Chautauqua reenactment at the beach

Neighbors: South Beaches
By Lorraine Thompson
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 ; Updated: 12:36 AM on Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The City of St. Augustine Beach will look back at the area's unique history with a Chautauqua as part of the coastal city's 50 years of incorporation celebrations. A Chautauqua reenactment will take place from 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the St. Augustine Beach Cultural Arts Center, located in the former St. Augustine Beach City Hall adjacent to the pier and Pier Park.

For more than a century the area has been the playground for prominent people who have embedded their names in history. The area was also part of the Chautauqua adult education movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the community with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day.

The area which was incorporated as the City of St. Augustine Beach in 1959 was once developed as a Summer Chautauqua in the early 1900s and at one point was called Chautauqua Beach.





Special Chautauqua guests from the past who will mingle with visitors will include the likes of Henry Flagler and his last bride Mary Lilly Keenan Flagler, Jesse Fish, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and Maria Pacetti.

Chautauqua speakers include David Nolan, local historian; Thomas Rahner, native St. Augustinian and drama professor emeritus, Flagler College; Susan Parker, executive director of the St. Augustine Historical Society; and Sandra Parks, author, owner of Anastasia Books and former city commissioner.

Legendary author Stetson Kennedy will be on hand to sign the recently released third edition of his classic, "Palmetto County." Stuart Pacetti will demonstrate the making of a seine net. Photos on loan from locals whose families have lived in the area for generations will don the walls of the former City Hall.

Events will take place in the building and in tents that will be set up in the area. Admission is free. There will be a cash wine bar and snacks and coffee for sale. For information, call Melissa Stuart at 501-1253.

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