I happened to be going through some of my past blogs recently, and came across this one, which made me giggle. I thought you might like to see it again — or for the first time. I took the photos one morning last December when I was headed to the old Irondequoit Rec Center on Pinegrove Ave.
We all could use a little laugh right about now as Christmas-time stress compounds the stress we already have thanks to COVID.
So I thought I’d share these images with you, of a scene I came across in Irondequoit last weekend. All I could think was, “Arlo Guthrie told us all about the ‘Thanksgiving Day Massacree.’ How come we haven’t heard anything about this obvious Christmas Day Massacree?”
It got worse when I got to the Rec Center, where I saw clear evidence of a hit-and-run.
Many of you know that I have a direct line to the North Pole. Santa and I are kind of on a first-name basis.
His name is Jim Lockwood, and he’s Webster’s resident head-elf, appearing at functions all over town, in both winter and summer. He’s also been an Eastview Mall Santa for years.
I got to know Santa Jim when I interviewed him for my East Extra column seven years ago. I’ve since come to know him as a kind, generous soul, befitting his alter-ego. He’s appeared many times in my blogs, but perhaps my favorite is from Christmas Day, 2017. Jim had emailed me, offering me a look at several of the letters he had received while working at Eastview. He wrote,
There isn’t anything special in them. It’s just a peek into the hearts, minds and eyes of these precious little children who truly believe in Santa Claus.
It was such a charming blog that I wanted to do it again. Jim was very happy to meet me a few days ago and handed me a bag stuffed with almost a hundred wish lists, thank you notes and drawings that he and an Eastview Sanra colleague had collected earlier in the week.
Some were typed on a computer, others were fill-in-the blank forms that looked like they were done in school. Children used crayons, colored pencils, and markers. Others were neatly printed, others were just scribbles, and several were clearly penned by the parents, with the child adding a drawing or signature. Some lists filled a page or more with dozens of items, others had just one or two. Many had multi-colored words, holiday sketches and portraits of Santa and his elf. (There were several mentions of “Buddy,” whom I imagine is their Elf on the Shelf.)
They asked for a lot of the “hot” toys, like a Nintendo Switch, Paw Patrol characters and Legos. But the sheer variety of requests took me by surprise, everything from Barbies and Squishies to a real F150 truck and a hamster. Several put stars or stickers next to the items they REALLY wanted. Others tried to help Santa by drawing detailed pictures of their favorites AND including prices. Some got really specific (like the children who wished for 11 peacock feathers, a $40 iTunes gift card and $30 worth of Roblox.)
It was so much fun reading some of the things these children wrote, like
I want a red firetruck with a ladder. I also want a real Mama kitten and a dog. I need bones for him.
Hi Santa it’s a charm having buddy over it’s so fun finding him
dear Santa, I know I’ve been a little nauty I will try to tern it around
(this at the end of a two-page computer-generated list) After that long list, let’s get to the end. Thank you very much for your generosity every year to not only me but to every other kid in the world. We deeply appreciate your thoughtfulness to us.
One 3-year old big sister, asked what her little brother might like from Santa, suggested bottles, food, dinosaurs, parrots, bananas and ice cream.
The one which made really laugh, however, was obviously written by Santa’s co-conspirators, the child’s parents. It read,
Dear Santa,
I have been pretty good for a two year old. Daddy says if I don’t start pooping in the potty he is going to disown me. I’m sure he’s kidding though … I think.
Thank you, Santa Jim, for reminding us what it was like when believing in Santa Claus was one of the best things about Christmas. And Merry Christmas to all my readers. May it bring you simple joys and happiness.
Here are some of those letters and drawings:
Here’s one where the child included drawings for handy reference
I liked it when the children were straight with Santa about their behavior
This little girl divided her list into “expensive” and “cheap” items.
I think this young man included the entire Lego catalog. He forgets that Santa is old and has bad eyes
Another handy diagram
Not a gift suggestion, just a fun drawing for Santa
There were lots of elf drawings
Here’s another one with prices included to help Santa
This jam-packed list was typical.
