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I’m not Tevye, but I like how he thought

One of my favorite musicals since it arrived on the stage scene in 1964, and hit the Big Screen in 1971, is Fiddler on the Roof, the story of a poor Jewish family struggling to maintain their religious beliefs and teachings in a settlement of Imperial Russia set around 1905, about the same time as the Russian Revolution. It is a tale based on a real-life milkman who author Sholem Aleichem, writer of a series of Yiddish short stories titled Tevye and his Daughters, once met somewhere 1894 and 1914, in a small Jewish-only settlement. When the story became a musical, the opening one-word ...

A decade of Shades of Pink is a Legacy that Lives On

On behalf of the WCA Foundation, we are honored to celebrate the 10th and final year of the Shades of Pink Golf Tournament—a decade of compassion, generosity, and impact in our community. Through the vision and dedication of Steve and Anne Sischo, this tournament has raised more than $100,000 to support cancer care at UPMC Chautauqua. Anne, a breast cancer survivor herself, wanted to help others facing cancer. Today, the Shades of Pink Golf Tournament has grown into a powerful community tradition—funding essential services such as mammograms, patient navigators who provide ...

What does patriotism look like?

I hope you’re feeling a little more patriotic. The visiting international spectators at the FIFA matches should have stirred something in all of us. The Fourth of July, despite the strange weather, managed to break through the clouds long enough to remind us there is still much worth celebrating. Oddly, there are Americans who seem to hold their own country in contempt. Yet talk to many new citizens who escaped communist or socialist governments, and you’ll often hear a very different perspective. They still see the United States as a remarkable experiment in human freedom. I ...

Chautauqua County Day at institution is July 17

CHAUTAUQUA—During just the first two weeks of Chautauqua Institution’s 2026 season, the music at Chautauqua Institution has been tremendous. Finding more than three examples would be easy, yet for today, let’s take just three. * * * You, faithful reader of this column, have long ...

American war of independence was no revolution

MECOSTA, Mich.—When this columnist was a newspaper reporter, one of the editors was fond of saying we needed to write in a way that would hold people’s attention when the kids were screaming, the dog was barking, and the television was on. Today’s column doesn’t follow that ...

Summer update on the bridge

There has been some recent news relative to the Chautauqua Lake Bridge. There was one announcement by the DOT that related to planning for new detour routes once the eastbound section of the bridge is completed. This will require new routing for traffic on nights when the bridge is closed for construction activities. Another news item was more somber, as a worker fell from the bridge and was injured. The person injured, as I understand it, was an inspector...not a part of the actual construction crew. Nevertheless, it reminded us that there are risks on construction projects of ...