As this weird and very challenging school year draws to a close, I would really like to send some shout-outs to some of the teachers who made the best of a really stinky situation.
Tell me about a teacher who has made a difference in your child’s life. Someone who has gone above and beyond to make sure this unusual school year was the best it could be. Perhaps it’s the science teacher who spent an extra hour after school to help your daughter finish a tough lab. Or the fourth grade teacher who has a knack for getting to know each student in his class on a personal level. How about that remote teacher who somehow made virtual learning FUN?
Ask your kids who they think their best teachers are, and why. Or better yet, have your kids write to me themselves. It doesn’t even have to be a teacher they had this year. I’d love to hear from seniors who remember their favorite elementary school teachers.
Email me your thoughts and I’ll post them sometime next week. I haven’t heard from many people yet, which is a little disappointing. This year more than any other, I think we need to show our teachers how much we appreciate and respect the job they’re doing.
I love living in the Village of Webster. The people are friendly, the streets are extremely walkable, there are parks within walking distance, and great restaurants and pubs just around the corner. We live on a street, but feel like we are part of a neighborhood.
Saturday (June 12) was a great example of what’s to love about Webster. For starters, that afternoon our Park Ave. neighbor Doug Pucci hosted his second annual Village Block Party, featuring two food trucks and a free concert by his Red Hot and Blue Band, playing from Pucci’s spacious porch.
Everyone in the village was invited, and more than 100 answered the call. Adults spread their quad chairs across the lawn and closed-off street and listened to the music, or stood in small groups visiting with neighbors. Children chalked in the street, played with bubbles and danced in the grass.
It was the perfect opportunity for long-time neighbors to reconnect after a long pandemic. It was also a chance for new residents to meet their new neighbors and start to to know the feeling that they are part of the village community.
It was the quintessential village experience.
The lemonade sales force: Emilio Martinez, Owen Knapp and Will Brunswick
The home office
Earlier in the day, I was riding my bike and happened upon a woman setting up chairs and a table in the lawn of the apartment complex near my house. She was taping some kind of sign onto the table. Curious (and being who I am), I stopped to find out what was going on.
Her name was Jennifer Martinez, and she explained that she was setting up the table for her son and his friends, who were going to hold a Free Lemonade stand later that afternoon.
Apparently every year since her son Emilio was very young, Jennifer’s mother Gail had held a garage sale. And every year during that sale, Emilio would set up a lemonade stand. This year, Gail wasn’t able to hold her sale, so Jennifer suggested that Emilio simply set up his stand outside their home instead.
In years past, Emilio had charged for his lemonade. But not this year. When I asked Jennifer about that, she said that the idea to hand out the lemonade for free was “just to be kind.” Then, after giving it a bit of thought, she added, “It’s nice to be among people again.”
Emilio and his fellow business owners Will Brunswick and Owen Knapp, all 7th-grade friends at Spry Middle School, were enthusiastic lemonade hawkers, even though they weren’t earning any cold, hard cash. They stood out on the sidewalk yelling “free lemonade!” to all the cars driving by on busy South Ave, and any time a biker, walker or runner got within 50 yards of the table, one of them (usually Owen, wearing a flag cape), would chase them down “selling” their wares at full volume.
At first the salesmen were only getting a lot of honks and waves from passing cars. But while I was there (getting my free lemonade), they were able to wave down a passing FedEx delivery truck, whose driver gratefully accepted the refreshment. And if yelling to someone didn’t work, they would take the lemonade to their customers, at one point skittering across South Ave., two-fisting cups of lemonade, to deliver them to people who were setting up for the block party.
The highlight of the day was probably when the boys were able to attract the attention of a passing police car. The officer didn’t stop, but she did come back a few minutes later and invited another colleague to join her. So at one point two Webster police officers were standing at the table enjoying some lemonade.
The kids even earned a little money after all. Some patrons couldn’t resist throwing a dollar on the table, and one family brought them some fresh-picked strawberries.
A friendly neighbor who didn’t mind at all a random stranger stopping to chat. Free lemonade and kids having fun doing something other than sitting in front of a screen. Just two more things I love about village life.
Two of the boys’ favorite customers
Jennifer handing out a free lemonade
Owen, Emilio, Jennifer and Will with Jennifer’s parents Gail and Rich
Here’s a great idea for some inexpensive, healthy family fun this summer.
It’s called the “Find a Way to Play” playgrounds passbook. This is a new program from the Webster Parks and Recreation Department which encourages families to get outside and explore all of the great play areas we have here in Webster.
The 10-page passbook highlights many places right here in town where children and adults can be active and have fun. It encourages everyone to visit different facilities and discover each one’s unique amenities.
The booklet provides a brief description of not just playgrounds, but two spray parks, the skate park and more. It includes:
First Responder’s Playground
First Responder’s Spray Park
Recreation Center Obstacle Course
Karpus Family Playground at Miracle Field
Ridgecrest Park Playground
Ridgecrest Splash Park
Ridgecrest Skate Park
Kent Park Playground
Finn Park Playground
The challenge is to visit each one of these play areas, and record in the booklet the date you visited. Then take your completed passbook to the Recreation Center. Each child who completes the “tour” of Webster playgrounds will receive a token of accomplishment.
What a great way to encourage healthy activity, while learning a little bit about our town along the way. Make it a challenge for the whole family!
Passbooks are available right now at the Webster Recreation Center, 1350 Chiyoda Drive.
Our friendly neighborhood pollinators are getting some respect and attention these days thanks to the efforts of Daisy Girl Scout Troop 60344.
Earlier this spring, the Scouts, all kindergarten or first graders, made posters about why pollinators are important to our ecosystem. It was the “Take Action Project” part of their year-long “Welcome to the Flower Garden” journey badge.
The young artists shared their posters with each other at their meeting on May 17. Each girl then had to find a place in the community to display her poster, and take a photo of the final location.
Keep an eye out for these posters, because they’re all around town (or soon will be). The Scouts, and where they’ve hung their posters (if decided), are:
If you live in or near the village, you may remember the Village Block Party held back in September on Park Ave. The event was hosted by The Red Hot and Blue Band, who set up on the porch of RHB band member Doug Pucci, who lives at the corner of Park Ave. and South Ave.
The band played for three straight hours, while community members sat around and listened (socially distanced of course), and children danced and made chalk drawings in the middle of the closed-off street. It was a much-needed and greatly appreciated respite from the depths of the pandemic.
Well, the Village Block Party is back again this year, and it’s going to be even better.
On Saturday June 12, Webster community members are all invited to come together to enjoy the rockin’ sounds of the Red Hot and Blue Band, beginning at 3 p.m. And bring some cash, too, because this time the party will feature two food trucks, Terry’s Tips and Beef and Netsins Ice Cream.
Aside from the food trucks, there’s no charge for this event. Just bring your quad chairs and join your neighbors for an afternoon of good music and good food. It all happens on Park Ave. between South Ave. (Rt. 250) and Lapham Park.
This week’s Friends of the Webster Public Library Pop-up Book Sale has become a Bring-Your-Own-Bag Book Sale!
On Thursday June 10 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., bring your bag to the library and fill it with gently used books for just $4. It’s an inexpensive way to stock your personal library for a summer-full of great reading for you and your family.
The sale will be held in the Webster Publc Library parking lot, at the rear of Webster Plaza, 980 Ridge Rd. All monies raised will go to support library initiatives.
Don’t forget about this weekend’s WebsterSummer Celebration, returning on Saturday June 12 to the Webster Recreation Center.
From 5 to 10 p.m., the whole family is invited to come out for dinner and snacks from some great food trucks (including Wraps on Wheels, Nancy’s Fried Dough, Effortlessly Healthy, Bay Vista Taqueria and Seabreeze Catering and Hot Sauce), while enjoying some great live music.
Festivities will conclude at 9:45 with a fireworks display. For more information, especially about parking for the fireworks, please visit the Webster Parks and Recreation webpage.
This Saturday also maks the opening of the Joe Obbie Farmers’ Market.
This blurb from the market’s Facebook page seems to indicate that exciting changes are in store:
Things are lining up for what we believe to be one of our biggest and best market years ever. We are happy to announce that the market has grown with new vendors being added. We are pleased to see many old faces return as well. And also very pleased to announce the addition of a food truck and a possible lemonade truck.
