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So I’ve already posted a few times about this year’s Mail Call: Letters From Home challenge, which is returning this year. In earlier blogs I asked for donations of blank cards, and invited community members to start writing out notes in anticipation of the mailboxes being placed throughout Webster.

Well, “Mail Call” 2026 has officially begun, and this year’s Mail Call Challenge has become a real challenge in a couple of ways.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with this amazing project, here’s some quick background:

Mail Call: Letters from Home is an initiative from Wreaths Across America Webster. First introduced last April, it was designed to bring some joy to our local service members stationed abroad. Community members were encouraged to write out cards, letters and notes for the troops, which would then be shipped overseas in care packages prepared by the Blue Star Mothers of Rochester. Mailboxes were set up in a dozen Town and Village of Webster businesses to collect the messages. Organizer Cherie Wood was hoping to get 1,000 cards. The community came through big time, ultimately filling out an amazing 1,558 cards and letters. It was an amazing outpouring of love from our Webster community, and Cherie was blown away by the response.

So of course she wants to do even better this year, and would love to see even more cards and letters filled out for the troops. Plus, the local businesses which are hosting the mailboxes have thrown down the gauntlet to see which business can collect the most cards. Perhaps you can help your favorite business come out on top by dropping your cards off at their mailbox. At the end of the month, the winning business will get a handsome certificate, major bragging rights, and will be highlighted in my blog.

Here are where the boxes are located this year:

• American Legion Cottreall-Warner Post 942: 818 Ridge Rd (back entrance).
• Jersey Mike’s Subs: 975 Ridge Rd.
• Key Bank: 1848 Empire Blvd.
• Key Bank: 980 Ridge Rd.
• Lowes Home Improvement: 900 Five Mile Line Rd.
• M.O. Pasta: 5 E. Main St.
• Lala of Webster: 38 E. Main St.
• Village Quilt Shoppe: 21 E. Main St.
• Webster Recreation Center: 1350 Chiyoda Dr.
• Webster Town Hall: 1000 Ridge Rd.
• Kittelberger Florist: 263 North Ave.
• The North Bee: 27 North Ave.

All of the cards and letters collected during this special month-long event will be placed in care packages sent out in June by the Blue Star Mothers.

So get your family, groups and neighbors together and start writing some thank you messages! Or when you see one of those mailboxes while you’re shopping, pause for a minute to fill out a card.

And by the way, Cherie says she’s “frightfully low” on blank cards, so if you have any you can spare, please drop them off in the basket next to one of the mailboxes.

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Here are some tips when you’re writing your messages:

• The messages can be from adults and kids.
• Cards and letters should be addressed: Dear Service Member.
• Include words of encouragement, and how much you appreciate their service.
• Include your first name and your town. The service members like to know where the cards come from.
• Spread the word to the groups in your life: Scouts, businesses, schools, social groups, sports teams, churches, etc. This challenge will take all of us.

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(posted 4/4/2026)

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).

Tags: Mail Call, Missy Rosenberry, Webster NY

Chances are good you’ll remember the first-ever Mail Call: Letters from Home initiative last April, designed to bring some joy to our local service members stationed abroad. Community members were encouraged to write out cards, letters and notes for the troops, which would then be shipped overseas in care packages prepared by the Blue Star Mothers of Rochester. Mailboxes were set up in a dozen Town and Village of Webster businesses to collect the messages.

Thanks to the amazing Webster community, it was an extremely successful effort. Children and adults alike embraced the challenge from day one, and by the end of the month, an amazing 1,558 cards and letters had been written.

Well, Mail Call is back again this year, and the mail boxes will all be installed very soon. But first off, Cherie needs to start collecting blank cards — a LOT of blank cards — so that we can make this year’s Mail Call effort even more successful than last year.

