Tag Archives: The North Bee

A beeswax sunflowers update!

1 Apr

Just a quick post today to update you all on Amy Stringer’s efforts to raise money for Ukraine by creating and selling hand-made beeswax ornament at her Village of Webster shop, The North Bee.

Sunflowers, or sunyashniki, are the national flower of Ukraine. Amy has created three different designs, each being sold for $10 apiece. Funds raised will be donated to ROC Maidan, who will distribute them to where they’re needed to help refugees and soldiers and offer humanitarian aid.

A second local TV news station has taken notice of Amy’s efforts. WROC-TV Channel 8 stopped by the shop yesterday morning and posted this story later in the day.

Amy originally scheduled the sale to just run through March, but the community has been so supportive (she’s already raised $3,000), she’s decided to continue it. Beginning today, a portion of the proceeds from each ornament sold will be donated to ROC Maidan.

Click here to read the original blog I wrote about Amy’s incredible gift to Ukraine, and to see how Spectrum News covered the story.

The North Bee is located at 27 North Ave. in the Village of Webster.

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

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Webster community mailbag

4 Jul

mailbag iconToday’s mailbag is so packed that it’s taken me two days to pull it together.

Let’s start with a reminder from the Webster school district, which would REALLY like you to register your kindergartner, or new student,  early. Having an accurate count of how many students to expect this September will help the planning process immensely.

For details, please go to Student Registration at www.websterschools.org.

Local business updates 

The North Bee, one of our newest and cutest businesses, has some new hours: Tuesdaynorth bee 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday 11 to 3,  Friday 10 to 2 and 6 to 8, and Saturday 10 to 3. They’re closed Monday and Wednesday.

The shop will be available on Sundays for private events, and (this sounds like fun) on Tuesday nights in July and August starting on July 9, owner Amy Stringer will have a tent set up outside her shop with kids activities and free honey sticks for each child.  Remember that starting next Tuesday, the village will be starting their Movies in the Park series just across the street at Veterans Memorial Park. So stop by before the movie for some fun and honey!

The North Bee is located at 27 North Ave. in the village.

Exercise has its rewards

ROC & Soul Fitness, 44 East Main St., has a lot of cool classes this month, but one in particular jumped out at me.

unnamedThey call it “Barre in the Beer Garden,” a free, 45-minute barre class held Saturday July 13 at K2 Brewery on Empire Blvd. (21 and over please!)

It’s being held in K2’s spacious new beer garden behind the brewery. If you haven’t been to K2 yet this summer and seen this gorgeous new facility, this would be a great opportunity to check it out.

The class will begin at 10 a.m., and of course you’re invited to stick around for a beer, wine or cocktail afterwards.

July’s Webster Public Library programs are out of this world!

For starters, their galaxy-themed summer reading program is up and running, and all ages can participate.

All you have to do is complete a galaxy game board or a galaxy reading bookmark. Each complete board or bookmark earns you an entry into the weekly prize drawing plus a free book of your choice. Plus, all completed boards will also be added to the grand prize drawing at the end of the summer!

Your kids might also be interested in these two galaxy-themed programs:

  • Race Through Space With American Girls & Boys, Friday July 19 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Learn all about the history of the Space Program in America through the eyes of eight American Girl and Boy characters starting in the 1940s through 2018 where LUCIANA is featured in her real space suit from Space Camp! Don’t forget to bring your favorite doll or stuffed animal to learn right beside you! This program is for boys and girls.

All ages welcome, both boys and girls, and no registration is required.

Teens and tweens have several opportunities to make some Galaxy Crafts:

  • On Friday, July 12, make your own galaxy t-shirt. Please bring a black or very dark colored t-shirt, but all other supplies will be provided.
  • On Friday, July 26, make your own galaxy jewelry. All supplies will be provided.
  • On Friday, August 9, make you own galaxy painting. All supplies will be provided.

All three of these programs run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and all youth entering grades 6-12 welcome. Registration is required (and limited) and is going on now.

Find out more about these programs on the Webster Public Library website. The library is located at 980 Ridge Rd. at the back side of Webster Plaza.

And don’t forget to visit representatives from library when they set up shop at Webster’s Joe Obbie’s Farmers Market on Saturday July 13. They’ll have raffles, free giveaways and summer program brochures.

The market is located at Webster Towne Center on Holt Road near the gazebo, and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday through October.

Makin’ Music at Cherry Ridge

The next (and last) concert at Cherry Ridge is this coming Tuesday July 9, Featuring Ruby Shooz, beginning at 6:30.

St. Ann’s Community at Cherry Ridge is located at 900 Cherry Ridge Blvd. (off Ridge Road near Five Mile Line Road), Webster. Bring your lawn chairs and/or blankets, and if you need dinner, picnic fare will be available for purchase beginning at 5 p.m.

The concerts are free and open to the public. For details and rainy day information, call (585) 697-6700.

Softball clinic held

softballSome of our stand-out Webster athletes will be lending a hand when the Rochester Lady Lions hold a youth softball clinic on Tuesday July 9 from 5  to 8 p.m. at Mercy High School on Blossom Rd. in Rochester.

