Stop the presses!

13 Feb

I only got this notification yesterday afternoon, but it sounds like a fun and worthwhile event which I need to pass along.

ping pong

Come to Webster Thomas High School on Feb 13th from 3 to 5 p.m. National Honor Society Seniors Ben Kazimer, Matt Hill, David Tomer and Will Johnson are hosting a Charity Ping Pong Tournament. All proceeds will go to Honor Flight, Rochester.

Honor Flight is a nonprofit organization created solely to honor America’s veterans and transports them to Washington DC to visit their Memorials free of charge. Superintendent Carm Gumina has challenged Ben to a 1-on-1 game. There will be multiple games at once and winners will receive trophies and gift cards donated by local businesses. Should be a fun time. Honor Flight reps will be on hand to help support this event.

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Webster Thursday Mailbag

7 Feb

Enjolras and cast

First thing I want to do in today’s mailbag is remind everyone that Les Miserables opens Thursday night at Webster Schroeder High School.

If you know the story and the music, you know why you want to see this production. If you don’t know the story or the music, trust me — you’ll want to see this production. I got a taste of it several weeks ago when I was working on another article for the D&C, and even though the numbers were still very rough around the edges, I came away very impressed.

I got my tickets about a week ago, and they were already pretty scarce. You can take your chances at the door, or go online here to purchase them for will-call.

Showtimes are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12 each and reserved seating only.

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A quick shout-out to the Webster Rotary Club, who this Saturday will be welcoming home members of the 3-126 AVN Army National Guard platoon, who are returning from a 6-month tour in Afghanistan.

 

This is the eighth platoon the Rotary has sponsored in the last nine years. Normally the platoons have been from Fort Drum, but this time the Rotary was able to connect with a local unit from the New York Army National Guard.

To date the Webster Rotary has sent 536 care packages to the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The celebration is being held at the National Guard Reserve Center in Chili.

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Show the love this Valentine’s Day by donating blood. Two blood drives coming up in Webster next week make that easy to fit into your schedule.

The first is Monday February 12 at Holy Trinity Church, 1460 Ridge Road (east of Phillips Road), from 1 to 7 p.m. The second is Tuesday February 13 at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church, 813 Bay Road, from 1 to 6 p.m.

Call 1-800-RED CROSS  (733-2767) to make an appointment, or just stop in. It will only take ah hour out of your day, and will help save three lives.

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The First Baptist Church of Penfield’s next Flapjack Saturday Community Fundraiser will be held Saturday January 20, from 8 to 10 a.m.

The  menu includes pancakes, pure maple syrup, scrambled eggs, sausage, and more for just $5.00 per person.

All February proceeds will benefit RESOLVE, a group dedicated to intervening and preventing domestic and sexual violence against women.

Breakfast is served at the church, 1862 Penfield Road. The venue is handicap-accessible. For more information, call 585-586-2876, log onto http://www.fbpenfield.org, or visit them on Facebook.

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Do you have a little one starting kindergarten this fall? This notice is for you.

The first opportunity for parents to register their children for kindergarten is during Kindergarten Parent Orientation on Tuesday, February 27, at 6:30 p.m. at your student’s school.  Parents will have an opportunity to learn about the kindergarten program, meet staff, and tour the school.

Kindergarten registration packets and all related paperwork for the 2018-19 school year are now available on the district website and in all elementary schools. To download the packet, go to websterschools.org, click the Central Registration button, then the REGISTRATION – 2018-19 Kindergarten link located on the left side of the page. The packet and related paperwork are located at the bottom of the page under Downloads.

Parents who cannot attend Kindergarten Parent Orientation may take the completed paperwork and all necessary documents to their children’s school during Walk-in Registration Days, February 28-March 2, 9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Staff will be available to review your paperwork as you wait.

 

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The Filling Station is open for dinner!

7 Feb

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After what seemed like forever, the news everyone has been waiting for has finally come — The Filling Station will finally be open for lunch — AND dinner — starting this evening.

That is, barring unseen complications or a snowstorm keeping them from driving to Buffalo and picking up their liquor license this morning. But Wendy assures me there’s no way that’s going to happen. Sounds like they would hire an actual snowplow to get there and back if need be.

For the last three days the new pub and grill at 77 East Main Street has only been open for lunch, lacking that magical liquor license. But even so, they saw a steady stream of customers, old and new friends showing their love and support.

