Tag Archives: Webster Central Schools

The horror movie that was filmed at Spry

21 Jun

Not long ago I heard a very interesting little bit of trivia about Spry Middle School: back in 1981, a low-budget horror movie was filmed there.

The movie is called Fear No Evil, and was produced by Frank LaLoggia. The story tells of an 18-year old high school student who appears to be human, but is actually the incarnation of Satan. Two archangels are sent from heaven to stop him before his evil takes over the world.

Several scenes were filmed in the school’s hallways, classrooms and gymnasium, in addition to exterior shots. The screenshots below are from the movie trailers.

The R-rated movie gets mixed reviews (not surprising for a low-budget thriller), like this one posted on IMDb:

It is definitely ambitious for a low budget feature and falls into the M.S.U. (Makin’ Stuff Up) genre perfectly. It is almost like director Frank LaLoggia had two half finished scripts and threw them together. … The high school scenes are really funny, like LaLoggia had no sense at all how people behaved in school.

Another review says the film has a “good premise” and is “well plotted,” but with “over-the-top acting, laughable special effects and a disappointing finale.” Both reviews agree, however, that it has a good soundtrack.

It must not be too awful, though; in 1982 it won a Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, for Best Low-Budget Film. This was the same year that Harrison Ford and Karen Allen won awards for best actor and actress, for Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Director Frank LaLoggia is a Webster native. Fear No Evil is the first of three movies he directed, the best-known of which is probably Lady in White (1988), inspired by the ghost story of the Lady in White at Durand Eastman Park. He’s also acted in several movies and sitcoms.

And here’s something else fun: click here to see when Spry was very briefly featured on Saturday Night Live.

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

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(posted 6/21/2023)

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Our friendly neighborhood ospreys

19 Jun

Next time you’re driving along Hard Rd. by the Webster Highway Department, keep an eye on the sky and you might just catch a glimpse of one of the area’s most graceful residents: an osprey.

Ospreys are large members of the hawk family, with slender bodies measuring up to 24 inches, and long, narrow wings that can reach 71 inches across. They’re brown on top and predominantly grey underneath.

I recently got an email from Anne Clarkson, a school bus driver, who told me that for many years, a pair of ospreys has been nesting on the top of one of the communication towers located on the property line between the bus garage and the Webster Highway Dept.

Anne did such a great job of telling the birds’ story, that I’m reprinting her email pretty much verbatim. She wrote,

They first built their nest probably close to 10 years ago and have raised quite a few chicks over the years.  When the summer ends and the babies are flying, the whole family does what all ospreys in North America do — they fly to South America or the Caribbean for the winter!  Then in late April or so, they return and repair or rebuild their nest.  They are really amazing birds! 

Since they eat only fish, they can be seen diving into the lake and the bay (of course), but also in local ponds such as North Ponds and some of the ponds in local subdivisions.  When they have youngsters, you’ll see them flying back to the tower carrying a fish in their talons.  Unlike eagles who also catch fish that are at the top of the water, ospreys dive right down into the water — beak-and-feet first — and “fly” back up out of the water with their catch to a perch or to their nest.

As for info on our pair, I believe they first appeared in maybe 2013 or so.  I took a brief retirement from driving over parts of 2015-2016 and I know they were there before I left and I was ecstatic to see that they were still there when I returned!  They raised babies every year, but it’s almost impossible to know how many.  That tower is so tall and the babies are only flitting around in the nearby trees for a few days after they leave the nest and before they are out really flying with their parents.

Many of the drivers were concerned last spring when the renovation of our fleet parking lot began. Virtually all of the existing trees were bulldozed and the whole area was paved.  I assured the drivers that the birds would not care. They were very secure up on their tower, and since they don’t hunt in woods (they ONLY eat fish), they would not be affected at all by the noise and activity way down below them. Even the tower guys doing maintenance work on the tower, did not bother the ospreys. They just perched in different areas on the tower and periodically lifted off to circle the tower and/or change perching locations. Later in the year when the guys came along and tore down the massive nest, the birds were already on their way south. And, by the way, the logs used to build that nest looked a whole lot bigger when falling to the ground — especially with average-sized men standing right there tossing them down!

