Tag Archives: Village of Webster

A visit with my new Webster Village eye doctor

2 Sep

I could probably fill a small notebook with everything I love about living in the village. But no matter what’s on that list — music, shops, pubs, neighbors — one underlying theme ties them all together: people.

That fact was reinforced yesterday when I went for a long-overdue eye appointment.

We were in between optometrists when we moved to the village last year, so we decided to sign on with Webster Eye Care Associates. The office, at 81 East Main St., is about an 8-minute walk from my house. (I LOVE being able to walk to places!)

The place was bustling with activity, and much larger than it appears from outside. The staff members were friendly and efficient, and Dr. Hochreiter, who handled my exam, was very professional and thorough, and patiently answered all of my questions.

But I especially enjoyed my time with the big teddy-bear of a technician who helped me choose my new pair of frames and took the appropriate measurements. We laughed and joked throughout our entire visit. We even discovered at one point that we both used to live in small-town Owego, in the Southern Tier, and shared memories of our old hometown.

My new friend Mike Gustin and me

Only toward the very end of our time together (after learning that I was a new customer) did this very friendly and jovial gentleman introduce himself. All that time, I had been joking with Webster Eye Care co-owner Mike Gustin.

It’s not often that you can walk into a medical office for the first time and leave an hour later feeling like you’ve joined a family. That’s how the folks at Webster Eye Care Associates made me feel yesterday. That’s what small-town hospitality and neighborliness is all about.

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Our village summer is ending on a high note

29 Aug

If you happened to walk or drive by Veteran’s Memorial Park last night while the Friday Night Gazebo Concert was happening, you might have thought we were having a regular village summer after all.

That is, if you disregarded the fact that audience members were all grouped into individual, socially-distanced white squares spray-painted in the grass.

Regardless of how weird it looked, the arrangement didn’t seem to bother anybody; the large number of people who had gathered to enjoy the smooth jazz tunes from Judah Sealy just seemed very happy to be able to enjoy a Friday Night Concert again on a beautiful summer evening.

The last of this summer’s three concerts is scheduled for next Friday night, Sept. 4, featuring one of the Webster Jazz Fest favorites, the Bill Tiberio Band. The concert begins at 7 p.m., and you’re welcome to come earlier in the day to choose a square and set up your chairs.

Veteran’s Memorial Park is located on North Ave., just steps from the village’s four corners.

  • Audience members were asked to stay within spray-painted squares to encourage social distancing
  • No one seemed to mind huddling into squares; they just appreciated having a concert to enjoy.

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White Christmas a no-go (for now)

23 Aug
Chances are very good we’ll not be seeing this scene on Main Street this year.

I’ve been getting a few questions recently regarding the status of upcoming Village of Webster events, especially White Christmas and the Parade of Lights.

Not knowing the answer myself, I dropped an email to Robyn Whitaker, my contact on the Webster BID (the business group that organizes these events) and confirmed what I suspected would be the case.

2020 has officially become (almost) a complete washout.

Robyn wrote,

We had a discussion with the fire department and there will be no White Christmas this year along with no Trick-or-treat Trail, no Wine Walk, no Bourbon Bash.

She did add, however, that if things change (meaning if we can really get Corona under control I suspect), “we are willing to modify (our plans) so we can connect the community.”

Not all Village events have bitten the dust, however. Last night, the gazebo at Veterans Memorial Park played host to the first of three Friday night summer concerts, featuring Prime Time Funk. The series continues this coming Friday Aug. 28 with Judah Sealy and concludes on Sept. 4 with the Bill Tiberio Band. The concerts run from 7 to 9 p.m., and socially-distanced family-sized spaces will be marked in the grass.

For more information, visit the BID website.

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

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Webster community mailbag

8 Aug

There are several ways for you to help out your community — and environment — in today’s mailbag.

Bottle and Can Drive

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For starters, the Webster Marching Band will hold their next bottle and can drive on Saturday August 22 at Webster Schroeder High School, 875 Ridge Rd. 

Bottles and cans can be dropped off at the high school from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day. If you have any that you’d like to have picked up before then, simply call the Bottle and Can Hotline at 234-8684, select option 1, leave a message, and someone will be in touch to pick up your returnables.

Food Drive

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That same day, Saturday August 22, Immanuel Lutheran Church at 131 West Main Street in Webster will host a non-perishable food drive. All donations will be used for the church’s Little Free Pantry and the WCSD Food Backpack Program.

