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Lots going on at the library

4 Sep

unnamed

There’s always something going on at the Webster Public Library. Here’s a sampling of programs for children and adults coming up in the next few weeks:

Learn about Ikebana (ee-kay-bah-nah), the Japanese art of flower arrangement, on Thursday Sept. 27 and Friday Sept. 28. During regular library hours, stop into the library’s meeting room for an exhibition of this disciplined art form in which the arrangement is a living thing where nature and humanity are brought together. It’s steeped in the philosophy of developing a closeness with nature.

What should you do in the fall to ready your garden for spring? Learn about Putting Your Garden to Bed on Thursday Sept. 18 from 6 to 7 p.m. Master gardener Jurij Kushner will teach you what to do in the fall to improve soil quality, and protect perennials, tender plants, trees, and shrubs from winter conditions. The program will also explain how to bring in the house plants, how to winterize tools, and how to prepare water sources for the winter season. Registration is required.

Tired of the same old hair styles? On Monday Sept. 10 from 6:30 to 8 p.m., teens can learn Hair Braiding 101, some fun new braiding techniques to try out on themselves or their friends. The class is designed for teens in grades 6 and up (adults and younger children ages 10 and up welcome if they are accompanying a teen), and registration is required.

Children ages 15 months to 8 years old will explore science, technology, engineering and math with the STEAM Powered Play program on Thursday Sept. 13 from 3 to 4 p.m. or 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. Children will learn concepts and practice skills through hands-on exploration and play, such as creative problem solving, critical thinking, self-regulation, pre-math and science, sensory experience, construction and more. We provide experiences with blocks and loose parts, process oriented art, sensory and science, dramatic/pretend play, and language and literacy, and more. Registration required. Children must be accompanied by adults. For more information click here.

Have you always wanted to learn CPR but didn’t know where to go to do it? You can do that at the library, too! NEQALS is offering several classes in Community CPR, First Aid and AED. It is a two-year certification through the American Heart Association. The class is open to everyone in the community from 5 years old and up. Current classes are scheduled for Sept. 29, October 13, November 10 and December 8, all at 10:30 a.m. at the library. Cost is $45 per person. To sign up, email community.education@neqals.org.

The Webster Public Library is located at 980 Ridge Road. Make sure to check out their entire schedule of classes for children and adults.

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Village traffic advisory in effect Friday

30 Aug

first responders 5KVillage of Webster residents are advised that the running of the First Responders 5K on Friday night Aug. 31 beginning at 6:30 p.m., will affect many streets. The race will be run along Sanford street and through several streets east of South Ave., requiring traffic along many of them to be delayed for a short time.

Here are the details, provided by Yellowjacket Racing:

While some streets will be closed during certain timeframes, local residential traffic will be delayed but accommodated. The Webster Police and Fire Departments will be working diligently to assist with traffic.

The following roads will be affected from 6:30-7:30PM:

• Sanford St, South Ave, Fuller Ave, Dunning Ave, Meadow Dr, Southwick Dr, Hawley Dr, Hefner Dr, Judson St, Harmon St, Curtice Park.

• Route 250 between State Road and Main Street will be closed for a short timeframe and then restricted for approximately one hour.

Here’s a look at the race map:

run route

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Three local businesses closing

21 Aug

sweet wood

In all the excitement about the Village Bakery opening recently, it was easy to miss the sad news about a few other Webster businesses who are closing (or have closed) their doors.

I found out through an article in the D&C that — after two years in business — Sweet Wood Barbecue on Main Street in the Village of Webster would be closing.  Its last day was Saturday.

You can click on the article above to read a little more about owner Eugene Giordano and his feelings about having to close his business. But what that article doesn’t really address in what a loss this is for the village.

The Village of Webster has several eating establishments, but in my opinion there aren’t a whole lot of low-cost, kid-friendly alternatives for families (aside from fast food). Sweet Wood was one of them. Great food, comfortable surroundings, reasonable price.