(The tower guys) always seem very careful and respectful of the birds… I would think that having a predatory bird with a wingspan of 5 feet or more quietly circling and watching as you work on ’their’ tower … could be a little intimidating. Or it could be the coolest thing they do all year — who knows?

Nonetheless, I was grateful and relieved when I heard and saw the birds returning this spring!  One interesting note about ospreys is that the older babies that have spent a few years in the southern oceans will accompany their parents back to their birthplace. This year, I saw at least four or five extra ospreys flying around the tower. It looked like a typical family reunion — lots of conversations and what looked like happy greetings before the ‘kids’ started flying off to other destinations.

Once they got settled and the ‘kids’ were off to their own new homes, it took the parents several days to build their new nest. It looks just as big as the last one! It’s pretty cool to watch them building it. They fly through the nearby woods and break off branches as they fly, carrying them back in beaks or talons (depending on size) and weaving them into their gigantic nest.

I would absolutely love it if we could get some entity (DEC?, WWF?, Seneca Park Zoo???) to install a webcam up there at the top of the tower so everyone could see just how cool these birds are. The one thing they do all day long that impresses me is their takeoff from the tower. They do not jump. They do not flap their wings. They simply open their wings and are lifted silently and effortlessly into flight. They also make the sweetest chirping sound when talking to each other. Very different from birds like crows or the typical screechy sounds expected of hawks or eagles.

And don’t get me started on their amazing hunting skills!  You can find lots of videos and still shots of ospreys literally diving underwater to grab a fish.  They are under the water long enough to make the average observer nervous for their well-being!  But these birds are so strong and so efficient they even catch the fish in such a way that it is oriented in line with the bird’s body with the fish facing forward for maximum aerodynamics when flying home.

Even though the tower is technically on the Highway Dept. property, and it’s the cell tower guys who bravely climb up to do maintenance (and every couple of years, remove the nest), we at the bus garage have kind of adopted them as “our ospreys.” 

Thank you, Anne, for this terrific story! (And thank you Jerry Salamone for the photos, from 2019.)

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

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(posted 6/19/2023)

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A garden grows at Thomas

16 Jun

One of the spacious courtyards at Webster Thomas High School has come alive with flowers, plants, bees and birds, thanks to hard work by the Webster Thomas Earth Club, and the Thomas community.

Back in January, Maia Sutherland, a member of Earth Club, suggested creating a garden somewhere at the school. The Earth Club could sponsor, build and maintain it, and it would be a nice outdoor area for students to enjoy. Two of the school’s three large courtyards were already being frequented by students; one has an outdoor stage, the other a gazebo. So the club decided to put the gardens in the remaining courtyard, which is the smallest of the three, and rarely used.

Earth Club president Ben Verplank remembers that at the time, the club was beginning to plan a school-wide Earth Week celebration, so the garden project was put on the back burner. The week-long event, held in April, was a huge undertaking, including fund-raising events, dress-up theme days, a houseplant workshop and a thrift fair. At the end of the busy week, club advisor Melanie Drury suggested the students take a bit of a break. Maybe a week or two of not actually planning something would help the club recharge.

Verplank had other ideas. “On Monday Ben came in and said, ‘I’ve designed the whole garden,'” Drury said. About a month later, after a lot of hard work and not a little sweat and grime, the sketched-out plans became a reality.

The completed garden is actually two separate beds, together encompassing perhaps 500 or 600 square feet. They hold more than two dozen different kinds of plants — tall grasses, hardy perennials, bushes, young trees, milkweed, roses, lilacs, chrysanthemums, lamb’s ear and many more. There are two benches, both built by the district’s GeoTech class, a bee house and some birdhouses. Many of the plants and building materials were purchased with money raised at fundraising events, but many others were donated.

While the gardens were originally proposed and planned by the Earth Club, their completion has really been a Webster Thomas team effort. Earth Club members, of course, took the lead, but they were assisted by other students, some of whom pitched in as part of a post-AP exam community service project required by science AP Environmental teacher Jaret Schug.

