Nuclear power and weapons is a topic you listen to almost an a daily basis. It shapes our government and world policies. The decisions made today will influence our world for many years to come.

The following your tube will give you a better idea of the morning lecture topics and speakers. The president of the Chautauqua Institute, Tom Becker, gives a brief rundown of the planned program.

Week 4 At Chautauqua Institution

Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons: The Right to Have and to Hold

Monday: Sam Nunn “The Race Cooperation and Catasrophe”

Tuesday: Graham Allison, “Nuclear Terrorism: Who Could Imagine?”

Wednesday: Jim Rogers

Thursday: Molly Williamson “Getting Beyond the Politics of Petroleum”

Friday: Joseph Cirincione

The theme for the week is “From Asia to the Middle East: Energy, Capital, and Conflict.”

The following you tube, presented by Tom Becker who is the President of the Chautauqua Institution will give you an idea of what the theme will offer in the way of lectures.

Chautauqua Institution is located on the shore of Chautauqua lake and minutes from Lake Erie.

Each year Chautauqua has a week devoted to the topic of applied ethics. This weeks topic applies to ethics in leadership. Speakers for the 10:45 am lecture are:

Monday – David Brooks
Tuesday – David Boren
Wednesday – Cheryl Dorsey
Thursday – David Weston
Friday – Joseph Riley

The following you tube gives more information on the daily morning lectures.

The lectures are set up to encourage public discussion and debate during the day and week. As you head to a workshop, art show or afternoon lecture you will hear people debating the morning lecture on porches or Bestor Plaza.

The Religious Department or Women’s Club also presents other lectures in the afternoon or weekends.

The following list is the remaining themes for the 2010 Chautauqua Institution program:

Week 3 – July 11-17, 2010
From Asia to the Middle East: Energy, Capital, and Conflict

Week 4 – July 18-24, 2010
Nuclear Power & Nuclear Weapons: The Right to Have & to Hold

Week 5 – July 25-31, 2010
Picture This: Photography

Week 6 – August 1-7, 2010
Excellence in Public Education

Week 7 – August 8-14, 2010
Sacred Spaces

Week 8 – August 15-21, 2010
Powering the Future

Week 9 – August 22-28, 2010
The Supreme Court

And with each season hopes are high that the goals set by Chautauqua to reach out and influence and shape lives through lectures, workshops and entertainment will be reached.

Week One at Chautauqua Institution is “Roger Rosenblatt and more friends. ” The following you tube goes into more detail about the theme and morning lectures.

The rest of the Chautauqua Institutions weekly themes are listed below:

Week 2 – July 4-10, 2010
The Ethics of Leadership

Week 3 – July 11-17, 2010
From Asia to the Middle East: Energy, Capital, and Conflict

Week 4 – July 18-24, 2010
Nuclear Power & Nuclear Weapons: The Right to Have & to Hold

Week 5 – July 25-31, 2010
Picture This: Photography

Week 6 – August 1-7, 2010
Excellence in Public Education

Week 7 – August 8-14, 2010
Sacred Spaces

Week 8 – August 15-21, 2010
Powering the Future

Week 9 – August 22-28, 2010
The Supreme Court

Often after a lecture you will hear people sitting on the porches in the small homes that line the narrow and winding street debating the topics that were discussed that day and previous days.

I know the image is north of Miller Street but with fewer building in the background I cannot quite figure out the location. Does anyone know the location?

For those of you with images from this or who can identify the shoreline please let me know where the photo was taken.

The Chautauqua Institution begins its 2010 summer session June 26. The season will end August 29.

June 26 will be the first evening concert of the season, which starts 8:15 pm at the Amphitheater and features “The Boys in Concert.”

The Hall of Philosophy is located on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution. This postcard photograph of the hall has a much different look than the image you will see today.

Vintage postcards capture a moment in time much like a photograph. But an added bonus it the message and stamp of the time.

Tis post card was sent from Celeron, NY.  Celeron was the home of Celeron park and one of the biggest ferris wheels in the United States. It also had a roller rink and merry go round that people remember and still talk about to this day.

There is not much of the park left, a few cement foundations and the park where the Summer Wind docks and picks up and drops off tourists for excursions on Chautauqua Lake.