So check around your house, in the attic, in your storage chests, for any blank cards you might have lying around. They don’t even need to have envelopes — the messages will be shipped without envelopes so save on weight and room in the packages. You can drop them off in the mailboxes you’ll find at Town Hall (1000 Ridge Rd.) or the Webster Recreation Center (1350 Chiyoda Dr.).

Then stay tuned for more details about this year’s Mail Call: Letters From Home initiative!

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(posted 3/27/2026)

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).

Tags: Mail Call, Missy Rosenberry, Webster NY

Chances are good you’ll remember the first-ever Mail Call: Letters from Home initiative last spring, designed to bring some joy to our local service members stationed abroad. Community members were encouraged to write out cards, letters and notes for the troops, which would then be shipped overseas in care packages prepared by the Blue Star Mothers of Rochester.

The effort kicked off in earnest in April, and by the beginning of the month, mailboxes had been set up in a dozen Town and Village of Webster businesses to collect the messages. Then it was just up to community members to answer the call.

They did that, big time.

Children and adults alike, from all walks of life, embraced the challenge from day one. Individuals, neighborhoods, businesses, schools, after-care programs and Scouts all started making cards. Churches, social groups, veterans, the VFW, American Legion, nursing homes, and active duty units all made cards. The Chamber of Commerce and Webster Public Library even hosted card-making events. By the end of the month, Webster blew the original goal out of the water, completing an amazing 1,558 cards and letters.

It was such an amazing response that Cherie Wood, the Mail Call organizer, has brought it back again this coming April. Her goal once again is 1,000 cards and letters, and while the mailboxes won’t be installed again until April, it’s not too early to start actually writing out some cards. Just tuck them aside for a few months; it would be a great way to kick-start the effort. It would also be helpful if you have some blank cards which you can donate to the cause. They come in very handy when places like the library have community events. Just put them aside, too, and stay tuned for more details about where to drop them off.

Lots more info to come about the Mail Call: Letters From Home 2026 initiative. Stay tuned and start writing!

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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).

(posted 1/17/2026)

Tags: Mail Call, Missy Rosenberry, Webster NY

Webster, you did it again!

When the call went out in April for Webster to come together to support a terrific cause, our community answered that call without hesitation. This time, that terrific cause was the Mail Call: Letters From Home initiative, where Webster was challenged to write 1,000 cards and letters for our deployed service members.

In true Webster style, we not only reached that goal but blew it out of the water.

Mail Call organizer Cherie Wood has tallied all of the messages from the mailboxes placed around town, and reports that the final count came to an amazing 1,558 cards and letters!

And it was a true community-wide effort, as children and adults alike, from all walks of life, embraced the challenge from day one. Cherie said,

We had many individuals, neighborhoods, businesses, schools, after care programs, Scouts, churches, social groups, veterans, the VFW, American Legion, Maplewood Nursing Home, Baywinde Assisted Living, and active duty units participate. Plus, the Chamber of Commerce and Webster Public Library had card making events.

The whole project could also not have happened without the support of the local businesses which hosted mailboxes. (They all said they want to do it again next year!) And extra thanks to Lowe’s Webster for the mailboxes, and Vital Signs Webster for wrapping them.

The next step is to place the cards in the care packages which the Blue Star Mothers Rochester Chapter NY8 will be sending to the troops in June. They’ll be tucked alongside 243 boxes of Girl Scout cookies sold by troops 60568,  60621, 60344, 60423 and 61006.

What these packages mean to our service members cannot be overstated.

“These Webster wishes will go all over the world, with our thanks, appreciation, and encouragement,” Cherie said. “Can’t you just imagine one of our deployed service members reading cards from home, passing them around the unit, while they enjoy a box of Thin Mints?”

Thank you, Webster. We live in an amazing community.

Watch for the Mail Call: Letters From Home effort to return next April. In the meantime, Lowe’s Webster is keeping their mailbox up all year long, so next time you’re in, stop a moment and write a note.  

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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).

(posted 5/21/2025)

Tags: Mail Call, Missy Rosenberry, Webster NY