“That really helped motivate people,” Ben said. Everyone volunteered at least three times to fulfill the terms of the project, “but by the end of it people just wanted to be outside and enjoy making the garden.”

“There were days when they were working out there in the pouring rain, and when it was super hot,” Drury added.

Staff members donated more than half of the plantings, and have volunteered to make sure the gardens are watered over the summer. Art students have painted two fanciful planters, which have been placed next to one of the benches. So basically, from the very beginning, the gardens have been, and still are, a true Webster Thomas community effort.

Students have already begun using the space, finding it a more reflective environment than the other two busier courtyards. Teachers in the classrooms surrounding the space have been very supportive, one even asking if it could be expanded next year down closer to her room.

Several Earth Club members are heading off to college next year, but they’re still thinking ahead to how the gardens can be improved and expanded.

“Next fall Mrs. Drury and Earth Club are going to plant tulip bulbs,” Verplank said, and they’d like to ask GeoTech to make a few more benches. The hope is that eventually the grassy area between the two garden beds can be used as an outdoor classroom.

In the meantime, though, Thomas students and staff members have had a quiet place to relax during these last few stressful weeks of the school year.

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(posted 6/16/2023)

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Webster community mailbag

4 Jun

I’m kicking off today’s mailbag with this follow-up from the Webster Central School District about the Northeast Monroe County Special Olympics Track & Field Day, which Webster Schroeder High School hosted on May 23.

Athletes from Webster Schroeder, Webster Thomas, East Irondequoit, West Irondequoit, Penfield, Creekside, Mary Cariola, and Greece schools participated in this year’s event. They competed in track, field, and adaptive events including dashes, relays and distance runs, softball throw, long jump, shot put, 25m manual wheelchair, 25m electric wheelchair, and wheelchair softball throw.

Additional special events were offered for younger athletes to introduce them to sports movements and skills, including activities like an obstacle course, parachute games and target practice.

Special Olympics NY programs are designed to offer age-appropriate experiences to younger athletes that will prepare them for authentic Special Olympics competition. 

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St. Martin Lutheran Church’s annual Garage Sale returns on June 8 to 10 at the church, 813 Bay Rd.

This huge sale will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday June 8 and 9, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday June 10. Along with what you might consider “regular” garage sale items, there will be lots of picture frames, furniture, household goods, sporting goods and toys.

Proceeds from the sale benefit the church’s outreach projects, including their Little Free Pantry which stands at the edge of their parking lot.

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Great food is in store on Saturday June 17 when the Rochester Academy of Irish Dance Parents Association host a Chicken BBQ drive-through fundraiser. They’ll be set up at 780 Ridge Rd. in Webster (between Five Mile Line and Hatch roads).

Dinners will be served beginning at 4 p.m., until they’re sold out. They cost $15, which includes a half chicken, potatoes, cole slaw, rolls and butter.

Questions? Email raidparentgroup@gmail.com.

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This next notice is from our neighbors to the south.

On Friday June 9 from 4 to 8 p.m., the Penfield Recreation Center will host the annual PENFEST.

This is a great family event featuring food trucks, music, a KidZone, raffles, and lots of vendors and community agency displays.

The Penfield Recreation Center is located at 1985 Baird Rd.

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There’s always lots of great stuff happening at the Webster Recreation Center, but here are a few highlights:

The always entertaining Senior Singers will present a free performance on Tuesday June 6 at 11 a.m. in the lunch room. No registration is required and everyone is welcome.

Need a ride to the Rec Center? Good news! Anyone 55 or older can request a ride from your door to the Rec Center and back home again any Tuesday or Thursday. On Thursday, the ride home also includes a stop at the grocery store.

To schedule your ride, call the Rec Center at 585-872-7103 ext. 7385 no later than 8 a.m. the day of the ride. You’ll be asked to provide your name, address, phone number and requested date(s). Pickup will be between 9 and 10 a.m., and will return after Lunch Club 60, between 12:30 and 1 p.m. Rides cost $4 round trip per person/per day, payable at the front office upon arrival.

The Webster Recreation Center is located at 1350 Chiyoda Dr.

