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Imperial Chautauqua Chase County Fairgrounds July 6-10, 2001 Fairgrounds was Chautauqua site The Chase County Fairgrounds was the site for the Imperial Chautauqua. Helen Lewis as Jane Addams appeared July 6; Jerome Kills Small as Ohiyesa (Dr. Charles Eastman), July 7; Charles Everett Pace as Booker T. Washington, July 8; John Lehman as Theodore Roosevelt, July 9; and Jeffrey Smith as Andrew Carnegie, July 10. The local committee scheduled a quilt show, old-fashioned games such as horseshoes, baseball and softball games, a pie-eating contest, an ice cream social and an art show. A prosperous farming community with an emphasis on the production of wheat, Imperial annually hosts the largest county fair in greater Nebraska and acts as a host city for BRAN, a statewide bicycle ride that annually involves some 700 bike riders. The Imperial Chamber of Commerce sponsors the annual Art in the Park, which may be planned to coincide with the 2001 Chautauqua. The Chase County Tourism Committee spearheaded the effort to bring the Great Plains Chautauqua to Imperial, but it received ample support from numerous other community agencies, organizations and businesses.

For more information, contact the Nebraska Humanities Council. Phone 402-474-2131 or e-mail nhc@nebraskahumanities.org

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