Duct tape to the rescue

7 Apr

Remember that blog I posted a little more than a week go about how two lawn care companies were littering our neighborhood with their marketing literature?  You’ll recall that White Lawn Care Company (WLCC) and Green Lawn Care Company (GLCC) were vying for the title of “Most Prolific Neighborhood Litterer of the Spring.”  For the record, GLCC won the very tight race, with a total of 19 fliers scattered on lawns and gutters within a two-mile radius.  WLCC came in a very close second with 18.

Well, a few days ago my friend Kristen posted the following photo and caption on my Facebook page which I needed to share with you:

She wrote, “Apparently one landscaping company read your blog! They taped their flier in my mailbox!”

I found this quite funny. Whether BPM Landscaping decided to use duct tape because of my blog, or because they’re just a more responsible company, I’d be much more inclined to use their services this summer than those of GLCC or WLCC.

Never Say Never needs volunteers

6 Apr

If you love horses and you’re looking for a great local volunteer opportunity, Never Say Never Stables’ Horses Healing Hearts program wants you.

Never Say Never Stables, located on at 906 Maple Drive in West Webster, is a therapeutic horse riding organization which seeks to provide “life-enriching, horse related activities to children and teens living with cancer or other life challenges.” The operation is run entirely by volunteers and in recent years has experienced some huge growth. So they’ve sent out a call for help.

A few days ago I received the following email from the folks there:

The number of riders desiring equine-assisted activities is climbing. Children facing all sorts of challenges love to spend time with the horses in a loving, caring environment. It is such a joy to watch the kids grow as they spend time on the farm.  With growth comes the need for more staffing.

We need more volunteer horse handlers and side walkers (for the Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday programs). We also need ‘greeters’ on Saturdays to welcome families and check in riders. Since we operate on an alternating/every other week basis from May to November, there are only 15 weeks of programming.   We also have a once a month group for autistic children (Friday from 5-6 pm) and a summer camp program that runs Monday-Thursday for five weekly sessions during July and August.

Never Say Never has volunteer opportunities to fit every schedule. You can volunteer every day in the camp programs, bi-weekly in the equine-assisted therapy program, or once a month with the autism program. Volunteers have earned community service hours, created Webster Senior projects, and built Eagle Scout projects.

Volunteers can be high school students, business people, retirees, moms, dads or entire families.  Get more information at  http://www.nsnstables.org/Volunteering.html

Notes form the Town

1 Apr

There’s all sorts of interesting notices coming from the Town Hall folks these days, and I would be remiss not to pass them along.

The first announcement is one that Webster gardeners anxiously await every spring: the leaf mulch pile has arrived!

It’s back at its usual location behind Webster Town Hall, and the 100% pure leaf mulch is free to Webster residents (no contractors or landscapers please). And no machinery or other equipment is allowed to load the mulch, so grab your shovels and your kids and get on down there while the supply lasts. Which is usually not very long.

Webster Has the Yellow Dot Program

Haven’t ever heard of the “Yellow Dot” program? Neither had I until about a month ago when Supervisor Nesbitt wrote about it in his weekly column. It seemed really interesting, so I tucked the information away…until now.

The program is sponsored by the New York State’s Sheriff’s Association, and it helps emergency responders provide prompt care in the event of a car accident.

The idea is to place a Yellow Dot on the rear driver’s side window, alerting emergency responders to look in the glove compartment, where you’ve placed important medical information. The Yellow Dot can also be used to alert those who respond to emergencies in your home. Simply place the decal on or beside your front door, and place a completed information card in the freezer part of your refrigerator.

If you’re interested in participating in the Yellow Dot program, stop by the Webster Town Hall at 1000 Ridge Road for more information.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection

The Monroe County Department of Environmental Services (DES) and the Town of Webster, Town of Penfield and the Village of Webster have joined forces to hold an appointment-only Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) collection on Saturday, April 20.  This collection will take place at the Webster Highway Garage, 1005 Picture Parkway from 7:45 am to noon.