The market is located in Webster Towne Center plaza, in front of Old Navy and near the gazebo. It’s open every Saturday through November from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Several Village of Webster shops will be holding a sidewalk sale next week on Friday June 18 and Saturday June 19. Take a stroll through the village, pick up some bargains and visit with with some of our very friendly small business owners.
The shops that will be participating in the sidewalk sale include Lala of Webster, Nest Things, The North Bee, Yesterday’s Muse Books, and the Village Quilt Shoppe.
This is a beautiful little natural area just steps from the Webster Public Library’s front doors, adjacent to the Ridge Park playing fields behind Town Hall. The stand of woods measures about 10 acres, and there’s a very nice, short trail that leads into the center of the woods, ending at a spacious deck.
At least it did for a while.
Last November, a large tree fell onto the platform, pretty much destroying it. But just about a month ago, the Friends of Webster Trails put a team together and repaired the platform. Many thanks go out to Eric Turberg, Steve Turberg, Bud Gearhart, Dennis Kuhn, Craig Hurlbut and John Boettcher.
I was especially happy to see that repairs had been made to the platform because I know the Webster Public Library likes to use the trail and deck for some of their programs.
I also remember when, last July, Doreen and Laureen from the library dedicated one of their Let’s Explore Webster videos to Hickory Bark Trail. You can see that video here, and click here if you want to read my blog about the trail (and the fairy houses I found there).
By the way, Doreen and Laureen have recently published their latest Let’s Explore Webster video, this one about three of Webster’s historic properties. Click below to see that video, then visit the Webster Library’s YouTube channelto see many more videos from this excellent series. (And all sorts of other neat stuff!!)
The weather was gorgeous yesterday — albeit a little warm — for the 36th annual Dancing With Denise recital, held this year in the large grassy yard behind the school’s Gravel Rd. studio.
All day, young ballerinas strutted their stuff for an adoring audience who watched from quad chairs spread across the lawn, braving the hot sun for hours. At the end of the day the dancers extended their love even further when they made a donation to Webster-based Bella’s Bumbas, a nonprofit grassroots organization which builds pint-sized “Bumba” wheelchairs for children with mobility issues.
The generous donation was enough to cover the cost of building several of the pint-sized Bumbas.
Kudos to Denise Baller for taking her lessons beyond just dance, and teaching her students to think about others. Or, as she wrote on the Dancing With Denise Facebook page, teaching them “how spreading compassion and love can make little ones who aren’t as mobile ‘feel better when they are dancing’!”
Thank you to Rebecca Orr for providing me with a lot of photos for this gallery from the event:
Denise with Bella’s Bumbas creators Marty Parzynski and Rebecca Orr, and Kenzi, a Bumba user.
One of the dancers and her little sister trying out a Bumba
Denise and Kenzi enjoy a mist
Read more about Bella’s Bumbas and the great work they do on their Facebook page and webpage.
With only a few weeks left in the 2020/21 year, I got to reminiscing about school years past. It’s been a long time since I’ve had kids in the Webster schools; my youngest graduated from Schroeder in 2012. But I still think about some of the most influential teachers my three children had, and all the ways those elementary, middle school and high school educators helped guide them through some difficult years and shape the adults they are today.
Some of those great teachers are still in Webster classrooms today, while others have long since retired or moved onto other careers. But I’m certain that for every one who’s moved on, another amazing teacher filled the gap.
But if you spend much time on social media, you might think that dedicated, inspirational teachers are a thing of the past. This year, our teachers have been taking a beating in some corners of our community, especially on Facebook. Apparently some people believe, for example, that holding half-day classes or remote classes meant that teachers were basically taking a vacation.
But I suspect that’s a very vocal minority, and most people realize the exact opposite is true. Navigating through the constantly-changing challenges of a COVID school year has been a very difficult task. Our teachers should be hailed as heroes for everything they’ve done this year for our students, delivering an outstanding education while supporting their daily social and emotional needs.
If you also believe that, here’s your chance to show your love.
Tell me about a teacher who has made a difference in your child’s life. Someone who has gone above and beyond to make sure this unusual school year was the best it could be. Perhaps it’s the science teacher who spent an extra hour after school to help your daughter finish a tough lab. Or the fourth grade teacher who has a knack for getting to know each student in his class on a personal level. How about that remote teacher who somehow made virtual learning FUN?