Celeron is also known as the home of Lucille Ball.

I recently picked up a 1932 newspaper from Sheffield Pa., a small town north of Chautauqua County. I also picked up several issues of the Chautauquan Daily, the summer newspaper for the Chautauqua Institution, located in Chautauqua NY.

According to the smaller heading on the Chautauquan Daily this was the 82nd year of the paper. The newspaper consisted of eight pages and the office staff had seven employees. The price was ten cents. Virgil Freed was the editor and Alfreda Locke Irwin was a member of the newspaper at this time. As a matter of fact, it was her first year at the Chautauquan Daily.

Irwin became assistant editor in 1959, and editor in 1966. She retired after 15years from the position in 1981. As editor of the Daily, she introduced daily new photos, coverage of the total program, articles by guest columnists, the question-and-answer format used for the morning lecture and the intern/apprentice system.

Reading the daily news from the Chautauquan Daily reflected change in the amount of activities offered but the daily schedule had the morning lecture and an afternoon lecture. The evening entertainment was at 8:30 pm at the Amphitheater.

One August 21 there were three art shows on the grounds and opera and theater were a strong part of the summer schedule.

The CLSC, Woman’s’ Club and Garden Club had meetings that day and the topics were much like the topics that are currently discussed.

It was interesting to see the changes in shops and restaurants on the grounds. Olga’s Tea shop was located behind the post office. The Eau-Clair Dining Room was located on Terrace. Howell’s gift shop at the corner of Simpson and Miller was proclaimed to be the oldest gift shop location at Chautauqua. These three businesses are no longer operating.

The Athenaeum served dinner at 6:30 and the cost was $3. B.C. Gifford was manager at this time. The Athenaeum is still operating and has a full schedule of activities from meeting to art shows. The hotel still offers the American plan.

The Gadfly111 offered 3 daily trips that left from the bell tower. The Gadfly111 is no longer traveling the Chautauqua Lake but the Simmer wind and Chautauqua Belle offer trips on the lake.

The variety of classes offered in continuing education was smaller but music and the arts appeared to be popular courses.

There’s a saying at the Chautauqua Institution that Chautauqua does not like change but from reading the paper, there are distinct differences in the summer schedule, most due to growth. But the underlying feel and purpose of the Institution appears to be the same.

Newspapers offer a glimpse into the past. And reading the August 21 edition of the Daily was insightful.

photo credit: rick020200

The themes for the summer are set, and as early at it seems its time to select a week or daily events to attend. The on ground Bed And Breakfast accommodations, hotels and other rentals tend to fill up early as do the nearby accommodations.

Chautauqua Institution 2010 summer schedule

Week One
Lecture theme: Roger Rosenblatt and More Friends
Afternoon Theme: Eternal Life: A New Vision

Week Two
Lecture Theme: The Ethics of Leadership

Week Three
Lecture Theme: From Asia to the Middle East: Energy, Capitol and Conflict
Afternoon Theme:  Women of the Middle East

Week Four
Lecture Theme: Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons: The Right to Have and to Hold
Afternoon Theme: Nuclear Disarmament

Week Five
Lecture Theme: Picture This: Photography
Afternoon Theme: The Ethical Dimensions of Photography

Week Six
Lecture Theme: Excellence in Public Education
Afternoon Theme: Public Education: A Moral Imperative

Week Seven
Lecture Theme: Sacred Spaces

Week Eight
Lecture Theme: Powering the Future
Afternoon Theme: Powering the Future: An Exploration of the World’s Religions

Week Nine
Lecture Theme: The Supreme Court

photo credit: Jerome Rothermund
Besides the daily lectures, the Chautauqua Institution offers continuing education classes, children’s activities, Opera, music and Theater, art lectures and gallery art shows, and many more cultural events.

Each day is filled with programs that will offer for all family members. Add to that the beauty of the lake, architecture and small gardens and it’s a perfect day or week for the entire family

photo credit: Sue Manus

My first experience of this event was when I was planning one of the Studebaker weekends held on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution. I was spending the weekend at the Englewood Guest House while setting up reservations for the Studebaker club event. The group staying at the Englewood was heading down to the Athenaeum Hotel for the weekend of Jazz entertainment. I was invited to attend.

