LEROYPENNYSAVER&NEWS -MARCH 27, 2016
ComeToLeRoyHouseApril 1st& 2nd
andLookForFlamingoEggs
byLynneBelluscio
“There is not a person alive
that remembers the excitement
onApril 1stwhen theflamingoes
returned toLeRoy . . .”
It is a tradition inWashington,
D.C. to have an Easter Egg Roll
on the front lawn of the White
House. In fact, a few years ago,
when Iwas inWashington, Ihap-
pened to see all the preparations
beingmadefor thiscolorfulevent.
Thousands of people flock to the
White House to find, roll and in
some cases throw, Easter Eggs.
Although there are unsubstan-
tiated stories that DollyMadison
may have had Easter egg rolls,
it is generally accepted that the
first Easter egg roll for thepublic
was held on April 2, 1877, on
the grounds of the United States
Capital. Rutherford Hayes was
President.
Manyyears later,FranklinRoo-
sevelthalted theeventbutDwight
Eisenhower reinstated the event
onApril 6, 1953 and relocated it
to theWhite House lawn where
it has beenheld everyyear since.
What most people don’t know
is that the Easter EggRoll was a
popularevent inLeRoy,over for-
tyyearsbeforeRutherfordHayes
began the tradition in1877.
As most of you know an un-
usual phenomenon occurred in
LeRoyonApril1everyyear.This
was theday that thehugeflocksof
flamingoes returned toneston the
chimneysof thehouses inLeRoy
and to eat the large quantities of
fresh water shrimp that lived in
thewaters ofOatkaCreek.
You might have read several
yearsago thatJacobandCharlotte
LeRoy always hosted the annual
FlamingoCotillionhereatLeRoy
House, and each year the deco-
rationswere unique and elegant.
One year – it was 1837 to be
exact and the reason why I re-
member that day is because that
was the yearMarietta andEmily
Inghamwere invited to theparty.
They had gone first to Attica to
begin a girls’ seminary, but a
committee of peoplewent toAt-
tica topersuade theInghamsisters
tocome toLeRoyandestablisha
school on the banks of the great
OatkaCreek.
Emily and Marietta arrived in
town in theearlyspring–probably
around the end of March. They
still hadn’t made up their minds
about moving to LeRoy, but the
more they looked around, the
more they likedwhat they saw.
Charlotte LeRoy, always a
gracious hostess, invited Mari-
etta and Emily to the Flamingo
Cotillion. This was the year that
Charlotte had decided that the
themefor theCotillionwouldcen-
ter around eggs –flamingo eggs.
Since flamingoes only lay one
eggeachyear, itwasn’t in thebest
interest of theflamingoes to steal
eggsfrom theirnests, soCharlotte
saved all the papermache’ pack-
ages that her silk stockings came
in and asked her friends to save
theirL’Eggs , too. Flamingoeggs
aren’t pink, but Charlotte liked
the color, so she painted all the
eggs pink. She put them in nests
of excelsior on the mantles and
made centerpieces for the tables.
In each egg she put a small gift.
Everyone said that Charlotte
had really outdone herself that
year. The next day, Charlotte
asked her children to help clean
up after the party. Thirteen year-
old Thomas and twelve-year
old Augustus really
didn’t want to help,
but they said they
would gather up all
theexcelsior ifChar-
lotte who was nine,
agreed to gather up
all the pink eggs.
The two youngest
LeRoy children, six
year old Catherine
and three year old
Edward reallywant-
ed to help, but were
told theywere tooyoung.Besides,
theywerenot tallenough togather
thedecorations from themantles.
It took all day to clean the
house and in the evening while
everyone was sitting around
recounting what a great party it
hadbeen,CatherineandEdward,
who were still mad about being
told theywere tooyoung tohelp,
stole the baskets of eggs and hid
them. Theywent outside andhid
the eggs in the bushes and trees.
Theyhadagreat time! Theywere
evensurprisedwhen theirmother
didn’tgetmadat themand instead
suggested that they invite their
friends over for a flamingo egg
hunt. Itwassoclose toEaster that
everyone thought that itwouldbe
a great idea to hold the egg hunt
on Easter Sunday after church.
So on Easter Sunday, 1837, the
first Easter Egg Hunt was held
inLeRoy.
Tocommemorate thishistorical
event,LeRoyHousewill beopen
on Friday and Saturday, April 1
and2, from1until 4. Comewith
your familyandcountflamingoes
andfindapinkflamingoegg. It’s
all for funand it’s free.Andmake
sure to have your picture taken
withour“new”StatueofLiberty,
whohas also returned toLeRoy.
