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The
people's choice in Livingston County... and beyond!
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Stop a minute. The voice of a single flute seems to stir the maple leaves overhead.
A friendly bat diligently sweeps the ether for mosquitos.
Here, beside a lake in western New York, where muskellunge prowl the weedbeds,
on just such a summer's eve 122 years ago the first cluster of Chautauqua tents
glowed with lantern light and human faces radiated the light of knowledge.
"Chautauqua is an idea, embracing 'all things of life'-art, science, society,
religion, patriotism, education-whatsoever tends to enlarge, refine and ennoble
the individual," John Heyl Vincent, the Institution's co-founder,
explained long ago. Before the advent of modern communication, Chautauqua Institution
tents brought enlightenment to the far reaches of rural America. Today, the
original self-contained lakeside community bustles with 142,000 visitors each
summer.
Tents have evolved into fairy tale Victorian cottages, whose gingerbread and
flower-decked porches entice visitors. The original Methodist Sunday school
teachers' curriculum has expanded to include a cultural feast of over 200 summer
courses: anything from the realities and misperceptions of Islam to basic investing;
from gliding and soaring to mountain dulcimer making. The concept has grown,
but the faces still glow.
Would you care for a little Toscanini after your Tennesee Williams? Or a bit
of tai-chi before tennis? You can have dinner at Thomas Edison's favorite table
in the Athenaeum, one of the last great old wooden hotels, or simply picnic
on the lake.
Automobiles are relegated to a parking lot outside the main gate, and television
is an anachronism here. There is a sense of time and tradition, but also one
of youth and excitement.
Kids have always been welcome. "Bring the boys and girls to the Assembly," an
1877 Chautauqua newspaper said. "They may spend half their time climbing
trees or boating on the lake...but they cannot avoid seeing and hearing many
things which will...shape their destiny in life."
I came for the Highlights children's literature conference and came away with
a vision that will stay with me always. There is a place where dreams live and
hearts are open. It is Chautauqua.
If you go: Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, N.Y., 800-836-ARTS. Located
16 miles northwest of Jamestown, N.Y.
·Admission to most events by gate ticket (day, week or season)
·Privately owned hotels & guest rooms on the grounds; reserve early.
Off-grounds accommodations also available (call 716-753-4304).
·Discount vacation packages.
·A variety of recreation, youth and religious activities.
·For opera and theater tickets (no gate ticket needed) call 716-357-6250.
Susan Beckhorn has had stories and illustrations published by Cricket, Highlights
and Horsepower magazines.
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