LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - JANUARY 15, 2017
Jell-O Museum Exit 47 Billboard
First I want to acknowledge the
folks that have made it possible
for us to keep the LeRoy bill-
board on the Thruway. Without
our partners, it couldn’t hap-
pen. D&R Depot Restaurant,
Genesee County Chamber of
Commerce, LeRoy Business
Council, LeRoy Subway, Le-
Roy McDonalds, and Kraft
Foods- Jell-O. Finding the mon-
ey to pay for a billboard is dif-
ficult, but when you have great
partners, its possible. I don’t
remember when we contracted
for our first billboard - - maybe
ten years ago. I knew that we
needed a billboard to encour-
age people to get off Exit 47 to
visit the Jell-O Museum. The
Federal Government controls
what signs can go on the NYS
Thruway because it is a federal
highway. There are very strict
rules. I discovered this when I
was researching how to get sig-
nage for Exit 47. I wanted folks
to know that there were camp-
grounds and fast food and the
Jell-O Museum at Exit 47. But I
discovered that because Exit 47
of Interstate 90 is an exit to In-
terstate 490, (Interstate to Inter-
state ) we cannot have signs. In
fact, Rochester is in a difficult
situation, because all of their
exits - -45 -46 – 47 are Interstate
to Interstate so you will not find
any signs on the Thruway that
tells you anything about getting
off at those exits. (Next time
you’re on the Thruway, watch
for those kind of signs. Batavia
exit 48 has several .) And as an-
other interesting note, perhaps
you have read about Governor
Cuomo’s battle with the Feds
about the new signs he has had
installed along the Thruway
advertising NYS history, food,
and nature. There are two sets
of five between LeRoy and Bat-
avia, and according to the Feds,
they are illegal. I’m sure the
company that made the signs,
and the people who put up the
signs and the lawyers who will
defend Cuomo’s decision are
making money.
Anyway - - it took me
several months to get in contact
with the company that owned
the first billboard that I want-
ed to use. At one time it had
an ad for Wyoming Gaslight
Village and Christmas Shop.
Then it had an insurance sign.
But it had been neglected for
several years and it was in bad
condition. When I finally got in
contact with the billboard com-
pany, they told me that because
the sign was an “unusual size” it
might cost more. To make that
story short - -we finally signed
the contract for the billboard -
- about $8000 a year. The plan
was to have several partners
who would pitch in about $75 a
month. That’s pretty cheap for
advertising that reaches thou-
sands of people. Sean at the De-
pot Restaurant was the first to
jump on board. He knew that if
we can get people off the Thru-
way, south on 19 – right past the
Depot and then left down Main
Street to the Jell-O Museum, he
would get business. And so did
Louis Buono at the LeRoy Mc-
Donalds. The folks at Subway,
understood, and even though
the traffic doesn’t go by them,
people are looking for other
types of fast food. LeRoy Busi-
ness Council understood the
need to get folks off at Exit 47
too, so they have been a partner
since the beginning. Then, the
Genesee County Chamber of
Commerce said that, they would
match two of our partners, and
they became a double partner
on the billboard. And when I
went to Jell-O to get permission
to use their trademark, they be-
came a triple partner. So there
are ten of us, keeping Exit 47
and the Jell-O Museum on the
Thruway.
We know the billboard
works. The year that it was put
up, the sign wasn’t even com-
plete and we had folks stopping
by to say they saw the billboard.
A couple of years ago, the old
billboard blew over. We had a
drop in visitors for five months
until we could get a new one up.
The new one can only be seen
as you travel east between Bata-
via and LeRoy. It’s lit at night,
and has a very simple design be-
cause people can’t read a lot of
text as they travel at 75 miles an
hour.
We have a small sign
above the counter at the Jell-O
Gallery: “Tell us if you saw the
Jell-O billboard on the Thru-
way.” Folks say – “We’ve seen
that sign every time we go to
Buffalo - -or Niagara Falls -
-and we finally decided to stop.”
“We saw the sign and wondered
what a Jell-OMuseum would be
about.” “We were on our way
to Boston, and figured it would
be a great break to get off the In-
terstate and see the Jell-O Mu-
seum. Where do you suggest we
have lunch. ” So although there
are only a few of us who pay for
the billboard, many businesses
in LeRoy reap the benefit.
In 1965, at the urging
of President Lyndon Johnson’s
wife, Ladybird Johnson, the
“Highway Beautification Act”
was signed into law. It limited
billboards on federal highways
and required each state to set
standards for the size, light-
ing and spacing of billboards.
States risk losing 10% of their
federal highway money if they
do not maintain control of bill-
boards. Four states prohibit
billboards – Vermont, Maine,
Hawaii and Alaska. Just an
interesting note - when Henry
Ford was arrested for speeding
in LeRoy, he claimed that the
size of the letters on the speed
signs in LeRoy were too small.
When that didn’t work, he had
two billboards erected in LeRoy
warning drivers that LeRoy was
a tourist speed trap. The signs
were mysteriously taken down,
but he had them put up again. It
would be almost a year before
the issue was settled, and the
signs were removed.