KidsOutAndAbout's weekly e-newsletter |
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Dear KidsOutAndAbout readers:
I’m a sucker for songs in 6/8 time, no matter the music style. I don’t know why that ONE-two-three-FOUR-five-six swinging rhythm so captures me whether it’s fast or slow, but there’s no denying that it does. And I might not even notice this rhythm, but for one little fact: I’m a thoroughly mediocre cellist. I took cello lessons from age 8 to age 14; during
those years, I graduated from “truly bad” to “moderately acceptable,” at least acceptable enough to play in orchestras where my individual sound would be drowned out by the better kids’ playing. But even as unskilled as I was, I know I am happier as an adult for having played: I can understand music from the inside. I hear patterns and styles and instruments with far different ears than I would have had I not studied music early in life. Understanding what makes your heart sing helps you
be on the lookout for more, and that makes your life better. Summer is the perfect season to help kids grow their ears. Yes, check out the big open-air concerts from your local orchestra, municipal band, or jazz ensemble. But also keep an active ear out for the smaller stuff: free concerts in parks, weekly community series, festivals, buskers, church lawn performances, library gigs, and whatever band happens to be playing near the funnel cakes. When you hear something, name
it: bluegrass, salsa, soul, swing, zydeco, classical, funk, folk, rock, rap, mariachi. Kids don’t have to like everything, but knowing the names of things helps them understand what they do like, and gives them handles for finding more of it later. A couple of tips: If you know you're headed in the direction of something new, play a sample of the style before you leave so kids have a hook on which to hang the experience. While you’re there, help them notice one thing: the bass
line, the drummer, the singer’s breathing, the way people move. That will help the music swirl around in their minds long after the last note fades. Remember, music isn’t only on stages. It’s in carousels, movie scores, worship services, elevators, malls, ballparks, and the ice cream truck coming around the corner. So as tour guide to your kids’ universe, don’t ignore the invisible! Point your ears toward the music, tune everyone's radar, and grow.
—Debra
Ross, publisher of KidsOutAndAbout.com, co-author of The Eclipse Effect: How to Seize Extraordinary Moments to Build Strong Communities
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KidsOutAndAbout.com: Discover more. Connect more. Do more. If you like my publisher's column, you can easily scroll through past columns in the "Notes from Deb" section of our site. |
VOTING ENDS SATURDAY NIGHT! PLEASE VOTE NOW! Anything can happen in the last few days, and often does! 😅 Here is where the Top 20 Places survey stands as of Wednesday night: 1: The Strong; 2: Seneca Park Zoo; 3: YMCA of Greater Rochester; 4: RMSC & Strasenburgh Planetarium; 5: Seabreeze Amusement Park; 6: Wickham Farms; 7: Ladybugs Play; 8:
Stokoe Farms; 9: Genesee Country Village and Museum; 10: "My Local Library"; 11: Letchworth State Park; 12: TYKEs (Theatre Young Kids Enjoy); 13: Lollypop Farm; 14: Memorial Art Gallery; 15: Rochester Red Wings; 16: Powers Farm Market; 17: Altitude Trampoline Park; 18: Cumming Nature Center; 19: The Corning Museum of Glass; 20: Rochester Public Market Voting closes this Saturday, June 20, and anything can happen... Please VOTE NOW! It matters! |
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Join us Friday, June 19, for Juneteenth when kids 12 and under get in FREE. Learn about the history of enslavement and freedom in Western New York from our trained historians in four Historic Village houses and take the guided "Toward Freedom & Fairness” Walking Tour. Then, bring Dad for a fun day out on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21 – he gets in FREE! Watch historical trades in action, visit farm animals, explore our new 50th anniversary exhibit in the Wehle Gallery, and enjoy a 19th-century base ball double-header. Don’t miss out on our Father’s Day Chicken Barbeque Dinner. All kids 12 and under will receive free admission to the Museum on July 4 and 5 too! (Note: An earlier edition of this paragraph incorrectly stated that the free Juneteenth admission day was today.)
