LEROYPENNYSAVER&NEWS -AUGUST17, 2014
Welcome To The Jell-OMuseum
byLynneBelluscio
On August 8, the door to the
Jell-O Gallery was wide open
and the Jell-O Brick Road was
filled with folks anxious to see
the museum. They had come
from all over the United States
on the “Mini Takes The States”
Road Rally. Many of them had
started their trip inSanFrancisco
onJuly26.Othershad just joined
the group in Buffalo and were
planning todrive the last two legs
of the rally toBethlehem,PAand
on toBoston.
One teamwas fromGermany,
and they had shipped their car
to San Francisco and had driven
cross-Russiaandcross-Australia.
There were a lot of folks from
Canada. A quick look at the
list only excludes, teams from
Alaska, Maryland, Alabama,
Arkansas, Oregon, Idaho and
NorthDakota.
It’s hard to know exactly
how many people visited on
Friday, but it certainlywasmore
than 600 - - all in two hours.
None of it would have been
possible without a lot of help.
First and foremost, the Gallery
Staff –TerryBlackburn (and her
husband), Ruth Koch (and her
husband ),RuthHarvie,Elizabeth
Bolton and Ryan Mangefrida.
And the volunteer members
of the Historical Society - -
JoanneGraham andher husband
Gary, Dan Cote, Scott Ripley,
Shelia Furr, Cheryll Fernaays,
Sue Privitera and her husband,
Barb Elliott, June Dusen and
her husband Chuck, Michelle
Penepento, Bob Collette, Eileen
Partise, LauraWilliams and her
family - - and the list goes on.
A special thank-you toLeRoy
Central School - Kim Cox
who made it possible to use
the field behind the school for
parking and who told me last
Wednesday at Rotary ... “We’ve
made arrangements for several
Porta-Johns.” (What awonderful
“gift”)!
TheLeRoyPoliceDepartment,
came to the rescue directing
traffic and interceding with the
DOT. The resurfacing project
had gotten bogged down and it
looked as if the road crew was
going tobeeither onMainStreet
or onWest Main. We learned a
fewdays earlier that therewould
be no paving onMain Street on
FridaybutWestMainStreetwas
still on schedule. I called the
Genesee County Sheriff’s office
andasked if theycouldhelpwith
a detour fromBatavia to LeRoy
butwithinhours,we learned that
theWestMain repavingwouldbe
postponedand thesecondcoatof
pavingwouldbe appliedonEast
MainRoad. Eureka - - theMinis
would have clear sailing into
LeRoy. Andwecouldsend them
downSouthStreetRoad toRoute
20 toavoid thestopandgo traffic
onEastMainStreet.
The folksenjoyedhaving their
pictures taken under the Jell-O
arch and in the Jell-O truck and
on the Jell-Owagonandwith the
LeRoycow. Theyvoted for their
favorite flavor – Cherrywith 84
votes; Strawberry with 76 votes
followed closely by Lime with
71. (The team fromGermanyhad
no ideawhich flavor to vote for.
They had never had Jell-O.)
Since theMinis left LeRoywe
have been picking up Facebook
messages and emails. “The stop
in LeRoy at the Jell-OMuseum
was the best stop on the whole
trip!” “We couldn’t believe the
reception in LeRoy! Everyone
was so friendly. It was as if we
werepartof the family!”“People
were sitting in chairs waving to
us,evenbeforewegot into town.”
“What awonderful place.”
And so the Minis have come
and gone, but the memories for
usand the folks that camehere to
visit arewonderful.Thankyou to
the folks inLeRoywhomade the
day so great for all of us.
