It’s that time of year again, and you’ve got a long list of things to do. Student forms, lunch accounts, after-school care and sports, not to mention school supplies! If this is the year you made a vow to get more organized, here are nine tips to make the struggle easier and the kids happier. 

HOMEWORK BATTLES 

Homework can ruin the evening for everyone. My best tips are to give your child as much choice as possible, like which subject to work on first. Serve a snack to avoid the hangries and build in plenty of breaks for every twenty minutes of homework. Mini dance party! If your child is really struggling, break their work and chores into smaller pieces. Bonus tip: Keep a homework station nearby. Whether it’s a rolling cart or a drawer, having a designated spot for supplies will make life easier for everyone. 

THE NEVERENDING LAUNDRY 

If you just sang that out loud, I think we need to be friends. Oh, the unending madness of washing, drying, sorting, folding and ironing. Who am I kidding? We only use the iron for melting craft beads. But I have eliminated all the sorting by […]

585mag.com/585-kids/ [Summer issue]

It’s a Friday night in Rochester and the ice has been covered at the Tim Hortons iceplex. The rink is packed with local vendors like Jon’tae Eats, JonJohns Bakery, and the Rochester Music Hall of Fame. Food and wine samples are being given out to the ticket holders who have donated to the Holy Childhood school.  

The Dawgs are on stage, playing “What I Like About You,” as an interpreter signs the lyrics. Dressed in matching hockey jerseys with their band nicknames on their backs, these musicians put the fun in fundraising. A crowd gathers, and people can’t help but dance as the band plays “Let’s Go Crazy” while Prince’s music video is projected up on the big screen.  

As Rochester’s premier fundraising party band, these bandmates don’t take themselves too seriously, except when it comes to the causes in their community. This is their third year performing at the Wegmans Wine at Center Ice event, and, just like every other concert they play, they do not accept any form of payment for their performance. […]

585mag.com [July/Aug Issue]

“It’s a beautiful place to work. It’s extraordinary.” 

Head chef Lou Ruscitto-Donato authors the dinner programs at Aurora Cooks!, a culinary experience nestled in a picturesque town at the Inns of Aurora Resort and Spa. During peak season, she offers a different experience for every night of the week, utilizing food and wine from the Finger Lakes area. 

From a panadería in Los Angeles to the shores of Cayuga Lake, her career has taken her from coast to coast. When the pandemic devastated the restaurant industry, Ruscitto-Donato was left wondering how she fit into that picture anymore. She saw an ad for Inns of Aurora and decided to throw her hat into the ring […]

585mag.com [May/June issue]

Do you know where you’ll be on April 8 at 3:20 p.m.? Many of us have made plans to gather with friends and don special eyewear. Schools will close as Rochester hosts a one-of-a-kind celebration. Thousands will travel to our area from far away just to be in the path of totality under Rochester’s first full solar eclipse in nearly 100 years! 

Our city is situated to provide a perfect view of the eclipse, and experts are estimating up to half a million out-of-towners will be visiting our area. The predicted height of totality will happen at 3:20 pm., when the sky gets cool and dark, and the sun, moon, and Earth form a perfectly straight line. This syzygy, or alignment, blocks the solar light from reaching the Earth. The entire eclipse will last from 2:07 p.m. to 4:33 p.m. in Rochester.

According to the Haudeosaunee, the world’s oldest confederacy began under a solar eclipse. With the nations at war with one another, a man named Hiawatha attempted to unify the chiefs of the Oneida, Cayuga, Mohawk, Seneca, and Onondaga into one grand council. It was ultimately the voice of Jigonhsaseh that brought them all together. […]

585mag.com [March/April issue]

I love to give my kids as much time outdoors as possible during the summer. We’re all in a better mood after a day of fresh air and exercise, and there are many great places around Rochester to go for a hike and appreciate the wildlife all around us. 

