PTSA looking for calendar artists

12 May

The Webster Central Schools PTSA has just announced that its 2012-2013 PTSA Calendar Cover Art Contest has officially begun.

The contest is open to all students in grades K-11 in the Webster Central Schools.  There will be two winners, one for the smaller size calendar and one for the larger size calendar. Each winner will receive a $50 United States Savings bond and have their art work reproduced on more than 2000 calendars sold by the Webster Central PTSA.

Entries must be submitted by Wednesday, May 30 (no late entries will be accepted), and the artwork will not be returned.  Entries must conform to the rules below and will be judged on their artistic merit and the ability to reproduce the work on the calendar.  The subject of the drawing must relate to education.

Alexandra Carpenter, then a 6th grader at Willink Middle School, created this design used on the 2010-11 calendar.

Here’s the fine print:

ALL ENTRIES MUST:

  • be hand drawn in black ink or black marker on white paper no larger than 11” high by 14” wide (or smaller than 8 ½ X 11″); landscape format preferred;
  • must not include copyrighted characters or images such as Snoopy or Mickey Mouse;
  • must not be folded;
  • must not include the name of a specific school or teacher, and must not contain any misspelled words;
  • must have the following information printed on the back of the artwork: student’s name, current school and grade, and home telephone number;
  • Artwork should reflect education and/or positive youth values (such as the 40 Developmental Assets).

Artwork must be submitted to your school office or library by Wednesday, May 30.  For any questions contact your school’s PTSA Chair or Terri Edwards at 872-3993 (tme @rochester.rr.com).

Bay Bridge construction means major headaches

11 May

Get ready for some major traffic hassles this summer.

Word has come down from the NYS Department of Transportation that the Irondequoit Bay Bridge will be closed for several weekends this summer to complete a $14.1 million renovation project.

We haven’t yet been told exactly when it will be happening, but what we do know is this: the closures will take place on four weekends, twice in each direction, sometime between June and October, from 8 pm Friday through Sunday evening.

The good news is that only one direction will be closed at a time, and the other direction will flow normally. Bad news is, the work will still displace about 30,000 vehicles each weekend day. That’s 30,000 more vehicles that will be shunted onto Empire Blvd between Bay Road and the 590 on-ramps.

Boy, THAT’S gonna be fun.

Click here to read the D&C article for more information and Supervisor Ron Nesbitt’s reaction.

 

 

Fate of village water decided — at least for now

11 May

A battle royale brewing this week over the future of the Webster Village water supply seemed to fizzle out a bit at last night’s Village Board meeting.

At issue is the quality of the village’s water supply and what — if anything — should be done about it. On one side of the argument is a vocal group of residents called Webster Village Residents for Monroe County Water. At a community meeting earlier this week, the group presented its position that village water is not only caustic, but downright unhealthy, and the village should make the switch to service from the Monroe County Water Authority (MCWA). On the other side is the Webster Village Board, which appeared poised to authorize a controversial reverse osmosis water softening system.

The issue was expected to come to a head at last night’s Village Board meeting, when Mayor Peter Elder and the village trustees were planning to take a final vote. About 30 people in the audience waited patiently through several procedural matters, noticeably perking up a bit when the discussion finally came around to water. Everyone was curious to see what the final verdict would be: reverse osmosis or MCWA.

Two resolutions were presented. The first authorized the board to contract with MCWA to provide village water. The second authorized the village to bond out a reverse osmosis system. Neither resolution was approved. (Read today’s Democrat and Chronicle article about the meeting here.)

So in the end, after more than two years of surveys and studies, meetings and public comments, the board decided to do nothing. At least for now, village residents will continue to get their water from the village, from the Dewitt Road well fields, from the Irondo-Genesee aquifer.

I think the non-vote came as somewhat of a surprise to many in the audience (including myself) who really expected the board to press forward with the reverse osmosis plan. Not having to fight tooth-and-nail against RO was a victory for the Webster Village Residents group. But the village’s decision to keep the status quo fell short of the group’s ultimate goal of ditching the wells and switching to Monroe County water.

After the meeting, Webster Village Residents representative John Cahill admitted he didn’t really know what the group’s next step would be. But he made it clear they would continue to fight the fight, and try to convince village leaders to do what they say most village residents really want:  switch to Monroe County water.

It’s a fight they pledge to take all the way to next March’s village elections, if they need to.

 

Good news for Webster’s Farmer’s Market

10 May

Got a Facebook message this morning that reminded me of a really neat change the Village is making this summer for the Farmer’s Market.

