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Building on Tradition: Hagen-Wensley House gets a total makeover
10/30/2010 The location is perfect. Fronting the glittering lake and just across from the Athenaeum and its dining room, Chautauqua's Wensley House is also as close to the Amphitheater's stage door as any accommodations on the grounds. For half a century it has provided guest quarters to the Institution's most distinguished lecturers and performers. Pick up a guest book in any room and the names on every page read like a who's who of American life and culture in the twentieth century. The library is filled with signed volumes by guest authors. It has been an essential part of the hospitality and sense of community Chautauqua provides to its presenters. But for some years now the Wensley, built in 1891, has been sagging. Longtime Chautauquans and philanthropists Susie and Tom Hagen decided this summer to take on the situation. "The quality of the program and partnerships at Chautauqua have so improved over the last few years," says Susie Hagen, "but the accommodations have not. This house was simply worn out." The Hagens' $2 million gift will thoroughly modernize the Wensley- the foundation, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and interior layout-while maintaining the exterior appearance of the historic structure with all new windows and siding. The signature porches where guests gather in the afternoons will be maintained as community space, while four guest rooms each on the second and third floors will now open onto interior hallways. Thicker walls will enhance privacy, and a wider central stairwell and new elevator will improve access throughout the building. "On the first floor," Tom Hagen explains, "there will be a decentsized sitting room, especially useful when there's inclement weather. Further in on that floor will be a galley kitchen, and an expanded library and business center, both of which have been really needed." Quarters for staff-two bedrooms on the ground floor-and a new front entrance from the lake side of the building will help staff provide proper orientation and welcome to first-time guests. New plantings around the house and walkways will round out the improvements. The Wensley House, partially gifted to the Institution in 1966 by Nina Wensley and used since then for the purpose of accommodating performers and lecturers, will be renamed the Hagen-Wensley House. The Hagens' gift is far-sighted. In addition to the total reconstruction and interior decorating, the Hagens have funded a $350,000 endowment for future maintenance-a goal that the Chautauqua administration has for every facility. "In years gone by," says Tom Hagen, "upkeep for some of Chautauqua's historic properties has become a burden. We are approaching this building project in a business-like way and hope the investment will be self-sustaining." Because of her expertise in interior design, Susie Hagen will work with Chautauqua staff in selecting new fabrics and wall and floor coverings for the building. She says she is mindful of all the hard work put in over the years by a volunteer committee of women, who kept the Wensley updated with limited resources despite the wear and tear on the old building. "We'll still use much of the furniture," Hagen says, "and we want to be sure the overall space is bright, airy and cheerful." The Hagens divide their time between Chautauqua, Erie, and Sarasota, Florida, and Susie expects to check in on the project every six weeks or so throughout the reconstruction process. Work began immediately after the end of the 2010 season. "Chautauqua has always been one of my favorite places," she says. "I have been coming here since I was four." The Hagens, who have also endowed an annual lecture, regard the Wensley gift as a way to have a lasting impact on the program of the Institution as well. Foundation CEO Geof Follansbee affirms that such substantial improvements to the Hagen- Wensley House fit the larger goals of the Institution. "Our strategic planning process has emphasized the importance of having our guest speakers and performers spend more time on the grounds and have additional opportunities to interact with the community as well as to get to know each other and become resources to each other. Improving the amenities we can offer helps us achieve this goal." Hostess Rachel Borzilleri, who manages the house, says, "Magic happens on those front porches with our guests in a very short time. Lifelong friendships begin here. Collaborations, new ideas-they get hatched all the time. I am so grateful to the Hagens for enhancing the magic to come."
Excellence, Community, and Belonging: Tara Vanderveer
10/30/2010 In 1996 Chautauquan Tara VanDerveer coached the U.S. women's basketball team to a gold medal victory in the summer Olympic games in Atlanta. Today, she's ranked seventh in career wins among all active collegiate basketball coaches-women's and men's-in the nation. The handful of coaches ahead of her are legends: names such as Pat Summit of Tennessee, Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, and Vivian Stringer of Rutgers. Back in 1985 VanDerveer took the calculated risk of leaving the winning program she had built at Ohio State to take on head coaching responsibilities at Stanford University, where losing had become a ritual. In only five years she turned the team around to win her first NCAA national championship. She's since carried her Stanford teams to the Final Four seven times, adding another national championship in 1992. Last year's team was runnerup to the University of Connecticut in the 2010 NCAA national championship game. That Stanford athletes must meet stringent academic requirements for admission makes VanDerveer's recruiting accomplishments even more impressive. Some of that vigorous recruiting takes place by phone from the porch of her Chautauqua cottage each summer. In interviews, VanDerveer never fails to mention the influence of Chautauqua on her life. She still remembers her first summer on the grounds, not by the year (she was in fourth grade), but by the musical she saw: The King and I. The oldest of five, she says it was always a stretch for the family to afford a summer at Chautauqua. "My father worked for Syracuse University, and we'd come down and rent a place, but after each season, we could never go back to the same place. All those kids and dogs were not too popular with the landlords," VanDerveer chuckles. In 1973, the family finally purchased their own place-the Lakeside Lodge, a rambling old rooming house at the corner of Simpson and Bowman. They ran it as a B&B every summer. The proceeds from this family enterprise paid the college tuition bills for all five children. When VanDerveer's father passed away a decade ago, her mother, Rita, called with the difficult news that she would have to sell the place. Tara pledged to buy and renovate it instead. With a new foundation and scrupulous adherence to historic district standards, VanDerveer had the bottom floor converted into a three-bedroom, two-bath apartment that sister Beth now manages and rents by the week. Upstairs are the family quarters where Rita, now in her early 80s, spends the entire summer, while the other VanDerveer siblings-Marie, Heidi, and Nick- and their friends and families come and go. Given the demands of her work, Coach VanDerveer only manages at most two weeks a year on the grounds. She also owns a handsome house in Menlo Park, California, and a getaway cabin in Minnesota, but VanDerveer insists that Chautauqua is home to her more than anyplace else. "I feel this calm come over me as soon as I enter the gates," she says. When she's on the grounds, she's usually up by six, watching the sunrise over the lake from her room on the third floor. VanDerveer then makes her way to the workout facility in Turner. She'll usually take in the 10:45 lecture and will get out on the lake most days, either in a kayak or her Laser sailboat. This year she took up duplicate bridge, a new obsession, and there is always time set aside to play the piano. VanDerveer began learning the instrument as an adult and insists on having a piano available to her when her Stanford team is on the road. Five years ago she brought her teacher and fifteen other piano students to the grounds for a week. "When I'm here, I won't leave the grounds," VanDerveer says. "It's sort of a family joke. My mother will want to go into town for dinner, but I refuse. It was the same when I was a kid. Our car would pull up to the house at the beginning of the season and my father would look up and say, 'Where's Tara?' I was already gone to find my friends. There's so much to do here and never enough time." VanDerveer says she always cried at the end of the season as her family left the grounds. Today she still seeks out old friends Wendy Lewellen, whose late mother was hostess at the Wensley House next door, and Cindy Gelb, daughter of longtime Chautauqua Foundation Director Vic Gelb. ''She was the gym rat while we were working on our tans,'' Wendy Lewellen told the audience this February at VanDerveer's induction into the Chautauqua County Hall of Fame. "I did play basketball with the older boys on the upstairs court in the old Boys' and Girls' Club building," VanDerveer confirms, "but I did much more-sailing, tennis, swimming. I was so fortunate. Kids these days don't even have P.E. in school, and even back in my college days, some of the girls I played with had never done anything but summer basketball camp. I think the Boys' and Girls' Club had it right, helping us be well rounded." The magic of the mix for VanDerveer extended far beyond sports at Chautauqua, however. "Chautauqua was always a smorgasbord to me," she explains, "and I loved filling up my plate with all that was going on. I was in three operas as a child here. My family went to all the rehearsals. And I heard Van Cliburn, Robert Kennedy, and Marian Anderson in the Amp." VanDerveer was asked how Chautauqua has affected her life away from the grounds. "You know," she says, "I think I was drawn to Stanford because it reminds me a lot of Chautauqua-so many accomplished, upbeat people in a very stimulating place. Building a team is also about excellence and community and belonging, being part of something special. That's what I tell my players. We are part of something special. It's not just about showing up, dribbling and shooting." Of her coaching style, a New York Times reporter once wrote that "VanDerveer knows how to bond a team, how to wrap them as tight as ankle tape to support each other. She loves coaching, the strategy, the game films, and solitude of thought on a crowded team bus." VanDerveer credits Chautauqua for helping to create her appetite for engagement, reflection, and critical thinking. "So now I try to create a Chautauqua experience for myself all year long. My life is so rich. I travel all over the world. I went to the Olympics. I've met incredible people. But I don't know too many places better than Chautauqua."
Embracing Chautauqua's Future: Jim and Barbara Brady
10/30/2010 Jim Brady is a CPA with years of experience in auditing multinational corporations and nonprofit organizations. His work with Deloitte and Touche has carried him from posts in Rhode Island, south Florida, North Carolina, St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia, to Washington D.C. and then Atlanta. Now he is CEO of a new Deloitte venture in India, where he, his wife Barbara, daughter Alexandra, 13, and son Chris, 11, have lived for nearly two years. Traveling from their residence in Hyderabad-India's sixth largest city, with a population of some seven million-the family could hardly wait to arrive at Chautauqua this summer for their eighth season on the grounds, this time for six weeks. "That initial feeling of being back on American soil was good," says Barbara, a native of nearby Olean, New York, who came as a child to Chautauqua to see an occasional play or opera. Her sister worked on the grounds as a housekeeper. "Hyderabad is dry and hot, and everywhere we've been is a sea of humanity and poverty," she says. Barbara volunteers at a local orphanage and home-schools the children. Before their time in India is over, the family will travel south, visiting the Taj Mahal and other landmarks. "It's been a good experience," she says. "Our kids have made a lot of friends in India-from France, South Africa, Britain, and India." The family went to France for New Year's and visited New Zealand for spring break this year. Still, coming back to Chautauqua was their most highly anticipated destination. Settled into a rental on Scott Avenue, the Bradys have entertained family and friends they hadn't seen in months. Barbara has taken Special Studies classes in selfawareness and movement. She and daughter Alex have also become seriously dominant Scrabble players, thanks to a course they took together. Beading and watercolors have also been among Alex's pursuits this season. For Chris, who has developed some familiarity with the game of cricket during his time in India, it has been a summer of daily sailing, shuffleboard, and golf. Jim, who is a new member of the Chautauqua Board of Trustees, has tackled his role at the summer trustee porch meetings with relish, while also house hunting on the grounds. Near the end of their stay, the family signed a contract on a house on Wiley near University Beach and planned to move in before the end of the season. "When Barbara first brought me to Chautauqua in 2002," says Jim, "we'd been married for six years. I couldn't believe this place. 'Why haven't you shown me this?' I asked her. 'Why did it take so long?'" He shakes his head. "What hooked me right away were the pillars of education and religion. I love studying cultures and different religions. I love looking at all 13 sides of an issue. The hardest thing is figuring out your day at Chautauqua!" Jim Brady moves to the edge of his seat. He is just beginning to warm to his subject. Brady brings the force of all his accumulated leadership, communications, and marketing skills to bear in his passion for Chautauqua. "Where else can you get a Scrabble class the same week you are studying the threat of nuclear weapons? It's like camp for the whole family!" "He's like this about everything he does," Barbara whispers as an aside, smiling at her husband. "We plan to be here full time in ten or eleven years, and I know great things are ahead for this place," Jim says. He is most enthusiastic about the Trustees' new strategic document that envisions the next eight years in the life of the Institution and advocates for Chautauqua becoming a more powerful presence in this country, particularly in fostering civil dialogue and encouraging a more respectful, less polarized form of national discourse. Chautauqua's programming is a model of what is possible and even essential to the survival of our society, Brady says. "We can't be proud of being a best kept secret." Jim spreads his arms. "Chautauqua must have a wider mindset and embrace the idea of national recognition. Let's make these next eight years a breakout period. Tom Becker's legacy is not incrementalism. We are moving toward something that is a quantum leap. Tom is not settling for 'good,' he is pushing us to reach farther." Jim notes that attendance at the trustee porch meetings this season has been strong and the tone upbeat, focusing on the larger issues of mission and vision for the Institution. "That's very positive," Brady says. "You know, it's hard to make the program here much better. It's always been great, but becoming a force nationally or internationally is the next step. It will require that the 24 trustees and 16 foundation directors carve out a couple hundred hours a year to get the message out, remain focused on the strategy, and be very intentional in our work to promote Chautauqua's role in American dialogue. This is not just about being theoretical. It's about moving the needle." When asked about the role of philanthropy at the Institution, Brady is no less exuberant. "Barbara and I have been very blessed, and I believe that it is incumbent on people who can make larger contributions to make them so that a place like this can fulfill its potential. Chautauqua is in our will-one of a very few organizations we are supporting at that level. We are committed in a serious way to this place. Chautauqua is a community where you can live that commitment first hand all day long. It's all in the mix. There's nothing else like it."
With gift to fund chaplaincies, Marthinsens look to ensure quality religious programs
8/13/2010 Investing in the future of Chautauqua can take many forms. While maintenance and upkeep to facilities, such as the new Fowler-Kellogg Art Center, are a critical component of sustainability at the Institution, so too are the efforts to ensure the excellence in programming is preserved for future generations. Craig and Alison Marthinsen’s outright gift of $100,000 to endow a chaplaincy at Chautauqua aims to preserve the Institution’s rich history of worship and religious education. The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, director of the Department of Religion, said the Marthinsen gift is “very significant” in that it goes toward providing honorariums as well as paying travel expenses for visiting chaplains. She said chaplains on average receive between $3,500 and $5,000 as their honorarium, and travel costs vary according to how far the chaplain has to travel and who accompanies him or her. “This is the first chaplaincy funding Chautauqua Foundation has received in 20 years,” said Karen Blozie, the Foundation’s director of gift planning. “It is an underfunded area within the Department of Religion.” “Alison and Craig have demonstrated a real commitment to the work of the Department of Religion and the chaplaincy program with their gift — we are truly grateful to them for their thoughtful generosity,” she said. Alison said that as soon as she and Craig knew they were in a position to give to Chautauqua, preserving the quality of preaching and religious education on the grounds immediately came to mind. Campbell said it is the generosity of people like the Marthinsens that provides for the quality programs Chautauquans have come to expect from the Department of Religion. “The strength of Department of Religion programs, as well as other programming on the grounds, is enhanced by the gifts of generous Chautauquans,” she said. “Without it we wouldn’t be able to bring the quality of people that we bring.” The Marthinsens, both born in the United States, currently live in Toronto when not at Chautauqua. Alison said ever since she and Craig purchased their house in Chautauqua 12 years ago, she has been coming to stay for the entire season, while Craig is a “weekend warrior.” Though he’d probably attend more lectures if he was on the grounds for the entire week, Craig said his time at Chautauqua is mostly spent relaxing. “I’m so busy working that when I’m here on the weekends, I just want to unwind,” he said. After sitting in an office for 50 hours a week, he enjoys playing golf, boating and going to concerts. Alison, a fourth-generation Chautauquan, said she enjoys golfi ng and attending morning worship and morning lectures. “I love church on Sunday at Chautauqua,” she said. “It’s so moving (because) I sing in the choir and love to look out and see all those people here to worship God. I like the fact that it’s an ecumenical service. I like seeing that kind of unity from the Chautauqua service.“ Alison said she would like the endowment to help maintain Chautauqua’s original mission. “Chautauqua started as a retreat for Sunday school teachers, and we want to ensure that it keeps going for the future,” she said. Campbell agreed that balancing Chautauqua’s interfaith work and its Christian history and worship is important. One of the preachers the Marthinsens call attention to as a continuation of quality programming at Chautauqua is the Rev. Otis Moss III. “He is just a fabulous preacher,” Alison said. “He preaches right from the word of God and preaches the gospel. It’s somebody up there getting very excited and passionate about what they’re preaching.” Alison added that she appreciates how personable Moss is. “Whenever I go to talk to him or go to shake his hand, he talks to you as if you’re the only one there,” she said. In addition to their outright gift, the Marthinsens have written Chautauqua Foundation into their will, with the bequest designated to go to the Department of Religion in support of the chaplaincy fund they have established, with additional monies designated for other Department of Religion programs. “As they say at Old First Night, we’re standing on the shoulders of everyone who has gone before us, who have done in some cases extraordinary things to keep Chautauqua going,” Alison said. “We just wanted to be a part of that.” For more information on the chaplaincy program or other endowment funding opportunities please contact Karen Blozie, director of gift planning, Chautauqua Foundation, at (716) 357-6244 or e-mail kblozie@ ciweb.org.
