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Thomas Becker

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One Last Column From President Becker

It just astounds me that we are into the final weekend of the 2016 season already. Sign of my age, really: Time accelerates. And to be personal, this is the conclusion of Jane’s and my
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Oak Tree Dedicated to Tom Becker

If Tom Becker were a tree, he would be a bur oak. “It isn’t one standout characteristic that makes the bur oak the perfect tree,” said Supervisor of Gardens and Landscapes Betsy Burgeson. “It’s the
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Week Nine Column From President Becker

The final week of the 2016 Chautauqua season is full of joy and pathos conveyed by blues, jazz, gospel, symphony, dance and folk. The smorgasbord of musical expression is enhanced by lectures, seminars, demonstrations and
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Week Eight Column From President Becker

As a society we are increasingly focused on the surface of things. In some ways we simply fulfill what Europeans have accused us of for many years: a shallowness born of a modern culture. In
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Week Six Column From the President

With due respect to Smithsonian Magazine’s 2014 assignation of Chautauqua as the “No. 1 Small Town to Visit” in America, the fact is we are not a town. We are instead a not-for-profit institution, dedicated
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A Column From President Becker

During Week Two, on the subject of “Money and Power,” the Tuesday lecturer was Mehrsa Baradaran, law professor and author of the book How the Other Half Banks. Mehrsa was born in Iran and immigrated
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A Column From Our President

Welcome to Fourth of July weekend at Chautauqua. Familes gather. The Community Band forms. The Children’s School marches. Picnics appear. The lake is festooned with colorful sails. The grounds of this beautiful Institution are awash