Legacy Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration this weekend at Crown Point Historic Site and Campground

• by New York State Office of Parks & Recreation

ALBANY, NY (09/16/2009)(readMedia)-- A full day of public programming and celebration is scheduled at the Crown Point Historic Site and Campground on Saturday, September 19 in recognition of the 400th anniversary of the Exploration of Lake Champlain by Samuel de Champlain. Officials and citizens from New York, Vermont, Quebec and France are expected to attend the festivities. This program has been developed to complement a wide variety of programs that have occurred throughout the Lake Champlain Basin in recognition of this historical milestone.

Program themes feature celebrating history and exploration as well as connecting the public to nature. It will provide an opportunity to not only reflect on the past but look to the future of this beautiful natural landscape home to citizens on its borders across the region.

The Crown Point complex has recently seen restorations and improvements in preparation for this historic celebration including a new multimedia orientation program and updated exhibits at the museum. The historic Crown Point Pier and Champlain Memorial Lighthouse were also restored this past year with both facilities once again open to the public.

The Celebration will run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and include historic, cultural, nature and family program activities and entertainment along with a ceremony at 4:30 p.m. rededicating the Lighthouse and its world renowned Rodin sculpture given to New York and Vermont by the French government to honor the 300th Anniversary of Champlain's exploration in 1909.

The day will also feature performances and presentations by Martin Sexton, The United states Merchant Marine Corps band, Piers Faccini, Justin Jones and the Driving Rain, Pulitzer Prize Winning Historian David Hackett Fischer, Stephane Wrembel, Bear Tracks, Tim Jennings and LeAnne Ponder, Darren Bonaparte, a special screening of soon to be released documentary Dead Reckoning, followed by an evening fireworks show over Lake Champlain.

Officials from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Hudson- Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission have worked over the past year to plan for this event. The event is free and open to the public. More information about the schedule of the day can be found at www.nysparks.com.

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