May is National Historic Preservation Month, so it’s only fitting that for this month’s History Bit, we take a closer look at one of the Village of Webster’s most historic and stately buildings: the Harmony House at 58 East Main St., which celebrates its 125th birthday this year.
The Harmony House earned its musical nickname from its best-known tenants, the Chorus of the Genesee. However, the building is officially known as the Webster Grange Hall, and was built in 1899 as a meeting place for Webster Grange #436. The lot was purchased for $450, chosen for its location near the heart of the business district, where it had direct access to the railroad via Kircher Park.
The Webster Grange was one of the largest and most important local organizations in the history of the town and village of Webster. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Webster was primarily an agricultural community, the Grange served an important role in bringing farm families together for education, entertainment, and social gatherings. It was said to have been the largest Grange in the country; by 1930 the organization had 1,046 members (out of a town population of 4,778) and was said to have been the largest local Grange in the world.
In addition to the regular Grange meetings, the Hall was rented out for a wide variety of community events through the years including dances, movie nights, minstrel shows, festivals and a flea market. In June 1952, the Church of the Good Shepherd also started holding services there.
The Chorus of the Genesee entered the picture in March 1974 when the Rochester Chapter of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America purchased the building for $45,000. The Chorus has continued to call the Grange – Harmony House – home for the last 50 years. The building also still functions as headquarters for the Webster Grange.
The Grange Hall’s design and layout remain virtually unchanged in the last 125 years, and it’s recently been placed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. But it is definitely showing its age, and funds are being raised right now to begin much-needed renovations.
You can help by attending the annual Harmony in the House joint performance by the Chorus of the Genesee and Rochester Rhapsody, Saturday May 18 at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. For more information, visit the Harmony House on Facebook or call 585-259-3094.
Discover more fascinating bits of local history at the Webster Museum, 18 Lapham Park in the Village of Webster. It’s open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Visit the website at webstermuseum.org.
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St. Martin Lutheran Church will hold a Drive Thru Chicken BBQ on Saturday, May 4 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.
What the heck is a hellebore?
The Webster Arboretum will host a presentation on May 9 titled Lenten Rose and Christmas Rose are Hellebores.
Learn about the care and culture of these amazing plants. Donna Shayder, Master Gardener of Monroe County, will discuss the growing conditions, types, management and appropriate care of the hellebore. She’ll also conduct a tour of the hellebore plantings at the Arboretum and answer all your questions.
No registration or fee is required. The program will begin at 6:30 p.m. Meet at the Curry Building at the Webster Arboretum, 1700 Schlegel Road.
Get your Mother’s Day plants here
The Webster Arboretum Association, together with local growers and local garden clubs, will host the 2024 Webster Arboretum Plant Sale on Saturday May 11 from 8 a.m. to noon.
A tremendous variety of beautiful, healthy plants from standard to uncommon will be available including annuals, dwarf conifers, geraniums, dahlias, tomatoes, trees, shrubs and more. It’s a great way to celebrate spring and get some live plants perfectly suited for your garden. And don’t forget Mother’s Day!
The sale will be held at the Webster Arboretum, 1700 Schlegel Rd. Webster.
Barn Sale at Heritage Square
Heritage Square Museum, at 7147 Ontario Center Rd. in Ontario, is holding a huge Barn Sale from Thursday May 9 through Saturday May 11. Hours are:
Thursday, May 9 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Friday, May 10 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 11 from 9 a.m. to noon ($5 bag sale, bring your own bags)
And looking ahead, the museum will be hosting a chicken BBQ on Friday May 13 from 4 p.m. ’till gone.
Get rid of those ugly mugs
I’ll be highlighting a few more Webster Public Library events in a future blog, but this one especially caught my eye today.
Apparently the library has a “community exchange table,” which I don’t think I realized. And this month, community members can exchange MUGS there.
