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Webster community mailbag

13 Jul

I begin today’s mailbag with a fun and free family event happening at Miracle Field of Greater Rochester.

It’s the fourth annual Heroes Helping Heroes Day, this coming Saturday July 20. Local first responders will spend the day at Miracle Field, playing with and against some of our amazing Challenger athletes. In addition to the entertaining baseball games, the chance to meet some local first responders and get a close-up look at some of their equipment, there’ll be food, carnival games, an Iron Man obstacle course, a dunk tank, the Zoo Mobile and lots more.

It all takes place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the field, 1000 Ridge Rd., Webster. If you have any questions, reach out to challengerdirec​tor@gmail.com or visit Rochestermiraclefield.org.


And now for some reminders previously mentioned in other mailbags:

Free concert at the Arboretum

The next “Music at the Arb” concert, sponsored by the Webster Recreation Center at the Webster Arboretum, is scheduled for Thursday July 18, featuring Doctor’s Orders, an acoustic folk and pop duo playing a variety of songs from the Beatles to John Prine, and pretty much everything in between.

The concert will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., is free and open to the public, and there’s plenty of parking. Bring a chair or a blanket, fill a cooler with dinner and drinks, and enjoy a pleasant evening of music.

The Arboretum talks about herbs

The next program in the Webster Arboretum’s Timely Topics Walk and Talk series is coming up this week, also on July 18.

On Thursday, July 18 at 1:30 p.m., Janet Robert and Beverly Gibson will show and tell about the Arboretum’s outstanding herb garden. Beverly will discuss the origin of the garden and the variety of herbs in each of the six themed beds.

This free, educational and lively herb discussion will be held July 18 at 1:30 p.m. at the Webster Arboretum, 1700 Schlegel Rd.  Visit the Webster Arboretum website to register for this free talk at the Arboretum. 

The Webster Arboretum is located at 1700 Schlegel Rd.

Music, music, music in the village

Music’s going wild this summer in the Village of Webster.

The Webster Jazz Festival comes to West Main Street on Friday and Saturday August 9 and 10 with a Super two day lineup featuring Bill Tiberio, Judah Sealy, Sofrito Latin Jazz, Prime Time Funk and many more.

The Friday Night Memorial Gazebo Park Concerts start on Friday July 19 at 7:00 p.m. That’s Beatles Week so come and celebrate the 60th year Anniversary of the Beatles’ 1964 USA tour with Eight Days a Week.

Remember, admission is always free at village events, which are brought to you by the Village of Webster Business Improvement District.

Baseball is on tap at Webster community night

On Friday Aug. 16, the Webster Recreation Center will be partnering with the Red Wings to host a Webster Community Night. The focus will be on our community that evening; Supervisor Tim Flaherty will be throwing out the first pitch, and Webster-based musician Sarah De Vallière is singing the national anthem.

The game starts at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are only $10 click here to reserve yours.

Webster Union Cemetery celebrates 200 years

Don’t forget about this amazing opportunity to “meet” some of Webster’s earliest settlers, at the 200th Anniversary Celebration for Webster Union Ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 17.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., visitors are invited to stroll Webster Union Cemetery’s beautiful grounds and chat with some of the people who founded our town. Talk to a suffragette fighting for women’s right to vote, a 1918 Spanish flu victim, Civil War soldiers, shopkeepers, boardinghouse owners, and even a Revolutionary War spy. You’ll also have a chance to learn headstone cleaning and preservation.

The 200th Anniversary Celebration will take place Saturday Aug. 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Webster Union Cemetery, 345 Webster Rd. (corner of Rt. 250 and Woodhull). Admission is free.

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

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(posted 7/13/2024)

Introducing the Women’s Club of Webster

25 Jun

Today I’d like to highlight a local organization in which I’ve become pretty involved, the Women’s Club of Webster.

The Women’s Club is a group of women of all ages and from many different backgrounds, all dedicated to supporting charitable, cultural and educational causes through volunteering.

I first attended a luncheon meeting of the Women’s Club of Webster last September. I was invited to be that month’s guest speaker, and made a presentation all about Webster on the Web. I learned a lot about the club that day, and made some new friends. I came away very impressed with the group and their mission, and joined the very next month.

Since then, I’ve continued to learn more and more about the club, their social activities, and the organizations which benefit from their donations. And there are a lot of them, including the Webster Comfort Care Home, Webster Library, Webster Museum, Challenger Miracle Field, NY Hope, scholarships including and MCC College of Nursing Scholarship and Webster High School Service Award, and a half dozen other causes.