Beginning this year, the market will no longer be hidden back in the parking lot off of South Avenue, but will move out to Main Street proper. This will be a good thing for the vendors, who will get much more visibility, for the local business owners, who will benefit from the Farmer’s Market crowds each Saturday morning, and the market patrons, who will now have one-stop village shopping.

The market opens Saturday June 9, with hours from 8 am to 12:30 pm every Saturday through October 13.  I’ll try to get more details soon about exactly where the market will be setting up and any special events.

 

Webster Schroeder shines at Stars of Tomorrow

8 May

The cast of Fiddler on the Roof perform at the Stars of Tomorrow ceremony in this image from the SOT website.

More great news from our schools today.

Webster Schroeder High School rocked the Auditorium Theater stage last week when the Rochester Broadway Theater League held its annual Stars of Tomorrow program. Thirty-six schools from a nine-county area competed for honors, and Schroeder’s March production of Fiddler on the Roof garnered awards in nine categories, including:

* Outstanding Dance Ensemble
* Outstanding Production Crew
* Outstanding Student Orchestra
* Outstanding Singing Ensemble
* Outstanding Supporting Actor (Mathew Burley as Lazar Wolf)
* Outstanding Supporting Actress (Hadley Strelau as Tzeitel)
* Outstanding Lead Actor (Paul Urriola as Tevye)
* Outstanding Lead Actress (Alyssa Willmarth as Golde)
* Outstanding Musical Production

The Stars of Tomorrow judges also gave special recognition to Leah Hecht as Grandma Tzeitel, Brendan Messner as Sasha, Jacob Murphy as the constable, Alessandra Devia as the Fiddler on the Roof, the entire string section of the pit orchestra, and individual pit members Emily Dorsey, Ajay Phatak and Melanie Pozdol.

The road to success continues for Paul Urriola and Alyssa Willmarth. Both will perform in the New York City Bound National High School Music Theatre Association competition on May 24 at the Auditorium Theater.  In this annual competition, the 32 Leading Male and Female role award recipients from the Stars of Tomorrow compete in “American Idol”  fashion, ultimately narrowed down by a panel of judges until one Leading Male and one Leading Female are selected to represent Rochester. From there, young actors can win college scholarships, professional internships, career coaching and opportunities for auditions.

Community members can vote online for their fan favorites (that would be our Alyssa and Paul, of course) to help them win an additional prize package valued at more than $500. CLICK HERE or on the photo above to vote.

2012 Oak Tree Award Winners announced

8 May

Congratulations to Christine Dunne and Marcia Napolitano, who were recently named this year’s Oak Tree Award Teachers of the Year.

Award winners Christine Dunne (L) and Marcia Napolitano

The Oak Tree Award promotes community recognition and respect for teaching as a profession by selecting a representative Oak Tree Award winners Christine Dunne (L) and exemplary educator at the elementary and secondary levels in Webster Schools. A nominee must be characterized as an exemplary teacher, be currently teaching in a full-time position in the Webster Central School District, have a minimum of five years’ teaching experience in Webster, and plan to continue to teach in the following school year in/or retire from the Webster Central School District.

Other nominees this year included Lynda Courage, Erin Lantzer, Kathy Scerra, William Schoff, Pam Smith, Kristin Chatfield, Diane DiGravio, Julie McGuigan and Deb Ostertag. Winners were chosen by a selection committee comprised of representatives from the Webster Teachers Association and Webster Parent Teachers Student Association.

Marcia Napolitano is the Oak Tree Award recipient for the elementary level.  Colleague Ann Merkey nominated the Plank Road North Elementary School fourth grade teacher.

Christine Dunne, who teaches foreign language at Willink Middle School and Webster Thomas High School, is the recipient for the secondary level. She was nominated by her former student, Beth Gillis, and by her colleague, Kathleen Lehman.

As Oak Tree Award honorees, Napolitano and Dunn were presented with their plaques at the Board of Education meeting on May 3. These plaques will hang in their buildings (Dunne’s will be at Willink) as a proud display for their colleagues and visitors to the schools.  They also each received a hand-lathed, wood pen and a $500 award.

Water, water everywhere, but can you drink it?

6 May

Click on the photo to read the D&C article

If you still get the Sunday print edition of the Democrat and Chronicle, I’m sure you saw the big front-page article about the controversy in Webster over its water distribution system. If you didn’t see it, click here for the online version, which also contains some video statements from Mayor Elder and Webster resident John Cahill.