Click on the poster above for more information about items they particularly need. The drive will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Blood Drive

blood drive

Another local opportunity for you to help save lives with your blood donation will take place on Tuesday Aug. 25 from 1 to 7 p.m. at the Webster Volunteer Fire Department Firemen’s Building, 172 Sanford Street. To set up your appointment, call 1-800-Red-Cross. 

Electronics Recycling

The next local electronics recycling event will be held at Xerox on Saturday August 29 from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

The last time one of these drives was held at Xerox, the line of cars stretched down Phillips Rd. So organizers are requesting that everybody pre-register for this drive. Click here to do that.

Items that will be accepted include cell phones, computers, monitors, printers, audio video equipment, and small devices. There’s a limit of four TV monitors per car.

Book Sale! 

The Webster Public Library will hold a pop-up book sale on Thursday August 13 from noon to 4 p.m. outside the library on Van Ingen Dr.

All books will be $1 each. Please bring cash, wear your mask, and follow the social distancing guidelines that are laid out at the sale.

Movies and Concerts Return!

The Village of Webster is squeezing as much summer out of this year as they can.

Movies in the Gazebo Park series will return with two showings in the coming week in Veterans Memorial Park on North Ave.

Monsters uniMonsters University will be shown on Tuesday Aug. 11, and Charlie Wilson’s War with Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman on Saturday Aug. 15.

Both movies will begin at dusk, around 9 p.m. To encourage social distancing, the park will be marked off with specific “family areas” spaced six feet apart in the grass. There will be plenty of room for chairs and/or blankets within each spot and facial masks must be worn when outside your family space. There will be room for about 60 family spaces and are first-come, first-served. You can place your chairs or blankets in a space to reserve it on movie or concert days anytime after 2 p.m. the day of the event.

No popcorn will be served so feel free to bring your own snacks and drinks.

And the (abbreviated) Friday Night Concert Series is back, too!

Friday Aug. 21 will feature Super Mini Prime Time Funk with Ronnie Leigh on vocals and sax, Dave Cohen on drums, Andy Calabrese on keys and Ron France on bass.

Friday Aug. 28, the Juday Sealy Band will take the stage. Recently Judah, a School of the Arts grad,  released his highly anticipated single called “Off The Charts” which spent two months on the Billboard Smooth Jazz chart. The group also features Webster HS graduate Deepak Thettu on guitar.

The Bill Tiberio Band returns Friday Sept 4, with Bill Tiberio on alto and tenor sax, Scott Bradley on trumpet and keyboards, Vinnie Ruggiero on guitar, Phil Lake on drums and Geoff Smith on bass.

The concerts are from 7 to 9 p.m. For more information visit websterbid.com.

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

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This family-friendly Webster Village history tour is like no other

31 Jul

A Webster resident and geocache aficionado has devised a fun way for entire families to learn a bit more about village history.

I’m sure you’ve heard about geocaching. This extremely popular hide-and-seek challenge uses GPS coordinates to guide participants to hidden “caches.” Each one includes a logbook and some trinkets. You choose one of the trinkets and leave one of your own.

I’ve never been a big fan of geocaching, being a letterboxing gal myself. But this brand-new “Webster Walkabout” history geocaching challenge created by my friend Gerry Sander is something I would recommend to anyone and everyone, especially families.

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The Webster Walkabout is not your typical geocache puzzle, where you download the coordinates for one cache and then search for a physical, hidden box. Instead, this activity is part of the relatively new “Adventure Lab” geocaching platform, which guides participants to a series of virtual caches — in this case, historically significant properties within the Village of Webster.

At each stop, the game prompts you to answer a question by typing in a word that can be found on a sign or plaque nearby. The correct answer unlocks the clue to the next location. Some of the walkabout stops even include videos, which is cool.

Then the whole experience gets even better. Once you complete the Adventure Lab, you’ll be given a code to unlock a special bonus puzzle geocache located at the Webster Museum, 18 Lapham Park.

When Gerry started planning out his Adventure Lab series, he immediately thought of a historical tour, and first considered making it a town-wide hunt. But after discussing his idea with Webster Village Historian Lynn Barton, he narrowed his focus.

I met with Lynn Barton and the Webster Museum and she gave me all kinds of ideas. Just talking with her that initial time, we decided to limit the focus to just the village. There were enough places around the village which have historical significance. Since it’s only five (stops), we could basically make it a walking tour so people can come to the village, visit these historical places, get the feel of the village, maybe visit Barry’s or some of the restaurants, and drive people to the museum. 

It kind of meshed really well. 

Gerry also got support from Webster Village Mayor Darrell Byerts and Webster Supervisor Tom Flaherty, both of whom recorded videos for the walkabout.