What I found most amazing about this weekend was the excitement in the music and between the musicians. Many see each other only on this weekend and it has an air of a reunion of friends. Many friendly competitions of music are held between the musicians and the quality of the music is astounding. Each song seems to top the song before.

The musicians play well into the night and the sound of their melodies float on the air and around the grounds of Chautauqua. Later during one of the evenings I will head down to the waterfront and watch the boats on the water and the reflections from building casting their light upon the water. The music adds to the atmosphere and magic created during this event.
photo credit: Sue Manus

If you have the opportunity to attend the even starts Thursday, Sept. 17 with a Get Acquainted Day. There will be a Jazz Photography Exhibit at the Athenaeum Hotel lobby with photographs by Duncan P. Schiedt – Pittsboro, IN, on display. There will also be tables with records and sheet music available for viewing and purchase from 7:00 – 11:00 PM.

The event continues Saturday and will end on Sunday, Sept. 20. For a complete list of events and musicians you can download a schedule at Jazz at Chautauqua in PDF form.

For those who attend there are also many other activities in the surrounding towns of Mayville, Westfield, Chautauqua and Jamestown, NY.

I have attended the Jazz weekend for five years and I will also attend this year. The music impresses me more each year. I also have the chance to talk with friends I have meet over the years.

For further information visit Chautauqua Jazz weekend

photo credit: tö

The event was planned to meet in Westfield NY, about 10 miles away from Chautauqua. The plans for the hotel fell through and at the last moment there was a wild scramble for rooms for a large gathering of Studebaker enthusiasts. As luck would have it, and being off-season, rooms were available for the group the stay on the Chautauqua grounds. Rooms were booked at the Englewood, Mardell Manor, The Miller, Rose Cottage and Cambridge Inn.

Chautauqua had no idea the quiet winding streets would soon be filled with vintage Studebakers. Plans were also made to visit the more well know Studebaker house, now known as the United Missionary House. The event was a success and the club has returned each year. The group has met and stayed at the Carey Cottage Inn for the last three years. This year’s event will take place this Labor Day weekend, Sept. 4 – 6.

And one of the bigger Chautauqua Studebaker weekends took place the year, founder of the Kinzua Region Studebaker Club, was married on the grounds. The wedding took place at Kennedy Park, near the Spencer Hotel. More than 50 Studebakers surrounded the Park and the bride arrived in a horse drawn carriage.

The bride was quite late and rumors were circulating she may have taken off but the carriage finally arrived. A safe route had to be taken, as the brakes to the carriage were not working. And the bride and groom still had a long downhill trip to the reception, which was taking place at the lakeside pavilion.

United Missionary House

Clement Studebaker, founder of the Studebaker Corporation, built the United Missionary house, located on the lakefront of Chautauqua Lake and on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution. Studebaker was known first for their wagons and later for the automobiles, which were produced until 1965.

Clement Studebaker as a wedding gift for his daughter also built the house located directly behind the United Missionary house.

John Hyle Vincent, Lewis Miller and Clement Studebaker were also responsible for the Atheneum Hotel, working with the design and raising funds for a hotel that would be one of the first hotels in the United States to have electricity.

Lewis Miller’s Daughter married Thomas Edison so many of the experiments in electricity were performed at the hotel and down in Miller Park

Atheneum Hotel

photo credit: Sue Manus

Studebaker brought in his architect that designed the Tally Ho, his home in South bend Indiana, to design the home on the Chautauqua Grounds. This would be their summer home. For those of you who have visited the Tally Ho, the similar design and architecture of both buildings is apparent.

The first mention of the Studebakers at Chautauqua was a small clip in the newspaper announcing the arrival of Anne Studebaker, her children and their small pony. Clement later went on to be interim president after the death of the founder, Lewis Miller. Clement soon took ill and passed away in 1901.

During the time when the Studebakers visited Chautauqua they lived in five to six different homes, with the United Missionary house being the most well known. It is still a mystery as to why the Studebakers stopped visiting Chautauqua and sold the houses that they built. It may have something to do with the closing of the Studebaker Company but the reason is still unknown.

If you are in the area of the Chautauqua Institution on Labor Day weekend, stop by and enjoy the vintage cars.