Wednesday, October 14th, 2015 // The Statement
8B
Chautauqua Institution is a a non-profit adult education center
and living community located in Western New York. Originally
it was founded as a Methodist learning community in 1878. Since
then its religious community has grown to include 16 different
denominations. As the cost of staying in the Institution has increased,
the denominational houses have been regarded as the most affordable
option for visitors.
For the past nine years, Bud and Pat Brown have volunteered to be
the hosts of the Baptist House. They have stayed in the Baptist House
since they started coming to Chautauqua in 1977.
V I S U A L S T A T E M E N T :
Bad and Pat are active members of the community of Chautauqua. Bud is a
member of the Chautauqua choir and attends rehearsals throughout the week.
Every Tuesday Bud and Pat host a social hour where they invite singers and musicians from the Chautauqua Community
to perform in their house.
Pat and Bud share a quiet moment on the Baptist front porch during a Tuesday social hour. Bud says that when he first
dropped Pat off in Chautauqua she cried because she didn’t know anyone, but when Bud came to pick her up she cried
because she didn’t want to leave. Now Bud and Pat play important roles in the Chautauquan community.
Pat tearfully says goodbye to Alex Paul on the porch of the Baptist House. Pat and Bud allowed Paul to stay for free throughout
out the summer so she could be a member of the choir and covered the cost of her room out of their own pocket.
Photo Essay by Ruby Wallau
As hosts, they describe their job as to be “gracious to everyone who comes inside the front door”. Most
of their responsibilities as hosts include physical tasks such as cleaning and day to day maintenance. They
also host Sunday worship services, Thursday vesper services, Tuesday social hours, pot luck dinners for their
guests, and volunteer their time for various Institution programming.
Bud and Pat met working as librarians in the Robbins Library in Arlington, Massachusetts. As the story
goes, one day Pat’s sister returned home and told her that there was a man in the library. After hearing this,
Pat jumped on her bike and rushed over to meet Bud. Since then, they’ve been married for 49 years and have
spent most of that time living in Buffalo and working as librarians.
A L O T O F C O O K I E S & A L O T O F L O V E