Webster Schroeder Varsity pitcher Sydney Bolton will be there, along with program coaches and college softball players to facilitate hitting and fielding stations. The clinic will help girls fine-tune and improve their current skills. Players attending will receive a free clinic t-shirt as well as a tasty frozen treat from Kona Ice.

Girls ages 9 to 13 of all skill levels are welcome. Cost is $20. Click here to visit their website for more information and a registration form.

More to come

I’m working on a few other blogs about upcoming events of interest, including a food truck rodeo at Webster Schroeder High School to benefit the Webster Marching Band, the Strive for 5 school bus safety event for new kindergartners, and the return of the Garlic Festival. There’s also a brand new business in town that I need to let you now about. So stay tuned!

And please drop me a line if your organization has something coming up you’d like help promoting … or even if you want to send me a photo of your kids’ lemonade stand. I’d love to hear about them!

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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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You’ll want to bee at this event

17 Jun

bees

Bet you didn’t know that this week is Pollinator Week!

I learned about this internationally recognized celebration the other day from Amy Stringer at The North Bee, and since I had never heard about it before, I went looking for more information.

This is a real thing. According to the Pollinator.org website, the week was officially designated 12 years ago by the U.S. Senate as a “time to celebrate pollinators and spread the word about what you can do to protect them.” They call it a

necessary step toward addressing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations. Pollinator Week has now grown into an international celebration of the valuable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles.

As individual, no-beekeeper people that most of us are, there’s not much we can do to show our support for the important job these creatures do, aside from learning more about them and respecting their role in our world. There’s no better place to do that this week than at The North Bee, one of Webster’s newest and cutest shops, located on North Ave. in the village.

north beeOwner Amy Stringer is celebrating the occasion all week, with an extra special event planned for this coming Saturday June 22. At her Pollinator Party on the Ave., Amy will be set up in a tent outside her shop with her observation beehive, pollinator information, activity sheets for the kids, and soil, seeds and pots for the kids to plant some pollinator seeds. Plus, she’ll have a real extractor, so kids (and adults) can try their hand at spinning out some honey, and you can even try honey straight off the frame right out of the hive.

The event will run from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday June 22, and is sure to be educational and fun for kids and adults alike.

The North Bee is located at 27 North Ave. in the Village of Webster, across the street from Veterans Park and the gazebo. For more information about the event and The North Bee, click here.

There is a event posted on Facebook. Pollinator Party on the Ave. Saturday the 22nd at The North Bee from 12-4.

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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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If you love honey (and beeswax), you’ll love the village’s newest shop

29 Nov

IMG_9857

The North Bee is located at 27 North Ave. 

The Village of Webster just keeps getting better.

Hot on the heels of two brand new shops opening up within the last few weeks, a third has joined the village’s small business ranks. It’s The North Bee, located at 27 North Avenue.

The North Bee is owned by Amy Stringer, a long-time Ontario resident. Amy has been a beekeeper for about three years and loves pretty much everything about bees. That includes honey, of course, but more than that, it also includes something you might not expect: beeswax.

Until you visit The North Bee, you probably really don’t have any idea how many things can be made from beeswax. When she started beekeeping, Amy didn’t know much about the stuff either, but really didn’t like the idea of throwing out all the wax her bees produced.

“At the end of my first season I had honey that I had extracted, and I had all this wax left

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Owner Amy Stringer with her tree full of beeswax ornaments

over that I didn’t know what to do with. So I came up with the idea to make ornaments and a hard lotion bar.” She gave them for Christmas gifts, sold them to friends at work, and then branched out even further by setting up a booth at the Purple Painted Lady Art Festival in Palmyra.  

She also started going into nursery schools to share her knowledge about bees and beekeeping with children. Somewhere along the way she started dreaming about having her own place where she could make and sell her products, and have a place for kids to come in and learn. 

The North Bee is the answer to that dream. Inside, shoppers will find honey, of course. But there’s also a surprising variety of products made from or with beeswax, including wax rounds, beard balms, mini planters, vases and cups, small sculptures, and body products.

Nor did Amy forget about how much she loves to work with kids. She’s created a separate room just for them, which she calls “beekeeper central.” There, kids can play a bee game, maybe try on a beekeeping suit, and examine a demonstration hive (without the bees). She hopes to start offering classes soon, where children can learn about bees and how honey is made, inspect a hive, try to find the queen, and see a real smoker in action.

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Amy introduces her bee friend to a young customer. 

What I particularly like about The North Bee is that it’s so unique. I can’t think of anywhere else you can get beeswax ornaments or mini-planters made entirely from beeswax. It’s the perfect place to find unusual gifts for those difficult-to-buy-for family members and friends.

I’ve already been there once. I stopped  by on Small Business Saturday when they first opened. I’m pretty sure, though, that I’m going to be back.

The North Bee is located at 27 North Ave., right at the entrance to the community parking lot across from the gazebo. There are three spaces in front of the shop, and plenty of parking in the adjacent community lot.

Click here to visit them on Facebook, or email Thenorthbee@gmail.com.

All of these products are made from beeswax
Actual beekeeper wear for the kids to try on.

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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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