS and a Webster resident.

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The Webster Parks and Recreation Department has asked me to remind everyone about their great summer camp programs.

Right now is the time to sign up for programs to keep your kids active and entertained this summer. The Rec offers both full-day camps for children ages kindergarten through 5th grade, and fun camps for teenagers.

In full-day camp, kids are grouped by grade and rotate through a variety of indoor and outdoor activities. Campers will also enjoy several field trips to miniature golf, Seabreeze, bowling, movies ad more.

The Fun Camps will take teenagers to a new exciting destination every dayfrom ice skating to RocVenture, a baseball game to paintball.

The Rec also offers a preschool camp for children ages 3 to 5, and half-day fun camp for kids in kindergarten through 3rd grade.

For more details about all the options, click here.

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opioidThe Monroe County Legislature and the school district are teaming up for a very important presentation on May 31 to raise awareness about the rising threat of opioid abuse in our community.

The presentation will be held Wednesday May 31 at 7 pm at the Webster Community Center, 1350 Chiyoda Drive. Click on the poster for more information.

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Still talkin’ about parks

11 May

park collageA couple of months ago I had the pleasure of speaking to the Adirondack Mountain Club about my 2016 Tour de Parks. The adventure took me to more than 100 parks all over the east side of Rochester.

I had so much fun doing that talk (and I put so much time and effort into preparing it) that I decided to take it on the road.

So if you didn’t catch it in March and would still like to hear about my adventures, there are three more chances to do so in the coming weeks.

This coming Wednesday May 17, I’ll be at the Webster Public Library, 980 Ridge Road, at 7 pm.

Then on Thursday June 1, I’ll be at the Brighton Memorial Library, 2300 Elmwood Ave, at 6:30 pm.

Finally, on Monday June 26 I’ll end my tour (at least for now) at the Pittsford Community Library, 24 State Street, beginning at 7 pm.

Since I’m only doing these talks for fun, the only compensation I asked for was cookies. So no guarantees, but if you’re able to make one of the talks, you might be able to enjoy some oatmeal scotchies. (Actually that makes it worth seeing several times.)

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Webster Rotary invites community members to “Gear Up!”

9 May

rotaryYou’ll read more about this event in my Our Towns East Extra column this Thursday, but I think it’s such a great idea, I wanted to highlight it here in my blog as well.

The Webster Rotary has created a brand new community bike-riding fundraiser in honor of the Rotary Foundation’s 100th year.

The event, called “Gear Up!” is a long-distance community bike ride hosted in conjunction with the Town of Webster, the Webster Chamber of Commerce, and the Friends of Webster Trails. It’s scheduled for this Saturday May 13.

Three different courses have been mapped out. Individual participants can ride 26.5 or 53-mile road routes which take riders as far east as Pultneyville and south to Walworth.

A much shorter, 5-mile long trail ride is designed for families, guiding younger riders and their parents along Webster’s Bird Sanctuary, Chiyoda and Hojack trails. Registration fees are $26.50 for the longer rides, and $45 for the shorter ride, regardless of number of family members participating.

The unusual registration cost and ride distances are based on the fact that the Rotary Foundation began a century ago with a single donation of $26.50.

In addition to this being a nice family event, organizers hope that the longer distances will attract riders who are training for the 100-mile long Ride for Missing Children on May 19 or the Tour de Cure on June 10.

All of the proceeds raised in the Gear Up! ride will benefit the Rotary Foundation and its six areas of focus: clean water, literacy, maternal health, peace and conflict resolution, disease prevention and economic development. This year the Rotary is also focusing on raising money for End Polio Now, an initiative spearheaded by Bill and Melinda Gates.

The Gear Up! benefit bike ride this Saturday May 13 will begin at 8 am at the Webster Parks and Recreation Center, 1350 Chiyoda Drive. For more information and to register online, click here. Last-minute registrations will also be accepted at the Rec Center the morning of the ride.

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Webster Community Chest needs help finding new space

2 May

community chest

The Webster Community Chest (WCC) is currently reevaluating the location where it provides services for the Webster community, and the organization needs your help.

The WCC is actively looking for a new location from which they can continue to provide assistance to individuals and families in our community. That especially means the food cupboard. The new space will house non-perishables most of the time, and fresh donations on distribution days.

Their ideal location would be in Webster (of course), on the smaller side (maximum 2000 square feet) and available for minimal rent. The WCC budget is limited and they’re hoping the vast majority of their donations could continue to go directly to neighbors in need and not to rent. (So donated/shared space would be IDEAL!)

If you know of a landlord or business who might be interested in sharing their space — or if YOU own a business which could help out — please contact Community Chest board member Andy LaManna at alamanna18@gmail.com.

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

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