Tag Archives: 9/11

Village of Webster 9/11 ceremony details

6 Sep

One of the most solemn anniversaries in our nation’s history comes around again next week, a terrible day which changed our nation forever, and which has become known simply as “9/11.”

The Village of Webster’s Sept. 11th Memorial Ceremony has been scheduled for Wednesday Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. at the gazebo in Veterans Memorial Park on North Ave.

The Village always does a very nice job commemorating this event, in a ceremony that usually lasts around 45 or 50 minutes. It includes first responders and local and regional political representatives who offer some comments. The Chorus of the Genesee is usually on hand to perform patriotic tunes.

Members of the Webster Fire Department are planning to congregate at the station on South Ave. at around 5:30 and march as a group to the ceremony. You won’t want to miss that.

Click here to see the blog I wrote about last year’s 9/11 ceremony.

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(posted 9/6/2024)

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Webster remembers 9/11

13 Sep

The Village of Webster held its annual September 11th Memorial Ceremony at Veteran’s Memorial Park Monday evening.

The ceremony was a very nice affair once again. It lasted a little less than 45 minutes, and was well represented by first responders and local and regional politicians. The Webster Village Band and the Chorus of the Genesee both performed, enhancing the event with some beautiful patriotic music selections.

Perhaps 50 community members attended the ceremony. Most were older, but I was heartened to see a handful of children in the audience. Kudos to the parents for bringing the kids and helping them appreciate the gravity of that day, a day which changed their world in ways they don’t even realize.

Several officials spoke, including Village of Webster Mayor Darrell Byerts, who opened and closed the proceedings. But I was especially touched by some of the things that Monroe County Legislator George Hebert said, including, “On that terrible day, our nation became a neighborhood.” So true.

Thank you, Village of Webster, for continuing this tradition and reminding us all of the sacrifices made that day.

Here are a few more photos from the evening:

The West Webster Fire Department created their 9/11 Memorial Flag Garden once again this year, filling the grassy area in front of Station No. 1 on Gravel Rd. with 413 miniature flags, memorializing the first responders who lost their lives that awful day.

Attached to each flag was a card with the name and photograph of a firefighter, police officer or EMT who died. Individually, the flags were enough to bring you to tears as you considered the bravery and sacrifice exhibited by each one. Together, they were a simple, yet stark reminder of the great number of lives lost that day.

The flag garden is gone now. It was planted last Friday and removed on Tuesday. Here are some photos if you didn’t get to see it:

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Instagram and Threads (@missyblog)

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(posted 9/12/2023)

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Webster community mailbag

31 Aug

I always thought that the height of summer marked Webster’s busiest months. But looking at my page-long list of events coming up in the next several weeks tells me I was way wrong.

Most of these I’ve touched on in earlier blogs, so I’ll just remind you of them and give you links to follow in case you need more information. But let me start off with some detail about a race taking place in the village this Friday night, the First Responders 5K.

The race is scheduled for Friday Sept. 1 at 6:30 p.m. It will BEGIN AND END at the south side of Fireman’s Field on Sanford St., and take racers through east-side village neighborhoods. You can see the exact route in the map below.

Several roads on the east side of the village will be affected, and Rt. 250 between State Rd. and Main St. will be closed for a short time after the race begins to allow the runners through.

I always run this race, so I look forward to seeing you on the course. Cow bells, shouts of encouragement and high-fives are always appreciated. You can register up till noon Friday. Click here for more information.

The next meeting of Webster’s Visionaries Low-Vision Support Group is Wednesday, Sept. 6, from 10:30 to noon at the Webster Recreation Center, 1350 Chiyoda Dr.

The Visionaries is a support group for adults with low-to-no vision. Members of this support group share their interests and opportunities with others, encouraging those with visual impairment to get the most out of their lives.