There are three big fundraisers every year which you might have seen advertised: a card party in November, a Christmas Cookie Sale and the big Spring Fashion Show. The ladies gather socially at monthly card parties, make crafts to be sold at Rochester General Hospital, and do community service projects (if you’re a regular blood donor, you’ve probably enjoyed their cookies at a blood drive).

Clearly, WCW members are out in the community a lot, and announcements about their fundraisers and service projects hit the Webster Herald and social media regularly. Still, pretty much every time I mention to someone that I belong to the group, I’m almost always asked, “There’s a Women’s Club of Webster?” So that is why I titled this blog how I did. Because I want you all to know about it and all of the great things these ladies do.

I said earlier that I’ve become pretty involved with the Women’s Club recently. Not only have I been attending the meetings regularly, but I was also recently elected to the position of first vice president. At the June meeting last Thursday, several new officers were officially installed, and I was honored to accept the vice presidency alongside president Diana Holzwasser, second vice president Judy Gerew, Recording Secretary Peg Berry, Corresponding Secretary Marge Martellotta and Treasurer Susan Woodward.

I look forward to becoming an even more active member of the Women’s Club of Webster, contributing to the club’s mission of supporting local nonprofit organizations, and making Webster better.

Interested in finding out more about the Women’s Club of Webster? Check out the Facebook page here or call Nancy Melrose at 585-330-9928. I hope to see you at a meeting soon.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 6/25/2024)

Radio Club Field Day will broadcast again from Kent Park

16 Jun

If you’re interested in amateur radio even a little bit, you’ll want to head out to Kent Park this weekend, June 22 to 23, to check out the annual XRX Amateur Radio Club Field Day. It’s a day when radio operators from all over the area come together to practice their skills totally “off the grid.”

Held on the fourth weekend in June every year, Field Day is an nationwide event, held simultaneously with 1000 similar stations across the US and Canada over a 24-hour period and involving more than 30,000 radio amateurs. Operators communicate via voice, Morse code and computers connected to transmitters.

On Field Day, operators are challenged to transport their equipment away from their homes, set up in a park or remote area, rebuild their stations, put up antennas and broadcast in quasi-emergency conditions, without drawing electricity from RG&E or using the internet or cell phones.

ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio, describes Field Day as the “single most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada.”

They add,

Field Day is a picnic, a camp out, practice for emergencies, an informal contest and, most of all, FUN! It is a time where many aspects of Amateur Radio come together to highlight our many roles. While some will treat it as a contest, other groups use the opportunity to practice their emergency response capabilities.

The challenge is simply to contact as many other stations as possible during the 24-hour window, which begins Saturday at 2 p.m. and continues overnight through Sunday at 2 p.m., overcoming any challenges thrown by weather or technical problems along the way.

This year’s Field Day will feature a brand new twist, called a “fox hunt.”  In this case, the “fox” is a hidden miniature radio transmitter, and the object is to use radio-location to find it. Field Day Chair Bob Karz explains that “the skills we develop (in the fox hunt) help us identify and track down interference, deliberate or otherwise, with our communications. Indeed, we used our fox hunting skills this past year to track down deliberate interference with some of our equipment.”  

Bob also said that, surprisingly, the intense solar activity that led to the spectacular auroras last month and temporarily disrupted radio communications world-wide actually improves radio communications the rest of the time. So they’re expecting make even more contacts this year than usual.

The XRX Radio Club will be operating from the lower soccer fields of Kent Park on Schlegel Rd. The club typically sets up several broadcast stations, complete with generators, computers, transmitters, and all manner of antennas. (Click here to check out the blog I wrote about 2021’s Field Day.)

Visitors are more than welcome to stop by. Equipment set-up will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday and the exercise begins at 2 p.m., running through 2 p.m. Sunday. These radio amateurs are always happy to share their passion with interested onlookers, and you may even get the chance to make an “on-the-air” contact yourself.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 6/16/2024)

40 years, 40 roses to honor Debbie Tiffany

7 Jun

Today, a heartwarming follow-up on a story I posted several days ago about the Deborah MacKay School of Dance.

In that blog, I highlighted the studio and its owner, Debbie Tiffany, on the occasion of the school’s 40th anniversary. At the time I visited, the dancers were preparing for their upcoming Encore ’24! recital, a huge two-day event which featured many of the school’s favorite performances from the last four decades.

