By Kevin Greer
Lakeside Communications Manager
The Education Pillar had a significant increase in attendance during the Sesquicentennial season. A total of 16,741 Lakesiders took part in Education programs this past summer, 43% higher than 2022. Lakeside’s Director of Education, John Mann, has a very simple explanation for the popularity growth.
“There were more programs and opportunities for people to take in,” Mann said. “It was a year to celebrate and pull out the proverbial stops for the 150th Anniversary.”
The Keynote Speaker Series was Lakeside’s most popular addition to the summer calendar. Nearly 5,900 people attended the 13 lectures in Hoover Auditorium, most of them on Tuesday nights. CBS News correspondent and long-time Lakesider Steve Hartman drew the largest crowd at 1,132 for the presentation based on his popular “Kindness 101” video segments. Many other keynotes had contacts with Lakesiders and some didn’t charge a fee. The only request was to be reimbursed for food and travel expenses, while others were paid thanks to generous contributions from Lakesiders.
“A lot of the keynotes came at a very reasonable cost,” Mann said. “There was a personal connection between a Lakesider and that person, so it was like a favor.”
The Keynote Speaker Series was so popular it will return next year thanks to generous contributions received from Lakesiders on #GivingTuesday. The series will be scaled back to around eight lectures and they will be moved to Thursdays. There already have been conversations with potential speakers for Lakeside’s 151st season.
Two more new series, Authors & Writing and Historic Portrayals, were well received by Lakesiders. Authors & Writing was a regular Monday afternoon program after a couple of years as a popular weekly topic of the Chautauqua Lecture Series (CLS).
Historic Portrayals were based on famous people who spoke in Lakeside over the past 150 years, including Amelia Earhart, Susan B. Anthony and Eleanor Roosevelt.
“There were a number of people who said it would have been great if those people would have spoken here,” Mann said. “When I said they did, they were surprised. It was fun getting that reaction. It could very well be that someone will be portraying the keynotes we had this season in 80 years.”
As Mann predicted prior to the season, the “Civil War” and “Exploring New Horizons: NASA” were the most popular Chautauqua Lecture Series themes. Over 400 Lakesiders took in the Civil War lectures and more than 500 attended the NASA presentations. NASA week was highlighted by Astronaut Hall of Famer Dr. Kathryn Sullivan’s keynote, which drew over 700 people, the second-highest attendance in the series.
“People are just really drawn to the Civil War,” Mann said. “Chautauqua and the Camp Meetings were kind of a byproduct of the Civil War, so it makes sense. People really enjoy learning about the future of space exploration. There’s just a lot of curiosity.”
There were several special events during the season, like the month-long “Ohio Boundary: Lake Erie” Art Exhibition by Lynn Whitney, who served as Associate Director, Studio Division Chair and Head of Photography in the School of Art at Bowling Green State University. The “Celebrating 150 Years of Lakeside” Exhibit was displayed 30 minutes prior to programs in Hoover Auditorium from May 26-June 10.
A big hit was the Sandusky Maritime Mini Museum during the Wooden Boat Show. Over 1,200 people toured the display over three days, but that number likely would’ve been higher if it didn’t rain on Saturday. Mann said he’s in talks with another museum for next year.
Field trips to area attractions were popular and Mann is already making plans for next summer. There will be a hardhat tour at the Maritime Museum in Toledo, a drive-through of different prairies around the area, and a behind-the-scenes look at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museum in Fremont.
Mann has already coordinated next season’s Chautauqua Lecture Series themes, including Journalism & Media Literacy, Artificial Intelligence, America’s Veterans, Preserving Democracy and The Wild West.
“There are so many potential topics, but there’s only 14 weeks,” Mann said. “The 2024 season won’t be as heavily programmed since it’s not Lakeside’s 150th Anniversary, but we’ll have a lot of programs that people will be interested in.”
