Dan Dalpra, CEO Chautauqua Lake Pops 

Karen Surkala, President Westfield Memorial Hospital

Allegheny Health Network, Westfield Memorial Hospital and Saint Vincent Hospital announced sponsorship of the Allegheny Health Network Floating Stage in 2019.

The original Bemus Bay Pops brought twenty years of World-Class entertainment to a small lakeside community in Chautauqua County, New York. Twenty three years after it all started, a new page to the history of “Bringing the Arts to the People” has turned!

Officials of Allegheny Health Network, Westfield Memorial Hospital and AHN Saint Vincent Hospital gathered at the last concert of the 2019 Chautauqua Lake Pops Concert Series on August 31 to announce that Allegheny Health Network is the naming rights sponsor for the Chautauqua Pops floating stage for a three-year period.

The stage was developed by Bemus Point businessman, Dan Dalpra and his family who relocated the stage to the north end and gateway to Chautauqua Lake at 16 Water Street in Mayville, New York. During it’s time in Bemus Point, independent studies showed that the Pops performances were responsible for generating between twelve to fourteen million dollars annually to the Chautauqua County Region. The program is responsible for bringing visitors from around the globe to the shores of Chautauqua Lake.

Dalpra reintroduced the newly named Chautauqua Lake Pops concert series in 2019. The series featured performances by the best headliner tribute acts throughout the summer along with the forty-four member Chautauqua Lake Pops Symphony Orchrestra on Labor Day weekend.

With the absence of the 2020 season, beginning in 2021 the stage will be known as the Allegheny Health Network Floating Stage.

AHN will present an official ribbon cutting, celebration and inaugural concert to kick off the 2021 season at the AHN Floating Stage next summer.

Dalpra explained how valuable having AHN as the Chautauqua Lake Pops new major community sponsor would be for the entire Region. “Their hands-on partnership brings an enormous support group and resources to assist our efforts to grow this program along with Westfield and Mayville as an exciting destination for the entire region. We are excited to have AHN join the Pops family and share this great opportunity with the community.”

“Residents of this region treasure every day of summer and value every opportunity to enjoy life outdoors during the season, which is why we are so pleased to put the Allegheny Health Network name on this stage and help unite music and the beauty of nature for the people of this region. This stage carries a great tradition that the newly named Chautauqua Lake Pops concert series has brought to Mayville and we at AHN are really excited to help ensure that it continues. At Allegheny Health Network, we know that having a healthy community goes beyond providing top-quality advanced care to people when they are sick or injured and we are committed to helping make the communities we serve a better place to live, work and play.  We believe the Allegheny Health Network Floating Stage delivers on that commitment.”

Karen Surkala, President Westfield Memorial Hospital 

Labor Day Finale Concert 2019

Be Safe.

Pat Locke

Maestro Muse

The History of Labor Day

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

More than a century after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."

But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday.

The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations" of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

The character of the Labor Day celebration has changed in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics, and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio, and television.

The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pays tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership – the American worker.

I could not complete a story about Labor Day without mentioning a silly rule that many have adopted with no idea where it came from in our history.

I found this explanation though 'beautiful brides in white after Labor Day' are excluded!

The "you can't wear white after Labor Day," rule was created to separate the old money elitists from the new money group. For those who had money and could leave the city during warmer months, white was considered vacation attire.



Be Safe.

Pat Locke
Maestro Muse 

Joe Gustafson, Chautauqua Lake Pops Official Photographer

Joe @ Work @ the Pops

"My experience working with Dan Dalpra filming and taking photos for the Bemus Bay Pops and now the Chautauqua Lake Pops has always been an amazing time!  The quality of performers are the best in the world, matched up with Raven Sound .. the best in the business.  It's a Win-Win combination!  The high level of organization and communication is obvious.  I get to witness the behind the scenes operation and see all the work involved from start to finish!"

"We truly are blessed to have the arts at this caliber in such a small community."

Joe Gustafson

We Made It Bemus Point Then!

These photos were taken by Joe Gustafson, an FAA Licensed Commercial Drone Pilot, of the Bemus Point area showing the Bemus Bay Pops and the crowds that gathered for many years along the shore in Bemus Bay.

Chautauqua Lake Pops/Mayville with the Chautauqua Belle

On Stage with Boogie Wonder Band

 Chautauqua Lake Symphony Orchestra featuring John Cross

Make It Mayville Now!

These photos were taken by Joe Gustafson in 2019, the inaugural year for the newly named Chautauqua Lake Pops relocated in Mayville NY near the historic train station.

"Music is transforming.  It can carry us to another time and place." 

See you in 2021! 

Pat Locke

Maestro Muse 

Kayakers @ Bemus Bay Pops

Pops fans came by boat, by car and by kayak to Bemus Point and in 2019 many of those same Pops fans came by boat, by car and by kayak to Mayville. Kayaks are a popular mode of transportation in the summer on Chautauqua Lake. When the stage appears you know the kayakers are not far behind!

Pick a color!

Top photo credit given to Mike Ferguson, the official Chautauqua Lake Pops announcer and Co-Producer of the Pops.  Thank you, Mike.


Be Safe.

Pat Locke
Maestro Muse

L to R:  Mayville Mayor Ken Shearer, Senator George Borrello, Chautauqua Lake Pops Communications Director Mike Ferguson and Mayville Trustee Ben Webb

In the Spring of 2019, Mayville became the new home of the Chautauqua Lake Pops.  It became the gateway to Chautauqua Lake as the former Bemus Bay Pops program returned as the new Chautauqua Lake Pops.

For over 20 years, the Bemus Bay Pops program became an important cultural and economic engine for the entire region with its summer concert series, programs and special events.  Economic impact studies determined that the Pops generated between $12 to $14 million annually for Chautauqua County in past summers.  In 2019, the Pops became .. poised to do so again!

The not-for-profit organization has been responsible for bringing thousands of hours of regional, national and world-wide entertainment to one of the world's only floating stages on the shores of Chautauqua Lake. 

"We are excited to bring this great program back to the lake.  Mayville has come forward with an opportunity and partnership to make this happen and we are excited to work with them on creating a revitalized destination.  I hope everyone will help us secure the new Chautauqua Lake Pops program and donate to help keep the Pops afloat for years to come.  This affordable program of bringing the arts to the people can only work with public and private community support."

Dan Dalpra, Chautauqua Lake Pops Chairman and President

"I am excited to see the return of the Pops to Chautauqua Lake.  Thank you to all of those who worked so diligently to make this a reality and I am happy that the county can play a part in it.  The return of this popular program will further enhance the positive momentum we are seeing around Chautauqua Lake and throughout our county."

Senator George Borrello (former Chautauqua County Executive)

"I am so glad we could play a role in resurrecting the floating stage and the Pops venue in Mayville.  Once again, Chautauqua County and especially Mayville is capitalizing on its wonderful natural assets as we attract people to live, work and conduct business.  Ken Shearer and the leadership team in Mayville, along with Dan Dalpra and his team are to be commended for making this concept a reality."

Mark Geise, CEO CCIDA 

"We'd like to thank Mayor Shearer and the entire Village Board for their tireless efforts to make this happen.  A lot of time, effort and discussion took place to make sure this was the right fit as we knew it would be."

Mike Ferguson, Pops Communications Director

Be Safe.  See you in 2021. Make It Mayville!

Pat Locke

Maestro Muse