Although Chautauqua offered the same draw 50 years ago that it did today — education, religion, arts and recreation — many Chautauquans in 1956 found themselves making the trek to Mayville, N.Y., to see an unusual attraction — a circus elephant.
The elephant’s name was Lena, and for more than six months, she provided entertainment to Mayville and Jamestown residents and Chautauquans alike.
The Athenaeum Hotel at Chautauqua Institution has taken the “local food” movement to the next level, hosting a five-course dinner Tuesday evening that featured ingredients grown on the hotel’s rooftop garden.
Last fall, Ed Schmidt got an email from the Chautauqua County Department of Aging looking for simple Christmas gifts, like winter coats and toothpaste, for local residents. Schmidt decided to donate, but he wanted to take his donation a few steps further.
Chautauqua’s 2011 Season brought a multitude of speakers, ideas and experiences to the Amphitheater. Authors and historians shared the stage with spies, health workers and economists. Some lecturers made “A Case for the Arts,” while others focused on “The Path to the Civil War.”
Next summer, audiences have the chance to see nine weeks of new talks, each day an opportunity to learn, to grow and to be inspired. The 2012 Chautauqua morning lecture series kicks off on June 25 with a guest who’s no stranger to the Amp — writer Roger Rosenblatt.
Admission to the Chautauqua Theater Company Conservatory requires that an applicant be at least 20 years old. With those standards, Justin Kuhn will have to hold out another nine years.
Justin, 11, is an aspiring actor. While most conservatory members hold an undergraduate degree — at the very least — Justin already is a fixture at Bratton Theater, and he has not yet entered sixth grade. Though he is not yet eligible to participate in the productions, he is determined to be involved as much as possible in Chautauqua’s theater scene.
Chautauqua President Tom Becker opened the final Trustee Porch Discussion of the 2011 Season on Wednesday afternoon with a preview of the 2012 Season and a discussion of the wider mission of the Institution. With several audience members voicing their belief that Chautauqua’s last three years have been some of the most successful in its history, Becker’s focus on the future revealed that the Institution has no intention of slowing down.
In 1911, there were no television sets, world wars or crossword puzzles. News radio programs weren’t being broadcasted. Penicillin hadn’t accidentally been discovered yet. Instant coffee was a new commodity. It was a year that began on a Sunday and ended without national crisis. On Aug. 27, 1911, Miriam Goodman was born.
When interviewed for this story earlier in the season, the fact that her 100th birthday was quickly approaching didn’t seem to bother the Chautauquan of more than 25 years. In fact, Miriam is quite content sitting on her front porch and “watching the world go by.”
“Can you hold the phone a sec?” Bill Cosby asked for the second time during our phone interview.
The line went silent.
Now, a reporter is supposed to be many things — professional, inquisitive, composed — but when I heard the phone click, I got out of my chair and bounced around the room, waving my hands and mouthing the words, “Oh my god, Oh my god! That’s Bill Cosby’s voice coming out of my phone!”
Chautauqua Institution is in line for nearly $700,000 in federal and state grant money, which will be used over the next three years to accelerate development of its natural stormwater runoff filtration systems.
“If good fortune is where preparation meets opportunity,” said Doug Conroe, director of operations, “we can count ourselves fortunate indeed in Chautauqua.”
Author, professor and columnist Melissa Harris-Perry said there is much Americans can learn from history.
“History is, in many ways, the collective project of making meaning out of the events of the past,” Harris-Perry said. “But history is also much more than an academic exercise.”
Her lecture focused on what current generations can glean from history and how historical events, specifically attitudes in the decades surrounding the Civil War, still have relevance in today’s socio-political world.
The Chautauquan Daily 