Chautauqua brings fun to Hot Springs
<p>Local volunteers from Hot Springs and members of the New Old Time Chautauqua carry a Chinese Dragon through town during the event's parade on last Tuesday.</p>
HOT SPRINGS – Homemade drums clanged, music played and jugglers performed on top of a moving ambulance as the New Old Time Chautauqua rolled through Hot Springs last week.
Several residents from Hot Springs, some wearing colorful outfits, got into the spirit and accompanied the Chautauqua as it paraded around town on Tuesday, July 29 around noon.
Additionally, volunteers carried a Chinese dragon as residents of Hot Springs lined the sidewalks to observe the festivities.
The members of the Chautauqua also sported impressive outfits, displaying creativity, uniqueness and a wide array of colors as they jovially paraded through the streets.
The New Old Time Chautauqua is a gathering of and for people of all ages.
Events include live entertainment, educational workshops and crafts.
Amy Englhardt one of the singing suffragettes who performed on Tuesday evening in the NOTC’s free vaudeville show summed up a Chautauqua event.
“It is a wonderful and amazing experience,” Englhardt said.
The parade and vaudeville show on Tuesday were only a few events held by the NOTC during the travelling troupes time in Hot Springs.
On Monday members of the Chautauqua held a community potluck at the Tribal Nutrition Center on Spring Street.
Paul Magid a long time member of the NOTC and a founding part of the Flying Karamazov Brothers who performed with the show on Tuesday evening, explained this is when the group gets to introduce themselves to the community they are performing in.
“The potluck is where we get to meet the community face to face,” Magid said.
The final day of the Chautauqua’s stay in Hot Springs on Tuesday consisted of a series of workshops, in addition to the noon parade and evening vaudeville entertainment.
The workshops touched on everything from Acrobatics, hula hooping, soft shoe dancing, juggling and instrument making.
Similar to the parade, the final event of the three-day Chautauqua, a vaudeville show, was an inspiring and creative presentation.
Featuring juggling, magic, music and a great deal of fun, the crowd in Hot Springs applauded warmly and left the performance smiling on Tuesday night.
Magid noted a key goal of the NOTC was reaching communities, which don’t receive a lot of attention from performers and artists.
The NOTC was founded in 1981 and has been touring in the Pacific Northwest during the summer months ever since.
“We wanted to do something that was more than just a show,” Magid said.
This summer’s tour is dedicated to the memory of Faith Petric, who was born in Orofino, ID.
According to Magid, Petric was a folk singer in California when she heard about the New Old Time Chautauqua. She ended up joining the traveling groups and was part of their tours from the ages of 67 to 95.
As a child in Idaho, Petric had attended original Chautauquas, which made circuits throughout rural America in both the 19th and early decades of the 20th centuries.
“She was our living link between the Chautauquas of the past and our Chautauqua,” Magid said.
Petric’s roots in this region of the nation are the reason the New Old Time Chautauqua is touring through Montana, northern Idaho, and eastern Washington this summer.
Before heading to Hot Springs the NOTC spent July 24 -26 in Eureka and the traveling entertainers will now head to Orofino, ID.
On Monday, July 28 the Chautauqua made the trip over to Pablo for a performance and a tribal show in the Lake County town.