Burton – The 2012 Ohio Chautauqua is on track to bring its traveling tent festival to Geauga County this summer thanks to the financial support of nine corporate and non-profit sponsors.
The five-day event, a unique cultural and educational opportunity for the communities of Geauga County, would not be possible without the generous donations from The Geauga County Library Foundations, the trustees of Geauga Park District Foundation, Geauga County Rotaries, Great Lakes Cheese, Kent State University at Geauga, Middlefield Bank, Preston Chevrolet, The William T. & Margaret R. Clark Charitable Foundations and Xanterra Parks and Resorts – Punderson.
“The overwhelming support of these nine businesses and organizations shows how much Geauga County values the sort of thoughtful, community-enriching programming that Ohio Chautauqua represents,” said Elizabeth Wantz, curator of Geauga County Historical Society’s Century Village Museum. “We are all looking forward to our Ohio Chautauqua week and bringing the community together for something so positive.”
The 2012 Ohio Chautauqua, sponsored and presented by the Ohio Humanities Council, is a five-day festival that combines education, drama and other entertainment to focus on the time “When Ohio was the Western Frontier.” The festival’s trademark red-and-white-striped tent will go up on the grounds of Geauga Historical Society’s Century Village Museum July 3-7.
The Ohio Chautauqua tent will serve as the central location for five free evening performances by renowned humanities scholars, who assume the costume and personality of historical figures: pioneer naturalist Johnny Appleseed; Iroquois leader Chief Logan; frontier aristocrat Margaret Blennerhassett; York, a Lewis and Clark Expedition member; and Oliver Hazard Perry, hero of the Battle of Lake Erie.
Throughout the week, these same scholars will come out of character to present ten additional daytime programs on varying topics at five other venues around the county. Five of these programs will be aimed at younger audiences, and five will be geared toward adults. Ohio Chautauqua Companion Reader Newspapers are now available at many Geauga County businesses with the full schedule and complete stories about the event’s historical characters. Companion Readers can also be picked up at the Geauga County Tourism Office in Middlefield.
Geauga County is one of only five sites throughout the state chosen for the privilege of hosting the 2012 Ohio Chautauqua, which is as much a social and educational movement as it is an event. All of the Ohio Chautauqua-Geauga performances and workshops are free of charge and will be held on schedule rain or shine. For more information and a schedule of Ohio Chautauqua events, please visit www.ohchautauquageauga.com.
