Chautauqua: Summer Camp for Ladies and Gentlemen

[Paisley]

An article on the Chautauqua Institution appeared in today's Wall Street Journal. I've posted the first three paragraphs here:

Any old fogy who frets that sobriety, morality and civility have vanished from our midst should make a beeline to the Chautauqua Institution, two hours west of Buffalo. Ditto anyone who worries about a national obsession with pop culture, tabloid celebrities and what passes for conversation on most TV and radio "talk" programming.

Plain living and high thinking have thrived here since 1874 on a property that now encompasses 783 acres. Akron, Ohio, inventor and businessman Lewis Miller (whose son-in-law was Thomas Edison) teamed up with Methodist minister John Heyl Vincent to create the Chautauqua Lake Sunday School Assembly, with the express purpose of providing vacation learning to under-prepared Sunday school teachers. Four years later came the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, now the oldest continuous book club in the country. The Chautauqua Institution's size and season have grown, but Chautauqua has remained faithful to the four pillars of its mission: religion, arts, education and recreation. Its position in this country is unique.

Think of a theme park for the entire family -- children have their own array of activities and classes -- but a park whose themes are intellectual curiosity and engaged dialogue. Think of a summer camp for grown-ups with opera, dance, drama, orchestral concerts, academic seminars, lectures, interviews, author readings and book signings, as well as the usual golf, boating and other items from the sporting life. Think of Utopia.

 

[Michaelson]

Folks, please, don't EVER go there. In my personal opinion and long personal experience, it's as close to Heaven on earth as I'll ever come. Like some of the folks who live in Colorado like to say....."don't come. There's not enough of it to go around!"

It's a true time warp. Nothing has changed (or very little has changed) at Chautauqua since the late 1800's. My parents used to take us kids every summer in the 1960's, and it was THERE that I heard Duke Ellington not once, but TWICE, the Glenn Miller orchestra, Les and Larry Elgart, and others. My brother and I actually found George Shearing sitting on a folding chair behind the amplitheater waiting to be picked up by his limo, and in hearing us walk by, asked us to sit and visit. We had a WONDERFUL discussion about jazz with one of the greatest jazz pianists that ever lived, and no one but the 3 of us around! Unbelievable.

I had not returned until last summer after a 40+ year absence for my sister's wedding, who got married at Miller Park at Chautauqua....and as soon as I walked through the main gate, memories flooded back that I had not thought of for years. Feelings of that I could not explain came back, and I actually had tears in my eyes. I actually saw groups of children playing tag on Bestor Plaza...not an electronic game toy in any childs hand. I even saw several reading books! Time warp indeed.

No television. No radio. No telephones. No cars allowed but service vehicles and folks dropping off their luggage. All victorian buildings. Cell phones are either turned off or are on mute. People actually converse....and about SUBJECTS!! NOT what happened on the lastest reality show. Intelligent conversation.

Lord, don't get me started. I've already edited and added to this post 4 times.....no, 5 now....whoops...6. I have to let go.... now 7.....

Anytime I want to escape to a place of 'calm' in my minds eye, Chautauqua is where I go. I'm serious....if there's a place on earth that someone's spirit would rather dwell, Chautauqua, NY is where mine goes when allowed.

Don't ever go there. You'll never want to leave. This is a guarantee.

Regards!

Michaelson
http://www.ciweb.org/index.html

 

[Paisley]

That does it. I've got a Hawaii 4-0 account that I contribute a little money to every month for my vacation there when I turn 40. I'm now going to set up a Chautauqua 4-2 account as well.

 

[Michaelson]

Do it!

I just re-read my post, and MAN, can you tell I'm a bit passionate about Chautauqua? I'm starting to sound like Root! I usually don't get that riled up! Old Wild Root has more passion about things than anyone I know.lol

Regards! Michaelson

 

[Miss Dottie]

How funny! I just returned to Boulder this past weekend for a party and had Sunday brunch in the dining hall.

I grew up in Boulder, Colorado less than a 10 minute walk from the Chautauqua Park. I went on dates there setting up a picnic and even performed in highschool plays at the main hall.

Every now and then, someone would have a tag sale at one of the old cottages selling its contents that had accumulated over 70 summers. I came across a great set of vintage tiddlywinks made of bakelite. I wish I had them now!

Even though Boulder's Chautauqua is flooded with tourists, the view is still spectacular.

 

[Michaelson]

There are not very many of the original Chautauqua's left. The one we're talking about in upper New York State is the original, and the one that the Chautauqua movement came from in the late 1800's.

They all had the same goal...to educate the mind and soul of the individuals who, at that time, were so lacking in education and time to pursue same.

It's evolved, but their mission has remained the same.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[The Mad Hatter]

There was a Chatauqua gathering in Bethesda, OH, which is near where I live. Bethesda was, and is, an out-of-the-way place; but people flocked there between, say, 1890 and 1940. William Jennings Bryan at least once visited it.

Television killed it. People just stopped coming.

 

[Michaelson]

Unfortunately, the concept of Chautauqua was to read books and digest the contents from lectures given by prominent men and women of their day. This continues to be the goal of the original New York assembly....but as you say, TV and the movie theater did away with that kind of thinking....and the Chautauqua movement died a slow death in the U. S.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[TheRetropolitan]

I grew up near Chautauqua, but I'd only been there once or twice before I moved away. I think I was probably too young to appreciate the culture of it, though, save for the little wooden airplane gliders that I got there. Those things were awesome.