LEROYPENNYSAVER&NEWS - JUNE 8, 2014
Extra Points
byLynneBelluscio
I cannot spell. I hated spelling
bees when I was in school and
in college, I remember more
than once having a paper failed
because I had more than five
misspelled words. When I was
student teaching - inasixthgrade
in Clyde, NewYork, I admitted
to the class that I had difficulty
spelling. Imadeadealwith them.
If they discovered a misspelled
word that I had written on the
board or in a ditto that I passed
out, I would give them extra
points on their next test. It put
me onmy toes and the kidswere
anxious tofindamisspelledword.
But now I need a fact checker.
Last week, Sam Zalacca
stopped by to tell me that the
article about the Ingham art
student, Augusta Palmer, had
a glaring error. I mentioned
that in the background she had
painted thesteepleofSt. Joseph’s
Church, when in fact, as Sam
pointedout,St. Joe’swasn’tbuilt
yet. “Mygoodness, Samyou are
indeed right. You get an extra
point on your next paper.” That
slippedbyme.
Of course itwas the steeple of
St. Peter’s Church. The church
was dedicated in 1873. The
steeple was struck by lightning
and torndown in1930. Just likea
coupleofweeksago, Imentioned
that the Triangle Tract marker
wasonSouthStreetwhen in fact
it was on Summit Street. I hate
when I do that, but on the other
hand, it’sgood toknow thereare
some of you out there reading
these articles and are checking
up onme!
Many years ago, I put
an “Errata” article in the
Pennysaver
, to correct some
of the mistakes I had made.
Heavenforbid, that infiftyyears,
someone reading these articles
is going to cite them for fact.
Sincemost of these articles are
now posted on the Internet and
areavailable inadigital format,
I have been able to correct
them, so I’ll call Terry at the
Pennysaver
and ask her correct
theAugustaPalmer article.
I’m not too sure what to do
about theerror in theLeRoybook
that Iwrotea fewyearsback. On
page82 I includedaphotoof the
Civil War Monument on Trigon
Park and the caption read: “This
photographwas taken on Trigon
Park in front of the Soldier’s
Monument on dedication day,
May30,1906.”As itwaspointed
out to me, in the background
is the Union Free School that
wasn’t opened until 1911, so the
photograph could not have been
taken in 1906 - - -unless it was
Photoshopped. (So if you have
a copy of the book, turn to page
82 and correct it to read: “This
photographwas taken on Trigon
Park sometime after 1911 in
frontof theSoldier’sMonument,
whichhadbeendedicatedonMay
30, 1906.”
All thosedates andnames that
wehad tomemorizeareprobably
written instone, butoccasionally
there’s something that comes to
light that putsadifferent twist on
history. It’s like giving Thomas
Edison all the credit for the
electric lightbulb,whenwe really
need to learnabout NikolaTesla.
It’salso the reasonwhy Ihesitate
to say that PearleWait invented
Jell-O. He didn’t invent it. He
trademarked thebrandname.And
we believe that it was his wife
May that cameupwith thename.
At the time, there were several
other gelatin concoctions being
sold, under a variety of names.
But it’s not right to give Peter
Cooper the credit for inventing
Jell-O either. Peter Cooper did
patent a gelatin-basedproduct in
1945,buthedidn’t inventgelatin.
There were recipes for flavored
“jellies”waybeforePeterCooper
invented his concoction.
As a curious sideline - I was
in Gowanda last week to give a
talk about LeRoy’s Barn Quilt
Trail and discovered that from
1904until1984, thePeterCooper
Glue and Gelatin Factory was
located in Gowanda adjacent to
theEasternTannersGlueFactory.
The tannerysupplied thehidesfor
thecollagen in theglue. (Another
Peter Cooper glue factory was
located inCarrollville,Wisconsin
but as far as I can tell, none of
these factories supplied gelatin
for Jell-O. All of the gelatin for
Jell-O isproducedat theAtlantic
Gelatin Company in Woburn,
Massachusetts. )
SoforsomepeopleIwillaward
extra points for fact finding, but
I’ve decided to deduct points
when people mispronounce
LeRoy. As I have said many
times, the Town and the Village
are named for Herman LeRoy.
He was a descendant of French
Huguenotsand thename isFrench
and ispronounced luh roy,not lee
roy. Isuspect that the family rolls
over in theirgravesevery time the
name ismispronounced. Noone
likes their namemispronounced.
I think the next fund raiser for
the Historical Society will be a
jar in themiddleof every tableat
anymeeting in town,atanysports
event, andonanybar.Theerrant
personwhosays lee roywillhave
to contribute a quarter. Maybe
cheerleaders from the opposing
teams who scream “Destroy
LeRoy” will have to apply for a
permit or better yet, have a point
taken away from the score. Just
a thought . . . .
