Chautauqua Park
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Worthington City Band

Chautauqua Park, also, Worthington City Band. . Chautauqua Park was Worthington's first city park and got its name from the Chautauqua programs held here. These outdoor meetings combining religion, education, and recreation originated at Chautauqua Lake, New York in 1874. For about ten days each summer from 1906 to 1931, large crowds attended programs in this park which consisted of drama, music, lectures, comedy and magicians. The performances were staged in a large pavilion by the lake and many families camped in the park. Famous speakers such a Booker T. Washington, William Jennings Bryan and William Howard Taft appeared here. Evangelist Billy Sunday head lined the last Chautauqua program in Worthington in 1931., The Worthington City Band traces it's origins to 1893, when a group of amateur musicians from the area formed a brass band to entertain the downtown shoppers from the courthouse lawn on Saturday nights. The success of the brass band motivated the city of Worthington to hire a band director in 1909. Women were first allowed to join the band in 1928., The present band shell was built in 1941, and serves as the setting for a great community tradition. The summertime band concerts are a special time for music, laughter, and relaxation., The directors of the Worthington City Band , Wilson Abbott 1909-1926 , Vic Moeller 1927-1946 , Jerry Niemeyer 1947-1961 , Richard Larson 1962 , Glenn Evenson 1963 -1987 , Galen Benton 1988 -2001 , Donna Larson 2002 - 2007 , Jon Loy 2008 - 2013 , Mike Peterson 2014- present