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Strike up the bands!

11 Mar
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Members of last year’s Willink Student-Parent Band warm up before a rehearsal.

Whether you like to play — or just listen to — great band music, here are two events you’ll want to know about.

The Willink Student-Parent Band will hold its annual spring concert this coming Saturday, March 14 in the Willink Middle School cafetorium, 900 Publishers Parkway.

The band is celebrating its 26th year in 2020, continuing a tradition which began in 1994, bringing students, family and community together to create music and have fun.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $2 and can be purchased either from band members or at the door.

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Our very own Webster Village Band is kicking off its season, having just released its 2020 rehearsal schedule.

Rehearsals take place on Thursday evenings from 7 to 9 pm, usually in the Willink Middle School band room. They’ll begin this Thursday March 12 and run through June 4, with a concerts scheduled pre-season concerts scheduled for April 23 at Calkins Rd. Middle School in Pittsford and May 7 at Cherry Ridge Senior Center.

The all-volunteer Webster Village Band is comprised of more than 50 members,  under the direction of Tom Indiano and Associate Director Sue Siegmund. They’re always looking for more musicians to join the group. Additional information is available from Harvey Cohen, at hcohen@rochester.rr.com. Plus, you can see more rehearsal information on their website here.

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Barry’s Old School Irish gearing up for St. Patrick’s Day

4 Mar

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Now that it’s finally March and Valentine’s Day is in the rear-view mirror, planning for St. Patrick’s Day here at our little corner Irish pub is in high gear. And of course, when Danny and Jessica Barry do the planning, the St. Patrick’s Day celebrating can no way be contained to just one day.

Starting Sunday March 8, Barry’s will host a series of events, one almost every day, building up to a full schedule of events on Parade Day and St. Patrick’s Day itself.

You can check the Barry’s Old School Irish Facebook page for more details, and I’ll post more soon, but here are some highlights:

  • Sunday March 8: Whiskey tasting from 2 to 4 p.m.  Cost is $20 per person and registration is required.
  • Tuesday March 10: Our weekly Barry’s Run/Walk,  and free etched pint glasses on the house, courtesy Guinness. 6 to 8 p.m.
  • Wednesday March 11: Trivia Night, beginning at 7:15 p.m. Gotta register for this one, too, since table space is limited.
  • Thursday March 12: Open Mic Night at 7 p.m.
  • Friday March 13: Irish Music Sing Along with Kevin Reynolds
  • Saturday March 14 (Parade Day): Music, dance and food all day beginning at 8 a.m. including, for the first time in several years, a return engagement by Barry’s Crossing.
  • Tuesday March 17: More music, dancing, food, great drink, bagpiper, all day.

Check the Barry’s Old School Irish Facebook page for details.

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Your mug on a mug of Guinness?

7 Feb

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So I was at Barry’s Old School Irish last night (I see that shocked and surprised look on your face) and was talking with Jess about plans for tomorrow’s Great Guinness Toast. (If you’re a Guinness lover and haven’t heard about this event yet, read more here. You don’t want to miss it.)

One of the highlights of the evening will be a visit by Guinness representatives, who will have what Danny and Jess called a “Guinness design machine.”

When I was there last night I had to ask her what the heck that was.

Apparently, Guinness has this machine that can imprint a sepia-toned photo on the foam of your freshly-poured Guinness. They call it a “STOUTie.” It’s created with a natural malt extract that’s added to the top of the beer, and since it’s malt, it won’t alter the taste of the beer.

Guinness only introduced this technology in November at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin when they hosted the International Stout Festival. So it’s just now making it over to this side of the pond, and chances are, Barry’s is one of the first pubs to experience it.

And that’s because Barry’s — our little corner pub in our little village — sells more Guinness than any other pub or restaurant in the Greater Rochester area and beyond.

So you can be one of the first to get your head on a head of beer.

Tomorrow’s Great Guinness toast will also feature free Guinness for everyone, entertainment by Billy Herring and other fun stuff. Click here for more information.

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The Rec Center ice rink is open — and better than ever

25 Jan

IMG_2606Good news for ice skaters! It’s finally been cold enough for long enough this winter for the Webster Recreation Center to open its ice rink.

As far as I know, it’s the only outdoor public ice surface in town, and since it opened several years ago, it’s been very popular with families and hockey players. And this season, I’m happy to report, it’s even better than ever.

Thanks to the efforts of the Webster Rotary, this season the rink — which measures 52 ft. x 104 ft. — has a brand new liner AND a spacious warming hut where skaters can sit and put on their skates while protected from the weather.

The hut itself measures 16 ft. x 10 ft. Inside are two benches and thick rubber flooring to prevent damage to skates. There’s also a window in one side which allows for what meager sunlight we get in the winter months. 

As for the new liner, Mark Yaeger, Webster’s Commissioner of Parks and Recreation, calls it a “great addition in this climate when we have a thaw.”

