LEROYPENNYSAVER&NEWS -MAY 1, 2016
FollowingTheBarnQuiltTrail
bySuzi Parron -May 11th at 7pm
byLynneBelluscio
Imagine quitting your job,
buyingamotorhomeanddriving
around the country writing sto-
ries about barn quilts. Well, that
is exactly what Suzi Parron has
done for the past five years, and
onMay 11 shewill be in LeRoy
for another chapter of her story.
Shewas in town in2013,when
she talked at LeRoyHouse about
her first book, “Barn Quilts and
theAmericanQuiltTrail.”Shehad
written about the barn quilt trails
in Never Sink, New York, and
OrleansCounty. Shewas already
planning towriteanotherbookand
wanted tocollect thestoriesabout
LeRoy’sBarnQuilt Trail.
I tookher around town looking
at someofourquiltsandshehada
chance tochatwith folkswhohad
barn quilts. She spent quite a bit
of timewithMarny Frost Cleere
and her mom, Carol Frost. They
brought out the family quilt that
was used for their barn quilt at
McPherson Farms and Suzi took
somephotographs. Suzialso talk-
ed with Shelley Stein about the
quilts that are on the Stein barns
onGullyRoadandConlonRoad.
Suzi has included their stories in
her new book, “Following the
BarnQuiltTrail.” AboxofSuzi’s
newbooks arebeingdelivered to
LeRoy House, hopefully in time
for her program on Thursday,
May11, at 7pm.
Suzi will share her odyssey
with her husband Glen, their
dog Gracie, and their converted
bus “Ruby.” They have traveled
through thirty states, across thir-
teen thousand miles gathering
stories,picturesanda lotofexpe-
riences. Over thepast threeyears,
I have kept trackof Suzi through
her website and occasionallywe
haveemailedbackand forth. She
sent me the text for her book to
read through. I think she was
in California at that time. She
emailed a few months back to
sayshewouldbe inWesternNew
York inMay andwanted to stop
by. And if we were interested,
she’dbeable tosharesomeofher
storiesandsignbooks. Sowithout
hesitation I said, “Youbet! We’ll
behavingourannualmeetingand
we need a speaker.”
If youmet Suzi when she was
here in 2013, you’ll remember
that she is a quilter, a folk art
collector, and an avid kay-
aker. She is originally from
Florida, andwasanEnglish
teacher, before she decided
to follow thebarnquilt trail.
She has spent a lot of time
withDonnaSueGrove,who
is creditedwith starting the
barn quilt project in Ohio
about fifteenyears ago.
Contrary to some of the
recent barn quilt history
that has been written, barn
quilts were not brought
to the United States from
Europe, nor were they part
of the Pennsylvania Dutch
history. The barn quilt trail
inLeRoy isoneof the larg-
est inNewYork. Recently,
there have been a few new
quilts added to our trail,
and Wyoming County has
had an initiative to paint
barn quilts in their area.
We still have people who
stop by The Jell-OGallery
asking for oneof ourmaps.
Unfortunately the maps
need tobeupdatedandI just
haven’t had a chance bring
the information up to date,
but it’s onmy todo list.
So plan to join us at 7 pm at
LeRoy House for a great story
about Suzi Parron’s travels along
the barn quilt trail. The Histor-
ical Society will be voting on
their newBoard of Trustees that
evening.Wewillwelcomeanew
member, Sam Zalacca, and will
be electing Michele Panapento
and Susan Privitera for a second
three year term.We aremost ap-
preciative for Joanne Graham’s
and Cheryll Fernaays’ six years
of service and are glad that they
have accepted an appointment to
fill twovacancieson theboard for
next year.
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