The recital was held on Saturday and Sunday June 1 and 2, and from all reports, it was a tremendous success, as Deborah MacKay Dance events always are. But this year’s recital was extra special in one surprising, very touching way.

After most of the dances were done and the applause died down, Debbie Tiffany’s daughter Caroline stepped up to the podium. At this point in the program, Debbie would normally be backstage preparing for the finale. But Caroline made sure her mother was on stage, front and center, for a surprise announcement.

She began by telling Debbie that her teaching staff, parents, current students and former students had collaborated to create a scrapbook for her, filled with messages, memories and pictures from the last 40 years.

“Many of these messages include sentiments of what Debbie has given all of us during our time at the studio,” Caroline continued. “These sentiments extend far beyond the knowledge of dance. We have gained lifelong friendships and life skills such as perseverance, leadership and discipline.”

That moment in itself would have been special enough. But then, one by one, 40 Deborah MacKay School of Dance alumni walked across the stage, each handing Debbie a long-stepped red rose and giving her a big hug.

Jennifer Lega, a former student and now a dance parent, organized the alumni portion of the event, with help from Caroline and her husband Ken, and members of her 2003 graduating class, with whom she is still close.

Jennifer wrote,

I started gathering the contacts by creating a private Facebook group and inviting all the alumni I could recollect and then asking everyone to do the same. The group quickly grew and it was so much fun connecting again.

After getting feedback from everyone, we ultimately decided on the rose presentation, surprising her with as many alumni that could make it to the show, and the scrapbook, so that anyone that couldn’t make it could still pass on their congratulations to her. The memories and sentiments that were shared included many of the same themes of thanking her for the lifelong friendships, a second home, leadership and time-management skills, perseverance and just how special a place the studio was to them.

With so many people involved, it was hard to keep it all a secret.

“Debbie puts on a very professional show and is a part of every detail,” Jennifer wrote. “So passing any type of surprise by her is pretty much impossible. I can’t tell you how many alumni asked me Sunday, ‘do you think she knows?'”

But they managed that monumental achievement, and Debbie was indeed surprised and very much talen aback.

“I’m so grateful for the touching, thoughtful, personal tribute,” Debbie wrote. 

“I’m grateful to the alumni who  took time out of their weekend to attend, especially to the one who flew in from Colorado. How wonderful it was to see so many of them, some I haven’t seen in a long time.” 

“I have nothing but gratitude for the alumni parent who organized it. And I’m very proud of my alumni daughter who read a speech with poise and elegance.”

It was a simple, yet perfect way to thank Debbie, and show her that her students — past and present — love her as much as she clearly loves them.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 6/7/2024)

ATAD is looking for two host families

6 Jun

Even though this school year isn’t quite over, one local organization is already gearing up for September. And for them, time is already getting short.

The Association for Teen-age Diplomats (ATAD) is in urgent need of two Webster families to host high school-aged exchange students for the next school year. Now is the time to sign up, because the students need plenty of time to get their visas.

ATAD was created after World War II by a group of Kodak employees. They wanted to come up with some way to foster world peace and thought that if the world’s young people got to know each other, there would be less war. They started bringing exchange students to Rochester in the 1950s.

Most years, ATAD will host five to ten students hailing from France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Peru, Poland, Spain and Turkey. Two are expected this year: 16-year old Aurora from Sicily, who plays the piano, does gymnastics and volunteers for the Italian Red Cross; and 16-year old Marc from Spain, who loves to play basketball and wants to become an engineer. You can click here to see their complete bios.

Becoming a host family is easy, and really requires very little more than providing room, board and love. The visiting student doesn’t even need a private bedroom or any spending money.

You can find answers to many questions on the ATAD website, but here’s some helpful info:

  • students bring their own spending money and have their own insurance
  • families generally include the visiting student on family trips, and the students sometimes have their own money to pay for it
  • ATAD hosts a few social gatherings during the school year so host families can meet other families
  • each student has a program chair assigned to manage any problems — large or small — which come up. The ATAD volunteer network is ready to step in and help with any issues that arise.
  • host families do not have to have any other children
  • all visiting students know English well
  • families are not provided a stipend for hosting a student
  • students do not pay room and board

For more information, visit the ATAD website or email Suzanne Isgrigg, Vice President for Host Families, at froggymom@aol.com.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 6/6/2024)

Off-Monroe Players opens this weekend with a familiar face

10 May

There’s nothing quite like community theater. It’s usually an intimate experience, the actors sometimes just several feet away from you, weaving their story for your enjoyment. It’s even better when the acting is REALLY good and — especially — when the tickets are free.

