This page contains the lastest Articles by Mayor Elder.
If you'd like to see others not included below, please email
amchampagne@villageofwebster.com
and include the date you wish to see.
Until then...see you in the papers!
About Business
August 23 , 2010
The summer is slowly winding down and the last days of our glorious warm days will soon be fading. School begins in a few short weeks. Before we know it children will be boarding school buses. My oldest son will soon be heading off for his first year of High School; where did the time go? Before long children will begin appearing on Village streets every morning as they walk to and from School.
But before we bid the summer farewell, we can reflect on the awesome success of the many events and activities we had this summer in the Village. Chief among the events was Village Days. The beautiful weather provided a backdrop for thousands of people to walk up and down Main Street on Saturday. Hundreds of people filled Veteran’s Memorial Park to hear bands play on Friday and Saturday night. Each person who attended Village Days saw the many businesses on Main Street. Village Days is one of our best methods to market the Village as a place to live and a place to do business.
I am proud to have served five years as a member of the Board of Directors of the Business Improvement District (BID). The BID is the driving force behind the many events that are held along Main Street and upper portion of North Avenue. Each of these events is designed to highlight the businesses we have and the opportunities available to establish new businesses. The BID serves a critical marketing function. Furthermore, the merchants have day to day experience in how to do business. Their advice and counsel can be a critical component in the success of any new business.
Presently, the BID is seeking to expand its area to the north section of the Village. By taking in the area along North Ave north of the Expressway as far as Hank’s and as far east as Xerox, the BID can become an even greater economic engine for the Village. Even greater emphasis can be placed on marketing not just Main Street but also the north part of the Village.
The BID is part of a larger economic development structure that includes the Webster Community Coalition for Economic Development (WCCED). As Mayor, I am a member of that organization’s Board of Directors. The Board meets once per month to provide guidance to Glen Cook. Glen’s role is to answer economic development questions, to recruit new businesses and to provide support for existing Webster businesses. WCEED (http://www.wcced.net/) is a unique partnership between the Webster School District, the Town of Webster, the Village of Webster, the Chamber of Commerce, and the BID. Glen is located at Village Hall and can be reached at 269-4939 or gcooke1@rochester.rr.com.
July 28 , 2010
On Main Street
Starting at the Western Gateway to the Village, where Barrett Drive connects the Business District to the 104 feeder lane, and where the Fireman’s Field each year hosts the Carnival, we begin our journey down Main Street. Familiar family restaurants are on each side as you move East. On the corner of Barrett Drive and Main Street is a paint store, and across the street is Netzmans, a mainstay in the Village for decades. Moving down Barrett Drive is a Medical Center, a gym, the Post Office and the Gymnastics Center.
As we move further towards the four corners, we pass a hair stylist, a kitchen and bath store, a pizzeria, an attorney’s office, many residential homes, and the Old Church Mall (inside there are small shops, a video store and a Mexican Restaurant). Off to the north is Maplewood Nursing Home, renowned in our region as an outstanding care facility. Almost to Corning Park now, we are entering the “Central Business District.”
Off to the right is a bank, gas station, a diner (again, with decades of presence in the Village), a bookstore, Village Hall, a sushi restaurant, and a new gourmet food store. To the left is a hairdresser, a printer, a pizzeria, an engraving business, a game and video sales shop, a hobby shop, a dance studio, a pub, bars (one bar – The Coach – has a history that stretches back to the beginnings of the Village itself), a realtor, and the new bridal shop. We are at the famous “Four Corners” which is used constantly when giving directions.
On the north side of Main Street near the Four Corners, both blocks on East and West Main and have businesses facing north, including a sports supply business and an art store. Those on the West Main Street side face Veterans Memorial Park. On the East Main Street side, the Bauman family has heavily invested in the Village with a new office and professional building.
As we move down East Main, there are businesses providing insurance services, dental services, a pizzeria, Nest Things (how do you describe all the great items in Nest Things?) computer repair and sales services, more restaurants, a hair salon, a bike sales shop, a music store, a clothing store, a fabric shop, a Chinese Restaurant, Prime Steakhouse, auto repair facilities, and Webster Hots. There is also the Harmony House, an attorney’s office and the businesses that occupy the old factory area between Kircher Park and East Main Street. Then residences dominate East Main to the Eastern Gateway of the Village, almost at the corner of Phillips Road and East Main Street.
