ASHLAND — Julia Child famously said “a party without cake is really just a meeting.”
Though cake wasn’t on the menu Tuesday, Karen Vuranch — a veteran Ashland Chautauqua scholar — was a sweet substitute to the real Child.
Vuranch, an Ashland University graduate, performed as Child in front of 330 guests at the Guy C. Memorial Bandshell on Tuesday to kick off the 25th annual Ashland Chautauqua.
This year, the event spans five days. It’s themed as a look-back dubbed “A Trip Down Memory Lane.” Each day features various workshops and finishes with a performance from a scholar of prominent figures from the past.
This week, spectators can expect to hear from scholars portraying Joe Louis, Ethel Waters, John Dillinger and Amelia Earhart played by scholars that have performed at several other Ashland Chautauqua events through the years, including Vuranch, Elsa Wolff and Ilene Evans.
Vuranch took the stage dressed in a bright blue blouse tucked into a long, black skirt. She also wore a pearl necklace, an aesthetic the French cuisine connoisseur adopted back in her 1960s heyday.
But it was Vuranch’s impression of Child’s vociferous speech that suspended the audience’s disbelief. At one point during the performance, Vuranch spilled the potatoes she was make-believe flipping on a pan.
“Oh! Well, you’re alone in the kitchen and there’s no one watching. Just scoop these up and throw them back in there,” she said, the audience roaring in laughter.
That’s what Ashland Chautauqua is about, “learning through storytelling,” said Deleasa Randall-Griffiths, co-chair of the annual event’s committee.
‘Kindness of strangers’
Randall-Griffiths said Ashland Chautauqua is the only such chautauqua event in Ohio these days. Back in 2000, its first year, Ashland Chautauqua relied heavily on the Ohio Humanities Council.
Back then, she said, they offered expertise and funding. Randall-Griffiths said Ohio Humanities helped the Ashland Chautauqua volunteers run the events for three years before passing the baton fully to them.
Since then, Ashland Chautauqua has established an endowment at the Ashland County Community Foundation, received grants and “lots” of donations from local residents.
She said the event takes around $20,000 each year to organize. There’s paying for the scholars’ stipends, flights and hotel stays, and booking the bands.
“We have ‘always relied on the kindness of strangers’, if I can borrow the line from A Streetcar Named Desire,” Randall-Griffiths said. “And that’s really the big part of this. It’s community.”
Dave Mole, of Polk, came Tuesday to watch the Child performance. He’s been to these chautauquas before, he said. One of the memorable ones, Mole said, was seeing Houdini and his magic.
“One guy there asked him ‘how do you do that trick?’ Houdini said ‘can you keep a secret?’ And the guy said, ‘yeah.’ And then he responded, ‘so can I,’” Mole said, chuckling.
Calvin and Philly McFadden, of Mansfield, came to support their friends from the opening act, SHaK, featuring Roger Semer, Robin Holthouse and Dean Kastran. The trio covers songs by The Beatles, The Eagles and many others.
The McFaddens said they come to the bandshell in Ashland one or two times a week for the biweekly performances.
“But we’ll stay and listen to (Child), see what it’s all about. Could be fun,” Calvin McFadden said.