It’s for all of those reasons that I’ve been attending Off-Monroe Players (OMP) productions for several years now. This little theater group, which calls the Downtown United Presbyterian Church home, has been around for more than 40 years, and has made a name for itself by producing Gilbert and Sullivan shows exclusively.

They stage three or four shows a year, each one humorous and family-friendly, as Gilbert and Sullivan always is, with great acting and fun costumes. They never charge for tickets, but audience members are welcome to drop a donation in the basket at the ticket table.

The Off-Monroe Players’ spring production, The Grand Duke, opens this weekend, and I encourage everyone in Webster to go see it, because you might just recognize someone you know.

My friend and neighbor Karen Seidel is a regular OMP cast member, and often one of the leads. In The Grand Duke, she plays the part of Julia Jellicoe, an English actress. She’s excellent in any role she portrays, and has a beautiful voice that fills the auditorium.

The show opens this Friday night May 10 at 7:30 p.m., with five additional shows over this weekend and next (click here to see show times). And while I said they don’t charge for tickets, it is important to reserve your seats in case they sell out (and keep reading for a special announcement about the opening night show). Parking is right across the street and also free.

Special Donuts with the Duke on opening night

So, if great theater at a great price sounds good to you, may I also suggest you attend opening night.

Every person who makes a reservation to join for opening night will receive a FREE donut at intermission. So you won’t have to ‘Duke it out’ to enjoy your treat, the Players are requiring reservations for this special event so they can place an accurate donut order.

Click here to read more about the Off-Monroe Players, and click here to reserve your seats.

All shows are presented at the Downtown United Presbyterian Church, 121 N. Fitzhugh St. in Rochester.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 5/9/2024)

Another Webster Library program to add …

7 May

Here’s a quick update to follow up on yesterday’s blog about the Webster Public Library’s programs this month.

This Saturday, May 11 from 10 a.m. to noon, the library will host a Volunteer Fair.

I know for a fact that our community is a very giving one, and both teens and adults are always on the lookout for volunteer opportunities (especially judging by the traffic I get to by Volunteering in Webster link).

The library’s annual Volunteer Fair is a great way to check out volunteer opportunities at almost two dozen local agencies, all in one place and one time, and meet with the directors of these local agencies one-on-one to ask all your questions.

Right now, these organizations are signed up to be there:

  • Bella’s Bumbas
  • Challenger Miracle Field of Greater Rochester
  • Friends of the Webster Public Library
  • Gathering Place Webster
  • Girl Scouts of Western NY
  • Habitat for Humanity
  • Heritage Christian Stables
  • Lasagna Love
  • Lifespan
  • Literacy Rochester
  • Maplewood Nursing Home
  • Never Say Never Foundation
  • North East Joint Fire District – Webster Fire Department
  • Penfield Volunteer Ambulance Explorers
  • Rochester General Hospital Volunteers
  • St. Ann’s Community
  • Trillium Health
  • URMHC/Meals on Wheels
  • Webster Comfort Care Home
  • Webster Community Chest
  • Webster Hope, Inc.
  • Webster Museum
  • Webster Public Library Board
  • West Webster Cemetery Association
  • Webster Volunteer Fire Department & Northeast Joint Fire District

Registration is recommended if you would like to be reminded about the fair but not required. Attendees can come any time during the fair and ask questions and get information. If you are unable to attend, information about the attending organizations will be available at request.  

If you’re an organization that would like to participate, email jennifer.paxson@libraryweb.org

The Webster Public Library is located at 980 Ridge Rd., at the back of Webster Plaza.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 5/7/2024)

Webster Art Club show opens this Saturday

1 May

The Webster Art Club will be strutting their stuff this month at a big art show hosted at the Pittsford Barnes & Noble from May 4 through May 31.

Seventeen Art Club members have submitted 55 pieces for this particular show, which will be judged by retired Webster art teacher Carolyn Carlton. An opening reception will be held on Saturday May 4 at 1 p.m. in the community room on the second floor — a good chance to meet the artists.

This month’s show is a great representation of how creative and incredibly talented these artists are, and how fortunate we are that they choose to share their work with us.