The meeting is presented this month by Goodwill Vision (formerly ABVI), which offers services for those with low and no vision. For more information, contact Ed Wilkonski at 585-265-4167, or email wingstwofly@rochester.rr.com.

The Village of Webster will hold its annual Sept. 11 Memorial ceremony on Monday Sept. 11, beginning at 6 p.m. at Veteran’s Memorial Park on North Ave.

The Webster Village Band and the Chorus of the Genesee will both be performing. Community members are encouraged to attend.

The annual Webster Rocks ALS music festival returns Saturday, Sept. 9.

The festival is held to raise awareness for ALS in memory of Kacie Jones, a longtime employee of the Coach/Rubino’s, who passed away from ALS at 31 years old, less than two years after he was diagnosed. Proceeds will benefit organizations that fight to change the standard of case and empower people with ALS. (Visit www.healingals.org or www.teamgleason.org for more information.)

The festival will be held Saturday Sept. 9 at the Webster Firemen’s Field on Ridge Rd. Click here for more information.

That same day, Saturday Sept. 9, there’s another FREE concert taking place at Veteran’s Memorial Park on North Ave.

It’s the second annual RHB St. Jude Benefit Concert, featuring the Red Hot and Blue Band, Sarah De Vallière, The M-T-V Jam Band and The Tug Hill Band. Pub 235, Guida’s Pizza and Terry’s Tips And Beef will also be there with some great food.

More info on the flier.

Of course, that same weekend, the Webster Garlic Festival returns to the Webster Recreation Center on Sept. 9 and 10. I’ll be posting another longer blog about that again soon, but in the meantime, here’s the website for more information. Word is that more than 100 vendors have already signed up and more are trying to get in every day.

Two huge garage sales are happening the following weekend, Webster NY Hope’s annual sale, scheduled for Sept. 14 to 17 at 1450 Ridge Rd, AND the Webster Museum’s Barn and Vintage Sale on Sept. 14 thorough 16. These are always very big events, so make sure to make time to stop by both.

More to come about these soon.

Community members are invited to attend an official groundbreaking ceremony for the new Webster Highway Department facility at 1005 Picture Parkway on Thursday Sept. 14 at 2 p.m.

Webster Town Board members, Highway Department staff members and local dignitaries will hold a brief ceremony, followed by the groundbreaking. Click here for more information about plans for the new facility.

The Third Annual Webster Recreation Center Mud Run is returning on Saturday Sept. 23. This event is tons of wet, muddy, so-much-laughing fun for the entire family. I will definitely be there, and try to get even muddier than I did last year. (Check out the photo.) More about this later as well.

The Oktoberfest returns to Webster’s Fireman’s Field on Friday and Saturday Sept. 15 and 16.

The event runs from noon to 10:30 p.m. both days, and will feature live German music, German cuisine from Swan’s Market and Helmut’s Strudel of WNY, and beer and wine by Cobblestone on Main restaurant.

Tickets will be sold at the door. On Friday from noon to 3, they’ll cost only $5. After that, and at all other times, tickets will be $10. Children under 12 are free when accompanied by an adult.

Organizers are also looking for volunteers to help with the event. Visit the website for more information.

Reminder that the 4th annual Barry’s Irish Festival takes place Saturday Sept. 16 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at The Barry Patch Farm, 2668 Brick Schoolhouse Road, Hilton. Tickets are available at the pub for $15 (2 West Main St., Webster), and can be purchased online here. You can also get them on the day of the festival, when they’ll be $20. Kids 16 and under are free.

Visit the event’s Facebook page for more information, and if you have any questions, email Danny and Jessica at Barrysirishpub@gmail.com.

St. Martin Lutheran Church will hold a Drive Thru Chicken BBQ on Saturday, Sept. 23 at the church, 813 Bay Road, Webster. The event begins at 4:30 p.m. and will continue until all dinners are sold out.

Dinners will include a half chicken, salt potatoes, coleslaw, roll, butter and cookie, and will cost $15.