We all have them, a collection of coffee mugs that we’ve gathered through the years but we never use, so they’re tucked back in the back of the cabinet. Dig them out and take them to the library to exchange them for some mugs you might actually use. And who knows, someone may really want that bright pink mug with the bikini-clad flamingo that you just HAD to get on your last vacation.
Also coming up this month at the library
* Author Day on Saturday May 4, when the library welcomes three local published authors, who will talk about the paths they took from the beginning writer to nationally-known authors. Karen Miller will speak from 10 to 11 a.m.; Charles Benoit will speak from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and Ruth Rosenberg Naparstek will speak from 1 to 2 p.m.
Registration for each speaker is requested. Click the name to go to the registration page for each.
* On Thursday May 9, the Webster Library, in conjunction with Webster Comfort Care Home will present “Tending to Life — Comparative Religions: Funeral Customs and Rituals.” Area faith leaders will talk about death in relation to their religion’s customs.
It’s still several months away, but plans are already gearing up for the huge annual NY HOPE garage sale, scheduled for this September.
If you have items you’d like to donate, drop off dates are Wednesdays, May 8, 22 & 29 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus, 1460 Ridge Road (located behind Holy Trinity), Webster.
Before you drop off your donations, check out the DonationGuide, because items that cannot be used, including furniture or large items (at this time) will be refused. We may refuse items if we cannot use them.
Mark your calendars now for the sale, Wednesday, Sept. 11 through Saturday Sept. 13.
Concert to benefit the Harmony House
Music will fill the air on Saturday May 18 when the Chorus of the Genesee and Rochester Rhapsody join forces to present Harmony in the House, a fund-raiser concert to benefit the Harmony House Renovation Project.
Shows will be at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. at the Harmony House, 58 East Main St. in the Village of Webster. Tickets are $20 and must be purchased in advance. There will be no sales at the door. Click here to get yours, or call 585-259-3094.
Garlic Fest vendor applications now being accepted
Last but not least today, if you’re a craft or food vendor and would like to get into this year’s Webster Garlic Fest, the call for vendor applications has just gone out.
This year’s festival will run from September 7-8 at the Webster Recreation Center, 1350 Chiyoda Dr. A 10′ x 10′ booth will run you $150, and early set-up will be available both days.
This has become one of Webster’s best-attended events. Last year there were more than 100 vendors and 3,000 attendees. So get your application in before the spaces sell out. Click here to apply.
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email me at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Instagram and Threads (@missyblog)
You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).
This first item today is for anyone interested in learning more about the Forest Lawn neighborhood, up there along the lake, which has a surprisingly multi-faceted history.
On Wednesday May 17, the Webster Museum will host the next in their History and a Cup series. Beginning at noon, fourth-generation Forest Lawn resident George Forsyth will tell stories about growing up in Forest Lawn and the home he now lives in, built by his grandfather Walter Forsyth.
George was surrounded by family including his Uncle, Judge C. Benn Forsyth who authored the Forest Lawn book. His stories, will be include his memories as a child. He will bring photos and try to answer all your questions. Bring a sandwich for lunch, and the museum will provide coffee, lemonade and cookies.
Forest Lawn is a lakeside community neighborhood of permanent residents with its own mayor. Samuel Pierce, an early settler, bought and farmed 73 acres along the lake beginning in 1850. His son Horace and an attorney friend, George D. Forsyth, saw potential commercial opportunities in developing the land due to its proximity to the lake and proposed a railway line. In 1888, the Forest Lawn community began with the construction of a hotel. Shortly after, the land was divided into lots which were sold for summer cottages. Wealthy judges and lawyers from Corn Hill soon discovered the area. They would commute to the city by trolley for business, while their families enjoyed summers at the lake.
On Sunday, May 21 beginning at 2 p.m., the museum will hold an Open House to highlight their new Forest Lawn exhibit. Mayor Caley Ferguson will speak at 3 p.m.
