Tag Archives: White Christmas in the Village

Bourbon and a village Christmas preview

13 Nov

The Village of Webster’s next special event, the Bourbon Bash, returns Saturday Nov. 16, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Harmony House, 58 E. Main St.

Sample bourbons and whiskey from local distilleries and Webster Wine and Spirits, complemented by food samples from local restaurants.

Participants will be provided bottled water to enhance their sampling experience, and the opportunity to purchase a raffle ticket for a bourbon basket donated by Webster Rotary. proceeds of the event will benefit Webster Local Charities.

Tickets are $25 and will be limited. They can be purchased online here or at websterbid.com. Cash sale tickets are also available at Hegedorns.

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christmas treeThe Webster Museum is gearing up for this year’s Christmas Tree Contest. Local groups and organizations are invited to decorate a miniature Christmas tree, which will then be displayed in the museum for community voting.

In past years, Scouting troops, schools clubs, local businesses, even families and individuals have decorated trees. There are a limited number available, so anyone interested in participating needs to register ASAP. To do so, call Kathy at (585) 313-3709 and leave a message with a name and phone number for a return call.

Be prepared to supply the following information: Caller’s name, phone number and email; decorator’s name, phone number and email; date/time plan to decorate; and any special requests regarding location in the museum.

Decorating begins Nov. 30, and voting begins Dec. 7 during White Christmas in the Village.

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Speaking of White Christmas, it’s drawing near. This year’s event happens Saturday Dec. 7. I haven’t seen any details about this year yet, but in the past it’s run from 3 to 6 p.m., followed by the amazing Electric Parade.

Like previous years, there will probably be horse-drawn wagon rides, a bounce house, cookie decorating, storytelling, a bell choir, carolers, and Santa (of course).

Stay tuned for more details as I find out about them. You can also check websterbid.com for updates.

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Hiking and hot cocoa and bourbon!

1 Nov

As a cold, miserable November dawns, allow me to tell you about a few events that will definitely warm your whole body.

The first is the annual Hot Cocoa Hike sponsored by the Friends of Webster Trails. This year’s hike will take place at Gosnell Big Woods Preserve, 680 Vosburg Rd., on Saturday Nov. 9 beginning at 7 p.m.

hot chocolateThis is a fun, free, self-guided hike under the (almost) full moon! The route is approximately 1 mile (one way), up to two miles total and will be marked with lights for you to follow, starting at the parking lot. This will not be a guided event, so you are responsible for finding your way by following the marked path. When you arrive at the final destination you’ll be rewarded with free hot chocolate.

So that everyone can enjoy this event please leave your dog home and bring them back to enjoy the trail another time. Please also bring a flashlight and your own travel mug as cups will not be provided.

If you plan on attending, please sign up here and provide an email address so that you can be reached in case of changes. An email will be sent by 3 p.m. that day if there is extreme weather that requires the hike to be rescheduled.

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The Village of Webster’s Bourbon Bash will return on Saturday Nov. 16, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Harmony House, 58 E. Main St.

Sample bourbons and whiskey from local distilleries and Webster Wine and Spirits, complemented by food samples from local restaurants.

Participants will be provided bottled water to enhance their sampling experience, and the opportunity to purchase a raffle ticket for a bourbon basket donated by Webster Rotary. proceeds of the event will benefit Webster Local Charities.

Tickets are limited and can be purchased online here or at websterbid.com. Cash sale tickets are also available at Hegedorns.

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Looking ahead, make sure to mark your calendars for White Christmas in the Village, this year on Saturday Dec. 7 from 3 to 6 p.m. An entire afternoon of holiday activities in the village concludes with the ever-popular Holiday Electric Parade. Check back on the BID website for more details.

electric parade

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Photos from White Christmas in the Village

2 Dec

IMG_0015Once again we didn’t have a whole lot of white for Webster’s White Christmas in the Village. But I’ll wager that the thousands who came into town for the cookies, wagon rides, caroling and visits with Santa appreciated the unusually warm temperatures.

We could have done without the light rain, though, which began just as the parade started.

Still, it was another successful event. The village looked beautiful, the businesses were all decked out in their holiday finery, and several who remained open throughout the afternoon benefited from a steady flow of holiday shoppers.

Of course I took a lot of photos. Many of them didn’t come out very well because of the low light and wet conditions, but I hope you enjoy what I did manage to get:

Click here to see the gallery. 

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White Christmas in the Village is this weekend

26 Nov

OK folks, now that Thanksgiving is in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to get down to some real holiday celebrating. And it starts this weekend with the Village of Webster’s White Christmas.

fire truck

This annual festival, which takes place this year on Saturday Dec. 1, features horse-drawn wagon rides, a bounce house, cookie decorating, storytelling, carolers, Santa (of course), and the always very popular Electric Parade.