Reporter Steve Orr did a nice job telling both sides of the issue. But I did wonder why the only person he quoted still “loyal to the village supply” was Jake Swingly, former mayor and current public works superintendent (i.e., in charge of the village’s water services).

Basically, the issue is this: Webster Village’s water supply is drawn from wells tapping into the Irondogenesee aquifer that lies below Irondequoit Bay and Irondequoit Creek. Webster is the last village in Monroe County to provide its own water supply, a fact which appears to be a source of pride for village officials. However, the water is very hard, and residents have been complaining about it for years. Orr writes,

But increasingly, consumers find village water unappealing. It’s free of chemical and bacterial contamination, but is so loaded with minerals that it clogs appliances, stains plumbing and is too salty for some to safely drink. Many village residents spend hundreds of dollars a year on home filters, softeners and purifiers to make their water usable.

So for a while now the village has been looking at the issue and has proposed spending $4.5 million to build a new reverse osmosis water filtration plant, which (according to the article) might be put up for a referendum vote as early as July.

Opponents to that idea have been coming out in force, making public statements at the Village Board meetings, sending out emails and handing out fliers to anyone who would listen.  The better option, they say, is to finally ditch the well-water system and hook up with the Monroe County Water Authority.

The issue will come to a head this week. On Monday evening at 7 pm, the opposition group which calls itself Webster Village Residents for Monroe County Water will hold a community forum at the Webster Public Library at 7 pm.  On Thursday night the Village Board will continue its discussion at its regular meeting at 7:30 pm at the Webster Community Meeting Hall, 29 South Ave.

If you have comments on this issue, please feel free to email me at missyblog@gmail.com.


Hula hoops aren’t just for kids anymore

5 May

I was a really good athlete when I was a kid, my enthusiasm for sports reaching far beyond just backyard kickball.  I was the best shortstop in the neighborhood, I could swing a mean tennis racket, and I even owned my own football helmet and shoulder pads (bless you, mom).  But put a hula hoop around my waist and I was a klutz.

And that really bothered me. People who knew how to hoop made it look so easy. Just hold it against one hip, give it a spin, do that little — hip wiggle thing — and voila!  It keeps going. But try as I might, it just wasn’t happening for me. So by the time I had turned 10 I had sworn off the hoop for good rather than admit there was a sport I could not master.

So it was with some trepidation that I considered an invitation from hula hoop expert Amy Weetman to visit one of her new hooping classes and give it a whirl again.  Amy emailed me after she saw a photo I had taken of her daughter Sydney at Community Arts Day, who was demonstrating some impressive hooping skills.

Amy Weetman with students Sarah Kenney, Marybeth Recore and Erica Saliceti (L-R)

As I read the email, my first thought was, “I’m going to look like a klutz.” I don’t mind making a fool of myself on purpose, but doing so when I’m really TRYING is just embarrassing.  On the other hand, it would be impolite not to accept such a nice invitation, and I suspected everyone would enjoy seeing a video of me being a klutz.

So earlier this week I ventured up to the United Church of Christ on Klem Road, walked into the community room, picked up a hula hoop for the first time in more than 40 years, and joined Amy Weetman’s hooping class.

The first thing I noticed was that everyone was wearing sweats. That seemed a little odd to me. This wasn’t an aerobics class, after all.

The next thing I noticed was that, aside from its circularity, this hula hoop was nothing like the ones I remember from my youth. For starters, it was much bigger and sturdier.  The hoops I remember from decades ago were made of such flimsy plastic that you could put dent them just by breathing on them. And they were pink (I suspect not many boys were hula hoop fans back in the 1960s).

Hooping neophyte Alex Boudrez shows off her brand new skill.

This hoop was a healthy 42″ in diameter, made of indestructible tubing, and decorated with brightly colored (gender-neutral) tape.  And there was some real heft to it; nothing flimsy about this hoop. This was a serious piece of equipment, a realization which both encouraged and scared me.

We started with some stretches while holding the hoop. No problem so far, I thought. But then, well before I had prepared myself emotionally for the next step, Amy said it was time to start hooping.

Place the hoop against one hip, Amy instructed. Back straight, head up. One foot in front of the other. Little bend in the knees. Now, give it a big push, get those hips moving forward and back, and start hooping.

It took me a good 20 seconds after everyone else got started to find enough confidence to give my hoop that first spin. Or perhaps I was digging inwardly for that courage to look like a klutz in front of the class.  When I found it, I finally gave that hoop a big push and started wiggling my hips.