If you can’t make it to either of the presentations, plan on stopping by the museum some other time. Their Forest Lawn exhibit will be up all summer. The Webster Museum is located at 18 Lapham Park in the Village of Webster. It’s open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Check out the website for more information, and “like” the museum on Facebook.
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The 3rd Annual Duck Derby, sponsored by Webster Comfort Care Home, is this coming Saturday May 20, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Webster Park Beeches Pavilion.
Buy your tickets for $5 and watch them race down the creek to see which one wins (or don’t, because you don’t have to be there to win). This is always a fun morning, with family activities, refreshments, an egg hunt, kids’ games, story time with the Webster Public Library at 10:30, and Yolickity.
This is one of the biggest fundraisers of the year for Webster Comfort Care Home, so buy a duck … or ten ducks. Click here to purchase your ducks. Special prizes will be awarded to ducks #500, 1000 and 1500.
There’s still time to get tickets for the concert on Saturday May 20 featuring two of Rochester’s premier a cappella choruses (which both call Webster home), the Chorus of the Genesee and Rochester Rhapsody. The two groups will join their voices for “Harmony in the House,” a musical treat featuring both choruses and several a cappella quartets. The choruses will perform together and separately, and quartets from both groups will fill your heart with a variety of musical favorites. Plus, there’ll be door prizes, raffles, a bar, snacks, and plenty of free parking.
Tickets are $18 for the 3 p.m. matinee, and $20 for the 7 p.m. show. Following the evening performance, everyone is invited to hang around for the annual “Afterglow,” a fun party with food, drinks, more singing and socializing. Click here to get your tickets, or call 315-391-4911.
“Harmony in the House” is a fundraiser for the Harmony House, a beautiful historic building constructed in 1899, which both groups call home. The Harmony House is located at 58 East Main St. in the Village of Webster.
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Calling all girls interested in joining Girl Scouts!
Girl Scouts of Webster New York will be holding a Unicorn Party just for you on Tuesday, May 23 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Webster Public Library, 980 Ridge Rd.
All kindergarten (including pre-K students registered for kindergarten) and first-grade girls are invited to learn more about the Girl Scouts, and enjoy unicorn-themed crafts and games. There’s no charge.
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The Friends of the Webster Public Library have come up with a great new event for bibliophiles. It’s their very first Vintage and Collectible Book Sale on Saturday June 3 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The event will offer more than 140 books in good or better condition at very attractive, fixed prices. There are lots of first editions or first printings, published anytime from the late 19th century to the previous decade of the 21st century. Books from authors in the Library of America series and from the NY Times Best Seller list will be displayed. You’ll find books about Rochester and upstate New York; a good-sized assortment of books about war and its weapons; a few Tolkien items; some juvenile fiction ranging from the Bobbsey Twins to Harry Potter; many, many books about music, art, popular culture, animals, health, business, and history, along with biographies and even a couple of books we find hard to describe but they sure look interesting.
The sale will be held in the Community Room of the library, 980 Ridge Rd.
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Here’s a fun way to support Miracle Field and enjoy some great music at the same time.
It’s the Challenger Miracle Field Blues Night, scheduled for Thursday, June 1 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Monroe Golf Club in Pittsford. Tickets are $75 which includes hors d’oeuvres, entertainment, a Mission Moment, and more. Please RSVP and get your tickets by May 25 by clicking here.
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The first Village of Webster Wine Walk will be held on Saturday, June 3 from 4 to 7 pm. starting at Jo Jo Bistro and Wine Bar.
Tickets are $15 and will only be available online, but I don’t have a link for that yet. As soon as I get one, I’ll pass it along. Or stay tuned for details at WebsterBID.com. Hopefully they’ll be updated shortly. But in the meantime, get this on your calendar now.
Get your tickets now for what promises to be an incredible evening of music and merriment.
