Lake Champlain Maritime Museum 2018 Glass Barge Tour

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum Announces Weekend Stops for Lois McClure’s Summer 2018 GlassBarge Tour

VERGENNES, VT, March 30 2018—Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM) today announced the summer 2018 tour stops for Lois McClure, the museum’s full scale replica of an 1862-class sailing canal boat constructed in Burlington, Vermont. Lois McClure will accompany the Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) GlassBarge this summer as they retrace the historic move of Flint Glass Works from Brooklyn to Corning, NY via canal where the company became Corning Glass Works, today known as Corning Incorporated.

Aboard Lois McClure, trained historians, educators, and archaeologists will welcome the public to visit with the crew and learn about history of the canal systems and the momentous trip of Corning Glass.  In addition, the public will be able to see free glass-making demonstrations aboard the GlassBarge at each scheduled stop.

Lois McClure begins the five month tour on May 17 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.  She will accompany the GlassBarge to Corning, with stops at ports in Yonkers, Poughkeepsie, Kingston, Albany, Little Falls, Sylvan Beach, Baldwinsville, Fairport, Lockport, Buffalo, Medina, Brockport, Pittsford, Seneca Falls, and Watkins Glen. The ceremonial arrival in Corning will be marked by a community-wide celebration on September 22. After this celebration Lois McClure will depart and head home to Burlington, VT alone. She will make more stops along the way and will arrive in Burlington, Vermont on October 6 for a community-wide celebration to welcome her return home after a 2 year absence. On the weekend of her arrival, a CMoG mobile hot glass shop, will join Lois McClure in Burlington to provide free public glassmaking demonstrations.

Lois McClure is 88’ long and weighs 74 gross tons. She is gaff-rigged with no auxiliary power. When operating in the canal system she is propelled by LCMM’s 1964 wooden tug C.L. Churchill. When she is on open water, she operates under sail. Lois McClure is the only example of an 1860s class canal boat anywhere in the world and she is an exact replica of the boats that worked the canal system in the time of Corning’s historic move.

“The Erie Canal system changed the lives and livelihoods for tens of thousands of people. Innovations like the sailing canal boats of the 1800s changed the way people and materials moved, and were instrumental in the growth of the northeastern United States and Canada,” said Erick Tichonuk, captain of Lois McClure and co-Executive Director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. “This year we embark on our largest tour yet with Lois McClure. We’re very excited to accompany the Corning Museum of Glass to retrace the historic journey from Brooklyn to Corning, NY on canal schooners much like Lois McClure. It’s an epic voyage of the arts and humanities, free and open to the public.”

Lois McClure Ports of Call
May 17-28: Brooklyn Bridge Park
June 1-3: Yonkers
June 8-10: Poughkeepsie
June 15-17: Kingston
June 21-24: Albany/Troy/Waterford
June 30-July 1: Little Falls
July 7-8: Sylvan Beach
July 13-15: Baldwinsville
July 20-22: Fairport
July 28-29: Lockport
August 3-5: Buffalo
August 11-12: Medina
August 17-19: Brockport
August 24-26: Pittsford
September 1-3: Seneca Falls
September 14-16: Watkins Glen
September 22: Corning

Visiting and Additional Information
Lois McClure will be open to the public for tours and to engage with and learn from our team of trained historians, archaeologists, and mariners. Tours are first-come, first-served and do not require registration. South Street Seaport Museum representatives will also be on hand to talk about their historic tug W.O. Decker that will be moving Corning’s GlassBarge along the waterways.

GlassBarge will provide daily demonstrations from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. All demos are approximately 30 minutes long, and reservations are strongly encouraged through free timed tickets that will be available at www.cmog.org/GlassBarge. Registration will be live 4-6 weeks prior to each stop. Demos can also be viewed from shore without a reservation.

Lois McClure is possible with generous support from New York State Canal Corporation, State of Vermont, Lake Champlain Transportation Co., Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership, Cabot Creamery, Lake Champlain Chocolates, Switchback Brewing Co., and the McClure family.

We’d also like to thank our partners Corning Museum of Glass and South Street Seaport.

About Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes opened its doors as a non-profit museum in 1986. Beginning in an original historic stone schoolhouse, its waterfront campus has grown to over a dozen buildings serving upwards of 3,500 students and 12,000 visitors and researchers each year through nautical exploration, pedagogy and experiential learning adventures. We inspire students to ‘Learn from the Lake’ and make valuable connections between the discoveries made through underwater research and historical exploration and the future of their communities and the world around them. The museum campus is open from May 26 to October 14 with summer camps, workshops, special programs, and exhibits. Learn more at https://www.lcmm.org.

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For more information, downloads, and images please visit glassbargetour.lcmm.org.

Press Contact:
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
Gregg Banse
(802) 475- 2022 x 116
greggb@lcmm.org