Something is coming to eat the world WHOLE

22 Mar

The Webster Thomas Players’ spring musical, Little Shop of Horrors, takes to the stage in just a few weeks, Thursday, Friday and Saturday April 7, 8 and 9.

I’m sure you’ve heard of this classic show. Little Shop of Horrors is a sci-fi horror musical with a 1960s pop/rock score by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. It tells the story of meek floral assistant Seymour Krelborn, who stumbles across a new breed of plant he names “Audrey II.” The egotistical, sweet talking R&B-singing carnivore promises unending fame and fortune to the down-and-out Krelborn as long as he keeps feeding it, blood. Over time, though, Seymour discovers Audrey II’s out-of-this-world origins and intent towards global domination.

Then the fun really begins.

Shows will be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday April 7, 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday at 2 p.m. Tickets are on sale now for $12, or $10 for groups of ten or more. Click here to get yours.

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Heroes on the Water seeks volunteers

21 Mar

The Genesee Valley New York Chapter of Heroes on the Water, a local organization chartered just a year ago, will be hosting an informational event for volunteers on Sunday March 27 at the Cottreall-Warner American Legion Post #942 (corner of Ridge and Five Mile Line roads).

Heroes on the Water was established nationally in 2007 as a veterans charity which

creates alternative wellness programs to serve veterans, active-duty military personnel, first responders and their families. These experiential programs incorporate structured activities proven to improve the lives of these men and women. Each experience reduces the impact of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury while providing much-needed camaraderie and support. (from the Heroes on the Water website)

The primary therapy utilized by the program is kayak fishing, offered at free events hosted by more than 60 volunteer-led chapters around the country. Veterans, active military, first responders and their families are all invited to participate, free of charge.

Volunteers with various skills are needed to fill several support roles, including photography, fishing, administration, marketing and more. (See the poster for more.)

This Sunday’s event is kind of a “get-to-know-you” opportunity, a chance to meet the administrators, ask questions, grab some information and find out about volunteer opportunities.

The meeting will be held Sunday, March 27 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Cottreall-Warner American Legion Post #942 (corner of Ridge and Five Mile Line roads). If you can’t make it and would like to find out more about Heroes on the Water and the Genesee Valley Chapter, check out their Facebook page here. You can also email them at GeneseeValley.NY@heroesonthewater.org.

And if you’re interested in learning more about why a group of Webster friends created this local chapter last year, read this blog which I posted last fall.

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Thank you, Colin Minster

19 Mar

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.

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Who WAS Milton R. Case?

17 Mar

Some of you, especially those not very familiar with the Village of Webster, might be surprised to learn that there’s an actual wooded park, complete with hiking trails, right in the village.

Milton R. Case Memorial Park is located on the south side of Spry Middle School, with trailheads off of South Ave. and Wood St., and behind Spry. It’s only about a quarter mile square, but features 14 acres of peaceful woods and several short trails.

I first became familiar with Milton Case Park six years ago when I was completing my ambitious 2016 Tour de Parks project, for which I was determined to visit every park in our eastside towns. I tried back then to find out who Milton Case was and why a park was named after him, with no luck.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I got an email out of the blue, sent through the contact form of my Tour de Parks blogsite.

Lori R. wrote,

Milton R. Case was my grandfather. He was a long time pharmacist in Webster and owned the Webster Drug Store. He was married to Grace Kneeland. They had two children Gwen and Virginia. Gwen is 89 years old and healthy and lives in Portland Oregan. Milton was the mayor of Webster in the 60s. He had six grandchildren. He was a very upstanding American and loved his community and his country. He was in the Webster Rotary Club.

Lori’s email was a great start, but I wanted to learn even more about Mr. Case, so I enlisted the help of Webster Town Historian Lynn Barton, who was able to locate a photo and copies of his obituary.

The obituary provided a few more details.