Glazer family supports prize and students in annual Piano Competition
8/7/2010 If there were a contest to determine who on the grounds most embodies the true spirit of Chautauqua Institution, Jeff and Norma Glazer would be two of the fiercest competitors. The couple first came to Chautauqua about 15 years ago, first staying with friends and then renting a home. When the Institution purchased the land from the Turner School at the turn of the century, the Glazers secured a lot to design a house in the area they said feels like the “suburbs” of Chautauqua. They knew it would be essential for them to build a large porch so they could host dinner parties and invite School of Music students over to play and to entertain their guests. Now, on any given Sunday, one may stroll down Hanson Avenue and see that porch filled with people and hear the sounds of beautiful piano music or string ensembles wafting through the air. “If we were designing this for any other community but Chautauqua, we would have a deck in the back facing the woods. It would be private and you could see the nature,” Jeff said. “But in Chautauqua, of course, having a porch out front so you can see people going down the street is fun. That’s part of the experience.” From the tradition of having students play in their home grew the Glazers’ personal commitment to supporting the School of Music in any way possible. And from their close friendship with Piano Program Chair Rebecca Penneys came their amazing gift to the winner of the annual Chautauqua Piano Competition each year, which holds its final round beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall. The Glazers have donated $7,500 to fund the grand prize of the competition for the past three years. Jeff said the prize has helped to attract more “top notch” piano students to Chautauqua and helps them to work harder while they’re here with the thought of the prize in mind. “We were talking with Rebecca and thought if they had a prize that was really something for people to compete for, a meaningful amount, that they would get a better quality of student to apply for it,” Jeff said. Instead of putting their own title to the prize money, the Glazers deemed the title to be the Rebecca Penneys Prize. Jeff said they knew that it would mean more for the students and be an honor for Penneys if the prize was given in the name of the woman who has dedicated a good portion of her life to making the Piano Program a success. “We don’t mind that we just have a little footnote,” Jeff said. The Glazers have supported the artistic community in almost every place they have resided. The couple lives in Cleveland for part of the year, as they did before they started coming to Chautauqua. They held positions on the boards of various institutions, helped found an orchestra, and used to have chamber music students from the Cleveland School of Music come to their house to perform. The Glazers are also amateur musicians themselves, Jeff playing viola and Norma playing piano “with a lowercase p,” she said. Their children grew up with the arts as well, with their daughter Jenny working as a harp therapist through hospices in Boston and son Joshua as an art historian. At Chautauqua, the students in the School of Music become the Glazers’ adoptive children. The musicians are always welcome to do laundry, use the piano to practice or just come over for a decent meal and relax on the porch. “It makes you feel good, providing for the students,” Jeff said. “It’s good for the students and it’s fun for us.” The Glazers said they hope and expect the winner of the competition each year to be very serious about a career as a musician. Jeff said it’s a given that the winner would be talented, but along with talent they usually find the winners to be extremely mature and to have great personalities. “That would be more our hope, that they would be personable and able to communicate and want to launch their career to the next level,” Jeff said. With their parental feelings toward the students, the Glazers will undoubtedly sit front row center for Saturday’s final round in the piano competition. Norma said knowing most of the students on a personal level makes watching the competition enjoyable, but also very nerve-wracking. “You want them all to do well,” she said. “It’s not just listening to a performance; it’s like being their mother. It’s hoping they’re going to do well and not mess up.”
Cruickshanks are living the pro-tirement lifestyle
8/6/2010 A Special Studies class on “Becoming a Sage” first introduced Joe Cruickshank to the concept of “pro-tirement.” “Retirement is such a passive concept,” Joe said. “At this stage in our lives, it is the time to be active. This is the time to try new things, volunteer, share our wisdom — be proactive.” Joe and Nancy Cruickshank are doing just that. The New York City residents spend their “pro-tirement” traveling, volunteering in the community, and, of course, keeping busy at Chautauqua. Nancy currently assists a local congresswoman with constituent services, helping people who live in the district. She also volunteers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art one day per week. Joe volunteers his time teaching English as a second language in South Bronx, serving on local nonprofits’ boards, and pursuing his passion for photography. The Cruickshanks also take time to travel, as evidenced by their recent adventure driving to the Panama Canal and back, as well as the year they drove around the border of the contiguous United States. Despite their busy schedule, Joe and Nancy always find their way back to Chautauqua for the summer. Nancy’s mother discovered Chautauqua in the 1920s while she and a college friend were on hiatus from their studies. She introduced Nancy to the Institution when she was 14 years old. Nancy spent her summers on the grounds working odd jobs at Children’s School, the cafeteria, and even helped with costume changes for the opera company. Nancy loved the time she spent on the grounds, and many years later, her husband Joe would hear all about it. Joe explained that after getting married and moving to Taiwan for a program similar to the Peace Corps, “Nancy talked so much about Chautauqua I swore that I would never go.” Once they returned to the United States, their drive would take them from Cleveland to New York City. “Out of respect to Nancy, I agreed to stop by Chautauqua so she could visit with friends, figuring I would stay in the car and read a book,” Joe said. “It took me less than one minute to fall in love with Chautauqua,” he added. “It just has a way of communicating that it is a special place.” The Cruickshanks now come to Chautauqua every season for two weeks. Those weeks are coordinated with a group of special friends that includes Ellie and Bruce Heister from Palo Alto, Calif., and Cindy and Patrick Shannon from Austin, Texas. They recently lost one of their dear friends, Mayre Springer, who would also join them in Chautauqua each year. Mayre and Nancy became friends when they were both 14 and in Boys’ and Girls’ Club together. “That first Saturday of the two weeks we all meet in the bleachers at the Amphitheater for the symphony performance and it is as if no time has passed at all,” Joe said. “Something we really love about Chautauqua is that it is a place we can come back to and it will be welcoming the way it has always been welcoming,” Nancy said. “It never changes — it is something in the world that has continuity.” During their stay, the Cruickshanks take advantage of all that Chautauqua has to offer. “I can arrive at Chautauqua exhausted from work, thinking I am going to sit on the porch and relax,” Joe explained, “but then I open The Chautauquan Daily and I see that there is yoga at 7 a.m., and something at 8 a.m., and then the 10:45 morning lecture. The next thing you know, the day is booked.” Both Joe and Nancy appreciate the morning lecture series and the thought that goes into speaker selections. They spend the rest of their time on the grounds enjoying the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, taking Special Studies courses, and relaxing with friends near the lake. Chautauqua has also provided the opportunity to meet new people who have touched their lives in various ways. “I met Joyce Ross through a Specials Studies course,” Nancy said. “We found that we have a Spanish connection where we both appreciate the language and the culture. We learned that Joyce lives in the same town as our daughter in California so we get to visit her when we are out there.” For Joe, meeting Jared Jacobsen, Chautauqua’s organist and coordinator of worship and sacred music, has been a standout Chautauqua experience. “Jared is capable — through music — of getting inside each and every one of us. I get choked up listening to him play. It is just so moving,” he said. It is the cumulative Chautauqua experience that led the Cruickshanks to consider how they could make a difference. They found what they were looking for by participating in Chautauqua’s Pooled Life Income Fund. “We thought about two things: one is that we care about Chautauqua, and two, we are not in a financial position to make an outright major gift,” Joe said. By participating in Chautauqua’s Pooled Life Income Fund, Joe and Nancy made an irrevocable gift upon which they receive an income distribution each quarter based on the fund’s performance. Upon their deaths, Chautauqua receives the remainder, which is added to the Foundation’s permanent endowment. “This type of gift was the best solution for us because we can give money to Chautauqua, but we are retaining some income that we need now,” Joe said. “Essentially it is a nice way to make a gift when you don’t have the money to make a gift. I hope lots of people do it.” “Chautauqua is not like other vacation destinations like the Bahamas where you can visit and have a good time, but there is no connection there,” Nancy added. “I am connected to Chautauqua. This is where my mother came. It is part of my family history, and it will always be part of my life and I want to support that.” Joe and Nancy Cruickshanks’ participation in Chautauqua’s Pooled Life Income Fund makes them members of the Eleanor B. Daugherty Society, a group of individuals who have included Chautauqua in their estate plans through a life income gift, retirement plan, trust or by bequest. If you would like to learn more about including Chautauqua in your estate plans, contact Karen Blozie, director of gift planning, at (716) 357-6244 or e-mail kblozie@ciweb.org.
Weirs' donation helps bring young artists to Chautauqua
7/29/2010 One’s first steps onto the Chautauqua grounds is always a memorable experience. By providing scholarships for students in the Schools of Fine and Performing Arts, donors Claude and Yvette Weir are hoping to give more young people the same opportunity. Claude and Yvette, both retirees from JPMorgan Chase bank, first came to Chautauqua last year after an invitation — and “rave reviews” — from friends Jim and Mimi Gallo. Numerous photographs and brochures gave them some idea of what to expect, but upon arriving, both Claude and Yvette were overwhelmed by the number of programs and opportunities on the grounds. They quickly grew to love the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Chautauqua Opera productions, Chautauqua Cinema and the morning lecture platform. When they returned home to New York City, they also discovered that many of their friends and colleagues were already familiar with Chautauqua. Claude said his first impression of the Institution was that of déjà vu; it reminded him of time spent as a student on the Dartmouth College campus. Fond memories of his Dartmouth days also helped Yvette and him realize they wanted to help in the Institution’s effort to reach out to promising arts students. “When I was a young boy, I was given the opportunity to go to an elite school by an Irish Catholic gentleman who saw something in me,” Claude said. “And by doing that, it exposed me to a whole world I would not have been exposed to” otherwise. Claude said he would never have had the chance to attend Dartmouth “if it had not been for this gentleman reaching out and giving me this opportunity by presenting me with this scholarship.” “So this is like reaching back and doing the same for someone else,” he said of the gift to Chautauqua. While Claude and Yvette have not specified an area of the arts for the scholarship, their intention is to support a minority student. Both feel it’s an important step in achieving diversity within the Chautauqua community. “I really feel it opens up a whole world to those who may not otherwise be exposed,” Claude said. Yvette said increasing diversity on the grounds is “a long-range challenge” for the Institution and can’t be accomplished overnight or by just one couple, but she and her husband, reflecting on their own humble beginnings, still consider providing an opportunity to study at Chautauqua, even for one student at a time, a step in the right direction.
For Zuegels, Chautauqua a place for family
7/29/2010 Barbara Zuegel, a fourth-generation Chautauquan, sits in front of a charcoal drawing of her grandmother hanging in her living room. Her great-grandmother’s sister drew the picture. As a Chautauquan, Barbara Zuegel has experienced a little bit of it all. With roughly 30 years of experiences to look back on, she holds her memories close, like photographs in an album. Her great-grandparents from North East, Pa. — some of the early Methodists on the grounds — started coming to Chautauqua toward the end of the 19th century. Barbara still has her grandmother’s postcards of her time spent here. The family connection to Chautauqua has remained strong. Barbara and her late husband, Rick, have three children and four grandchildren. All three of her boys were born within 18 months, two of them being twins. While she spent more of her adult life here, Barbara said her grandchildren have been coming here all their lives. “When they arrive, the bikes are on the roof, and they can’t wait to ride,” she said. They simply don’t have the freedom back home that they have here. One of her grandchildren, Devon, 16, is still planning to come to Chautauqua, even though she’s spending much of her summer volunteering in Panama. “Wh e n she was four years old — I still remember this — she was outside making snow angels saying, ‘Chautauqua is the best place in the whole wide world,’” Barbara said. She recalled when Devon made the most of her time at Chautauqua one summer while taking a writing class. Upon returning from her class at Turner Community Center, Devon told her grandmother, “Guess what, all the people in my class are older than me … by about 50 years.” “The next thing I expected her to say was that she had to be in class with those old fogies all week,” Barbara said. “Instead, she said it was really interesting. They had some different perspectives on things (she) hadn’t heard of.” Barbara realized Devon was mature enough to understand what her older classmates could offer in class and in their writing. Chautauqua has always meant a lot to the family. According to Barbara, “it’s a special place that you wish every place was like.” Many years ago, she and Rick decided to put Chautauqua in their will. “We thought it was such an important part of our lives and our kids’ lives, and you never know when something is going to happen to you. You have to plan ahead,” she said. Barbara has dealt with the unexpected. Rick passed away last year after being diagnosed five years prior with Lou Gehrig’s disease. She describes her husband as a great photographer, a great husband, a great father, and “a mensch,” a Yiddish word for an upstanding person. Rick, who lost his father at 11 years old, used the past to shape the man he was, Barbara said. Even as a child, his father wasn’t always around because he worked six days a week. Rick made sure he was around for the kids. Rick’s heart was also in his work. A longtime employee for Kodak, his passion for photography began when he was a little kid. He was also very involved with international photography organizations. Rick traveled to six continents, taking photographs all over, but Chautauquans are probably most familiar with his work here. He wrote nine books, including History of 17 Foster Avenue, Chautauqua, the family’s summer home. With the determination to see the books all the way through, Barbara said, Rick started typing the books on his laptop while in his wheelchair. “By the end, the special equipment he was using … required that he bump a button with his knee in order to write” she said. “A few of the books were about photography, and the last one was a memoir for his sons.” “He was the type of man that could see the big picture,” Barbara said. “But he also had the German upbringing to take care of all the details and make sure everything happened. It wasn’t just having an idea. He could see it through because he had the patience.” A collection of Rick’s Chautauqua photographs is currently on display at the Main Gate Welcome Center. Barbara and Rick’s bequest intention makes them members of the Eleanor B. Daugherty Society, a group of individuals who have included Chautauqua in their estate plans through a life income gift, retirement plan, trust or by bequest. If you would like to learn more about including Chautauqua in your estate plans, contact Karen Blozie, director of gift planning, at (716) 357-6244 or e-mail kblozie@ciweb.org.