Gerry has been hunting geocaches for 14 years, has found more than 2800 of them and placed another 24 of his own. This, however, is his first Adventure Lab challenge.  If it’s successful and people seem to have fun with it, perhaps he can follow it up with one that teaches us even more about the Town of Webster.

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Outside the Webster Museum with the newly installed gadget box are Museum President Tom Pellett, Gerry Sander, and Museum board member Jill Kraft. The box can be unlocked only after completing the 5 virtual caches in the Webster Walkabout Adventure Lab.

Want to try the Webster Walkabout? Here are the details:  

The Webster Walkabout guides participants to five historically significant Village of Webster buildings, on a walk that’s about 1.5 miles. The route is entirely along village sidewalks, so it’s handicap accessible and great for all ages. It should take about an hour.

After the last stop, you want to stroll over to the Webster Museum at 18 Lapham Park. There, attached to the front of the building, you’ll find the ultimate geocaching award, a “gadget box.” This is a bonus puzzle cache which the kids especially are going to LOVE. You’ll need a combination to get into the lock on this one, which is provided once you complete all five stops.

Participants need a smart phone (Android or iPhone), with the Adventure Lab app installed (it’s free). Because it’s multi-media and location based, you’ll need to use your data and have location services enabled.

To open the Webster Walkabout Adventure Lab in the mobile app, click on this URL:  https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/WEBSTER

Have fun!

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

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Movies in the Park are back!

29 Jul

The Village of Webster is trying its best to give our community something resembling a normal summer.

So in a few weeks, the Movies in the Gazebo Park series will return for kind of like a trial run. in Veterans Memorial Park on North Ave.

Monsters uniMonsters University will be shown on Tuesday Aug. 11, and Charlie Wilson’s War with Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman on Saturday Aug. 15.

Both movies will begin around 9 p.m. To encourage social distancing, the park will be marked off with specific “family areas” spaced six feet apart in the grass. There will be plenty of room for chairs and/or blankets within each spot and facial masks must be worn when outside your family space. There will be room for about 60 family spaces and are first-come, first-served.

No popcorn will be served so feel free to bring your own snacks and drinks. For more information visit websterbid.com.

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Veterans Memorial Park will also be host to a return engagement by comic Rudolph Valentino this Friday July 31.  He’ll be joined by his co-host and funny friend Kevin Markman.

gazeboThis is a family-friendly show. There’s no admission, and water and snacks can be purchased, if this show will be anything like the last. And you’ll laugh a lot.

Bring your quad chairs and a cooler if you like, and bring a mask in case you have to sit too close to anyone or want to hit up the vendors. But it’s a spacious area, so there shouldn’t be any problem social distancing. The show is slated to start at 7 p.m. But it started late last time so don’t worry if you’re running late.

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

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Ooooooo Lala!

28 Jul

IMG_20200725_155930252_HDR

Lala of Webster has expanded, and the new place looks beautiful.

Owner Lisa Schlonski of Lala of Webster, a lovely gift shop and boutique at 38 East Main in the village, celebrated her grand opening last weekend, introducing her newly expanded space to the Webster community.

In business for just a little more than 18 months, owner Lisa doubled her space by expanding next door into the former Pickled Paintbrush shop, which unfortunately lost the pandemic economic battle a few months ago. Lala now has not just two, but three floors.

The shop’s two original spaces still look much the same, with a wide variety of gift items, jewelry and wellness products. But now with the added space, there’s a lot more room for everything, and more.

The new, adjacent room has a dedicated spot for local vendors (about 30 of them) and so many cute inspirational gift items (I bought a few myself). Upstairs is a ladies’ boutique with clothing and more jewelry, and a children’s room with baby items, toys and stuffed animals for all our young friends.

There are too many adorable things to mention here. You just gotta see it to appreciate it. I’ve always said that Lala is exactly the kind of shop we need here in Webster. I didn’t think it could get any better, but it sure did.

Lala of Webster is located at 38 East Main Street. For more information and hours, visit their website here or Facebook page here.

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

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Honoring our first responders

27 Jul

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Better late than never, I’d like to post a follow-up report on the mini-parade that took place along East Main Street on Thursday night.

There obviously was no Firemen’s Parade this year, but Lori Allen and her family was undaunted, setting up their parade chairs outside their Main Street home anyway, at what would have normally been parade time (albeit a week late thanks to the monsoon). They handed out free flags to passersby, accepted donations for our first responders, and welcomed visits by officers from the Webster PD and Webster Volunteer FD firefighters.

