Winter in Rochester!
Winter is here!Indoor Recreation Centers Master list of local libraries: Quick links to their events Great Winter Hikes in Central/Western New York Museums and family fun centers  How to Bully-Proof Your Child: Practical Tips Those wacky Webster Children's Librarians! 
|
KidsOutAndAbout.com newsletterSent September 4, 2008Dear KOA readers: Tradition, tradition! The hustle and bustle of back-to-school week is an annual tradition at this time of year, even for us homeschooling families. So is visiting a corn maze, or eating raw tomatoes fresh from the vine, or going to the Clothesline Festival. And for those with kids interested in the performing arts, this is the time of year for announcements of the new plays, musicals, and concerts that will be performed mid-fall. Audition, audition! Several organizations have auditions in the coming week for upcoming productions, and have asked me to highlight these. Cara D'Emanuele will be casting boys and girls age 8 to 18 in a Stages production of Fiddler on the Roof, Jr. (hence the opening line of this newsletter). Auditions are TONIGHT (Thursday, Sept 4) and TOMORROW NIGHT (Friday, September 5) from 6pm - 8:30 pm. Stages is located in the small theater, UpStage3, on the third floor of the Auditorium Center on East Main Street. Enter at the door on the right-hand side ground floor. Cara is also casting girls ages 6 - 18 in an upcoming production of Madeline's Christmas. Auditions are also at the UpStage3 Theater, and will be held Sept 8, 10 and 11, from 6pm - 8:30 pm. Those auditioning for either of these two productions should prepare one song to sing. For more details, visit mjtstages.com or call 585-935-7173. More auditions! Gates Community Theater has auditions for Willy Wonka tonight (Thursday) at Washington Irving Elementary School, for kids in grades 4 through high school. Details are at: Cobblestone Arts Center in Farmington has auditions next Friday and Saturday, Sept 12 and 13, for productions of Mary Poppins (kids ages 4 to 8) and two different productions of Grease (one for kids ages 9 to 13 and another for kids age 14 to 18). Auditions held at Cobblestone Arts Center, 1622 Route 332, Farmington. Rehearsals and shows will be held at the Morgan School, East Rochester. For more details, see The Amadeus Chorale is currently holding rolling auditions for those who are interested in singing with this popular children's choir. For details, see: The Flower City Ballet has Nutcracker tryouts on Saturday afternoon from 1-3pm. For information, go to: 
2) Parents and teachers are also thinking about field trips for their classes for the fall. I was reminded how we have some wonderful places for our kids' field trips around greater Rochester, and it occurred to me that this topic deserves its very own page in KidsOutAndAbout.com. So, I started one... yesterday, I started emailing organizations that I knew hosted field trips for school and homeschool groups, and asked them to submit entries for this page. http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/resources/FieldTrips.html Entries have already started coming in, but the list is still short. So I wanted to ask you, readers and teachers and organizations, what field trip places do you recommend I put on this page? If you are a member of an organization that offers field trips, please email me a listing in the same format you see on that page (it's free, of course, as is everything on KOA). If you are a parent or teacher, please just email me the place, with the web site URL if you have it, and I'll contact them. 3) Speaking of asking readers: Emily Tremaine is a school psychologist working on her PhD at Alfred University. Her dissertion focuses on preschool-age siblings of children with autism, and their behavior in the classroom. She was hoping that some KOA readers would be available for interviews to help her gather data. She writes:
4) Speaking (as I was above) of choruses, the Mozart Children's Chorus is holding an Open House on Saturday, September 13. The Mozart Chorus is the beginning chorus for the Bach Children’s Chorus. It is designed as a classroom choral experience for children from ages 4 to 8. The Mozart Chorus offers an exploration of singing, rhythm, elements of music theory, and use of Orff instruments. An audition is *not* necessary. Call 582-3082 for more info. The Open House will take place on September 13, 2008 from 10:15 to 11:05, 11:10 to 12:00 or 12:05 to 12:55 at Nazareth College’s Wilmot Hall Room A59. Nazareth is located at 4245 East Ave, Pittsford. Pre-registration is not required. The Mozart Chorus is NOT the Amadeus Chorale--the Amadeus Chorale is for older children. (I know, confusing! So much great Arts experiences for our kids here in Rochester.) Also: For those kids who were in the Mozart Chorus last year and are planning to participate again, that same Saturday is the first class of the year. 5) The annual favorite "Friends of the Penfield Library Used Book Sale" is coming up September 9 to 13. This sale is known throughout the region for its volume, quality and especially the sorting of books by category. This is a great time to stock up on reading for the winter months. The sale is held in the Penfield Community Center. Tuesday hours (2pm to 9pm) are for Friends of the Penfield Library members only. You may renew or join at the door, $5.00 per family. Wed. and Thurs. hours are 10 am to 9 pm, Fri. hours are 10 am to 6 pm (half-price day), and Sat. 10 am to 2 pm (Bag Sale at $3.00 per bag). Organizers ask that no food or drink come into the sales area and that strollers be left home because of the crowds and narrow aisles. All proceeds benefit the Penfield Public Library. 6) We've had some fun giveaways, lately. Brown's Berry Patch gave away two family passes to their Barnyard Adventure for the remainder of the 2008 season...which really heats up as the weather cools down. Congratulations to Karen of Holley and Bethany of Rochester. We have several giveaways up on the web, too, with more to come in the next several days. We have two continuations: Sutton's Nonprofit Services is giving away a free session of EFT coaching (drawing on Sunday), and Marie Avalone's gift certificate for services at Salon Hermitage (drawing next Friday). In addition we have two other new ones as of this writing: a) Spirit of America will be performing at the Blue Cross Arena on Friday and Saturday, September 12 and 13. Soldiers from the United States Army Military District of Washington perform historical reenactments, musical entertainment and precision military drill. I have four tickets to give away for the performance at 7:30pm on Friday, September 12, and I'll draw the winner Monday, September 8. In general, these tickets are free to all, but normally to get them at this point you'd have to make a special trip to the Box Office of the Blue Cross Arena...so enter on our Giveaway page to win them instead! b) Rochester Wine School, in conjunction with Make & Take Gourmet, The Little Gym of Webster, and Cabot Cheese, is hosting a “Say Cheese!” giveaway. And it's a little different from our normal ones! Entering requires e-mailing a picture of you and your family plus 2-3 sentences on why you all deserve a night out. The winner will receive a range of prizes. See the Giveaway page for details: http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/city-articles/giveaways.html 7) On Saturday, September 13, the Penfield Scenic Trek will be the annual Four Corners Hike. It will be led by Jay Thompson, a long-time Penfeld resident and Penfield Town Historian, Kathy Kanauer. The hike will head east on Penfield Road. The early settlers and their historic homes will be discussed. Meet at Schaufelberger Park, near the clock, at the corner of Five Mile Line & Penfield Rd. Hike is from 9am-11am. Families should call 585-340-8655 to register; these hikes are recommended for families with kids 8 and up. 