He explained,

In the past we would lose the water seeping into the ground and we would have to start from scratch. With the liner the water stays and refreezes within a day or two. Building the ice rink from scratch takes about 4 or 5 days. 

The Webster Rotary Club purchased the new liner and sidewalls in 2018, and last year purchased the materials for the warming hut. Rotarian Rich Comins designed the building and enlisted support from Yeager and his Parks and Rec employees to construct the building.

The Rotary and Rec Center hope to have an official grand opening ceremony for the hut in the next few weeks. Watch for news of that!

The Webster Recreation Center is located at 1350 Chiyoda Drive, just north of the Village of Webster. For updated ice conditions, call 872-7103, option 3.

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The 2020 Greater Rochester Peep Show has been announced!

20 Jan

peeps 3Good news for those of you who love those marshmallow Peeps candies. The 2020 Greater Rochester Marshmallow Peep Show is right around the corner.

If you’ve never heard about this really fun event, you’re going to want to keep reading, especially if you like eating those yellow (and now pink and purple and whatever other colors) marshmallow chicks and ducks. I’ve never been a big fan. I put them in the same category as those faux-orange circus peanuts. They squeak when you bite into them.

But I LOVE the Peep Show. This is a two-day event at the Webster Recreation Center, where at least four entire rooms are filled with incredibly creative sculptures, dioramas, and various other works of art created with Peeps. It’s simply the cutest thing ever.  (Click here for a small photo gallery from 2019.)

This year’s show is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday March 28 and 29 at the Webster Recreation Center. More details will come (but it’s free and great family fun). But for now, Peep Show organizers are looking for Peep creators.

Businesses, organizations or individuals are encouraged to enter a display for judging. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the show for the display that gets the most visitor votes.

Not feeling very artistic? You can support the event in other ways as well. You can hang a poster, donate a prize or become a partner in underwriting the show. Several levels of sponsorship are available, and all proceeds will benefit the Webster Community Chest.

This is a banner year for the Greater Rochester Marshmallow Peep Show, its fifth annual. It’s come a long way since it began, but I can’t see how it can be further improved. (Although I believe this is the first year they included “marshmallow” in the official name, perhaps dissuading those who walked away disappointed that the “Peep Show” offered a different kind of entertainment.)

This is a must-see family event, folks.

You can see more photos, and find out more about the show and how you can help by visiting the Rochester Peep Show website here, or email peepshow@frontier.com.

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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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The Village Quilt Shoppe is back!

8 Jan

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Vanetta Parshall, Monique Liberti and their cute little quilt shop are back in business on East Main St.

They’ve been closed for a little more than a month, thanks to a water leak in the apartment above them which significantly damaged the shop and destroyed a good chunk of their inventory. Along with many friends and family members, they’ve been working hard in recent weeks to bring the shop back up to par. (Check out the photos to see for yourself!)

Vanetta and Monique have even managed to turn a very negative event into a lot of positives.

When I stopped in yesterday, their first day back in business, I saw that the shop is not only back in full swing, but in many ways is better than before. The ladies saw the forced-renovation opportunity to add more and better shelves, increase their inventory, and put down a whole new floor. This week they also introduced their new loyalty program and a monthly gift certificate drawing for customers who pay with cash or check.

Also, during the month of January for every sale over $25 customers will receive a sealed Red or White Fabulous February envelope, which can then be returned (unopened) in February to find prizes inside like gift certificates and discounts.

To celebrate their reopening, The Village Quilt Shoppe will host a “We’re Back” party this Saturday Jan. 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be raffles, sales, treats and a hot chocolate bar.

The shop is located at 21 East Main, at the corner of Lapham Park. Find out more on their website here and Facebook page here.

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

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Great news from the Village Quilt Shoppe

29 Dec

quilt shoppe

As many of you know, the Village Quilt Shoppe on Main St. in Webster, which only opened in September, has been closed for almost a month because of water damage caused by a leak in the ceiling. It was very unfortunate timing, because the shop missed out on White Christmas in the Village, an excellent opportunity for the community to discover this charming new business.

But GOOD NEWS, quilters and cute-new-business lovers: the Village Quilt Shoppe will be re-opening on Tuesday January 7.

Owners Monique Liberti and Vanetta Parshall are celebrating the occasion with what they’re calling their “We’re Back Party,” complete with sales, raffles food and a hot chocolate bar. (Read more about that on their website here.)

Even if you’re not a quilter, it’s worth stopping in to check out this new shop. Monique and Vanetta are incredibly nice people who have created a wonderfully welcoming shop. Please consider popping in during their We’re Back Party just to say hi and welcome to Webster! (Then buy a late Christmas gift for that quilter in your family.)

The Village Quilt Shoppe is located at 21 East Main St. in the Village of Webster. Visit their website here and their Facebook page here for more information.

