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SPOILER ALERT!!

If you’re on my Christmas list (you know who you are) you might NOT want to read today’s blog.

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 I’m going to try something new this Christmas. I’m going to buy local.

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that this is a new concept for me.  Like most people, I’m a big Kmart/Walmart/Kohl’s/Target shopper when it comes to the holidays.  But after all these years I’m beginning to get tired of the same old, same old.  I feel the need to get more creative in my gift-giving.

So I’m going to try to keep my Christmas dollars in the village as much as possible. It doesn’t hurt that Webster has so many wonderful little shops with such a wonderful variety of gift ideas.  And it doesn’t hurt that I’ve come to know so many of our village’s small business owners and really want to support them.

So I’m going to try my best to shop local this year. I know, for example, that my kids will definitely want one of Barry’s Old School Irish’s new t-shirts or hoodies. I know someone on my list who just LOVES Nest Things. (That place is a gift-giver’s dream store.)  I’m thinking a stop by The Music Store would be a good idea for my son the musician, who can never own enough things to beat, strum, pick, or fiddle with. And I haven’t even begun to list all the people who would like gift baskets or stocking stuffers from Webster Gourmet.  And books?  I don’t have small children anymore, but I’m sure someone on my list would love a book or two or five from Yesterday’s Muse.

And that’s just a start. I figure I can get my entire list taken care of in one day.  And I know the day.

Small Business Saturday is coming up on November 24.  Yes, that’s the day following Black Friday, a day I never ever venture out onto the roads. On Black Friday, not only is Ridge Road backed up for miles, but the process of entering and exiting Towne Center Plaza becomes an hour-long ordeal, a situation which will repeat itself every weekend until Christmas.

The following day, however, the traffic through the village will be very manageable, and the parking plentiful. So that is when I will be finishing up my Christmas shopping. You’ll find me strolling through the village of Webster, or perhaps hanging out at Barry’s warming my hands around a hot chocolate before heading out for round two.  Hope to see you there.

By the way, click here to download a whole slew of money-saving coupons courtesy our Webster Village businesses.

Perhaps you were lucky enough to be in the audience last year when the Working Class Theatre Company performed  The Complete Works of William Shakespeare — Abridged at the gazebo.  If so, I’m sure you were as impressed as I was with the talent this little company brings to the stage.

So you’ll be interested in this news: the Working Class Theatre Company has returned with a brand new play, which they’ll present in five shows this coming weekend at the Harmony House.

The production is called What’s the Capital of Bolivia?, and it’s directed by Sander Nagar, who also directed last summer’s hilarious Shakespeare parody.

There are a lot of reasons to be excited about this performance. For starters (and this one’s obvious), it means that live theater is returning to the village. And there’s nothing like a good play to invigorate a town’s night life.

Secondly, this particular play is a world premier. It’s written by local playwright Robert G. Barone and has never been produced anywhere else before.

Jimmy Johnson and Scott Ellsworth play brothers home for their mother’s funeral. Tony Perri plays their father.

The last really neat thing about this performance is the way it’s being performed. The entire set has been plopped down not on the stage, but in the middle of the Harmony House floor. Taped lines outline the acting area, so in some places the actors will be only a few feet from the front row of the audience. It’s kind of like theater-in-the-round (except it’s a square).  Nagar explained that the decision to perform on the floor was a deliberate attempt to deeply engage the audience. “While you’re watching,” he said, “you feel like you’re a fly on the wall.”

The theater company is hoping that this weekend’s production will be just the first of many appearances at the Harmony House, Nagar said. For a while now, he’s been working closely with the Chorus of the Genesee, who own the facility, and is pleased that to have “finally gotten a foot in the door.”

“We’ve always considered Webster our home,” Nagar said. Ultimately, he added, the Working Class Theatre Company would like to set up their own space in Webster, and settle into a three-play season: one show in the fall, one in the spring, and a summer production at the gazebo. Then maybe also sprinkle some staged readings throughout the rest of the year.

This view from the Harmony House stage shows how the performance area is set up on the floor.

It looks to me like they’ve got a real good start.

Downed trees block Five Mile Line Road in Penfield. (Screen capture from D&C video by Jamie Germano.)

It could have been much worse. And I dare say, I think we were all expecting Sandy to hit us harder than she did.  But fortunately — as is often the case — the predictions of gloom and doom were not completely fulfilled.