Mary Coy, president of the Webster Art Club, says this about the club:

As a club, we focus on community first, art second.  We’re known to be a friendly group of artists of all levels who support each other on our artistic journeys. Our season runs from Sept-June, with monthly meetings the second Wednesday of the month from 6:30-8:30pm at the Webster Recreation Center on Chiyoda Drive.  We invite different artists in the community to come and share their process with us. We also have Open Art sessions every Wednesday morning, also at the Rec Center, where members come together to work on their own projects. Once a month we provide an Open Art Focus, a specific activity for those who want to learn something new.

One of our favorite meetings of the year is in March when we invite the Advanced Placement Art students from Schroeder and Thomas high schools to give a presentation of their art. We enjoy being connected  to a younger generation of artists, for they have new ideas to teach us.

Other activities the group participates in are field trips to different galleries, a rotating art display at the Rec Center and Creative Canvas workshops for the Rec Center, (the next one will be held May 15 at the arboretum).

Find out more about the club on their Facebook page and website.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 4/30/2024)

Webster Art Club show opens this Saturday

30 Apr

The Webster Art Club will be strutting their stuff this month at a big art show hosted at the Pittsford Barnes & Noble from May 4 through May 31.

Seventeen Art Club members have submitted 55 pieces for this particular show, which will be judged by retired Webster art teacher Carolyn Carlton. An opening reception will be held on Saturday May 4 at 1 p.m. in the community room on the second floor — a good chance to meet the artists.

This month’s show is a great representation of how creative and incredibly talented these artists are, and how fortunate we are that they choose to share their work with us.

Mary Coy, president of the Webster Art Club, says this about the club:

As a club, we focus on community first, art second.  We’re known to be a friendly group of artists of all levels who support each other on our artistic journeys. Our season runs from Sept-June, with monthly meetings the second Wednesday of the month from 6:30-8:30pm at the Webster Recreation Center on Chiyoda Drive.  We invite different artists in the community to come and share their process with us. We also have Open Art sessions every Wednesday morning, also at the Rec Center, where members come together to work on their own projects. Once a month we provide an Open Art Focus, a specific activity for those who want to learn something new.

One of our favorite meetings of the year is in March when we invite the Advanced Placement Art students from Schroeder and Thomas high schools to give a presentation of their art. We enjoy being connected  to a younger generation of artists, for they have new ideas to teach us.

Other activities the group participates in are field trips to different galleries, a rotating art display at the Rec Center and Creative Canvas workshops for the Rec Center, (the next one will be held May 15 at the arboretum).

Find out more about the club on their Facebook page and website.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 4/30/2024)

Blue Star Mothers hosting annual Military Baby Shower

4 Apr

Calling all local military families!

The Blue Star Mothers NY8 Chapter of Rochester are making plans for this year’s Military Baby Shower, and they’re looking for more families to shower with gifts.

The event, scheduled for Sunday May 5 at the Cottreall-Warner American Legion Post on Ridge Rd., will shower up to 20 babies with “Baby Baskets of Loving Care,” each filled with gifts for moms and their babies including baby clothing, handmade outfits, homemade blankets, sweaters, booties and hats, diapers, wipes, baby supplies, toys, and more. The new mamas will also be offered chair massages and other pampering at the event.

Active duty, veterans and military spouses of active duty and veterans who are expecting or have children up to 6 months old are welcome to register for and attend the shower. (Must be a resident of Monroe or Wayne counties.)

The Mothers have been pulling together donations for many months, but they’d love to get a lot more. If you’d like to help out, you can donate to their baby gift registry through this Amazon.com link.

Blue Star Mothers president Amy VanDerwerken said, “We love how the local community comes together to support this event. They allow us to provide diapers, clothes, wipes, bibs, blankets, bottles, toys, books, etc.” Besides the many individuals who donate from the Amazon Baby Shower list, they also receive donations from several local businesses and community organizations.

Blue Star Mothers are mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers, foster mothers and female legal guardians who have children serving in the military, guard or reserves, or children who are veterans. The Baby Shower for Military is one of the group’s most important service projects. Each year BSM NY8 honors up to 20 local military families, and for some of these expectant mothers, it may be the only baby shower they get, since they’re usually stationed far away from their close relatives.

“We hope to continue growing and working with the community to be able to support our local military families,” VanDerwerken said. “We could not do this military baby shower event without that support.” 

The Military Baby Shower will be hosted by the Cottreall-Warner American Legion Post on Sunday May 5 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. It’s totally free for the first 20 women to register. To sign up, or for more information, contact one of the Baby Shower Committee Co-chairs, Amy VanDerwerken and Jill Harris, at 1VP.NY8@BlueStarMothers.US.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 4/4/2024)