Two of Rochester’s premier a cappella choruses (which both hail from little ol’ Webster), the Chrous of the Genesee and Rochester Rhapsody will join forces (and voices) on Saturday May 20 for “Harmony in the House,” a musical treat featuring both choruses and several a cappella quartets. The choruses will perform together and separately, and quartets from both groups will fill your heart with a variety of musical favorites. Plus, there’ll be door prizes, raffles, a bar, snacks, and plenty of free parking.
Tickets are $18 for the 3 p.m. matinee, and $20 for the 7 p.m. show. Following the evening performance, everyone is invited to hang around for the annual “Afterglow,” a fun party with food, drinks, more singing and socializing. Click here to get your tickets, or call 315-391-4911.
“Harmony in the House” is a fundraiser for the Harmony House, a beautiful historic building constructed in 1899, which both groups call home. To that end, the groups are also looking for individual and business sponsors to support the event by purchasing an ad in the program, donating a door prize, and helping spread the word by hanging posters or even putting out a donation bucket.
For more information about buying an ad, email RochesterCOG@gmail.com for details or place your ad online here. Deadline is May 2.
They’re also accepting direct donations to the Restoration/Building Improvement Fund and will be happy to publicly announce their gratitude for your donation. (If you’d rather donate anonymously, just let them know.) Click here to donate.
The Harmony House is located at 85 East Main St. in the Village of Webster.
Fans of the very popular Bridgerton books and historical-romance television series on Netflix will be excited about this news, especially if you enjoy the dances on that show.
The Country Dancers of Rochester will be hosting a Bridgerton Ball on Saturday Aug. 27 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the Harmony House, East Main St. in the Village of Webster.
It will be an evening filled with easy English country dances in the style of the Bridgerton mini-series. Fans of Jane Austen and Mr. Malcolm’s List will also love this event designed for novice dancers.
Outrageous Regency costumes are encouraged and will be admired, but they are certainly not required.
David Smukler, who wrote two original dances for this event, will be calling. Music will be provided by the Bridgertune String Quartet, featuring Alyssa Rodriguez and Margaret Ball on violin, Katie Marshall on viola and Kathy Zager on cello.
The ballroom is well air-conditioned, so don’t worry about the heat.
Cost is $30 general admission at the door. Proof of vaccination and booster required. Covid masks are optional. For more information, click here.
As I was looking through my “what am I going to blog about next?” notes, I noticed that there are no fewer than FOUR events coming up this weekend — well, Saturday Aril 30, specifically — which I thought I’d better remind you all about.
This is a drive-through event. Dinners will include a half chicken, salt potatoes, cole slaw, roll and butter for $12. There will be no advance sales; cars can pay when they enter the parking lot, first come, first served. Signs will direct cars to the pay station, and then to the side entrance where you can pick up the boxed dinners.
Proceeds will support St. Martin’s Christmas Stocking Project which reaches more than 500 youth in Monroe and Wayne counties.
Cars Along the Creek
The Friends of Webster Trails will be leading a guided hike through Four Mile Creek Preserve on Saturday, and telling you all about the six abandoned cars you can see along the trails. Apparently the land on which the preserve is now located, at the corner of Phillips and Lake roads, used to be used by the local youth as a makeshift racetrack in the early 1960s. Among the cars you’ll see are:
* 1951 Chevrolet Styleine Deluxe Bel Air * 1961 Ford 500 Galaxy Club Victoria * 1959 Nash Rambler * 1959 Chevy Bel Air * 1954 Plymouth Belvedere Suburban * 1949 Green Nash Airflyte
The two-hour hike will begin at 10 a.m. at the parking lot on Phillips Rd.
Drug Take-Back
Also on Saturday April 30, the Webster Health and Education Network is holding a Drug Take-Back Event in conjunction with Wegmans, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at both the Holt Rd. and Baytowne locations. No appointment is necessary. Just look for a drop-off location in the parking lot.
Only pills and patches will be accepted, no needles, liquids or sharps.
