If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Learn everything you need to know

about Chautauqua

Chautauqua, NY, is a small town located in Chautauqua County in Northwest NY. Chautauqua, which means “tied in the middle” is located near Chautauqua Lake. The word Chautauqua also stands for an adult education movement in the United States that was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

photo credit: grilled cheese

Chautauqua is most well known for Chautauqua Lake and the Chautauqua Institution, a learning and cultural center. As the area grew in population Chautauqua County was formed and named after the largest lake in the area.

History of Chautauqua

The first Chautauqua was called the New York Chautauqua Assembly. John Heyl Vincent, a Methodist minister and editor of the Sunday School Journal, organized it in 1874. His friend Lewis Miller, a businessman, also helped plan the concept of “Chautauqua.” Their campsite was located at Chautauqua Lake in New York State. This location was chosen for its isolation, beauty and for the lake.

Two years earlier, Vincent had begun to train Sunday school teachers in an outdoor summer school format. He felt that the informal outdoor atmosphere would create harmony and be ideal for religion and learning. The organization founded by Vincent and Miller later became known as the Chautauqua Institution and is still active today.

Chautauqua assemblies expanded rapidly in the late 1800’s and were popular throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought traveling entertainment, learning and culture for the whole community.

With the introduction of radio, competition for lining up the best performers and lecturers, movies, and the introduction of television and modern day information, Chautauqua’s began to close. Today there are only a few of the educational programs left, with the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua NY being the largest and offering the most diverse program format.

photo credit: sugarcoma

Chautauqua Institution

The Chautauqua Institution is a gated community that is open for a 9-week season offering a full program of lectures, religion and wide variety of activities. During the season automobiles are not permitted on grounds except for deliveries. Add to this, the small winding streets, small gardens and Victorian style homes and you have a unique village setting.

Off season the community is very small but the Smith Memorial library, lodging accommodations including the Athenaeum Hotel and several small shops stay open. And behind the scenes planning for the following Chautauqua season is in full gear.

Chautauqua County encompasses 1065 square, has 6 lakes and approximately 50 miles of Lake Erie shoreline. Jamestown and Dunkirk are the two major cities with another twenty-seven towns and fifteen villages nestled in woodlands and along lakes. Chautauqua Gorge, Lucy-Desi Museum and Roger Tory Peterson Nature Center are only a few places to visit while touring Chautauqua.

In the summer months the lakes, rivers and forests are a popular draw for people. In the winter months skiing and other outdoor activities bring visitors to the area.

There is always an activity or place to visit in Chautauqua, NY.

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

The Jamestown Audubon Society will sponsor the Snowflake festival Saturday Feb 6, 2010 from 11 am to 4:30 pm. Activities and demonstrations will be conducted both indoors and out.

Photo courtesy of Snowflake Festival

Normally the Festival is held the first Sunday in February but with the Super Bowl this Sunday the event was moved up one day. The event offers events for all ages and also brings to mind, Roger Tory Peterson. Peterson was best known for his book, A Field Guide to the Birds. Peterson’s studies of birds and nature are world renown.

Roger Tory Peterson

Roger Tory Peterson’s life wok with nature and bird watching has affected people worldwide. Best known for A Field Guide to the Birds, his efforts led to 52 other field guides and a life rich in teaching, art and instilling a love of nature that hopefully would be passed from generation to generation.

Peterson was born in Jamestown, N.Y. on aug.28, 1908. He always had a passion for nature, insects and birds. His mother noticed and encouraged is interest.

In 1920, at the age of 11, one of his teachers, Blanche Hornbeck, enrolled her class at the Junior Audubon Club. During school she would take them into the nearby forest where she taught them about art, science and writing. She also taught them about birds. Peterson’s interest was further piqued and he began drawing birds.

In the next few years he became interested in birds, moths and photography. He continued with photography and drawing throughout high school. He graduated form Jamestown High School in 1925 at the age of 16 with a degree in design and mechanical drawing.

In 1926 he left Jamestown to attend the Art Students League and then the National Academy of Design 1929. In 1931 Peterson began teaching art and natures studies in Boston. While in Boston he met Frances H. Allen, an editor at Houghton Mifflin Company. Peterson showed him the book he was working on, A Field Guide to the Birds. Allen felt the book was a one of a kind field guide and offered to produce the manuscript. Two thousand copies were made and within two weeks they were all sold out.

The Audubon Center & Sanctuary offers many nature activities, including birding throughout the year and the Snowflake Festival is a great way to experience what the center can offer to the entire family.

Below are a few of the many activities offered during the day.

1.  Build a Bluebird Nestbox with our Audubon Crew of Volunteers ($5)
2.  Children’s Crafts – featuring valentines from recycled materials (no charge)
3.  Horse-drawn Sleigh (or Wagon) Rides with Dennis Wright ($5/adult, $2/school-aged children)
4.  New Hope Assistance Program – a not-for-profit organization based in Warren PA that provides therapy dogs to people with disabilities.
5.  Tails of the Tundra Siberian husky rescue – including scooter and kick-sled demonstrations

The center is located between Jamestown, N.Y. and Warren. P.A. just off of RT 62 at 1600 Riverside Road. For more information check out the Website: Snowflake Festival 2010 .