Studies show that outdoor play improves gross motor skills and emotional regulation while decreasing stress and rates of childhood obesity, according to Doctor Laura Kopp of Panorama Pediatrics. Here are some tips to stay safe this summer so you can enjoy all the fun. […]

585mag.com/585-kids/ [Spring 2024 Issue]

If you’re from Brockport, you probably know about Fannie Barrier Williams. But most of us don’t recognize the name, despite her former status as a national celebrity. Barrier Williams was a suffragist, civil rights leader, orator, and changemaker. She was born and raised in Brockport, and hers was one of the only Black families in the community. In 1870, she would become the first Black woman to graduate from SUNY Brockport.

After college, Barrier Williams took a teaching position in Mississippi and experienced a level of racism she had never before encountered. It broke her spirit and led her toward a life as an activist. She moved to Boston to study piano but was asked to leave after her presence made white students uncomfortable. She met her husband, Samuel, and moved to Chicago where he started a law practice, and she became active in the local community.

Barrier Williams started by fighting for women’s rights in the workplace and pushed for housing and health facilities for women and children in poverty. She fought to become the first […]

585mag.com [Jan/Feb 2024 Issue]

Twelve-year-old Erik Gomez has one dream: to be a professional Major League Baseball player. He wears a championship ring from a tournament in Cooperstown and his favorite player is Fernando Tatis, Jr. of the Padres. Gomez trains five to six days a week at PAWS, a one-of-a-kind center with a turfed field, pitching machines, an amazing sound system and graffiti-lined walls. You may remember PAWS or “Providing Animal Welfare Services” as a group that supports city pet owners. The owners built dog houses, launched a spay/neuter program, and provided low-cost pet care units. Starting in 2018, they worked diligently on a new vision to serve the community through sports. After a few years and a lot of hard work, the youth and advocacy center officially opened. Cofounders Matt and Laura Piccone believe that sports, primarily baseball and softball, will be the catalyst for social change within their community.

“I still have a strong drive to help the animals, but you have to help the people first,” says Matt. “If communities are suffering, animals are suffering. If people are concerned with baseball, they start to […]

585kids.com [Fall 2023 Issue]

Calling all goblins, ghouls, and ghosts! Attention: all princesses, Pokemon, and pumpkins! Do your kids love to play dress up? Be sure to add this Halloweenthemed activity to your October calendar. The Al Sigl WalkAbout is a day of indoor fun where families and individuals served by Al Sigl’s seven member agencies gather together for accessible trick-or-treating at Eastview Mall. This free event, held on October 22, ends with a costume contest for people of all ages and abilities. Everyone is […]

585kids.com [2023 Fall Issue]

Angelina Hilton has been traveling back to the reservation in Kansas every year since she was a little girl. She recently made the decision to bring her Native traditions and culture home to the people of Rochester. 

Native Made, Hilton’s small business, provides marketing services for Native American–owned businesses. She has made it her mission to increase Indigenous visibility and reduce barriers for Native people to enter the marketplace. Last November, she saw an opportunity to share her heritage with her Rochester neighborhood. Hilton hosted Indigenous vendors and presenters at the first Native Made Market at POP ROC, the pop-culture cafe she cofounded with her husband, Jason.

Hilton is listed on the roll of the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri and is the sixth-generation granddaughter of Rantchewaime (Flying Pigeon) and Iowa Chief Mahaska (White Cloud). Her family moved to the Rochester area when she was a child, where she learned her new home was rich in Native culture and history, being the land of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Hilton cherished the […]

585mag.com [Nov/Dec 2023 issue]

When Joseph Nardone bought his current home in 1999, the simple backyard consisted of a pool, a white fence, and a lonesome walnut tree. After knocking down the fence, he discovered he had been given a blank canvas to decorate. That’s when he started planting. 

“I learned as I went,” Nardone says. “I just kept adding.” […]

585mag.com [Sept/Oct 2023 Issue]