On top of that, the village is losing a staunch supporter. An active member of the village’s Business Improvement District, you could count on Giordano and Sweet Wood to play a part in pretty much every village event, like the Jazz Fest, Wine Walks, and the Trick or Treat Trail.

Losing Sweet Wood is a loss for just West Main Street, but the whole village itself.

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Did you hear that Rite Aid on Ridge Road is closing?

Ever since Walgreen’s purchased the store, it was probably just a matter of time. It was unlikely Walgreen’s would keep two stores open within a mile of each other. But I was frankly surprised about how long it took to lower the hammer.

I first heard the news from my daughter, who works there as a shift supervisor. (You’ll know her as the one with the funky hair, permanent smile, bouncy personality and mile-a-minute chatter.)  To their credit, Walgreen’s management appears to be trying to find new positions for as many of the displaced employees as possible. My daughter, for example, will be working at a Walgreen’s in Fairport.

The official closing date is still several weeks away (the pharmacy will be closing before the rest of the store). In the meantime, stop in regularly, because already lots of things are clearance priced, and those discounts will become greater as the date nears.

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CFWFinally, I just learned today that CrossFit Webster (CFW), on near Bay and Empire, is also closing.

If you’re not into CrossFit, you probably don’t care about this news. But it affects a lot of people close to me, and many others for whom CFW has become what my friend Peter called “a place that has been a bedrock of support, refuge, and solace for many.”

I was even a member for a while. I was there when they opened in 2013 to try out their free welcome-to-CrossFit bootcamp class, and I briefly fell in love with the regimen’s focus on short, intense workouts.

I didn’t stick with it for long, but I know others who did, and CFW has changed their bodies — and their lives — for the better. It has built much more than strong muscle; the “box” (as these gyms are affectionately) has also built friendships and self-confidence.

I don’t know the story behind CFW’s closing. But I hope that for the benefit of all those who have become CFW family, the box will soon find a new home, and in the meantime, everyone can find another CrossFit box where they can continue their workouts and their friendships.

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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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Village fun not done yet

20 Aug

The start of school is just around the corner and summer of 2018 is winding down, but the Village of Webster isn’t ready to stop dishing out the fun quite yet.

bfgThis Tuesday, August 21, the village will host its last Tuesday Movie Night of the season, featuring Disney’s Big Friendly Giant.

This is a kid-friendly favorite. An orphan girl befriends a benevolent giant who takes her to Giant Country, where they attempt to stop the man-eating giants from invading the human world.

The movie begins at dusk at the village’s Gazebo Park on North Ave. Approximate starting time and weather updates will be posted on the Village’s Facebook page. Bring your chairs and blankets, and refreshments if you like, but free popcorn will be provided by Hegedorn’s.

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There’s also one more Village Band concert coming up this week, on Thursday August 23.

If you haven’t experienced a performance by the Village Band yet, this is your last chance this summer to enjoy this under-appreciated village treasure. Concerts begin at 7 p.m. at the band shell on Phillips Road (near Ridge). Bring a lawn chair or blanket and relax!

In case of inclement weather, the concerts are held at Cherry Ridge Senior Center, across from Webster Schroeder High School on Ridge Road.

That’s it for August, but put these upcoming events on your calendar right now:

  • The village’s second Beer Walk will be held on Saturday, September 15, 2018. Likebeer mug at the Wine Walks, this is a great chance to visit local restaurants and merchants and sample some beer and spirits.

   Stay tuned for a list of the “brew stops” and more details.

  • If all of the retailers are already putting out Halloween decorations and candy corn, we can start talking about Halloween in the Village and Trick or Treat Trail. This is one of my favorite village events of the entire year.

Although details about this year’s Trick or Treat Trail have not yet been posted to the BID website, I would lay odds it will be held on October 27, the Saturday before Halloween. There’s always a costume contest, lots of treats for the kids at local merchants, wagon rides and open houses at the fire department and museum.

Check the BID website regularly for details.

