OK, OK, it’s not summer yet. But I came away from the most recent meeting of the Webster Business Improvement District (BID) very excited by the long list of special events our local merchants are planning for late spring and summer, reminding us what a normal summer feels like in the Village of Webster.
The BID is the organization, remember, that organizes the very popular Trick or Treat Trail, White Christmas in the Village, Movie Nights, Friday Night Gazebo Concerts,Wine Walks and others. Those events are definitely returning this year, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg. Basically, every month this summer — from June through September — the BID has scheduled at least one entertaining, family-friendly event, and sometimes two or three or more.
It all starts in late June with the first Family Games Night and Movie Night. Then in July things really kick up a notch with more movies, another Family Games Night, the return of the Friday night concert series in the gazebo, and a second Wine Walk (the first one is on May 21).
In August, there are more concerts, yet another movie night and game night, plus the Webster Jazz Festival hits the pubs and West Main St. later in the month.
Things don’t cool down too much in September, either. The BID will be getting involved with the second annual ALS Awareness Concert, and are talking about a brand new (albeit tentative) event called a “Parking Day.”
Looking ahead to the fall, the Oktoberfest, Beer Walk and Trick or Treat Trail will return in October, and the annual Bourbon Bash in November.
There are still a lot of details to work out with many of these events, and some of them are not yet set in stone. As dates are finalized, you’ll find all the information you need at the Webster BID website. For example, you’ll already find dates there for the two Wine Walks, some of the gazebo concerts and the Jazz Festival.
Basically, Webster summer fun is back big time after two long summers without much to do. So get your calendars out and start filling them in!
Cold and drizzly weather didn’t deter more than 500 kids and their parents from attending last weekend’s Easter Egg Hunt, sponsored by the Webster Business Improvement District (BID).
The event was held Saturday April 16 at the Firemen’s Field. Excited children and their parents started arriving shortly after 9 a.m. and were split into three age groups. At 10 a.m. everyone was released to the field to hunt for plastic Easter eggs and various other surprises. Not that there was a whole lot of “hunting” required; business owners had donated so many eggs (about 5,000) and prizes that they simply had to be scattered around the grassy field for the children to find.
Two lucky children in each group found tickets which could be redeemed for special prize baskets. But all of the other eggs held something pretty great, too, because the participating businesses were very creative and unbelievably generous with their donations. There were gift certificates and coupons, dental floss and lapel pins, small toys and rings, and Kelly at Burke’s Grill even stuffed $1 bills into her eggs. There were even a lot of prizes that were too big to hide in eggs, like toothbrushes, sunglasses and fidget spinners.
The Easter Bunny himself was even there to greet the children.
The event was a terrific follow-up to February’s Fall in Love With Webster festivities, demonstrating how committed our business owners are to collaborating on outstanding community events. More than 45 businesses participated in the hunt by providing filled Easter eggs and/or items for the grand prize baskets.
An event like this cannot be pulled off without a lot of help. A huge thank you to:
the team of dedicated volunteers, led by Lisa Scholnski and Jody Laurer, including Rhonda Gefell, Ray Gefell, Evan Gefell, Karl Laurer, Steven Schlonski and Stephen Vitello
Dennis Montgomery and the Webster Volunteer Fire Department
Jake Swingly, Superintendent of Public Works
Jake’s son Kyle (“Mr. Bunny”) Swingly
Brian and Nolan Bernardi and Robyn Whittaker
Kudos to everyone who helped organize and run this event, and gave our young people a special Easter memory.
Here’s a short slideshow of more photos from the morning, courtesy Jody Laurer:
With the conclusion of Webster Thomas High School’s recent production of Little Shop of Horrors, the final curtain has come down on the high schools’ 2022 spring musical season. But each school actually has a spring drama in the works.
Mark Stoetzel, the drama director at Webster Thomas, emailed me not long ago with some exciting news about their production of The Neighbors, planned for late May: it’s going to be staged outside.
The Webster GeoTech Class is building an outdoor stage in one of the school’s courtyards, complete with a pergola. On May 27 and 28, students will hit the stage to perform several one-act plays they’re writing themselves, each set in a townhouse complex.
More details to come as the date approaches.
The Webster Schroeder Theater Company is also working on a drama, The Secret Garden. Shows are scheduled for Friday and Saturday May 6 and 7 from 7 to 9 p.m. Tickets are available now, but I’m having trouble finding a link or details on how to purchase them. If anyone can fill me in, please email me so I can share that information.
The Webster Museum has all sorts of programs planned in the coming weeks. They seem particularly excited about their upcoming exhibit focusing on the history of West Webster. The little hamlet had its very own zip code not too long ago (14581) and is currently anticipating a revitalization.
Among the materials the museum has collected are the two maps below. The first was drawn by Maguerite Collins around 1938, possibly as a class project. It shows the names of some of Webster’s earliest settlers and when they arrived. The second map, created in 1852, adds more names.
Descendants of some of these early settlers still live here today, and many of them never left. Interested community members are invited to “meet” some of them on Sunday June 19 from 2 to 4 p.m., when the Webster Museum hosts a West Webster Cemetery Tour. Costumed characters will on hand representing many of the hamlet’s former residents who are buried there, and guaranteed they’ll have some interesting stories.
More information to come about this fun event. (Teaser: I’m going to play a character!)
Stay tuned also for more details about the museum’s upcoming West Webster exhibit. Among the history to be shared will be photos and artifacts from the West Webster Fire Department. It was originally housed in Webb’s garage, then Brewer’s barn, then the former Goetzman Store, followed by its move to its current home on Gravel Road. A number of former West Webster residents have shared memories of turkey raffles, liverwurst sandwiches, craft shows and ice rinks in the firehouse parking lots.
Several programs have been scheduled in May to highlight West Webster history. I’ll tell you all about them in a future blog.
The Webster Museum, located at 18 Lapham Park in the Village of Webster, is open 2 to 4:30 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Beer lovers will want to be a part of a program scheduled for this Thursday April 21. Will Cleveland, former investigative reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle, will talk about the past and future of the Western New York beer scene, a beat which he has covered since 2014.
The program, called “Rochester Craft Beer: The History and Future of the Scene,” runs from 7 to 8 p.m. and registration is required.
Tweens and teens, you can make your very own hair scrunchies on Wed. April 20 from 1 to 2 p.m. Materials will be provided. Kids in grades 4 to 12 are welcome. Registration is required.
This month’s make-and-take crafts include recycled milk cap fish (for kids), clothespin peek-a-boo eggs (for teens) and a bead bracelet (made from magazines) for adults. Materials can be picked up at the library during regular business hours while supplies last.
This is a drive-through event. Dinners will include a half chicken, salt potatoes, cole slaw, roll and butter for $12. There will be no advance sales; cars can pay when they enter the parking lot, first come, first served. Signs will direct cars to the pay station, and then to the side entrance where you can pick up the boxed dinners.
Proceeds will support St. Martin’s Christmas Stocking Project which reaches more than 500 youth in Monroe and Wayne counties.
The Tour de Cure is returning to Webster on Saturday June 11, and even if you don’t plan on riding, you can still help out.
In this annual premier cycling event, riders sign up to cycle anywhere from 12 to 100 miles, to benefit the American Diabetes Association. It begins and ends in one of the old Xerox parking lots near the Webster Recreation Center. If you’d like to participate, you can sign up here. Or you can help the cause by becoming a volunteer. More information about those opportunities can be found here.
Finally (and this is especially for all of you who are still reading this long blog, because I know you appreciate local news) I want to draw your attention once again to what’s happening with the Webster Herald.
Our little town newspaper recently experienced another editorial change, when Colin Minster left in March. A new editor, Tim Young, has since taken the reigns, and accepted the daunting challenge of publishing a weekly newspaper.
And it is daunting. I’ve said this before, but it deserves repeating: with a small, hyper-local, weekly publication like the Herald, the editor has to be a Jack-of-all-trades, not only managing the layout and editing, but actively searching out and writing stories of local interest. It’s a 24/7 position from which you can never take a vacation.
The job is made that much more difficult without support from advertisers, contributors and subscribers. I think we can all agree that local news is a dying breed. The Webster Post isn’t around any more, and the Democrat and Chronicle couldn’t care less about Webster local news. The Herald is now one of the few places we can go to to find news about our community. So we need to do everything we can to make sure the Herald doesn’t go anywhere anytime soon.
Tim touched on a few of these concerns in the column he wrote a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, it’s not online anywhere, but you can click here to see a photo of it. In the column, Tim talks about how staffing issues are a challenge and that advertising is hard to come by. He also notes that people are actually complaining about all the legal advertising in the Herald, pointing out that those legals are the only things that are keeping the paper afloat.