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There’s always great stuff happening at the Webster Public Library also, but here are a few highlights:

  • Outdoor story times have returned to Harmony Park. Every Wednesday June through August, beginning at 9:30 a.m., bring the kids and a blanket and enjoy story time at the band shell. All ages are welcome and no registration is required. The park is located on Phillips Rd. south of Ridge.
  • June 12 is this month’s Make-it-Monday craft night. From 6 to 7 p.m. participants can make rainbow cloud hangings. Registration is required. Click here to register.
  • Kindness rocks! Stop by the library on Saturday June 24 from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and decorate a rock or two with words or images of kindness. Then you can take your rocks and hide them around Webster.
  • The 2023 summer reading theme is “All Together Now,” so the library is celebrating friendship and kindness with a three-week Friendship Camp. It begins Wednesday June 28 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. with Friendship Bracelets and Button Making. Grades 4-12 are welcome. Registration is required.

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

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(posted 6/4/2023)

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Middle school food pantries fill a gap in student support

30 May

An in-school food distribution effort at Spry and Willink middle schools is helping make sure that no student there goes hungry.

The food pantries were first established last year at Willink Middle School when math teacher Julie Russi and school counselor Mary Hurley realized there were a significant number of students at the school who were asking for food almost daily because they were hungry. After looking further into the issue, they also discovered that many of those students were experiencing financial and food insecurity at home. Even though they had access to extra food at school, that wasn’t helping them when they got home.

In the elementary schools, students facing these issues can take advantage of the district’s free-food backpack program, and the high schools have established food pantries. But there was no such program at the middle schools. Clearly there was a gap that needed filling.

To do that, Hurley and Russi established the Willink Food Pantry. It began small, just a single shelf in Hurley’s office, stocked with food from Immanuel Lutheran Church, which supports the elementary schools’ backpack program. Over the summer, they brainstormed ways to expand the program and involve the entire school community. They came up with a schedule where each of the building’s nine core teams would alternate months donating food and hygiene items for the pantry.

With their plan in place and the entire school’s help, Hurley and Russi have been able to keep the pantry stocked all year, supporting several students and their families, and a few staff members.

A peek inside the pantry at Spry Middle School

The decision to begin a food pantry at Spry Middle School was sparked much the same way as the Willink pantry. Staff members were discussing how one of their students was concerned they might soon be evicted from their home. That would mean the entire family could become food insecure. Literacy teacher Meghann Piwko recognized the need and, using Willink’s established pantry as a model, started to organize one at Spry as well.

Similar to the program at Willink, Piwko rotates the donation schedule among the different houses’ homerooms, asking students, parents and teachers to donate during a particular month. The donations are then sorted and placed in two cabinets for students to access. Students are welcome to visit the cabinets and take whatever they need, as long as an adult is present.

Both programs are running smoothly. But every once in a while something reminds you how important these kinds of programs are for our young people. Like when Piwko asked a student why they never took any of the pastas and sauce. Turned out that they had no way to cook pasta because they live in a hotel and only have access to a microwave.

Even though the school year is nearing the end, it’s not too late to help stock the Willink and Spry middle school food pantries. Even over the summer, food will continue to be available to students. Willink will continue to distribute food to families over the summer, and any items left over at Spry will be boxed up and sent home with kids and/or donated to Webster HOPE.

For more information about donating to either pantry, click here. You can also email Meghann Piwko at meghann_piwko@webstercsd.org or Julie Russi at julie_russi@webstercsd.org. You can also click here to check out a video the WCSD made about the pantries.

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

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.

(posted 5/30/2023)

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Webster community mailbag

26 May

I’m starting off today’s mailbag with a Webster resident whose name is in the news. (Or at least in the press release I received from Centenary University.)

Equestrian Benjamin Hoban of Webster helped his Centenary University team take top honors at the 44th annual ANRC National Equitation Championships recently held in Aiken, SC. The team, which also included Caroline Mancini of Bradford, RI and Morgan Munz of Califon, NJ, won the title of National Collegiate Reserve Championship Team and the National Collegiate Individual Reserve Championship.

The competition for collegiate, junior, and adult amateur teams, sponsored by the American National Riding Commission, is judged and scored on equitation skills and sound horsemanship practices.