Not to say things aren’t bad out there this morning, for thousands of Webster residents. Especially along the lake shore, there’s water in basements, trees are down, lines are down, and thousands are without power. And since the problem is so widespread, it may take a long time for everyone to get it back again.

But for most of us away from the lake, aside from some extra detritus in the yard and a leaky roof or two, we fared pretty well. After all, I got a day off of school, most of the leaves are down from the trees now, which will allow me to finish up my yard work weeks ahead of time, and the outlet bridge got swung into place a few bonus days ahead of schedule (boy, did THAT little bit of news light up my blog!). We’re also pretty fortunate that this all blew through last night and not Wednesday night.  And thank goodness it wasn’t snow.  Yikes.

Still, take care when you’re out on the roads today, because several of them are closed and more branches may yet come down.  Here’s an update from the D&C of the roads that are closed this morning:

As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, the following roads are closed: Stone Road, between Castleford and Willis in Greece; Latta Road, between Silver Fox Lane and Castle Creek in Greece; 5 Mile Line Road, between Whalen and Route 286 in Penfield; Lake Road, between Pellet and Baker in Webster; Holt Road, between Nestwood and Shoemaker in Webster; East Avenue, between Anita and Sweden Walker Road in Sweden; Roosevelt Highway, between Route 260 and Hamlin Parma Town Line Road in Hamlin; and, True Hickory Drive, off of Hemlock Woods Lane in Greece.

The Webster Recreation Center is also closed to the public today, as it has been designated an emergency shelter. The Webster Lunch 60 Program will also no run today.

How did you and yours survive the storm? Did you have any significant damage to your home?  Feel free to comment and share your stories, and send along some photos for my blog if you’d like.

The time and location of the next Webster Cash Mob has officially been announced.

If you’ve never heard of a “cash mob,” the idea is simple. It’s kind of like a “flash mob,” where people show up at a specified time and perform some sort of choreographed dance routine or activity.  In a cash mob, local residents show up at a predetermined small business at a certain date and time and spend money, giving the business an economic jolt.  Mobbers typically spend $10-20 dollars.

This month’s “mob target” is The Art Stop, at 10 North Avenue in the village.  The Art Stop, open since 2003, sells fine art supplies, creative items for children, and gift items.  They also have a custom frame shop and a gallery featuring work by local artists, and offer art lessons in their second-floor studio.

The Cash Mob will descend on the Art Stop on Saturday Oct 20 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm. Afterwards, mobbers will meet at Barry’s Old School Irish for a pint and a scone.

You can find out more about this cash mob and future Webster Cash Mob efforts by “liking” the group’s Facebook page, or contact Renee Short at 585-670-9385.

I got to wear pajamas to school today.

You see, it’s Homecoming Week at the Webster high schools, which means that every day this week there’s a different dress-up theme for students.  At Thomas High School, faculty members are encouraged to participate as well.  So Tuesday — Pajama Day — we all got to wear our fuzzy pajama pants, or something equally comfortable, like sweats.  Wednesday, we can dress up like superheroes or space aliens, and Thursday is “music genre” day. I’m thinking of pulling some polyester disco pants out of the box in the attic.

It all culminates on Friday with color day, when each class dresses in a different color.  When the entire student body gathers in the gym at the end of the school day for the pep rally, the effect is dramatic. The bleachers are transformed into a rainbow, enveloping the gymnasium floor. And the noise is deafening.

I know that Spirit Week at Schroeder is much the same, down to the deafening pep rally on Friday.  I think this is only the second year in which both schools have held their Homecoming celebrations in the same week, a decision which I think was long overdue.  Even though we have two high schools, we are still one community, and should make an effort to hold joint events a whole lot more often than we do.

Which is why I am really excited to see that the Homecoming Parade is back for a second year on Saturday morning.  Students will be making floats and walking with their classes, or teams, or clubs. The parade begins at Spry Middle School at 10 am and will proceed through the village.

There’s actually a whole line-up of Homecoming sporting events taking place this week, including the Schroeder Varsity football game on Friday and Thomas Varsity game on Saturday night.  Click here for the entire schedule of this week’s events.