Mr. Case was elected Webster mayor in 1965, succeeding Roy Hawley, who served for 34 years. He had served as a village trustee for 11 years before being elected mayor. He was a charter member and past president of the Webster Rotary Club, a member of the Webster Chamber of Commerce and Webster Methodist Church. He owned and operated the Webster Drug Store at 21 East Main Street, which he purchased in 1937 and closed in 1968 with plans to retire and do some traveling.

In 1970, Mr. Case suffered a neck injury in a car accident in Toronto. On Oct. 28, he was having minor surgery when he had a heart attack and died.

Now that we all know a little more about him, let’s make a point to remember Milton R. Case when we visit his park. If you haven’t been there yet, consider taking take an hour out someday soon to experience this quiet little corner of our village. You can read more about the park in my 2016 Tour de Parks Challenge entry, here.

If you’d like to check out the entire blog site I created from my Tour de Parks Challenge, click here. And by the way, the Village of Webster actually boasts 22 acres of parks and recreation areas. Click here to watch a short video I helped the Webster Public Library create which introduces them all.

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Webster has a Women’s Hall of Fame?

15 Mar

I really never know where my next blog idea will come from. In this case, it was an email from my friend Kathy Taddeo at the Webster Museum. She was writing about an unrelated topic but happened to mention something that really piqued my interest: the “Webster Women’s Hall of Fame.”

A Webster Women’s Hall of Fame? I’d never heard of this before, and I immediately wondered whether it still existed, where it could be found, and who’s been inducted. I clearly needed to do some research.

My first stop, of course, was the Webster Museum, as it always is when I need to find out something about our town’s history. Town Historian Lynn Barton was able to tell me a few things right away: the Hall of Fame was a program run by the Webster Business and Professional Women’s Club (BPW), and it no longer exists. Mostly because the club itself no longer exists.

Lynn had a box of records and papers from the BPW, and the museum had several other boxes filled with materials tucked in their back room. After about an hour poking through them, and with additional help from museum volunteers and my friend (and 2000 inductee) Shirley Humphrey, I was able to pull together a pretty good picture of what the Women’s Hall of Fame was/is.

The Webster BPW was established in 1964, but the Women’s Hall of Fame wasn’t created until 1975, which was officially designated by the United Nations as International Women’s Year. Its purpose was to “honor and perpetuate the memory of women in Webster, past or present, who have significantly affected the lives of those around them.”

Nominations were open to all Webster women and were solicited through notices in the Webster papers and forms posted at the library and at Town Hall. 

The first inductee was Marie Stone, who taught history and Latin at Webster High School for 40 years, and was instrumental in establishing the Webster Historical Society. She was the best friend and colleague of Esther Dunn (author of Webster…Through the Years) and was part of the organizing committee which formed the Webster Museum at Town Hall in 1976.

The last woman to be inducted was Carroll Manning, in 2004. Carroll moved to Webster in 1973, where her husband Rob established the Webster Veterinary Clinic. She was very involved in the Webster Arboretum, and was also known for knitting hundreds of pairs of mittens to donate to those in need. Carroll passed away in September, 2021 at 90 years old.

The Webster BPW continued to meet regularly until 2014 when it was finally dissolved due to declining membership.

Below, you’ll find a list of all of the Women’s Hall of Fame inductees. (No one seems to know why there five honorees in 1999.) The Webster Museum has photos of them all, and hope to some day soon put together an exhibit honoring these amazing women. There’s a good chance you’ll recognize some of the names.

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Shirley Humphrey

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What’s going on at WRNP?

14 Mar

You may remember reading a short time ago about the Friends of Webster Trails‘ Re-Tree Project, the goal of which is to save our Webster forests from insects and disease.

If you’ve hiked the trails at Whiting Rd. Nature Preserve recently, you may have noticed some work being done there as part of that project. John Boettcher from the Friends recently explained what was going on, writing,

As part of the ReTree effort from the Friends of Webster Trails, we have had a contractor come in on two occasions to clear some of the invasive woody plants on the east side of WRNP.  Thus far this work has been concentrated along the Blue Trail north of the parking lot. … In the future, we will replace the invasive species with native plants purchased or grown in a nursery to be constructed.

