Title of talk is “A Celebration of the History of the Jewish Community at Chautauqua” and a celebration of the 65th Anniversary of the Hebrew Congregation of Chautauqua. With cupcakes!
Arty and Betty Salz, Born Buffalo NY-started coming to CHQ at age 6 in 1962.
The Salz’s came to Chautauqua by accident in June 1969.
“We had three very young children,” Arty Salz said. “We’d been ready to go to the Berkshires, where we’d been going, but the bungalow wasn’t going to be ready for us. We’d heard about Chautauqua from relatives. So we came for two weeks, stayed on Morris Avenue, and fell in love with the place.”
Two years later, friends “shamed” them into buying a cottage on Ames Avenue that had come on the market.
At Chautauqua, Betty Salz made good use of her knowledge of Braille during the 1970s.
“Chautauqua Institution sent me the (season program calendar) in April, and I (transcribed) it by hand,” she said. “There was a very active club of transcribers. People who were blind came into the club and told us what their needs were.”
Together the Salz’s have written three books about Chautauqua: Chautauqua: The Streets Where You Live — A History of Street Names, Shalom Chautauqua: The Hebrew Congregation and the Jewish Presence and The Long Dry Road to 3 Taps: Chautauqua, Alcohol.