Everything begins at 3 p.m. with activities for adults and children throughout the village. The official schedule looks like this:

3 to 6 p.m. — Horse-drawn wagon rides through the village
3 to 6 p.m. — Bounce House on Main Street
4 to 5:45 p.m. — Santa Claus at the Village Hall
4 p.m. — Storytelling at Yesterday’s Muse Book Store
4 p.m. — Cookie decorating
4:30 p.m. — Rochester Rhapsody Carolers
5 p.m. — Church of the Good Shepherd Chime Bell Choir on Main Street

And do not forget to stop by the Webster Museum that afternoon as well to check out — and vote for — some beautiful miniature Christmas trees.

santaThe Electric Parade will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Phillips Road and head west down Main Street. This spectacular parade features fire engines, floats and marching bands, all draped in thousands of twinkling Christmas lights. You’ll definitely want to bring the kids, but dress warm, and pack a thermos of hot chocolate, because this is a pretty long parade. Fireworks will follow the parade at 8:15.

(Click here to see a gallery of photos from last year’s White Christmas celebration.)

By the way, don’t forget to start out that morning with a hot breakfast, served up by the Chorus of the Genesee.

The Chorus will be hosting their third annual Breakfast with Santa, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Harmony House, 58 East Main Street in Webster.

Breakfast will be cooked and served, music will be provided by the Chorus of the Genesee, and of course, Santa will be there! Tickets are just $5 each, with a maximum of $20 per family. To purchase a photo with Santa is just $20.

For more information or to make reservations, call (585) 265-9540.

This is a good chance to visit with Santa before everyone else descends on him when he’s at Village Hall later in the day.

AND BY THE WAY …

When you’re in the village this weekend, make sure to visit some of our village businesses and knock off some Christmas shopping. Two brand new stores opened recently on East Main Street, The Pickled Paintbrush and Lala: Laugh and Love, Always.  And on Saturday a third new business came to town, The North Bee on North Ave. This cute shop offers local honey and hand-crafted items made from beeswax. I’ll be blogging more about them later this week, so stay tuned!

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Santa is coming to town! Here’s where to see him.

16 Nov
santa jim 2

Santa Jim with some young friends at Village Hall last year. 

I exchanged a few emails with Santa last night (yes, he has email; it is the 21st century, after all), and got the down-low on when you and your kids will be able to catch him around town in the next few weeks.

And when you won’t.

First, the “won’t.” Anyone who has been used to catching Santa at Webster Towne Center plaza (Kohl’s plaza) every holiday season will be be disappointed to hear that the plaza will not be hosting him this year.

But as I mentioned in a previous blog, Santa will be at St. Martin’s Church on Bay Rd. on Friday Nov. 30 for their Christmas celebration. He’ll read a story, there’s cookie decorating and free pizza…Scroll down to see Wednesdays’s post, or click  here for more details.

On Saturday Dec. 1 he’ll greet children at Webster Village Hall from 4 to 5:45 p.m. Then he has to get ready to take a ride on a fire truck for the Electric Parade down Main Street, which begins at 6 p.m. You don’t want to miss this one.

Of course the area shopping malls are always a good place to catch Santa, and as far as I know, our very own Santa Jim is still spending some time in the Santa chair at Eastview.

You can also catch Santa (but not Santa Jim), by the way, at the Chorus of the Genesee’s Breakfast with Santa on Saturday Dec. 1 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. I’ll have more information about that soon.  Click here to get tickets for that.

I also spent a few minutes last night looking back on the column and follow-up blog I wrote about Jim Lockwood, or as I affectionately know him, “Santa Jim.” If there’s a holiday event in Webster, chances are he’s the Santa in the chair. If you’re at all interested in a behind-the scenes look at Webster’s best-known St. Nick, including the training involved and how many kids tug on his beard (the answer might surprise you), click here for the blog I wrote following my meeting with him. It’s really pretty interesting.

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

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Village autumn events taking shape

5 Sep

Don’t know about you, but as soon as September rolls around, I start looking forward to the brutally hot temperatures turning into the comfortable cool of fall.

And all of the great events that go along with that time of year.

trick or treat

The Village of Webster is already well into the planning stages for some of their best family-friendly events of the entire year, notably the Halloween in the Village and Trick or Treat Trail. This year’s is scheduled for Saturday October 27, complete with the ever-popular costume contest (including one for our four-legged friends) and plenty of treats from local merchants for the kids. More details to come.

Closer to the holiday season, White Christmas in the Village returns on December 1. Maybe we’ll actually get some snow this year. Stay tuned for more information about that as well.

Barry’s Old School Irish has added something new this fall. For the first time ever they’ll host a “Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day” party at the pub on Saturday Sept. 29 from 7 to 11 p.m. Celtic Cross will provide live entertainment, there’ll be Irish dancers, a whiskey toast and Guinness giveaways.  Owners Danny and Jess Barry are encouraging everyone to wear their green for the occasion.

Barry’s lovers will also want to mark your calendars for the pub’s 7th anniversary celebration. A whole week of special events will lead up to a final bash on Saturday November 3, from 7 to 11 p.m. Check the Barry’s Old School Irish Facebook page for more information.

