30 Main Street, Macedon NY 14502
Macedon Public Library
30 Main Street, Macedon NY 14502
Wegman's is a Community Partner with New Library
The next time you are checking out books at the new Macedon Public Library, be sure to also check out the tractor, the pumpkins, and the giant carrot in the Children’s Center.
Thanks to the generosity of the Wegman's Food Market in Perinton, the walls in the Children’s section of the library have been decorated with a unique and entertaining Farming and Nature-themed mural. Artist Becky McDonald, a Wegman's employee, designed and painted the mural, which features a bright green tractor, a three-dimensional pumpkin patch, and a variety of other delectable vegetables and cute creatures.
In response to a fundraising proposal developed by the Committee to Rebuild the Macedon Public Library (CRMPL), Wegman's purchased the naming rights to the Children’s Storytime Room. In addition to their initial $7,300 donation, the Rochester-based company also contributed to the building of the window seats and storage shelves within the Storytime Room, and volunteered the services of McDonald to enhance the walls of the entire Children’s Center.
The proposal from Wegman's to assist with the rebuilding of the Library, destroyed by fire in April 2001, came from David Fagner, who has managed the Perinton store since 1985. Fagner, who lives in Newark, has driven by the Main Street location of the Macedon Public Library twice every work day for the past 18 years. His desire to help actually began the day after the fire, when the Perinton store dispatched a lunch van to provide pizza, subs, and soda pop for those volunteers helping to salvage what they could from the smoldering remains of the Macedon Town Hall and the Library.
“I knew the fire would mean a tremendous loss for the community,” said Fagner. “I called shortly after that to see if I could collect books on behalf of the library.”
Alas, the temporary library established on North Wayneport Road was so small, there was no room for storage, and the offer of a sizeable donation of books had to be declined. However, as time went by and ground-breaking for a new Town Hall and Library took place in October 2002, Fagner renewed his efforts to assist.
“I drove by the location every day on the way to work, and every day I saw the new building going up,” he said. “I thought there must be something we could do to help. I asked Tom Williams to look into it for me.”
Williams is the Service Area Manager at the Wegman's store in Perinton, and part of his duties include coordinating community involvement programs and projects. He contacted Macedon Library Manager Darlene Virkler, who in turn involved Library Board of Trustees member Chuck Jefferson and design consultant Anita Aubertine of Northlake Studio. Meetings followed and Jefferson prepared a grant proposal which eventually made its way to Linda Lovejoy, the Community Relations Manager for Wegman's. Lovejoy in turn brought the proposal, backed by a strong endorsement from Fagner, to Wegman's Corporate Contributions Committee. The Committee eventually approved a $7,300 donation in exchange for the naming rights to the Storytime Room. The Wegman's team was not finished yet, however.
“One of our company’s priorities is to be involved in the community and to provide services in those areas in which we can do our best,” said Fagner.
One of those areas of expertise is commercial art and signage. So Becky McDonald, the manager of the Sign Shop at the Perinton Wegman's, was given an assignment outside the boundaries of the store. In consultation with designer Aubertine, and with Wegman's picking up all the costs, McDonald began painting the imaginative mural which now covers the walls of the Children’s Center at the library. And with their expertise in food preparation, the Wegman's stores in Perinton, Penfield and Pittsford have volunteered to serve refreshments during the Grand Opening celebration for the Library, scheduled for Saturday, August 2. To top it all off, Wegman's donated two iMac computers to the library, and their grape hue even matches the interior color scheme.
“Wegman's volunteered to do something at a point of need,” said Jefferson, who is now President of the Library Board of Trustees. “That is an unusual situation. Their willingness to help has been phenomenal! Very few people drive down the road, see a situation in which they can be of help, and then decide to do something so worthwhile for a community.”
Wegman's states that its philosophy is to become involved in the communities where their stores are located, because the continued success of the company is linked to the vitality of the areas in which they operate. They say that supporting projects such as the rebuilding of the Macedon Public Library supports their high priority goal of assisting youngsters to become healthy, productive, independent adults.
“It is a great partnership,” said Virkler. “Wegman's is known for reaching out to the communities around them, and we are so glad they wanted to reach out and partner with us. They have very talented people who work for them, and who do things that we can’t do. They have helped us financially and in artistic ways, and in the long run, it was just a real nice thing for them to do.”
