Jean Mitrovich looks back on the just concluded season at Chatauqua, where she and her husband Paul spend many summer weekends.She also blogged in this space back in June. (I take that back it was in May and you can read it  here. Time sure does fly when you are having fun)

 Here's Jean:

The Chautauqua season has again brought many enjoyable and informative experiences and the Bemus Bay Pops season certainly surpassed everyone's expectations. Besides outstanding musical shows, they added the Chippewa Lake Water Ski Show Team, incorporating gymnastic and artistic movement set to music in motion on the water.  Floating dock presentations included Michael Israel  who paints larger than life canvasses on stage to high energy music and can be best described as Cirque du Soleil meets Picasso.  I  watched him spin the canvas  in circles as he created his master pieces - which were auctioned  after the show. The first two went for $40K, with most  of the funds  donated to  Hospice of Chautauqua County!

 Bemus Bay performances  included imitators of the Beach Boys, Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Bee Gees and many more!  Favorites were the Hitmen with  hits from the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Two of the performers were from the original Four Seasons and two others play in bands for Elton John and Luther Vandross.

 Judge Robert Jackson had an  interesting three day free seminar at theAntheneaum Hotel at Chautauqua, presented  each year after the closing of the Chautauqua Institution.  This year "The Long Hot Summer After the Arab Spring" was the discussion and program with  international prosecutors from International Courts and Tribunals from Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Tunisia and  others including M. Cherif Bassiouni who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999.

The real treat was forming individual groups on the porch with the prosecutors leading the questions and answers.  I opted for the group which discussed educational  and children issues.  At the end of the seminar, they presented a program which skyped a young woman from Afghanistan who has attempted to educate young girls.   Talking with this brave young lady was a chance of a life time.  Her life is in constant danger, but she continues to try to educate young woman.  She is an example of a real hero for everyone.

We discovered The Kinzua Viaduct which  spanned the Kinzua Gorge for more than a century before it partially collapsed under a tornado in 2003.  It was reinvented as a spectacular pedestrian walkway--The Kinzua Sky Walk, now considered the 8th Wonder of World. It is 301 feet high and 2,053 feet across and breathtaking to look through the glass sections of the viaduct as you walk along.

There are so many museums of interest in the Chautauqua area.  The Fenton Museum in Jamestown was the home and mansion  of Governor Reuben Fenton.  We attended a special event about the Civil War and also enjoyed the information and displays of Jamestown's notables including  a Supreme Court Justice, A Governor, Lucille Ball, and a world renowned naturalist. After visiting surrounding museums, a visit to the Lawson Center is a museum which highlights the boating heritage on Chautauqua Lake.  Many of the boats are made of mahogany and include many insights to "boating" on the lake. The museum is  next to the  floating dock in Bemus Point.

The Lucy Fest was another enjoyable event this summer. You feel that you are part of the Lucy cast when you participate in recreating  the Lucy and Ethel conveyor belt candy feat.  I am looking forward to the Fall Fest at Peek'n Peak, Oct  12-13  and Oct. 19-20 It includes a Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show, Pumpkin Canon, craft show, children's crafts and entertainment, petting zoo and pony rides, rail jam, horse and carriage rides, classic car cruise and ski lift rides.  I can't wait to continue the fun activities in the Chautauqua area!