Burton – “Christopher Columbus” will land on the shores of Northeast Ohio aboard the Nautica Queen April 12 at 8:30 AM, and begin an adventure to Geauga County that will highlight Ohio Chautauqua and its stop at Century Village Museum in Burton this summer. With his journey east, “the explorer” will offer bystanders and social-media followers a preview of how Ohio Chautauqua’s scholar-performers bring history to life through dramatic characterization. “Columbus’s” trip to Geauga County will include an appearance on Chardon Square at 12:15 p.m. and a 6 p.m. performance at Century Village Museum. The 2012 Ohio Chautauqua, sponsored and presented by the Ohio Humanities Council, is a traveling tent 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 be erected 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 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 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. 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. Follow “Christopher Columbus’s” observations on Twitter (#FollowChristopher) or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/2012OhioChautauquaGeauga<http://www.facebook.com/2012OhioChautauquaGeauga> as he readies for his journey. For more information about the 2012 Ohio Chautauqua in Burton, visit www.ohchautauquageauga.com<http://www.ohchautauquageauga.com/>.