To ensure safety and reduce waiting times, appointments are required at all HHW collections.  Appointments for this HHW collection will be accepted until April 19. To schedule an appointment, Webster residents should call 872-1443, Penfield residents can call 340-8710 (Monday thru Thursday, 7 am–4:30 pm), or go online to http://www.monroecounty.gov/hhw to schedule your appointment.

Oh, and by the way, in case we forgot to mention it, APPOINTMENTS ARE REQUIRED!

This Household Hazardous Waste collection is open to all Monroe County residents.

Pharmaceutical Collection

The Sewer Department will be having a Pharmaceutical Collection on Saturday, April 27 from 10 am to 2 pm at 226 Phillips Road. They will only accept unused, unwanted, or expired medication.  No mercury or hazardous material will be accepted.

I did this last year, just drove up and dropped off a bag filled with medications we no longer needed. It was quick and easy and painless, and I would recommend it to everyone. Please don’t flush old meds down the toilet. And don’t use them if they’re expired, and especially don’t if they were prescribed for someone else. That’s just dangerous.

For more information call 265-0505.

 

Webster Thomas grad performs during March Madness

1 Apr

Rmani Crawford, at the far left, prepares to lead Won by One in song. Click on the photo to watch the video.

If you watched any of the Elite 8 basketball games on Sunday, you might have caught a singing performance by a Webster Thomas grad.

Rmani Crawford (’10) led the Pepperdine University a cappella group Won by One in singing the National Anthem before one of the Elite 8 games  played at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. I’m not sure the TV stations actually broadcast the performance, but someone did post a video to YouTube, which you can see by clicking here or on the photo to the right.

Rmani is a junior at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA, majoring in rhetoric and leadership. He sings baritone for Won by One, who call themselves “A group of six unlikely friends who travel in a big white van, recruit students to come to Pepperdine and practice beat boxing daily.”

Thank you to my friend Holly for bringing my attention to this link. I’m always pleased to see our Webster students making a difference in the world.

You can find out more about Won by One by checking out their website here or their Facebook page here.

 

Let the litter games begin!

31 Mar

My regular readers might remember a blog I posted around this time last year about a certain driveway seal-coating company and its marketing literature.  Specifically, it was about how their marketing literature was strewn all over our neighborhood. In one two-day period last April, my husband Jack and I picked up almost 30 of the fliers along our regular two-mile walking route through the neighborhood. They had fluttered out of the newspaper boxes where they had been carelessly stuffed, extracted by the strong spring winds.

Since then, I have always considered this particular company to be King of the Litterers. I thought their neighborhood trashing  record would stand forever.

But on Friday, it was in real danger.

On Friday afternoon, Jack and I were on that very same two-mile walk when we noticed a glossy white flier at the side of the road. We thought at first our seal-coating friends had gotten an early start on their littering in defense of their title. But we were surprised to see it was an entirely new contender in the litter derby — a lawn care company.  A little farther down the road we found a second. Then a third. We began to think that maybe, just maybe, this company was going to mount a serious challenge for the title.

All of a sudden we became much more vigilant as we walked, carefully inspecting lawns and bushes.  At one point we split up along two conjoined side streets to cover more ground. Sure enough, by the time we met back up at the far end, we had both collected a handful of glossy white flyers.  But we also had collected a handful of glossy green fliers.

Yes, ANOTHER lawn care company had joined the contest.

Game on.

Things got serious. We started keeping score. White Lawn Care Company (WLCC) had the early lead by virtue of all the fliers from the early part of the walk. But Green Lawn Care Company (GLCC) quickly made up the deficit.  Before long the score was neck-and-neck.  There were several lead changes.  By the time we got home we had lost count, and we were honestly excited to see if WLCC had been able to pull it out in the end.

But it wasn’t to be.  The final tally was 18 WLCC fliers, 19 GLCC fliers.

