The Village of Webster’s latest turn on the local television news stations leads today’s mailbag.
Spectrum News recently got wind that the Webster Museum has just reopened, and reporter Wendy Mills visited several days ago to find out more. She met with Museum president Tom Pellett, from whom she got a thorough tour of the facility and a great interview.
The piece aired earlier this week on Spectrum, but has also been posted to the website, You can click here to see it.
And since we’re talking about the Webster Museum, now’s a great time to remind everyone that the museum’s annual Barn Sale is taking place this weekend, Friday and Saturday Sept. 17 and 18, at 394 Phillips Rd.
This really cool sale features vintage farm goods and furniture, toys, books, holiday goods, household goods, jewelry, glassware and more. You’re sure to find something to love.
The sale will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, and everything is half price on Saturday — or you can fill a bag for $5. This is the museum’s biggest operating expense fundraiser, so stop on by, find a treasure, and help them out.
A few notes from the Town of Webster:
The Town’s spray parks are now closed for the season. We can hope that summer is not quite over yet, but even if it hits 90 again, the kids can’t cool off at the spray parks until next year.
If you’re tired of putting up with abandoned homes in your area, the Town of Webster has given you some recourse to get them taken care of. If you suspect a home in your neighborhood has been abandoned, you can report it to the Town using a link found at this website. The site will also give you more information on what actually contitutes an abandoned home.
The section of Lake Rd. between Shipbuilder’s Creek and Stoney Creek Run is now open again after completion of a three-month construction project. You can check the status of upcoming construction projects and road closures on the Town of Webster website.
Looking ahead to October, Rochester Challenger Miracle Field will host an Art Exhibit on Oct. 1 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at CDS Life Transitions, 860 Hard Rd. in Webster. This will be a silent auction featuring artwork created by local artists with physical and developmental challenges.
The Pride of Webster, Webster Marching Band will hold its 35th annual Autumn Fanfare on Saturday Oct. 9 from 5 to 9 p.m. This is always a spectacular display of talent from several schools in the Greater Rochester area, and if you haven’t seen one of these shows before, you should attend this year. The theme is “Unbroken,” which should conjure up all sorts of special props and effects. More info to come as the date gets closer.
Also that same evening, the Village of Webster will host its third Family Game Night and Beer Garden on West Main St. More to come about this as well, but if you can’t make it to the Autumn Fanfare, put this on your calendars.
Busy weekend coming up, starting with the HUGE Webster Jazz Festival, which hits the pubs and streets on Friday and Saturday. Check back here tomorrow for more details about that, but here are a few other events coming up this weekend as well which might interest you:
The Webster Museum’s annual Barn Sale takes place this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 394 Phillips Rd.
This really cool sale features vintage farm goods and furniture, toys, books, holiday goods, household goods, jewelry, glassware and more. You’re sure to find something to love.
The sale will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each of the three days, and on Saturday, everything is half price — or you can fill a bag for $5. This is the museum’s biggest operating expense fundraiser, so stop on by, find a treasure, and help them out.
ALSO, the Webster Museum’s outstanding Ward Mann exhibit, highlighting one of Webster’s most famous artists, will be closing soon.
The museum is open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 2 to 4:30, and the last day you’ll be able to see the exhibit is Saturday Sept. 25.
The Webster Public Library has a very cool poster exhibit of its own right now. It’s called “September 11, 2001: The Day That Changed The World.”
The posters are provided courtesy of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, which explains,
“This educational exhibition recounts the events of September 11, 2001, through the personal stories of those who witnessed and survived the attacks. Told across 14 posters, this exhibition includes archival photographs and images of artifacts from the Museum’s permanent collection.”
The exhibition is on display through during normal library hours. You can also download the exhibition digitally here.to see it online. The library is located at 980 Ridge Rd., at the rear of Webster Plaza.
The library, by the way, is conducting a search for a new director, and they’d like the community’s input. Click here to complete a short, three-question survey to let your voice be heard.
Here’s a reminder about a super-fun event coming up this Saturday at the Rec Center. It’s the first-ever Family Mud Run, obstacle course and fitness trail. The flyer with all the information is above, but basically, we’re talking a non-competitive, untimed, half-mile slog through water and mud, with some challenging obstacles. It’s only $5 per person, and there’ll be giveaways and snacks afterwards.
Can you imagine how delighted your kids will be if you tell them, “Hey guess what? Why don’t we all go down to the rec center, run through some mud puddles, and get super dirty…just for fun?!?!” Bonus points when they find out you’re going to do it with them.
Click here to see a little teaser video giving you an idea of what the Rec has planned.
You’ll want to register ahead of time, and choose a time slot between 10 a.m and noon. Register for program #301202 on the Parks and Rec website.
Finally, here’s a useful tidbit from our friends to the south.
Penfield Rotary and Penfield Recreation will sponsor the annual Community Bike Drop on Saturday, October 2 at Penfield Community Center, 1985 Baird Rd. from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Keep those old or unwanted bikes out of our landfills by donating them to a good cause. All bicycles collected will be donated to R Community Bikes, Inc. for repair and redistribution to needy children and adults in the Rochester area. All types of bikes are needed, including children’s tricycles, toddler plastic bikes and bike parts. Receipts will be available.
R Community Bikes, Inc. is a grassroots 501c3 organization that collects and repairs used bicycles for distribution, free of charge, to Rochester’s most needy children and adults. Its mission is to meet the basic transportation needs of those in the community who depend on bikes to get to work and training sessions, as well as for recreation.
If you think you know the Webster Museum, read on, because you haven’t seen the new and IMPROVED Webster Museum.
This Saturday Aug. 21, the museum is opening its doors to the public again after a long hiatus thanks to the pandemic. And boy, is it looking spiffy, both inside and out.
The first things that will greet visitors on Saturday are two gorgeous gardens that flank the front door. Volunteers worked for weeks weeding the overgrown and unsightly gardens, prepping the beds, then choosing and planting a beautiful variety of shrubs, annuals and perennials in anticipation of this week’s grand opening.
The spiffiness continues inside, where display cases have been refurbished, walls have been painted, and exhibit spaces have been re-imagined. Many of the tried-and-true exhibits, especially those representing Webster’s basket-making and apple industries, have remained pretty much the same. But several other exhibits have been updated or changed out, and new ones are being planned highlighting Webster’s bakeries, dairies and gas stations.
Webster Museum president Tom Pellett reports there have also been other, less evident changes. “The museum is also “revamping our attack … to be more educational,” he said.
“We (older folks) are getting to be the only people who actually went into the old stores in the exhibits,” he explained. “There are a lot of people who arrived late, like in the 70s, that have no idea what some of the older areas were like here.” Plans include adding audio-visual components to help support that mission.
The museum kicked off its grand re-opening with a special members-only event last Sunday introducing the current exhibit, honoring the life and works of Webster artist Ward Mann. In a half-hour presentation, Ward’s son Craig — who flew up from North Carolina — and former art teacher Dick Kane detailed Mann’s early life, career as a Xerox engineer, and how he ultimately discovered his true passion: art.
Mann was a talented, versatile and well-known artist who lived and worked and painted in Webster from 1961-2005 and also had a studio in the artist colony at Rocky Neck, Massachusettes.
A team of 20 volunteers worked for months conducting research, coordinating with the Mann family, gathering the materials and compiling the exhibit. The result is an impressive presentation which includes 21 original Ward Mann canvases displayed throughout the museum, original sketchbooks, biographical information and a slideshow of many more pieces from Mann’s collection. The pieces on display represent all of Mann’s chosen media: sketches, watercolor, oil and pallet knife.
At the event, Pellett noted that it’s been 17 months since “the door slammed shut” back in March 2020. It was an unfortunate situation, but he added that being closed for so long “allowed us to do some things not normally done because of visitors.” Still, he added, “It’s so good to be back.”
Ironically, when the museum closed those many months ago, staffers were readying a brand new exhibit which would have introduced the community to a famous and highly respected local artist: Ward Mann.
“The public never saw it,” Pellett said. The downtime, however, clearly helped museum staff members build an even more in-depth and meaningful exhibit.
The Webster Museum will welcome the public back on Saturday, Aug. 21 from 2 to 4:30 p.m., then again on Saturday Aug. 28. Regular museum hours will resume in September, when the museum will be open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 2 to 4:30 p.m. The Ward Mann exhibit will be here for just six weeks, so don’t miss it.
The Webster Museum is located at 18 Lapham Park in the Village of Webster. Admission is free, but donations are always welcome.
Below are two of the paintings in the Ward Mann exhibit, and a slideshow of some of the other museum exhibits and gardens.
These two paintings are on display along with 19 other original works, memorabilia and hundreds of slide-show images of works not on display. Ward himself donated MINUTEMAN to the Webster Museum in 1977. Ward’s sons Craig and Kim donated ROCHESTER JUNCTION at the installation of the exhibit.
The Webster Museum before its garden transformation
In anticipation of its re-grand opening next month, the Webster Museum is getting a facelift, both inside and out.
Inside, display cases are being refurbished, walls are being painted, and exhibit spaces are being re-imagined. Visitors won’t see those improvements for several weeks yet. But the beautiful updates being made OUTSIDE the museum are a different matter.
Thanks to the hard work of museum volunteers and Village staffers, the two gardens that flank the museum’s front door have been totally transformed. Not only have the weeds been yanked and all the old mulch raked out, but unsightly old shrubs, bushes and roots have been removed and replaced with a beautiful collection of new plantings.
The replanting project started innocuously enough when a few volunteers got together to weed the front gardens. Conversation soon turned to how nice it would look if some of the older plantings were removed and new ones put in their place. Things started to get really serious when museum volunteer Diana Strassman did some research and pulled together an entire list of historically accurate plantings which they could consider choosing.
The project got yet another boost when Jude Lancy, the Village Board museum liaison, got wind of the discussions and enlisted the Board’s support.
The first step was to get the existing gardens cleaned out. Superintendent of Public Works Jake Swingly and several of his staff members made quick work of that, doing the heavy lifting (literally — they had to move some antique farm implements out of the way first), and preparing the beds by clearing out the old mulch and plantings.
The Village team (L-R): Brandon Boutillier, Jim Scott, Dan Bortle, Mike Bradshaw, Mike Northrup, Jake Swingly. Not pictured: Jim Clancy
Then, a few days ago, museum volunteers convened at Welch’s Greenhouses to purchase the new plantings.
And here’s another “Why I love Webster” moment: Welch’s DONATED $500 in plantings and labor. Not only that, museum volunteers opened up their own wallets to purchase about $200 more in additional plantings.
Wow.
The same day the volunteers were at Welch’s purchasing their plants, Welch’s owner Bill Vendel and his helper Jake Wilhelm were already at the museum, planting the ones they had donated. By early next week, everything should be in the ground and Swingly and his team will have topped off the job with some new mulch.
Welch’s Greenhouses owner Bill Vendel
Jake Wilhelm
When it’s all done, the new gardens will sport a wide and colorful variety of shrubs, annuals and perennials, including hydrangias, junipers, euonymous, weigela, sedum, and more. It’s going to be a spectacular and beautiful welcome for museum visitors.
Check it out for yourself when the museum reopens to the public on August 21 and 28, 2 to 4:30 p.m. Regular hours will resume on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in September. The Webster Museum is located at 18 Lapham Park in the Village of Webster.
Here’s a gallery of photos from the plant-purchasing expedition to Welch’s:
Just some of the final plantings chosen
Cherie Wood taking a closer look at a possible choice
Welch’s donated $500 in plants and labor to the museum garden project.
Diana Strassman (left) confers on the master planting plan with Kathy Taddeo and Terry Crumb.
Village Trustee Jude Lancy (right) discusses options with Welch’s staff member Brianna Kane.
The Webster Museum is opening again! The Webster Museum is opening again!
After a long hiatus thanks to the pandemic, the Webster Museum will be opening its doors to the public again in August, on Saturday, Aug. 21 and Saturday Aug. 28, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. both days.
Regular museum hours will resume in September, when the museum will be open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 2 to 4:30 p.m.
The opening exhibit will feature the paintings of artist Ward Mann, who lived, worked and painted in Webster from 1961 until his death in 2005. His family has generously provided many of Ward’s paintings for this exhibit, memorabilia from his studios in Webster and in Rocky Neck, MA and slide shows of many of his other works.
Visit the Webster Museum website to find out more about this exhibit and some fascinating Webster history (I especially enjoy the blog).
The Webster Museum is located at 18 Lapham Park in the village.
A few of the items in today’s mailbag are reminders about events happening this weekend. But first, a note that the Joe Obbie Farmers’ Market is officially open for business for the summer.
This early in the season, you’ll mostly find specialty items like syrups and honey, flowers and crafts. There were a couple of fresh produce stalls last weekend — opening weekend — with some beautiful strawberries. But the number of vendors and selection will expand every week, so make sure to check back regularly. And there was a food truck as well, which organizers have said will be a regular feature.
The market is located in Webster Towne Center plaza, in front of Old Navy and near the gazebo. It’s open every Saturday through November from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
St. Martin Lutheran Church, 813 Bay Rd., will hold a huge garage sale this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday (June 17-19). Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. All proceeds will benefit the church’s local missions and neighbors in need.
The Webster Thomas Players will present their spring musical, Cabaret live and in person this year at the Penfield Amphitheater, 3100 Atlantic Ave., in three shows June 17 to 19.
The production will be PG-13, but the subject matter is most appropriate for mature audiences, addressing issues around anti-Semitism and political fanaticism. Audiences will recognize many legendary musical numbers including “Willkommen,” “Don’t Tell Mama,” “Maybe this Time,” “Money,” and of course, “Cabaret.”
Cabaret will be presented in three shows:
● Thursday, June 17, 7:30 p.m. ● Friday, June 18, 7:30 p.m. ● Saturday, June 19, 7:30 p.m.
The rain date for all shows will be Sunday, June 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Reserved seating tickets are available for $12 in advance, and can be purchased online here. On the day of the show, reserve tickets will be $15 (if available). General admission “bring your own” lawn chair ($10) or blanket ($25) options are also available. You can see more details about these options on the website (websterthomasplayers.com).
It’s Sidewalk Sale Weekend in the Village of Webster.
Five village shops will be setting up some tables outside their stores this Friday and Saturday and offering some great bargains both outside and in.
So take a stroll downtown this Friday and Saturday and meet some of our very friendly small business owners.
Webster doesn’t have an Independence Day parade, but you don’t have to go very far to enjoy one.
Penfield’s Independence Day Parade will be held Saturday July 3, beginning at 10 a.m. It steps off at Penfield High School, proceeds south on Five Mile Line Road to Route 441, east on Route 441 to Baird Rd., and north on Baird Rd. to end at the Penfield Community Center.
The town is dedicating the parade to all the people who helped the town’s resisdents make it through a very difficult 2020, and who may still be helping them cope. Help came in many forms during the pandemic: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, financial and more.
Penfield residents who wish to contribute a name, or names, to the banner may submit them on the Town of Penfield website at www.penfield.org. Names may also be submitted via phone at (585) 340-8655, option 0. The audience at Penfield’s Independence Day will also have the opportunity to add their heroes’ names to the banner as it is walked through the parade.
The banner will be displayed in a prominent location after the Independence Day festivities, so the heroes can be recognized beyond the holiday.
Here’s this month’s Webster Museum History Bit:
Now and Then: Webster Baseball
Today’s baseball in Webster differs from the early days in so many ways.
Ball fields are all over town now. There are school fields and town fields and park field and fields owned by philanthropic organizations and pick-up games in empty spaces. There are many varieties of bats, balls, mitts, caps, helmets, uniforms and protective equipment, many of them tossed on grassy fields while players wait their turns.
Nineteenth century Webster baseball teams were loosely organized, equipped with one homemade bat and one hard rubber ball (that’s it!) and used the underhand swift pitch. Games were played on borrowed private property for at least ten years before the first organized high school game was played in 1888. Since then, Webster has fielded many excellent school teams and a number of players who went on to careers in professional baseball.
In the 1890s local businessmen organized teams and rented land now bounded by Lapham Park, Park Ave., Dunning Ave. and Elm Street. They fenced it and added a grandstand and ticket office. Uniformed and equipped, the teams from the town and from Nine Mile Point played teams from Rochester, Brockport, Parma and Penfield.
This is a beautiful little natural area just steps from the Webster Public Library’s front doors, adjacent to the Ridge Park playing fields behind Town Hall. The stand of woods measures about 10 acres, and there’s a very nice, short trail that leads into the center of the woods, ending at a spacious deck.
At least it did for a while.
Last November, a large tree fell onto the platform, pretty much destroying it. But just about a month ago, the Friends of Webster Trails put a team together and repaired the platform. Many thanks go out to Eric Turberg, Steve Turberg, Bud Gearhart, Dennis Kuhn, Craig Hurlbut and John Boettcher.
I was especially happy to see that repairs had been made to the platform because I know the Webster Public Library likes to use the trail and deck for some of their programs.
I also remember when, last July, Doreen and Laureen from the library dedicated one of their Let’s Explore Webster videos to Hickory Bark Trail. You can see that video here, and click here if you want to read my blog about the trail (and the fairy houses I found there).
By the way, Doreen and Laureen have recently published their latest Let’s Explore Webster video, this one about three of Webster’s historic properties. Click below to see that video, then visit the Webster Library’s YouTube channelto see many more videos from this excellent series. (And all sorts of other neat stuff!!)
When it comes to blog ideas, I’ve found it’s either feast or famine. As it turns out today, it’s definitely a feast. I’ve got so many things to tell you about I need to throw them all into one big mailbag so they don’t get too stale.
So here we go….
Image courtesy Town of Webster website
The Town of Webster is hosting a series of open houses for anyone interested in finding out more about plans for redeveloping Sandbar Park and upcoming REDI projects (Resiliency & Economic Development Initiative) which will include, among other projects, raising a portion of Lake Rd.
There’s going to be a lot of information presented at these meetings, so if you’d like to read up on all the projects in advance, click here for a good overview of what will be happening and why.
The open houses will be held:
Wednesday June 2, 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Webster Recreation Center, 1350 Chiyoda Drive
Tuesday June 8, 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Rec Center
Thursday June 10, 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Rec Center
Saturday June 12 at the Joe Obbie’s Farmer’s Market, in the Kohl’s Plaza
The Webster Museum needs your help
Webster Museum volunteers have scoured available online resources for information about Asa Bass and his family. Museum staff members think this family may have been the first black residents of what is now Webster.
Asa (1792-1872) was born in Vermont, was a pioneer who came here in 1812 and bought at different times three different properties between the northern sections of what are now Phillips Road and Route 250. Among his neighbors were the Foster and Wright families.
Asa and his wife Matilda Fuller Bass (1790-1866) had at least two children, Jane Bass Gould (1820-1891) and Chester Bass (1724-1873). Jane married Charles Gould and they had three children: Anna, Nelson and Elijah. Chester married Sarah Gracen and they had at least one child, Francis Bass Vond. One of Asia’s nephews, Asa Boyd, lived with the family for many years.
The museum has many facts, but few stories about Asa and his farm and family lives. They’re hoping to hear from relatives of people who may have been friends or neighbors as well as descendants of this family.
Any information, even the smallest clue, would be greatly appreciated. Please send to Kathy at ktaddeo5@icloud.com
Yee haw! Challenge your kids at this rodeo!
The Monroe County Office of Traffic Safety will host a Bicycle Skills Rodeo on Saturday June 5 at the Webster Recreation Center, 1350 Chiyoda Dr.
Children will learn, practice and demonstrate their bicycle handling skills. Make sure to bring your bicycle and helmet to participate in this family-friendly event for kids age 4-14. (There will be a few helmets available if you need one.)
The event is free, but registration is required. Visit the Webster Parks and Recreation website and look for program #201000. Four half-hour time slots are available beginning at 10 a.m.
Bri-Pen Senior Rides hosts Open House via Zoom
This note from some of our neighbors to the south.
Bri-Pen Senior Rides is hosting an open house via Zoom for those who might like more information about driving for the service.
Bri-Pen Senior Rides is a volunteer-based service that provides rides to adults 65+ in the Penfield and Brighton areas who do not have transportation to medical or other essential appointments. They are urgently seeking volunteers to drive or offer their assistance in dispatching rides to clients.
The group will hold an Open House via Zoom on Thursday, June 10 at 4 p.m. to answer questions about how to get involved, as well as to share the history of the program.
Drivers are trained by Lifespan, and qualified drivers are offered additional umbrella insurance to drive for the service.
A link to the Zoom meeting can be found on the Penfield Recreation website calendar, or call 340-8655 for details.
Our treed and open space areas in Webster offer peaceful places to enjoy and explore, places that Friends of Webster Trails helps preserve for future generations. The future of our trees is threatened, however. Emerald Ash Borer. Wooly Adelgid. Oak Wilt. Beech Tree Canker. Those are just some of the challenges our green infrastructure faces.
Friends of Webster Trails is in the early stages of identifying how to address the problem, and they’re putting together a committee to work on it over the next several months.The goal is to enter 2022 with concrete plans to put into action.
The Webster-based Rochester Rhapsody chorus, an organization of female a cappella singers specializing in the barbershop harmony style, is excited to report they’ll be returning to live rehearsals, which were on hold for a long time thanks to COVID.
To kick off the summer, they’ll be spreading their love for music with a grand reopening for women of all ages.
Female guests can attend Rochester Rhapsody chorus’ “A Cappella Lives!” open rehearsal on June 14 from 7 to 8:15 p.m. at Temple Beth El, 139 S. Winton Road, Rochester.
Women of all ages can enjoy an evening of music in a relaxed environment and participate in a cappella 4-part harmony, vocal skill building, singing a variety of music, and meeting with other women singers. Information about the chorus’ audition process will also be provided.
This is a great opportunity for women who love to sing but have never tried a cappella.
There’s SO MUCH COOL STUFF happening at the Webster Publc Library. Here are just a few snippets just for your kids:
This year’s Summer Reading Kickoff takes place at the North Ponds Park pavilion on Thursday June 24 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
There will be games and crafts, raffle baskets and book drawings, a scavenger hunt, and Star Wars costume characters! No registration is required. The event will include a 20-minute storytime with Jason at 6:15, so bring your blankets!
Your kids’ next craft challenge: create an animal habitat!
For the Animal Habitat Challenge, kids will use supplies provided, and/or anything else you have at home. The library will provide the animal, some fun crafting supplies and a box for your diorama.
Pick up your kits from the library between June 7 and 11 and submit a photo of the completed habitat by June 18. Voting will take place on Facebook from June 21 to 27. Click here to register.
Step into the magical world of Candy Land! Between June 14 and June 30, families and small groups will be able to register for time slots to make their way through a live-action version of this popular family game. Venture through the enchanted storytime room full of gumdrops, candy canes, lollipops, and so much more. Do you have what it takes to make it to King Candy’s castle first? Click here to register.
The Webster Public Library is located at 980 Ridge Rd., at the back of the plaza. Make sure to check out their website for all of the great youth and adult programs they’ve put together. I’ve just scratched the surface.
The Webster Marching Band could REALLY use your returnables this year.
Due to the pandemic, the band hasn’t been able to do any of their usual fundraisers this year. But they’re planning to at least hold their bottle and can drive, as a drop-off event.
So start saving up your bottles, then on Saturday June 5, swing by Willink Middle School on Publisher’s Parkway between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to drop them off. There will be plenty of worker-bees there to help you, so you won’t even have to get out of the car.
If you’re not able to go to Willink that Saturday, they’ll come to you. Simply call the Bottle and Can Hotline, 24/7 at 234-8684 (option 1), leave a message and they’ll call you back for details. You can also drop off their returns at any time to area bottle return companies (Can Kings, Nickleback, Upstate Bottle Return) and just tell them to credit the Webster Marching Band for the return.
The Webster Aquatic Center will host its Webster Youth Triathlon on Sunday June 6.
The event, which includes a swim, bike and run, is for children from kindergarten through age 16, and is scaled according to age. Kindergartners, for example, will swim 25 yards, bike a mile and run a 1/4 mile. Older kids will swim 150 yards, bike 4 miles and run a mile. There’s also a team relay option.
The swim will take place at the Aquatic Center, 875 Ridge Rd., and the run and bike portions on the Webster Schroeder campus.
Cost is $15, and registration begins at 8 a.m. at the Webster Aquatic Center. The first 250 participants will receive a goody bag and t-shirt.
To register and for more details, call the Webster Aquatic Center at 585-670-1087. You can also email race director Missy Whipple with questions, at missyw26.2@gmail.com.
This is an interesting bit of history which I recently received from the Webster Museum, where the folks are anxiously awaiting society’s return to normal so they can share this kind of stuff with everyone in person again!
WEBSTER HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE BECOMES MAYOR OF ROCHESTER…
….. in 1895. That was just the beginning of a forty-year political career.
Born in Webster to farmers Chadwick and Rhonda Lewis, Merton Elmer Lewis (1861-1937) studied law with James B. Perkins. He fathered six children during his two marriages and some of his family remained in the Rochester area.
A staunch Republican, Merton would serve as Rochester mayor, delegate to the New York State Assembly and Senate, New York State Attorney General, United States Attorney and was considered by his party for nomination as a New York State gubernatorial candidate. He returned to private practice in 1919.
The Webster Museum and Historical Society thanks Frank Calandra, local political historian and collector, for introducing us to this Webster resident and to Mr. Lewis’ illustrious career.
When we can safely open, museum volunteers will return to welcome you all to stop in to “meet” other interesting Webster residents of yesteryear.
Finally, a few notes from the library, the first one well timed for this week’s beautiful weather when everyone wants to get out and start planting.
Small Space Gardening: A Zoom Program, Tuesday May 18, 7 p.m.
Gardening requires planning and preparation, especially if your garden is as big as a match box! This program will cover small space gardening techniques and tips to help maximize your garden’s productivity. Also covered will be site selection, vegetable varieties, soil preparation, and crop rotation to assure fresh and nutritious food for you. Presented by Jarmila Haseler, an Ag & Food Systems Educator from the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County.
Registration is required. Click here to do so. The Zoom invitation will be sent the day before the program.
Webster Public Library is now offering the streaming service called HOOPLA for all Webster library patrons. You can use Hoopla to access music, TV shows, movies, audiobooks, ebooks, and comics/graphic novels. Just download the materials straight onto your phone or tablet, or even stream them to your TV instantly!
Grab a cup of coffee and settle in. This is a long one.
Webster Arboretum Plant Sale returns
The Webster Arboretum Association, together with local growers and local garden clubs will host the 2021 Webster Arboretum Plant Sale on Saturday May 8 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 is Sunday!
The sale will be held at the Webster Arboretum, 1700 Schlegel Rd. Webster.
Museum’s Websterscapes Gallery needs you!
The Webster Museum’s Websterscapes Gallery is looking for photos of skyscapes, landscapes, waterscapes or artwork depicting the many beautiful places in Webster. Your photos will be featured on the museum website alongside other works of photographic art from your Webster neighbors.
The gallery is getting everyone’s art appreciation juices flowing for the Ward Mann exhibit, being readied for when the museum can safely open again.
Send your photos to the gallery by email to photos@webstermuseum.org or upload directly on the museum website.
Speaking of art…
The Webster Art Club’s Spring Art Show is now on display at the Webster Public Library through May 27. Stop in during the library’s normal business hours to view the nice variety of artwork created by your fellow Webster community members.
Pop-up Book Sales
Also coming soon to the Webster Public Library, the Friends of the Library will be holding Pop-up Book Sales in the parking lot beginning next week and running for several weeks this summer and even into the fall, weather permitting.
These sales are full of surprises and unexpected treasures. Hardcover books are $1, and paperback books are 2/$1. Cash and checks will be accepted, and please bring your own bags.
The first pop-up sales will be Thursday May 13 and Saturday May 22, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. In accordance with COVID-19 guidelines, masks and social distancing will be required. All monies raised will be used to support library programs and initiatives.
Brighten your mood, borrow a lamp
The Webster Public Library never ceases to amaze with the variety of things you can borrow. They now have portable light therapy lamps available for borrowing for up to three weeks.