** P.S.  Like last year, I will not be able to attend this weekend’s Homecoming Parade. So like last year, I’m asking my readers to submit photos for me to post in my blog.  If you’re interested, choose a half dozen or so of your favorites and email them to me at missyblog@gmail.com. Thanks! **

This was the scene outside Mitch Nellis’ Eastridge High School room during the sorting phase of the collection drive.

I got an email a few days ago from Mitchell Nellis. He’s the brains behind Greenseed Educational Supplies, the organization that coordinates the effort at the end of every school year to recycle gently used school supplies.  I know that many of my readers are really interested when I post blogs about Webster Thomas’ annual participation in this effort.  So I thought I’d post a follow-up and let you know how things went this year.

In a word, spectacular.

As a matter of fact, Mitch received so many supplies at the end of the school year that he didn’t even try to count them all.  (That was pretty good news, but disappointing to those of us who love to spout statistics.)  But he did report that the supplies were distributed to 19 local organizations — including city schools and community service agencies — and schools in Africa and South America.  Here’s a list of the local places the supplies landed:

* RCSD #29
* RCSD #30
* RCSD #58
* RCSD #44
* Urban Choice Charter School
* Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.’s literacy program
* Strong Behavioral Health
* Christian Grove St. Church
* Purple Crayon Day Care
* Saving Wild Horses Through Grace Ministries
* Pack 925 Cub Scout Troop
* Young Audiences of Rochester/ArtPeace — Arts for Learning
* Homeschool Programs in Middleport
* Unity Chemical Dependency Inpatient Unit
* CHESS homeschooling co op
* United Christian Community Program
* Compeer Rochester, Inc.
* Community Support Shoppe, Inc.
* Journeys of Solutions, Inc.

Webster was once again blew Mitch away with the amount of donated items we collected from Spry and Willink Middle Schools, Plank North Elementary and Thomas High School.  Hopefully even more Webster schools will participate next year and even more worthy agencies and schools will benefit.

If you’re connected with the PTSA at a school which would like to get involved, drop me a line and I’ll let you know how to do so.  And if you know of any community group which could use supplies next June, contact Mitch at mitchellnellis@ hotmail.com.

Last weekend I found myself driving home along Ridge Road a few minutes after midnight. Believe it or not, the Powers That Be in the state believe it is still necessary at that time of night to have the light at the Webster Square/CVS intersection change to red on a regular cycle. This, despite the fact that those businesses had closed up shop hours ago and there are no cars in the parking lots. You can imagine how frustrating it is to sit there at that light at midnight, waiting for… nothing.

C’mon, New York State. Wise up.

If yesterday morning’s inclement weather kept you from coming into town for Village Days, I am sorry to inform you that you missed a pretty good time.  There was some rain in the morning, for sure, which made it difficult for the vendors to set up, and actually kept many of them from showing up at all. But by 11:00 or so, the last of the puddles were drying up, and the sun even dared to break through the clouds every once in a while.  So the event pretty much proceeded as planned.

Still, it was obvious that many people had indeed been scared away by the gloomy weather forecast.  The crowds were rather sparse, especially in the morning hours.  That was good news for the young participants in the model plane flying contest; fewer entrants meant it was easier to win.  I was pleased to see that that both the museum and the fire station had some good foot traffic for their open houses.

As always, the best part of Village Days was walking through town, and seeing so many old and new friends, neighbors and business owners I have come to know in the past few years.  As always, it was a very nice event, celebrating all that is great about Webster.

Click here or on any of the images to redirect to a gallery of photos from Village Days 2012.

A look at Cafe Sewciety’s new classroom.

Not long ago I got an e-newsletter from my friend Judy Merritt at Café Sewciety Quilts, in which she announced that her little shop was celebrating its first year anniversary.  That’s quite an achievement. It’s tough for new small businesses to make a go of it, especially in today’s economy.  Witness the recent closing of A Barker’s  Dozen after only about 16 months.

It got me to thinking about some other young businesses in town, many of which I wrote about when they opened. I thought it might be fun to check in and see how they’re doing.

First, let’s go back to Café Sewciety.  When Judy bought the little house on Ridge Road a little more than a year ago, it was in dire need of redecorating and remodeling.  She and her husband worked tirelessly to turn its two main rooms into a charming little quilter’s shop and classroom with a small but diverse selection of quilting and sewing supplies.

In the year since, Judy has quadrupled her inventory and turned the garage area into a dedicated classroom. Plus she’s also upgraded her website to offer online purchases.