Just … wow.
Colorful AND stickers
This one, clearly from a toddler, was neatly stuffed in a sealed envelope addressed to the North Pole.
In many cases, children even took the time to decorate the envelopes
…that means it’s time for the first barefoot snow walk of the year.
I’m posting this today because I know a lot of people expect these photos every year. It’s a tradition handed down for generations from my paternal grandmother (Gia Gia), who originated the challenge about 75 years ago. One day in the dead of winter, she took off her shoes and socks and tromped barefoot in the snow to the far side of her yard and back. It was a distance of perhaps 100 feet each way. Pretty much every year since, my family has been holding annual barefoot snow walks whenever we get together for the holidays.
The photo below is of a Christmas-time snow walk we did in 2018. We called it the “deep freeze” walk because we were experiencing record low temperatures that day.
Even when we don’t get together — and we haven’t been gathering much lately — we still try to find any excuse to carry on the tradition. Like my Gia Gia’s birthday, or my mother’s birthday.
Or the first significant snowfall of the year.
Last year since we didn’t even come close to getting together for Christmas, we actually did an extended family barefoot snow walk via Zoom, which included my children in Cheektowaga and Gates; brothers in Pennsylvania and Connecticut; my sister in Greene (NY); my aunt and uncle in Cape Cod; nephew in Massachusettes; even my cousins in Corning and Arizona (where my cousin Laura put her feet in the pool).
Here’s the video from that craziness:
I hope you and yours can enjoy your family traditions this year. If you do anything particularly fun and crazy, let me know about it!
The Village of Webster is an awesome place to live and work, but every Christmas season, it’s especially magical.
For starters, village homeowners really do a nice job with holiday decorations. Some displays are sparkly and gaudy, others muted and dignified. But together they make for a delightful stroll or slow drive through the streets to admire the spectacle.
I did just that last night, snapping photos of many of my favorites. You’ll see them in the slideshow at the end of this blog.
But something else happens every year (pandemic years excepted) that I think makes our village unique: community caroling.
This week the streets of Webster Village were alive with music as two separate groups strolled through the neighborhoods, caroling at businesses and homes along the way.
The first of the musical meanderings took place Monday night, when Robyn Whittaker, owner of Beyond Cuts salon, hosted almost two dozen friends, business acquaintances and assorted other local residents on her “Christmas Carol Debacle” caroling party. I couldn’t join the festivities this year, but I’m sure the happy group visited plenty of unsuspecting businesses and homes on their trek through the village.
They even stopped at my house, where my husband and I enjoyed a hearty version of “Jingle Bells” (pictured above). It made our evening, as I’m sure it did for many others who enjoyed ther carolers’ music.
Then last night, I joined the Chorus of the Genesee briefly for their annual “Soup & Carol Night.” The Chorus has been hosting this evening of caroling for more than 25 years. This year’s group numbered about 20, who first gathered at the Harmony House to pick up song sheets. After their musical walk through the village, everyone returned for socializing, coffee, cookies, and a selection of delicious homemade soups.
This kind of stuff is really what small-town life is all about.
Christmastime — the time of year everyone’s a little more charitable to one another, a little more patient and little kinder. Food pantry donations increase, Toys for Tots collection bins overflow. Winter clothing drives generate piles of coats, hats and mittens. But then, come the new year, everything pretty much goes back to normal.
For Webster resident Florence Kinney, kindness, compassion and charity don’t stop on December 26. They’re essential facets of her year-round mission to spread Christmas cheer.
Florence Kinney — or as some know her, “Mrs. Claus” — is the driving force behind an unbelievable grassroots ministry, which she calls “Santa’s Workshop,” dedicated to bringing presents to children who might not get many gifts, or anything, for Christmas.