The event will be drive-through only and there will be no advance sales; first-come, first-served. Cars should enter the parking lot, follow the signs, and purchase dinners using exact payment of either cash or
check. Cars will then pick up boxed dinners.

Proceeds from the BBQ will support both St. Martin’s Little Free Pantry and Christmas Stocking Project, which reaches more than 500 local youth in Monroe and Wayne counties.

Looking forward to fall, the Webster Recreation Center’s annual Pumpkins on Parade has been scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 28 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. I literally bounced in my chair when I saw the notice, because I enjoy this event so much. Start thinking now about what kind of creative jack-o-lanterns you and your family can carve. Click here to see the Facebook event page for more details.

And of course, you can start your day earlier in the village at Village of Webster’s Trick-or-Treat Trail, scheduled for Saturday Oct. 28, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. More info here.

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Instagram and Threads (@missyblog)

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(posted 8/31/2023)

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Weekend reminders and 9/11 photos

12 Sep

garlic fest logo

A couple of reminders about a few events coming up this weekend you won’t want to miss.

The first is the return of the Webster Garlic Festival — now called the Rochester Garlic Festival — on Saturday and Sunday at the Webster Recreation Center.

This is a great family-friendly event with a lot of entertainment, food, vendors and, of course, garlic. But you don’t have to like garlic to enjoy the festival, because most of the vendors are non-garlic ones.

Click here to read a column I wrote about the festival for more details, or visit their website here.

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quilt shoppe logo

This Friday and Saturday, make sure to pop into the Village Quilt Shoppe at 21 E. Main Street in the Webster, as this brand new business celebrates its grand opening.

Owners Monique Liberti and Vanetta Parshall opened their new shop in August and have already been warmly welcomed to the village by seamstresses who love having a convenient local source for quality fabrics and notions.

The grand opening is scheduled for Friday and Saturday Sept. 13 and 14 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with food, door prizes, gifts for everyone and scissor sharpening on Saturday.

Whether you’re a quilter or not, why not stop in and say hi.

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Last night’s Village of Webster 9/11 remembrance ceremony was a very nice affair once again. The approximately hour-long ceremony was well represented by first responders and local and regional politicians. The speeches were quite moving, and the late-summer temperatures very comfortable.

This year’s musical selections were presented by the Webster Village Band, which was a change from past ceremonies, at which the Chorus of the Genesee performed. The band did a nice job, but I was disappointed to not see some of my Chorus friends and hear their sweet harmonies.

The attendance by community members was also rather disappointing, numbering about 65. There were more musicians and official ceremony participants than there were audience members. And aside from a few little girls who had come with their firefighter father, I didn’t see any young children.

That’s too bad. I think it’s important that the younger generation know about and learn about what happened on 9/11/2001. No matter that the world it created is the only one they will ever know. They need to hear about the thousands who died, the heroic first responders, and to see how our country persevered, and became stronger.

They need to never forget, too.

Click here to see more photos.

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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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Village remembers 9/11

8 Sep

firefighters2

One of the most solemn anniversaries in our nation’s history comes around again this week. The two simple words by which we all know it belie the horror of the day: 9/11.

The Village of Webster always does a very nice job commemorating the occasion, with a ceremony held at the gazebo at Veterans Memorial Park on North Ave.

Scheduled for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., the event usually lasts around 45 or 50 minutes, and includes first responders and local and regional political representatives who offer some comments. The Chorus of the Genesee also participates, performing some patriotic tunes.

Members of the Webster Fire Department are planning to congregate at the station on South Ave. at around 6:15 and march as a group to the ceremony. You won’t want to miss that.

 

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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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The Village of Webster remembers 9/11

12 Sep

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When I was in school yesterday, naturally I was thinking a lot about the events of September 11, 2001. It was, and will always be, a seminal event in the lives of most adults. But as I looked around at the schoolkids, I couldn’t help but think that it’s really ancient history for them.