Centenary University’s main campus is in Hackettstown, NJ, with its equestrian facility in Washington Township.

From the Library

The Friends of the Webster Public Library have an exciting new offering for anyone who loves books. 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, history, biographies and more.

The sale will be held in the library’s Community Room, 980 Ridge Rd.

Also happening at the Webster Public Library is what should be a very interesting talk about the upcoming solar eclipse.

On Thursday June 1 from 6 to 8 p.m., Dan Schneiderman, the Eclipse Partnership Coordinator at the RSMC, will discuss the science and history of solar eclipses, and how to prepare for the total solar eclipse which we will experience her in Rochester on April 8, 2024.

This is going to be a very popular event, so registration is required. Click here to do so.

Time to clean out your garage

If you’re like me, you have a huge garbage bag or two of returnables hanging out in your garage, awaiting your motivation to take them back to the store. Well, the Webster Marching Band will be happy to take them off your hands.

The band’s next Bottle and Can Drive happens this Saturday June 3 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. All you have to do is place those bags outside your house or at the end of the driveway, with a little note indicating they’re for the band, and they’ll be whisked away for a good cause.

Or, if you plan to be out and about on Saturday, you can drop them off at the collection site, Webster Schroeder High School, 875 Ridge Road, by 4 p.m.

OR, you can call the Bottle and Can Hotline (234-8684, option 1) ANYTIME to arrange a pickup at a time convenient for you.

The Market is Back!

Webster Joe Obbie’s Farmers’ Market returns for the summer on Saturday June 10, at Webster Towne Plaza, in front of Old Navy. It’ll be there every Saturday through the fall from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., with fresh fruits, vegetables, specialty food items, flowers, plants, crafts and more.

Can’t make it on Saturday? Beginning Wednesday July 19, the market will also be set up at Charles Sexton Park (formerly North Ponds) from 4 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday.

I’ll post a more detailed blog soon about the market, but make a note on your calendar now.

Celebrate Summer

The Webster Recreation Center‘s annual Summer Celebration takes place Saturday June 10 from 4 to 10 p.m.

There’s live music, family fun, food trucks, and fireworks to end the evening. There’s no admission charge, so come on down for some great family time.

The Webster Recreation Center is located at 1350 Chiyoda Drive, and there’s plenty of parking.

Caring Community Concert series returns

Here’s another reminder that the United Church of Christ’s Caring Community Concert series is returning this summer, beginning July 12.

These concerts benefit local nonprofit organizations through free-will donations. The first one will feature Allegro, and proceeds will benefit the Webster Hope Food Pantry. The rest of the summer features:

  • July 19: Ruby Shooz
  • July 26: Prime Time Brass
  • Aug. 2: Dady and Ryan
  • Aug. 9: 8 Days a Week

There’s no admission charge, but each week the church collects a free-will offering benefiting that week’s chosen non-profit organization.

The UCC has been sponsoring these concerts for almost 20 years now, and through free-will offerings have raised tons of money for local non-profit organizations. People are invited to bring lawn chairs or blankets and a picnic if they wish. There’s also a concession stand selling soda, hot dogs, hamburgers, pulled pork, and a weekly “special.”

The concerts all begin at 6:30 p.m., and food concessions begin at 6. The concerts are held on the United Church of Christ front lawn, at 570 Klem Rd. (In case of rain it’s moved indoors.) So put these concerts on your calendar now and plan to enjoy some great music for a good cause.

For more information about the concerts, click here.

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

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(posted 5/26/2023)

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Luminary Walk honored the class of 2023

22 May

Thousands of Webster high school students, their families and friends enjoyed spectacular weather Sunday night at the Senior Luminary Walk, held at the Webster Recreation Center.

This annual event, sponsored by the Webster Thomas PTSA, Webster Schroeder PTSA and Webster Teachers’ Association (WTA), celebrates our graduating seniors with hundreds of luminary candle bags, placed along the entire length of the Chiyoda Trail, which almost completely encircles the Recreation Center property on Chiyoda Drive. Earlier in the day, 30 volunteers worked for an hour and a half to distribute about 900 of the twinkling bags, each one labeled with the name of a graduating Webster Thomas, Webster Schroeder or GOAL student.

