LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - AUGUST 30, 2020 by Lynne Belluscio The Historical Society recently lost two of its most dedicated Life Members, Sam Leadley and Loreli Ketter. Many of you will remember Sam. He was on the Board of Trustees, and often had a lead part in our historic house tours. He is remembered as Mr. Florence McCarthy, Jacob LeRoy’s Irish gardener, who would sit in the rocking chair by the fire in the basement kitchen and read - - try to read, the Night Before Christmas. In a thick Irish brogue, he would try to sound out the hard words, while sipping on some of Mrs. Wadsworth’s Lemon Liquor. I was just down in the kitchen the other day, and on the mantle, hiding behind the sugar cone, is that little bottle of Lemon Liquor. I think I will leave it there for a while. Sam also portrayed Mr. McCarthy for the first grade students when they came to work in the gardens each spring, and he would explain about seeds and seedlings, and “veggie – tables” – as he pronounced the word. He would pass out little pieces of cauliflower and explain that Mr. LeRoy’s cauliflowers were so big, that even the newspaper in Batavia had an article about them. This year, of course, with the schools closed, the first grades couldn’t come across the street and chat with Mr. McCarthy. So, we made arrangements for a special gardening packet to be sent to each student, with seeds and herbs, and a letter from Mr. McCarthy. Sam agreed to come in for some photographs, even though he had just been through a round of chemotherapy. Sam came in and put on Mr. McCarthy’s costume and hat, and posed in the garden with a hoe and I took photos. Little did we know that Sam would be in the hospital soon and in hospice care. Even in the last few months, Sam would stop over early in the morning and join the stalwart group of volunteers weeding the garden, often offering more words of e n c o u r a g e m e n t than actual work with a rake, but everyone enjoyed his humor and efforts. In his memory, donations have been made to the Education Fund, because Sam was, in all sense of the word, a teacher. He taught about the importance of growing things, of learning about history, of being respectful and kind, and most of all, how to live life to the fullest, even in spite of what might be thrown in your path. We miss you Sam, but we learned a lot from you, and we always will smile when we hear the Night Before Christmas, or see cauliflowers. The gardens behind LeRoy House are truly memory gardens. They were begun with a generous bequest from the family and estate of Orpha Skinner Hill. With that bequest, we hired Peterson Nursery to dig up the back yard, and plant a formal garden. Based on some of the historical notes, we knew that Jacob LeRoy had gardens and orchards. The budget for the garden allowed for bushes and arbors, but lacked funds for all the plant material. Requests were put out for folks to donate perennials, and so the first plants, fittingly, were hostas from Orpha’s garden on Church Street. And in came cone flowers, daisies, black eyed susans, obedience plants, and two peonies. The Gugino gardens were placed on the west side of the Jell-O Brick Road, in memory of Dr. Gugino. This garden included three dogwood trees, and two metal benches made by LeRoy BOCES students. When Lorelei Ketter’s son died, she wanted to remember his life with the planting of two flowering fruit trees. These trees have thrived at the far end of the garden, giving shade to the croquet court. Several times each year, Lorelei would stop by the office to chat and catch us up on her comings and goings and would drop off a donation for the gardens. One year, she asked that the money be used to create a “kitchen” herb garden in memory of her mother, Katherine Zimmerman Beverly. The garden was planted between the west side of the back porch and the Jell-O Brick Road with thyme, sage, chives, lemon balm (from my grandmothers herb garden), bee balm, oregano, tansy, yarrow, and rhubarb and horseradish. Lorelei was not a native LeRoyan, but moved here several years ago and in 1995 became a life member of the Historical Society. She moved into the former home of artist Heppie Wicks on George Street. This house, at one time faced Trigon Park, and was located at the entrance to the parking lot behind the Wolcott Street School. The house was preserved and moved in once piece to George Street to make way for a wider entrance to the school parking lot. Lorelei was always searching for paintings by Heppie Wicks and ultimately found two at a house sale in Rochester. Only a few days after we learned of Lorelei’s passing, her husband brought in the two paintings, and how fitting is the one of an artist - - thought to be a self- portrait - - of Heppie sitting in a garden sketching hollyhocks. Plans are already being made to plant simple hollyhocks in her mother’s herb garden as a remembrance of Lorelei’s generosity and keen interest in the gardens. To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow Painting by Heppie Wicks donated by Lorelei Ketter Sam Leadley working in Lorelei Ketter’s mother’s herb garden