Lake Chautaugua Institute comprises homes built in the late 1700's by families as a studies and retreat area. These folks weren't necessarily monied at the time as tents were pitched on wooden platforms and later used as foundations for family mansions or donated to the Institution to build whatever was needed. There is a hotel, entertainment center, research library, religious studies and retreats of all faiths, lecture halls, grocery store, ice cream parlors, park and recreation, surprise, including 2 golf courses across the street! The kicker is - no cars are allowed until after Labor Day and most of the streets were brick. Folks get around by foot, bike, handicap scooters or the local trolley. We watched a fantastic banjo group, Cynthia Sayer & Sparks Fly. She is one of the top four-string banjoists in the world today who played hot swing, tango, western, classical and bluegrass. She played with such notables as the Woody Allen Band for 10 years and worked with artists such as Dick Hyman, Wynton Marsailis, Marian McPartland, Bill Cosby, Warren Vachi, Les Paul, Wycliffe Gordon, Marvin Hamlisch, Bucky Pizzarelli, Scott Robinson and many others. Her career highlights include performances in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the White House, and appeared with The New York Philharmonic. She is a member of the National Banjo Hall of Fame and is the subject of a PBS documentary to be aired in 2011 sometime. Check her out on the web if you are interested to learn more. CynthiaSayer.com Needless to say she was very good and could sing like an angel.
We played golf before the performance, had dinner on the Lake, enjoyed the concert and walked around the village both before and after with our mouths agape at the uniqueness of this wonderful village.................................BTW: Lake Chautaugua was named by the indians and means "pinched purse" because of it's long shoreline and is very narrow in the center like it had been tied together......................................and the journey continues
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