Curries make gift to preserve Chautauqua for future generations
7/21/2010 Whether it takes months or years on the grounds, people tend to slip into a rhythm over time that helps define their Chautauqua experience. Laura Currie, whose Chautauqua experience is based on a lifetime of memories, wants to provide the same opportunities for her children. For Laura, a recently elected member of the Institution’s board of trustees, Chautauqua has been more than a place to stay during the summer. She began living on the grounds yearround in the fourth grade. Though she has moved from the area since, she and her husband, Brad, return with their children each season to continue the experience. “We’ve been coming to Chautauqua since we met,” Laura said. In fact, Brad and Laura married 24 years ago at Hurlbut Memorial Community United Methodist Church. Laura, also a member of the women’s softball league, said she wanted her children to see what she had when she was younger. “I wanted the kids to have the freedom I had growing up,” she said. Today, both kids and adults enjoy the wide variety of programming on the grounds. Brad, a sailing enthusiast, said in the time he has spent at the Institution, one of the things he finds to be most fascinating is meeting people. “I guess it’s the connections you make with other families,” he said. “I get to have conversations with people I wouldn’t get to, normally.” Laura said behind all the fun of Chautauqua, though, is the fact that nothing this good is free. She said that even before joining the board, she was somewhat familiar with how the Institution operated financially. Comparing it to a college or university, Laura said, “Gate tickets don’t pay for everything, just like tuition doesn’t pay for everything.” With that understanding, Laura said, she and Brad thought a planned gift — including the Chautauqua Foundation in their will — was a great way to ensure Chautauqua’s longevity. “We decided to do it quite some time ago,” Laura said. “For me, it’s a way to give back to the Chautauqua Fund, so it’s there for the future.” Laura said that because of their age, she and Brad aren’t the typical planned giving donors, but they hope to lead by example. “A lot of younger people don’t think about (a will),” she said. “Hopefully it makes others think they can do it, too.” Brad said their donation is going into the general endowment fund rather than being allocated to a specific department or for a specific purpose. “We can’t presuppose to know what the needs are going to be,” he said. Brad and Laura Currie’s beneficiary designation makes them members of the Eleanor B. Daugherty Society, a group of individuals who have included Chautauqua in their estate plans through a life income gift, retirement plan, trust or by bequest. If you would like to learn more about including Chautauqua in your estate plans, contact Karen Blozie, director of gift planning, at (716) 357-6244, or e-mail kblozie@ciweb.org.
Turbens back Fowlers' gift with one of their own
7/19/2010 On Wednesday afternoon, Chautauquans Char and Chuck Fowler cut the ribbon to dedicate Fowler-Kellogg Art Center, the visual arts facility at Pratt and Ramble for which they were the primary donors. In addition to their funding major renovations to the 121-year-old building, the Fowlers provided additional funds for continued maintenance to the facility through endowment. With no time wasted, Jack and Susan Turben, also Clevelandites, decided to recognize the generosity of their friends the Fowlers by making their own commitment to the visual arts at Chautauqua, which was announced at the dedication. Jack said their gift, which honors Char and Chuck, was made not only to increase the endowment of Fowler-Kellogg, but also to endow the gallery director position of the Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution. Jack and Susan donated $400,000, with $250,000 going toward building endowment and $150,000 going toward endowing the director position. Inspired by the Fowlers’ generosity, the Turbens are hoping their gift inspires others to follow in their footsteps. The director endowment is part of a larger $500,000 endowment challenge. The Turbens and the Fowlers are looking for another donor, or donors, to make up the remaining $100,000. The Turbens’ decision was made earlier this season after talking with the Fowlers and Chautauqua Foundation staff about how they could support the visual arts at Chautauqua. The donation is being made through The John and Susan Turben Foundation. “The mission of our foundation, formed about 20 years ago, is to strengthen family life and to enhance the ability for families to engage in health-related activities, educational activities and recreational activities,” Jack said. Susan, who is from Buffalo, N.Y., has been coming to Chautauqua since she was 8 and continued to come here when she and Jack were married. Susan said they know the Fowlers from living in the Cleveland area. “We have partnered with the Fowlers in business and philanthropic activities,” Susan said. “We are big supporters of the Fowler family.” If you are interested in supporting the VACI gallery director position through endowment, please contact the Chautauqua Foundation at (716) 357-6244.
Lincolns' endowment gift makes Foundation history
7/9/2010 The feeling of wet clay, spinning around the potter’s wheel, conforming to the motions of the hands distorting it, is familiar to Joan Lincoln. The passion she has for that process, as well as for the finished product, influenced her and her husband, David Lincoln, to donate $1 million to the endowment of the School of Art’s ceramics program. The Lincolns, who announced the donation Thursday morning at the School of Art, said in an earlier interview that they were happy to be able to contribute. “We’re happy to do something to strengthen the program on a permanent basis,” Mr. Lincoln said. Chautauqua Foundation CEO Geof Follansbee said Thursday that the endowment is a milestone in the history of the Chautauqua Foundation. “This is the single largest outright gift … for endowment in the Foundation’s history,” he said. The Lincolns’ gift allows the visual arts directors, faculty and students to breathe a little, said Don Kimes, artistic director for Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution. “It makes it possible for me to think about bringing faculty here, not based on whether they have two kids or no kids, but whether they’re great teachers or not,” Kimes said during the announcement. “It allows us to think about admitting students not based on whether they can afford to come but based on the quality of their work.” Prior to Thursday’s announcement, Chautauqua Institution President Thomas M. Becker touched on the significance of the gift beyond its impact on the program. “One of the things that is lovely is that this is a very personal gift,” Becker said of Mrs. Lincoln’s connection with ceramics. “Joan is a very talented artist.” “She has taught me over the years that potters are a distinct breed unto their own,” Becker said, addressing the crowd. “They are childlike in the sense that they go play in mud every day. “They have the eye of a painter in the sense of color. They have a character of a sculptor in the sense of shape, and she says they have the anticipation and hope of a preacher, because once you put that piece into the kiln, it’s taken over by something else … at the end of the day, there is a sense of discovery in her art that she has always celebrated,” Becker said. In 2007, renovations to the ceramics studios at the School of Art facilities — part of an overall renovation of the Arts Quadrangle — were funded by the Lincolns and renamed the Joan R. Lincoln Ceramics Center. “The ceramic program has been enhanced by the Joan Lincoln gift to renovate the facilities and it’s going to be enhanced that much more by the ability to allow us to program those facilities,“ Kimes said in an interview. Follansbee said the endowment donation secures the program well into the future. “It represents a great investment in the visual arts,” he said. Kimes said Mrs. Lincoln’s influence and passion for ceramics benefits the ceramics beyond their donation of money. “Joan has been such a big part of the program for years,” he said. “One of the primary reasons it is as good as it is, is because Joan is always up there working all the time.” Joan has been “mucking around,” as she calls it, since childhood, when she got her hands dirty with Play doh. She said the way clay shapes and keeps form has kept her interest through the years. “Clay came before metals as an art that is everlasting,” Joan said. “Once it’s fired, it’s here forever.” She said the endurance of such items is often unknown to people, and it is an “artifact” in its own respect. “They don’t know the history of the thing they are holding and that it will out live them by centuries,” Joan said. “Well, unless their great grandson breaks it.” She added that it is easy for her to get immersed in her work. “If you asked me if I’m an addict, I would say ‘yes,’” she said, laughing. David Lincoln, during the announcement, addressed Joan’s “addiction.” “One thing about it, though, it’s infectious,” he said. “It catches on. And in our house, every time one of the children would move out and vacate a bedroom, ceramics would move in,” he said, laughing.
McCredies find a home base at Chautauqua
6/30/2010 When Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell were singing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” they probably weren’t thinking about anywhere in Bestor Plaza. But for Jack and Yvonne McCredie, who travel 2,600 miles from San Francisco Bay each season, the song plays on the heartstrings of one of their truest loves, Chautauqua. “It’s a hard commute,” Yvonne said. “It’s worth the trip, though.” When they do arrive, the McCredies are deeply involved in the Institution and have taken on multiple positions throughout the years, serving as Chautauqua Fund volunteers and morning lecture evaluators, where they attend every morning lecture and give reports on their strengths and weaknesses. Jack, a retired associate vice chancellor from the University of California, Berkeley, is currently serving his second term on the Chautauqua Institution Board of Trustees. Jack and Yvonne are also both vice presidents of the CLSC Alumni Association. “We’ve been involved in about everything you can think of,” Jack said. Jack and Yvonne, who started dating in 1961 and were married in 1963, have been coming to Chautauqua together for 49 years. While dating, Jack first brought Yvonne to the grounds. “I knew if she didn’t like it, we were going to have some problems,” Jack said, smirking. Jack’s journey with Chautauqua began when he was born in 1940, but the Institution, known as a “best kept secret,” first found its way to the McCredie family in the early 1920s. Jack’s parents met when his mother came with her family from Pittsburgh to the Institution and his father was working at the Hotel Lenhart in Bemus Point. After marrying, his parents made Chautauqua a staple in their family traditions by returning every year. Jack said this year marks his 70th season. The McCredies’ two daughters, Emily, 40, and Liz, 43, and five grandchildren are next in line to carry on the tradition. Yvonne said her daughters have been adamant about being able to do that. “We have moved a total of five times in our married life,” Yvonne said, “and they told us, ‘We don’t care where you live, as long as you don’t change Chautauqua.’ This is home base to them.” Yvonne said one of the wonderful parts of the Institution for them is that it accommodates activities for all ages. Her grandchildren’s ages range from a year and a half to 17. “The interesting thing about Chautauqua is that you can find your niche, and you don’t have to try to be like someone else,” she said. Jack said through being a part of the trustees’ strategic planning process, he knows firsthand there is a price to all of the memories shared by his family and other Chautauquans. “We have been fundraising for a while,” said Jack, a co team captain volunteer of the 2010 Chautauqua Fund with Yvonne. One form of donation to the Institution that Jack and Yvonne advocate is gifts through one’s will or estate planning vehicle. The Mc Credies’ gift is through a beneficiary designation in their retirement fund. He said he stresses the importance of gifts through one’s estate in helping the Institution grow its endowment. Jack said that even though times are economically tough for people, the planned giving office has tools to help fit a planned gift into anyone’s situation. The endowment’s value dropped from $60 million in 2007 to its current value of $48 million due to economic downfall. The endowment helps supplement the budget each year through a distributed amount. “It is really important to grow the endowment,” Jack said. “One way for people to do that is for people to start thinking about planned gifts.” Jack and Yvonne McCredie’s beneficiary designation makes them members of the Eleanor B. Daugherty Society, a group of individuals who have included Chautauqua in their estate plans through a life income gift, retirement plan, trust or by bequest. If you would like to learn more about including Chautauqua in your estate plans, contact Karen Blozie, director of gift planning, at (716) 357 6244 or e mail kblozie@ciweb.org.
Brockmans still find host of things to love about Chautauqua
6/6/2010 Bill and Maggie Brockman shared their first Chautauqua Institution experience together in 1962. While driving to Boston University, where Bill, an ordained United Methodist minister, was going to pursue his master's degree in sacred theology, Maggie, a voice student at the Institution in 1959, insisted they stop at Chautauqua on the way. After seeing an orchestra concert and a couple of lectures, Bill quickly found out why Maggie loved it so much. "Bill thought it was a weird place," Maggie said with a big smile. "Everyone had gray hair kind of like we do now." Bill and Maggie, since their first visit, have integrated the Institution into their lives and that of their family. They currently are hosts at the Hall of Missions, where they house and accommodate each week's preachers and afternoon lecturers. Maggie said she views the Institution as being different in a great way. "Outside the gates is the unreal world," she said. "Inside here is the real world. People talk about issues in a civilized manner and people actually care about other people." "We believe this is a very spiritual place," Bill added. Both Maggie and Bill said the Institution is a special place for them and their family. In 1968, they made their first trip back to Chautauqua since their day trip six years before. This time they brought their children, who were 1 and 5 years old. Later, as the children got older, Maggie said, she realized how much Chautauqua meant to them when she asked them where they thought home was. "They both said Chautauqua," she said. "We feel completely at home." Bill and Maggie continued to come back after that year for two or three week stints before Bill's role with the Institution changed from guest to employee when he started as a driver. He was responsible for driving speakers to and from the airport. Things changed again, though, when Bill became the driver for Joan Brown Campbell, director of the Department of Religion. "On the last trip that I drove for her, she asked if (Maggie and I) would take over as hosts of the Hall of Missions," he said. Bill and Maggie are going into their seventh year as hosts. One of Bill's lasting memories is of Ahmed Kathrada, a prison mate of Nelson Mandela, who needed transportation when he was on the grounds. Bill was assigned as his driver. "When he was here I asked him, 'How did you not become bitter?'" Bill said. "He said, 'We went to every religious service despite the denomination. We decided we wouldn't let the guards make us bitter. We would win them over with our love.'" The memories and times shared with Chautauquans and guests have influenced Bill and Maggie so much that they decided to include Chautauqua in their will to help continue timeless traditions and activities they love. Bill said one of the many things he really values here is the Ecumenical Community of Chautauqua. One concern people have, he said, is that once they pay for gate passes they have difficulty affording a place to live. The Ecumenical Community of Chautauqua helps by specializing in low cost housing. Once people get in, though, the Institution is something that can't and won't be forgotten, he said. "As a pastor, I have always joked that if heaven weren't as good as Chautauqua, I'd just come back here," Bill said, laughing. Maggie and Bill Brockman's bequest intention makes them members of the Eleanor B. Daugherty Society, a group of individuals who have included Chautauqua in their estate plans through a life income gift, retirement plan, trust or by bequest. If you would like to learn more about including Chautauqua in your estate plans, contact Karen Blozie, director of gift planning, at (716) 357 6244 or e mail kblozie@ciweb.org.