And they’re very appreciative.

So starting today, the new Filling Station hours will be Monday and Tuesday 11 a.m to 11 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday 11 to midnight and Sundays noon to 11.

Connect with them on Facebook and on the web.

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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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Bella’s Bumbas feeling the love

5 Feb

Marty with chair

A few weeks ago, you might remember seeing a story in the D&C (which I reposted here in my blog) about Bella’s Bumbas, a terrific Webster-based organization run by Rebecca Orr and her husband Marty Parzynski, dedicated to building miniature wheelchairs for children with a wide variety of mobility issues. Already, more than 250 have been shipped around the world.

Marty and Rebecca don’t charge anything for the chairs they build, asking only that each family cover the shipping cost.  So, basically, Bella’s Bumbas relies on donations of money and materials like seats, tires and bubble wrap.

They’ve already been getting a lot of support from local businesses and kindhearted individuals. But since my article appeared … well, let me quote the excited text I got from Rebecca:

Just wanted to let you know something’s going on since/due to your article. (Webster Library staff members) are now collecting air packs and bubble wrap and have an ENTIRE can full so far and more to pick up. Webster Presbyterian Church donated $500, a local businessman’s club brought us a check for $2,000, someone is sending us 100 summer seats, and 15 high backs, plus some smaller cash donations and (we) have made about 30 more chairs!

I wanted to share that text with everyone for two reasons:

  • Thank you to everyone who have sent donations of any kind to Marty and Rebecca. They are wonderful people who are making children smile, in most cases providing these children the ability to move around on their own for the first time in their lives.
  • Please consider showing your support. Believe it or not, one of the things they really need is bubble wrap. Just like the staff members at the library, perhaps the people at your place of work could start saving the bubble wrap in the deliveries you get.

Monetary donations are being collected at Bella’s Bumbas GoFundMe page, or you can send a check directly to Bella’s Bumbas, 1170 Ridge Road, PMB 208, Webster, NY 14580.

And definitely visit the Bella’s Bumba Facebook page, where you can get more information and see videos of many of the kids these chairs has helped. So many smiling faces, as these children discover mobility for the very first time in their lives.

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Good news from the Filling Station

3 Feb

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This is news everyone has been waiting for … sort of.

The new Filling Station Pub and Grill will open beginning tomorrow, Sunday February 4, for lunches only. They’re still working on getting a transfer of their liquor license, so thy can’t serve liquor yet, but hopefully that will also happen soon.

So for right now, hours will be Monday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday noon to 5 p.m.

The Filling Station is located at 77 East Main Street in the old Burger King/Original Mac and Cheez building.

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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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Benji’s Pizza and Grill opens in BayTowne

3 Feb

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I believe that a town can’t have too many pizza places. There are so many different ways to make a pizza — lots of sauce, little sauce, thick crust, thin crust, crunchy crust, flat  pepperoni, chunk pepperoni… and then there’s WINGS! It’s nice to have a variety to choose from.

That’s why I was pleased to find out that a new pizza place opened up just a few weeks ago in the strip plaza in BayTowne by the new Walmart.  It’s called Benji’s Pizza and Grill, and it didn’t take me long to check it out.

I met one of the owners, Jim Benjamin, who told me he’s been in the restaurant business since he was a teenager, in roles from kitchen help to cook, and has run several of his own places.  Benji’s is his latest endeavor, and he has high hopes for it.

Benji’s is located in the former Jack & Jill’s daycare in the small plaza located on the north side of Brandt Point Drive (which is basically the main Walmart access road.) When Benjamin and his business partner were looking around for just the right place for the new restaurant, they really liked the location. After all, thousands of people drive by there every day to go to Walmart and the condo development. But transforming it from a child care center into a restaurant would be a lot of work.

“When we walked in, I could see the potential for building a nice open kitchen, which is what I like to do,” Benjamin said.  So they got to work and spent a full six months renovating the building,  originally hoping to open by last October.  But, he explained, “every time we knocked down a wall, we’d go, let’s knock down one more wall. It slowed us down.” They finally opened their doors the first week of January.

The result is a large (3,000 square feet), bright, uncrowded place that feels more like a family restaurant than a pizza joint, complete with a separate banquet room and some very homey decorating touches. (And a sparkling women’s restroom that might be larger than my kitchen.)