Throughout the year, Florence buys toys for thousands of children to bring happiness and holiday cheer into their lives. It began as a project intended for children who had to spend the holidays in the hospital, but in 32 years since it began, it has grown far beyond that original purpose.
The story about how it all began is rather inspirational.
In December 1989, Florence came across an article in the Democrat and Chronicle about two brothers who were going to be spending their Christmas at Rochester General Hospital. After reading the article, she asked her husband Charles if they could go to the store and just buy one toy truck for each little boy. He agreed; just one toy.
After delivering the trucks to the hospital, something kept nagging at Florence. “It kept building in my mind,” she said. She asked Charles if they could go out and get just a few more. He agreed, again, and they headed out to shop.
They came back with 400 gifts.
“He was a real patient man,” Florence said.
Naturally, RGH was thrilled with the donations, and spread the word at a meeting they had with other Rochester-area hospital administrators. Florence and Charles’ phone started ringing, but they’d already decided it simply cost too much money to do again.
Then they got a call from a D&C reporter who’d heard what they did at RGH and wanted to come out for an interview. Florence basically told him there’d be no need because they weren’t going to do it anymore.
The following day the reporter phoned again and asked Florence a question she wasn’t expecting.
“Mrs. Kinney,” he asked, “I just wondered, have you and your husband prayed about this? I wish you would because I think you would come up with a different answer.”
“It was a very emotional moment for us,” Florence remembered. She and Charles stood in a corner of their kitchen and prayed.
“Next thing we knew this heat just rose right up from our feet, right through our body. We both started crying our eyes out and I looked at (Charles) and said, ‘This is a calling.'”
Santa’s Workshop for Hospitalized Children began that day, and for more than three decades, has been bringing a litle bit of Christmas cheer to thousands of children each year.
“We didn’t turn anyone down,” Florence said. “I worked three jobs to try to keep it going. But we knew it was a calling.”
Even after her husband Charles passed away in 2003, Florence pressed on. And what began as a effort to bring joy to children at RGH eventually spread to include seven local ministries, plus children affected by natural disasters, and even children in other countries.
Every year, multiple “elves” help Florence collect, box up and deliver toys, clothing, books, stuffed animals, trucks, game, puzzles and more. It’s a daunting job; last week’s delivery to RGH alone filled four SUVs.
If Florence ever doubted for a moment that her mission is divinely-driven, the miracles she encounters almost every day in her work are constant reminders. The most recent happened just a few days ago, as she was nearing her goal of providing 4,000 gifts this year.
A few days before the deliveries began, she counted all of the gifts, which filled several rooms of her house. She found she was 77 short of that magic number of 4,000. Just 77 more and she’d be done for the year.
Shortly thereafter, two of her elves came in, clutching seven gifts. Only 70 more to go.
Then, a friend called. “We’re going shopping for the kids,” he told Florence, and took her to Ollie’s. She filled shopping cart after shopping cart with gifts, which her friend then took to the front register and purchased.
She never told him she needed 70 more gifts. Nor was she counting them as she filled the carts. But when she got them home, she took stock again, knowing that she was pretty close.
There were 71 gifts. It was, Florence said, “magical.”
In the last 32 years Florence Kinney has distributed 96,500 gifts, most of which she purchased herself. She hopes to continue the ministry for at least one more year, and reach the unbelievable goal of 100,000 children served. That means only 3,500 more gifts; compared to this year’s 4,000, that should be a breeze. She’s already started purchasing gifts for next year and plans to head out early the day after Christmas to pick up some bargains.
I asked her, if and when she reached that goal, would she really be able to retire?
“The only way I could do it is if God tells me that,” she said. “He called me to it, he’ll call me away from it. I know that in my heart. It will be his decision to make.”
Then she laughed. “At this moment, we are going to try to, though.”
Whatever she decides, Florence Kinney has already created a legacy for which she will long be remembered.
I’m calling it East Extra Afterthoughts, a completely separate blog page where I’m reprinting some of my favorite columns from when I was the Our Towns East Extra columnist for the Democrat and Chronicle.