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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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Photos from White Christmas

8 Dec

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Perhaps it was because it wasn’t raining, or windy, or bitterly cold, but it seemed like last night’s White Christmas in the Village festival was the best attended in recent memory.

At least the parade was. Early on, when activities like the book shop mini-concert and story-time started and the festival wagon started making its rounds, the crowds were a little thin.

But as night fell, families started streaming into town in anticipation of the main event, the Electric Parade.

Kudos to Robyn Whittaker and the Webster BID for pulling together another nice event. I especially liked the brand new idea of the gingerbread house-making contest for the businesses and I look forward to this being expanded next year.

It’s unfortunate that more people don’t realize that this celebration is not JUST the parade. More people should make White Christmas in the Village an entire afternoon and evening event. Come into the village early when you can actually GET a parking space somewhere, do some shopping, visit the museum, have some dinner, and actually  take part in all of the great family activities.

As usual, I took a ton of photos. Together with a bunch that I received from a few other people, here’s a gallery of more than 150 photos from last night’s activities and the parade. (If you have any additional photos that you would like to share, like of your kids, please email them to me — address below — and I’ll add them to the gallery!)

And by the way, just because White Christmas is over does NOT mean that our village businesses are closed for the holidays. Make sure to come into town and check out all of the gorgeous decorations, and stop by the museum to vote for your favorite Christmas tree!

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White Christmas in the Village details

2 Dec

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OK folks, now that Thanksgiving is in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to get down to some real holiday celebrating. And it starts this weekend with the Village of Webster’s White Christmas.

This annual festival, which takes place this year on Saturday Dec. 7, features horse-drawn wagon rides, a bounce house, cookie decorating, storytelling, carolers, Santa (of course), and the always very popular Electric Parade.

Everything begins at 3 p.m. with activities for adults and children throughout the village. The official schedule looks like this:

3 to 5:45 p.m. — Horse-drawn wagon rides through the village
3 to 6 p.m. — Bounce House on Main Street
3:30 to 5:45 p.m. — Santa Claus at the Village Hall
4 p.m. — Storytelling at Yesterday’s Muse Book Store
4 p.m. — Cookie decorating at Rubino’s
5 p.m. — Church of the Good Shepherd Chime Bell Choir on Main Street

And don’t forget to stop by the Webster Museum that afternoon as well to check out — and vote for — some beautiful miniature Christmas trees.

This is also a great chance to visit some of our village’s newest businesses, including Chandelier’s Boutique, LaLa, The North Bee, the Pickled Paintbrush, and The Village Quilt Shop. (I hope I’m not forgetting anyone, and I hope they’re all open for browsing!) Many of the business owners will be participating in a gingerbread house contest, so make sure to stop by and vote for your favorite!

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The Electric Parade will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Phillips Road and head west down Main Street. This spectacular parade features fire engines, floats and marching bands, all draped in thousands of twinkling Christmas lights. You’ll definitely want to bring the kids, but dress warm, and pack a thermos of hot chocolate, because this is a pretty long parade. There are no fireworks this year 😦

(Click here to see a gallery of photos from last year’s White Christmas celebration.)

By the way, don’t forget to start out that morning with a hot breakfast, served up by the Chorus of the Genesee.

The Chorus will be hosting their fourth annual Breakfast with Santa, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Harmony House, 58 East Main Street in Webster.

Breakfast will be cooked and served, music will be provided by the Chorus of the Genesee, and of course, Santa will be there! Tickets are just $5 each, with a maximum of $20 per family (including two adults). Pictures with Santa will be available.

For more information or to make reservations, call (585) 734-1328.

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Festival of Trees returns to the museum

1 Dec

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Webster Museum.

I mean, they don’t just have one or two Christmas trees set up, they have 15 them, four-IMG_9914foot tall artificial trees placed on the counters, in the classroom, and tucked among the exhibits all through the museum.

The trees are part of the museum’s annual Festival of Trees Christmas tree decorating contest, where individuals, families and organizations are invited to adopt a tree and decorate it however they like, then put it out there for community members to vote on for a chance to win a $25 prize.

Some of the competitors have already begun decorating, but several others have yet to finish. But they’ll all be done by this coming Saturday Dec. 7, when voting will begin during the Village of Webster’s White Christmas celebration (more details about this fun event will be in tomorrow’s blog).

christmas treeI’m told that one organization in particular, which has been participating for several years, usually wins this contest. I’m not going to say who that is for fear of influencing the vote, so you’re just going to have to stop by the museum and see all of the creations for yourself.

While you’re there, be sure to drop $5 and put some chances in to this museum’s annual raffle. There are always some amazing prizes up for grabs with this raffle, so  make sure to stop by during White Christmas and check them out — AND vote for a tree while you’re there. The raffle continues until Dec. 14 but votes for the trees will be accepted through Dec. 31.

The Webster Museum is located at 18 Lapham Park in the Village of Webster. They’re open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Call 585-265-3308 for more information.

The photos on this page are of some of last year’s entries.

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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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