The menu features a wide variety of lunch and dinner favorites including burgers, wings, quesadillas, wraps, subs — and pizza of course. And Benjamin takes pride in the fact that he buys everything locally.

Later this spring, customers can look forward to a new ice cream room with two outside serving windows, and an enclosed outdoor seating area with a gazebo and umbrella tables.

If all that sounds very family-friendly, you’re right. That’s exactly the atmosphere that Benjamin is going for. So you won’t find a noisy bar or even any alcoholic drinks, just plenty of space for parents and kids to enjoy a nice dinner.

And don’t be surprised if Jim Benjamin himself comes over to your table and invites you to have your family photo taken under the Benji’s logo. It’s a new tradition at Benji’s, but I have a feeling it’ll be going on for a long time.

Benji’s Pizza and Grill is located at 1998 Empire Blvd. Visit them online here, on Facebook here or call them at 585-446-0600.

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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.

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Capt. Brad Ball named Firefighter of the Year

2 Feb

Ball-Brad-9955_57_thumbThere are lots of benefits to writing this blog. One of the best is that I get to meet — and become friends with — some of the finest people who ever walked the streets of this town. Captain Brad Ball of the Webster Volunteer Fire Department is one of them.

That’s why I am pleased to pass on the news that Capt. Ball was recently named the Webster Volunteer Fire Department’s 2018 Firefighter of the Year.

Here’s an excerpt from the write-up on Capt. Ball from the WFD website:

A lifelong resident of the Town of Webster, Brad chose to serve his community as a volunteer firefighter. Words often used to describe Brad include reliable, responsive, competent and resolute. As one of Webster’s most active and dependable firefighters Brad rose through the ranks to the rank of Captain. …

The ability to serve and protect the community ultimately relies on a department’s most vital asset, its people. … For nearly a decade Captain Ball has coordinated and conducted the recruit training for Webster’s nearly 75 new firefighters. …Captain Ball instills in his recruits a feeling of welcoming camaraderie that has helped foster an outstanding retention rate for new firefighters.

For nearly 4 decades Brad Ball has served his community as a volunteer firefighter. Brad’s service includes 11 years as a Line Officer. He has performed his duties and responsibilities in a remarkable manner and to the highest standards. From his recruit training efforts, to his Line Officer contributions, to his everyday rock solid firefighting performance, Brad has continuously demonstrated his dedication to community and commitment to excellence. Brad is considered a true leader by his peers and the Webster Volunteer Fire Department and the community we serve are extremely fortunate and grateful for his service.

We in Webster owe a huge debt of thanks to the dedicated men and women of our fire departments. “Cap” epitomizes the commitment each one of them shows every day, and the kind of quality people they are.

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Spreading the joy of books at Schlegel

2 Feb

students

How many ways can you find to read a book aloud? Schlegel Elementary School figured out about a half dozen ways to do that Thursday.

The occasion was World Read Aloud Day, and the entire school participated. Library Media Specialist Jamie Palmer took the lead. Step one was to assign all the students into small groups. Then, right after morning announcements, the school’s fifth graders fanned out to their assigned groups, leading them to classrooms where readers were waiting.

But not just classrooms. Students clustered in hallways, the gymnasium, the music room, the library … pretty much any space where they could settle in and listen to a few good books.

About 20 minutes later, the teachers (plus support staff and substitutes) swapped spots and read two more books to a new group of students. Then everyone convened in the cafeteria, where Supervisor Carmen Gumina read Aaron Reynolds’ Creepy Pair of Underwear to the entire school.

Other highlights of the day included when second graders performed books for kindergartners, and when three children’s authors Skyped in to chat with students.

It still wasn’t over. At the end of the day, everyone gathered in the cafeteria again to enjoy some whimsical poetry by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater from her book Read! Read! Read!

By the end of the day, every student had enjoyed at least six books read aloud to them –not including any that the classroom teachers worked into their regular curriculum.

If there was any question whether the students enjoyed the day, it was answered when at the very end of the afternoon’s assembly, the entire student population spontaneously started to chant “We love books!”

Here are a few photos from the day. I’ll put the rest in a photo gallery which you can see here.