In seven years, from April 2013 to March 2020, I wrote 350 columns about interesting and inspirational people, places and events from all over northeast Rochester. When the D&C discontinued the Our Towns columns, I was determined that all my hard work would not be lost. So I squirreled away several dozen of my favorites.
Recently, as I looked back through them, I started wondering about many of the people and places I featured. What are the people doing now? Are those businesses still in business? How did COVID affect that annual fundraiser?
Those questions led directly to the creation of East Extra Afterthoughts.
Once a month or so, I’ll post one of my old columns to that page, and provide an interesting (I hope) update on where that story went after its original publication.
Normally I plan to post just an introductory paragraph or two here, then invite you to click through to Afterthoughts for the rest of the story. But for this first installment, I’ll post the entire column and follow-up here. Today, as this is the holiday season, I look back at the American St. Nicholas.
In this column, originally published on Dec. 24, 2017, I interviewed Pittsford resident Richard Brookins, famous all around the country — and world — as the “American St. Nick.”
I picked up this column idea from a notice I saw on the Webster Museum website about a presentation Brookins was giving there on Dec. 9. I got some contact information from the folks at the museum and arranged to meet with him at his Pittsford home.
We sat at his kitchen table and he almost immediately made it clear that he didn’t trust reporters much. He had been interviewed hundreds of times about his experience, and too often found the subsequent articles were filled with inaccuracies.
As it was, every time a column of mine was published, I would worry that I had gotten something wrong or the subject wouldn’t like it. So his warnings made me that much more nervous.
Fortunately, he liked the article very much.
Pittsford WWII veteran brought joy to European village as American St. Nick
Here’s a charming holiday story, about a Christmas gift delivered to the children of war-torn Luxembourg. It’s been told many times, but its simple message of holiday joy deserves recounting.
The story stars Richard Brookins, a 95-year old World War II veteran currently living in Pittsford. Brookins has gained international fame thanks to one day almost 75 years ago, when he forever became known as the “American St. Nick.”
The story begins in December 1944. Private Brookins, then just 22 years old, and his buddies with the 28th Infantry Division had regrouped in Wiltz, Luxembourg, after helping drive out the German army. It was a fairy-tale-beautiful village, but the residents had suffered under the German occupation.
“The Germans just took over their life,” Brookins remembered. “They threw them out of their homes, took their possessions and the houses … They took away all their cultural things.”
The Germans also refused to allow the people to celebrate one of their most treasured holidays: St. Nicholas Day.
After hearing some of these stories from a local resident, Brookins’ friend Harry Stutz came up with the idea of hosting a St. Nicholas Day party for the children of the village. For gifts, the GIs pooled some of candy and gum they regularly received from the government. The cooks made cookies, and the nuns made a cake.
Still, one thing was missing: St. Nicholas himself. Stutz asked Brookins to do the honors.
“All you have to do is walk around, pat the kids on the head, chuck them under the chin, smile at ‘em, that’s all,” Stutz said. So Brookins agreed.
The nuns provided Brookins with a priest’s surplice (which had to be returned by 4 p.m. for Mass), a bishop’s miter, a broken and taped-up shepherd’s crook and a rope beard.
As St. Nicholas made his rounds, the children sang and performed skits. Not knowing the language, he couldn’t say much, so he just patted them on the head and chucked them under the chin. But that was plenty.
“They just really thought this was St. Nicholas,” Brookins said. “They were speechless.”
That day came and went, and the GIs and townspeople went back to their normal lives. Brookins eventually went home, mostly forgetting about the whole event.
Then in 1977, he received a letter from an official in Wiltz.
“He wanted to have a special activity, and wondered if I could come back and be St. Nicholas.” So that December, he and his family all made the trip back to Luxembourg.
“You couldn’t believe it,” Brookins remembered. “People were standing in line to see this goofy old guy, 55 years old.” To them, “I was America.”