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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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News from the schools

14 Aug

Rod DeRose temp photo - uncroppedMore good news from the schools this morning.

First, the school district has announced that Rob DeRose will be the new assistant principal at DeWitt Road Elementary School.

DeRose currently serves as Webster CSD’s extended school year coordinator and instructional specialist for humanities/literacy. He will begin his new position effective September 1.

DeRose began his career in WCSD as a special education teacher at State Road Elementary School, and also served as special education department lead teacher for four years. He lives in Macedon with his wife, Carmella, and three children, Jacob (8), Benjamin (6), and Gracie (3).

The Webster Central PTSA has announced the winners of the organization’s 2018 Student Awards.

Each year the Webster Central PTSA recognizes six outstanding seniors, chosen by high school counselors in a blind selection process from the Common Applications. For each award, one student is chosen from each high school, Webster Schroeder and Webster Thomas. Each winner will receive $500.

Webster Central PTSA Pursue Your Passion Award

The Pursue Your Passion Award recognizes seniors working to make their dream a reality, who exemplify the principles of Webster Central PTSA and student CARE behaviors. This year’s winners are Brianna Jones (Schroeder) and Dominic Chiara (Thomas).

Webster Central PTSA Academic Excellence Award

This award recognizes seniors who have demonstrated excellence in academic achievement and are pursuing a college education. This year’s winners are Selena Zhang (Schroeder) and Sarah Fischer (Thomas).

Webster Central PTSA Ann Carmody Award for Outstanding Community Service

As its name suggests, this award is given to a senior who has demonstrated excellence and commitment to community service efforts in and/or outside of school, measured by volunteer hours. This year’s winners are Caitlin Glastonbury (Schroeder) and Katelyn Meredith (Thomas).

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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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Good food, good music courtesy the Webster Marching Band

7 Aug

webster marching band

A quick heads up today on a few upcoming events hosted by our very own Webster Marching Band.

On Thursday August 9, the band will host a Sticky Lips pulled pork BBQ fundraiser at Webster Schroeder High School, from 5 to 7 p.m.

For $11.50 your dinner includes a pulled pork sandwich, mac salad, beans and pickles.

On Saturday August 18, the band will hold a craft day at Webster Schroeder, a chance for area craefters to spend a day with like-minded people, working on their projects. Click here for more information about that.

The band’s 33rd annual Autumn Fanfare field show and competition is scheduled for Saturday October 6 at Webster Schroeder High School. This year’s show is called “Heart Strings Tugged & Torn.”

These are always outstandingly impressive shows. Gates open at 5:30, show starts at 7. Watch for pre-sale ticket information.

And if you missed the recent bottle and can drive which the band held last Saturday, no sweat. There are two other ways to get your empties to the band and clear out your garage.

First, you can call their hotline number anytime to let them know you have a bunch of empties to pick up. Just call 234-8684, leave a message, and someone will get back in touch with you to schedule a pick-up. OR, you can drop your returnables off at Can Kings, 1183 Ridge Road, and tell them you want to donate them to the Marching Band.

For more information about the band and these events, visit the Friends of the Marching Band Facebook page.

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The Tappan Zee is coming to Webster …?

6 Aug
Tappan Zee 2

The Tappan Zee Bridge construction site

Did you ever drive over the Tappan Zee Bridge? You just might have that chance before too long, because the bridge might be coming to Webster.

Sort of.

You may have heard that the Tappan Zee Bridge, which spans the Hudson River just north of New York City, was recently replaced. You can imagine the number of surplus girders and deck panels that resulted.  It would be a shame to have wasted them. Thanks to some outstanding foresight by the Thruway Authority and other Powers That Be, many of those salvaged deck panels may soon be part of a new bridge in Webster.

