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LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - NOVEMBER 13, 2016
Candlelight Tours of LeRoy House
December 3 & 4
The popular Christmas
Candlelight Tours of LeRoy
House are scheduled for
Saturday, December 3 and
Sunday, December 4 during
the Winterfest Weekend.
There will be two tours each
day at 4 and 7 pm. Advance
tickets are suggested.
Tickets can be purchased
for $5 apiece and $3.50 for
students at the Jell-O Gallery
between 10 and 4 Monday
through Saturday (1 and 4 on
Sunday) or by calling 768-
7433. There are 40 tickets
for each performance.
If you remember, last
year, Mr. McCarthy, Jacob
LeRoy’s Irish gardener, sat
in the rocking chair in the
1835 kitchen by the fireplace,
and read “ A Visit from Saint
Nicholas” much to the delight
of everyone, young and old.
The children loved the poem
last year, so it has become
a tradition. Mr. McCarthy
needs to keep his voice clear
and strong, with a little help
of sipping some of Mrs. Wad-
sworth’s lemon liquor. The
cook has made some of Mrs.
LeRoy’s sweet Dutch pof-
fertjes to pass around. You
won’t want to miss this part
of the tour!
In the upstairs front parlor,
some of the parlor games are
set up for everyone to enjoy
while in the back parlor, ev-
eryone is gathered around
the piano, getting ready to go
through town singing Christ-
mas carols.
In the upstairs kitchen,
you can share the story of one
of LeRoy’s Italian families.
The war is raging in Europe
and one of the boys is home
on leave for Christmas. And
even though there is sugar
rationing, one of the women
works at the Jell-O and has
brought home enough sug-
ar to make the fig cookies.
And in the oven is a roaster
filled with home-made sau-
sage. After midnight Mass,
everyone will return for sau-
sage with fresh Italian bread.
Someone will roast some
chestnuts and the men will
sit around the table and play
cards, sipping some home-
made wine. The music box
is playing Ave Maria.
Traditionally we celebrate
Christmas with food and
music. While doing a little
research about the music, I
wondered about the origins
of “Ava Maria,” and learned
that the music (not the
words) was originally written
by Schubert in 1825 as part
of his Opus 52 that included
seven songs based on Walter
Scott’s epic poem, Lady of
the Lake. Schubert entitled it
“Ellen’s Third Song.” Franz
Liszt arranged three differ-
ent versions for piano. The
words were originally writ-
ten in German. What most of
us know, is the version writ-
ten in Latin, which has been
recorded and sung by many
singers, under the title of
“Ava Maria.” Surprisingly,
Walt Disney included some
of the music in the 1940
movie “Fantasia.”
We hope you will plan to
join us for one of these special
tours. They last a little over
an hour, and are appropriate
for families. This the fourth
year that we have offered
these s candlelight tours.
Each year there is a differ-
ent theme, so don’t wait un-
til the last minute to get your
tickets. The refreshments are
delicious. LeRoy House will
be decorated for the holidays,
and even if it’s cold outside, it
will be warm inside.