LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - AUGUST 16, 2020 (History Happened Here cont.) access to theMethodist Church twice, Rev. George Storrs, a Methodist Episcopalian minister, addressed groups at the Presbyterian Church and the Baptist Church. In January 1841, a three- day convention was held in LeRoy at the Presbyterian Church. Hundreds of people, from all over Western New York attended, despite a terrible snow storm. All these people were housed and fed by people in LeRoy. The proceedings of this meeting was most unusual, because they published the names of those attending, and there were many women. (An ongoing research project, is to try to identify the people in attendance.) Jim Evinger, was diligent to pinpoint a date for Frederick Douglass’ visit to LeRoy. In Miles’ Lampson’s transcribed diary was a note On December 10th “Great excitement from lecture of Douglass a colored man.” Jim Evinger, took this information and compared it to Douglass time line and then discovered in Douglass’ “North Star” mention of visiting LeRoy. All the parts of the puzzle had been put in place. In October 2019, a group of people met in “the room where it happened” at the Presbyterian Church, to hear Jim’s research. At that meeting it was decided to raise $2000 to have a historic marker cast and placed in front of the church. The marker now stands, as a testament to the perseverance of the people of LeRoy, who gathered, time and again, is spite of threats and violence, to end slavery, once and for all. Plans are underway to dedicate the marker in the spring of 2021. LeRotary Notes The Rotary Club of LeRoy had been meeting via Zoom since March, however on July 8th they were finally able to have their first in- person meeting since the beginning of the pandemic at the American Legion’s outdoor pavilion. Newly installed Rotary President Mary Margaret Ripley welcomed everyone with a warm smile while we all recited the Pledge, had a prayer and said the 4-Way Test. Announcements were made but no missed meetings were levied. Fines, on the other hand were. Bob Bennett was fined for the age of andmileage on his very recognizable truck, Bob Carlsen and Bob Sullivan were fined for Patrick Mahomes signing a gigantic new contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, Tracy Ford for the Virtual Cooking Class she took, David Grayson for exhausting his daughter on their recent bike ride, Jason Karcher for his request for recommendations for the best place to get headshots. Jessica Strollo was fined for the summer sign language course she was taking, Marcia McKenzie for her many years in the LeRoy Garden Club and Carol Wolfe for a photo that President Mary Margaret found of her dressed for a stage performance. Finally, Randy Vink paid the big fine of the day (which he voluntarily gave) for the birth of his new grandchild! The program for the day was presented by Jessica Shelby of the Summer Lunch Program being provided by St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Jessica shared with the club the challenges they have faced taking up where the school had to leave off providing lunches for kids for the summer. The volume of lunches they are providing has more than tripled from past years, but with the help of excess food from the Community Kitchen they have been able to meet the demand that this pandemic has placed in front of them. Jessica and all of the volunteers have been working very hard and the community greatly appreciates what they have been able to accomplish. Members were so happy to see each other at this first in-person meeting. Although President Mary Margaret did not have a bell to ring to end the meeting, it still felt almost “normal” again. Here is a little catch up on the rest of July. Jim Bonacquisti was fined for a fantastic photo of his father Larry’s Senior class trip, Ben Deragon was fined for his chainsaw skills, Jim Ellison was fined for his vacation with his family, and Shannon Karcher for a photo with her daughter in the Daily News regarding the storm damage to the trees on Wolcott and Trigon. Scott McCumiskey was fined for his debate on Facebook regarding Mayo or Miracle Whip, Tom McGinnis for his role in installing a new drainage pipe at the little league field (he completely denied it of course) and Tony Gugino was fined for Bob Boyce’s phone going off during the meeting. Maria Valencia paid for the adorable photo of her dog during Cinco De Mayo, Jake Whiting for his first Father’s Day, Mary Young for making President Mary Margaret paranoid that she lost something. Also, Lynne Belluscio was fined for her Son-in-Law’s Tuesday night Facebook Live gigs. Last but not least, President Mary Margaret was fined and given a new bell to ring. There were two additional speakers in July. Gerry Aron from the newly finished Villa Rosa apartments on Mill Street and Dan Ireland from UMMC. Both were extremly informative speakers. During the month of July the club has been very active in the community. With a matching grant from the district, they were able to have new flooring installed in the locker rooms at the community pool. This will help save the Village from having them painted every year and will make them much safer, giving a non-slip surface to swimmers. Members also had a fantastic day on July 25th at the LeRoy Farmers Market handing out free books for the yearly book giveaway program, REAL (Rotary Excited about Literacy). The LeRoy Community Kitchen continues to serve our community with meals on the second and fourth Tuesdays and is currently also able to give bags of groceries out those nights as well. Martha Bailey is getting things ramped up for our food and personal care item drive which will be held at Save-A- Lot parking lot on August 15h to benefit the LeRoy Backpack program and Knight’s Closet. The club thanks the community for it’s continued support. Persons interested in finding out more about the club should visit the rotary website at leroyrotary.org or find them on Facebook at Rotary Club of LeRoy.