First Generation: Jim and Betsy Vance
4/16/2010 Georgia born Jim Vance and his wife Betsy, a Pittsburgh native, lived overseas for some twenty years as Jim's career in investment banking carried the couple and their five children around the world. While the family was living in Tokyo in the 1980s, they met members of the Piper family, lifelong Chautauquans who invited them to visit the Institution if they were ever in upstate New York. On a 1986 trip back to the States to see Betsy's family, the Vances did come to the grounds. They were intrigued. They'd been looking for a home base in the United States a place where their extended families could easily gather in the summer. After considering a number of vacation spots, the Vances bought a house on Haven Street. "We saw an ad in the Daily that the Ride family wanted to pass their property on to a family who would respect and love it," Betsy says, sitting on the porch of the now restored cottage. It is July, and a television crew from Buffalo has been shooting footage up the picturesque street for a PBS documentary about Chautauqua. Jim, in the porch swing across from his wife, shakes his head and smiles. "This house hadn't been touched since 1900. The third floor smelled like bat droppings. The Ride family had apparently owned three properties along here, including the little building up the street known as 'The Bird Cage.' The Rides' daughter practiced her music there. It must have been a lot of property for them to keep up." These days, the Vances are among those rare Chautauquans who manage to spend the entire summer on the grounds. They spend the balance of the year at their home in Summit, New Jersey, close to New York City, where Jim still does some financial consulting, though he is basically retired. The Vances' sons all now in their twenties still come to Chautauqua for family time during the summer, though their interests and activities have grown increasingly varied. "Our oldest, Austin, is working in Macao," Jim explains. "When they're here, the boys go in different directions. They bike, boat, or golf and like to play guitar in the evenings on the porch." The Vances' youngest child, Madeleine, turns thirteen this year, and like some of her older brothers before her, she is active in Boys and Girls Club. One of Betsy's three brothers also bought a house at Chautauqua, and their extended families usually come and spend a week. "Then it's a three ring circus," says Jim, with a lingering hint of a southern drawl. (He is a descendant of Zebulon Vance, a colorful figure in southern history, best known as North Carolina's Civil War governor.) When she is not shepherding family guests, Betsy says she loves the recreational opportunities at Chautauqua. "My particular interest," she says, "is food and nutrition." This passion often leads her outside the gates, where she enjoys hunting down organic farms in the region and identifying out of the way restaurants that feature healthy fare. "There's plenty to find," she says. With the luxury of an entire summer on the lake, the Vances admit that they rarely partake of all that Chautauqua has to offer. They both love the symphony and the theater, and Betsy is also active in many of the classes offered during the season. "And of course we've tried to duplicate our own childhoods for our children biking during the day, card and board games in the evenings." Betsy says. Both have been active supporters of Chautauqua's youth programming. As an inveterate business analyst, Jim Vance also finds himself contemplating the challenge of running Chautauqua in the current economic climate. "I'd compare this place to a college that needs to constantly examine its business model." Jim points out that ours is an era in which newspapers and symphonies are shutting down or are in precarious financial health. "Chautauqua, like many small liberal arts colleges, finds itself facing the prospect of raising prices in order to support all that they currently offer at a time when most everything else except medical care is decreasing. And like medical care and private colleges, Chautauqua could find that it's pricing itself out of reach of many Americans, certainly many of the Americans in its traditional customer base. It really needs a large endowment and on going philanthropy." Jim has served on the Philanthropy Task Force and the Development Council for the Institution. "There are a lot of talented, smart people dedicated to thinking about these issues," Betsy suggests. Jim nods. "Even when I am at my most ambivalent, I know I prefer western New York and Chautauqua to the Hamptons." "For me," says Betsy. "It's the mix of ages here that is so important. That's the key to longevity." For the Vances, who are unusually young retirees, they have many seasons ahead as first generation Chautauquans.
Leadership Lessons at Chautauqua: Bill and Debbie Currin
4/16/2010 "Chautauqua comes again as one of the most worthwhile endeavors of the Community. It is worthwhile because it brings so much that is joyful, inspirational and educationally right to your own town…. How worthwhile it is to build up an institution in your community that brings to your very door Grand Opera and other Noted Musical Artists, Entertainers and Speakers of National reputation! Where can a few dollars be spent that expresses so much real value in community life? Land is necessary corn is necessary hogs and cattle are necessary, but here is something that helps to grow a more worthwhile crop clean boys and girls, men and women. When we think of real values we have to deal with that which scales cannot weigh." From the Mutual Ewell Chautauqua brochure Thanks to internet technology, the Honorable William A. Currin, mayor of Hudson, Ohio, has fulfilled his duties every summer for the last five years from a small office in his second home at the corner of Vincent and South Terrace on the Chautauqua grounds. Currin's primary home is located southeast of Cleveland. Mayor Currin and his wife, Deborah, love Hudson, but they are equally avid Chautauquans. In fact, says Currin, what he has experienced here has made him a better mayor. "Chautauqua helps me because of the variety of points of view among Chautauquans," Currin says. "It's so easy to get tunnel vision at home. People tend to be more focused on the daily ins and outs of their own lives in a small town. Chautauqua challenges you." "The world isn't always as good as we think it is, coming from where we live," Debbie Currin says. "Chautauqua takes off the blinders. I like to be challenged. The content here is not something you can get from cable TV or other media. Some weeks I may be familiar with the books and ideas that are being discussed, and some weeks the content is totally new to me. We got so much out of the week on kids this season." Hudson, Ohio, is a town just shy of 25,000 residents. It's sometimes called the New England of Ohio, known for the picturesque downtown shopping district and its connection to the historic Underground Railroad. Hudson was also the childhood home of slavery abolitionist leader John Brown. In his articles for Municipal Leader Magazine, Mayor Currin says he tries to challenge his readers Chautauqua style to think more broadly about all parts of their communities and encourage dialogue across various constituencies. "Community engagement is critical," Currin argues. "If citizens are active and volunteer, leaders don't have to over govern." As chairman of the North East Ohio Mayors & City Managers Association, Currin has also found himself bringing the values of Chautauqua to that group. "We want our communities to be in balance. I am always asking, what else can we do to bring balance to our community back home?" Currin says it is not all infrastructure and property matters. "We have to think about the investment in human capital in our towns. I talk about the importance of the arts, recreation, the value of lifelong education, and cultivating respect across religious communities. It is important that all elected officials have these values. I emphasize good civil discourse because it is certainly not modeled by what we have seen going on in Washington." Currin says he was especially charged up by the recent Chautauqua week on the theme of ethics in capitalism. Debbie Currin, half joking, calls Chautauqua "our hedge against Alzheimers." Over the years she has taught parenting and art classes and is a devotee to the 10:45 lecture. Once named volunteer of the year by the governor of Ohio, Debbie is now a retired kindergarten teacher who serves on the board of Actor's Summit, a professional theater back home in Hudson, was just elected to the board of trustees of the local Hudson Library & Historical Society, and has a longstanding commitment to the Cleveland Orchestra. Chautauqua has made a profound difference in her life. "I've made such good friends through the classes we've taken," she says. "Chautauqua has answered the question, can I really be myself? I can. And I can be joyous and take it home with me!" Five years ago, when the couple first began spending the entire season on the grounds, the Currins had some reservations. "Is this going to be too much of a good thing?" they asked themselves. It had been twenty five years since the couple had come to upstate New York to take a vacation on Chautauqua Lake. They didn't know much about the Institution itself, though Debbie knew that her great grandfather, Frederick Dana Ewell, had, at one time, owned and operated the Mutual Ewell traveling Chautauqua organized out of Chicago. In the early part of the twentieth century, the group advertised "High Grade 5 Day Chautauquas" that traveled throughout northern Illinois, Wisconsin, and states west of the Mississippi. "They brought culture to little towns and farming communities all over," Debbie explains, bringing out a framed program that now hangs in their cottage. "The tent Chautauquas emulated what the original Chautauqua provided." Later, Debbie's great aunt, Doris Ewell (the daughter of Frederick Ewell), wrote a book in which she declared that the era of traveling Chautauquas had ended with the advent of radio. After their first visit to the grounds they rented an apartment across the street from their cottage, then for the next five years rented the 1895 cottage on Vincent Avenue before eventually purchasing it. "In 1990 when we got the call that this place was up for sale, we decided to make it a family Christmas present," Bill explained this summer, sitting in a wicker chair on their raised patio that looks down Vincent toward the lake. Initially, the Currins kept the cottage as it was, coming for only a few weeks a year and renting it to others during the rest of the season. Then, five years ago, they launched a major renovation project. They dug out the crawl space and raised the entire house two feet from its original elevation in order to add a whole new downstairs level for guests (and maybe future grandchildren). They also changed the pitch of the roof, making more room upstairs. As a final touch, Debbie deployed her artistic talents, incorporating hand painted floral images and a quotation from a famous Chautauquan on the wall in the stairwell. Many other quotes in the bathrooms and kitchen are from all over the world. She outfitted the downstairs with period furniture and hand painted the sinks in the guest rooms and bathrooms. "We could have sold the place and gotten something newer," Bill says, "but we decided to invest in the history." The Currin children visit often. "Our grown daughters are both lifelong learners, and they are thrilled that we are exercising our brains and our bodies here," Debbie says. Daughter Kristin lives "off the grid" in Mosier, Oregon, and runs a native plant seed business. Daughter Bethany was trained as a specialist with deaf children and is now a fourth grade teacher in San Francisco's inner city. "Both of our girls have pursued things that were different," says Bill. Debbie agrees: "Chautauqua had a big impact on both of them in the early years of their lives, and I believe that partly explains their urge to serve others with career choices that are definitely challenging," she says. Nowadays Bill water skis at 6:30 every morning, while Debbie has immersed herself in Special Studies classes. "It's not just a matter of coming to Chautauqua," says Bill. "You have to invest. To keep the value of the place going, you must invest yourself."
Eddlemans invest in young artists' futures
2/10/2010 David and Mimi Eddleman have included Chautauqua Institution in their wills as a way of affecting the lives of young artists long after the couple is gone. "We have no children, and we wanted to do something meaningful … something that would make a difference to a place that we love," said David, "so Mimi and I went to our attorney and made arrangements to include Chautauqua in our estate plans." This decision to remember Chautauqua and its objectives in their wills was a logical step for a couple whose lives have been tied to the Institution for more than two decades. Mimi was introduced to Chautauqua by her mother, Harriet Yanes, in 1984. Yanes was an opera singer and musician who appreciated the arts. "Her influence was extraordinary," said Mimi. "She developed in me a sense of love for the performing arts and an appreciation for young artists just starting out." Mimi was a dancer herself who performed professionally early in her adult life before ultimately deciding to become a primary school teacher in Mountain Lakes, N.J., retiring in 2001. David was a senior music editor for Silver Burdett Company, a textbook publisher, for 23 years, leaving in 1996 to expand his career as a composer. They reside in Rockaway, N.J. When Mimi's mother passed away in 1993, she decided to make a gift to Chautauqua through the Amphitheater Bench Program, honoring her mother's memory in a way that seemed fitting. Later, she established the first?ever endowed scholarship for a male dancer at Chautauqua, also in memory of her mother. These gestures to memorialize her mother and help Chautauqua at the same time began a philanthropic way of thinking that has continued for both Mimi and David. In 1998, David began a dance scholarship in honor of Mimi. "I thought it would be a very special gift for her," David said. "Dance was and is her world, and to know that we can enrich a hopeful young person's life by providing an opportunity to study dance at a premiere school of learning is extremely rewarding." The Eddlemans knew some time ago they wanted to do something special for Chautauqua to continue their pattern of investing in the Institution and its future. "And because we, like many others, are not in a position to make the kind of gift we'd like to Chautauqua now, by leaving the majority of our estate to the Institution, after our lifetimes, we feel like we can make a real difference," David said. The Eddlemans have directed their bequest be earmarked for the dance scholarship program at Chautauqua. "To be able to affect the lives of young artists, who perhaps otherwise wouldn't have the chance to realize their dreams, makes us feel like we're doing something of real value," David said. "And the idea that we can continue to make a difference in a young person's life even after we're gone … well … that is immensely gratifying." "What's interesting is that it took me a long time to decide to come to Chautauqua," he said. "As a composer and director of choral music, I felt that it would be like a busman's holiday. But I was wrong. From the moment I arrived, I fell in love with the place." Confirming that love, both Eddlemans have involved themselves in the Chautauqua community. Mimi is a co?founder and was co?president of the Chautauqua Dance Circle, an organization to support dance at the Institution. David has taught classes through the Special Studies program for 12 seasons. Is the Daugherty Society for you? If you have or are considering including Chautauqua in your will or other estate plans, please let us know. We would like to recognize and thank you by welcoming you into the Eleanor B. Daugherty Society. The society is named in honor of a Chautauquan and retired music school teacher, whose major bequest to the piano and religion departments at Chautauqua created an enduring legacy that far exceeded her lifetime giving capabilities. The society recognizes today's generous Chautauquans who are providing for the Institution's future generations through charitable bequests, life income gifts and trusts. For more information, call Karen Blozie, director of gift planning at (716) 357?6244 or email kblozie@ciweb.org.
FIRST GENERATION: A snowbank, a stuck car, and a Steelers game on the line
10/23/2009 It was the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday weekend at Chautauqua with four feet of snow on the ground. Randy and Anne Fox had come up from their home in Pittsburgh to spend the long weekend at their cottage on the corner of Merrill and Fletcher. Because of the weather, the couple decided to take both of their cars to Mayville to fill up with gas on Sunday afternoon. Randy followed Anne. “When I got to the gas station in Mayville,” she says, “I noticed he was not behind me.” Anne drove back to the grounds and found Randy and his car stuck in a snowbank on the hill on Miller Avenue. “I was determined to get myself out of it or have a heart attack before I went for help,” Randy now says sheepishly. But the temperature was four degrees, the wind was whipping off the lake, and, most importantly, the Steelers game was less than an hour from kick off. “It was an urgent situation,” he says. Anne went to the Chautauqua police station and then across the road to the maintenance department. “A man named George came right over with the plow truck,” she says. “He climbed under the car and dug Randy’s rear tire out with his bare hands. He then called for another truck that had big chains. He got in Randy’s car while the other driver pulled the truck with the chains. It took them a half hour, and by the time they finished it was dark. George didn’t know if we were residents, tourists or locals.” Randy, an attorney who serves as the chief operating officer and general counsel to an industrial distribution company in Pittsburgh, says, “George couldn’t have been nicer. I couldn’t have been more stuck, and to top it off, the Steelers won that day.” He grins. As first generation Chautauquans and donors to the Institution, the Foxes cite this event as an example of the year round efforts involved in Institution maintenance. “Because we are here in the off season, we can appreciate what the staff does to keep this place going,” says Anne, who is a practicing attorney in estate administration and litigation. “We see the updating of roads and sewer that goes on here all the time. I’m not sure people understand that gate tickets just can’t pay for it all— especially when you are dealing with a place that gets something like 300 inches of snow every year!” Though Anne generally takes a leave from her practice to come to Chautauqua for the whole summer while Randy comes up on weekends, the Foxes say they especially enjoy September and October weekends on the grounds. “The weather is perfect,” says Anne, “and at Christmas this place is like something out of Currier and Ives.” The Foxes spent last Christmas Day here with their extended family, including their daughters Carrie, who is in college in Boston and Kelly who is still in high school, and their son George who now lives in Vermont. “Our daughter Carrie is very engaged in Chautauqua during the season and reads all the books in advance. This year she took two master photography classes and was completely taken with the National Geographic week,” Anne says. Daughter Kelly volunteered at the Children’s School this summer. Carrie and Kelly have also spent many an afternoon on the front porch of the cottage watching the spring and fall procession of weddings in the Hall of Philosophy just up the hill. “They have a great time rating the dresses and the weddings overall,” Randy says. As a boy, Randy and his family spent summers on the lake at a cottage in Mayville, but he had never experienced Chautauqua until he married Anne. The couple came to look the place over, and like so many Chautauquans, began as renters for a week, then eventually bought their cottage, which dates from 1896. “We hope our kids will connect and want to come here with their families some day,” says Anne. “We sometimes wish we had that long history with the Institution that so many have, but we don’t, and we still feel welcomed.” In turn, the Foxes have introduced Chautauqua to friends. “Some neighbors from Pittsburgh have just bought one street over from us, and another couple was just here looking,” she says. Randy’s current focus at Chautauqua is boating, but he often follows Anne to the morning lectures and other events. “My inclination is not to try new things,” he admits. For her part, Anne is always exploring. This year she discovered the voice and opera programs. “I love it—what Marlena Malas and Jay Lesenger are doing is phenomenal,” she says. Anne also participated in the Mystic Heart meditation classes this season. “Randy,” Anne says, “can have the most stressful week and come up here for 36 hours on the weekend, still do some work by computer or on the phone from the porch, and leave relaxed. It’s good for him.” With her part time legal career, Anne was able to serve on the youth committee that examined the future of Chautauqua’s clubs for children over the next 20 years as part of the strategic planning process. She is now a volunteer for the Chautauqua Fund. And today, as a leisurely Saturday morning nears noon, a neighbor stops by on his bike to solicit Anne for another job with the CLSC. She accepts without hesitating. “Chautauqua is just good for us,” she says, “and we hope to give back more to this place as the years go by.”