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Friday, June 19, 2026 12pm-5pm: Celebrate Juneteenth at the RMSC! Join us for a joyful day featuring live performances by local community members, our Black-Owned business bazaar, sweet treats, hands-on activities and crafts, delicious food, education about Juneteenth history, and more! This event will take place at the Museum & Science Center and is included with paid admission. The Black-Owned Bazaar is free and will be held in the RMSC Eisenhart Auditorium.
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The New York Museum of Transportation announces its Father's Day Special! Fathers and Grandfathers receive free admission Sunday, June 21 when accompanied by a youth age 3 – 12. The model railroad is in operation, sure to give everyone fresh ideas for their own home layouts. Climb into the cab of a steam locomotive and ring the bell in a trolley car. Highway and horse-drawn vehicles, models, photos, and smaller artifacts bring transportation history to life. Open 11 to 4.
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Join the Victor Farmington Library on Friday, June 26th from 9 am to 6 pm for the Readathon. This celebration of reading kicks off summer vacation for families! The fun includes a read-aloud marathon with special guests like local authors reading their favorite children’s books aloud every 20-minutes. Watch for them to engage the audience with costumes, activities, and more. Victor Robotics will be on hand leading STEM activities and cool demonstrations. Plus, enjoy free kids crafts and complimentary refreshments donated by local businesses. Stay for a few readers or catch them all! While you’re here, pick up your Summer Reading Challenge. Visit https://www.victorfarmingtonlibrary.org/readathon for details.
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For over 40 years, SummerWrite has inspired Rochester’s children and teens to write their own stories, make new friends, and discover creative ways to express themselves. Choose from 29 different camps that explore fiction and fantasy, puppetry, graphic novels, playwriting and filmmaking, D&D, music, and more! Highly skilled teaching artists deliver engaging programs that build new skills while centering joy in the learning process. These dynamic camps nurture creativity, confidence, and community. For ages 7-17. Need-based scholarships are available for every SummerWrite camp. Camps are filling: reserve your spot today!
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Make it a great summer with Martial Arts America's 6-week starter karate program. Get 6 weeks of lessons (up to 2 times per week) starting in July! During the 6 weeks, your child will experience the excitement and fun of our karate classes, and you'll get to see how karate can teach the life skills you're seeking for your child. After you register, we'll contact you to set up your first lesson, and we'll go over the continuing lessons and membership programs with you. Price is $129, or $149 with a complete karate uniform! Choose from three locations: Brighton, Penfield, or Webster!
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The Red Wings are home at ESL Ballpark through Father’s Day, with a packed weekend of baseball, giveaways, and family fun as they take on the Toledo Mud Hens. Tonight’s game features the Rochester Plates, a Plates Jersey Giveaway for the first 500 fans age 21 and older, and College Day deals. Friday honors the Negro Leagues as the Wings play as the Rochester American Giants, with a Tom Alston Bobblehead Giveaway for the first 1,000 fans and post-game fireworks. Saturday brings more fireworks, Cocos Locos Night, a Hawaiian Shirt Giveaway for the first 1,000 fans, and Bruce Fetching Bats. Then wrap up the homestand Sunday afternoon with Father’s Day at the ballpark, a pre-game autograph booth, Knot Hole Kids Club Day, and Kids Run the Bases with Spikes & Mittsy after the game.
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June 18-21, 2026, Harborfest returns to Ontario Beach Park and the Port of Rochester for its 40th annual celebration of summer on the lakeshore. Families can enjoy festive waterfront fun, including dockside tours and public sails aboard the 1893 tall ship Lettie G. Howard, plus a Saturday performance by the X-Squad Water Ski Show Team. The weekend also features favorites like sand sculpting, a nighttime Boat Parade of Lights, volleyball, the historic Dentzel Carousel, Charlotte Lighthouse tours, wine tastings, live music, food vendors, and more—a lively kickoff to summer by Lake Ontario!
