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Fresh mountain air eases through the windows, ushering in the kind of calm that makes for a perfect nap. But I only close my eyes for five minutes before a beckoning in the distance shatters my peace. The shouting gets closer: “AUNTIE TAY!” I giggle as my five-year-old niece, Mae Mae, sprints toward my bedroom, repeating my name the whole…
1.01.2026
If you’ve spent a winter in Rochester, you know the struggle. The gray skies linger, the wind bites, and sunlight becomes a rumor. By February, even the hardiest locals start daydreaming about someplace warm, vibrant, and lively. Luckily, such a destination now exists right in the city—and you don’t even have to pack any bags. Easy Sailor, a tiki-inspired bar…
1.01.2026
(585) photographers Michael Hanlon, Renée Veniskey, and Tomas Flint Who doesn’t love a good stiff drink on a snowy January evening? The photographers at (585) sure do. Each was asked to pick his or her favorite cocktail in the Rochester area—their go-to, ride or die. . . their hygge drink of choice. Of course, it’s hard to pick just one…
1.01.2026
Trudging through the snow during a Western New York winter is better when your destination is fireside. An old-fashioned bonfire can feed your soul when you’re longing for sunshine and warmer weather, and outdoor relaxation can help break up the monotonous feeling of cold, dark, and wet days as exposure to daylight and sunshine is reduced mid-winter in the (585).…
1.01.2026
There’s a raw honesty to a farm-to-table restaurant in January.  For nearly two decades, chef Art Rogers has transformed the bounty of our region into something extraordinary. His restaurant Lento, tucked in the Village Gate Square, has become the unofficial embassy of the Finger Lakes agricultural scene. The menu reads like a roll call of farming’s local celebrities—duck from the…
1.01.2026
Dr. Keisha N. Blain is an acclaimed historian, Brown University professor, and best-selling author. Her new book, Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights, tells the stories of Black women who were at the forefront of movements for social change, including several whose place in history is being unveiled for the very first time. Fannie Barrier Williams,…
1.01.2026
My husband, Mike, and I moved into the historic DeLand House in the village of Fairport in October 2018. The home we left behind, a perfectly nice 1970s colonial in Perinton, had all the basics most people look for: central air, reliable electricity, and decent plumbing. Our “new” house, built in 1856, greeted us with quite the opposite: knob-and-tube wiring…
1.01.2026
Volcanic soil is rich in minerals that can nurture plants. For one innovative and dedicated husband-and-wife team, that fertile soil can also be turned into handmade pigments, and those pigments can be turned into stunning works of art. Hayley Dayis and Alexander Fals of Foraged Pigment Art occupy a unique place in the contemporary art scene. The couple splits their…
1.01.2026
Lift Bridge Yarns is more than just a yarn store. It is a hub for the fiber arts community to gather, a rare third space where people come to connect, converse, and create. Lift Bridge began just four months before the pandemic hit, founded by two friends, Dawn Verdugo and Jessie McNaughton. The store sits along the Erie Canal in…
1.01.2026
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Date night to-do list

The (585) region is rich with culture and food—but sometimes, we take the work that happens behind-the-scenes for granted. Who are the players on stage and in the pits, really? Many of them are locals: our neighbors, perhaps, or people we push carts beside in the grocery store. Oh, and it turns out that quite …

Geneseo's Grammy nominee

When life gives you lemons, as the popular saying goes, the resourceful among us make lemonade. Such is the case with Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer-recording engineer, and Geneseo native Mike Brown, who doesn’t shy away from discussing the succession of hand injuries that forced him to come up with the workaround “trilling” method of guitar …

Shooting a music video

In the center of a room littered with antique chairs, discarded clothing, and something dubbed the “beer urinal,” the members of Talking Under Water were quoting The Big Lebowski. And much like The Dude—the protagonist in the Coen brothers’ cult classic—lead singer and pianist Dave Chisholm expressed his admiration for Creedence Clearwater Revival. But after a …

REVIEW // West Side Story on Westside Drive

When it opened on Broadway in 1957, West Side Story was a cutting edge, raw musical, almost ahead of its time—in the vein of recent musicals Rent, Book of Mormon, or Urinetown. The story is set in Upper West Side Manhattan (which was a blue collar community in the 50s) and centered on the rivalry …

Radio for the people

It would be pretty cool to have your own radio station and give all your friends their own shows. When Matt Werts posted this thought on Facebook in February 2012, he had no idea it would become reality just three years later. It may not have, had Mike Yates not emailed him to ask if …

WAYO’s (585) magazine mix

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