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Fundraiser will benefit the JACK Foundation

30 Jan
jack playground

Jack’s Place, the first playground built by the JACK Foundation, is located in Penfield’s Rothfuss Park. 

The JACK Foundation is moving ahead with plans to build their second dinosaur-themed playground, and this one will be in Webster. To make that playground a reality, they need your help.

The foundation will host its Second Annual Benefit Dinner on Saturday February 10, from 4:30 to 11:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton, 1111 Jefferson Road.

In addition to appetizers and dinner, the family-friendly event will feature lots of kids’ activities — including face painting, balloon animals, tattoos and a special performance by The Happy Pirates from 7 to 8 p.m. — a DJ, photo booth, casino tables, raffles, silent auction and a cash bar.

Tickets are $40 per person, $15 for children ages 3 to 9, and free for children 2 and under. Tickets will only be sold online, so click here to purchase, and for more information about the event.

All proceeds from the event will go to help build the JACK Foundation’s second playground, following up on the very successful Jack’s Place, which opened last summer in Penfield’s Rothfuss Park.

The playgrounds are being built in honor of 3-year old Jack Heiligman, who lost his life tragically in October of 2016. The playgrounds are just one way in which Jack’s parents, Anne and AJ, are keeping their son’s joyful spirit alive, by spreading laughter, happiness and love to other families.

The JACK Foundation hopes to have the new playground fully installed sometime this summer. Stay tuned here for more information as plans progress, and GET YOUR FUNDRAISER TICKETS NOW.

 

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Webster Monday Mailbag

28 Jan

Happy new week! Here are some neat events coming up you might want to check out, starting with Willink Middle School’s upcoming production of Legally Blonde, Jr.

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Based on the award-winning Broadway musical and the smash hit motion picture, Legally Blonde The Musical Jr. is a fabulously fun journey of self-empowerment and expanding horizons. The show’s instantly recognizable songs are filled with humor, wit and sass – leaving cast members and audiences alike seeing pink!

Legally Blonde Jr. follows the transformation of Elle Woods (Sarah Lewandowski) as she tackles stereotypes, snobbery and scandal in pursuit of her dreams. When Elle’s high school boyfriend, Warner, (Jacob Sukhenko) dumps her and heads to Harvard, claiming she’s not “serious” enough, Elle takes matters into her own hands, crafting a showy song-and-dance personal essay and charming her way into law school. Befriending classmate, Emmett (Jake Groff), and spunky hairdresser, Paulette (Shanna Smith), along the way, Elle finds that books and looks aren’t mutually exclusive.

An energetic case and crew numbering more than 100 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders have been working hard for months to bring this show the stage, and you’re gonna be impressed with the results.

Legally Blonde Jr. will be performed at Willink Middle School, 900 Publishers Parkway, on Friday February 2 at 7:30 and Saturday February 3rd at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $9 for adults, $6 for students and seniors, and can be purchased through the Drama Club website the week beginning this week.

Les Miz Tickets on Sale

And since we’re talking school musical productions, I should mention that tickets are now on sale for Webster Schroeder High School’s production of Les Miserables. 

The show will take the stage in four shows February 8 through 11.

Reserve tickets are $12, and can be purchased online by clicking here. You can also get them at Wegmans and at the door if it’s not sold out.

 Free Mardi Gras Pancake Supper

St. Martin Lutheran Church, 813 Bay Road, will host a free Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper on Tuesday February 13 from 5 to 7 p.m. The menu will include sausage and applesauce, and unlimited pancakes.

You’re invited to attend this family-friendly event in your most festival Mardi Gras attire, and there will be plenty of beads for everyone. Plus, you’ll be able to make your own masks.

The dinner is free, but a free-will offering for outreach projects can be made. Call the church at 671-1899 with questions or to reserve seats.

Pancake Breakfast at Rochester Christian School

PCBF2018If you don’t get your fill of pancakes at St. Martin, make sure to visit Rochester Christian School on Saturday February 23, for their annual breakfast, which will benefit the VIP playground project.

This is the school’s 23rd annual event. Breakfast will include pancakes, sausage, fruit, milk, juice and coffee. Plus, there will be family-friendly games, so make sure to bring the kids.

Breakfast will be served from 8:30 to 11:30 am at the school, 260 Embury Road. Tickets are $6 for adults, (max $25 per family) and free for children under 2.

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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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