Tour de Parks tour coming to an end…

25 Jun

hugger

If you haven’t had a chance yet to catch my 2016 Tour de Parks presentation yet and still want to, your last opportunity will very likely be coming up Monday night.

I’ll be bringing my talk to the Pittsford Community Library, 24 State Street, Monday June 26 beginning at 7 pm.

Still haven’t heard about it? Well, basically, last year I challenged myself to visit every one of Rochester’s east-side parks. I tried to hike a bit in every park that had trails, I took a lot of photos, and recorded my adventures in a blog.

It was a long year, but I accomplished my goal. Mostly.

You can hear all about it at Monday night’s presentation. Chances are you’ll see a park or two that you recognize, and perhaps learn something about parks you never knew existed.

There’s no admission, and you don’t have to bother registering. But the library folks did promise they’d make cookies (it was the only compensation I asked for). So please do come, because I’d much rather speak to a larger crowd than just a few people. I promise it will be interesting.

And cookies. Just sayin’.

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St. Rita Girl Scouts help fight cancer

24 Jun

CURE check A

St. Rita Girl Scouts went above and beyond this school year in raising money for the CURE Childhood Cancer Association.

Students are assigned to either the Blue or Gold Team when they start school. Then throughout the year they’re asked to bring in change to put in either the blue or gold jar. They brought in anywhere from a penny to $100. (P.S. Gold won.)

The fifth grade Girl Scouts raised more than $1700 for the organization.

A representative from CURE came to the school last week for the check presentation.

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Webster celebrates summer today

24 Jun

fireworks-mdIt’s officially summer, and the town will welcome the season today (Saturday) with a grand celebration.

The Town of Webster’s annual summer party will be held at the Webster Recreation Center, 1350 Chiyoda Drive, beginning at 4 p.m., and will feature food trucks, games, and inflatables for the kids.

The band Stateline kicks off the entertainment from 5:30 to 7:15 p.m, followed by Brass Taxi from 7:45 to 9:45 p.m. A huge fireworks display caps off the evening’s festivities at 10 p.m.

There’s plenty of free parking in the Rec Center lot or across Chiyoda Drive at Xerox, and a shuttle will be provided all night long.

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arts fest

An image from last year’s Waterfront Arts Festival

You’ll also want to mark your calendars right now for the third annual Waterfront Arts Festival, scheduled this year for July 29 and 30 at North Ponds Park.

The third annual Webster Waterfront Arts Festival will take place this year on Saturday, July 29th and Sunday, July 30th at North Ponds Park.

Artists from all over Monroe County will line North Ponds’ walkways, displaying an incredible variety of high quality craft items. There are food trucks, entertainment, a wine tasting booth and other exhibits.

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Welcome to a new journalistic colleague

23 Jun

lily brunnerI would like to send out a personal welcome to Lily Brunner, the new editor for the Webster Herald. 

Lily is taking over for Anna Hubbel, who will not be leaving the paper entirely, but will be scaling back her responsibilities.

According to Lily’s first-page article of introduction in this week’s edition, she’s a resident of Brighton and a brand spanking new graduate of Houghton College in Caneadea, NY (west of Hornell) where she earned a degree in communication. She originally wanted to become an elementary school teacher, she wrote, but halfway through her college career “started to discover my passion for working in media and communications.”

Lily is especially passionate about photography, so I think we’ll be seeing some pretty spectacular photos of local events in coming editions.

Welcome to Webster, Lily! I’m sure our paths will cross soon. I look forward to meeting you.

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St. Martin Lutheran Church announces new Eagle Scout

20 Jun

 

eagleBoy Scout Troop 110, sponsored by St. Martin Lutheran Church in Webster, has proudly announced that Caleb Stamler has earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

Caleb’s impressive Eagle Project involved building three trail-head kiosks for Abraham Lincoln Park on Empire Boulevard. Coordination with the county was imperative to logistically complete the project. With the help of many others, he brought two of the kiosks down on the trail, both along intersections of the yellow and white trails, and cemented them in. He also re-marked the main (white) trail.

Caleb devoted 216 hours to finish the project last October, with help from 19 adults and 17 youth.