So our heartiest congratulations to Green Lawn Care Company. Their total was far short of  Driveway Seal-Coating Company’s record-setting 29 fliers, but they CAN claim the title of “Most Prolific Neighborhood Litterer of the Spring” so far. Enjoy that winning feeling, GLCC, for it will be fleeting. Driveway Seal-Coating Company — King of the Litterers — should be rejoining the game in a week or two.

Stay tuned.

I really should know better by now

29 Mar

WHY do I keep doing this to myself?

Why do I wait until two days before Easter to go out and get what I need to celebrate the holiday?  Yesterday morning my husband and I went to Wegmans to stock up on stuff we needed for Easter dinner.  Jack would have preferred to go Thursday night, and said so then.  “It’s going to be a zoo” if we waited until Good Friday, he said. “Pfshaw,” I responded. “There’s no way it could be worse than when I go on Sunday afternoon.”

So, I was wrong. Fortunately, for much of the shopping trip we were able to split up, creating two smaller targets, therefore making it easier to get through the aisles without being rear-ended.  But even then it was a physical and emotional challenge to get through the entire store. Finally I came to a point where I just gave up. We had everything we needed for dinner; I could return on Monday for everything else. With any luck, by then Wegmans will have installed traffic lights and one-way aisles.

Having arrived home safely from Wegmans, I still had to go out to the Dollar Store and K-Mart to get goodies for my kids’ Easter baskets.  (Yes, I know my youngest child just turned 19. And only one of the three still lives at home. But don’t judge me. My kids still like to get Easter baskets and I’m pretty sure they all still believe in the Easter Bunny.)  The crowds weren’t so bad, but the selection was a bit picked over. I hope the kids don’t mind getting jars of gherkins in their baskets this year.

OK, so I’ve learned my lesson. I’ll get an early start on Christmas this year, I promise. Good thing the Christmas decorations will be hitting the stores next week.

Sharing the gift of music

27 Mar

At the Schroeder concert, the percussion section has fun with plungers.

Two events this week at the Webster high schools helped spread the gift of music.

All of Webster School District’s fifth graders were recently treated to a sample of the kind of music they can create when they progress through the elementary instrumental music program into high school.

Last week, Webster Schroeder High School welcomed students from Plank Road North, Plank Road South and State Road elementary schools to watch a concert performed by the high school wind ensemble. The same event occurred at Webster Thomas yesterday, where the Thomas Wind Ensemble hosted students from Klem Road North, Klem Road South, DeWitt Road and Schlegel Road elementary schools.

At Schroeder, conductor Amanda Tierson fields questions from the fifth graders.

The musical experience was made even more meaningful by lessons the elementary students were presented before the concerts.  The elementary music teachers prepared their students by introducing the pieces that would be performed, encouraging discussion of instrumentation, musical themes, concert etiquette and characteristics of the music they would hear.

For many of the kids, it was their first experience hearing a “real live” concert. And for any of them just starting to learn an instrument, it was a great display of what they could accomplish with continued dedication and hard work.

Fifth graders fill the auditorium at Thomas.

Conductor Eric Piazza leads the Thomas Wind Ensemble.

A saxophone quartet highlighted the Thomas concert. From left, Terese Ciaizza, Karthik Sekharan, Nick Bartusek and Juliana Baratta.

Webster Thomas grade Evan Sundquist was a featured performer when the Fredonia Jazz Ensemble made a stop at Thomas High School on Tuesday, as part of their spring break educational tour through Upstate New York.  Sundquist was spotlighted on the trumpet and vocally during the hour-long performance. The purpose of the group’s tour is to illustrate to current high school students that there are opportunities to participate in music after high school, whether or not they choose to major in music.

Thomas grad Evan Sundquist (back, at left) played trumpet and sang during the concert at his alma mater.

The Fredonia Jazz Ensemble on stage.

Mini mailbag

25 Mar

Before this pre-holiday week overtakes us completely, I wanted to make note of a few notices that have come through my email box.

