​Please help me in welcoming a new business to Hamlin. Duane and Stacey DeRoller, of Hamlin, have opened Affordably Mine - a modern take at a variety store - at 2176 Lake Rd. N. (across from Krony's in the former Dog Hair Everywhere). Duane is a veteran of the US NAVY (thank you for your 13 years of service Duane).

The store is very unique, welcoming and full of bargains.

​Per Stacey: "We sell brand new merchandise that is exactly what you would find in any big retail store. We also sell NEW merchandise that may have damaged boxes. We have some store returned merchandise that has been tested and/or verified complete. We want to ensure that you are getting good, undamaged products."

The store also operates a "live" Facebook page for buying at Affordably Mine LLC Live.

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Please join me in welcoming a new business to town! Nate Riexinger, a 2019 graduate of Brockport High School, has opened Rexy’s Rockin Tees at 2326 Colby Street.

I stopped out recently to check out Rexy's and was so impressed by Nate's designs (he had just finished awesome shirts for Daughtry band member Elvio Fernandes' non-profit Camp ROC Star) Nate does custom screen printing (tees, hats, hoodies, bags, etc.) and laser engraving (glass, wood metal, leather and more).

"It's really nice being a business owner and being able to flex my creative bone this way," said Nate, who is also a talented musician and the co-founder of The Skate To End Hate Event, which holds events to combat bullying.

He established Rexy's in 2020, but just opened his brick and mortar location and went full-time recently. The business also has a trailer with its laser engraving operation inside, which travels to festivals. Nate also hopes to expand Rexy's offerings to embroidery and signs in the future.

Rexy's Rockin Tees is currently open by appointment only by calling Nate at 585-331-1804 or emailing Rexysrockintees@yahoo.com. It's right by the Ledgedale Airpark, next to Jo Jo's Bakery.

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Lift Bridge Book Shop will be hosting author and Brockport High School graduate Kristen Bott Nordstrom for a live reading and signing of her non-fiction picture book Mimic Makers on Thursday, August 12 at 10:30 a.m. 

Mimic Makers profiles ten biomimicry inventors from around the world whose investigations about nature lead to amazing inventions that help people and the planet. These innovators come from different areas of STEM expertise – biologist, chemical engineer, material science engineer, and microbiologist to name a few, but all work in the scientific field of biomimicry.

Kristen is a writer and full-time public school second grade teacher and founding member of a title one STEAM Academy in CA, which serves a beautiful and diverse group of students including: foster youth, bilingual learners, and children on the autism spectrum.

Kristen’s roots are in the Hamlin and Brockport area.  She visits her family every year in Hamlin and enjoys beautiful Lake Ontario, blueberry picking, bike rides to Hamlin Beach State Park, Abbott's ice cream, Lift Bridge Books and the Strand Theater to name just a few. While in town this summer she has also done readings at the Hamlin Public Library and the Seymour Library.

Kristen comes from a big teaching family. Her grandmother - Marjorie VanCise, her mother - Carol Bott, her aunt - Ruth Rath, her uncle and aunt - Bill and Liz Fitzgerald, all taught in the Brockport school systems for most of their teaching careers.

Said Kristen:
I had so many extraordinary teachers in my life from the Brockport area that encouraged me, and taught the positive and powerful impact a teacher can have on a child's life. This is something I've taken with me wherever I've gone in the world. Mr. Dave Kelly was my AP Biology teacher at BHS. He was a great teacher and taught through a whole-system perspective to biology. I also want to thank Mr. John Izzo for being such an incredible teacher and amazing theater director.

By Caurie Putnam

Recently, members of  Brockport's Mary Jane Holmes book club learned that the majority of books requested by Seymour Library patrons had to come from another Monroe County library.

This spurred the group, which is celebrating its 140th anniversary this year, into action!

The group, which also has the distinction of being one - if not thee -  longest continuous book clubs in nation, reached out to another local book club - Loud Ladies Together - for help.

Over lunch at the Red Bird Café in Brockport, the two clubs joined forces and, thus far, through donations to the Foundation of the Seymour Library Inc., have purchased over fifty new books for the library.

"We really want to keep the effort rolling!" said Eileen OHara, who invites other local book clubs to join their campaign.

If interested, clubs can contact OHara at eobooks@gmail.com or Carole Gravetter at cgravetter13@gmail.com. To learn more about the Foundation of the Seymour Library, Inc. visit seymourlibraryweb.org/support/



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