I told Belle Burch I wanted to give her something, show her something while down on one knee. I thought she would be thrilled when I unrolled the Master Plan, but, she was utterly cold, totally disinterested, or, so she led me to believe.
“Look Belle, there is Joaquin Miller, the founder of the Bohemian Club, with a little girl that looks like Alice in Wonderland! And, what is this? That’s a tent. This is a tent city.”
I found this image at the Eugene History Museum. Joaquin looks like Gandalf, or Merlin. Is that a young Vivian, his protégé when she was young?
I told Belle about the Chautauquas, that were very popular at the turn of the century. People would pay a fee, pitch a tent, and get a mini-college education.
“This can be applied to the homeless sleeping downtown. Working people have a problem with humans doing nothing. We can get professors and authors to come speak. When folks drive by they will be pleased to see vagabonds sitting in a circle getting a free education. I’m talking about a Free University!”
Belle looked bored. I went to my computer and showed her my mission to save the houses on Columbia Terrace.
“The OCCUPY people should come here!”
Just then, Belle’s cellphone rang, and she told me she has to go. I assumed it was her lover wondering what is taking her so long.
* * *
On this day, May 10, 2014, I found the ‘Tent College’ that will be modeled after the Chautauquas. It is important to follow tradition, mimic what works.
I do not believe homeless un-employed people have a right to pitch a tent wherever they want to – and for nothing. I have seen that anarchy does not work – up close! I believe a small fee should be charged for every person who puts up a tent at College Camp. Would $20 dollars a month work? If a homeless person can not come up with that, then there will be a Guest Sponsor Program, where a renter or homeowner will pay the fee. There will be traditional rules
Above are photos of my grandmother, Mary Magdalene Rosamond, camping on Anacapa with yet to be identified authors. Royal Rosamond mentions the Chautauquas in one of his stories.
Jon Presco
Copyright 2014
Chautauqua (/ʃəˈtɔːkwə/ shə-TAW-kwə) was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Named after Chautauqua Lake where the first was held, Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day.[1] Former US President Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying that Chautauqua is “the most American thing in America”.[2]
The educational summer camp format proved to be a popular choice for families and was widely copied by the “daughter” Chautauquas. Within a decade Chautauqua assemblies (or simply Chautauquas), named for the original location in New York State, sprang up in various locations across North America. The Chautauqua movement may be regarded as a successor to the Lyceum movement earlier in the nineteenth century. As the Chautauqua assemblies began to compete for the best performers and lecturers, lyceum bureaus assisted with bookings. The original site in Chautauqua, New York, near Jamestown, has hosted such diverse speakers and performers as Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys.
https://rosamondpress.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/the-amazing-sage-and-journey/
https://rosamondpress.wordpress.com/2013/11/26/artistic-line-of-the-rosemond-sisters/
IT WAS a glorious summer morning
at the Chautauqua at Ventura-
by-the-sea. A breeze wafted in
from off old ocean, Jaden with
mysterious odors — a salt tang — as
welcome as it was invigorating.
As far out as the eye could reach, a
cobalt mist clung to the bosom of the
sea, above which the peaks and slopes
of the Anacapa Islands appeared, height-
ened by the uncertain thickness of fog.
To the right, on a high plateau, but a
few rods from the beach, “Pierpont
Inn,”, that wonderful hostelry — stood
like an old lion looking out to sea.
Although early, the bathers were
sporting in the surf, shouting their hap-
piness above the thunder and roar of
the breakers. A maiden in a bathing
suit of translucent green came dripping
from the surf, seating herself hear where
the waves were spreading out like great
fans. She began to arrange, with deft
fingers, the massive coils of golden hair.
Suddenly, a great wave rose up,, curved
and spilled, and the contour of her slen-
der body was caught in sharp relief
against the foam — a vision of jade and
ivory and gold perched imperiously be-
yond the waves.
Rosamond Press 
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