The Verilux light therapy lamps (or “Happy Lights”) imitate outdoor natural light and are intended to improve mood and overall sense of well-being. It’s amazing what a little bit of light can do. Sunlight improves our mood, makes us feel more optimistic, gives us energy, and promotes better sleep. And we all know how little sunlight we get here in Rochester.
Ask for the lights at the circulation desk, and borrow a little sunshine.
The Webster Public Library is located at 980 Ridge Rd., at the back of the plaza.
Absentee Ballot Applications Available for Budget Vote, BOE Election
The Webster CSD’s Annual Budget Vote and Election of Board of Education Candidates is slated for Tuesday, May 18. All voting is scheduled to take place in-person, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Webster Schroeder High School gynmasium, Schroeder High School, 875 Ridge Road.
Qualified voters of the district who will be unable to attend the polls on the day of the vote may wish to use an absentee ballot. Applications for absentee ballots must be received by the district clerk at least seven days before the vote (if the ballot is being mailed to the voter) or the day before the vote if it’s being picked up in person.
Absentee ballot applications are available online at or from District Clerk Cynthia Cushman, 119 South Avenue (third floor of the Spry Middle School), Webster.
Spry Student Council Donates to Dream Factory of Rochester
The Spry Student Council recently made an impressive donation to the Dream Factory of Rochester.
COVID didn’t stop these middle school go-getters from hosting two fundraisers to benefit the local non-profit. They tapped into people’s taste buds by having a fundraiser at Chipotle, netting $1,123.41. Then they challenged their peers and the Spry faculty and staff to take part in a fun Jar Wars competition during Spirit Week. Participants put coins (and larger bills) in jars to earn points for their team or take away points from another team. The spirited competition raised another $1,505.41.
Student Council representatives Jack Frenzel (co-president), Maya Pascuzzi (co-president), Lauren Roberts, Sarah Hellems, and Jayna Zimmerman presented an oversized check (and a real one) in the amount of $2,628.82 to Laura Walitsky, area director of the Dream Factory of Rochester. Also on hand were Michelle and Brian Schilling with their children Ella, a Dream recipient, Matt, a Spry seventh grader, and Nathan, a Webster Schroeder freshman.
The Spry Student Council donation is enough to enable one child to have her entire dream fulfilled.
Webster Marching Band seeks members
The Webster Central School District’s highly respected marching band will begin its 36th year competing in the New York State Field Band Conference during the summer and fall of the 2021-22 school year. The Pride of Webster is currently recruiting dedicated 7-11 th grade WCSD students who play a woodwind, brass, or percussion instrument. The band is also looking for dancers and color guard members.
Interested students and their parents/guardians are invited to attend a new member night on Monday May 3 beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Webster Schroeder High School auditorium. Current 7-11th graders can sign up by scanning QR codes that can be found on posters in all four middle and high schools or by emailing Jerbrel Bowens, Webster Marching Band Director, at jerbrel_bowens@webstercsd.org.
For more information about the Webster Marching Band, click here.
Webster CSD Updates School Calendars
The Webster CSD has made several changes to the calendars for the current school year and next year.
For the 2020-21 (this year’s) school calendar:
Regents exams will take place June 17, 22-24 but there will be changes in attendance on these days. On June 7, 21, and 22 ALL secondary students will have school, be it in-person, asynchronous, or remotely depending on the choice parents/guardians previously made for them. On June 23 and 24, students will attend according to their individual Regents exam schedules.
The last day of classes for ALL students (grades UPK-12) will be Tuesday, June 22. This is a change for secondary students and UPK students.
Graduation ceremony dates have been set. The Webster Schroeder Class of 2021 will graduate Wednesday, June 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Webster Schroeder Stadium. Rain date is June 17 at 7:30 p.m. The Webster Thomas Class of 2021 will graduate Thursday, June 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Webster Thomas Stadium. Rain date is June 25 at 7:30 p.m.
For the 2021-22 school year (next school year), only one change has been made. The start of the school year will be Wednesday, September 8. The full calendars are available on the district calendar web page found here .
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.
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