Press Release: 

On Sep. 14, The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce, along with Le Roy Town Historian Lynne Belluscio and Le Roy Historical Society Board Member Carol Wolfe, accepted an Excellence in Tourism Marketing Award for the Barn Quilt Trail of Le Roy program at the New York State Tourism Industry Association’s Annual Awards, held at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester.

“Working together collaboratively with partners in our community, and being identified for it, creates an incredible sense of pride. The Barn Quilt Trail is an example of the countless hours of hard work, passion, and pride that our residents have in their community. Having such a vision for a fun activity that a large portion of our community contributed to is truly special. I am immensely proud of our Chamber Staff that saw all of the community’s commitment and worked tirelessly to shine a light on it,” said Brian Cousins, Chamber President.

The original 2012 Barn Quilt Trail began as a bicentennial project for the Town of Le Roy, with the first being painted in 2011 at the annual Oatka Festival. In the following 10 months, the trail surpassed its goal of 25 with over 70 barn quilts being painted and erected.

The trail features a collection of more than 100 hand-painted barn quilts along four driving tours in and around Le Roy. Explore the scenic countryside while spotting each unique barn quilt that’s displayed on an array of barns, garages, homes, and other outbuildings. Each quilt pattern has a story to tell, and these stories, along with full-size images, can be found on the new LeRoyBarnQuilt.org website.

Barn Quilts are known to drive heritage tourism for rural communities as visitors search out authentic experiences that represent the stories and people, past and present, of the area. For Genesee County, the barn quilts have come to represent the pride shared by the people of LeRoy, a town with a rich agricultural heritage, deep appreciation of its history, and immense pride in family heritage.

The Barn Quilt Trail expansion was supported through the Tourism Matching Funds program, administered by Empire State Development and I LOVE NY, New York State's Division of Tourism. 

The Chamber invites everyone to explore the trail and discover the beauty and history of the area. The brochure can be requested online at LeRoyBarnQuilt.org or picked up at the Chamber’s Visitor Center at 8276 Park Road in Batavia. This, and other local brochures, can be found in our vestibule, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Standing in the hallway leading into Le Roy Historical Society’s newly named and dedicated Research Library, Bruce Wilcox recalled the shambles of a place the former academic building was back when his father Gary led the way to turning it into something magical around 1991.

“He and about a half a dozen other local men who were about the same age spent a good five years remodeling this building. It had been when I was growing up, it was just a shack, it was a wreck, with boarded up windows and storage, and turned it into this beautiful museum over the course of about five years,” Bruce said during a dedication gathering Thursday at the Le Roy site. “So it seemed a natural. And so I reached out to the board here at the Historical Society and just said we're interested, and they’ve been great. And they came up with this whole idea of a research library, which, given both of our parents’ involvement with education and history, seemed like a perfect fit.”

Le Roy’s miniature Statue of Liberty is pictured recently at McKay Lodge Conservation Laboratory in Ohio, where experts refurbished the 65-year-old statue. (Photo courtesy of Lynne Belluscio.)

After three months in Ohio, Le Roy’s landmark Lady Liberty is finally ready to come home.

When is she due back?

Historical Society Director Lynne Belluscio isn’t saying. But it will be sooner rather than later — and she encourages residents to be on the lookout for the miniature Statue of Liberty, which has stood on the Oatka Creek bank since 1950. 

An official rededication won't take place until this summer, but the statue could make a surprise appearance or two before then, she said.

In any case, it's been years since Lady Liberty looked so good. Belluscio shared a photograph from McKay Lodge Conservation Laboratory in Oberlin, Ohio, where the statue was shipped in November for repairs and restoration. Its thin copper plating — which was coming apart at the seams, and damaged in places — has been repaired and its color brightened.

The project was funded by a “Strengthen the Arm of Liberty” campaign that raised more than $15,000 to have the statue refurbished and its base replaced.

Alumni groups, the Le Roy Family Moose Center and numerous individuals contributed to the fund. Le Roy’s Orcon Industries donated the customized crate Belluscio used to drive the statue to Ohio this past November.

She gave a “special thank you” to everyone who donated to the project, as well as the Orcon team that built the shipping crate.

Donations to the fund are still being accepted care of the Le Roy Historical Society, P.O. Box 176, Le Roy, NY 14482.

The statue — which stands about 8 1/2 feet tall — was one of many installed across the United States to mark the 40th anniversary of Boy Scouts of America. Le Roy’s version was sponsored by local Scouts.

Belluscio is organizing a rededication celebration in conjunction with the Oatka Festival in July.

Here is how the statue looked when it was brought to Ohio in November. (Photo courtesy of Lynne Belluscio.)

When Lynn Belluscio first proposed starting a barn quilt project in Le Roy, she was hoping to get 30 or so quilts installed on barns in Le Roy by June.

Well, 30 or so won't be a problem, it turns out. The idea caught on fast. Now she's thinking maybe 50.

The project was conceived to help promote the Le Roy Bicentennial, which the town, village and historical society will celebrate this summer.

Belluscio first heard about barn quilts -- large sections of plywood painted with the patterns of quilts -- on a phone call of town historians. Then she saw how the idea had taken hold in the Town of Neversink, so she thought it would be a great project for Le Roy.

After Belluscio got the support of the historical society and announced the plan in the Le Roy Pennysaver, she started getting handfuls of requests for barn quilts.

"People say to me, 'Did you ever expect it to be this popular?' and I would say, 'I was hoping it would be,' " Belluscio said.

The quilt patterns might come from a family heirloom, a quilt in the historical society collection or a pattern from a book, but all are intended to help weave a story together of the history and culture of Le Roy.

Quilt sizes include 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8. They might be hung on a barn, an outbuilding or a garage.

The historical society is maintaining a library of paints and other supplies for residents who want to paint their own quilts.

One of the quilts being painted by Belluscio is 8' x 8' and based on a quilt that was given by members of the Methodist church to a departing pastor in 1898 (top photo). It is signed by 200 members of the congregation.

The completed barn quilt will be auctioned off March 10 at the historical society's annual dinner, with a minimum bid of $150, with that amount going to the bicentennial project.

Even though the historical society has yet to publish a map of all the installed quilts -- and they're not all installed yet -- people are already discovering the project and driving around looking for the quilts, Belluscio said.

"People are discovering their own back yard, or back roads," Belluscio said. "They're going out to find them and we're happy to see that happening. It's something really neat that is happening."

Any other Le Roy residents interested in a barn quilt, Belluscio can be contacted at 768-7433. The society has also set up a website for the project.

Here's a list of installed quilt locations:

• 46 E. Main St.
• 8148 North Road
• 8042 Lake Road
• 8041 R. Main
• 8457 North St. Road
• 63 Lake St. (Rt. 19)
• 9573 Asbury Road
• 9743 Asbury Road (4) & across road
• 6195 Sweetland Road
• 8506 Lake Road
• 23 E. Main St.
• 9423 Summit St. Road
• 6849 W. Main Road
• 8283 Harris Road
• 9396 South St. Road
• 8587 North Road
• 8090 Black St. Road (corner of Linwood Road)
• 9290 York Road
• 1719 Craig Road, Linwood
• 9696 Asbury Road
• Conlon Road (south of North Road)
• 8343 Gully Road
• 36 Lathrop Ave.
• 13 Summit St.
• 8171 W. Bergen Road

Route 5, Town of Le Roy

Asbury Road

Asbury Road

Stein Farms

Route 19