Lakeside Chautauqua is celebrating 150 years next year! The summer-long celebration of Lakeside’s rich, cultural, historical and religious heritage will bring the community together to honor the past, celebrate the present and look to the future.
The Sesquicentennial Steering Committee and various subcommittees, comprised of 40 volunteers and Lakeside staff members, have been meeting monthly since August 2021 to formulate plans for this milestone celebration.
To honor the past, Lakeside Chautauqua is partnering with the Lakeside Heritage Society to share interesting highlights and pictures about Lakeside’s long history. For instance, did you know that Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart both spoke at Lakeside?
The First Lady drew a crowd of 4,000 to Hoover Auditorium on July 11, 1940. With World War II underway in Europe, she spoke to Lakesiders about “The Relationship of the Individual to the Community,” emphasizing the importance of being an active citizen. Roosevelt wrote about her visit the next day in her nationally syndicated column, introducing newspaper readers nationwide to Lakeside.
Lakesiders were also lucky enough to see one of America’s most famous aviators two years in a row, in 1934 and 1935. Earhart captivated her audience so much the first time, the Lakesider reported, that the Lakeside Association “acceded to the demand to have her return.”
Earhart was well known for her solo trans-Atlantic flight in1932, but just seven months before her second visit to Lakeside she became the first to fly across the Pacific from Honolulu to Oakland, California.
To ensure you don’t miss out on these interesting facts next year, follow us on Facebook and Instagram using the handle @LakesideOhio and sign up for our e-newsletter at lakesideohio.com/enews.
