Vacationers can get ready for summer and learn a new hobby or skill during Chautauqua in June, a three-week learning festival, June 3-23, 2011, featuring learning experiences in home and garden, sports and recreation, and culinary and wine themed techniques. Classes are held across Chautauqua County in southwestern New York State, a century old destination for leisure learning, camps and workshops. Chautauqua, N.Y. - Get ready for summer with a new hobby or skill during Chautauqua in June, a learning festival held in the lifelong learning tradition popularized by Chautauqua Institution more than 137 years ago. Learn gardening techniques like how to propagate wildflowers, tubers and perennials, how to grow mushrooms or garlic, or how to plan a cottage garden with an authentic Cotswold cottage as the classroom. Take a lesson in improving golf techniques, or how to sail. Expand culinary talents with local foods, wines, and brews. Register for a class specifically geared towards leisure learning. The three week schedule from June 3 - 23, 2011 includes themed experiences in Home and Garden Techniques, Sports and Recreation, and Culinary and Wine. Classes are held in both indoor and outdoor classrooms across Chautauqua County, a destination for leisure learning, summer camps and workshops. Join Green Heron Growers in touring an organic farm and Having Fun with Fungus: A Shiitake Mushroom Workshop. Participants will take home their own mushroom log. Propagate Irises and Daylilies with Johnson Estate Winery, celebrating 50 years as New York State's oldest estate winery and Nass Daylily Farm, cultivators of over 350 varieties of daylilies. Learn to Landscape to Protect Lake Ecology with the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy or What Makes a Cottage Garden with Sara Baker Michalak, a natural gardener and artist, at Lana's The Little House. Jamestown Community College will offer the chance to Make Your Own Solar Wood Kiln Dryer and local artists Thomas Annear and James Hoggard will teach photography and painting techniques En Plein Aire, or "out in the air". Week two of Chautauqua in June will feature sports and recreation themed workshops including Fishing for Musky, Boating Safety, Learn to Row with the Chautauqua Lake Rowing Association, Sailing, and a Tennis Stroke of the Day.  Mouthwatering culinary classes round out the third week highlighting learning experiences in the art of tea, preparing grass-fed beef, and mixing drinks like a bartender. Learn to brew beer and the finer points of pairing beer and food with the Ellicottville Brewing Company in Fredonia, or how to cook with wine at the Peek'n Peak Resort and Spa. Throughout the month, regular exercise classes such as Zumba or Yoga on the beach and kayaking and paddle tours will be offered as complimentary learning experiences along with special events like wine maker's dinners. The annual Roger Tory Peterson Birding Festival in Peterson's hometown of Jamestown, and the Chautauqua Writers' Festival also take place during the June event. The word Chautauqua evokes a place where people go to learn while having fun, a place to vacation with the opportunity for personal growth. For well over a century, visitors and residents of Chautauqua County have been gathering at lakeside assemblies and summer camps, attending lectures and cultural performances, and playing on one of several lakes.  This historic retreat atmosphere is preserved in the Chautauqua region today, with the addition of progressively new learning adventures. The Chautauqua in June festival highlights these new learning opportunities, many of which can be found throughout the year. Chautauqua in June is a learning festival promoted by the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau and held in collaboration with the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce, Chautauqua Institution, Peek'n Peak Resort and Spa, Jamestown Community College's Department of Continuing Education, SUNY Fredonia's Center for Lifelong Learning, and a number of area businesses and attractions. Chautauqua County is located in the southwestern corner of New York State with New York's largest grape region bordering Lake Erie, six lakes, several Victorian and Amish communities, and Lucille Ball's hometown. For more information and a schedule of vacation learning events during Chautauqua in June as well as throughout the year, call 1-866-908-4569 or visit the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau website at http://www.tourchautauqua.com/.   

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Contact: Stephanie Burdo Communications Coordinator Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau PO Box 1441 Chautauqua, NY 14722 716-357-ILNY (4569) http://www.tourchautauqua.com/ www.facebook.com/Tour.Chautauqua