Grand Opening Of Boat Exhibit Building At Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s Small Boat Festival

    Grand Opening Of Boat Exhibit Building At Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s Small Boat Festival
On Saturday July 17 at 10:30 a.m. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum will officially open the doors of its newest exhibit building, the Hazelett Watercraft Center. The centerpiece of this exhibit is the 35 foot long, 1902 ice yacht Storm King, given to the museum by William (Bill) and Dawn Hazelett. It’s a great place to visit in a summer heat wave – cool and comfortable, Storm King towers above a two-story array of dugout and bark canoes, kayaks, rowing skiffs, and sail boats from the LCMM collection, and digital displays of vintage postcards and film footage of ice boats in action. “We can’t find enough words to thank Bill and Dawn Hazelett and their family for their generosity,” commented LCMM director Art Cohn. “What a great way to celebrate the museum’s twenty-fifth season. The Hazelett Watercraft Center fulfills a long-cherished vision of a facility at the Maritime Museum that celebrates the lake’s legacy of wooden watercraft and their makers, and the sport of iceboating.”

    The Small Boat Festival weekend is filled with great programs for all ages. On Saturday, kids design, build and launch boats to ride in the mid-day Duct Tape Regatta. At 2:00 pm Mystic Seaport’s Vice President of Watercraft, Dana Hewson will present an illustrated talk on the current restoration of Charles W. Morgan, America’s last surviving wooden whaleship. Come back on Sunday July 18 for the three-mile non-motorized Challenge Race (registration at 10, race begins at 11). At 2:00 pm hear Captain Roger Taylor describe his travels on the canals of Europe, and then join him aboard schooner Lois McClure in port as she prepares to depart for a tour of the Erie Canal (itinerary at www.lcmm.org). Throughout the weekend, meet boat builders and try out small boats on LCMM’s waterfront.  The Small Boat Festival has been chosen by the Vermont Crafts Council as a State of Craft Showcase event.

    Museum admission is good for two consecutive days and includes all festival activities (except Challenge Race registration fee), featured exhibits in 14 buildings, boats at the waterfront, and 20% discount at the Red Mill Restaurant at Basin Harbor Club. Time travel back 100 years to see Otter Creek and downtown Vergennes Through the Eyes of Custer Ingham, a fine art exhibit on view through August 15. Born during the Civil War, Ingham painted scenes of daily life on Otter Creek and Lake Champlain, including the Westport Sail Ferry, fishing at the Palisades, a baseball game at the Falls Basin, mills at Vergennes Falls, and the family farm.

    Lake Champlain Maritime Museum is open daily from 10-5, late May through mid-October. Find out more at www.lcmm.org or call 802 475-2022.