Chautauqua Tonight

5:30 p.m. Dinner
6 p.m. "Who's on First?"
6:30 p.m. Chautauqua Singers
7:30 p.m. John Moser as Howard Cosell
Under the tent behind the new Bonne Terre City Hall.

To get there

From St. Louis, take I-55 South to US 67 South. Take the Bonne Terre exit and turn right. Chautauqua will be on the right at the City Hall. Look for signs. From Fredericktown, take US 67 North to the Bonne Terre exit and turn left. Chautauqua will be on your right.

BONNE TERRE — The “Master of Verbosity” takes the Chautauqua stage tonight at 7:30 p.m. to wrap up the Big River Chautauqua in Bonne Terre. ABC Sportscaster Howard Cosell will be featured, as portrayed by history professor and actor John Moser. In character as Cosell on Thursday, Moser promised the audience he would have a “big announcement” about Monday Night Football and talk about his colleagues, Don Meredith and Frank Gifford during his presentation.

Wilma Rudolph opened the three-day event Thursday with Joe Louis portrayed Friday night to bring the Chautauqua theme to life, “Sports — Changing the Face of America.”

The Chautauqua takes place inside a tent behind the new Bonne Terre City Hall. Admission is free. Tonight, dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m. by the St. Francois County Rotary Club. On the menu will be grilled pork steaks and hot dogs, with beans and chips on the side. The First Congregational Church will serve desserts. At 6:10 p.m., Emily and Andrea Layden will offer the Abbott and Costello sports routine, “Who’s On First?”

At 6:30 p.m., the Chautauqua Singers perform followed by Moser’s one-man show as Cosell.

Details on Friday night’s presentation by Hasan Davis as Joe Louis will appear in Sunday’s Daily Journal, with Cosell’s story on Monday.

Just a few yards away from the Chautauqua tent, members of Habitat for Humanity of St. Francois County have been trying to get a crowd of their own. They need volunteers to work on the Habitat house about to be built in Bonne Terre and have set up a table at Chautauqua to raise awareness of their project.

“There’s just an empty lot there right now, but in the next couple of weeks, we hope to start construction,” said Wendy Soderlund. “We’d like to get as much interest as we can among people in the Bonne Terre area.”

She said churches are needed to work on the house and supply lunches on work days. To get involved, call Habitat Executive Director Linda Dickerson at 573-760-1702 or by e-mail at habitatofsfc@yahoo.com or go to the Web Site at www. hfhsfc.org.

This will be the third house Habitat has built in Bonne Terre.

Donna Hickman is a reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact her at 431-2010, ext. 138 or at dhickman@dailyjournalonline.com.

Published: Saturday, July 19, 2008.
Updated: Saturday, July 19, 2008 8:34 PM CDT

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