Laura Ingalls Wilder Returns to Speak at Chautauqua

Mount Vernon – In 2009 Laura Ingalls Wilder [portrayed by Meg Literall] appeared at the Elixir Chautauqua series and drew an audience of 143 people. Ever since, many people have requested her to return as they either enjoyed it so much they wanted to see her again or missed the show and wished they haven’t. Do to the popular demand, Meg Literall is coming to present the program again, however, being she has revisited the sites of Laura’s journey through life [for the fifth or sixth time], she will yet be adding another layer of authenticity to the presentation.

For those unfamiliar with Wilder, she wrote the popular “Little House on the Prairie” book series that is seems is required reading for every girl in this country and the series became a wildly [no relation] popular television series 1974-1983 starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert. The books were originally published in the 1930’s and tell of life growing up in Midwest region of the United States in the late 19th century.

Meg Literall is best known in this area as an amazingly eclectic musician, both as a violinist with the Knox County Symphony and a fiddler various settings including as organizer of the upcoming fiddle contest at the Dan Emmett Music & Arts Festival.

Opening the program will be a group of Meg’s friends as the Laura Ingalls Wilder Band, playing and encouraging sing along of songs Laura mentions her father playing and the family loving to sing.

The Chautauqua will be this coming Thursday, July 27 at 7 PM at ThePlace@TheWoodward (111 S. Main Street) in downtown Mount Vernon, Ohio. Doors open at 6 PM. This is a donation basis event and co-sponsored by Elixir (musical trio consisting of Chris Petee, Gerry Rensel and Mike Petee), the Ohio Humanities Council, Ariel Foundation and Rolls-Royce Civic/Charities Fund. For more information on this and other upcoming programs visit www.elixirpresents.com or call 740-392-6102.

Chautauqua - Katharine Hepburn

Mount Vernon – “If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.” - Katharine Hepburn 

If you know anything about Katharine Hepburn, the above quote certainly seems to capture the spirit of her life and work. This Thursday July 18, you can hear about the long and colorful life of Katharine Hepburn as portrayed by Amy K. Stoner, a veteran Chautauqua speaker. The program is at ThePlace@TheWoodward (111 S. Main Street in downtown Mount Vernon, Ohio) and starts at 7 PM. Opening for the program will be Desmond Wall.

Hepburn's Best Actress award for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner had plenty of company in her trophy case. Over the course of her long and prolific career, she made dozens of films and garnered a stunning twelve Academy Award nominations, winning four. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her the top American screen legend of all time. In the 1990s, Katharine Hepburn developed a progressive neurological disease, but this did not keep her from keeping up an active lifestyle in her Connecticut hometown and even from acting in select roles. 

This event is a donation basis and supported by contributions from the Ohio Humanities Council, Ariel Foundation and Rolls-Royce Charities/Civic Fund. Doors open at ThePlace@TheWoodward at 6 PM and program starts at 7 PM with a Question and Answer session with Katharine Hepburn at the end of her presentation. For more information on this and other upcoming programs in this series, visit www.elixirpresents.com or 740-392-6102 .