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Free Friday night concerts in the summer in Carpenter Park, 22 North Main Street, starting 6:30pm: At the Port of Pittsford Park on Friday evenings. This season’s lineup features a wide range of music, including jazz, classic roots rock, country, a Tom Petty Tribute band, and more. Bring your lawn chairs or a blanket, grab dinner from an on-site food truck or from one of Pittsford’s many local eateries, and enjoy a fun, relaxing evening along the historic Erie Canal with family and friends.
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Commemorate Juneteenth by joining the Blackstorytelling League of Rochester, NY, Inc., specifically Shirley Strothers and Eunice White, at the Mendon Public Library for a special afternoon of stories for all ages. Register to save your seat.
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The Rochester Red Wings are family-friendly baseball at its finest! Join us for this homestand as your Red Wings take on the Toledo Mud Hens! Game details for dates, times, and promotions are in the description.
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Take an open-air safari bus tour or self-drive through our 63 acre park for an up close and personal experience to view and feed exotic animals such as camels, zebra, llama, emu, bison, and many more. Leave time to walk among, pet, and feed smaller, friendly animals in our Small Animal Adventure. Fun for the whole family. Tours run 10:30am to 3:30pm. Park grounds are open 10am to 5pm. Order tickets online. Purchase a COMBO (park tour with SAA) for best value. Kids age 2 and under go free. The adventure is closer than you think.
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Join us for the College Town Carnival on Saturday, June 20 from 11 AM–4 PM for a day of shopping, food, drinks, and family fun in the heart of Rochester! Enjoy local vendors, carnival games, face painting, music, balloons, a soft play zone, and more while supporting small businesses and exploring everything College Town has to offer. Free parking is always available in the garage!
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Cruise with us and celebrate Father's Day! Narrated cruise from the Village of Fairport to the Village of Pittsford and then back to Fairport (No lock passage on this cruise)
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Cruise with birding experts Randi and Nic Minetor and observe some of the 100 species of birds that make their home along the Erie Canal and Genesee River. Perfect for every bird watcher from novice to die-hard enthusiast, you’ll see local birds in their lush habitat and learn to identify them from sight and sound. Participants are encouraged to bring their own binoculars, though binoculars will be available on board for use during the cruise.
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Fathers Day Fishing derby event in Mount Morris on Sunday June 21st from 10am-4pm. The derby fee includes not only entry for the fishing contest but also access to all barnyard activities on property, such as bounce houses, zip lines, axe throwing (kids and adults), petting zoo, and so much more. Dads get in for free, 12 dollars admission for everyone else, kids 2 and under are free.
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Sunday, June 21, 2026 | 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM: Start off this summer with a day dedicated to celebrating Dad! Join us at Lincoln Hill Farms for a laid-back, family-friendly Father’s Day filled with live entertainment, great food and drinks, and plenty of chances to show Dad some love (and maybe embarrass him just a little). Bring your dad, stepdad, grandfather, uncle, or any father figure in your life and enjoy a one-of-a-kind Finger Lakes experience, all with FREE admission and FREE parking.
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Step aboard history this Father’s Day as the replica canal boat Seneca Chief canal boat replica makes a special stop in Fairport. Visitors are invited to explore this remarkable vessel up close, enjoy hands-on activities for all ages, and hear directly from the crew during a lively panel discussion about life on the canal—past and present. It’s a unique opportunity to connect with the rich heritage of the Erie Canal and create a memorable day along the waterfront.
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READY Parent ACTION Academy empowers parents and caregivers of K-12 students in Rochester with the knowledge and tools to actively shape Rochester's education systems. Graduates of this program have the confidence to advocate and collaborate for meaningful change, set clear goals, and engage effectively to improve K-12 schools. We're accepting applications to participate in our next cohort(s) until June 30, 2026. Sessions begin July 20.
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Have a wonderful weekend!
Debra Ross
Publisher, KidsOutAndAbout.com
Mom of Madison and Ella |
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