May 06, 2008 04:00 am
—
The Champlain Valley is preparing for a celebration like none other since, well, since 100 years ago.
Organizers from both New York and Vermont are making impressive plans to honor the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Samuel de Champlain to the lake that bears his name.
Festivities will cite both Champlain's initial journey on the lake aboard tiny birch-bark canoes in July 1609 and the contributions from the Native Americans that called this lake home long before Europeans even considered its significance as a "highway" connecting Quebec to the soon-to-be-bustling American colonies.
The celebration has already begun, in fact, as a replica of the canoes that Champlain and a group of Native allies used to navigate on the open lake in 1609 circulates across the region. It's an impressive display, hosted by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, and leaves one to imagine how such a small, fragile vessel could have been the key to the European discovery of Lake Champlain.
If the display reaches your community, check it out.
It must have been something for Champlain to see as he came into the open lake from just north of the Canadian border. Imagine his reaction as he first witnessed the wild shorelines where Rouses Point now stands and the majestic blue waters that lay before him.
We wonder if the lake was calm and hospitable as Champlain and his party paddled south en route to immortality. Or were the waves choppy and uninviting? Was it a struggle to navigate the waters, or were the skilled explorers and Native Americans simply going about business as usual?
What would Champlain think today, if he paddled his canoe among the many sailboats, powerboats and cabin cruisers that now find the lake a very hospitable place? What differences would he see as he traveled down the shoreline?
Those are the kinds of issues we need to think about as we move closer to the Quadricentennial Celebration of Champlain's discovery of the lake. Let's all appreciate the gem that we have in our back yard and how important the lake is to our own welfare. But let's also keep in mind the fact that the lake has a rich history that includes many different cultures, from European, Asian and African backgrounds as well the rich Native American heritage that can truly claim to be the real founders of Lake Champlain.
Let the celebration bring us all together on one united front that recognizes we are all here because we love this region and the lake that bears Champlain's name.
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