Caleb will be a junior at Webster Schroeder High School this fall. Besides holding the Senior Patrol position at Troop 110, he has been actively involved with the West Webster Fire Department for over 10 years, the last two as an Explorer. Last year he was elected captain of the post. In August, 2016, he also joined Penfield Volunteer Emergency Ambulance as an Explorer. He had his Bar Mitzvah in the spring of 2014 and worked for almost a year learning to speak and read Hebrew.

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A personal thank-you

18 Jun

Thank-You

You might not have noticed it, but a few months ago there was a big change to this blog. In early February, The D&C decided to go in a different direction with respect to their community blogs, which meant that my “Webster Blog of the Democrat and Chronicle” was no longer associated with the Democrat and Chronicle.

The split caused me some consternation. I wondered, would people still find the blog even though it wasn’t associated with the D&C? Would people keep reading it? More importantly, why was I writing the blog? After all, there was no way to really know for sure if anyone out there cared whether there was a Webster blog or not.

But bottom line is, I love to write. So I decided to make the changes necessary to continue the Webster Blog in some form.

I created a new blog and called it Webster on the Web. I think the new design is much cleaner and easier to read than the D&C‘s platform, and it’s definitely 100 percent easier to use.

Then I kept writing. And surprise, according to the blog’s analytics, people kept reading. And surprise, surprise, people still occasionally came up to me to chat about a blog I had recently written. And most surprising of all, some of my readers actually started SUBSCRIBING to the blog so they’d know when I posted a new one.

So, thank you everyone for reading. Thank you to my subscribers (all 31 of you!). Because no matter how much I love to write, it’s a lot more fun when I know someone is enjoying the fruits of my labors.

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It’s summer in the village

17 Jun

 

IMG_4967

The Webster Schroeder Jazz Ensemble was one of three bands to play Friday night. 

It shouldn’t have come as any surprise to me that the Friday night concert series in Gazebo Park was starting up last night, but it did.

My husband and I were trying out the fish fry at the “new” Webster Hots Friday night (it was great) and while we were chatting with the owner, he told us about the concert, which featured three high school jazz bands. So after dinner we strolled to the park to check it out.

It was an incredibly perfect evening to sit outside and listen to music. After the Webster Thomas Jazz Band finished, we even went home quickly to grab our quad chairs, returning just in time to enjoy some of the Penfield Jazz Band’s set, and then the entire performance by the Webster Schroeder Jazz Ensemble.

As we always do at these concerts, we saw lots of our friends and neighbors there, which made the evening even more enjoyable.

The concert was the first in the village’s Friday Night Concerts series. The rest of the schedule looks like this:

  • June 30: Claudia Hoyser Acoustic Duo (country)
  • July 7: Burnt Cane (tropical)
  • July 28: The Ryan Johnson Project (fusion)
  • August 4: Rochester Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra
  • August 11: Rochester Brass & Electric

All concerts begin at 7 pm in Gazebo Park on North Avenue.

Also coming up this summer in the village are the Movies in the Park (kids’ movies on Tuesdays and two “date night” movies on Saturdays), the annual two-day Webster Jazz Fest on July 21 and 22, and the next Wine Walk on August 12. Stay tuned for more details about them in the coming weeks. More details about them all can be found at http://websterbid.com/.

Let the summer begin!!!!!

IMG_4969

Crowds for the first Friday Night Concert were pretty good thanks in part to the gorgeous weather

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Webster Hots has new owners

14 Jun
Mutschlers

Webster Hots’ new owners Kelly and Bill Mutschler, with their son Aidan.

Have you driven down Webster’s East Main Street lately?

Lately it’s been looking like a ghost town, with more “For Rent” signs than “Open for Business” signs in the storefront windows. Aside from the fact there’s usually a lot of good parking spaces available, there seem to be fewer reasons every day to head down there.

Bill and Kelly Mutschler, the new owners of Webster Hots, want to change that.

The Webster residents took ownership of the restaurant just a few weeks ago. For Bill, who was looking for a career change, it was the culmination of a long-time dream to open his own small business in Webster. When he and Kelly, found out that Webster Hots was for sale, they jumped on the opportunity.

Bill and Kelly decided to keep the name Webster Hots because that’s what people have come to know. But they readily admit they’re fighting against the negative reputation hots places can sometimes have of being small, and dark and catering to the young, late-night crowd who only want plates.

They want to be known for more than just plates. But don’t get them wrong. “I think our plates are really good,” Bill said, made better in that they make their hot sauce and mac salad on site. But he points out that their menu features so much more.

