What's going on in Spencerport in 2024

CDL Printing closed down in Tops Plaza in the spring of 2023. It’s almost a year later and the space is now occupied by Unified Martial Arts. The last space in Tops Plaza that still needs to be occupied is where Rite Aid used to be. This property has been vacant for many years and has been hard to fill because of the sheer size of it which is very big. A liquor store wants to do business there but Fowler’s Canaltown Wine and Spirits in Spencerport is fighting this. They think that the village doesn’t need two liquor stores so close to each other so they started a petition against the new liquor store. There is also West Ridge Wine and Spirits in Spencerport that started in February of 2022, so really there would be three liquor stores in town if the space next to Tops was filled.

Five more businesses have opened up in Spencerport in 2024: The Pirate Toy Fund, Flower City Wraps, Vendi Excavating, Art Décor, and Lift Bridge Financial. Four stores have closed down this year too: Sullivans, Fetch, Brewskis, and Ogden Dental Group. Spencerport is resilient though and a lot of times when a business closes and a space becomes available, it gets filled within six months to a year.

Happy Retirement Dr. Carl Divita!(Ogden Dental Group)

By Dan Bauman

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Union Street Coffee House

123 S. Union St.

617-4912

Total Solar Eclipse 2024

There was a presentation on the science behind the solar eclipse at the Ogden town hall on February 26th. I sat in the back row and with the seventy other people I watched a young man from the Rochester Museum and Science Center do a slide show. He was very engaging for the hour that he talked about the solar eclipse.

A few weeks later, there was Solar Eclipse maps made for Ogden that were ready to pick up at the town hall. I picked one up not knowing that maps would be distributed in the Westside News. Now I have extra. The map shows all the different places that are having events to view the solar eclipse and one place on the map is Homesteads For Hope in Spencerport. I bought a ticket a few weeks ago to go to this event where there will be food and music and they will be giving out solar eclipse glasses to everyone. So far, I’ve already gotten a pair of eclipse glasses at the presentation I went to and I also picked up a bunch for my family at the Ogden Farmers Library.

Rochester is considered one of the best cities in the country to view the total solar eclipse. This area is expecting a lot of people from outside of the Monroe County area to travel to the city during this once in a lifetime event. An eclipse like this hasn’t happened in Rochester since 1925 and the next one isn’t going to happen until 2144. When on April 8th, the moon will begin to cover the sun at 2:07PM where totality begins at 3:20PM and will last for three minutes and thirty-eight seconds. The eclipse ends at 4:33PM.

On April 8th at 1:00PM, I drove to Homesteads For Hope to experience the celestial event. Although the news for the last few weeks was talking about bad traffic on the day of the eclipse, the roads were empty on my way to the farm.

At the farm, I was greeted by a Homesteads For Hope worker who directed me to check-in tables by the barns. I told them my name and they couldn’t find me on the list. We realized that Spencerport Media was on the list and not my name. After checking in, I walked to the back of the property where a lot of people were gathered at picnic tables and in their own personal chairs. I found a spot at a picnic table and sat there rather than use the chair that I brought. Leon Hsu and Max Robbins were playing the keyboard and trumpet for entertainment. I listened to them for a little while and then went over to Agatina’s Food Truck. I ordered fried brussel sprouts and a bottled water and returned to my picnic table to eat.

I listened to the music some more and enjoyed the overall atmosphere with people talking at their seats and people walking around the property. In one of the barns there was activities to do such as creating tie dye t-shirts and playing with galaxy slime. At one point, I went to the farm store and got a cup of coffee.

At 3:00PM, the duo stopped playing music and packed up their instruments. DJ Bullfrog started to set up to play music for the guests. Ever since I got there, the atmosphere was very casual and it was remarkable how I wasn’t really getting excited for the total eclipse. It might be because it’s so cloudy out and we won’t be able to see the moon go over the sun.

The CEO of Homesteads for Hope, Jennyrae Brongo, spoke just before the total eclipse, and got everyone ready for the big event. I was actually getting a little bit nervous waiting for it to get dark. When it finally did get dark though, it was really cool to experience. Some people clapped but I just sat there in awe of the change of light. I was surprised to hear the DJ start to play music while it was dark. He played Total Eclipse of the Heart.

After it got light again, Jennyrae spoke one more time, thanking everyone for coming and then the DJ continued to play music. As I was leaving, the song that was playing was Dancing in the Dark.

Dan Bauman

Fun activities in Spencerport

Events in Spencerport:

Saint Patrick’s Day is on March 17th. McColley’s, the Irish pub, will be open at 10AM on March 16th and March 17th.

Chef’s Open House and Mini Bridal Show is on March 13th from 6-9PM.

Trivia Night Fundraiser at Rustic Roots on March 13th from 5-9PM. This event supports the Spencerport Education Foundation.

Coming up: 

There’s a new mule mural going up at the Spencerport Depot and Canal Museum this Spring. The mule was painted by Spencerport resident Michele Jenco. The name of the mule is Charles and the mural is about Spencerport’s Eric Canal history.