webster on the web

Wouldn’t it be great if every single student in our district could be handed a free book?

The Webster Teachers Association (WTA) wanted that, too. So they signed on to the First Book program and recently received a truckload (literally) of books — 25,000 of them — which they hope to distribute to schools by the end of the year.

But unloading, unpacking, sorting and repacking them for the schools is a monumental undertaking. Knowing that many hands make light work, the WTA is partnering with the Webster Central PTSA to recruit volunteers to help out.

The goal is to get at least two adults from each school in the district to sign up to help for a few hours on Saturday May 18 from 8 a.m. to noon in the Webster Thomas High School Field House.  It should be fun work and the time will pass quickly. The WTA will even provide light refreshments.

Signing up is easy. Click here to see what slots still need to be filled. And thank you in advance for taking the time to support our students.

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OK all you Village of Webster residents — or more importantly, all you folks who like to ride your bikes to the village — we have some thinking to do.

Several weeks ago I received the happy news that the Village Board has approved the purchase of four new bike racks!

It was just about a year ago when some of my fellow Barry’s Runners and I were enjoying a post-run pint at Barry’s Old School Irish, and discussing the need for bike racks in the village. The recently created bike lanes on Main Street and North Ave. invite cyclists to visit, but aside from one small rack hidden in a garden at the corner of Lapham Park and East Main, there’s really no place to lock them up when you’re in a restaurant or the bookstore … or pub.

Shortly after that conversation, I presented the idea to the Village Board, whose members were very receptive. Kudos to them for doing the research and deciding it was worth the investment. 

Jake Swingly, the village’s Superintendent of Public Works, did most of the legwork during this process, and reports that the new bike racks will come in two different designs. Two will be a hoop type with “Village of Webster Est. 1905” engraved into it, and the other two will be like the blue rack below, with the bicycle. All four new racks will be green.

Now the Board just has to figure out where to install them. And that’s where you come in. They said it would be great if I threw the question out to my readers. So I’ve created a little survey. I’ll collect the thoughts and comments of anyone who would like to weigh in on the issue, and them present them to the Board in a few weeks.

In the survey, I’ve suggested nine different installation spots for the racks. They should, of course, be centrally located to village locations people are likely to visit, but there are also a few other things to consider. For example, should all four be distributed individually throughout the village, or perhaps should two of them be side by side to accommodate more bikes?

Ultimately, the Village Board will decide where they will be placed, especially considering that the big planters will be returning to the sidewalks soon. But if we can give them some feedback to help guide their decision, I’m sure they’d appreciate it.

Here are nine locations to consider (if you have other suggestions, there’s a place in the survey to include those):

1. In front of Village Hall, 28 W. Main Street
2. In front of Barry’s Old School Irish/The Garage Sale Store, 2-8 W. Main Street
3. In front of Smith Insurance, 4 East Main Street (northeast corner of the village’s four corners) 
4. Nestled into the small natural area just east of Smith Insurance (see photo below)
5. In front of the Webster Museum (18 Lapham Park)
6. In front of Harmony House, 58 East Main Street
7. Near Village Bakery (44 East Main St.) or in that lower parking lot somewhere
8. In Gazebo Park
9. Somewhere north of 104, perhaps near Pub 235, at 235 North Ave.

This is that natural area adjacent to Smith Insurance

If you have other ideas as to where they should go, the survey will give you a place to include them as well.

Click here to go to the survey. It should only take a minute!

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

There’s a lot of news out of Knucklehead Craft Brewing lately, and it’s all good.

For starters, Len Dummer tells me that plans are on track for the Knuckleheads to purchase the building, at which point they’ll be installing a full kitchen, AND a beer garden AND make more improvements to the parking lot!

Whew. All this should be happening within the next few months, so stay tuned for updates.

If you haven’t been to Knucklehead yet — which by the way is Webster’s first and only micro-brewery/brew-pub — they’ve got a few great events coming up which would be a great time to check them out.

The first is the pub’s second annual event Island Party from 1 to 10 p.m. Saturday May 11. Alfred St. John’s Trinidad & Tobago Steel-Drum Band will provide the island music, and everyone is encouraged to get creative with their island-themed attire (grass skirts more than welcome). Knucklehead”s talented chefs will be preparing a tropical-themed menu.

Click here for more details.

The second event is a charity fundraiser, the second annual Pints For a Purpose.

In consideration of one of Knucklehead’s employees who has cystic fibrosis, this year’s event will benefit the Just Breathe Foundation, a local charity that directly helps patients with CF who are struggling financially.

Tickets are $50, which includes a free pint (from a total tap takeover of more than 10 local breweries), a plate of food provided by Heintzelmann’s BBQ Pit, five raffle tickets and entertainment by Marty Roberts and Donny C.

Only 100 tickets will be sold, and are available (cash only) at Knucklehead only during regular business hours.

Click here for more details.

If you can’t make it either of these events remember that the Knuckleheads usually have new release parties at least every other week, live music every Friday, trivia every Monday and an amazing kitchen.

Knucklehead Craft Brewing is located at 426 Ridge Road in West Webster, at the corner of Bay. Check out their webpage here and their Facebook page here.

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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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There’s a lot more significance to that headline than meets the eye.

If you were one of the very first people to read this Webster-centric blog when I began it 11 years ago, you may remember that in my very first posting — and several times thereafter — I  admitted that I was not, in fact, a Webster resident. I actually lived in Penfield, just south of the Webster/Penfield line.

That distinction had always been a mere tax formality, however, since our mailing address, schools, grocery store, and other shopping concerns were in Webster, and the Village of Webster — not Penfield’s four corners — was my adopted home town.

But today, for the first time in my blogging history, I am writing from my WEBSTER home.

My husband and I recently down-sized and moved into the village, something we had wanted to do for a long time. After what seems like weeks of buying and selling homes and the myriad details that entails, I’m finally settled in enough to get back into blogging (not having Internet for several days kind of put a damper on things, for starters).

I apologize for having been out of touch for so long, but in my downtime I’ve been keeping a list of blogs that I want to write. In between unpacking boxes, filling out change of address forms, trying to figure out how to use the gas fireplace, wondering what that unusual new sound is, and all the other delights of owning a new home, I promise to start picking away at them.

And now that I live literally within walking distance the Village of Webster, I look forward to being more in tune with all of the outstanding events and activities offered here.

So stay tuned and thanks for your patience!

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

Congratulations to this year’s Oak Tree Award recipients, announced earlier this week.

This year’s winners were JoAnn Hamm, an English teacher at Webster Schroeder High School, and Jennifer Gunerman, a third grade teacher at Klem Rd. North Elementary.

Hamm was nominated by Schroeder senior Hannah De Chalais. Schroeder principal Paul Benz, WTA Representative Scott Richlin, and Oak Tree Award coordinator Wendy Sardella interrupted one of Hamm’s morning classes to announce the award.

Gunerman was nominated by Klem North parent Laura Blair. She was surprised by the news when it was announced on the school’s Morning Show, a move designed to allow the whole school to celebrate with her. Klem North principal Laura Ballou then joined Sardella in Gunerman’s classroom for the obligatory photo opportunity.

Both recipients received a celebratory cookie cake and cheers from their classes. Formal presentation of the Oak Tree Award will take place at the Board of Education in May.

The annual Oak Tree Award is designed to recognize teacher excellence in Webster Central Schools.

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

This Thursday is National Barbershop Quartet Day, and Webster’s very own Chorus of the Genesee will be celebrating with a concert this Thursday April 11 at the Harmony House, 58 East Main Street in the village.

This is a great opportunity to have an evening out, enjoy some incredible music and really get to know the guys who make up one of Webster’s lesser-know treasures, the Chorus of the Genesee. Make sure to ask them how YOU can get involved as well!  

The concert will begin at 7 p.m. There’s no charge, but a free-will donation will be gratefully accepted! Refreshments will be served.

For more information about the Chorus, visit www.chorusofthegenesee.org.

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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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It was another extremely successful Community Arts Day today. For the two hours I was there this afternoon, the cafeteria and hallways were fairly crowded with people, and I dare say attendance was as good as I have ever seen it. I’m sure that the pleasant weather had a lot to do with that. It has been much worse some years.

Congratulations to the organizers for another great event and thank you to all of the volunteers who helped pull this together.

I did my best to snap pictures of as many things as I could, but there was just SO MUCH going on and SO MUCH great artwork. But I still managed to get more than 100. Click here to see them. 

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

Community Arts Day returns to Webster Schroeder High School this coming weekend, on Saturday April 6.

If you’ve been a Webster resident for a while, you probably already know about this great event. But if not, please read on, especially if you 1) appreciate artwork of all kinds, 2) have children, 3) like baked goods, 4) like crafts, 5) like seeing your friends and neighbors, and/or 6) like having fun with life.

Allow me to elaborate.

• Community Arts Day is our school district’s annual show-off day. Students from every one of our elementary, middle and high schools will have artwork on display. We’re talking sculptures, paintings, collages, sketches, you name it. Even the youngest students will be represented. These kids just love seeing their work displayed in public, and you’ll see many a proud parent snapping photos of their children in front of the displays. Especially don’t miss the incredible artwork by our high-schoolers, usually set up in the cafeteria. They’ll make your jaw drop. By the way, make sure to look at the walls as you walk by, because you’ll find written pieces posted there. (Writing is an art form all its own, don’t you know.) And throughout the day you can enjoy music and dance performances and martial arts demonstrations.

• Even if your children don’t expect to have anything on display, bring your kids anyway. There are all sorts of free activities and give-aways, there’s a bake sale and hot dogs, arts and crafts, and usually a firefighter hanging around to show off his — or her — gear.  So basically it’s a full day of free entertainment.

• Did I mention the bake sale? Tons of great baked goods. And here’s an insider’s hint: the last hour of the day or so, everything is half price. You can walk away with whole pies for a steal.

• Local craft-type people set up their wares in the cafeteria every year, and it’s great fun to see what they bring. This is also where you’ll find the kids’ arts & crafts area and regular live entertainers.

• Guaranteed, within minutes of walking into the school, you’ll see someone you know — a friend, school acquaintance, a neighbor. Because Community Arts Day is THE place to be this weekend.

• Having fun with life is what this day is all about. As soon as you walk in the door, you’ll see a dozen things you want to see or do. Around the next corner, there’s another dozen things. Basically, make sure to plan a couple of hours to wander.

Community Arts Day takes place Saturday April 6 from 10 am to 4 pm at Webster Schroeder High School, 875 Ridge Road. Admission is free and there’s plenty of parking. Proceeds from food, craft, and carnival booth sales will benefit cultural arts programs within the Webster Central School District. For more information, visit the Community Arts Day website where you can see the full entertainment schedule. 

Here’s a quick addition this morning to yesterday’s community mailbag.

This week, the Webster Schroeder Drama Club will present Bad Seed by Maxwell Anderson, the dramatization of William March’s novel The Bad Seed.

Described in the email I received,

Little Rhoda Penmark is the perfect child in every way: polite, proper and pleasant. But the shocking drowning of Rhoda’s classmate begins to raise questions for Mrs. Penmark on just how perfect Rhoda may be…

Showtimes are this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and will b available at the door. Webster Schroeder High School is located at 875 Ridge Rd.

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