They, and about a quarter of our current population, were not alive that day. They don’t remember the shock, disbelief, and profound sadness we all felt as we saw those awful images.

That’s why it’s more important than ever that we continue to set aside some time every year to remember. To its credit, the Village of Webster does a nice of that every year, and has done so now for 17 straight years.

Yesterday’s 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park was a dignified, yet powerful mix of ceremony, patriotic music and memories. About 75 people braved cloudy skies to attend, most relaxing in quad chairs, many standing for the entire 45-minute event. On the west side of the park, Webster firefighters, first responders and an honor guard stood at attention. On the other side of the gazebo, local and regional political representatives waited their turn at the podium.

The speeches were a mix of memories, sorrow for lives lost, praise for the first responders who gave their lives as they rushed to help others, and gratitude for those who still do so every day. They were punctuated by performances by the Chorus of the Genesee and concluded with the performance of “Taps” by Steve Forman.

It was a very nice and meaningful evening. Thank you to the Village of Webster for helping up remember.

Click here to see a gallery of photos from the event.

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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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Village schedules 9/11 ceremony

6 Sep

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One of the most solemn anniversaries in our nation’s history comes around again next week. The two simple words by which we all know it belie the horror of the day: 9/11.

The Village of Webster always does a very nice job commemorating the occasion, with a ceremony held at the gazebo at Veterans Memorial Park, on North Ave.

Scheduled for next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., the event usually lasts around 45 or 50 minutes, and includes first responders, and local and regional political representatives who offer some comments. Last year the Chorus of the Genesee also participated, performing some patriotic tunes.

Members of the Webster Fire Department are planning to congregate at the station on South Ave. at around 6:15 and march as a group to the ceremony. You won’t want to miss that.

Click here to see the blog I wrote about last year’s 9/11 ceremony.

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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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Webster remembers

12 Sep

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The Village of Webster gathered Monday night to pay honor to the men and women who lost their lives during the horrific events of September 11, 2001. About 100 residents convened in Veterans Memorial Park for the 50-minute ceremony, joined by more than 30 Webster fire fighters and first responders, Village Mayor Darrell Byerts, a handful of other state, town and village representatives, and the Chorus of the Genesee.

Mayor Byerts acted as emcee, sharing the podium with many of those representatives who added their thoughts and personal recollections from the day.  Many of those comments were directed at the ranks of first responders who stood proudly near the edge of the park. And those were the comments I considered most meaningful.

We must never forget what happened that day and the brave people who lost their lives. But it’s also important to appreciate those who still keep up safe every day.

Mayor Byerts was the first to sound that call. He asked us to remember what it was like in the hours and days after 9/11. We were a country united, helping strangers in the street, showing our patriotism by flying flags from every pole we could find. We mourned the loss of 2,977 innocent lives. Among them were 412 emergency workers, including 343 FDNY firefighters.  We publicly thanked them for their efforts.

The same thing happened when Webster suffered the loss of two of our own firefighters at the hand of a madman on December 24, 2012. We came together again as one, and showed how much we love and respect our local firefighters.

But, as Byerts noted, that public outpouring of emotion didn’t last.

“As time passes, memories fade and those appointed to protect us are forgotten,” he said. “The words ‘thank you’ are rarely spoken.”

Syed Ahmed Mustafa, president of Northeast Quadrant Advanced Life Support, further reminded us that “People don’t become heroes because of what they do one day, but because of what they do every day.”

Those are powerful thoughts. What I took from them was this:

We must never forget September 11 and keep those who lost their lives close to our hearts. But one of the best way to honor them is to appreciate those who continue to race to the scene of a horrific accident or run into burning buildings, not knowing what exactly they’re going to find.

Or, by the way, WHO they’re going to find. Because, as Ahmed said, what 9/11 taught us is that “no matter where we work, pray or play, we are all American.”

Here are several more photos from the evening:

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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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