It�s not just history�it is also genealogy. The host of the Shelby County Trail is organizing the First Annual Jasper Douthit�s Lithia Springs Chautauqua Conference in Shelbyville, Ill., and environs Aug 5-7, 2004. The conference will include a tour of the original Lithia Springs Chautauqua site, now owned by the US Army Corps of Engineers. This is not just history� is is also genealogy. Our reenactor, portraying Ada Kepley, who spoke at the chautauqua, is a Shelby County native who knew some of the several dozen people who owned cabins at the site. Former Attorney General Howland J. Hamlin was among those private owners. Foundations of those cabins are still visible and we will tour them. Shelbyville resident, Mrs. Belle McCann, was among a number of local residents who benefitted financially by the little bit of extra business the Lithia Springs chautauqua brought to them for a couple of week every year for decades. McCann operated a dining room to feed the hundreds of hungry campers. Local livery driver H. W. Davis was busy providing public transportation and tours of the area. William Morgan lived at the site and sold refreshments during the annual encampments. Tents were available for rent. For a small fee, residents provided �housekeeping and cooking� services to campers, keeping their tents clean and their tummies full during the outdoor vacations. White Ribboners from local communities formed parades on the grounds. Many local residents attended the annual chautauquas. Douthit thanked local residents Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Reeve, W. F. Nehring, Mrs. J. A. Patton, Mrs. Largent, Roe Gardner, Mrs. Gallagher, John Wilson, Mrs. J. H. White and Miss Netttie Woods along with Springfield residents James Turpin and George Lozier �and all the employees and thsoe connected with the work of the meeting.� More details will be announced soon, but the conference website is now online for those who might be interested in participating or in attending in 2005. http://www.ecolitgy.com/JLD/ConferenceInfo.html Enjoy! Judy Rosella Edwards Host - Shelby County Trail