Shredding Event
The Webster Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Shredding Event on Saturday, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Chamber of Commerce office, 1110 Crosspointe Lane. The event is open to everyone and there’s no quantity limits, but please remove all file folders, binders and plastic bags.
Harmony House concert to benefit Hope House
This last event is something I only learned about a few days ago but it sounds like a lot of fun AND it’s for a good cause.
Five live bands will be coming together at the Harmony House on Saturday from 2 to 8 p.m. for a family-friendly “Spring Harmony Unmasked” concert to benefit Hope House.
The bands — Group Therapy Country Grass Band, Gabrielle Owen, the BarnStrummers, Fragile Ego and Eli & Co. — will play a wide range of music including country, bluegrass, southern rock, pop and more.
Suggested donation at the door is only $5 for a whole afternoon and evening of music, and all proceeds will benefit Hope House of Webster. There will be a cash bar as well. For more information, including more about each band and when each band will be playing, click here.
The Harmony House is located at 58 E. Main Street in the Village of Webster.
And this just in…
I found out that a few local Girl Scout troops will be setting up shop Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. in front of Barry’s Old School Irish to sell their leftover Girl Scout cookies.
This is a great opportunity to stock up again — and perhaps try a new variety — especially if you’re like me and somehow the freezer in the garage was not QUITE far enough away to keep you from eating all of your original batch of cookies.
Barry’s is located at 2 West Main Street in the Village of Webster, right at the village’s four corners.
I do hope Santa will be packing some longjohns when he visits Webster this Saturday afternoon for White Christmas, because it will definitely be cold — although not as snowy as he’s used to at the North Pole.
He’s going to need those thermal undergarments when he settles into his Santa chair, which for the first time will be set up in the gazebo at Veterans Memorial Park. The park will be transformed into Santa’s beloved North Pole, complete with twinkly lights, lots of holiday decorations and plenty of elves.
Mrs. Claus will be there, too, as Santa welcomes good little boys and girls to visit him from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday. Make sure they bring their wish lists, which can be handed right to Santa or deposited in his personal mailbox.
Following your visit with Santa, there’ll be plenty to do, beginning right at 3 p.m., including:
caroling
Toy Land, where visitors are encouraged to donate new, unwrapped toys
storytime with Jason Poole from the Webster Public Library at Yesterday’s Muse 5 p.m.
cookie decorating
carriage rides through the village
hot cocoa
a candy cane scavenger hunt
Festival of Trees voting at the Webster Museum
live music at the Webster Museum from 3 to 4:30
special events and treats at the Harmony House
free 20-minute infrared sauna sessions at ROC &Soul Fitness from 3 to 6 p.m. (Click here to register)
great shopping at our small businesses
the Parade of Lights begins at 6:30 p.m. and travels west from Kircher Park down Main Street to Pierce St.
There’s more stuff, too, but basically it’s going to be a really fun time for the whole family. And I’ll be out there taking my hundreds of photos, as always.
Here’s a special Valentine’s Day treat from the Chorus of the Genesee, courtesy Laureen and Doreen of the Webster Public Library.
These two lovely ladies are hostesses of the library’s very informative “Let’s Explore Webster!” video series, in which they highlight local places of interest. In their most recent video, they take us inside the Harmony House, located at 58 East Main St. in the village.
In the video, Harmony House manager Brian Moore gives us a tour of this gorgeous historic building. It’s now used mostly as home to the Chorus of the Genesee and its barbershop quartets, but is often rented out by musical and dance groups for performances and other special events.
The Valentine’s treat is offered in the middle of the video, when one of the Chorus’ quartets regails us with two beautiful love songs in flawless four-part harmony. Those performances, and the entire Harmony House tour, should not be missed.
Click here to see the video on the Webster Public Library’s YouTube channel. Then spend some time taking a look at some of the other videos Laureen and Doreen have posted. (I’m even featured in one of them.) You might learn something about our town you never knew before.
