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I’ve been giving some thought recently about discussions the Webster school district has been having about changing our schools’ start times.

I have to admit (rather sheepishly) that I haven’t really been paying very close attention to the process. I didn’t attend any meetings, didn’t follow the reports posted to the district website. Because the main focus seems to be on the secondary schools (based on adolescent sleep needs), I guess I really didn’t think it would affect me much, since I work in elementary.

That was my bad. It will definitely affect a lot of people, and as the blogger I should have followed it all more closely.

But not long ago a Plank North colleague of mine pointed out that the proposed changes will definitely affect us — and every elementary school — as well.

Allow me to back up a bit and fill in some long overdue details.

Based on the results from study groups and a community forum, a recommendation has been placed on the table that the board consider changing the district’s school start times to approximately 8:45 for secondary schools and 7:45 for elementary schools.

My colleague, and others, believe that this radical change in the start time for elementary students (whose school day now starts around 9 a.m.) will pose some challenges, especially with day care, after-school programs, breakfast programs and very early busing concerns.

There’s also some question about how well these young students will be able to adapt to the much earlier time, as they haven’t quite developed the self-management skills to stay focused and engaged that early.

There’s a lot to think about. I don’t know the answer, and I trust that the smart minds who are working on it are considering all the angles. It’s definitely a sticky problem, the solution to which will not make everyone happy. But I hope that the district plans another community forum in the near future, specifically to address some of these concerns from elementary school parents and teachers.

You can find a lot more information about this issue including a video from the June 5 community forum at this link.

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Let’s hope the weather keeps holding, because there are a lot of fun events coming up.

This week, of course, is when the Webster Firemen’s Carnival returns to town, kicked off with the huge Firemen’s Parade which will take over Main Street in the village on Thursday evening beginning at 6:30 p.m.

You can find all the details here on Facebook and here on the North East Joint Fire District website  about the Kiddie Parade, the Firemen’s Parade, and the carnival, but here are a few highlights:

• Wednesday: Carnival opens at 6 pm at Firemen’s Field on Main Street. Featured attraction is a Craft Beer Night with wine and local breweries.
• Thursday: The Firemen’s Parade kicks off at 6:30 p.m. , starting at Phillips Road and continuing down Main Street to Firemen’s Field. The carnival is open from 6 pm till late.
• Friday: Carnival opens at 6 p.m., featuring live entertainment by Stateline from 8 to 11 p.m. in the beer pavilion.
• Saturday: The Kiddie Parade will be held beginning at 12 noon. Registration begins at 11 a.m. at Spry Middle School on Sanford Street. The carnival runs through midnight with live entertainment, rides, games, food and drink, a bike raffle, and fireworks to end the night.

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And don’t forget about the Webster Marching Band Boosters’ thurd annual Food Truck Rodeo, scheduled for Friday July 20 from 5 to 9 pm in Webster Schroeder High School’s front parking lot.

The Marching Band Boosters sponsor various fundraising events throughout the year to help pay for the Webster Marching Band’s equipment, show productions, and competition-related trip expenses.

Organizers promise 15 food trucks including Macarollin’, Tuscan Wood Fired Pizza, Bob’s Kabobs, The Meatball Truck Co., Street Eats, Abbott’s, Kona Ice, Smoothies Plus, Eat Greek, Whole-E Roasters, Sweet Sammie Jane’s Pastry Shop, Chef’s, East Coast Toast Truck, Marty’s Birdland, and Brunch Box Rochester.

There will also be face painting for the kids, a visit by a West Webster Fire Department truck, and live music. Admittance to the rodeo is FREE, and all proceeds will benefit the Marching Band Boosters and Webster Marching Band members.

Webster Schroeder High School is located at 875 Ridge Road.

One of two incredible murals which grace the walls of Press On Main.

East Main Street is beginning to come alive again, at least a little bit, and Press On Main is leading the way — very colorfully, I might add.

The new screen print shop/artists’ corner, owned by Noah Calieri and Cory Ward,  opened in May in the old Singh Mart at 21 East Main Street. They even hosted a soft opening celebration on June 22, complete with food, live music and raffles.

But all of that actually happened so quietly that I didn’t even know about it until last week, when a friend of mine noticed the shop and told me about it.

But despite its low-key introduction to our village, I think Press On Main is going to make a splash very soon.

Walk into the new shop on the corner of East Main and Lapham Park and the first thing you notice is an explosion of color. Aside from a few t-shirt racks and Calieri’s desk, the front of the shop is still rather bare. The walls, on the other hand, are bursting with color from murals and art pieces. But you probably won’t recognize any of the artists’ signatures, and that’s by design.

Noah Calieri in his shop

Calieri says the main purpose of his shop is as a “showcase for the amateur artist, somebody that’s not already selling their art….It’s awesome that people just make art and nobody looks at a lot of it. I want that to be where the spotlight is.”

So he envisions having a lot of “little” art shows to highlight these occasional artists and help them celebrate their work. He’s even playing around with the adorable idea of having an art show for toddlers or maybe a stick-figure competition. He’d hang their “art” on the walls, and have all the kids come together for an art-themed play date.

But as much as Press On Main is about artists, it’s mostly about screen printing. Calieri is first and foremost a graphic designer and screen printer. His services are geared especially for businesses and organizations who need smaller lots of t-shirts, like for staff members or 5K races. But what he’s really hoping to do is use his screen-printing expertise to help artists recreate their art, duplicate it and display it on a variety of media.

“I’ll give (artists) a service to do posters, t-shirts, just about any media that we can put a print on,” even including things like canvas or wood. The options are really endless. Just check out the rainbow-colored cowboy hats in the front window.

Calieri is still finishing up some paperwork with the town, so he can’t sell anything from his storefront quite yet. And he doesn’t even have any regular hours; they’ll be established when he has his grand opening, tentatively planned for early August.

But when you see the front door propped open, make sure to stop in and say hi to Noah. Then keep an eye on this little shop, because I think it’s going to do big things for our village.

Press On Main is located at 21 East Main Street in the village of Webster. They’re not on Facebook or have a website yet, but you can connect with them on Instagram at 21EMainArt.

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

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.