Read my original blog about Café Sewciety Quilts here.

Danny and Jessica Barry transformed Webster’s Four Corners.

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A year ago September 23, Danny and Jessica Barry officially opened the doors to Barry’s Old School Irish Pub and Bakery, transforming the village’s Four Corners.  They transformed a corner which had been an eyesore for years and created a business which which is so much more than just an Irish a pub — Barry’s is more like a community meeting hall, where friends meet over scones, co-workers raise a Guinness together, and where onetime strangers have come to feel like family.

Barry’s is still going strong, and is already planning its one-year Grand Opening anniversary in October.  In this first year they have greatly expanded their menu and beer offerings, and instituted weekly special events including Wednesday night Trivia Night and a Sunday morning brunch.

Read my original blog about Barry’s Old School Irish here.

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Take a short stroll from Barry’s down East Main Street and you’ll come across Webster Hots, now owned by Debbie and Pat Bush. Debbie and Pat didn’t start their business from scratch, but they did take it over from the previous owners back in January, and have been doing very well since. This summer they solidified their position as a favorite summer meal stop when they added ice cream to their menu.

Check out the first blog I wrote about Webster Hots here.

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Walter Scott at his new East Main Street location.

Cross the street from Webster Hots and you’ll see Webster Gourmet. The first time I wrote about Webster Gourmet was about two years ago, not long after Walter Scott opened the specialty foods shop on West Main Street.  Last January I had occasion to write about it again, to announce that Walter had moved to his current location on East Main Street. The move meant more space for the fledgling business, allowing Walter to expand his inventory and regularly bring in new products.  As a result, the business continues to attract new customers and is thriving in its new location.

Next time you’re in the village, you might see Walter sitting outside his shop watching the world go by. Make sure to stop for a chat. The teapot is always on.

See my most recent blog about Webster Gourmet here.

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When BC’s Chicken Coop moved into Webster Village, I immediately had a new favorite chicken place.

The Chicken Coop is kind of hidden off the beaten path on South Ave., but this little restaurant has developed a loyal and steadily growing clientele in the more than two years it’s been in business.  Owners Brandie Rauber and Christina Wasson have significantly expanded their menu since they opened, and starting this week, will be open for lunch Wednesday-Friday.

The Chicken Coop, by the way, recently was recognized as one of Rochesterians’ favorite restaurants on urbanspoon.com.

Check out my original blog about BC’s Chicken Coop here.

Please indulge me once again as I post a personal blog, a short follow-up to today’s Father’s Day blog.

Dad watches one of his shots.

In it, I wrote how my siblings and I were able to spend Father’s Day with our dad for the first time in more than 40 years. That alone would have made the weekend great. But this morning it got even better, when I joined 83-year old Dad, my big brother Greg and my little sister Mindy for a round of golf.

The event was the Father/Child Golf Tournament at Genegantslet Golf Course in Greene, NY (the same town which had the Memorial Day parade which I blogged about a few weeks ago).  It was nine holes of pure fun (and aggravation, and frustration, and embarrassment, and abject humiliation.)  It was a captain-and-crew format, which meant that we all played from where the best ball landed on each shot. As a result, everyone was able to contribute to the game, even if we were not always consistent. My Dad actually was one of our best putters, and holed in at least two par putts for us.

We were hoping for par, and ended up coming in two-under. So we considered that a real success.

The Captain and Crew.

Congratulations to John Carlin and the folks at the Genegantslet Golf Course for putting together a very nice little tournament. I particularly thought it was great that, when the awards were given out, they made sure every young child who participated got a small trophy.  It was for “putting up with your dads,” John told them.

And because I know you’re wondering, I did pretty OK, if you don’t count the three balls I put in the water. And the dribblers off the tee that looked like I bowled them down the green.  And my one drive which went, well, almost between my legs so that it landed BEHIND me (see if you can do THAT, Tiger).

Actually, my father was rather impressed by how well I could drive when managed to I hit the ball squarely.  By all rights, though, it shouldn’t have surprised him; after all, he’s the one who taught me how to swing a golf club back in the early 1970s.

Seven-year old twins Rowen and Maeric Barrows with the trophies they won for playing in the tournament. They were so excited. Rowan fist-pumped the air all the way back to his table. And then for several minutes afterwards.