TOWN OF LEROY

There is an unexplainable feeling that overcame LeRoy yesterday.  The change was just in the air.  The weather was perfect.  The only way to explain it correctly would be the song "Silver Bells"-City sidewalks busy sidewalks ,Dressed in holiday style,In the air,There's a feeling of Christmas,Children laughing,People passing,Meeting smile after smile,"

Through a collaborative effort of the area businesses donating prizes for the Stroll through the Village, the children's activities, Santa's arrival, and all the great festivities that the individual businesses ran, our community came alive and together.

It was more than just a shopping day here.  People were out walking the Village streets.  That was the best thing I have seen in LeRoy in years!  Our local business owners saw many new faces, got to share there stores and services, and people realized what we have here locally.

I received calls and comments in person from both business owners and people who came out to enjoy the day.  People had so much fun and saw faces they had not in years.  They were happy with all the holiday decor, and just the over all feeling.  Java's and Scratch Bakery had one of their best days.  They had so many people coming in that they believe they may have had more that during Oatka festival and other events.  They had 120 entries in their in house drawing.

I stopped in throughout the activites and ALL the participating businesses were excited to be able to have their doors open and were having such a great time!  Children were walking around with the goodie bags the Town of LeRoy handed out.  

I just have to say we may be a small town , but we have a big heart!  We are definitely a hidden treasure in Genesee County.  Thank you to everyone who came out yesterday.  

As best said by one native, Selby Davis "Proud to be a LeRoyan today-it was the perfect day for our Winterfest, and the vendors and stores were all so festive.LOVED, LOVED, LOVED  the squiggly lights above the banners as I drove through at 9pm."

"LeRoy had the perfect Christmas spirit today. We had fun.  I loved the lights too!" Julie Long.

Winterfest in LeRoy this year was about so much more.  It was about a small community coming together to get people back walking our streets, taking notice to what we have here, to get back to shopping and supporting locally, and most of all getting the great community spirit and pride back.  I would have to say we exceeded that goal and got so much more.  

Santa's line was consistant for almost an hour and a half.  They arrived right up until 4pm to share their Christmas wishes.  Santa received lists and even a small gift.

Thank you to all who came out and all who took the time to make it such a great day.  

By the way we were asked to do it again next year and to bring back the parade! 

I would have to say that I was a little late joining the bandwagon of getting the pool back open.  But as they say better late than never.  I would first like to thank Mr. Spadaro and Mr. McGinnis for faithfully going to the meetings and being persistent  for getting them to listen to the offer.  They have acquired funding from private donors and been hard at work to keep this topic alive.  In this process the Village of LeRoy has officially rescinded the vote of the pool to close.  This leaves it not officially closed, but not open yet.  

They have worked very closely with both boards of Village and Town of LeRoy.  They started a Pool Committee.  They have had the Health Dept. out there to do a walk through inspection that was a bearer of great news.  The pool did not need many of those repairs to reopen.  In fact most things were cosmetic. Nothing a little time and elbow grease from volunteers could not fix.  Not saying other issues may not arise in the future.  

The funding that was acquired from private donors can be put in an account by the Town as a separate line item to be used as needed.  They also can add to that with any other donations that people collect or raise to be used for the upkeep and maintenance to help offset costs to the taxpayers.  

The Town Council is working on an agreement with the Village to lease the pool for a 5 year term. The Town will run the Summer Pool program just as it always has in the past.  Ideas for ways to work with other communities to bring kids in and different things were addressed in discussions.  They were going to weigh all options as to how to get pool up and running for next Summer.  They may have to start with just open pool hours and add the lessons back later on.  They want to get it back at the least cost to taxpayers.  

The Village had put an offer out to a non-existent group to purchase the pool for $1 and lease the land.  They voted on an option to a group that did not exist. They offered to still contribute the $11,000 they always had.  

As of last night at the Town meeting, the Town was going to work with Reed Whiting to tweak the details of an agreement that will make all happy.

Things are looking up for our Pool.  The kids in this Town and Village will have a safe place to swim and we will not have to worry about drownings or injuries from the creek.  

In a time when industry, jobs, and the future of LeRoy are all in question, there is vision.  Vision of what we have here, what can be, and the first steps to revitalizing Le Roy to the great community we are.  Here's to good things to come. 

Hopefully our Town and Village complete this agreement with out anymore detours in the road.  Next Village meeting is October 26th at 7pm.  Please come in support of the pool.  The kids of this community need it.

It is sad to say but as we see with Bud's comment that there are always gonna be those who call themselves a realist. I, too consider myself a realist but with a different view. No matter what we have no one to blame but ourselves as a community that the pool was allowed to be neglected and became in this state. We have elected officials who represent us and sit on our boards and if we do not go to those meetings or ask questions they are who makes our choices. It is never too late to right a wrong. Stop focusing on all this loss of industry kinda stunts any growth we have as a community. Sometimes we have to take a leap of Faith and take a chance. This pool has been a big part of Le Roy for a long time. Yes some other communities have more industry, yes there is a tax cap going into effect, yes we have maintenance costs, blah, blah, blah- I could carrying on forever. WHAT WE DO HAVE IS A COMMUNITY THAT WANTS THIS POOL. WE HAVE TAXPAYERS THAT DO NOT HAVE CHILDREN WHO WANT THIS FOR THE YOUTH! Too much of our life focuses on what is negative. I am grateful for the Giamborone's donation offer. Every year with fundraising and possible other private donations we could get it up and running. We as taxpayers are always gonna complain about taxes- we pay too much, our boards make poor investments that in the end do not give the results we expected.....on, and on again. Let us not let the fear of what could happen outweigh any possibility of rebuilding our town and village to the wonderful community we used to be. I think if we can pull together to accomplish this it will be the beginning of rebuilding this community and the start of getting back our industrial base. We have to invest in what is here to build more. SAVE WHAT WE DO HAVE. Many youth in our community start great beginnings through our recreation program and our pool program. Yes there has been lower attendance. Yes many are lower incomes that use it. Big deal every community has that. The experiences our youth get from those that work our Summer program touch children's lives. I grew up at that pool every summer. I took swim lessons there. IT'S TIME WE TURNED OUR COMMUNITY AROUND. THIS POOL REOPENING IS ONLY THE BEGINNING TO WHAT WE CAN DO. Too many of us are busy and lose sight of what we do have here. We are a great place to live. We have great opportunity here. Let's focus on what we do have and build it back up. Enough of why we should not. You have nothing to fear but fear itself. Nothing grows from fear. OUR TAXES ARE GONNA GO UP ANYWAY. WE WILL ALWAYS COMPLAIN ABOUT THEM. NOTHING GETS DONE WITHOUT TAKING CHANCES. This is just the beginning of great things to come.

A big thank you to Jennifer Keys for deciding to make a difference in our community and being a great advocate for the possibilities that unfortunately we have been blinded to in our everyday lives.  Thank you to all who are stepping up and trying to get the ball rolling.  

It's about time we stop focusing on our losses and what we do not have.  New growth never comes without chances.  The time is now to start making this great community back to what it was.  No industry is gonna want to come here if we keep closing everything.  

Attention all for the LeRoy Pool. I have heard through the grapevine that Mr. Welch is unable to make Wednesday's meeting. All need to attend because I have heard they are going to permanently close the pool if we do not attend and show interest. What a shame if we let them close our pool because we did not stand up for what we want! 

please show up and fight for what we want and need!