Sustainable Chautauqua: BLENDING THE OLD WITH THE NEW
10/23/2009 Chuck and Char Fowler have repeatedly stood as pillars of support for the visual arts at Chautauqua, and now have done so again. In 2007, they made a major gift to the Idea Campaign for the renovation of Kellogg Hall. The next year, they jumped in and helped support the final renovations to the Arts Quad. Now, the Fowlers have brought their total commitment to the $1.9 million construction project to just over $1.4 million. The Fowlers’ gift, along with $250,000 each from two couples—Jim and Mimi Gallo and Lauren Rich Fine and her husband, Gary Giller—will permit the completion of the Kellogg project. The Fowlers have also pledged another $250,000 to be set aside as endowment and used as a challenge to other donors to create a total fund of $500,000 to be used to maintain the building in perpetuity. Kellogg Hall, built in 1889, was moved from Bestor Plaza to its present site on the corner of Pratt and Ramble in 1905. “In its current, run down state,” says Chuck Fowler, “Kellogg doesn’t set the right tone on the main pedestrian thoroughfare leading to Bestor Plaza.” Renovation of the building has been planned for several years as part of the overall effort to improve Chautauqua’s arts facilities. The upgraded Kellogg Hall will offer four galleries for exhibitions (one downstairs and three upstairs) and a small café with outside tables on a new wraparound porch at the corner of the building in sight of Strohl Art Center on Wythe. “People will be able to sit outside on the porch and have coffee and a sandwich,” Char Fowler explains, “and we believe this gathering spot will draw even more passers by into the galleries in both Strohl and Kellogg.” Brick pavers, some re grading of the yard, and fresh landscaping will dramatically tie Strohl and Kellogg together, and inside, Kellogg will also be retrofitted with larger restroom facilities and a lift for handicap access to the second floor. (The offices of The Chautauquan Daily, currently housed there, will move to the former gallery space in Logan Dorm on Bestor Plaza.) At season’s end, the Fowlers met with architects and Chautauqua staff to discuss the modifications along with planned improvements to the front of the building facing Pratt. “It’s been hard finding any pictures of Kellogg before it was moved to this location,” Char says, “but we want the front porch to be more like it was originally and more inviting.” The interior walls—unsuitable for hanging art—will be fronted by a new wall system set approximately three inches inside the current walls and suspended eight inches off the floor and three inches below the ceilings. New flooring will replace the uneven boards that have been traversed by Chautauquans for more than a century. “But the Crawford ceilings will stay,” says Chuck. The Fowlers are very pleased with all the new construction on the arts campus—the blend of contemporary structures with some of the Institution’s earliest architecture. “I love Chautauqua for its traditions,” says Char, “but we think it’s important at the same time to keep stepping forward a bit. Restoring Kellogg to its full glory as an example of the Queen Anne era and having it right across from the contemporary façade of the Strohl Center mirrors the multigenerational nature of Chautauquans themselves. I love the mix of old and new.” The Fowlers, who moved to Cleveland from Chicago in 1988 and visited Chautauqua for the first time in 1990, say that the Institution continues to be an important gathering place for their two grown daughters and their husbands, and their six grandchildren. For Char and Chuck, the classes, lectures, exhibitions, and the intellectual stimulation of getting to know the artists in residence help feed their spirits and fuel their commitments to community betterment back home. Char is a longtime arts advocate, particularly for arts in K 12 education. In Ohio the couple is also involved in several projects designed to improve children’s health. They support the DDC Clinic for Special Needs Children in Middlefield, Ohio, which works with the region’s Amish population, and they have been active in establishing the Flying Horse Farm for children with chronic illnesses. The facility under construction in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, is one of the “Hole inthe Wall Camps” created by the Paul Newman Foundation. The Fowlers are also major supporters of the Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Initiative at Cleveland’s University Hospital, as a way to honor the memory of their daughter, Angie, who succumbed to cancer at age 14. The Fowlers have become quite knowledgeable about the particular challenges in treating adolescents and young adults, an age group whose survival rates from cancer have actually been decreasing, while treatment success has been on the rise for pediatric and adult cancer patients. As president and CEO of Fairmount Minerals, a producer of high quality industrial sand, Chuck and his employees have won countless awards for their socially responsible corporate practices, including land and wildlife reclamation following sand extraction. The company also takes a hand in educating its customers in recycling techniques for the glass products and by products made from the silica Fairmount supplies around the world. The Fowlers’ increasing commitment to sustainable environmental and business practices also extends to Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management where they established the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value. Through the Center, faculty and students conduct research and work with businesses, organizations, industries, and economic regions to encourage sustainable practices, advance business innovation, and foster social entrepreneurship. “Our support of Chautauqua,” says Chuck, “matches our desire to foster sustainability. We see the possibility for Chautauqua to become a model of community sustainability for generations to come.”
Banners Reflect on Family History, Future at Chautauqua
11/22/2009 "As a Jewish kid from the Bronx, to me, Chautauqua was a very interesting place to be in 1965," said Arthur Banner. Transcendentalism, Protestantism and a presence of spirituality were some of the things Arthur says he learned about when he was on the grounds for the first time with his future wife, Barbara, a multi generation Chautauquan. "It was so different from anything I had ever experienced," he said. "The fact that there were so many different kinds of people and with varying viewpoints and they all respected each other's opinions. That was what I liked about it, and also, what made it seem so different." While Arthur was basking in the novelty of Chautauqua, Barbara was experiencing it as she always had as the place that shaped her childhood and young adult life. As a third generation Chautauquan, Barbara knew and understood the many gifts Chautauqua had to offer. She also knew there was a very good chance that Arthur would be in her life for a long time to come, and she wanted him to experience at least some of what she had enjoyed for so many years. Arthur and Barbara met at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. Arthur became an internist and Barbara a pathologist. But they had very different lives growing up. Barbara, the daughter of two school teachers from Youngstown, Ohio, came to Chautauqua with her parents every summer of her life and lived in the house her grandparents had bought years earlier on Vincent Avenue. As a school teacher, teaching both science and journalism, Barbara's father, Virgil Roller Freed, was able to devote his time during the summer seasons to something he loved working at The Chautauquan Daily. In fact, Freed was the editor of the Daily for 19 years, beginning in 1946. "He loved the camaraderie among his co workers and he loved knowing all there was to know about Chautauqua, which he almost did, as editor," said Barbara. Barbara spent her summers learning how to swim, sail, appreciate classical music and opera, and enjoy the simple pleasure of being with her family at Chautauqua. "It was an idyllic childhood," she said. Arthur's formative years, as compared with Barbara's, makes for a study in contrasts. His father died when he was 13 years old, leaving his mother, brother and him to survive on the Social Security checks his mother was able to collect. There was no extra money for cultural activities. They lived in the projects in the Bronx, and Arthur spent his summers working in a hospital laboratory. He almost never left the Bronx, and says, "I really led a sheltered life. I don't think I knew anyone who wasn't Jewish." Arthur did know one thing. He knew that he wanted to become a doctor. He applied for and was accepted into the Bronx High School of Science. He then applied for and received scholarships for both college and medical school. After he and Barbara dated for a while, she invited him to come to Chautauqua. He did, not knowing what to expect or that his view of the world was about to change. "I was just overwhelmed by all of the new things I learned about at Chautauqua," he said. "I went to everything I could music events, lectures, worship services. It was all so interesting to me. It was a whole new world and I was like a sponge soaking it all up." Arthur said he was especially intrigued with the hymns that were sung during the worship services. "They were so spiritual," he said. "I had never heard anything like that before and I was very moved by them." Barbara and Arthur soon married, lived and worked as physicians in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and finally, Massachusetts. Despite the distances, they made time for visits to Chautauqua. Eventually they had a daughter, Sarah, and made sure that family vacations were spent at Chautauqua. As enchanted with Chautauqua as her mother, grandmother and great grandmother had been, Sarah was married in the Hall of Philosophy in 2002. As new retirees now living in Maine, and with their first grandchild having arrived in September, Barbara and Arthur plan to spend as much of every Chautauqua summer season as they can soaking up the culture and being with their family. They are especially looking forward to introducing their new grandson to Boys' Club. As they plan for their family's future at Chautauqua, the Banners have made another important decision: they have determined that Chautauqua needs to be in their estate plans. "It is because of the strong positive influence Chautauqua had on me and on my family that we decided to do this," said Barbara. "After 67 years of every summer, you can't help but develop an attachment to a place and it makes you want to give back." "This is a way for us to do something for Chautauqua, in thanks for all it's done for us," she added. Barbara and Arthur have included Chautauqua as a beneficiary of a trust, and made arrangements for their gift to begin an unrestricted fund. For information on how you can include Chautauqua in your estate plans, please contact Karen Blozie, director of gift planning, Chautauqua Foundation, at 716 357 6244 or email kblozie@chautauquafoundation.org.
Kullbergs integrate into their lives the four pillars of Chautauqua
8/28/2009 Chautauqua has expanded from its religious founding over the past 135 years to revolve around the four central pillars of art, education, religion and recreation. For longtime Chautauquans Jim and Judy Kullberg, these have become pillars of value in their own lives. The Kullbergs first came to Chautauqua in the 1980s, persuaded by friends Joan and Bob Battaglin. They found themselves among many visitors from Corning, N.Y, with whom they developed a close affinity. They have enjoyed connecting with these community friends even after retiring to North Carolina. In addition to the close group of Corning friends, the Kullbergs fell in love with the diverse programming Chautauqua offers. They gradually became more involved each season, participating as well as observing. They have incorporated each pillar to optimize their Chautauqua experience each summer. “We love all of the four pillars of Chautauqua. We value them very highly,” Judy said. “(For) each one of the pillars we have things that we do or things that we love about it.” She added that while they greatly enjoy the morning religious service and afternoon lecture, it is their involvement in the Presbyterian House that has gotten them most involved in Chautauqua. They participate with several other couples from Corning, all who attended the same church. Judy designed the database for keeping track of Presbyterian House guests. Jim has been the treasurer for the last eight years and has served on the board even longer. “It gives us an unusual opportunity, both for meeting people and just participating in Chautauqua,” Jim said. Another passion the Kullbergs share is a love of the arts, especially music. They attend nearly every Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra concert and enjoy the chamber music and piano competition. They also participate in the Chautauqua Connections program. They have had students for the past several years that they have gotten to know and love, Judy said. Recreation is yet another pillar the Kullbergs identify with. Both are avid golfers, making time to play before and after the summer season. Judy also serves on the golf board of governors. They have a grandson who also enjoys recreation on the grounds, attending Boys’ Club. The Kullbergs can boast a solid grounding in education at Chautauqua. Both are members of the Class of 1998 Chautauqua Literary & Scientific Circle. Jim serves as class treasurer, and Judy designed the database for Alumni Hall to keep track of CLSC alumni. In addition to this work, Jim serves on the Alumni Hall Finance Committee. After building a house on the grounds in 1998, the Kullbergs have been able to share their fervor for the Institution by hosting a variety of guests, including their daughter, son and three grandsons. The Kullbergs’ devotion to the grounds also has prompted them to include Chautauqua as a beneficiary of their Individual Retirement Account (IRA). “Hopefully we’ve got a lot more years, but we’ve already enjoyed Chautauqua for 20 years and we want to pass it on for people who are still coming,” Jim said. “Hopefully our home will stay in our family, and to keep the value of the home up you’ve got to support the Institution. … We thought we had to do our part to carry on the heritage.” For more information about making a planned gift for the benefit of Chautauqua Institution, contact Karen Blozie, Chautauqua Foundation director of Gift Planning, at (716) 357-6244 or e-mail kblozie@chautauquafoundation.org.
Foundation recognizes Bestor Society members, extraordinary donors
8/21/2009 Photo by Jordan Schnee. MSFO students perform in a special woodwind quintet at the President’s Address Saturday in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall. Bestor Society members gathered at Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall on Aug. 15 for the annual President’s Address, an event that recognized the efforts of those who contributed to Chautauqua Institution through the Chautauqua Fund over the course of the year. The Chautauqua Fund contributes to the Institution’s operating budget, which provides for a variety of programs, student scholarships, organizations and other activities. Bestor Society members are individuals who make a gift of $2,000 or more to the fund. According to materials from the Development Office, these gifts account for approximately 80 percent of the fund’s total. The Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell commenced the event with an invocation, praying for clarity about an unknown future and the opportunities and gifts people can bring to that future. George Snyder, chair of the board of trustees, then recognized those who have served the Institution in the past, and the present, including Institution trustees and foundation directors. Snyder then acknowledged past and present Chautauqua Fund volunteers. “Much of the work of the philanthropic support of the Institution couldn’t be accomplished without the efforts of those who volunteer for the Chautauqua Fund,” Snyder said. He announced, to much applause, that the cost of fundraising over the last three years averaged only 9 cents per dollar. Bob and Mary Pickens were thanked for their efforts as Chautauqua Fund co-chairs. Bob Pickens then personally acknowledged and thanked new Bestor Society members for the year. “Philanthropy is the lifeblood of this institution, and you, as Bestor Society members, are the heart and soul of that philanthropy,” Pickens said. “This all could not get done without you.” Pickens pointed out that many cutbacks are being made in arts and education departments at colleges across the country because of the economic downturn. “I’m sure you will all agree that this has been an incredible season, that the arts and education and religion and recreation are alive and well here at Chautauqua, and that’s in no small part due to your (Bestor Society’s) generosity,” Pickens said. Geof Follansbee, Chautauqua Institution vice president and Chautauqua Foundation CEO, came forward to note three individuals who have made great investments of time and resources to the fund in recent years. John Anderson, a director of the Chautauqua Foundation, was recognized for chairing the Chautauqua County effort for the Chautauqua Fund for five years. Anderson’s job entailed explaining to others why Chautauqua is an important experience, and how Chautauqua is important economically to the western New York region. During his five years as chair, $1.5 million was raised for the fund. A passionate follower of Chautauqua Opera Company, Anderson was given a gift of an opera print, including signatures of members of Chautauqua Opera staff and a personal thanks from President Thomas M. Becker and wife, Jane Becker. Follansbee also recognized Judy and Fred Gregory, who from 2006 to 2008 brought an inspirational and creative approach to the Chautauqua Fund as fund co-chairs. During this period, the fund delivered $8.6 million of revenue to the Institution. The Gregorys were given a book signed by filmmaker Ken Burns and a plant for their extensive garden, in addition to hearty thanks. Snyder followed to emphasize the impact of Bestor Society members’ gifts on students coming to the grounds. According to information from the Chautauqua Schools of the Fine and Performing Arts, about 78 percent of the 279 students enrolled at the Institution are receiving some type of need-based or merit scholarship. Art student Gabriel Roberts described the impact of the Institution on himself, both personally and professionally. He explained that Chautauqua is especially important for artists because of the natural beauty and great architecture, the network of artists available and the supportive community. “It’s very apparent that people here, on a whole, really care about art and about supporting art,” Roberts said. A woodwind quintet made up of Music School Festival Orchestra students played after Robert’s speech, introduced by MSFO Music Director Timothy Muffitt. “This is a unique opportunity for them in their artistic growth because not only do they learn how to grow as musicians, but the nature of the Chautauqua Institution … allows them to grow as human beings and as artists in a way that they couldn’t do anywhere else on this planet,” Muffitt said. President Becker concluded the evening with the much-anticipated President’s Address. Becker spoke of the changes to the Institution over the past 135 years, and what these changes have taught Chautauquans. Among other points, Becker identified the importance of maintaining and developing the grounds while responsibly allocating resources. “This place is our home, the center of our activity, and the gift of those who created and passed it to us,” Becker said. “It is our responsibility.” He identified philanthropy as “a critical growth strategy,” one which Bestor Society members have been a large part of. With their contributions, many modifications have been made, and the Institution has improved. Imagine, Becker said, a Chautauqua Fund with twice the donors. Becker spoke about how the opportunities for betterment are limited only to the effort people are willing to put into the Institution. “On behalf of the cloud of witnesses who founded and passed through these grounds, and on behalf of the known and unknown generations to come to Chautauqua and to call themselves Chautauquans, on behalf of all of these good people, I offer you thanks for the investment you make in Chautauqua, an investment in a benefit extending far beyond your personal rewards,” Becker said.
For Ferguson, Chautauqua has become a family matter
8/20/2009 If you believe in omens, waking up to one of Chautauqua’s most revered inhabitants flying over your bed could be considered a good one. For Norma Ferguson, dedicated Chautauquan of almost 20 years, discovering a bat in her house this season was a first. But for her and her family, Chautauqua has always been full of surprises, with a variety of wonders and opportunities rarely found anywhere else. Ferguson and her husband, Dick, both grew up in the nearby city of Buffalo, N.Y., but never came to the Institution as children. After college, they settled in Bethlehem, Pa., where they raised their four children, occasionally visiting Chautauqua Lake. It was not until after moving out of state to Louisville, Ky., that the Fergusons decided to visit the Institution. They rented units in the Pines Apartments with their four children, who were grown by then. “Everybody loved it. It was just more than we had anticipated,” Ferguson said. Her husband, Ferguson added, was a Presbyterian minister, and he immediately fell in love with the Institution’s religious aspect. Active in the church herself as a volunteer, Ferguson also felt strongly about the religious community. Her husband would eventually serve on the board of the Presbyterian House on the grounds. “He really tuned into the rich spiritual diversity here, and the new broadening of theological ideas,” Ferguson said. “But then we also really loved the lectures and the intellectual stimulation of all that.” From then on, the Ferguson family would get the program for each new season and decide, with their children, which week they would all come together on the grounds. As time progressed, their children began bringing spouses and eventually their own children. Ferguson now has a healthy total of 13 grandchildren. One summer about 11 years ago, Ferguson’s 7-yearold grandson said, “If we all went together, we could buy a place here.” It was then, she said, that she realized how rooted her family was in Chautauqua. She began looking for a sizeable place to accommodate their large family and decided on a condo on Elm. When her husband got an interim job close by in Pittsburg, Pa., Ferguson began coming to the Institution for the entire summer season. When he retired, they came together for the full season. She continues to do so, even after his passing three years ago. She decided to keep their house, as she feels so at home in Chautauqua. “I think the beauty of it is it does restore your soul, and I think that the whole atmosphere has just been a renewing sort of thing for the whole family,” Ferguson said. Ferguson’s family continues to visit, and she said that her grandchildren really enjoy the freedom they have to explore. She has become active on the Presbyterian House board, and has developed into an avid follower of music on the grounds, enjoying the various concerts. “Summer can be (full of) down time in most places, all of the volunteer work sort of goes on hold and people are away, and up here I can keep myself mentally and spiritually enriched and stimulated,” Ferguson said. For all that Chautauqua has meant to her and her family, Ferguson has included the Chautauqua Foundation in her estate through a trust. “This has been a really meaningful place for all of us, our whole family, and I want it to continue, I want other people to have this opportunity, too,” Ferguson said. “I think that’s most important. If you’re enjoying it, you need to share … that’s part of life.” For more information about making a planned gift to Chautauqua Institution, contact Karen Blozie, the Chautauqua Foundation director of gift planning, at (716) 357-6244.
In Chautauqua, Cochrane has a place to call 'home'
8/10/2009 For longtime Chautauquan Helen Cochrane, Chautauqua Institution has served as a steady home throughout her life. From her own childhood to those of her children, her grandchildren and even her great-grandchildren, the Institution has provided an atmosphere for growth, learning and spirituality. Cochrane’s parents had a house on Cookman Avenue, which they bought in the mid- ’30s. She came to the grounds every summer for at least a month, up until the house was sold in her college years. She returned to the grounds in 1960 after marrying her husband, Norman. Cochrane said, laughing, that she was able to lure him here with golf. They started visiting every summer with their two sons and daughter. In 1988, they bought a house at the Pines, where Cochrane still resides during the summer. “This is the longest consistent place in my life,” Cochrane said. “I’ve moved 20 times since I was married … so this place is home because it’s the longest I’ve connected to any place. … I’ve come here almost my whole life.” This long history with Chautauqua has greatly impacted her sense of self. Cochrane remembered several moments associated with the Institution that have impacted and defined her. The first key memory she had of Chautauqua was from when she was 10 years old. Her grandmother came to visit her parents on the grounds and introduced her to Mina Miller Edison. “She was so nice,” Cochrane said. “She bent down, shook my hand and asked ‘How are you?’ And I still have a very good feeling about meeting her. And then my grandmother said, ‘You’ll remember this the rest of your life.’ Well, of course, I have.” Cochrane also recalled that she used to sit in the Amphitheater choir loft and watch Albert Stoessel play the organ. She went to see what she described as his ethereal look that showed his love of music. She remembered being a teenager and swooning over another musician on the grounds as well — Hugh Thompson with the Metropolitan Opera — while other girls were swooning over Frank Sinatra. The Institution’s musical influence had quite an effect on both her and her family. Cochrane eventually became a piano teacher, a career her daughter later pursued. In addition to studying in college, her daughter studied piano at Chautauqua with renowned teacher Ozan Marsh. Cochrane also has two grandsons who are musicians. Aside from crediting Chautauqua with musically influencing her, she attributed many of her values and outlooks to the learning facilitated by lectures offered on the grounds. She remembered one speaker in particular, who came to Chautauqua while she was in her 30s. He described the difference between a hawk and a dove in terms of war issues. “At the end of that speech, I just said, ‘Well, I know what I am; I’m a dove,’” Cochrane said. “I do belong to that concept that war is always a last resort, and I believe Chautauqua really does exemplify that in the programming and in (its) very essence.” Cochrane explained that the Institution aided her further with an understanding of the world and of religion. The interfaith aspect of the Institution resonates particularly well with her, and she eventually became a Presbyterian minister. She got involved as a convener for the Women in Ministry organization on the grounds, and after retiring from the ministry in 2004 joined the Presbyterian House board. She finished her husband’s term on the board after he died in 2004 and stayed for an additional term. Cochrane also has become very active in writing and serves on the board of the Literary Arts Friends. She said she is thinking of writing a memoir about Chautauqua. “Everyone says it’s impossible to describe Chautauqua, and it’s true because in a way it’s a way of life,” Cochrane said. “Even if you’re only in the Institution for the summer, it’s a way of life that you carry with you year-round, and that is a great influence on your family.” Her three children continue to visit the grounds, bringing with them four grandsons, a granddaughter and two great-grandsons. The younger children will be going to Boys’ and Girls’ Club, which Cochrane participated in as a child. Cochrane said the Institution’s impact on both her and her family, as well as its continued growth and expansion, prompted her to include Chautauqua in her will, which she did almost 20 years ago. She explained that her Doctor of Ministry in stewardship also had a hand in her decision to give back to Chautauqua. She said that her family always has tried to tithe its income, which usually means giving to churches. But for Cochrane, the overall value of Chautauqua is religious, encouraging faith development and expansion, so she considered giving to the Institution in her will as tithing. “It fits who I am and who my parents were,” Cochrane said. “My parents were very generous people. My father saw the value of an investment in Chautauqua as important for his family, and so I’m really following in his footsteps.” For more information about making a planned gift for the benefit of Chautauqua Institution, contact Karen Blozie, the Chautauqua Foundation director of gift planning, at (716) 357-6244.
After several chances, Chautauqua finally made an impression on Sharp
8/6/2009 Becky Sharp drove from her hometown of Erie, Pa., to Chautauqua Institution at age 16 to visit a friend from high school who was working on the grounds. However, she had no idea that the Institution would become so important to her and her future family in years to come. In fact, during her first visit to the Institution, she remembered listening to her friends’ work complaints and decided she did not like the place. She would not return to Chautauqua for many years. In 1950, Sharp got married and settled in Cleveland. She and her husband would visit her family in Erie and would then travel to visit his family nearby. Her mother-in-law happened to be a baker at St. Elmo, and her sister-in-law worked at Thompson cafeteria, so they would visit his family on the grounds. These trips, however, were brief. Sharp’s next exposure to the Institution came from good friends living nearby in Cleveland who happened to be longtime Chautauquans. The two couples owned a motor home together, which they shared for family trips. When they decided to sell it, their neighbors offered them an alternative. They convinced the Sharps to go back to Chautauqua again. In 1969, the Sharps brought the younger two of their four children up for church on Sunday, then looked around the grounds for a place to stay. Unfortunately, they were unable to find anything that felt right for their family and decided to leave. But on their way out, they happened to hear about an open house on Foster Street. After making a last minute decision to stop in, they fell in love with the home. They quickly made an offer and went from tentative visitors to enthusiastic property owners at Chautauqua. Even after the Sharps moved from Ohio to Florida in the 1980s, they continued to come to Chautauqua for the season. Both held the Department of Religion in high esteem, and Sharp became active in the Presbyterian Association. She realized that she had found another place to call home. The house the Sharps purchased on Foster had an empty lot next door where they parked. They decided to sell their first house and build a second one on this vacant lot, which was completed in 1999. Her children came often during the summer. Her youngest son even started a bike shop in their basement. Later, the four children would find jobs on the grounds while in school to spend time as a family. “All four of my children worked here,” Sharp said. “It kept our family together through college years.” Two of Sharp’s children got married on the grounds, as well. Their youngest son worked for The Chautauquan Daily as a photographer for two summers, even after developing a fatal brain tumor. He also took pictures and video to be used in training sessions for the Chautauqua Volunteer Fire Department. Sharp said that she appreciated the community support and comfort he received during his work at Chautauqua while he was ill. Sharp’s husband died in 2001, so in 2005, she decided to sell their house and rent during future summers. She continues coming to the Institution, enjoying the religious community and sense of home. She has even made a planned gift to Chautauqua through her will. The years of enrichment through programming and community, both for herself and her family, have made contributing to the Institution a value of Sharp’s. “My family has taken so much from Chautauqua for 40 years, it’s time to give back,” Sharp said. Chautauqua has continued to unify Sharp’s family. Her sister-in-law is still a regular visitor, as well as her nieces and nephews. Her grandchildren also come and stay with her on the grounds. Her two younger grandchildren, who are adopted, recently spent two weeks in Boys’ and Girls’ Club. Sharp was overjoyed when they told her that they loved Chautauqua. “They enjoyed it this summer, and they’re really at that age where I think it’s in their blood now,” Sharp said. “They’ll be here as much as they can.” For more information about making a planned gift for the benefit of Chautauqua Institution, contact Karen Blozie, Chautauqua Foundation Director of Gift Planning, at (716) 357-6244 or e-mail kblozie@chautauquafoundation.org.
DeLanceys channel love for Chautauqua into support
7/27/2009 The prominence of Chautauqua in the lives of David and Jennifer DeLancey has prompted the couple to find many ways to give back to the place they have called home for 20 years. Whether it is Jennifer’s volunteering for the Chautauqua Property Owners Association or serving as an Institution trustee, or David’s reputation as both sailor and resident handyman on the grounds, the DeLanceys continue the legacy of giving back to their community passed down from their parents. David’s grandmother came to the Institution as a child from Erie, Pa. His mother, JoAn Webb, has been coming to the grounds for close to 40 years, and she continues to be a big promoter of Chautauqua. David grew up in the nearby city of Lakewood, N.Y., and now stays on the grounds during the season. David stays in the house his family came to when he was young. David is well known around the Institution, and many think of him as the local handyman, asking him to fix various fickle appliances. An experienced sailor, David served as commodore and now vice-commodore of the Yacht Club for years. He has earned the nickname “Captain Fun” with some of the younger residents. Jennifer first came to the Institution with David in 1975, and the couple started visiting regularly for the summer season in 1989. They stay three months out of the year, and spend their remaining time on their boat in Charleston, S.C. Jennifer serves on the board of trustees, and has done volunteer work for the CPOA, where she served as secretary and vice president. In 2006, she graduated from the Chautauqua Literary & Scientific Circle, and this year she will graduate from the Guild of the Seven Seals. Jennifer plays tennis, softball and golf, and along with David, enjoys the symphony, theater and being out on the lake. “It’s really what we consider our home base because we move a lot,” Jennifer said. “This is what our children consider their home.” The DeLanceys have three grown children who are fourth generation Chautauquans: Danielle, Wesley and Billy. All three grew up in Boys’ and Girls’ Club, served as counselors and worked various jobs on the grounds. Sports have been important to the family, especially softball. The Old First Night Run also serves as a basis for their family reunion, with up to 22 members having come for the event in the past. The importance of the Institution to the DeLanceys and their family has led them to give back to Chautauqua in many ways. They have done this through various volunteer opportunities, and by creating a charitable remainder trust to benefit the Institution’s lectureship program. “I feel that Dave and I both learned from example of contributing to various charities and doing volunteer work from both of our parents,” Jennifer said. “One of the reasons that we do what we do is we like to instill this in our children, because I feel that we’ve been so fortunate that it’s just our duty to give back. We enjoy doing it as long as we can, whether it be monetarily or our time, as far as volunteering.” Their planned gift consists of investments put into a charitable remainder trust, which, they emphasized, benefits both themselves and the Institution. They still get a return on their investment, receiving 5 percent interest each year, and after they die, those investments will go into the lectureship series. They said they consider the lectureship series to be one of the most important aspects of the season. “So now we know that No. 1, it’s out of our estate, and No. 2 is that now, if anything were to ever happen, we’re supporting Chautauqua, which we both love,” David said. For more information about making a planned gift for the benefit of Chautauqua Institution, contact Karen Blozie, the Chautauqua Foundation director of Gift Planning, at (716) 357-6244 or e-mail kblozie@chautauquafoundation.org.
