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The Yankee Express

WDBA meeting boosts SSE’s prospects for more events

Lucas Perzan, re-elected president of the Webster Dudley Business Alliance, is joined by Kim Labbe, treasurer, Tamera Taft, director, Nancy Healy, alternate director, Jess Sabine, director, Carl Kaliszewski, vice president, Deb Horan, director, and Mark Marzeotti, secretary at the WDBA’s annual meeting at the Samuel Slater Experience in Webster. Director Halina Jachimczak was not able to attend. Photo by Sally Patterson

By ROD LEE

The prevailing mood during the annual meeting of the Webster Dudley Business Alliance on October 19th was appreciation for the setting: the new Samuel Slater Experience on Ray Street in Webster.
As host for the evening, Barbara Van Reed expressed a hope that more groups like the WDBA will take advantage of the chance to mix and mingle in a museum brimming with interactive exhibits showcasing the life and times of the founder of the American Industrial Revolution.
In expressing thanks as she accepted a plaque from WDBA President Lucas Perzan of Insation Technologies in Webster in recognition of the SSE’s first year of operation, Ms. Van Reed said “we are glad you are here. We need more events!”
Prestige Salon & Day Spa, a new business in town, and Marty’s of Dudley, a longtime presence, were also honored with plaques.
Marty’s supplied the night’s beverages, dutifully dispensed by Mark Marzeotti of the Marzeotti Realty Group. Big Belly Café in Webster provided the food.
When it comes to getting companies and organizations to join schools, senior centers and others in sampling the Samuel Slater Experience as a venue, museum staffers are already making progress.
An example of this will occur on Friday, November 4th with “Night at the Museum: Silent Movies with Richard Hughes,” from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. This is a free event but pre-registration is encouraged, at [email protected]. Popcorn and a cash bar will be available.
The opportunity to watch two silent movie classics with Mr. Hughes providing musical accompaniment on the piano is exactly the kind of attraction that Ms. Van Reed and her colleagues know will enhance the museum’s appeal to visitors.
The choice of films for Night at the Museum will go far in bringing to life the adventure, drama, romance and comedy that characterized the silent movies of the early 1900s in the Liberty Theater along the re-creation of Main St.—one of the museum’s most popular exhibits.
Charlie Chaplin’s “The Immigrant” is considered by critics and enthusiasts to be among his best work. “Sherlock Jr.” starring Buster Keaton has been named one of the American Film Institute’s funniest movies of all time.
Networking that preceded the business portion of the WDBA’s annual meeting included discussion among the principals involved about why there is no hotel in the town of Webster; the growth that has been experienced in nearby Putnam; and Webster in the days of yore.
“In the last ten years, Putnam has really taken off,” Dan Bennett of DBC Solutions, which specializes in residential remodeling and outdoor living, said. Mr. Bennett is president of the Thompson Business Association.
“I remember going roller skating on the second floor (of a building) on Main St.,” Deb Horan, owner of Booklovers’ Gourmet, said.
Ms. Horan’s store at 72 E. Main St. in Webster will host the next gathering of the Webster Dudley Business Alliance, a holiday party from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 6th.
With the WDBA certain to return to the Samuel Slater Experience, the museum is gradually building interest in after-hours events.
For more information about the Alliance, go to thewdba.org.

Contact Rod Lee at [email protected] or 774-232-2999.