I got in touch with County Bridge Engineer Bo Mansouri, from the Monroe County Department of Transportation, who explained how this all came about. He wrote,

We recently accepted delivery of 31 bridge panels that we had requested from the NYSTA (Thruway Authority). We have them in our storage now. This process started back in October 2014, before the new bridge construction began. Back then, all municipalities in the State were asked for their interest in obtaining the salvaged deck panels for use in their future capital improvement projects!! They are only 7-13 years old, and in excellent condition.

It cost the County only $1 to buy, and have the 31 panels delivered and dropped off at our storage site, thanks to FHWA and NYSTA, the project sponsors. It was their goal to have as many of these panels salvaged, and put to good use, as possible. It is estimated that for every three panels that will be used in future Monroe County Capital Bridge Projects, roughly $150-250,000 will be saved.

135 panels are being distributed to 13 agencies across the State, with Monroe County accepting 31 of them, the most number by far! Monroe County aggressively pursued the opportunity to grab as many of these panels as we could store, to use in future maintenance and capital improvement bridge projects, The 12′ wide by 50′ long prefabricated concrete-deck-on-galvanized-beams panels are perfect for most medium span bridges in the County. Other local agencies have since heard about and now asking us for them. Monroe County will consider sharing them with other local government, a stipulation made in an agreement with the NYSTA. These panels will be for use in public works projects only and are not to be sold or given to private enterprises.

Tappan Zee 1

Typical panel being delivered to the county

Plans are currently in the works to replace the 1952-era Salt Road Bridge over Four Mile Creek, just south of Lake Road. The bridge has been identified as a possible site for using these former Tappan Zee Bridge deck panels. The project is still in the design and approval process, but if everything goes as planned, construction should begin in the summer of 2020.

What a great way to recycle perfectly good construction materials and save taxpayers a ton of money to boot. And how cool it will be driving over that bridge, knowing you might have driven over those same panels when they were part of the old Tappan Zee.

Many thanks to Bo Mansouri for this information and the great photos.

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Friends of Webster Trails need our help

1 Aug

signpost

Perhaps you’ve heard about the Friends of Webster Trails. If you’ve enjoyed ANY of the wonderful trails in Webster, then for sure you know about them, because they’re the ones largely responsible for making our tremendous trail system the treasure that it is.

These volunteers put in thousands of hours every summer planning, creating and maintaining these trails. It’s really a thankless job, since only a small percentage of the people who use our trails actually sign up as members of the Friends. (It really doesn’t cost much. Check out the membership page here.)

Here’s a great way to show your love and thank the organization for their efforts, and get a little exercise while you’re at it.

The Friends often put out a call to their membership volunteers for their weekly work parties. But the project they’re working on now is a big one and they need a LOT of help. So I’m helping to spread the word to the greater Webster community.

The project is located in the Hickory Bark Woods, which is that stand of woods adjacent to the Webster Public Library. On the weekends of August 4-5 and 11-12 the Friends will be building an observation platform. The area will be used for outside programs and as a place to enjoy some solitude among the hickory trees.

If you can carry boards, dig holes, or do some light assembly work, they can use you. Bring gloves and water, wear pants and closed shoes (not sandals). Post hole diggers and shovels would be helpful, too. Cold drinks and snacks will be provided.

To see more details and/or sign up to help use this link.

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Webster community mailbag

20 Jul

Well, folks, I’m back in town after a 10-day trip with my daughter through Spain (with a side trip to Lisbon, Portugal thrown in for good measure). I tried my best to auto-post some blogs while I was gone, but finally I’m back at the keyboard to blog live and in person.

And to wade through about two dozen new emails I got in my absence.

First order of business, then, is a mailbag to pass along all that news that people passed along to me while I was in sunny Spain.

First off, don’t forget about the Webster Jazz Fest, which begins tonight (Friday) with Jazz in the Pubs, and continues Saturday night with Jazz in the Streets. This event features an incredible variety of great music, and I consider it one of the best events of the entire summer. Pretty much everyone in Webster comes out.

For more details about the Fest, including who is playing and when, click here.