It’s not fair to criticize the job a weekly editor is doing without being willing to help do something about it. Like make sure to renew your subscription every year. Encourage your friends to subscribe. Send in sports stories and photos, and your child can be pictured in the paper. Advertise your business. And how about stretching your writing chops and consider becoming a free-lancer? You’ll be paid for your work, and see your own byline in the paper.
Tim would love to hear from you. Email him at tim@empirestateweeklies.com. Let him know that this community is behind him and we still appreciate local news.
Do you know of any event coming up in Webster, or sponsored by a Webster organization, which you’d like publicized in my blog? Pretty much anything that comes across my email will find its way in sometime or another, so let me know about it!
The Webster Quilt Guild invites community members to “Envision the Possibilities” at their 2022 Quilt Show, scheduled this year for Saturday and Sunday April 23 and 24 at Holy Trinity Church.
The show will showcase approximately 250 quilts, plus special displays of quilts crafted for the Breast Cancer Coalition, Quilts of Valor, Bivona Child Advocacy Center, Asbury Storehouse, and Meals on Wheels. So even if you’re not a quilter, it’s worth coming just to see these beautiful creations.
In addition to the quilts, the show will include vendors, a boutique table, and a book and pattern sale. There will also be dozens of “wee” quilts for purchase, miniature 10″ by 10″ quilts that make great gifts and are perfect for things like wall hangings, hot pads, mug mats, plant mats and more. About 60 of these were recently on display at the Webster Public Library (pictured below).
PLUS, you can take a chance on the beautiful “Quilter’s Patch” quilt created by Guild members, which will be raffled at the end of the two-day show. (That quilt is pictured at the beginning of the blog.)
The “wee” quilts
The guild will also be collecting non-perishable food items in support of the Webster Backpack Food program.
The “Envision the Possibilities” quilt show will be held Saturday April 23 from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Sunday April 24 from noon to 4 p.m. at Holy Trinity Church, 146 Ridge Road, Webster. Admission tickets are $5 and will be available at the door.
The Webster Quilt Guild’s mission is to share quilt-making experiences, encourage friendships, promote the history, art and skill of quilt making, and support community services. The guild has 80 members and is celebrating its 47th year. The organization creates hundreds of donations each year for agencies in the Rochester area.
The photo below shows last year’s Quilt Show award winners:
You may not have noticed, but there aren’t a whole lot of organizations out there hosting Easter egg hunts this year. But have no fear, parents, the Webster Business Improvement District (BID) has got your back.
A Webster BID Easter Egg Hunt is scheduled for Saturday April 16, at 10 a.m. at Webster Firemen’s Field, West Main St. in the village.
Thousands of eggs donated by local businesses will be hidden all around Firemen’s Field, filled with candy, prizes, fun activities and merchant coupons. Three different search areas will be staked out for children ages 0 to 2, 3 to 5, and 6 to 10. And in each group, one egg will contain a special golden ticket, which can be redeemed for a large prize basket.
A huge thank you to the Webster Volunteer Fire Department for all their support for this event.
The Easter Egg Hunt will take place rain or shine … so let’s hope for shine. For more information, click here to see the Facebook event page. Then make sure to get this one on your calendar, get your Easter baskets out of the attic and get the kids ready.
Just a quick post today to update you all on Amy Stringer’s efforts to raise money for Ukraine by creating and selling hand-made beeswax ornament at her Village of Webster shop, The North Bee.
Sunflowers, or sunyashniki, are the national flower of Ukraine. Amy has created three different designs, each being sold for $10 apiece. Funds raised will be donated to ROC Maidan, who will distribute them to where they’re needed to help refugees and soldiers and offer humanitarian aid.
A second local TV news station has taken notice of Amy’s efforts. WROC-TV Channel 8 stopped by the shop yesterday morning and posted this story later in the day.
Amy originally scheduled the sale to just run through March, but the community has been so supportive (she’s already raised $3,000), she’s decided to continue it. Beginning today, a portion of the proceeds from each ornament sold will be donated to ROC Maidan.
I anticipate writing longer blogs about a few of these events in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, here’s a tease so you can get them on your calendars.
One of our town’s most creative and fun FREE family events — the Great Rochester Peep Show — returns Saturday and Sunday April 2 and 3 to the Webster Recreation Center on Chiyoda Drive (off of Phillips).