This time, Brookins wore a professionally-made cloak, carried a steel shepherd’s crook painted gold, and sported a much more realistic beard.
“It was really an upgrade,” Brookins said. “I really looked like royalty.”
Brookins has returned to Wiltz to reprise his role seven times since then. Many residents, now in their 80s and 90s, remember when the American St. Nick gave them candy back in 1944.
Wiltz continues to celebrate St. Nicholas Day every year, and is already planning the 75th anniversary of that first visit. Brookins doesn’t bet on being around for that celebration, but several of his family members are already saving up to make the trip.
As often as he’s shared this story, Brookins makes sure to pass off most of the credit.
“I do this in honor of the guys who did all the work, for all of my buddies who aren’t here. They earned it. I didn’t have to do anything but chuck ‘em under the chin and pat ‘em on the head.”
But he added, “I just can’t tell you, as much as I try to, what meaning it has.”
In this image from Dec. 5, 1944, Richard Brookins rides a jeep through Wiltz, Luxembourg in his first of many appearances as St. Nicholas Photo Courtesy the WWII Foundation
Richard Brookins, the “American St. Nick,” is now 95 years old and lives in Pittsford.
As it turned out, Brookins wasn’t, in fact, around for the 75th anniversary. He passed away on Oct. 11, 2018, less than a year after my column. He was 96 years old.
The people of Wiltz, Luxembourg still celebrate the story of the American St. Nick every year, and did host a 75th anniversary celebration in 2019. Click here to read more about that, and see a few more photos from the time when some American GIs brought a Christmas miracle to war-torn Luxenbourg.
The anniversary was also commemorated in October of 2019 by the Luxembourg American Cultural Society, located in Belgium, Wisconsin. You can read more about that here.
Finally, click here to check out my new East Extra Afterthoughts page. There’s also a link in the right-hand column on this page. Then watch for more features to come.
Here’s another great reason to head into the Village of Websterthis last week before Christmas — aside from all of the terrific finds for your last-minute gift needs:
* * * The 2021 Village Holiday Scavenger Hunt * * *
Great prizes from Kittelberger Florist and other village merchants await several lucky winners of this fun and easy scavenger hunt. All you have to do is visit each of the merchants on the list below, and write down the word printed on the Happy Snowman located at each business. Using the words, complete the holiday phrase below, and email your answer to info@websterbid.com.
Natalia (in green) in The Diary of Anne Frank, June 2021 (courtesy OFC Creations)Natalia in Anne Frank (A. Stornello)
When OFC Creations Theatre Center in Brighton stages its production of Steel Magnolias in January, Webster residents will see a familiar face onstage.
Natalia Stornello, a junior at Webster Thomas High School, has been cast in the lead role of socialite M’Lynn Eatenton, played by Sally Field in the 1989 movie re-make of the 1987 stage play.
The story is set in a small-town Louisiana hair salon, where a colorful and outspoken group of women gab about their neighbors and town, and have to come to grips with the death of one of their own.
Tackling the character of M’Lynn is just the latest in a long line of theater credits for Natalia. According to her very proud mother Amy, Natalia has been acting since she was six years old, from Schlegel Elementary School through Thomas. She’s also performed with NTID Performing Arts, RIT Players, the Multi-Use Community Cultural Center, and A Magical Journey Through Stages youth theater. Last summer she spent six weeks at Stella Adler’s Acting Studio in New York City.
Natalia has also completed many film projects for RIT film students in their new MAGIC Spell Studios. One of those productions, called Bond, recently won an award at the Buffalo Film Festival.
I sense that this young lady will be one to keep an eye on.
Steel Magolias will be presented at the OFC Creations Theatre Center, 3450 Winton Place, Brighton, in four shows January 14 through 16. General admission tickets are $12 and can be purchased here.
Eight or nine years ago, when I was still working at Webster Thomas High School, a friend and colleague of mine, Kathy Dummer, shared some exciting news with me. She told me that her husband Len was hoping to take over the old Seitz’s grocery store/post office at the corner of Old Ridge and Bay roads in West Webster, and turn it into a brewpub.
