LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - MAY 3, 2020 by Lynne Belluscio Although LeRoy is best known as the birthplace of Jell-O, the work of Calvin Keeney certainly needs to be remembered. I have written many times about Calvin Keeney, but his story is very important right now. Calvin was born in LeRoy at the Keeney Homestead on West Main Street in 1849. His father, Nicholas, had a small produce business and in 1872, father and son became partners in a company that dealt with agricultural commodities – apples, corn, potatoes, and wool. Calvin became interested in developing a “stringless bean” and began growing small plots of beans in the middle of corn fields. At the time, bean pods had strings along the edges which had to be removed. Little was known about plant breeding. Calvin would pick beans from the different plots and select those which had fewer strings. He would then save the seeds from those plants and plant them in new plots and again go through the selection process. Eventually he was able to grow bean plants that produced pods with no strings - - what we would eventually call a snap bean. The first seeds that he offered were introduced in 1884. By 1911, Calvin Keeney had developed 19 different varieties of stringless beans which were sold by the Burbee company. He persevered even after a fire claimed his carefully selected seeds and he had to start over. His bean facility was on Lake Street between the train tracks. Eventually, he became one of the founders of ASGRO – Associated Seed Growers, which still today is a leading producer of seeds. The Keeneys had over 6000 acres planted to peas and beans and all of the seed had to be sorted by hand. Many Italian families worked for the Keeneys and sorted seed at home. In 1923, Keeney incorporated the business and turned the company over to his employees. Through the years, the Keeney family supported this community and helped preserve its history. The Keeney fund, established by Ruth Keeney, has supported the Historical Society for many, many years. As many of you are aware, the Historical Society has been closed since March 18. This is a time when bus tours start visiting the Jell-O Museum and school programs go into high gear. And like so many other businesses, museums and organizations, we are learning as we go along how to deal with reduced income. We have postponed our major fundraiser, the dinner auction and are not sure of the status of our spring BBQ. One of the school programs that we offer is a gardening experience for first grades when they visit Mr. LeRoy’s garden and each student takes home some of Calvin Keeney’s yellow pencil pod bean seeds to plant. This year, obviously that is not going to happen, and we have four pounds of bean seeds. We would like to make them available to folks. In light of the situation, when people are thinking about growing a “Victory Garden” this summer, and in light of the historical significance of Calvin Keeney and his beans, we thought maybe some folks would like to grow some of Calvin’s beans this summer And there is a strange coincidence in the history of LeRoy, Jell-O and beans. In the 1920s, Jell-O featured an advertisement of Jack and the Beanstalk. In the Jell-O version, Jack steals a box of Jell-O - not the golden eggs. Angus MacDonall painted the original oil painting and it now hangs in the Woodward Library. And don’t forget that the high school musical this year was “Into the Woods” which includes the story of Jack and the Bean Stalk. Perhaps the Giant is like the problems facing us today and there is a lesson to be learned. That even someone like a young boy Jack can help solve the problem. Here are the options – If you are a member of the Historical Society and would like some beans to grow, we can mail some out to you and to cover mailing and packaging, it would be great if you could send a donation. If you are not a member, then please consider joining. A single membership is only $25 and we’ll send you some beans to grow so you will know that you have helped plant some seeds for the future. Mail donations or memberships to PO Box 176, LeRoy NY 14482. We want to thank you for your continued support. Lynne Belluscio, Director Board of Trustees: Anne Frew, Joanne Graham, Bonnie Coniber, Sam Zalacca, Sam Leadley, Sheila Furr, Cheryll Fernaays, Kate Flint, Scott Ripley, Carol Wolfe, Ann Fox, Cheryl Harkness, Alison Cray. Planting Seeds for the Future