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

For those of you who live in Chautauqua County or have visited you know the beautiful gardens and abundant produce that grows in this area.

photo credit: E. Bartholomew

The lakes provide a climate that often encourages additional time to the growing zone, depending on where you are located. And the soil is rich.

So, if you are interested in starting your first garden, adding to the garden areas or possibly growing a garden in containers or on a patio area, stop by the Gardener’s Rake and enter the Free Garden seeds contest.

Touring the local Chautauqua gardens or visiting the farmer’s markets or vegetable stand that speckle the roadside in this area make for an enjoyable day and fresh flowers and produce.

Check out the contest at the Gardener’s Rake and start that recession garden or kitchen garden this year.

Community Gardens

Community gardens are becoming popular in many areas, particularly in urban areas. This last year, residents of Chautauqua created a community garden. A small group who lived on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution organized and submitted a proposal to create a community garden.

With the economy in the shape it is and environmental concerns the addition of community gardens is a welcome and rewarding program to set up. I hope that Chautauqua County, Warren County and areas around the world will take time to organize community garden projects and participate in the “Grow a row for the poor” program.

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

Dunkirk Dave made his forcast for this year and spring will be early.

Groundhogs day trivia

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

Dunkirk Dave, who lives in the city of Dunkirk NY in Chautauqua County will be facing off with the popular Punxy Phil to predict the outcome of winter.

From Millan.Net

It seems these two often disagree on the outcome. There is also a disagreement as to which groundhog is the the best in predictions. I myself believe it has a lot to do with which side of the state line you live on as to which groundhog you will believe.

One fact is Dunkirk Dave is the second-longest predicting groundhog. The groundhog is also the only animal honored on the calendar with his own holiday.

Fro more information on Dunkirk Dave visits Daves Home page

For additional information check out Groundhogs Day trivia.

An update on Dave’s prediction will follow

Happy Groundhogs day!

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

By Steve Grant AKA – The Madd Doodler

photo credit: infodump

One of the great parts of collecting is finding the unusual one of a kind piece. That’s not really easy to do when you collect Studebaker items. However in 2002 I was set up as a vendor at the International Studebaker Drivers Club Meet in South Bend Indiana and found just such an item.

It was Friday afternoon, the end of a full week of selling Studebaker toys, literature and memorabilia and I was in the process of packing my items away for the trip home. An elderly couple came into the room where the vendors were and fortunately came up to the area I was in first. As I vend alone, I set up beside a good friend from Canada so we can take turns watching the tables if one of us needs a break. The couple explained to my friend Richard and me that they had a few Studebaker items they wanted to sell. We are always on the lookout for new items to put on our tables so we took a look. They had a 10-year service pin and a copy of the Centennial album put out by Studebaker in 1952 which Richard bought. The other item they had was a hand-drawn picture of the five Studebaker brothers. This is the story of that item.

There had been several photographic images of the Studebaker Brothers made during the time they were all alive and their company was growing. They all went from being simple farmers and blacksmiths to being very wealthy men of influence. The brothers were born to John C. and Rebecca Studebaker. Along with Henry, Clement, John M, Peter and Jacob there were also five sisters in the family.

The couple selling the items had been antique dealers in South Bend with a store they had operated for more than 20 years. They told me a woman came in the store in 1964 with this picture and said her grandmother had drawn it. Her grandmother was Elizabeth Studebaker, the younger sister of the brothers that formed the Studebaker company. They had a slip of paper that had the name of the woman they bought the picture form and a newspaper clipping showing the five brothers in a familiar pose. The drawing shows the brothers in this same pose but quite a few years younger than we are used to seeing them.

If the info was correct, it was a great find, a one of a kind piece that would be a great addition to any collection. With no more info than their word and original note we struck a deal and I bought the picture. Once I returned home, I did some research and found out that the name they gave me was indeed that of Elizabeth Studebaker’s grand daughter. The time line checked out as well.

Drawing of the Studebaker Brothers

After that I took the framed picture to an appraiser to check it over. He confirmed it was from the proper era with period framing and glass. The backer is a single sheet of thin wood held in the frame with small square nails. There is a piece of heavy cord used to hang it.

The image itself was done in a soft silver which was popular medium of the age and tarnished like silver will do which then gives it the appearance of pencil. The appraiser couldn’t give me an accurate appraisal though since it is a one of a kind and there is no reference point to put a price on it. I guess the value doesn’t matter much since it’s become part of my own collection instead of going up for sale.

Why they chose our table to walk up to that day I don’t know, they did walk past a couple of other tables to get to us. They weren’t even sure why they had held onto the picture as long as they did since they had closed their antique store in the 1970s. I guess this time fate took a hand in deciding the new home for this unique piece of Studebaker history.

Above story was originally published at Madd Dooder. com

NOTE: The Studebakers had a rich history at Chautauqua in the 1900’s. Clement Studebaker served as interim president after the death of Chautauqua founder Lewis Miller, Clement Studebaker Jr. also later served on the board of trustees.

In recent years the Kinzua Region Studebaker Club has attended a fall weekender on the  Chautauqua Institution Grounds. For this years weekend dates and events check the Kinzua Region SDC schedule.

Was this piece af art drawn as one of the Special Studies classes held on the Chautauqua Grounds?

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz