Tag Archives: John Ford

Landscape architect Gowen presents shoreline action plan

August 2, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 0 Comments

As concerns grow about the future of Chautauqua Lake and its ecology, many property owners on and near the grounds have asked what they can do to help arrest or reverse the lake’s decline.

Dean Gowen will offer some answers at 3:30 p.m. today in McKnight Hall.

Gowen, a Buffalo-area landscape architect, has worked around the grounds on high-profile projects and regularly advises the operations and gardens staff.

The focus of today’s general information meeting will be Gowen’s Sustainable Chautauqua Lake Shoreline Action Plan, which was prepared at the request of Institution Director of Operations Doug Conroe.

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School bus driver Charlie Loveless greets kids leaving Children’s School.

Institution’s friendly transportation staff, led by Nelson, works to move Chautauquans young and old where they need to go

July 28, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 0 Comments

“In 1995 when I began,” Rhonda Nelson says, “they started me driving trams. At that time, the fleet included one north bus, one south bus, two trams and a school bus, which doubled as transportation for tours of the grounds. Once they found out I drove a school bus in Sherman, I got switched to the big bus.”

Now, after 17 years behind the wheel on the grounds at Chautauqua, Nelson supervises a staff of 23 drivers, three school buses, 10 passenger buses and 10 trams.

Chautauquans and visitors quickly recount stories about the drivers’ kindness, courtesy and generosity. One woman gushed about how her granddaughter left behind a favorite pair of swim goggles on a ride up the hill from the Children’s Beach to the house where the family was staying.

“Our driver finished his route, found the goggles, somehow recalled where he had dropped us off, and returned them with a smile,” she said. “My granddaughter was thrilled. I don’t think she’ll ever forget that man’s kindness.”

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P. Christian Yates, Chautauqua Lake Association president. Photo by Michelle Kanaar.

Lake association funding secured

July 27, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 0 Comments

The past three weeks have been good to the Chautauqua Lake Association, and that is good news for Chautauqua County, Chautauqua Lake and Chautauqua Institution.

The Chautauquan Daily reported in late June that the CLA had insufficient funding to keep lake weeds under control this summer. Since then, the association has secured two cash infusions which should help significantly.

First, the CLA has raised $20,000 to secure release from Chautauqua County of an emergency $80,000 grant.

The CLA also got an extra $50,000 from New York State, doubling its 2012 allotment. Altogether, the lake association has received $150,000 in additional funding this month, allowing almost full deployment of its weed cutters and shoreline crews.

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Haqqani

Despite events of past year, Haqqani still pushes for trust between Pakistan, US

July 24, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 1 Comment

A year ago, Husain Haqqani was a darling of society and political pages in Washington, D.C. As ambassador of Pakistan to the United States, he was credited with keeping U.S.-Pakistan relations on a relatively even keel in the wake of the assassination of Osama bin Laden inside a Pakistani army garrison town. Pundits called him “silver-tongued.” Talking heads gushed about his diplomatic skills.

Things are different now. Haqqani, the 10:45 a.m. morning lecturer in the middle of Week Five’s examination of Pakistan, has had quite a year.

He has been on front pages worldwide several times. He has been defended in some of the world’s most influential op-ed pages. He has been compelled to resign his diplomatic position. He has been placed under virtual house arrest in the residence of the civilian head of Pakistan’s government. His country’s supreme court clearly feels he is guilty of gross dereliction of duty and disloyalty, maybe even treason.

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Bob Rosenthal helps Ericha Doubles use her right hand to shape clay. The hand was partially disabled after Ericha suffered a stroke. Photo by Eric Shea.

Chautauqua’s unexpected gifts

July 16, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 0 Comments

Ericha Doubles walks slowly into the room. She is tall and graceful. Her flaxen hair is swept back from a smooth, unfurrowed forehead. Her smile is dazzling, filling the room with light. An understated athleticism shows in her posture. Her sense of humor sparkles in her blue eyes. There is a hint of the ineffable charm of Grace Kelly.

Ericha is right-handed, so she offers that hand to a visitor. Her gesture is halting, and the eye is drawn to her hand, clenched in a stiff, half-open posture. Ericha says hello, the word somehow coming out sideways.

Ericha is 41 years old. Diagnosed as mentally challenged at the age of 3, she has nonetheless participated, undeterred, in athletics for most of her life. She has swum in the Special Olympics competing in three strokes, run track, played tennis and ridden bikes.

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The Institution’s five full-time police officers gather in the station's command center: officers Noel Guttman and Billy Leone, Sgt. Tim Hammond, officer Dan Hafner and Chief Al Akin.

Relatively crime-free community still keeps Chautauqua Police Department busy

July 14, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 0 Comments

For Chautauqua’s veteran police chief Al Akin, a visit to the Institution from then-President Bill Clinton in 1996 certainly stands out as a highlight of his career.

“The size of the entourage, the excitement, the media buzzing all around,” he recalled. “It was a lot of work, but it was fun.”

But while the presidential visit stands out in his mind, Alan and his staff’s routine work is what often matters most to the Chautauqua community. On the Chautauqua force since 1978, Akin now oversees four other year-round, full-time police officers, three part-time officers and 10 seasonal bicycle officers.

“On a recent morning, for instance, we logged in three complaints from residents about cars improperly parked, one assist when the owner locked her keys in her car, one vehicle jump start, a couple of miscellaneous bicycle and animal complaints, and three assists to the fire department,” Akin said. “We work with the emergency medical technicians and the fire department on a wide range of issues. Most in the summer are related to health or personal injury matters.”

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More than 100 Chautauquans attended the first Amphitheater rehabilitation information session on Thursday. The briefings, held at 4:30 p.m. Thursdays all season and led by Charlie Heinz, below, the Institution’s former vice president for community planning and design, are meant to inform community members about the proposed Amphitheater rehabilitation and answer any questions. Photos by Michelle Kanaar.

Amp briefings keep community apprised of plans

July 10, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 0 Comments

It’s going to be Thursdays with Charlie this summer.

Every Thursday afternoon this season at 4:30 p.m. in the Amphitheater, Charlie Heinz, Chautauqua’s former vice president for community planning and design, will conduct a briefing and tour for Chautauquans interested in progress on the Institution’s ambitious plan to rehabilitate and modernize one of its most iconic and functional public buildings.

Heinz initiated the series of weekly sessions last Thursday, with a crowd of more than 100 Chautauquans in attendance. As Heinz led the group from the Amp’s west plaza to the orchestra and then to the rear of the house and back porch, he explained the process of the rehabilitation project to date and highlighted some milestones ahead.

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The Amphitheater is like a “great, inclusive tent,” architect Jane Foster said, with brawny American features and a simplicity that invites emotional attachment. Photo by Adam Birkan.

Chautauqua architecture: Foster reveals thinking behind some of Institution’s beloved shared spaces

July 7, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 0 Comments

“Let’s take a walk,” Jane Foster said, traces of her Georgia burr softening the edges of her sentences. “We’ll see what we find.”

Foster has been visiting Chautauqua since the 1980s and became a property owner more recently. She is a licensed architect, having been in private practice for 30 years in Philadelphia with husband Arthur Willson. She is also a freelance professional opera singer who performed Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder with New York City’s One World Symphony earlier this year and once sang the part of Michaela in Carmen at Christmastime in Bavaria — on two days’ notice.

We had decided to look at some of Chautauqua’s major public buildings, Foster serving as an impressionistic docent.

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