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email me at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. 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.
Rochester Rhapsody, Webster’s very own all-women a cappella singers, invites women of all ages to to join them for open rehearsals on three days later this month.
It’s called Rochester Rhapsody’s Sing In The Holidays, taking place at the Harmony House, 53 E. Main St. in the Webster Village on November 12, 19, and 27.
The chorus puts a contemporary spin on classic carols, and the songs blend traditional holiday tunes with an entertaining mix of new holiday carols when they perform in the local community in December. Women of all ages are invited to attend the rehearsals at Harmony House, so bring your mother, sister or a friend with you. It’s free for everyone, it’s a great chance to check out this outstanding local group, and held them share the gift of music with Webster and the greater Rochester community.
The Rochester Rhapsody chorus is an award-winning chapter of Harmony, Inc. that performs under the direction of Sue Melvin, an accomplished performer and clinician. Says Melvin, “Members don’t need to have a lot of musical experience or formal training. As long as she loves to sing, we have the tools to help her find success in becoming the best performer she can be. Ordinary women coming together to make extraordinary music.”
For more information about Rochester Rhapsody, visit their website here, email info@rochesterrhapsody.com or call 585-865-2731.
First, St. Martin Lutheran Church, 813 Bay Road, is sponsoring its second Community Conversations on Thursday, April 12 from 6:30-8:30 in the church Fellowship Hall.
The topic is Suicide Prevention and Mental Health, and the program will include a panel of survivors and professionals in the field. Following the presentations, there will be a question and answer time.
Light refreshments will be served. Everyone is welcome to attend this important session.
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The Webster Quilt Guild is having a show on April 21 and 22 at Holy Trinity Church, 1450 Ridge Road in Webster. Organizers promise a “sea of quilts” on display, along with special displays, and lots of vendors.
Visitors will also be invited to take a chance on the 2018 raffle quilt, a beautiful 93″ x 93″ piece called “Wild Ocean Rose,” which has an appraised value of $3700.
For more information about the show, visit www.websterquiltguild.com, and to purchase tickets, email quiltshow@websterquiltguild.com
Hours are April 21 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and April 22 from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is $5.
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The Woman’s Club of Rochester is hosting its annual Fashion Show/Luncheon fundraiser on Tuesday, April 24.
The event will be held at Midvale Country Club 2387 Baird Road in Penfield beginning at 11:30 a.m. Lunch will be served at noon, including haddock French, chicken Madeira or vegetable quiche, with baked potato, steamed asparagus, salad and dessert.
The fashion show begins at 1 p.m., featuring J. Jill from Eastview Mall, purveyor of unique and fashionable women’s apparel, accessories, and footwear.
Tickets are $25, and reservations are required by April 18. Send your check payable to Woman’s Club of Rochester to Elsie Costa, 441 Cascade Drive, Penfield, NY 14526.
Proceeds from this event will benefit Challenger Miracle Field and Meals on Wheels.
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The Harmony House on East Main Street in Webster will play host to an intriguing fundraiser on Saturday April 28, a Middle Eastern dance workshop and charity show to benefit G.R.A.S.P. (Greece Residents Assisting Stray Pets).
According to the G.R.A.S.P. Facebook page, the group
is committed to reducing the number of homeless pets in Greece, New York by decreasing dog and cat reproduction, promoting responsible pet ownership, and placing homeless dogs and cats into compatible, loving, permanent homes. When resources allow, we will try to help pets in need in the surrounding areas.
The all-day event will include bellydance workshops and demonstrations, two dance shows, a raffle, vendors and more. Click on the link below for complete details and ticket prices.
I feature the people and places and events that make Webster the wonderful community it is — and throw in some totally-not-Webster-related personal ramblings every once in a while as well.
I love it when readers send me news about the great things happening in their schools or the community, so please email me anytime at missyblog@gmail.com
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