Library sponsoring Ohio Chautauqua 2017 event

System will also host daytime workshop at Middlefield Branch

In Geauga County, “Living History” is the thing.

On the tail of Century Village Museum’s celebration of its 75th anniversary, the county is preparing for Ohio Chautauqua 2017, presented by Ohio Humanities and sponsored by the Geauga County Public Library.

The five-day “big-tent, cultural” event, held on Century’s grounds in Burton Village, runs June 6 through 10, and combines living history performances, music, education and audience participation. GCPL is billing the festival as “a trip back in time exploring the natural world.”

Live music starts at 6:30 p.m. and actor performances at 7:30. All shows are free and open to the public. Geauga County last hosted Ohio Chautauqua in 2012, when it also took place in Burton Village.

Building on the 19thcentury tradition established on the shores of New York’s Chautauqua Lake, the Ohio Chautauqua 2017 theme is “The Natural World,” complete with historical characters who spent their lives immersed in nature, using it as a source of creativity, discovery and spiritualism.

Ohio Chautauqua 2017 will feature re-enactors portraying:

• Dian Fossey, zoologist and author of “Gorillas in the Mist”

• Theodore Roosevelt, reformist president and outdoorsman

• Mary Shelley, gothic novelist

• Chief Cornstalk, Native American leader of the Shawnee Nation

• Marie Curie, French physicist and chemist

GCPL also will host a daytime workshop presented by Theodore Roosevelt at 10 a.m. June 7 at its Middlefield Branch, 16167 East High St.

“We are thrilled to be a part of Ohio Chautauqua once again, and believe it is an entertaining and informative opportunity for members of Geauga County and the Northeast Ohio community to immerse themselves in history and culture,” said GCPL Director Ed Worso. “As a library system, we encourage this kind of immersion in our buildings every day, so, naturally, we leap at any opportunities like Ohio Chautauqua.

“These characters transform their stories from the past to the present, and, then future, as children’s participation is encouraged to help instill a lifelong love of history and learning. We’re lucky to be a part of it and certainly happy to partner with Burton (Village). The Geauga County Library Foundation made it possible for us to participate.”

For more information, visit ohiohumanities.org.