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santa

Also tomorrow (Saturday) July 21, grab your kids and make your way down to the Joe Obbie Farmers Market for their annual Christmas in July event, featuring (of course) Santa Claus.

The Webster Village Band will be there playing holiday music and the entire market will be decked out in holiday splendor with special treats for the kids.

The Joe Obbie Market runs every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Webster Towne Center Plaza (Kohl’s/Target Plaza) at the corner of Ridge and Holt roads.

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This is most definitely not Webster news, but it’s a great cause and you golfers out there will want to know about it.

The 23rd annual Leatherneck Open will take place on Monday July 23 at Greystone Golf Club in Walworth. Veterans, active duty and civilians are all welcome to participate in the event, which helps support Marines all across Western New York.

The event begins at 11 a.m. with a presentation of the colors in front of the Greystone club house, followed by a shotgun start. It’s not too late to register; for that matter, they’ll be taking registrations that morning at the event.

For more information, click here.

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Next weekend, July 28 and 29, the annual Waterfront Art Festival returns to North Ponds Park.

The event features artisans from all over Monroe County, who line the sidewalks with their tents, selling high-quality art and craft items. Food trucks and live entertainment will add to the fun.

Hours are Saturday July 28 and Sunday July 29 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Admission is $3, with children 12 and under free. North Ponds Park is located on the Rt. 104 access road between Holt Road and Rt. 250 (use the Rt. 250 exit).

For more information click here.

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More news from the village:

The last Webster Wine Walk of the year is Saturday August 11 from 4 to 7 p.m. You’ll want to be at this one for sure, even if you’ve participated in these wine walks before, because there are different venues included this time around.

At 9 p.m. Kittelbergers Florists invites everyone down to their shop for fireworks to celebrate their 90th anniversary.

For tickets to the wine walk click here.

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Finally, this is news from the Town of Webster for folks who live on or near Gravel Road.’

Beginning the week of July 23, workers will be milling and paving Gravel Road between Regina Drive and Klem Road.

According to the press release from the Town,

During construction, traffic will be maintained with daily lane closures as needed. Flaggers will be used to guide traffic around the work areas. Continuous access to driveways and side streets will be maintained, except when work is occurring directly in front of these access points. In these situations, the delay will only be for a brief time until construction personnel indicate that it is safe to cross the work zone.

The work will progress rapidly and is expected to be completed by mid August. All work will be performed during the day.

For more information and a map, click here.

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My thoughts on the proposed new school start times

15 Jul

clockI’ve been giving some thought recently about discussions the Webster school district has been having about changing our schools’ start times.

I have to admit (rather sheepishly) that I haven’t really been paying very close attention to the process. I didn’t attend any meetings, didn’t follow the reports posted to the district website. Because the main focus seems to be on the secondary schools (based on adolescent sleep needs), I guess I really didn’t think it would affect me much, since I work in elementary.

That was my bad. It will definitely affect a lot of people, and as the blogger I should have followed it all more closely.

But not long ago a Plank North colleague of mine pointed out that the proposed changes will definitely affect us — and every elementary school — as well.

Allow me to back up a bit and fill in some long overdue details.

Based on the results from study groups and a community forum, a recommendation has been placed on the table that the board consider changing the district’s school start times to approximately 8:45 for secondary schools and 7:45 for elementary schools.

My colleague, and others, believe that this radical change in the start time for elementary students (whose school day now starts around 9 a.m.) will pose some challenges, especially with day care, after-school programs, breakfast programs and very early busing concerns.

There’s also some question about how well these young students will be able to adapt to the much earlier time, as they haven’t quite developed the self-management skills to stay focused and engaged that early.

There’s a lot to think about. I don’t know the answer, and I trust that the smart minds who are working on it are considering all the angles. It’s definitely a sticky problem, the solution to which will not make everyone happy. But I hope that the district plans another community forum in the near future, specifically to address some of these concerns from elementary school parents and teachers.

You can find a lot more information about this issue including a video from the June 5 community forum at this link.

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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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