I wasn’t able to make the festivities, but Lori posted this on her Facebook page:

Not a bad turnout ! Thank you all who stopped and got a lag, beeped your horn and waved, and those who donated! Thank you Webster Police Dept for stopping and also thank you to the Webster fireman and woman for coming as well and to all the firemen THANK YOU for what you do! 

Before the end of the evening, Lori raised $218 through donations from passers-by.

I don’t know exactly who took all these photos, but here are a few from the evening:

Many thanks to the Allen family for reminding us what community is all about.

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The parade will go on!

21 Jul

Well, sort of.

Last weekend I posted about Lori Allen and her family, who were planning to do something special last Thursday night in honor of the Webster Fireman’s Parade.

The plan was, on Thursday evening, which in a normal year would have been Parade Night, they were going to set up their chairs in front of their house at Baker and East Main (as they do every year). Then, during the normally scheduled parade time, they would hand out flags and encourage drivers to honk on their way by.

Well, you may remember that a monsoon blew through town last Thursday night, so that event was cancelled, as would have the parade itself, probably.

But Lori has announced that the virtual parade has been rescheduled for this Thursday, July 23.  So as you’re driving or walking through the village that evening around 6:30 or so, watch for them, grab a flag, toot your horn and join in the celebration!

flags

The event is as much a celebration of the parade-that-wasn’t as it is a fundraiser for our Webster Volunteer Fire Department.

This is what Lori posted about that on Facebook:

My Dad wants to show support for the firemen, police, all first responders. Thursday we will be sitting up there handing out American flags, and flags with thin blue or red stripes representing our police and firemen along with info on donating.

This is (the WVFD’s) big fundraiser and of course the Carnival has been cancelled due to Covid. So if you’re driving by Baker St., stop and get your flag, or honk as you go by, and please consider donating to the Webster Volunteer Fire Dept. It may be you they come to save.

I imagine that Lori and her family will have a collection jar out there, but if you’re not going to be able to stop by, you can also donate by visiting http://www.donatewvfd.org. Or if you’d rather send a check, make it payable to the Webster Volunteer Fire Dept. Fund, and mail to: Key Bank, 980 Ridge Rd., Webster, NY 14580.

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

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Some encouraging Webster Village business news

21 Jul

In a time when small businesses are struggling to keep their heads above water, comes some very happy and encouraging local business news.

lala of webster

For starters, Lala of Webster, a beautiful little gift shop and boutique located at 38 East Main St., has not only weathered the pandemic storm but is expanding.

In business for just a little more than 18 months, owner Lisa Schlonski will be expanding next door into the former Pickled Paintbrush shop, which unfortunately lost the pandemic economic battle a few months ago. Renovations are almost complete, and when they’re done, the much larger space will feature not just two, but three floors.

In addition to the shop’s already wide variety of gifts and wellness products, the newly expanded shop will feature a dedicated ladies’ boutique on the upper level with clothing, jewelry, handbags and more, a children’s and baby room, and more than 500 new items.

Lisa will continue to support about 30 local vendors as well, with products (including masks) now all concentrated in one “shop local” area.

A good time to check out the new shop is during Lala’s Grand Opening this Friday and Saturday July 24 and 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In celebration, Lisa is offering a 25% discount on products both days of the grand opening (exclusions will apply).

I asked Lisa straight up how it is she was able to not only survive the storm, but come out even stronger. She wrote,

I wasn’t ready to give up on my dream of owning a shop. So many customers kept asking if I was going to reopen, so I knew there was interest in what I had to offer, which was the fuel I needed to look past the short term and focus on the long term.

Also, an opportunity presented itself with the availability of the space next to me. I gave it some serious thought and decided why not? If it doesn’t work out I can at least say I tried. I look forward to the upcoming holidays and trying new things and ways to engage with my customers, in the shop and online.

That attitude pretty much sums up the philosophy which Lisa has brought to her shop. After all, “LaLa” stands for “Laugh and Love Always.”

Find out more about Lala of Webster here on their Facebook page.

quilt shoppe

Since we’re talking about new-ish village businesses, I’m happy to pass along the news that The Village Quilt Shoppe will be celebrating its first anniversary the week of August 4 through 8.

This little shop, at 21 East Main St., has become near and dear to my heart, and not only because owners Monique and Vanetta are wonderful people. They have faced some unique challenges trying to keep their dream business afloat, including dealing with a flood from the apartment above them. And during the early weeks and months of quarantine, when their shop was closed, they still went in regularly to coordinate an effort by their customers to make face masks for medical personnel.

So stay tuned for more information about this anniversary, then let’s all pop in and show them some love — whether we’re quilters or not.

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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.

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