Signs have been posted along the trail explaining what’s happening.

Here’s more detail about the ReTree Project, from the Friends:

The forests of Webster are under attack. Insects and disease are going after the ash, hemlock, oak, and beech. As they die, they will be replaced by invasive and most times non-native trees unless we do something.  

The Friends of Webster Trails has established a group to come up a plan and set it in motion.  ReTree – Replanting Our Native Forest aims to do just that. Tree surveys have been completed of many of our trail areas telling us what trees are present and their number.  You may have already noticed efforts to clear invasive plants along the Blue Trail in the Whiting Road Nature Preserve. In fall, potted trees of appropriate species will be purchased and planted in this area.  In spring, we will be building a tree nursery to grow native trees from seeds for future planting.  

If you’d like more details about the project or want to participate, contact the Friends of Webster Trails through the form on the website and someone will get back to you.

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Another lost cause

12 Mar

A friend of mine reached out to me recently with a mystery. On a recent trip to Goodwill, he had picked up a memory album filled with old photos, letters and other assorted memories, and was hoping I might be able to post something about it to help find the owner.

Clearly my friend remembered the success I had last summer in helping track down the owner of a GoPro which was found on the shore of Lake Ontario. Perhaps, he thought, if I wrote a blog about the album, someone might recognize the photos or names, or be able to add some clue to its ownership.

The album itself is nothing special; it’s your basic sticky-paged photo album we’ve all used for years for our family photos. It has very little monetary value, but the sentimental value is priceless. It includes 19 pages of photos dating back to the early 1900s, picturing various relatives and a dozen special events including weddings, first communions and baptisms.

After the photos are several pages filled with cards and letters, many of them obviously made by children and grandchildren.

Upon closer examination, we figured out the album was probably created as a memory book for Caroline Kolupski sometime in 1997 or 1998. After doing some quick research, we further discovered that “Grama Kolupski” passed away on Nov. 16, 2000.

Other surnames mentioned in the album include Lisowski, Przybyzewski, Tokarz, Fekety, Bogaczyk and Zielinski. There’s also a photo of the graduating class from the US Naval Training Station, Company 547, at Sampson, NY dated August 14, 1943. It may have been Caroline’s husband’s naval unit.

Caroline attended St. Lawrence Church, and appears to have lived in North Greece. It would be really neat to track down some of her relatives and return these historic photos and mementos to the family. If you can provide any clues, please let me know!

Here are some more select photos from the album:

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Village resident publishes children’s book about kindness

11 Mar

Village of Webster resident Claudia Uschold has published a new children’s book that touches on a familiar problem: how hard it is to make friends at a new school.

William Was Worried!, published in November by RoseDog Books, tells the story of young William, who’s just moved to a new, larger school. Although he tries his best to make new friends, nothing seems to work. He becomes increasingly sad, anxious and … well, worried. Then a kind teacher and a fellow student noticed his struggles and stepped in to make William feel included.

“The book is really about kindness,” Claudia said. “Philippians 2:4 says to look out for the interests of others. I wanted to write something that brought that concept to the level that kids can understand. What you can do to help another student.”

Claudia drew the idea for the book directly from her 30-year career as a State Rd. Elementary School speech pathologist.

“Being with kids, you watch their behavior and you see how they interact with one another,” she said. “Working with new students that come to the school, you see how difficult it is to make a friend and feel valued and a part of everything.” 

The journey from original idea to publication was a long one, in part due to the care that her illustrator, Marissa Birke, took to create the book’s beautiful artwork.

Village residents may recognize that name as well. Marissa was the proprietor of The Pickled Paintbrush, an art-themed shop which for almost two years occupied the storefront at 36 East Main St. in the village before losing its battle with the pandemic.

Claudia actually first met Marissa at The Pickled Paintbrush. A few years ago, when she and a friend were taking a watercolor class there, Claudia chatted with Marissa about her story and asked if she’d consider illustrating it.

“She agreed,” Claudia remembered. “I was thrilled. From what I could see she certainly seemed like a gifted artist.”