This fun, completely free, family-friendly event features at least four entire rooms filled with incredibly creative sculptures, dioramas, and various other works of art, all created with marshmallow Peeps candies. In addition to the displays, several entertainers and community groups will be performing.
Hours are 10 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, 10 to 4 on Sunday.
Community Arts Day returns the following weekend after a two-year COVID-induced hiatus.
This year’s event will take place on Saturday, April 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Webster Schroeder High School, 875 Ridge Rd. This very family-friendly festival showcases Webster CSD students’ creative talents and involves the entire community in a day to celebrate the arts.
Dozens of activities are planned throughout the day, including art displays, carnival games, sweet treats sale, plant sale, crafts, community group exhibits and more. Musical groups and demonstrators (dancers, gymnastics, etc.) perform free all day, and you can even grab lunch and snacks.
This is one of my favorite events of the whole year.
Webster’s next American Red Cross blood drive is coming up in just a few weeks. Here are the details:
Tuesday April 5, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church (813 Bay Rd.), 1 to 6 p.m. (Click here to make an appointment) Wednesday April 6, American Legion (8181 Ridge Rd.), noon to 5 p.m. (Click here for an appointment)
Anyone who donates at one of these drives will receive an exclusive Red Cross t-shirt, while supplies last.
The need right now is critical, so please consider donating!
The Webster Public Library, is hosting a meet-and-greet with new library director Adam Traub on Wednesday April 27 from 3 to 5 p.m. Snacks will be served!
And since we’re talking about the library, next time you’re there, make sure to check out the Webster Museum’s current display. It features square-dancing fashions provided by the Copy Cats Western Square Dance Club, currently celebrating their 50th anniversary. The group was started by Xerox employees.
At the museum itself, at 18 Lapham Park in the village, a new exhibit looks at women’s nineteenth century garments, occupations, voting and working rights efforts, and the story of the “Great Women’s Uprising” of 1910.
The museum is open 2:30 to 4:30 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
This is exciting news.
The Webster Business Improvement District (BID) is sponsoring a FREE Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday April 16 at the Webster Firemen’s Field on West Main St.
Our local merchants will be providing the eggs, filled with prizes and surprises. Children will be divided into three different age groupings for the hunt, and there will be an extra prize basket for the child in each group who finds the golden egg.
The hunt will begin at 10 a.m. More details to come!
This great event is just the first in a long line of special events the Webster BID is working on for this spring and summer, which include a Beer Walk, Bourbon Bash, Family Games Nights, the Trick or Treat Trail, Jazz Fest, Wine Walks and more. Watch for more details about these in an upcoming blog.
“Envision the Possibilities” will showcase approximately 250 quilts, plus special displays of quilts created for Breast Cancer Coalition, Quilts of Valor, Bivona Child Advocacy Center, Asbury Storehouse, and Meals on Wheels. Other activities include vendors, boutique table, and book and pattern sale. The guild will also be collecting non-perishable food items in support of the Webster Backpack Food program.
The show will be held April 23 and 24 at Holy Trinity Church, 146 Ridge Road. Tickets will be $5, available at the door.
Amy Stringer, owner of The North Bee gift shop in the Village of Webster, has found a very creative way to support the people of Ukraine: through the end of the month, she’s making and selling beeswax sunflower ornaments, with 100% of the proceeds going to support ROC Maidan, the charitable arm of the Ukrainian Cultural Center of Rochester.
Sunflowers, or sunyashniki, are the national flower of Ukraine. Amy has created three different designs, each being sold for $10 apiece. Funds raised will be donated to ROC Maidan, who will distribute them to where they’re needed to help refugees and soldiers and offer humanitarian aid.
Her efforts have been very well received so far, and recently got some notice one of our local television stations. Last week, Spectrum News posted a story about the sunflowers, which you can see here.
Amy is calling her three designs the Full Sunflower, Monet Sunflowers, and the Dinner Plate Sunflower. She was thrilled to report that she’s already sold almost 250 of the sunflowers, and the event isn’t over yet.
Click here for more information about this special event and ROC Maidan. The North Bee is located at 27 North Ave. in the Village of Webster.
On Tuesday morning, I attended the monthly meeting of the Webster Business Improvement District (BID). My primary reason for attending these meetings is to keep on top of all of the great events the BID hosts every spring and summer, so I can let you all know about them with plenty of advance notice.