First up, though, is the Village of Webster’s next Beer Walk, scheduled for Saturday Sept. 15 from 4 to 7 p.m. It’s sponsored by The Coach and is certain to be as much fun as the wine walks. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased online here. Check back at the Webster BID website soon for a list of participating “brew stops.”

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Webster sparkled for White Christmas in the Village

3 Dec
electric parade

The Electric Parade, photo courtesy Sarah Rosenberry

For, like, the third year in a row, there wasn’t much “white” about Webster’s White Christmas in the Village celebration on Saturday.  Temperatures were unseasonably warm, so the village’s beautiful new streetlight decorations were the only snowflakes anyone saw that afternoon and evening.

However, things did look very Christmas-y. The shop windows were all decorated and sparkling, carolers strolled the streets singing holiday favorites, and hundreds of people took the opportunity to wear their Santa hats and reindeer antlers, and drape themselves in colored lights.

As usual for this event, things got off to slow start. But anyone who got there early got first crack at visiting with Santa at the Village Hall and taking a ride on the horse-drawn festival wagon. As dusk fell, though, Main Street started to fill with holiday cheer as thousands began to line Main Street in anticipation of the always popular Electric Parade.

There was plenty to do in the meantime. Kids enjoyed a bounce house, adults enjoyed sampling and voting in the chili cook-off (and later in the evening could get samples of Root Stock cider). The ladies of Rochester Rhapsody delighted everyone with original and classic Christmas carols. Barry’s Old School Irish was pouring free cups of hot cider and hot chocolate (and even though it was pretty warm out, they had a long line). There was cookie decorating, storytelling, and one of my favorites, the Good Shepherd Chime Bell Choir.

Basically, if you weren’t there, you missed a great time. Make sure to put it on your calendar NOW for next year.

The lighting was tough, but I tried my best to get a nice bunch of pictures. Click here to see the whole gallery.

And thank you to the members of the Webster Business Improvement District for sponsoring this delightful event.

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Santa has arrived in Webster

2 Dec

 

Santa arrived in Webster last night! I got a chance to visit with him, and nabbed a cookie to boot.

He had come to St. Martin Lutheran Church for their holiday event, where he took lots and lots of photos with children and sat with them for a Christmas story.  Kids also could make their own Christmas cookies, play board games, do some caroling and even write a letter to Santa which they could deliver in person. Plus, everyone enjoyed free pizza all night long.

As a bonus, the “cost” of admission was a food item to be donated to a food cupboard, and by the time I arrived, a whole cartload of food had been collected.

On that same note, St. Martin Lutheran is introducing a fun new idea this year: a reverse Advent calendar.

The way it works is this: Instead of getting a calendar and opening a little door every day this month, get a box (one from the liquor store works best), and every day this month put a can of food INTO it. By Christmas Day, you’ll have a box filled with food, which you can then deliver to the church for them to pass along to a worthy agency.

What an easy and fun way to spread the love and joy of the season.

St. Martin Lutheran Church is located at 813 Bay Road in Webster.

Your next chances to meet with Webster’s Santa are today (Saturday Dec. 2) at the Harmony House (East Main Street) for Breakfast With Santa until 11 a.m.; at Towne Center Plaza (Target Plaza) from 12-3:30; then at Webster Village Hall (West Main Street) from 3:30 to 6 p.m. for the village’s White Christmas event.

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

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Christmas comes to Webster Saturday

28 Nov

fire truck

The holiday season officially begins this Saturday in Webster, when the village celebrates White Christmas in the Village. This annual festival features horse-drawn wagon rides, a bounce house, cookie decorating, storytelling, carolers, Santa (of course), and the always very popular Electric Parade.

Activities will begin at 3 p.m. with activities for adults and children throughout the village. The official schedule looks like this:

  • 3 to 6 p.m. — Horse-drawn wagon rides through the villagesanta
  • 3 to 6 p.m. — Bounce House on Main Street
  • 3:30 to 5 p.m. — Santa Claus at the Village Hall
  • 4 p.m. — Storytelling at Yesterday’s Muse Book Store
  • 4 p.m. — Cookie decorating
  • 4:30 p.m. — Rochester Rhapsody Carolers
  • 5 p.m. — Church of the Good Shepherd Chime Bell Choir on Main Street

The Electric Parade will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Phillips Road and head west down Main Street. This spectacular parade features fire engines, floats and marching bands, all draped in thousands of twinkling Christmas lights. You’ll definitely want to bring the kids, but dress warm, and pack a thermos of hot chocolate, because this is a pretty long parade.

(Click here to see a gallery of photos from last year’s White Christmas celebration.)

CaptureBy the way, don’t forget to start out that morning with a hot breakfast, served up by the Chorus of the Genesee.

The Chorus will be hosting their second annual Breakfast with Santa, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Harmony House, 58 East Main Street in Webster. The menu will feature French toast sticks and sausage, coffee, juice, and milk. Cost is $5 per person, $20 maximum per family. For tickets call (585) 265-9540 or visit chorusofthegenesee.org.

This will be a good chance to visit with Santa before everyone else descends on him when he’s at Village Hall later in the day.

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storefront

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

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