I meant to share some photos from last weekend's Chautauqua, and never did...so here's a good opportunity...

This was one of the first events on the program, "A Mother's Heart Divided." JoAnn Peterson and her husband Tom presented a story, punctuated with songs from the era, of a mother whose husband fought for the Union and her son for the Confederacy.

It also illustrated the issues of Virginia's withdrawal from the Union, and how objectors to the secession formed the Restored State of Virginia, which later became West Virginia.

#Chautauqua #CivilWar #WestVirginiaHistory #Maryland

A shot of the festival grounds. I loved the lady in the bathing suit. And I saw the lady in the green dress and thought she had a nice costume...then I realized she was a Mennonite and that was her regular outfit.

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #Victoriana

This fellow came with his high-wheeler, and demonstrated how to ride it.

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #HighWheeler #Victoriana

Mountain Lake Park, MD, started as a Methodist resort community, with rental cottages, boarding houses, a permanent Chautauqua setup, a huge assembly hall, and other amenities. You had to sign a pledge to not smoke, drink, gamble, and other things to own property there.

All that has fallen by the wayside, the assembly hall was demolished years ago, and anyone can purchase a house there. But many of the original buildings are extant, with signs indicating their original usage. This building had been the social hall for the community.

The B&O railroad tracks run right by the community. On "the other side of the tracks" was another community, Loch Lynn, that allowed all the things Mountain Lake Park forbade. There was a local rhyme that want...

If you want to sin,
Go to Loch Lynn.
For Jesus' sake,
Go to Mountain Lake.

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #Victoriana

This house had been The Elberon, a boarding house used by those staying at the resort.

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #Victoriana

And this house had been used specially as a rest for Methodist deaconesses, relaxing and taking a break from their duties.

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #Victoriana #Methodism

Three members of a Pittsburgh Model T club came down and gave folks a spin around the town in their vintage cars. I really enjoyed doing that!

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #Victoriana #ModelTFord

Halley's Hot Gumbo Swingtet gave a great performance of Dixieland jazz.

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #Victoriana #DixielandJazz #HalleysHotGumboSwingtet #Jazz

My favorite presentation of the day was storyteller Diane Macklin portraying Zora Neale Hurston. I learned a lot about Zora and added some of her works to my reading list.

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #Victoriana #ZoraNealeHurston

Another shot of Ms. Macklin as Zora Neale Hurston. She said the dress is genuine 1920s vintage.

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #Victoriana #ZoraNealeHurston

They had a smaller "vaudeville" tent with variety performers, including this fellow, Mark Edwards, an excellent classical guitarist.

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #Guitar #Vaudeville

A troupe of sideshow performers, calling themselves the Black Magic Circus, also performed in the vaudeville area.

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #Victoriana #BlackMagicCircus #Vaudeville

I caught the last part of Bill Grant performing as Gen. George C. Marshall, architect of the Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe's economy after WWII. He was very well-received.

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #GenGeorgeCMarshall #MarshallPlan

And this young lady has an epic hat. She was a contestant in the Ladies' Victorian Hat contest.

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #Victoriana #Hats

The day closed with two competitions, starting with the Men's Best Beard and Mustache contest. This young man won first place. He was a local who said he played old time fiddle; I think I saw him that the Baltimore Old Time Music Festival a few months back but am not sure. He seems a little embarrassed.

#Chatauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #Victoriana #FacialHair

And THIS lady won the Ladies' Best Victorian Hat competition. And she won last year. It turns out she lives near me, in a community full of lovely old Victorian homes. She invited me to attend a garden tour and tea party next weekend, which I intend to do.

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #Victoriana #Hats

And finally, a shot of all the contest winners; the Best Beard & Mustache winner and runner-up, and the third, second, and first place winners of Best Victorian Hat, and the MC.

The Chautauqua was an amazing event and I have every intention of going next year, maybe even staying the whole weekend, as it runs both Saturday and Sunday, and always the weekend after the 4th of July.

#Chautauqua #MountainLakePark #Maryland #Victoriana #Beards #Hats

LAST POST IN THREAD: One last final note...here's a link to the Chautauqua's website, if you're interested.

https://www.victorianchautauqua.com/welcome-1

Welcome — Victorian Chautauqua

The Victorian Chautauqua Festival is celebrated each weekend following the 4th of July in historic Mountain Lake Park, Maryland.

Victorian Chautauqua