She knew I’d be interested because I wrote a Webster blog. But she also asked me to keep the news on the down-low in case it didn’t happen.
To Webster’s great benefit, Knucklehead Craft Brewing not only came to be, but has continued to get better and better every year.
Knucklehead Craft Brewing, at 426 Ridge Rd., turns seven years old this month. The Dummer family has planned an appropriate celebration to mark the occasion, complete with music throughout the day, food specials, and a few extra special beer selections on tap.
Webster’s own craft brewery has grown up a lot since it opened in 2014. There have been a lot of little improvements along the way, like updating the lighting, freshening up the paint job and featuring regular live music. But it’s the big things that have really made the brewpub a regular stop for much of Webster: more parking, a huge kitchen upgrade, addition of a beautiful beer garden, and expanding the dining/drinking area into their huge back room.
Of course, their craft brews are pretty good, too.
Check it all out for yourself this coming Saturday, from 1 to 10 p.m. at Kucklehead Craft Brewing, 426 Ridge Rd., West Webster, at the corner of Bay. I understand there’s going to be a “secret” beer on tap….
One of the things I like best about community events like White Christmas is that I get to see a lot of old friends, and meet a lot of new people.
Like the Mastrodonato family, the new owners of Diamond Collision at 54 Donovan St., who had set up a table in front of Tom’s Garage on Main Street during the White Christmas Parade of Lights. They were serving up free hot chocolate for anyone who wanted a warm-up on what was a rather chilly evening.
I asked if they were taking donations in exchange for the treat, but was told that no, they just wanted to do something for the Webster community.
I recently exchanged a few emails with Carly Mastrodonato, one of the owners, to find out more about the new business. It became immediately clear that while paint and collision work is their main focus, their commitment to community comes in a close second.
Their community involvement began pretty much on day one, when they held a grand opening party with food, raffles and live music. They donated all the proceeds from that event to Miracle Field.
Since then, the Diamond Collision owners
carved pumpkins for the Webster Recreation Center’s Pumpkins on Parade in 2020 and 2021
participated in the Village of Webster’s Trick or Treat Trail
try to buy local as much as they can, like using McAllister Signs for a lot of their signage
and, of course, handed out hot chocolate and candy canes at the Parade of Lights
Carly explained,
It’s important to us to be a part of the community for two very important reasons. Number one, without the community we wouldn’t have a business. It’s the local community that allows us to run a successful business. They put their trust in us, so this is the least we can do. It was a small way to show thanks.
The second reason, we want to be recognized. We don’t want to just be some small collision shop on Donovan Street that no one has heard of. We want people to see Chuck and say “Hey, there is Chuck from Diamond Collision.” My father, like many others, has worked very hard his whole life and is just so happy to finally be a business owner and make this very important decision to be a part of the community as much as we can!
I think it’s important to understand that we truly enjoy this involvement. This is a part of who we are as Diamond Collision and as a family. It brings us joy to be able to give. Even if it is as small as a cup of hot chocolate. I was smiling from ear to ear the entire time at the Parade of Lights and had so many great conversations. That’s what it’s all about! These are the moments that last a lifetime.
On Friday Dec. 17 from 6 to 9 p.m., they’ll host Rochester artist Doug MacDonald and his Art for Sickos van at their shop in Webster. “We are very open and supportive of small businesses,” Carly wrote, “and we want to do everything we can to help and support.”
The Mastrodonato family only took over ownership of Diamond Collision in October, which makes their list of community accomplishments that much more impressive.
“We look forward to being a part of more events within the local community,” Carly added. “It brings us joy to meet people in the community that allow us to be Diamond Collision.”
May I be the first to say, welcome to the village.
Diamond Collision is at 54 Donovan St. You can check them out on their Facebook page, website, and on Instagram at @diamondcollision_webster.
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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