Chautauqua

The original plan was for us to leave Williamsburg for Chautauqua by way of Delaware for me to pick up one more of my unridden in states. But...Foot Fate.

So, straight to Chautauqua we went overnighting in Harrisburg for the 2nd time in less than a month in order to visit the National Civil War Museum. Kirk’s 2nd week in Chautauqua, the week of August 22nd, the week he will spend with his Mom who just turned 90, will be themed around the Civil War. He’s read Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson and Lincoln: An Illustrated Biography by the Kunhardts in prep for that week; and of course we just spent a week in Williamsburg.

Our Chautauqua theme the week of August 1st was to celebrate our 42nd wedding anniversary in the very place where we were married on the very day, August 2nd and honor the life of my brother's wife, Pam, who died May, 2010. Kirk would officiate the burial/memorial service at the Family Plot one mile outside the Chautauqua grounds;

King's Daughter's and Son's Chapel where we were married August 2, 1969

honor the life of my brother’s wife, and to share in my brother’s 40th reunion performance of his with his Barbershop Quartet buddies.

Laying Pam's ashes to rest in the family plot outside Chautauqua

A word about Chautauqua. My family began spending summers there in 1954, the summer I was 8. My folks bought a house there in 1957 which they owned till 1990.

David, my brother who is 5 years younger than I, worked summers there through college and maybe beyond. Kirk and I would vacation there at the family home as often as we could when our kids were growing up.

Chautauqua, a non-profit, caps its annual fund raising efforts with an “Old First Night Celebration” when each of the constituent groups would present their gift to the assembly of Chautauquans at the amphitheater which holds >6,000.

When David was 20, he and 3 of his buddies presented Chautauqua with their work group’s gift of $$ accompanied by their Barbershop Harmony. Chautauqua invited them back 20 years later, age 40-ish, and again 20 years later, now age 60-ish.

Left to right the Barbershoppers are: David Briggs (PA), Noel Calhoun (IL), David Calhoun (FL), and David Walcher (MA). Thanks to David Briggs for the vintage 1973 and 1994 pix.






Chautauqua, while usually a time and place we look forward to with hope and expectation of renewal, gratitude to my parents for helping this place become a part of our spiritual sinews, and the sense of Ahhh--coming home to a place that has been a part of my heart for more than 55 years. This year I bore a heavy heart.

Chautauqua is a full-fledged walking community with steep hills. I was 2 weeks post foot break. Our housing for the week was on the 3rd floor of a walk-up--The Methodist Missionary House. I would need to stay 2-1/2 miles off the grounds in a motel. Kirk would be staying on the grounds in the Methodist Missionary House and would need to walk a mile to get the car, drive 2-1/2 miles to get me, and then reverse the process 1-2 times a day. He would need to push my wheelchair everywhere I went as it had four 6-inch wheels--not self-propelling at all.

This was the second time in not so many years that Kirk and I were at Chautauqua and not staying together. My mother died in 2006 and a few family members had assembled at Chautauqua for her burial service. Kirk would officiate once again. However, the day before we flew to Chautauqua he was bitten by a dog. By the time we arrived he had septicemia and had to be hospitalized overnight for IV antibiotics. He signed himself out AMA to come to the cemetery, conduct the service, and then returned to the hospital.

My brother, David, was not in attendance at our mother’s funeral as he had sustained a terrible fall a few months prior to her death, had broken his neck, and was 4-way paralyzed. Since then he has, remarkably, regained some function. Nonetheless, it is painful to see the toll the fall has taken on all dimensions of his life.

We were both ready to leave Chautauqua, head back to Wilmette and gather the riders for the Circle Tour of Lake Michigan that has been in the planning for over a year.