8) A KOA reader writes:
Update: A reader informed me that this is the Medina Railroad Museum. Click here for a link to the page to check regularly for updates on the Santa Train. Even more updates: Another reader writes:
Thanks to everyone for helping out here! 9) How about a FREE trip to a local museum for your family? Saturday, September 27 is Museum Day, an event sponsored by Smithsonian Magazine. All over the country, hundreds of museums will open their doors to visitors who print and bring along this page: 
10) There will be a special day-long seminar for parents and educators on Saturday, October 25, hosted by the Rochester Association for the Education of Young Children (RAEYC). The theme is "Literacy Begins with the Arts," and the keynote speaker will be Rafe Martin. For the PDF brochure, go to: 11) The Rochester Children's Book Festival is not until early November, but believe it or not, that's only 9 weeks away. So during the next 9 weeks, I'll be featuring one local children's author in this newsletter each week. Watch for it! 12) This weekend is the Turtle Hill Folk Festival, in Honeoye Falls, from Friday through Sunday. Details are on the KOA calendar. 13) The M&T Bank Clothesline Festival is this Saturday and Sunday outside the Memorial Art Gallery. Hours are Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 10-5. There is a $5 admission fee to benefit the MAG. 14) You are invited to attend the Country Fair and Cowpie Bingo at Wickham Farms on Route 250 in Penfield, on Saturday from 12-6pm, to benefit the YMCA. The country fair will include free family activities, including square dancing, classic family games, and a giant inflatable slide. Additional activities include miniature golf ($4), corn maze ($4), and a hay ride ($1.50). And you'll have to click for details to find out what Cow Pie Bingo is: 15) There is a Grandparent's Day Tea on Saturday from 10am-12pm at Springdale Farm in Spencerport. It is free and open to the public! I would call to make sure there will be space, though...for details, see 16) The Clyde Children's Health Fair, sponsored by the Wayne County Rural Health Network, will be this Saturday from 10am-2pm on Park Street in Clyde. They will be having a group of Caring Clowns from RGH doing face painting and balloons, a local radio station, car cruise and a NASCAR driver and car. 17) The last two Rochester Rhinos soccer games of the season are this Saturday at 7:35pm, and next Friday Sept 12 at 8pm, at PAETEC Park. 
18) There is a special Women of Seward House Tour at 1pm on Saturday at the Seward House in Auburn. I find that these are most appropriate for about age 10+. 19) The 2pm hike this Saturday and Sunday at Genesee Country Nature Center is their special Oatka Creek Walk, which they hold only a few times per year. There is SO MUCH MORE on the calendar that I would love to highlight, but look how long this has already become! Please visit the calendar yourself. 20) Pithy commentary alert: Seeing the notice of Stages' upcoming production of Fiddler on the Roof generated some fond memories of when I was in the show in high school. I love this musical, and so I put the 1971 movie version in our Netflix queue. Our family has been watching it this week, and I'm having an experience that seems to happen more frequently as my kids get older: As I re-experience something familiar through their eyes, I simultaneously remember what it was like when I first encountered it, and also have a reaction to it as an adult. It's overwhelming, sometimes, and this has been no exception. 
The issue of "tradition" that is raised in Fiddler--whether and when one should give up old traditions in favor of new ones--strikes me completely differently as an adult than it did as a kid. Of course, as a 16-year-old in the 1980s, I felt relieved that I was living in a time and place where I'd be able to choose my own husband rather than obey my father's decision about who I marry. But at the time, it didn't go beyond that. Now, however, I understand about the value of certain traditions and what they mean in a richly integrated life... AND I also see the tragic consequences of not examining one's traditions to see whether they are still valuable or should be tossed out. Should there always be a reason for carrying on a tradition? I think so, but I can't exactly convey this concept to kids who are just 7 and 9. (Nor, for that matter, can I adequately explain why I sob during "Sunrise, Sunset.") I believe, though, that it's worth helping Madison and Ella these complex ideas as they get older. So I keep trying. Have a great week,
Debra Ross Click here to sign up for the newsletter if you are not yet subscribed. . |
What's new!What to do in Rochester's winter Click to see live giveaways!Updated 1/5 with a special TYKES Theatre drawing! A whole kid's party on a CD: A review of ScrapSMART Food Shopping Away from the Grocery Store Shopping for Food Bargains in and around Rochester  New! Reviews of great new family board games New! Indoor recreation and play places 
|
Featured article: