Elkhart Chautauqua:  
A step back in time

[MAY 20, 2000]  A step back in history is in store for those who attend Elkhart Chautauqua 2000 Sunday, May 21, at the Elkhart Cemetery grounds.  Famous citizens of the 1800s will be on the program, along with old-time arts and crafts demonstrations, horses and a carriage, period music, a medicine show and a phrenologist who will reveal your destiny from the bumps on your head.

The festivities open at 11 a.m. with old-time bluegrass and close at 5 p.m. with the story and the playing of “Taps.” Visitors will park in the new Elkhart Hill subdivision and will be taken to the cemetery free of charge on a tram.  Admission is $2 per person, no more than $10 per family.  Anyone bringing a musical instrument to play and anyone dressed in 1800s costume will be admitted free of charge.

Re-enactors will portray famous citizens of Elkhart, including Catherine Shockey, mother of 17 and one of those who incorporated the town; Captain A.H. Bogardus, a sharpshooter who traveled with  Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show; and Martin Gehr, a 21-year-old Civil War soldier. 

At 1:30 p.m. re-enactors portraying President Ulysses S. Grant and Governor and Mrs. Richard Oglesby  will arrive by horse and carriage, accompanied by the Illinois 7th Mounted Cavalry and ladies riding sidesaddle.  

All-day demonstrations will be given by Ken Engle, blacksmith; Karen Lowrey, herbalist; Nancy Rollings Saul, bobbin lace; Sam Schriber, buckskinner; Melaine Coulter, spinning; Carol Knous, candle making; Charlie Ott, beekeeping; Sue Bidwell, smocking; Evelyn Begolka, counted cross-stitch; and Shannon Wolfe, sheep dog demonstration.  The Quilting Guild of Logan County will be on hand, along with Carolyn and Kathy Firch who will demonstrate riding sidesaddle.  Major Karl Luthin, Illinois 7th Cavalry, will give a presentation on the different tactics and uniforms of various wars. 

Dr. Silas Haile’s Medicine Show and phrenologist Dr. Phineas Fairhead will give visitors a taste of 1800s entertainment, medicine and science.   Prizes will be given in a men’s beard contest and a women’s hat contest.

Master of ceremonies duties will be shared by William Anderson, Father Patrick DeMeuleMeester and Steven Schreiber. 

Visitors to the Chautauqua are encouraged to dress in period costume and bring picnics to the site.  Pie, ice cream, lemonade and iced tea will be available, and a picnic basket checking service will assure that empty baskets will be easy to retrieve on the way back to the parking area.

Proceeds from the second annual Chautauqua will be used to renovate the museum and tourist information center in Elkhart, according to Gillette Ransom, in charge of the event.

[Joan Crabb]

The program for the Elkhart Chautauqua 2000 is as follows:

William Anderson, master of ceremony

11:00 Possum Hollow Pickers

11:30 Catharine Shockey (Ashleigh Stringfield) – “The Highwayman” recitation

11:45 Bill Roberts – bagpipes

12:00 Elkhart Christian Church Choir

12:15 Captain A.H. Bogardus (Robert McCue)

12:30 Illinois 7^th Cavalry, Major Karl Luthin

Father Patrick DeMeueleMeester, master of ceremony

1:15 Mount Pulaski High School Marching Band

1:30 Arrival of President Ulysses S. Grant (Frank Beaman) and Governor (Richard Torgerson) and Mrs. Oglesby (Linda Arends) and Mrs. Lemira Gillett (Susan Keays Green)

2:00 Martin Gehr story (Roger Dennison)

2:10 Side saddle/Morgan horse demonstration (Carolyn and Kathy Firch)

Steven Schreiber, master of ceremony

2:40 “Skiffle” – 1860s period musical group

3:10 Beard and hat contest

3:20 Dr. Silas Haile’s Medicine Show (Rev. Tom Branson)

4:00 Pickin’ and grinnin’ session (all musicians welcome)

5:00 Closing ceremony – the story of “Taps” – American Legion Post #616 color guard – John Sutton, bugle