The first is from the folks at the Town of Webster, who’d like everyone to know that Town Hall will be closed this Friday March 29 in observance of Good Friday. They’ll reopen Monday April 1st (April Fool’s Day — no comments, please) at 8:30 am for regular business.

On Saturday March 30, the community is invited to attend an Easter Bunny Pancake Breakfast at the Webster Columbus Center, 70 Barrett Drive.  The event is being held as a fund-raiser to help Katy Corpus earn her trip as a Student Ambassador with People to People this summer.

In addition to breakfast, the event will feature

  • An Easter egg hunt for children 12 and younger (for children who attend the breakfast only)
  • An adapted egg hunt for children with special needs
  • Pictures with the Easter Bunny
  • Face painting
  • A raffle for an Easter basket filled with goodies

The breakfast will run from 8:30 – 11 am. Pre-sale tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children, and are available at Computer Works Pro (1991 Empire Blvd., Webster) or online at www.kcorpus.com/katy. Tickets will also be available at the door for $10/$7.

Vegan and gluten-free options will also be available.

 

 

How does one picture spring?

24 Mar

Oh boy, I’m in trouble now.

A friend of mine invited me to a Facebook “event” yesterday, which she calls “Spring Spotting.”  She described it thusly:

Every day for the next 15 post a picture of signs of spring, things that remind you of spring, etc. Let’s see if we can encourage Mother Nature to bring it on faster! We start Monday, March 25 and end Monday, April 8.

So I’m always up for a challenge, and I “joined.”  But now I kinda wish I hadn’t.  I mean, it’s a great idea, but I go to work every morning at 7 am and when I get home I pretty much hunker down for the evening.  I’m not exactly sure what kinds of spring-y things I’m going to see during my wildly over-scheduled day.

Maybe a sunrise. But everyone will do that. The perennials poking up through the garden? Everyone will do that. Deer tracks in the snow? Naw.

Wait. I got it.  Nothing says “Rochester spring” better than black slush piles. Potholes. Litter peeking out of the melting snowbanks like budding flowers.

OK, I got the first three days in the bag. Now don’t tell anyone else my ideas, OK?

 

Now I’ll need even MORE story ideas!

23 Mar

It continues to amaze me how capricious blog ideas can be. There are times that I have so many story ideas in the pipeline that I have to draw up a schedule for them so I don’t forget any — and then another one or two come in that need immediate attention and throw my whole schedule off.

Then there’s times like now, when I got nuthin’.  That’s when I go trolling around the Internet to see if an idea jumps out at me. It didn’t take too long this time around.

My first trolling stop was the Webster section of the Democrat & Chronicle website, where I came across Stacy Gittleman’s final column. Stacy is just finishing up a three-year stint as the Our Towns East Extra columnist for the D&C.  She’s preparing to move with her family to Detroit, and as a result has to give up the column, and pass it on to the next lucky writer.

If you haven’t heard yet, that’s me.

Beginning this coming Friday, I’ll be writing the Our Towns east-side column, which will appear every Friday. But fear not; I’ll still be your Webster blogger, too. (I’m having too much fun with this to stop now.)

Stacy gave me a nice little intro in her final column, which I really appreciate (read the column here). But I particularly liked the part where she thanks the D&C for

…helping me find my voice in reporting on all the local heroes in our midst. It gave me such a sense of connection and belonging in Rochester to know that this column helped raise funds and awareness for so many of the causes that you support.

That pretty much sums up what I’ve always tried to do with my blog and what I’ll continue to try to do with the column.

In honor of my Webster roots, my first column will highlight Zech Vanzo, a Webster Thomas High School junior who’s making a name for himself in the music business.  You can get a preview of Zech’s story on my East Extra Facebook Page. I’m hoping to use the Facebook page to post bonus material including longer versions of the column, accompanying photos and calendar items that I couldn’t get into the column. There’s not much on there yet, but please consider popping over there and checking it out. (You could be my second “Like”!)

See you in the papers!

 

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