Percy to speak about Chautauqua Foundation
7/24/2009 Steve Percy, board chairman of the Chautauqua Foundation, will discuss the foundation, its purpose and composition and the future of Chautauqua Institution at today’s Men’s Club meeting at 9 a.m. in the Women’s Clubhouse. Percy is the former chairman and chief executive of BP America, Inc., BP’s U.S. subsidiary prior to its merger with Amoco Corp., and he served in that capacity from 1996 until 1999. Prior to assuming those duties, he was president of BP Oil in the U.S. from 1992 to 1996. Percy returned to BP America in 1992 from London, England, where he served as group treasurer of The British Petroleum Company PLC and chief executive of BP Finance International. Since retiring from BP, Percy served as the head of Phillips Petroleum Co., visited as a professor of corporate strategy and international business at the Universiy of Michigan Graduate School of Business and conducted workshops on corporate governance for the AHC Group, a strategic consultant in the areas of environment, energy and materials. A native of Cleveland, Percy earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan and a Juris Doctorate from Cleveland Marshall College of Law. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association.
Chautauqua life-changing for mother, daughter and son-in-law
7/20/2009 Dorothy Stevenson worked as a waitress at Chautauqua Institution while in college in 1940. She returned to Chautauqua in 1948 for her honeymoon, and spent the off-season in a house on Miller Avenue. Her history here continued as she and her husband began coming to Chautauqua regularly in the 1970s. Stevenson greatly enjoys Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, the chaplains and the 2 p.m. lectures. She gives back by ushering at the opera and theater performances. She has also decided to include the Institution in her will, thus contributing to a place that she sees as an important part of her and her family’s life. “We all appreciate so much the Chautauqua message — growth and understanding, trying to understand other people and build bridges where there’s misunderstanding and fear, and Chautauqua does such a wonderful job with doing that,” Stevenson said. “I think the people who come here absorb that and take it back to their communities, and it’s a message the world really needs to hear.” Stevenson’s daughter, Susan McKee, and son-in-law, Hal Simmons, also decided to include the Institution in their wills. McKee came to Chautauqua several times growing up and is now a regular resident during the season. Simmons started visiting 26 years ago, after “marrying in.” Suddenly there was no other vacation place that made sense to him, he said. He joked that he wants to retire just so that he can stay the full nine weeks each summer. “Think of what your life was like before you were exposed here; think of how your life has changed since you’ve been exposed here and what a great investment for the future it is,” Simmons said. McKee and Simmons described their experienceat the Institution as a pilgrimage instead of a vacation. Simmons explained it as going away from where you live, being exposed and changed by new things and then taking it back home to share with other people. Having a strong connection with the Institution’s Abrahamic initiative, they took the Abrahamic Program for Young Adults back to their hometown in Denver, Colo. “I appreciate the diversity of all of Chautauqua’s programming, and I think the four pillars are really important,” McKee said. “But the Abrahamic Program is one that has opened up our family’s lives.” The intergenerational aspect of the Institution also has been very important to their family, McKee said. Her father came to the Institution as a boy. She remembered him telling stories of running through the hotel halls with his family during the off-season. When he was ill with Parkinson’s, the family would gather together at Chautauqua, and McKee appreciated the environment in which they could interact as a family. He spent his last summer here in 1998. McKee’s daughter has grown in an interfaith environment in both Denver and Chautauqua, where McKee has been visiting every summer since she was born. She said her daughter now has a strong interest in interfaith activities and work. McKee described Chautauqua as a formative place for a family. Stevenson hopes that the Institution will continue to thrive so future generations may come, learn and interact with people of different backgrounds and faiths. By giving, they contribute to that future. “We’re not well-to-do people, but what we have we certainly want to give back to (a) place that is as life-giving as Chautauqua is,” McKee said. “If more of us who give the little bit that we can continue to do that, then hopefully there will be more opportunities for reasonable housing and different kinds of scholarships so that Chautauqua can attract communities to be part of this fabric that otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford to come here.”
Residence hall gets major remodel with help from Chautauqua Opera lovers
7/18/2009 Marcia and Jack Connolly saw their first opera together in 1957. The young couple attended a Metropolitan Opera production of Verdi’s Otello in Boston. Thirty-five minutes of curtain calls followed the performance. It was so excellent, Jack Connolly said, that it has remained a part of opera lore in Boston ever since. “There was something electric about it. It was a remarkable first shot at seeing opera,” he said. That first show stuck with the Connollys, and they became lifelong opera lovers. Jack Connolly had been coming to the Institution since 1943 and lived here full time until 1951. After visiting during the summers, they bought a house here in 1974, bringing their love of opera with them. “She was more knowledgeable (about opera),” Jack Connolly said of his late wife. “But I just loved it.” The Connollys, who met in college, passed their love of opera down to their family — first to their daughter, Melissa Orlov, and then to their granddaughter, Orlov’s daughter, Katrina (Read Katrina’s essay on Chautauqua Opera on page B2). Orlov remembered her mother thinking that it was the accessibility of opera at the Institution that stuck out for her. “She felt that as an integrated art form, Chautauqua’s program is so unique in that it’s so accessible to kids; Katrina took on a love of the art form,” Orlov said. “What’s interesting about opera is the clashing of the arts, religion and education.” Chautauqua Opera Company does more than cultivate young audiences, however. It cultivates young singers. Budding professionals, some just out of their undergraduate or graduate schools, come from across the country to perform and study here as Chautauqua Opera Young Artists. The Institution must provide several things to attract star talent: an accomplished staff to guide and teach the young performers, adequate practice facilities and perhaps, most importantly, comfortable housing. Until this year, comfortable was not an adjective that many Young Artists would have used to describe the Summer School Dorm, where they lived during the opera season. Jeff Beruan, who was a Young Artist here in 2006 and who returned this year, remembered contending with problems like a fire alarm that went off every time someone cooked breakfast and doors that would not completely close. The Connollys have been involved with fundraising and philanthropy at the Institution for decades. As members of the Chautauqua board of trustees and Opera Guild, they have worked for years to attract money for the Chautauqua Fund and for opera at the Institution. From 1995 to 2000, Marcia Connolly led a group that raised a $3.5 million endowment fund for the Institution. “She was tireless in her pursuit of getting people to support opera,” Orlov said. Marcia Connolly, who worked for 25 years as the associate director of admissions at Harvard University, cared deeply about helping the careers of young people. “She took great pride in following students who were admitted,” Jack Connolly said. “She was in the business of changing lives.” In 2006, the Connollys turned their focus to renovating Norton Hall, the Opera Company’s home. When the cost proved too great to undertake a major rebuilding or remodel, they looked for another way they could help; the Summer School Dorm was an obvious choice. “It was a substandard facility,” Jack Connolly said. “It was past its useful age.” The Connollys, who donated about 90 percent of the money to pay for the remodeling, started planning to remodel the Young Artists’ dormitory during the summer of 2007. By the fall of 2008, plans were ready; construction began in December. The change has been dramatic. “It’s incomparable,” Young Artist Jeff Beruan said. “It’s like night and day,” Jorell Williams said. “It’s amazing what can happen overnight.” Williams is one of this year’s Young Artists, who also was here in 2008. Marcia Connolly did not get to see the product of her hard work; she passed away in March of 2008. However, her husband and daughter say that investment in the community was tremendously important to her. “Marcia would be proud of the work that’s been done,” Jack Connolly said. “She’d be happy to be associated with it.” The work was no small feat. The building was completely gutted and rebuilt. Windows were given reflective film to keep out the sun. Fans were installed in all the bedrooms. Four new bathrooms were added, and the existing bathrooms were remodeled. “It was a renovation down to the studs,” Jack Connolly said. “The point of the new dorm was to support the program and make it suitable for older students,” Orlov said. “To create a space where each student has privacy and there are comfortable living spaces.” But they did not do it on their own: the Opera Guild raised money to outfit the individual rooms with furniture and fixtures and the kitchen with basic equipment; Judy and Hale Oliver paid to remodel the kitchens and purchase appliances, furnish the common areas and provide supplemental funding for the project. The Connollys have given a huge gift to the Opera Company with the remodeling of the dorm. Jay Lesenger, artistic and general director of the Opera Company, said the rebuilt residence hall is a major improvement. “We’d already seen upgrades for the rehearsal facilities and the opera offices. Aside from Norton Hall, this was the last major project,” he said. Jack Connolly and his daughter say this building is a gift to Marcia Connolly, a relentless advocate for the Institution. They both hope that the work done in her name will help opera continue to thrive here.
Chautauqua couple grows together through volunteering, giving back
7/18/2009 Travis and Betty Halford are two people among a large number of new volunteers for this year’s Chautauqua Fund. They are spending time during their sixth season at Chautauqua Institution to give back to what they refer to as a “jewel in the world.” The Halfords first came to the Institution years ago with an organization called New Horizons Band, which organizes musical groups for seniors across the nation. Travis played in one of these groups and came to stay in Bellinger Hall for a band camp. He does not recall visiting Bestor Plaza, or even the lake, but he and Betty did pick up literature on the Institution as they departed. After reading the materials at home, they realized the Institution was the place they had been looking for. Travis explained that both he and Betty have a natural desire to learn and that Chautauqua fit in with that aspiration. As subscribers to the symphony and opera in their hometown of Atlanta, Ga., they also appreciated the concentration in music and the arts that Chautauqua offers. What the Halfords were drawn to more than anything was the Institution’s religious and interfaith aspects. Travis serves as chair of trustees for his church, and next year, he will serve as the congregation’s president. Betty is the associate minister for pastoral care. Both have done chaplaincy work, led by Travis, in assisted living facilities. Thus, the focus on faith resonated with both of them. “We were drawn here the first year, and years after that, for the interfaith Abrahamic community program,” Travis said. “And that aspect of the place, the experience of living in it, living it out, has been very special.” They started coming for the Chautauqua Season, and stayed for about a week during the first couple of years. Then, when a condo in the St. Elmo Hotel became available last year, the Halfords bought it. Travis said they wanted to experience Chautauqua for a longer period of time. They now come for the entire season. As they increasingly got involved, the Halfords felt it was more and more important to support the Institution in any way they could. They joined the Bestor Society last year and continue to contribute to four or five organizations that they feel strongly about. This year, the Halfords decided they needed to get other Chautauquans involved in supporting the Institution, and so they volunteered for the Chautauqua Fund. “It was just our enthusiasm for the Institution and all that it does,” Betty said. “There is not another place in the world, I don’t think, where one has such concentration of outstanding speakers and the opportunity to do all the things that we do here and be exposed to all of the things we’ve been exposed to. Its just incredible.” The Halfords hope to eventually share the Institution’s opportunities and experiences with their grandchildren once they are older.
'Two different Chautauquas' meet Bargers' needs through 45 years
7/18/2009 If you ask Bob and Mary Bargar what Chautauqua means to them, you’re likely to get two different answers. That is because for both longtime Chautauquans, just what Chautauqua means has evolved over the years. “We have really lived two different Chautauquas,” Bob said. Mary was first introduced to Chautauqua by her parents in 1950, when the family visited from Cleveland for a Unitarian Conference. After Mary graduated high school in 1955, she found a friend in Eleanor B. Streeter, who managed the Tally Ho along with Edna T. Lawson. Mary worked as a waitress at the Tally Ho for two seasons. This was the beginning of a long relationship with the Streeter family and the Tally Ho. Back in Cleveland, Bob and Mary met through their parents and wed in 1959; they recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. In 1964, Mary decided it was time to introduce her husband to Chautauqua. “Of course, it turned out to be a famous rain-all-weekend type of stay, but it must not have been that bad because Bob wanted to come back the next year,” Mary said. “Yes, it rained all weekend, but Mary loved Chautauqua and I loved Mary,” Bob added. Back then, Bob said, he felt like “an observer of the scene.” They came for weekend stays through the 1980s. “Our little Chautauqua world was at the Tally Ho with the Streeter family, and occasionally we would stay at the Gleason,” he said. Fifteen years ago, retirement gave Bob and Mary the opportunity to take up residence at Chautauqua for the entire summer, and so they purchased a condo in the renovated boarding house next to the Tally Ho. In the off-season, they spend time with their two daughters, Beth in Dallas, Texas, and Nancy in Ocala, Fla. Over the years, they have been able to share Chautauqua with their children and, Bob said, are now witnessing the “representation of passing the baton generation to generation.” Their first-born granddaughter, Kathryn, is working at the Gleason Hotel and the Amphitheater this summer. “This will be her time to make Chautauqua her own,” Bob said. And that is exactly what Bob and Mary have done for themselves. For 30 years, Chautauqua was a respite, a place to unwind for three days or so before heading back to work. Bob was vice president at National City Bank in Cleveland, and Mary worked for a nursing facility where she served as the assistant director of admissions. Now, retirement has given them an entirely different Chautauqua, where they have time to really enjoy all of the programming and activities. “For me, there have been two different Chautauquas that have responded to my needs at different times of my life,” Bob said. Mary’s days at Chautauqua are spent attending the morning lecture, and she is an Education Department lecture evaluator. She sings in the choir on Sundays and attends rehearsals throughout the week. Perhaps her most favorite activity, however, is going to the Pier Building beach to read and meet up with friends. Bob’s interests run the gamut. “Where else can one get (a) 110 percent ration of religion, education, recreation and art under one cosmic roof?” he asked. Bob has been the treasurer of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Chautauqua for the past eight years. “I find much satisfaction from my involvement with a growing congregation,” he said. The UUFC has been working hard and has raised enough money through their efforts to purchase the property on 6 Bliss Ave. for use as a denominational house. Bob also is a member of the Chautauqua Literary & Scientific Circle Class of 2000. He attends the morning lectures and enjoys boating on Chautauqua Lake. Mary and Bob are also regulars at Chautauqua Theater Company performances, and they especially enjoy the Bratton Late Night performance at each season’s end, where the cast puts on an improvisational evening of entertainment. Bob and Mary’s love of Chautauqua has made them huge advocates and cheerleaders for contributing to the Institution. Their personal satisfaction has come from making a deferred gift to Chautauqua. They also each made Chautauqua a beneficiary of their IRAs. Bob is no stranger to fundraising from his years working with organizations in Cleveland and his time as UUFC treasurer. “What I have learned is the value to both the donor and the organization of a charitable gift,” Bob said. “The feeling one gets from making a gift is intangible; it’s more than dollars and cents.” “I think maybe people don’t understand that you can make a deferred gift, and you don’t have to be a millionaire,” Mary added. “I would encourage people to think that way.” “What we have done through our gift is help to ensure the future of Chautauqua for the next generations,” Bob said. By making a deferred gift, the Bargars have become members of the Eleanor B. Daugherty Society. The Daugherty Society recognizes those individuals who have included the Institution in their estate plans through a will, trust or other planned gift. If you would like to learn more or are considering including Chautauqua in your will or other estate plans, please contact Karen Blozie at (716) 357-6244 or e-mail kblozie@chautauquafoundation.org.