There are burgers and dogs, of course. But there are also plenty of sandwiches, wraps, appetizers, and even a beer-battered fish fry. Plus, they’re already planning to expand that menu, adding more options for kids, among other things.  And it’s all served in a bright, spacious environment.

Then there’s the ice cream. “The village has been missing ice cream since Hank’s left,” Bill noted, so the Mutschlers know how important it was to bring it back. They’re especially proud to have been able to contract with Purity Ice Cream, a very well-known and highly respected shop in Ithaca. (And if the sea salt caramel is any indication, it’s pretty fantastic.)

As Webster residents, Bill and Kelly are already involved with the village, but now they want to make sure that community connection also extends to their new business. They’re hoping especially to build stronger ties with the high schools, and start hanging photos of local sports teams and businesses. You can also expect to see them getting involved with village events like the Wine Walks and the Jazz Fest.

So when you walk into the new Webster Hots, you actually won’t see many differences … yet. But rest assured that now that Bill and Kelly Mutschler are at the helm, Webster Hots is stronger than ever, a great family spot for lunch or dinner, and will definitely help revitalize East Main Street.

Webster Hots is located at 55 East Main Street in the village of Webster. Connect with them on Facebook and call (585) 265-0824. 

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insideWH storefront

 

 

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Webster couple celebrates long life

12 Jun

75th in 2015

I’d like to send out a few happy birthday wishes today to Don and Virginia Brush, a long-time Webster couple.

And when I say “long time,” I mean looooong time.

Several weeks ago, Virginia celebrated her 100th birthday, and Don will be turning 101 in July. Those alone are some incredible milestones. But just as impressive is the fact that on March 16, 2017, the couple celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary.

Don Brush and Virginia Wahl were neighbors on Plank Road, and both graduated from Webster High School at a time when it was the only school in town, encompassing all grades K through 12. Don received a degree in mechanical engineering from Syracuse University and worked at Kodak for 37 years. Virginia got a degree in nursing from Genesee Hospital and served there as an emergency room supervisor.

Aside from his longevity and obvious love for his dear wife, Don has another claim to fame. In the early 1970s he purchased a 1910 one-cylinder, 10-horsepower Runabout. Over the next two years he completely rebuilt it, bringing it to mint condition.

In 1980 the car won the Grand National award from the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) and can now be seen at the AACA Museum in Hershey, PA.

Best wishes to the happy couple.

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You are being watched…

11 Jun

There seems to be a new movement afoot, and I like to think that I was in on it from the beginning.

If you know me fairly well — or have read my blog for a while — you may remember that I have broken two bones in recent years, one in my finger in 2010, and my arm last spring. I had a series of casts each time, each one smaller than the next. Just for fun, I decided to personalize each one with googly eyes.

And I named them, of course, usually after Muppets like Kermit and Oscar and Cookie Monster.

I got a lot of weird looks, of course, and a lot of giggles from children. And I was pretty much certain that I stood apart from all others in my silliness.

glass leaner

But I was wrong. There are a lot of silly googly-eye people out there who were just waiting for the right time to pounce.

I think I noticed it first from my friend Kristen, whose “bonus daughter” keeps putting miniature googly-eyes on items around their home, from coffee canisters to spray bottles.

But then, just a few days ago, I discovered a new Twitter feed dedicated to the googly-eye cause.

It’s called Googly Eyes of ROC (@rocgooglyeyes), and the organizers (who prefer to stay anonymous) simply want to spread some happiness. As they explained:

The idea came to me after seeing so much negative and unhappy news about our city. $5 for a pack of googly eyes, a camera, and a dream to spread smiles is what we’re all about. We want people to love our city, and we want to show it off. All of it. From its highest highs to its lowest lows, all in good humor. Right now we’re focusing on the city, there’s so much going on it’s an endless opportunity to show off so many wonderful gems Rochester has to offer. Who doesn’t love a pair of googly eyes? 🙂

on a leaf

A recent placement by Googly Eyes of ROC

So the group’s googly eyes haven’t spread as far east as Webster yet. But I still have a lot left over from my cast days, so don’t be surprised if you find a tree — or sign post or ugly village planter — looking back at you next time you’re out and about.

And please feel free to help spread the happiness. Follow @rocgooglyeyes on Twitter, get out with some googly eyes and a camera, and post your photos with the hashtag #rocgooglyeyes.

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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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