At the beginning of the trail, students and their family members were greeted by the Webster Schroeder and Thomas mascots (available for photo ops) before they strolled along the almost mile-long trail. Enthusiastic teachers were stationed all along the path, cheering and congratulating the students as they passed. One family after another would pause periodically for photos, and sometimes the parents’ proud smiles were even bigger than the students’.

As the students returned to the Rec Center at the end of the walk, each was handed a lawn sign to display at their home — prompting even more proud-parent photos.

Anyone who attended after dusk got an extra special treat, as the entire trail was lined with white twinkly lights leading the way.

This is the third year the PTSAs and WTA have held the Senior Luminary Walk. It began back in 2021, when we were still hip-deep in the pandemic, and special events were being cancelled one after the other. The organizations wanted to do SOMETHING to make sure our seniors felt special and celebrated for their achievements. The Luminary Walk was perfect; a creative, socially-distanced way to honor them.

Back then, organizers expected it to be a one-time event. But it proved to be so successful, it came back by popular demand in 2022, then again this year. And judging from the crowds I saw Sunday night. it’s here to stay.

Many thanks to the teachers, students and parent volunteers who worked for hours Sunday afternoon and evening to place the bags along the path, string the twinkly lights and staff the sign tables, or who were just there to cheer on the students.

And congratulations to all the graduating seniors!

Click here to see more photos from the evening.

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

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.

(posted 5/22/2023)

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Willink students practice important life skills while giving back to the community

12 May

Every school year, hundreds of lost and found items are left behind by students, and despite the schools’ best efforts, most are never claimed. So what can be done with the mounds of abandoned coats, gloves, hats, shirts, water bottles and lunch boxes?

Cori Horn’s 12:1:4 functional life skills class at Willink Middle School has come up with a perfect, win/win solution. Two times a year, Cori and her students launder, sort, fold and pack countless items collected from nine schools, then deliver them all to Webster HOPE on East Ridge Rd.

Cori came up with the project a few years ago, after noticing the large number of lost and found items collecting at her school.

“When we saw how much stuff Willink had,” she said, “I thought, I’m sure all the other schools probably have a lot, too. It would be great for all of it to go back to the Webster community.” She researched clothing closets in Webster, learned about Webster HOPE, and then proposed her idea to every other school in the district. Eight other buildings responded and offered their lost and found items to the cause.

The project is a perfect way for the students to practice the basic life skills they need as they work towards independent living, while also teaching them patience and perseverance.

Each box was clearly labeled

As the items are collected, the students first sort them based on clothing type and whether they’re for boys or girls. Then they wash and fold the items, pair up the gloves, zip up the jackets and match the tops to the water bottles. Finally, they place the items in the correct boxes. Even prepping a new box required life skills, like looking closely at the picture on the label, peeling the tape and attaching it to the box. The repetitive nature of all the tasks is especially beneficial.

Each student works on every aspect of the project, giving them a great sense of accomplishment for contributing to something important.

This is the second time this school year that the students have completed the ambitious lost and found project. Last December they packed and delivered 38 boxes to Webster HOPE. This spring they almost doubled that haul, collecting 64 boxes filled with hats, gloves, snow pants, sweatshirts, jackets, water bottles, lunch boxes, and even Halloween costumes. Earlier this week, they packed them all into two SUVs and then Cori delivered them all to Webster HOPE. There, a small army of very grateful volunteers helped unload them to be stored until they can be distributed to the agency’s clients.

Webster HOPE director Margery Morgan couldn’t say enough good things about the students’ work.

“It’s wonderful,” she said. “They wash it, they label it, it’s packed up unbelievably well, already presorted. Sixty-four boxes of name-brand, top-of-the-line clothing. We’re delighted.”

Margery was especially grateful for the snow pants, which she called “a huge item for us.”

“A lot of kids in Webster can’t go outside at playtime if they don’t have snow pants, so they have to stay in the library. A lot of our families can’t afford snow pants, so those are gold to us.” She felt the same way about the lunch boxes. Most of the children they serve get free lunch at school, so they don’t have lunch boxes for summer camp. The dozens of clean, colorful lunch boxes will be greatly appreciated by the families HOPE serves.

