President Teddy Roosevelt called Chautauqua, “The most American thing in America.” Then along came Vaudeville and Chautauqua faded away, but guess what, it’s back, and it’s the wave of the future!

Just this year, The Legend of the Valley, Kim Harris, hosted The First Annual Summer Chautauqua Showcase at Dangberg Ranch, featuring Youth Chautauquans from Douglas County Historical Society, Al Capone, Calamity Jane and Lucille Ball. And what a smart weekend it was. Home Ranch was filled with instruction and delight. I’m still in a good humor from having had a front row seat…

Chautauqua is destined to diminish adverse effects of the modern-day smartphone. People are craving eye contact, subtle signals of body language, and the sound of a live human voice.

Then there is the historical value of Chautauqua, the benefit of bringing historical characters to life, and sharing those historical lives, adventures and accomplishments with a live audience.

Typically, an 45-minute presentation of the character is followed by a lively Q&A session with the historical character, followed by a Q&A session with the Chautauquan. At the end of an hour an appreciative live audience goes away smarter and satisfactorily entertained.

Some Chautauquans are actors, others are educators in a costume, but all Chautauquans are entertainers. History has never been so much fun.

I encourage all retired folks, and those who might be about to retire, to find a person in history that you admire, study that person’s life, and bring that person to life in various classrooms, tents and lecture halls. You won’t regret it. It will give you a second life, and one life is not enough.

An extra added attraction of Chautauqua is hanging out with other Chautauquans when you are off duty. I’ve had the pleasure of dining with Julia Child, Will Rogers and Julia Bulette to name a few…

So I would ask you to start thinking about who you might like to be. There are so many wonderful characters we know nothing about that deserve to be brought to the forefront and appreciated. It might even be an uncle or an aunt of yours who is looking down on us as we commune.

Enveloping yourself in another century can be comforting and satisfying. You will be pleasantly surprised how many modern little annoyances don’t bother you anymore because you have removed yourself from the reach of their influence…

History is so much more interesting when presented firsthand by the character who lived that history and can put muscle and blood into the telling of the story. You might be thinking, “I could never do that,” but you could, if you found it to be a most interesting challenge, which is exactly what will happen.

So I invite you to give it some thought. You just might get swept away into another person’s life, another person’s time, that will thrill and entertain you to no end…