And it stayed up.

I wiggled my hips some more, and it stayed up some more.

There might have been a “Woo-hoo!” or two and perhaps a smattering of applause from the other students in the class, but I was staring at the floor and concentrating so hard on my hips that I can’t be sure. I kept that hoop going for about 30 seconds before it started its death-wobble around my hips, finally collapsing with a clatter to the floor.

I was flabbergasted, and totally pumped. This was going to be easier than I thought. Bring it, coach; I’m ready for the next lesson.

Click on the photo for a short but humorous film of Amy teaching me to hoop.

But of course the rest of the class was not so easy. Once we had finished waist hooping, Amy walked us through hip-hooping, and stepping, lunging and pliés WHILE the hoop was spinning, all of which I failed at miserably.

But by the end of the hour (which went really fast), I felt as though I had crossed something off my bucket list. I could hula hoop. And I had learned a lot more than that, to boot.

I learned, for example, that the larger the hoop is, the slower it turns, which makes it easier to control.  I not only spun the 42″ one I started with, but also had great success with one that was probably about 56″ in diameter.  Which leads me to believe that Wham-O doomed us to failure as children, with their small, lightweight hoops.  So it wasn’t my fault that I couldn’t master it when I was 10, right?

I also learned that next time I do this, I need to wear sweats like everyone else. This was a great workout, and I was sweating up a storm in my jeans.

As I was leaving, I asked Alex Boudrez, another student brand new to the class that night, what her impression was. She said, “I thought I was not going to catch on that fast ’cause I don’t know how to hula hoop. But I guess I DO know how to hula hoop.”

Yup, that pretty much summed it up for both of us.

Amy Weetman teaches the Hoopnotica curriculum in two Webster Hoopers classes for adults on Mondays from noon – 1 pm at Northern Hemisphere Gymnastics, 80 Barrett Drive, and Tuesdays from 6-7 pm at the Webster United Church of Christ, 570 Klem Road. She’s also now taking registrations for a new children’s class beginning in July.

Email Amy for more information at HoopingWithAmy@gmail.com, check out her website by clicking here, and her Facebook page by clicking here.

Weeding truisms

3 May

1) Weeds are much easier to pull out if they’re tall.

2) They’ll be even taller tomorrow.

Webster’s Show Choir takes top honors at Disney

3 May

Last weekend, many of our Webster Schroeder music students traveled to Walt Disney World in Orlando to participate in the annual Festival Disney.  Several performance groups were represented, including the Webster Show Choir, comprised of students from both Thomas and Schroeder high schools.

Yesterday I received a press release from Show Choir Director Laura D’Angelo letting me know that along with a few sunburns, lots of souvenirs and tons of great memories, these kids also brought back some pretty impressive bling.

Festival Disney allows high school performing groups from around the country to perform for a panel of three eminent college professors, who provide constructive feedback in the form of a brief clinic. At the event last Saturday, 45 choirs were adjudicated in various aspects of performance and given final numeric scores reflecting overall level of preparation and competence.

Of the 15 “Specialty Choirs” represented, Webster achieved the highest ratings of “Gold” and “Best In Class” with an average rating of 97. This was not only the highest score in the Specialty Choirs class, but the highest overall score among all 45 choirs of all classes. The adjudicators also made special mention of the show choir’s pit band, unique among the 15 choirs in their class.

Proud directors: Kim Eckler and Laura D’Angelo

Webster Show Choir is an auditioned extra-curricular group which meets for one two hour rehearsal per week for eight months of the year.  The students from Show Choir who attended this festival were:  Brianna Adams; Stephen Adams; Hayley Alexander; Dan Bennett; Abby Blackmon; Hannah Boddery; Jon Christiano; Tom Curran; Kayleigh DeBrine; Jordan Diggory; Emma Germano; Tim Hight; Gabby Jerzak; Carson Klasner; Selene Klasner; Diana Lohrman; Alec Nevin; Dan Parry; Justin Smith; Allison Snavely; Hadley Strelau; Evan Sundquist; Paul Urriola; and Julian Wicks.

The pit band included: Nick Mastrolonardo and John Killigrew, Trumpet; Frank Regelski, Tenor Sax; Zak Smith, Bass; and Kevin Killigrew, Drums.

Congratulations to all the performers, and Show Choir directors Laura D’Angelo and Kim Eckler for this terrific accomplishment. You made Webster proud again.

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