A project like this benefits every person and every place it touches, from the students who are learning valuable skills, to our Webster neighbors who benefit from the donations, to the organizer herself.

“I’m so happy that I’m allowed to do this,” Cori said. “It’s a refresh at the end of the school year, a project that’s giving back to the community. … I love doing volunteer work. When we can volunteer and get life skills and curriculum work out if it, it makes me so happy.”

She added that the best part, however, “is when the parents say they notice that the kids are improving, doing the stuff at home.”

Blessed is assisted by her teacher Mrs. Moorman
Sebastian loading up a car
Sophia getting boxes ready for shipping
The volunteers at Webster HOPE were overjoyed with all the items. Pictured are: Kathy Lombardo, Jeannine Fulkerson and Debbie Steinorth

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

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.

(posted 5/12/2023)

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On the lookout for fairies at State Rd. Elementary

10 May

Dozens of fairies took over the State Rd. Elementary School library on Monday, in celebration of the school’s annual Fairy Day, organized by kindergarten teacher Jacqueline Smith.

More accurately, I should say that it appeared that dozens of fairies had taken over the library, because no one actually saw any of the secretive sprites. But their fairy homes and twinkling fairy jars were much in evidence, lining a pathway that wove among the library’s bookshelves.

This is actually the ninth year that State Rd. kindergarten teacher Jacqueline Smith has created a fairy garden, but the first one that has taken place in the library, and the first time the whole school has been involved.

Smith has been holding “Fairy Day” for her kindergarten classes every year since 2015. It’s part of an entire fairy tale unit, into which she also incorporates lessons in science, literacy, mathematics, art, even music. On one special day, she’d transform her kindergarten classroom into a magical wonderland, complete with twinkly lights, fairy jars, fairy dust, fairy music, fairy wands and fairy stories.

This year, Smith invited the entire school to take part in the magical festivities. The response was heartwarming. Individual grade levels embraced the challenge to make different parts of the fairy trail; fourth graders made flowers to hang from the ceiling. First graders made stepping stones, UPK students made ladybugs and butterflies, OT students made beaded raindrops and umbrellas, and the kindergartners made fairy gardens and fairy jars.

But Smith was particularly touched by the support she received from State Rd. staff members, who showed up in force to help decorate the library on Friday afternoon. They helped drape green tablecloths over the bookshelves, hang backdrops, spread twinkling green lights along the pathway, hang butterflies and flowers, set up all the houses and fairy jars, and so much more.

“How magical it was to see the team effort,” Smith said. “It was pretty spectacular. Everyone was so excited to see the fairy magic come alive.”

Staff enthusiasm didn’t end there, either. Teachers and support staff alike took Fairy Day to heart, coming to school on Monday with their fairy wands, fairy wings, butterfly wings, sparkly masks and tutus.

Every class took their turn strolling through the fairy lane, which twinkled brightly with the library lights turned low. The youngest students in particular delighted in trying to catch a glimpse of even one fairy peeking out of a fairy house window or sleeping in one of the twinkling fairy jars.

The magical fairy garden was dismantled immediately after school on Monday, but the school’s fascination with fairies did not end there. There’s actually a permanent fairy trail behind the school, which directs walkers past 26 uniquely decorated and lovingly built fairy houses, one for each letter of the alphabet.

The path was created in 2019, thanks to the efforts of then-State Rd. parent Brian Roode. Several of the houses have become damaged and weathered in the years since they were installed, so this year, Roode replaced 12 of them. Since the weather is supposed to be so beautiful this week, I imagine there will be a lot of students out there on the path, wondering if all of the fairies recently uprooted from the library had found new homes.

Click here to read the blog I wrote last year about Jacqueline Smith’s Fairy Day and the fairy trail. You can also click here to see some more photos from Fairy Day and some of the new fairy houses installed behind the school. Thank you to Jacquie Smith for most of these photos!

Mrs. Smith’s kindergarten students enjoying the trail.