Couple grows in work, love at Chautauqua
7/8/2009 For Chris Dahlie, Chautauqua Institution has been a part of his summers for almost all of his life. He first visited the Institution in 1980 at age 2. By age 6, he and his family, who lived in Jamestown, N.Y., spent full summers here. “No television was allowed,” Dahlie said, “which made me very unhappy.” That unhappiness disintegrated, however, as Dahlie grew into a natural member of the Chautauqua community. By 1985, he made his way through Children’s School and into Boys’ and Girls’ Club where, he said, he was lousy at every sport they had, except for Manhunt. Dahlie, pronounced “Daily,” remembers being called “Chautauquan Dahlie” by his friends at Club. He said that as he grew up, Club became more fun: less about competition, more about hanging out and playing with friends. At age 13, Dahlie needed to obtain a gate pass to stay on the grounds all summer. He got a job, like many young members of the Institution before him, at The Chautauquan Daily. One of the perks of the job was a season gate pass, and so to keep coming back, he worked as a paperboy from ages 13 to 16. At age 16, he became circulation manager of the Daily, a sort of manager of the paperboys, and then at age 18, he became an assistant to the business manager. With this history, one might have predicted a career in journalism, but no such luck. Dahlie attended the University of Southern California, where he studied music recording. Upon graduation, he came back to the Institution for his first post-college job as a member of the Amphitheater sound crew. An expected move to London for work the following year came to a halt when Dahlie was unable to extend his visa. And so, once again, he ended up back at the Institution for the summer, but instead of working for the Daily, he took a position as the head of audio at the Amp. “I was promoted by attrition,” Dahlie said, when none of his coworkers from the previous summer returned. And so went the cycle of Dahlie’s life during the early part of this decade: Summers at the Institution working at the Amp, sometimes helping out with sound for the opera and dance companies when they needed it; the rest of the year, a traveling soundman, often working in New York City. In January 2004, Dahlie was the house engineer at a Disney event in New York City when he noticed that someone had run cables from the generator outside through an open door into the building, rather than through a hole that had been cut in the wall specifically for that purpose. Perplexed, he decided to investigate. A woman named Roslyn Fulton, the guest lighting designer for the Disney gig, had run the cables through the door. Upon finding the individual responsible for running the cables incorrectly, Dahlie confronted her about it. “So, we didn’t like each other very much at first,” Fulton said. But the two bonded later that day when they discovered they were both fans of the band The Cure. And so, consequently, Dahlie asked Fulton on a date. “I liked that she was a tech girl,” Dahlie said. “And she liked The Cure.” The pair started dating, and Fulton fell in love with the Institution upon her first visit. “I really, really like it here,” she remembers telling Dahlie. And in 2006, after her first year of graduate school at the California Institute of the Arts, Fulton spent her first full summer here. She worked as the master technician for Chautauqua Theater Company. Dahlie, who still maintains close ties with many of his childhood friends from the Institution, was at first wary of bringing his girlfriend into the fold. Dahlie said he and his friends were very protective of their community and experience here, but everyone quickly took to Fulton. Despite an extraordinarily rainy summer and the stress of juggling two different production schedules, they made their relationship work. On the last day of the 2008 Season, Dahlie, who has lived in the same dorm as the Chautauqua Opera Young Artists for the past four summers, told Fulton that the Opera Company would be presenting him with an award that night for some work he had done for them during the year. He invited his friends and family to the event, and talked some of the singers into performing one last song of the season, only replacing the name of the title character with “Roslyn.” Dahlie meant to propose, but he didn’t even have to ask the question. As soon as she realized they were singing her name, Fulton jumped into Dahlie’s arms and they were engaged. They were married in May at the Hall of Philosophy where, Dahlie said, many of his friends from the Institution have tied the knot. This season, they’re back to work: he once again at the Amp and she preparing to leave on a world tour with the band Nickelback. In the fall, he will begin work on a doctorate in communication studies at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He gives much credit to the Institution for preparing him for the rigorous scholarship ahead. “The lecture programs shaped the awareness that allowed me to get into grad school,” he said. Fulton, who is also searching for her summer niche at the Institution and who feels enriched and enlivened by the thriving arts scene here, said the couple hopes to make this place their home base every summer, while he spends the academic year teaching and she travels for her job. Dahlie, a lifelong Chautauquan who has now brought his wife into the community, encapsulates their future at the Institution by saying, “I’ve only ever spent summers here, so if I have to spend one somewhere else, I’ll be unhappy.” Around here, that’s probably a common sentiment.
Three decades in, Livingstones find Chautauqua 'a place for family'
7/3/2009 In the late 1970s, Dan Livingstone had just graduated high school when his friend Dean Jones invited him for a weekend at his family’s summer getaway in Chautauqua, N.Y. Returning home, Livingstone told his parents, “This is your kind of place!” That is exactly how Fred and Pearl Livingstone’s Chautauqua story begins. They were intrigued by the literature Dan had brought home. The following summer, Dan was hired to work at Boys’ and Girls’ Club. His parents, determined to find a way to spend time with their son after his first year of college, made arrangements to rent a house for a month. That was all it took for Fred and Pearl to fall in love with Chautauqua. They purchased a home on the grounds by the end of the season. “We were completely captivated by Chautauqua,” Pearl said. That first summer, Pearl and Fred were able to take a course with famed author Isaac Bashevis Singer. “Several years later we even had a dinner party which he attended,” said Pearl. “I mean, this is what makes life at Chautauqua so special. Where else can you just have dinner with a Nobel Prize-winning author? “These are the things that are very doable at Chautauqua.” The house that Fred and Pearl purchased was in need of renovation. They spent weekends during the winter months driving from Cleveland to meet with friends, and their son, David, who would fly in from Washington, D.C., to work on the house. “It was a wonderful winter,” Fred said. From that point on, Chautauqua has been a staple in the Livingstones’ lives. It is above all, according to Pearl, “a place for family.” Fred has been practicing law in Cleveland for over 50 years and Pearl is a retired teacher. They have two sons, a daughter and 12 grandchildren. Their daughter, Ruth Heide, brings her family to Chautauqua for the entire summer while she works at the Boys’ and Girls’ Club teaching counselorsin- training. Their two sons, David and Dan, are able to bring their families for long weekends during the season from New York City. “I tell my Cleveland friends that my real work is in the summer, and the rest of the year is my time off,” said Pearl, recalling her daily routine. “I walk the perimeter of the grounds each morning, except on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I take a stretch and tone class with my daughter. I go to the morning lecture, and I try to go to the 2 p.m. lecture. I always make extra efforts when the topic is on politics and world affairs.” Fred and Pearl also enjoy the symphony, theater and opera. “What I really love is the proximity to everything. I can walk everywhere, and I can make quick decisions to do one thing or another. There are just so many opportunities,” Pearl said. Fred and Pearl are especially appreciative of the Abrahamic Program that was initiated by former director of the Department of Religion Ross McKenzie and has been sustained through the work of current director Joan Brown Campbell. “Chautauqua is so much more than an institution that benefits people who come and participate in programs,” Fred said. “Chautauqua is a model attempting to lead the country to an understanding that there are many paths to God.” Pearl, who is involved with voter registration in Cleveland, felt gratified last season, during Week Two on “Restoring Legitimacy to our Election System,” when she was able to meet with Campbell and Institution President Thomas Becker regarding potential speakers. “You really feel like you have input,” Pearl said. “You are part of the process,” The four pillars of Chautauqua are so ingrained in the Livingstones’ lives that both Pearl and Fred decided to make a gift to Chautauqua through their will. “We didn’t feel comfortable financially making an outright gift at this time,” Fred said. “But this enabled us to leave something substantial to Chautauqua, and we can continue to add to it over time.” Fred and Pearl said they understand that philanthropy at Chautauqua is essential — without it “there wouldn’t be a Chautauqua as we know it.” “If you look at the percentage of the revenue that comes from the gate, it is clearly not enough to cover the program,” Fred said. By planning a gift for Chautauqua through their will, the Livingstones have become members of the Eleanor B. Daugherty Society. The Daugherty Society recognizes those individuals who have included Chautauqua in their estate plans through a will, trust or other planned gift. As members of this society, the Livingstones enjoy several benefits, including tours of new or renovated facilities, recognition luncheons and participation in the Everett Scholar-in-Residence Program. “We appreciate that the Everetts have been so generous in endowing the program, and they do a good job helping to bring in wonderful people,” Fred said. Pearl added, “Last year it was Dennis Ross who had just come back from touring the Middle East with (President Barack) Obama, and to hear him talk about what happened — you felt like you were an ant along with them in the room.” If you are considering including Chautauqua in your will or other estate plans, please contact Karen Blozie at (716) 357-6244 or e-mail kblozie@chautauquafoundation.org.
Peters family heads north for 'home of the heart'
5/1/2009 Pat and Tim Peters will be leaving their home in Greensboro, Ga., soon, heading north for another summer of friends, family and Chautauqua memories. The Peterses’ Chautauqua history began many years ago. After World War II, Tim’s father, a Presbyterian minister, and his wife purchased a home on Scott Avenue. Later, they moved to Wahmeda, a community that lies just outside the grounds of Chautauqua Institution. For Tim, this meant summers at Chautauqua working just about every job possible: taxi driver, caddy and janitor to name a few. He worked at the Refectory and parked cars for evening events. Tim even worked for The Chautauquan Daily, getting up at 5:30 a.m. to address papers needing delivery. Pat first visited Chautauqua in 1962 for a weekend visit after she and Tim were engaged. The weekend stay was all it took for Pat to fall in love with “the wonderful houses, how quaint and fabulous Chautauqua is, and feeling like you’ve stepped back in time.” Pat and Tim married in June 1963 and honeymooned at Chautauqua. Tim was attending law school and Pat was a teacher, leaving their summers free. “We spent the whole summer in the upstairs apartment of Tim’s parents’ house,” said Pat. “I worked as a waitress at the North Shore Inn and Tim was a janitor.” It would be some time before the Peterses found their way back to Chautauqua. Their lives became busy with their careers—Pat as a piano teacher and Tim a lawyer— and raising their three children. Upon retirement, Pat and Tim, along with Tim’s sister and brother-in-law, Gwen and Steve Tigner, built a home in Wahmeda on the footprint of Tim and Gwen’s parents’ former home so they could spend their summers in Chautauqua. They share the divided house with Gwen and Steve, who are year-round Chautauquans. “We love living next door to each other, and being so close to family,” said Pat. Pat and Tim both enjoy the symphony, theater and opera, and are avid golfers, but they cherish the ambience of Chautauqua above all else. “There is nothing fake about the ambience,” said Pat. “It’s indescribable, and there’s just a feeling of how special and different it is from anything else. I tell my friends that Chautauqua is my home of the heart, and that’s because of the intangible things, the things you just can’t describe.” “Chautauqua is unique from everything else in the world,” said Tim. Chautauqua has made the Peterses very aware of the importance of supporting the arts, and they have taken the steps to ensure Chautauqua lasts for future generations by making a gift through Chautauqua’s pooled life income fund. They have made an irrevocable gift from which they receive an income for their lives. Upon their death, Chautauqua will receive the remainder for its permanent endowment. “We wanted to do something that would last a while and be meaningful after we are gone,” said Pat. Tim added, “We have the benefit of giving a gift and contributing to the financial basis of Chautauqua, being paid an income from the gift, and also receiving an instantaneous charitable income tax deduction.” Through their gift, the Peterses have found a way to leave a legacy while supporting Chautauqua in a way that is the most financially appropriate for them. “I think anyone who enjoys Chautauqua should consider this type of gift because you don’t have to be extremely wealthy,” said Tim. By making a gift through Chautauqua’s pooled life income fund, the Peterses have become members of the Eleanor B. Daugherty Society. The Daugherty Society recognizes those individuals who have included Chautauqua in their estate plans through a will, trust, or other planned gift. If you would like to learn more about Chautauqua’s pooled life income fund or are considering including Chautauqua in your will or other estate plans, please contact Karen Blozie at (716) 357-6244 or e-mail kblozie@chautauquafoundation.org.
Miller finds joy in togetherness of community
3/1/2009 Year-round Chautauquan Jane Miller likes to think of the place she fell in love with decades ago as a filling station for the mind. “It’s where I fuel up for the year with culture and stimulation,” she said. “Chautauqua is the center of my life. You can’t come here and not learn something new.” It was in 1955 that Jane’s husband, David, brought her to Chautauqua, where his parents had been coming for at least two decades. Jane and David became yearround residents in the early nineties. Chautauqua means many things to Jane, but above all it provides an ideal setting for her family to gather. With her three children living in France, California and Ithaca, N.Y., Chautauqua remains the place where they choose to spend each summer together. Jane is especially proud of the way Chautauqua has influenced her grandchildren, who have attended programs and classes, and worked on the grounds. She is particularly grateful for the opportunities her eldest granddaughter has experienced as an artist. “She always took art courses, and last summer was able to attend Chautauqua’s School of Art on a full scholarship,” said Jane. “She is now in France completing master’s level work in art. I credit Chautauqua with how far she has come as an artist.” Jane feels at home here, whether it is during mid-summer surrounded by her family or the beginning of winter when the snow first covers Bestor Plaza. “For me, it’s like living in two different places without having to pack your suitcases,” she said. For Jane, the “joy in being together as a community” was most apparent two years ago when she lost her husband, David. “Without the winter community I wouldn’t have gotten through losing him,” she said. “I just love the community.” The off-season is a busy one for Jane: book clubs, bowling on Fridays, play readings, and monthly community dinners that she has organized for some time. Jane is also involved with her church and takes advantage of cultural events in the region, including theater and music programs in Fredonia, Jamestown, Erie and Buffalo. As a community member for many years, Jane has also witnessed the growth of the Institution. “Chautauqua has changed quite a bit since I first started coming here, and mostly for the better,” she said. Jane commended the work of President Tom Becker, the growth of the CLSC and Writers’ Center, and general improvements to the quality of the program. She credits Chautauqua with helping her grow as a person, meeting new people and being able to explore different points of view. For all of these reasons, Jane has chosen to include Chautauqua in her will. “Chautauqua isn’t just the center of my life, but also of my children and grandchildren, and I want to support it as much as I can,” she said. “You have to measure what the most important things are in your life; make a list, and if Chautauqua is on that list, do what you can to support it, no matter the size of your gift.” During difficult economic times, charitable organizations often suffer most. Jane encourages people to make a gift and support the future of Chautauqua. By planning a gift through her will, Jane Miller has become a member of the Eleanor B. Daugherty Society. The Daugherty Society recognizes those individuals who have included Chautauqua in their estate plans through a will, trust or other planned gift. If you are considering including Chautauqua in your will or other estate plans, please contact Karen Blozie at (716) 357-6244 or e-mail kblozie@chautauquafoundation.org.
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