LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - NOVEMBER 14, 2021 by Lynne Belluscio For many years, the Historical Society offered special candle-light Christmas tours of LeRoy House with costumed guides. There were great stories of the students at Ingham University and returning soldiers from war and the Italian Christmas traditions. And during the week before Christmas vacation, the students from the Wolcott Street School would visit to learn about Christmas of “long ago.” Of course, all of that changed last year. The Historical Society decorated the five windows with five historic Christmas trees which could be viewed from the sidewalk or as you drove by. Only a few of us, had the opportunity to see the trees up close. So, this year, we have decided to decorate those five trees and add a couple more and open LeRoy House for folks to walk through the house and meet some of LeRoy’s historic people who will share some stories about the trees. You will meet Jacob and Charlotte LeRoy who will tell about what it was like in New York City where Grandpa LeRoy lived and where the little book about “A Visit From Saint Nicholas” had just been published. And there will be the “ladder tree” trimmed with candles, nuts, berries and fruits, with a huge snow cloud on top. One of the more fascinating trees is the “gas tree” which was built with small gas pipes and small gas jets. It was on display in LeRoy stores in the 1860s. You’ll have to come and see for yourself this “modern” tree that was considered much safer than a tree lit with candles. (Just to assure you, the tree will be assembled, but not lit.) There will be a traditional Victorian tree, sitting in the middle of the parlor on a table, just like the tree that Queen Victoria had for her children. It is said that her husband, Prince Albert, brought the idea of an evergreen tree from his native Germany. In the back parlor, we will assemble the “tinsel tree” that was in the front middle window on the second floor last year. We borrowed a tinsel tree last year, but this tree was donated and will certainly catch your attention. This was the aluminum tree that was featured in the Charlie Brown Christmas, and it was Charlie Brown who almost single handed destroyed the tinsel tree business. We will put up a tree from the 1940s. And I can tell you that not all the lights are working. String lights were not hooked in parallel and if one light went out, they all went out. It was a real frustration! But you will hear from the costumed family, all about the invention of electric lights and the story of the first electric tree. Probably the most interesting tree with be “The LeRoy Tree.” In fact, we are asking for your help with this tree. Kate Flint is in charge of acquiring ornaments and we hope that it will have an ornament from the Girl Scouts and another from the Boy Scouts. Perhaps each church will donate a small hand-made ornament. We have one from St. Joes that was donated by Sam and Elaine Zalacca. I know we have an ornament from the D&R Depot. Don’t think the tree is strong enough to hang a Lapp Insulator on it, but we hope someone might have a creative idea. Any of the sports teams can create an ornament - - even the LeRoy Little League. And you can bet that there will be plenty of Jell-O ornaments on the tree. The Historical Society also has a Christmas shop set up on the main floor. There are many one of a kind items, some antiques, several quilts, vintage Christmas items, as well as t-shirts and sweat shirts from the Jell-O Gallery gift shop. All priced to sell at a Christmas bargain. And don’t forget that bricks in the Jell-O Brick Road make great gifts as well as a gift membership to the Historical Society. Here is the schedule for the six candle-light tours. You must have a $5 ticket and there are only 16 tickets per tour. You can call 585-768-7433 to secure a ticket and pay by credit card or you can stop by the Jell-O Gallery and purchase tickets. Sunday December 5 Tour #1 7pm to 8pm Tour #2 8pm to 9pm Sunday December 12 Tour # 3 7pm to 8pm Tour #4 8pm to 9pm Saturday December 18 Tour #5 1pm to 2pm Tour #6 2pm to 3pm LeRoy House Will Be Open For the Christmas Holidays