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

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(posted 5/10/2023)

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Webster community mailbag

25 Apr

Today’s mailbag is packed with events coming up in the next few weeks, so grab your calendar and dig in.

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The next Friends of the Webster Public Library Spring Book Sale is here, happening Wednesday April 26 through Saturday April 29. Gently-used hardcover books will be available for only $1, paperback books will be $.50.

Members of the Friends can shop before everyone else, on Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. If you’re not a member and want a sneak peek, memberships will be available at the door or on the library website.  

The general public sale will begin Thursday April 27 from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. Friday, April 28 is BYOB (bring your own bag) Bag Sale from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m, when you can fill a bag with gently used books for only $5. The bag sale continues on Saturday, April 29 but only from 10 a.m. til noon.

Proceeds from the spring book sale directly benefit library programs, book collections and other special projects.

ALSO, the Library will host a blood drive for the American Red Cross on Tuesday May 2 from noon to 5 p.m. Click here to make an appointment.

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The next St. Martin Lutheran Church’s Drive Thru Chicken BBQ will be held Saturday, April 29 beginning at 4:30 p.m. at the church, 813 Bay Road, Webster.

Dinners of a half chicken, salt potatoes, coleslaw, roll, and butter are available for $15.00 – cash or check only. The event is drive-through only, and there will be no advance sales.

Dinners will be served first come/first served. Cars will enter the parking lot, follow signs, and purchase dinners using exact payment. Cars will then proceed to the side entrance to pick up boxed dinners.

Proceeds will benefit St. Martin’s Christmas Stocking Project reaching over 500 local youth in Monroe and Wayne counties.

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The Schroeder Theater Company invites you to join them as they travel Around the World in 80 Days!

The fearless and calculated Phileas Fogg and her newly appointed, resourceful servant Passepartout race to beat the clock in this country-hopping adventure. Fogg has agreed to an outrageous wager that puts her fortune and life at risk. Together, the two set out to circle the globe in an unheard of 80 days. But their every step is dogged by a detective who thinks Fogg is a robber on the run. Can they stay on schedule as they avoid police interference, traverse exotic landscapes, endure typhoons, and more?

Performances are in the Webster Schroeder High School auditorium, 875 Ridge Road, on Thursday May 4 at 7 p.m., Friday May 5 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, May 6 at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased online at Ticket Spicket or at the door.

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Webster Comfort Care Home has several fundraising events coming up this summer, but you’ll want to get signed up for this one right away.

It’s the 20th (almost) annual “Chip In for Comfort Care” golf tournament, scheduled for Monday July 10 at Webster Golf Club on Salt Rd. Registration fee is $125, and includes a grab-and-go breakfast, complimentary game balls, and prizes. Plus, they’re introducing a new “knock out the gnome” game this year.

Click here for more information and to register.

You can also support Webster Comfort Care on Friday May 5 by heading to the Masonic Lodge on Orchard Street for a spaghetti dinner from 5 to 7 p.m.

Dinner includes spaghetti, choice of sauce, salad, bread and dessert. Cost is $11 for adults, $6 for children 12 and under.

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The Webster Arboretum Association, together with local growers and local garden clubs, will host the 2023 Webster Arboretum Plant Sale on Saturday May 13 from 8 a.m. to noon.

A tremendous variety of beautiful, healthy plants from standard to uncommon will be available including annuals, dwarf conifers, hostas, geraniums, tomatoes, 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.

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A Craft and Vendor Sale to benefit the Webster Volunteer Fire Department will be held at the Webster Fireman’s Building, 172 Sanford Street on Saturday May 13 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Almost 30 vendors are expected for this show, which will be held inside and outside the building. All proceeds will benefit the Webster Volunteer Fire Department.

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Looking ahead, the 2023 St. Rita Fiesta has been scheduled for Friday and Saturday June 2 and 3. All of your favorite Fiesta activities will be returning, including carnival games, a foam dart course, mini golf course, inflatables, dunk tank, plant sale, book sale, games of chance, food, drink, lots of live entertainment, and more.

More details to come, but in the meantime you can check out the website.

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

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.

(posted 4/25/2023)

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