[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 130 (Saturday, August 5, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1664-E1665]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  CATHERINE FILENE SHOUSE CELEBRATION

                                 ______


                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                          HON. THOMAS M. DAVIS

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 4, 1995
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, earlier this summer, at the Filene Center at 
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Mr. Davis and I 
celebrated the life of Catherine Filene Shouse.
  It was a grand event for a grand lady on the 99th anniversary of her 
birth--June 9, 1995. On December 14, 1994, Mrs. Shouse ``moved to a 
grander stage,'' as one person noted, but the vision she had for 
America's first national park for the performing arts lives on as her 
gift to America at Wolf Trap Farm Park. Her life was celebrated that 
evening at a gala so befitting her style, elegance, dignity, respect, 
wit, humor and love.
  There were many remembrances of Mrs. Shouse. Her Majesty Queen 
Elizabeth II sent a message. Many felt that the remarks of the 
Honorable G. William Miller that evening eloquently captured the spirit 
and achievements of Mrs. Shouse. Mr. Speaker, we are honored to 
represent the northern Virginia area which is home to Wolf Trap and we 
would like to share with our colleagues the message from 

[[Page E1665]]
Queen Elizabeth and the Remembrances by Mr. Miller of an extraordinary 
national and international figure, Catherine Filene Shouse.
                                               British Embassy

                                         Washington, June 6, 1995.
     Mrs. Carol Harford,
     823 South 26th Place,
     Arlington, VA.
       Dear Mrs. Harford: Her Majesty The Queen has asked me to 
     send you her very best wishes for the concert which is being 
     arranged at Wolf Trap on 9 June in honour of Catherine Filene 
     Shouse. Her Majesty is sure that this will be a memorable 
     occasion.
           Yours sincerely,
                                                    Robin Renwick.

                  Catherine Filene Shouse Celebration


filene center, wolf trap national park for the performing arts june 9, 
                 1995 the 99th anniversary of her birth

                              Remembrances

                           G. William Miller

       To dream an impossible dream. It is not the dream that is 
     impossible, but the task of putting it into words.
       How does one grasp a thunderbolt, or capture a moonbeam? 
     Describe an earthquake, or bottle a fleeting melody? 
     Commemorate a howling gale, or reflect the rapture of a child 
     awakened by the magic of the stage?
       How does one celebrate a celebrity who is already a legend?
       Carefully, lest the enthusiasm to extol create myth where 
     there was reality, fashion ethereal portraits where there was 
     life and vitality and flesh and blood.
       Each of us has remembrances of Kay Shouse. String them all 
     together and they form an endless chain, as infinite as 
     humanity.
       Creative, energetic, determined, resourceful, imaginative, 
     fearless, independent, patriotic, learned.
       Skillful, hopeful, optimistic, unique, steadfast, eternal.
       Catherine Filene Shouse.
       Kay valued Shakespeare, but there was none of his Hamlet in 
     her character. There was no hesitation over ``To be or not to 
     be.'' For Kay, the only course was full engagement in life 
     with all its challenges.
       In As You Like It, Kay found a more compatible concept: 
     ``All the world's a stage And all the men and women merely 
     players.''
       What a production she made of the stage that is our world: 
     Inspiring the young to reach for the stars. Moving the 
     successful to rise to greatness. Encouraging women to unleash 
     all their talents, in all fields. Moving governments to 
     stretch their visions to open new opportunities.
       But Kay was not merely a player. She was the Play!
       Once, at Plantation House there was a small post-
     performance gathering where the conversation turned at that 
     age-old question: What is the greatest boon to mankind?
       One favored the great art, capturing countless images to 
     reflect the inner soul of humankind. Another chose the great 
     music, with timeless melodies which comfort and inspire over 
     the ages. A third argued for the great literature, where 
     creative ideas are passed from generation to generation to 
     instruct and enrich. And, of course, there was one colleague 
     who championed the performing arts, which combines all the 
     others to present the full range of human drama in real life 
     form.
       A guest from a distant state than intervened. ``That's 
     interesting,'' he remarked, ``but where I come from the 
     greatest boon to mankind is * * * the promissory note.''
       Without missing a beat, Kay had the last word. ``Fine,'' 
     she said, ``we'll take one of yours * * * with six figures!''
       Archimedes was so bold as to claim, ``Give me a place to 
     stand, and I shall move the world.'' Kay did not wait for a 
     place to be given. She took her place--and she moved the 
     world.
       A visitor at a Wolf Trap performance once noted the mad 
     trajectory of a golf cart piloted by a compelling figure in a 
     flowing cape. He remarked to his companion, ``Who does she 
     think she is, the big pooh-bah?'' When the golf cart 
     approached and Kay introduced herself, the patron's 
     astonished retort was, ``Holy cow, she is the great pooh-
     bah!''
       For those who experienced an outing on Chesapeake Bay 
     abroad the Pink Pontoon, with Kay at the helm, know first 
     hand that Kay could truly claim: ``I am the captain of my 
     soul, I am the master of my fate.''
       Kay subscribed to Abraham Lincoln's parliamentary 
     procedures. Once at a Wolf Trap meeting she presented a bold 
     and controversial proposal for a grand event. To others it 
     seemed far too risky considering the financial condition of 
     the Foundation at the time. The vote was all against, save 
     Kay. Whereupon she announced, ``Well, now that we've settled 
     that, let's get out the invitations.''
       Kay never gave up, no matter how hopeless the cause, when 
     she cared and when she believed. The great fire of '82 
     stirred the fire within her. Like Ulysses, until the end, she 
     never turned back.
       ``. . . For my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset, and 
     the baths of all the Western stars, until I die.''
       ``To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.''
       As we remember Kay, we think of the words of Emily 
     Dickinson:
       ``Because I could not stop for Death
       He kindly stopped for me--
       The Carriage held but just Ourselves
       and Immortality.''
       Kay, we remember you in awe and admiration and love. Now 
     that you have moved to a grander stage, where you command 
     choirs of angels and orchestras of saints, we hope that you 
     remember us too.
       Kay, you told us always to be glad, not sad. Never to say 
     good bye or good night, but always ``Good morning''.
       Good morning, Kay.
       

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