Welcome to Week Five of Chautauqua Institution’s 150th Anniversary Season. To those who are continuing with us this week, thanks for all you have done to enrich the Chautauqua experience. For those just arriving this week, thank you for being with us!
This week, our Chautauqua Lecture Series explores the topic “Our Greatest Challenges (That We Can Actually Do Something About),” and our Interfaith Lecture Series explores “Spiritual Grounding for Social Change.” Both themes speak to the heart of Chautauquans because you want to make a positive difference in the world. We hope that our programs and experiences this week not only equip you to take positive action, but also restore your spirit and energy.
Helping to guide us on this journey of education and renewal is our week’s chaplain, the Rev. Kate Braestrup. Her life journey is itself inspiring, and we look forward to starting each day with her.
Week Five brings us our annual Buffalo Day celebration on Tuesday. We are thrilled to shine a spotlight on The Queen City and our many Buffalo-area patrons, including Tuesday’s Chautauqua Lecture Series speaker, Margaret Sullivan, who served as editor of The Buffalo News for 13 years. Today, she is the executive director of the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security at Columbia Journalism School. We express sincere appreciation to our dear friend Dennis Galucki who coordinates the Buffalo Day celebration every year. This year, Buffalo Day also features the Buffalo & Chautauqua: Advancing Racial Equity Panel at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Hall of Philosophy, and the film, “The Niagara Movement: The Early Battle for Civil Rights,” produced and presented by our partners at Buffalo-Toronto Public Media.
150th anniversary experiences you may enjoy this week include tours of the Miller Edison Cottage and Gardens, recording your StoryCorps conversation, and Monday afternoon’s Pillar Talks Lecture Series featuring former Vice President and Emily and Richard Smucker Chair for Education Sherra Babcock. We also invite you to the Smith Memorial Library, where families and children can share their hopes and dreams for the future of Chautauqua. Details are available at www.chq.org/150.
Combating challenges (that we can do something about) could be a theme for living in the 21st century. Challenges can appear around every corner, as we find ourselves bombarded nearly every second of every day by a seemingly endless and ever-growing number of media outlets, all vying for our attention. It is also a theme for authentic communities, such as Chautauqua, that are never free from challenges. What can distinguish Chautauqua from other communities, however, is our values:
Multigenerational and multidisciplinary engagement through the arts, education, religion, and recreation
The dignity and contributions of all people
Dialogue to achieve enhanced understanding that leads to positive action
The serenity, tradition, safety, and ecology of Chautauqua’s historic grounds and surroundings
A balance between Chautauqua’s heritage and the need to innovate
I invite you to join us in reflecting on these values as you consider the challenges we will explore together this week. Perhaps they may serve as guideposts for other challenges you are navigating. I find them to be useful touchstones for my life at Chautauqua and beyond.
May your week be full of happy surprises and revelations as we continue our 150th anniversary journey.