Can you envision Main Street? Can you see the huge variety of businesses and daily life of all of these hard-working small business-people? When you walk down Main Street, there are so many services offered and so many products that are being sold. All day long, customers go in and out, back and forth - summer, winter and every season. Whether it is a customer going home with a new appliance from Netzmans, someone laden with a repaired CPU box coming from Jeff’s Computer, or someone with a new plaque from Papa Reggio’s, or a model rocket from Performance Hobbies, or a full stomach from Webster Hots, or enjoying a great evening at Hatter’s Pub, or finding a new home at Dave Malta Reality (and I could keep going on with the list), Main Street has a product or service for you.
The next time you need a product or service, think the Village of Webster. It is not only a place “Where Life is Worth Living”, it is a great place to shop and find the services you are looking for.
If you have questions or comments about Main Street, the Village business district, or if you would like to establish a business on Main Street, please contact me at (585) 662-9906; or email me at pelder@villageofwebster.com
July 14, 2010
Summer in the Village
The Jazz Festival and Taste of the Village was winding down on Saturday night (July 10th) as Tom Spoonhower (the President of the Business Improvement District) and I began to talk about Movies in the Park, the first of which was on Tuesday, July 13th. I asked Tom how everything was going, and he replied “busy.” That is an apt description of summer here in the Village of Webster.
Each year, the Village plays host to concerts, festivals and special activities. I was so glad to see the huge turnout for the Jazz Festival on Saturday night. There must have been almost a thousand people on West Main Street listening to the great music and having a great time. I enjoyed talking with many Village residents. The crowd was a mix of Village residents, Town residents and people coming from as far away as Macedon – all there to hear the great Jazz and all seeing our beautiful Village (the new Gourmet Food store on West Main was enjoying some good business that night).
Our Village is full of melodies during the summer. Check out the remaining Friday Night Concert Series at Veterans Memorial Park on North Ave on July 23rd, 30th and August 6th, 13th and 20th. Concerts start at 7:00pm and last until 9:00pm. If it rains, the concerts will move indoors at the Coach Sports-Bar at 219 West Main Street. Also enjoy the sounds of our very own Webster Village Band. The Band plays Thursday nights at the Bandshell at Harmony Park on the corner of Phillips Rd and Foster Dr on July 22nd, 29th and August 12th, 19th, and 26th. Concerts start at 7:00pm and the rain location is 900 Cherry Ridge Blvd, across from Schoeder High School. On a normal Friday, between 100 and 250 people attend the Friday Concerts and the Band has enjoyed a similar attendance. I have enjoyed meeting so many of you at our Parks enjoying the wonderful music.
You can also enjoy movies in the Veteran’s Memorial Park beginning on Tuesday, July 13th and continuing on July 20th, 27th, August 3rd, 10th and 24th. The movies will begin at dusk, around 9:00pm and last about 90 minutes. The list of movies being shown is at websterbid.com.
If you like the fresh taste of fruits and vegetables or strolling near booths of handmade craft items, the Village of Webster Joe Obbie’s Farmers Market is for you. Held every Saturday morning until November 6th, from 8:00am to 12:30pm, the Market has a cornucopia of items from the traditional farm products, to honey, maple syrup, jewelry, hand woven bags, plants and more. Many of you are joining me each morning – so many, in fact, that last Saturday, many of the fruit vendors sold out!
There are other events occurring this summer as well. Our premier event, Village Days, is being held on Friday evening, August 13 and all day August 14th. The Festival will begin on Friday night at Veterans Memorial Park on North Ave and runs from 9:00am to 4:30pm on Saturday. There will be children’s activities including magicians, ice cream eating, and model airplane flying contests. The Garden Tour is on Saturday, July 24 from 1:00-4:00pm. The event is a joint effort of the Webster Museum and Historical Society and the Village Historic Preservation Commission. Details on the Garden Tour are posted on many flyers around the Village and also at villageofwebster.com.
Finally, don’t miss the Fireman’s Carnival this week from July 14-17. The Fireman’s Parade starts at 6:30pm on Thursday. Fireworks are on Saturday, July 17th at midnight. Many of you may have the same memories as I do of going the Carnival each year and seeing the Parade on Thursday, or walking in the Kiddy Parade as both a child and then as parent of children or of being so tired your parents carried you to the car after the fireworks, and then doing the same for your children. All good times: all here in our Village.
Don’t you miss out on Summer in the Village. If you have questions about the schedule of events, suggestions about our activities in the Village or if you are holding an event you would like us to post, please contact me at (585) 662-9906; or email me at pelder@villageofwebster.com.
