Bygone Blog: Cats in Collusion

29 Jul

This is the third in my series of Bygone Blogs, in which I am re-posting some of my favorite blogs from the last 8 years. This one was originally published on February 2, 2009. 

scheming cats

(Not actually my cats but they look like the ones I had. This photo courtesy weruletheinternet.com)

Yesterday I found myself standing in K-Mart, staring at a selection of kitchen trash cans, analyzing their various features, while simultaneously trying to estimate my cats’ intelligence.

Let me explain. My cats — to be honest, I think the older one is the ringleader — have become very adept at knocking our kitchen trash can over in the middle of the night and having a feast. It’s the only time they actually get along, so the camaraderie they show in this endeavor is touching. However, that being said, we got very tired of cleaning up trash every morning. So we started chocking the trash can against the wall at night so they couldn’t tip it.

They figured out how to open the swinging lid and fish things out from above.

Which brings me back to K-mart, the kitchen can aisle and my cat-IQ calculations. It was more complicated than you think. One can, for example, had a “quick-release” lid on the front which only had to be lightly touched and the lid would spring up. I was convinced they’d figure that out, either by accident or by design. Another had a foot-pedal mechanism which would have befuddled them, but it wasn’t big enough for our needs.

I finally decided on one with a latch on the side. I figured the cats would have to stand on top of the lid to press it, and their weight would ultimately keep the lid in place.

Believe it. These thoughts actually went through my head.

So I brought that one home and it now sits in our kitchen, where I debriefed my family on the whole trash can-purchasing, cat-IQ thought process. Someone wondered if, when the cat stood on the lid and pressed the latch, the lid might propel the feline into the opposite wall like a kitty projectile.

I do believe they failed to appreciate my efforts.

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Bella’s Bumbas creators featured on CBS News

28 Jul
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Rebecca Orr with her niece Bella in a Bella’s Bumba

A Webster couple who have dedicated their lives to helping children in need have just received some national exposure.

For the last year, Rebecca Orr and her husband Marty Parzynski have been building miniature “Bella’s Bumba” wheelchairs for children throughout the country who suffer from spina bifida, a congenital defect in which part of the spinal cord is exposed through a gap in the backbone. The condition commonly causes paralysis of the lower limbs.

Their passion to help was sparked when their niece Bella was born in July, 2015. When she and her siblings came for a visit last summer from their Buffalo home, Rebecca and Marty were troubled by Bella’s inability to move around and interact with other children. Basically she had no other choice but to sit and watch everyone play.

Insurance doesn’t pay for wheelchairs, and the commercial versions of the Bumba wheelchair can cost more than $1,000. So, assisted by plans they found on Pinterest, they decided to build one for Bella.

Word spread, orders started pouring in for the life-changing chairs, and they have built hundreds for children around the world. To this day, Rebecca and Marty still don’t charge anything for the chairs aside from shipping. That generosity and dedication are probably what caught the attention of the national news.

Last week, CBS News came to town to interview Rebecca and Marty and Bella’s parents, and took some great video of a very happy — and mobile — Bella, wheeling around in her Bumba.

The story ran this morning. Check out the video here.

cbs

Bella’s Bumbas are built totally free of charge using donated parts. Monetary donations, or donations of Bumbo chairs, 12-inch tires, and hardware are gratefully accepted. For more information on how you can help, or to request your own Bella’s Bumba, connect with Bella’s Bumbas on Facebook or email bellasbumbas@gmail.com.

You can also stop by the First Annual Bella’s Bumba Family Picnic on Saturday August 26, from 11 am to 3 pm at Webster’s First Responder’s Park, 1350 Chiyoda Drive (next to the Webster Recreation Center).

You can also read more of this story in the column I wrote back in March.

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Challenger Baseball is a hit with kids

25 Jul

 

challenger 3

It’s ‘batter up!” for Challenger team member Drew Ricci.

A few days ago, I went to pretty much the most enjoyable kids’ baseball game ever. Thing is, nobody made any outs, nor did I see even one fly ball caught or grounder cleanly fielded. But I did see a lot of smiles and heard a lot of laughter, cheers and applause.

The occasion was a game of the Webster Challenger Baseball League. The league is designed for children and adults with different abilities, and fields two age groups, a minor league and senior league. The goal is to provide these differently-abled athletes with the same kind of fun sports experiences that typical children have.

I hope by now you’ve already heard about this great league and what it’s accomplishing in Webster. The organization that has brought us Challenger Baseball has been working hard for years to build the Challenger Miracle Field of Greater Rochester right in our hometown, at Ridge Park, behind Town Hall on Ridge Road.

The game I was watching last Sunday was being played a few fields over from where Miracle Field is being built. Construction officially began  with a groundbreaking celebration last year, and had been continuing apace since. The fencing and rubberized grass surface are in place, so you can really start to see what the final facility will look like.

There’s still plenty to do, though. After the field itself is complete, plans are to build handicap-accessible restrooms, a concession stand, a pavilion and a handicap-accessible playground.

The first phase should be complete soon, and organizers are planning a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 am on Saturday August 26.

There are plenty of ways to help out. Volunteers are needed in many capacities. Donations — which can be made through the website — are always appreciated, of course. And if you’re into running, the 3rd annual Run, Walk & Roll fun run and 5K is scheduled for Sunday October 8 beginning at Webster Thomas High School. Pre-registration is just $20, and you can sign up here.

If you’re not sure yet about how important it is for these children and adults to have a field of their own, you need to attend one of their games. Just seeing the smiles when their bat connects with the ball — no matter if it only rolls a few feet or out of bounds — is all the convincing you need. You’ll see some of those happy faces in the slideshow below.

For more information about Webster Challenger Baseball and the new Miracle Field, visit the Facebook page or website .

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Third annual Waterfront Art Fest hits North Ponds this weekend

25 Jul

art fest

The Waterfront Art Festival returns to North Ponds Park this weekend, July 29 and 30.

This popular festival features artists from all over Monroe County, who line North Ponds’ scenic and shaded walkways, displaying an incredible variety of high-quality, hand-made craft items in all price ranges.

Plus there’s food, live entertainment, wine, beer and cider tasting, and other exhibits.

Also new this year, the parking plan has been improved — in previous years, shuttles were provided from the Xerox parking lot down the road, but people really didn’t like that. So starting this year, parking will be provided on-site for free. Signs along the North Ponds Park access road will guide the way. Plenty of handicapped parking will still be available in the paved parking lot.

The festival runs from 10 am to 5 pm Saturday and Sunday at North Ponds Park, off of Rt. 104 between Rt. 250 and Holt Road. Admission is $3, no charge for kids 12 and under. For more information, click here for the Waterfront Art Festival website.

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Successful Jazz Fest 2017 in the books

24 Jul

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I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that the Webster Jazz Fest keeps getting bigger every year. Pretty soon they’re going to have to move the stage another couple hundred feet down West Main to fit everyone.

It’s hard to believe that this year’s event was the 10th annual, and in that time, our little Jazz Fest has really grown into something that’s pretty well respected. Sure, it’s no Rochester Jazz Fest, but the two-day event features high-quality entertainment, great food courtesy our increasing variety of village restaurants, and — at least two years in a row now — nice weather.

Here are a few photos from the evening. Click here to see more in a gallery.

 

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Santa and Christmas music at the market

22 Jul
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Santa and his helpers at Christmas in July at the Farmer’s Market

The crowds were quite big today at the Webster Joe Obbie Farmer’s Market for the market’s annual Christmas in July event.

There were plenty of reasons to visit the market today. Santa was there with candy canes, cookies and toys for the kids. the Webster Village Band played some favorite Christmas tunes, and it’s pretty much peak time of year for fresh fruits and vegetables.

Santa was definitely the main attraction. He arrived at about 10 am in a Webster Fire Department vehicle accompanied by a handsome firefighter, of course (my son), settled into his very fancy Santa throne, and reported that sometimes the line of children waiting to visit with him was quite long.

If you didn’t get a chance to see Santa, don’t worry. He’ll be back next July. But the farm market WILL be back next week at Towne Center Plaza (Target Plaza) by the gazebo, and every Saturday morning through the first week of November, 8:30 am to 1 pm.

Thank you to Amy Weetman and Sarah Rosenberry for being my photographers, and providing some of these photos:

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The tour has finally come to an end

21 Jul

tour de parks

I do believe my 2016 Tour de Parks has finally concluded.

Earlier this week I spent a very enjoyable morning (and had a nice lunch) with the Wellness on Wednesday group which meets every week at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Webster. It was the fifth — and probably the last — time I presented my Tour de Parks talk.

If you STILL haven’t heard about my quest, basically it was this: In January 2016 I decided it would be fun to visit every single one of Rochester’s east-side parks (in the eight towns I cover for my column). It would be good exercise, a nice challenge, and would give me a lot of ideas to write about in my column.

I was able to cobble together a list of 100 parks, and spent many hours, especially on the weekends and during the summer, checking the parks off my list. I hiked as many as I could, biked a few, ran a few, took lots of photos and wrote a blog about my experiences.

One of the main reasons I was motivated to complete the tour was an invitation from the Adirondack Mountain Club of the Genesee Valley to speak at their March, 2017 meeting. I did that, and had a great time. Because it was so much fun, I thought I might like to do it again… and again. So I reached out to a few local libraries and in the next few months took my tour to Webster, Pittsford and Brighton.

And now, having completed my fifth presentation, I think I’ll tuck my display board away into a corner.  I’ve had a lot of fun, but I really need to get some housework done.

If you didn’t manage to get to one of the presentations, that’s too bad, because you missed my witty repartee. But all is not lost. I managed to turn my PowerPoint into a Google slideshow and have posted it on my Tour de Parks blog site, along with images of the display board and the brochure I handed out listing all the parks. I tried to put a short summary on each slide of what I was talking about.

