Agnes Berther
“They were speaking
of the Chautauqua out at Lake Madison for
many years. And the children … with all the summer’s
heat to be able to go out there. And the place where it was
held was called the “pit” (auditorium) and it
was really very unusual. It was really a large hole
in the ground. Slanting down to the stage there
were 5 or 6 isles all the way around and they were covered
with …. especially after a storm or rain and that
was always one of the highlights. We could always go out
if it had rained and they put it down, we could start at
the top and of course slip all the way down, which was most
fun for all the kids that did it. And we did it many,
many times. The storms, they were really fortunate
most of the time, we didn’t encounter too many. Although
on the way back one time I remember, we had to stop the car. But
they were never severe enough to stop any of the programs
that I can vaguely remember that I went to as a child. And
it was there that I saw with my sister, our first movie,
which made such an impression on us. And I think it
was called “The Storm”, with the two Gish Sisters. And
there were many, many programs, I don’t think they
revolved around children as much as they did the grown ups,
but of course the children were always taken too. We
had many, many happy times of meeting all our friends. And
it was really a place that should have been preserved, but
never was.”
The movie she was referring to was Orphans of the Storm with Lillian and
Dorothy Gish.