Ask your kids who they think their best teachers are, and why. Or better yet, have your kids write to me themselves. It doesn’t even have to be a teacher they had this year. I’d love to hear from seniors who remember their favorite elementary school teachers.
You can email me your thoughts at missyblog@gmail.com. I’ll post your comments in my blog the last week of classes. If you have a photo, send that along as well.
The Village of Webster’s summer schedule is heating up, none too soon, much to the delight of a COVID-weary community which sorely missed out on last summer’s music and dance.
The Friday Night Concerts at the Gazebo, sponsored by Webster’s Business Improvement District (BID), start up again on Friday June 25, featuring Keys to the Caddy from 7 to 9 p.m. The concerts continue on July 9 (performer TBD) and July 23, featuring The Red Hot and Blue Band.
Movies in the Park are also returning to Veterans Memorial Park this summer, scheduled for July 13 and 27 and August 10 and 24. Movies and times are still being determined.
And finally (and this is very exciting) the Webster Jazz Festival will be returning in September, with Music in the Pubs on Friday Sept. 17 from 6 to 11 p.m., and Music in the Street on Saturday Sept. 18 from 4 to 11. I’ll tell you more about that as the time gets closer.
As you can see, details are still being hammered out for many of these events, and I expect others will be added in the next several weeks (I’m hoping for another wine walk, myself). So stay on top of things by visiting the BID website often, where you can also sign up for the BID newsletter.
Another sign of summer, Webster’s two spray parks are now open, dawn to dusk, every day of the week. They’re located at Ridgecrest Park on Ebner Drive, and the First Responder’s Spray Park, 1350 Chiyoda Drive, next door to the Weebster Recreaytion Center.
And ANOTHER sign of summer: The Joe Obbie Farmers’ Market will be opening on June 12! Here’s a blurb from the market’s Facebook page with some more details:
Things are lining up for what we believe to be one of our biggest and best market years ever. We are happy to announce that the market has grown with new vendors being added. We are pleased to see many old faces return as well. And also very pleased to announce the addition of a food truck and a possible lemonade truck. We are still waiting on final word from NY agri markets on the set up this year but are confident things will be more relaxed as we return to normalcy. More information will posted as we close in on June 12th.
It’s the First Annual WCCH Duck Derby, this Saturday June 5 at the Beeches Pavilion at Webster Park. Volunteers will conduct a race of rubber ducks down Mill Creek. Participants can purchase ducks for $5 each, then cheer them on as they ride the “rapids.” Cash prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place ducks. Ducks can be purchased online at www.webstercomfortcare.org.
This is a family-friendly event for children and adults of all ages. Child-friendly activities and refreshments will be available while ducks are racing.
By the way, put this one on your calendar, too: the WCCH “Lift Your Spirits” Wine and Beer Tasting Event is BACK this year, on Friday October 22 at ArtisanWorks.
Webster Marching Band Bottle and Can Drive
Don’t forget about this weekend’s bottle and can drive on Saturday to benefit the Webster Marching Band. This will be a drop-off drive only. Just pack up your returnables and swing by Willink Middle School on Publisher’s Parkway between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to drop them off. There will be plenty of worker-bees there to help you, so you won’t even have to get out of the car.
If can’t make it to Willink on Saturday, they’ll come to you. Simply call the Bottle and Can Hotline, 24/7 at 234-8684 (option 1), leave a message and they’ll call you back for details. You can also drop off returns at any time to area bottle return companies (Can Kings, Nickleback, Upstate Bottle Return) and just tell them to credit the Webster Marching Band for the return.
Dancing for a Cause
A big shout-out to Denise Baller and Dancing With Denise for not only shining a spotlight on her dancers during her school’s upcoming recital, but also on a terrific local organization, Bella’s Bumbas.
At the studio’s backyard dance recital this Saturday, Denise and her students’ families will present Bella’s Bumbas with a donation to cover the cost of building several pint-sized Bella’s Bumbas wheelchairs for children with mobility issues.
On the Dancing With Denise Facebook page, Denise writes, “It’s a wonderful, teachable moment to show my students how spreading compassion and love can make little ones who aren’t as mobile ‘feel better when they are dancing’!”
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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