The meeting did not disappoint. I left with a whole list of events — old and new — which are on the calendar for this year. I’ll tell you all about them in a future blog. Today, I’d like to focus on an event that has already happened.
I’m talking about Fall in Love With Webster, the month-long community celebration held in February in which residents and visitors enjoyed daily discounts and special events at dozens of our local small businesses. Even if you didn’t take advantage of any of those, if you were in the village anytime during the month, you probably noticed the heart-emblazoned flags on the lightposts, the trivia questions posted in the merchant windows, the banner at the cobblestone gazebo on North Ave., and special heart-themed decorations all over the village.
Fall in Love With Webster was an incredibly successful event, due in large part to the efforts of Lisa Schlonski, owner of Lala Gift Shop on Main Street, and her able assistant Jody Laurer. Lisa and Jody spent countless hours helping organize events, managing the Fall in Love With Webster Facebook Page, and hosting some memorable events of their own. (Remember Betty White Night?)
The purpose of the event was two-fold: to highlight all of the great businesses in Webster, and bring people into the village to enjoy everything we have to offer — basically, helping people fall in love with Webster.
By all accounts, both goals were achieved big time. Here are some of the highlights from the month-long event:
More than 30 businesses participated
More than 50 calendar events were organized and publicized
The Webster Volunteer Fire Department Boot Drive donated much-appreciated funds to Webster Comfort Care
33 merchants took part in Random Acts of Kindness Day, including Kittelberger Florist, which donated more than 300 bouquets for merchants to hand out
Valentine’s-themed crafts created by the residents of The Maplewood were sold at Lala and the proceeds used to purchase more craft project materials for the residents
Businesses collaborated on events, like “Betty White Night” when Lala offered snacks and discounts, Jojo Bistro created Betty White-inspired cocktails, and Webster Hots created two meal combos
Several merchants noted increased sales and foot traffic during the month
Grown from a simple idea that Jody’s daughter brought home from a small town in Connecticut, Fall in Love With Webster was an amazing success. Thank you to all of the community members who participated, and especially all of the businesses who so enthusiastically joined the effort. I hope this first big collaborative event will be followed by many more.
I read some sad news in the Webster Herald the other day. In a short letter on the opinion page, Colin Minster announced that after next week’s edition, he would be resigning his position as editor.
Colin has only been in the role since last summer, when he took over from Anna Hubbel, and I think he was doing quite well in what was a very difficult position. I say it’s difficult, because with a small, hyper-local, weekly publication like the Herald, the editor has to be a Jack-of-all-trades, not only managing the layout and editing, but actively searching out and writing stories of local interest. It’s a 24/7 position from which you can never take a vacation.
He hasn’t been perfect, but despite the challenges, Colin did his best to fill the Herald’s pages with both hard news and interesting features, and established some great community connections with contributing writers (including my bi-weekly blog).
He mentioned those connections in the announcement he printed last week, in which he wrote,
I’d like to thank those in the community who have helped me and given me great stories. Furthermore, during my time as editor, I have trried to get members of the Webster community to contribute with their own columns or “corners” and credit them as guest contributors. I am happy for the participation I’ve seen from community members who are willing to share their expertise with their fellow neighbors and I hope this will continue after my departure and the newspaper can be a place for the community to come together and where one can stay informed.
In a follow-up email, Colin added, “What I will miss most about the Webster community are the many events they put on where business owners and various volunteers work together to help their community enjoy a night in their village.”
Empire State Weeklies, which owns the Webster Herald, hasn’t yet found a replacement, but Colin says they’ve been looking. He plans to provide the new editor a list of ongoing projects to make the transition as seamless as possible.
When the new editor is named, I hope everyone will welcome him or her with characteristic Webster warmth. Because, if you haven’t noticed, local news is a dying breed. Ever since the Webster Post ceased publication in October, the Herald has been one of the few places to find news about our community. Lord knows the Democrat and Chronicle doesn’t pay us any attention unless something bad happens.
Think about it. Aside from the Suburban News on the west side, there is no other weekly local newspaper in Monroe County. We’re pretty fortunate to have the Webster Herald. We need to remember that and remember how difficult the job of editor is.
Thank you, Colin, and best of luck in your future endeavors.I’ve enjoyed working with you.
I feature the people and places and events that make Webster the wonderful community it is — and throw in some totally-not-Webster-related personal ramblings every once in a while as well.
I love it when readers send me news about the great things happening in their schools or the community, so please email me anytime at missyblog@gmail.com
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