Claudia’s not sure how many books she’s sold so far, but she’s OK with that. “I’m not going to make a lot of money,” she said, adding, “Even if one child reads it and enjoys it, I’m happy.”

William Was Worried! is available at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

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Come on in, Webster, the music’s fine!

10 Mar

Despite being such a small town, the Village of Webster has an amazing amount of great music.

Every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, plus the occasional Wednesday, you can find live music SOMEWHERE in the village, performed by a variety of local and regional bands, playing folk, Irish, country, oldies, rock & roll and more.

Pub 235, at 235 North Ave., starts off every musical week on Tuesdays with Eggman’s Traveling Carnival, which plays from 7 to 9 p.m. Once a month or so, Nate Michaels also takes the stage.

Jojo Bistro & Wine Bar at 42 E. Main St has live music every Thursday night from 6 to 8 p.m. Among the regulars performing there are Thurlow, Amanda Ashley and Sean Rosenberry.

The music at Barry’s Old School Irish, 2 West Main St., starts Friday night, and it’s usually Irish. Saturday, a folk music jam session meets in the bakery side of the pub from noon to 2 p.m., followed by a traditional Irish music session from 2 to 5. Then, after THAT, another (usually non-Irish) band provides entertainment. Barry’s often brings in bands from Buffalo in addition to featuring local talent.

The Coach Sports Bar, 19 West Main, also usually has music on Saturday nights from 9 to 1 p.m.

Even the village’s newest restaurant, Cobblestone on Main, at 109 West Main, has dipped its toes into the local music scene. Cobblestone has already hosted Claudia Hoyser three times, and will be welcoming Amy Montrois later this month and in May.

Owner Dan Bresnahan has chosen to schedule his live music dates on Wednesdays, so he doesn’t step on any other venue’s toes. At least for now, however, he doesn’t expect to host entertainers every week, but rather have them in for special events. But, he adds, “We want to help support local music. They suffered as much as anybody during COVID.”

This weekend in particular is a big one for local music, thanks in large part to Saturday being “Parade Day.” For some bars and restaurants, Rochester’s St. Patrick’s Day parade marks the beginning of the St. Patrick’s Day season. So in addition to the regular music dates mentioned above, several venues have added even more bands to their schedules.

Barry’s Old School Irish’s Saturday music schedule, for example, begins with a traditional Irish session at 10 a.m. and continues all day and evening with three more bands. (Click here to see the whole schedule). Cobblestone is featuring two bands, Sean Rosenberry from 2 to 5 p.m., followed by Leecy & Greg from 6 to 9 p.m.

On St. Patrick’s Day itself next Thursday, look for even more music at Barry’s Old School Irish.

As the pandemic continues to wane and we all feel more and more like going out in the evenings and getting back to normal, it’s great to know there are so many opportunities so close by to enjoy exceptional live music. And it’ll only get better as the weather gets warmer and the music gets piped onto the patios. (Or sometimes the musicians themselves set up outside.)

Thank you to the pub and restaurant owners who understand how important music is in our lives, and for supporting our local musicians.

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There’s still time to find those Clovers and Clues!

9 Mar

If you and your kids haven’t had a chance to complete the Clovers and Clues Scavenger Hunt yet, there’s still plenty of time to win a great prize!

This family-friendly scavenger hunt is sponsored by Webster Parks and Recreation and the Webster Health and Education Network (WHEN). Through Thursday March 17, participants hunt for clues placed in 13 locations all around the Town of Webster. Each clue consists of different letters, and when all the letters are collected, you’ll use them to decode a final message prompting healthy choices.

Completed answers can be submitted to Webster Parks and Recreation for the chance to win a beautiful gift basket.

Visit the WHEN website to get your first clue. Collecting letters will take about an hour or two, can be done anytime and is a great activity for all ages. A smart phone is encouraged to help find clue locations and to scan QR codes.

This is a fun family adventure, a great way to get a little exercise and learn about healthy choices all at the same time. (And keep your eyes peeled for leprechauns; who knows where they might be hiding at this time of year!)

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

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