You can find my blog here.

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WCSD urges new kindergartners to Strive for Five

21 Jul
strive

Children practice walking carefully near buses at a previous Strive for 5 event. (M. Rosenberry)

This is an awesome program, and I highly recommend that if you have a young’un entering kindergarten in Webster this fall, that you put this on your calendar.

(The only thing I DON’T like about this program is that it means that September is not too far away, and I am kind of enjoying my summer.)

The Webster Central School District Strive for Five for School Bus Safety event is coming this August. The program, for 2017-2018 incoming kindergarteners, provides an opportunity for the district’s youngest riders to travel a short distance on a school bus with their parent(s) and to learn important safety procedures for riding the school bus.

The program will start at Willink Middle School, where the bus will pick up participants and bring them to (and from) the transportation department. The buses leave Willink at 6:00 p.m.

Incoming kindergarteners and their parents (no additional children, please) should attend as follows, if at all possible. IF you can’t make your assigned evening, you can come on another, but they district really likes to spread everyone out as much as possible.

August 7 – Plank South
August 8 – Plank North and Dewitt
August 9 – State and Klem North
August 10 – Schlegel and Klem South

Private and parochial schools can attend any one of the four dates.

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Summer fun in the neighborhoods and village

19 Jul

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On the theme of summer fun, Jill Nelson sent me these photos from a street party her Creekbend Lane neighbors enjoyed last weekend, complete with a bounce house and an ice cream truck.

(I’m thinking I need to move to that neighborhood.)

They don’t LOOK like kids, but….

Thank you to Sylvia Hungerford for this delightful photo of one of my favorite bands ever, whom she called a “ragtag group of musicians.” It was taken at this year’s Webster Kiddie Parade during the Firemen’s Carnival weekend.

band

This group, led by Jeannette Altavela leads the kiddie parade every year, and just have tons of fun. Sylvia wrote,

 

It is a fun event where we dress in costumes and let our hair down. The antithesis of formal parade guidelines, there are none. You can be out of line, out of step, mingle with the crowd and enjoy the children parading the route with their costumes. What fun it is.

For the first time in years I had to miss the kiddie parade, so I appreciate Sylvia sending along this photo. I also got several other photos from some of my readers, which I’ve put in a slideshow below. The first two are from Amy Weetman and the three others from Rebecca Parzynski and her amazing Bella’s Bumbas.

If anyone else has some photos you’d like posted, please send them along!

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Jazz and Santa in one weekend. This is Webster!

18 Jul

jazz fest 2016

This weekend’s Webster fun is so spectacular that I’ve already looked at the long-term forecast — especially given how unsettled the weather has been so far this summer — and it’s looking pretty good.

So get your quad chairs and coolers ready, because the 10th Annual Webster Jazz Fest returns to the village this Friday and Saturday.

Here are the details:

Friday night July 21: Jazz in the Pubs

Live music will be featured all around the village in five different pubs and entertainment venues, at staggered times so you can hop from one to another:

  • Gregg Herman & Geoff Smith, 6:30-8 pm, Sweet Wood BBQ
  • El Rojo Jazz, 7-8:30 pm, The Coach Bar & Grill
  • Marco Amadio, 7-9 pm, The Brimont Bistro
  • Em K Jazz, 7:15-8:45, Barry’s Old School Irish
  • Amanda Ashley, 8 – 10 pm, Pub 235
  • Paradigm Shift, 9-11 pm, The Coach Bar & Grill

Saturday July 22: Jazz on the Street

West Main Street will come alive with music, cafe tables, restaurant service, and hundreds upon hundreds of quad chairs and jazz fans spread as far as the eye can see.

Entertainment begins at 6 pm. Here’s the schedule:

  • 5-6 pm, The Mambo Kings
  • 6:15-7:45 pm, Walter Chatman and the Joyful Music Experience
  • 8-9:15 pm, Jimmie Highsmith Jr.
  • 9:15- ??, Cabo Frio

Hope for good weather, and make sure you’re in town for the fun!

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santa at the market

Now that summer is in full swing, so is Webster’s Joe Obbie Farmer’s Market. If you haven’t been there yet this summer, this is definitely the weekend to go, especially if your kids already have their Christmas lists started, because Santa will be on hand for the market’s annual Christmas in July event.

The Farmer’s Market is held every Saturday through October from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm in the Webster Towne Center Plaza (Target plaza) in front of Old Navy. Regional growers provide locally-grown veggies and fruits, baked goods, plants, maple syrup, honey, meats, and hand-crafted items.

And, this Saturday, Santa will be arriving at 10 am, and there’ll be a special performance by the Webster Village Band.

Check out the Farmer’s Market Facebook page for more information.

P.S. I understand that Santa will be arriving on a Webster Fire Department vehicle, which my firefighter son will be driving. Is there anyone out there who would be able to snap a photo or two of Santa and Sean for me?

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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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