Schooner Lois McClure to Visit Plattsburgh August 20-21
2011 Farm, Forest and Fishery Tour: Sailing for a Healthy Land & Lake in port at Plattsburgh

Plattsburgh, NY – 8/09/11 – Lake Champlain Maritime Museum's schooner Lois McClure will be in port at Plattsburgh’s Wilcox Dock on Saturday, August 20th – Sunday, August 21st from 10am -6pm during her Farm, Forest and Fishery Tour. “Our theme for the 2011 tour was chosen to raise public awareness about the importance of sustainable agriculture, responsible forestry, and clean, healthy waterways as part of a vibrant economy,” explains LCMM Executive Director Art Cohn. The schooner will carry the message of lake stewardship to ports around the Lake Champlain Basin and the Hudson River Valley through mid-October. In keeping with the theme of the tour, many ports of call will host a waterfront farmers' market. The Plattsburgh Farmers' Market will be held on Saturday, August 20th from 9am – 2pm in the Farmers Market Pavilion on Durkee Street in downtown Plattsburgh.

Visitors can board the schooner to explore the 88-foot long boat “from stem to stern.”Along the way, LCMM staff and volunteers will share the fascinating story of how human settlement and innovations, including canals and canal boats, altered the region's landscape, water and wildlife. The 2011 schooner tour is also a call to action, encouraging community members to make informed decisions that will preserve, protect, and enhance our working landscape, water quality, productive forests and the lifestyle benefits they provide.

The schooner was built by LCMM shipwrights and volunteers on the Burlington waterfront, based on two shipwrecks of 1862-class canal schooners discovered in Lake Champlain. Since 2004, Lois McClure has cruised Lake Champlain, the Hudson and St. Lawrence Rivers, and the Erie Canal System, and has visited over 115 communities and welcomed aboard more than 150,000 visitors.

Organizations that have partnered with Lake Champlain Maritime Museum to offer the 2011 Farm, Forest and Fisheries Tour include: Lake Champlain Basin Program and Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership of the National Parks Service; The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor; The New York State Canal Corporation; Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing; and ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center. Very special thanks to Senator Patrick Leahy, Congressman Peter Welch, and Congressman Paul Tonko for their leadership in stewardship of cultural heritage and natural resources in the Champlain and Hudson valleys.

The 2011 Farm, Forest and Fishery Tour is being made possible by the generosity of the following individuals and businesses: Lois McClure and Family; The Farm Families that own Cabot and McCadam Creameries; Currier Forest Products; Lake Champlain Ferries (LCT); Shelburne Shipyard; Point Bay Marina; Basin Harbor Club; Friends of C. L. Churchill; Green Mountain Coffee; Lake Champlain Chocolates; and Shelburne Vineyards.

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About the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum is located on the shore of Lake Champlain, seven scenic miles from historic Vergennes, Vermont at 4472 Basin Harbor Road, across from the Basin Harbor Club. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through October 16, 2011. LCMM Members, School Family Pass Members and children 5 and under get in free. For information call 802.475.2022 or visit www.lcmm.org.

About the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau
The Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau, a division of the North Country Chamber of Commerce, was established in 1994 as the official tourism promotion agency for the travel and tourism industry in Clinton County, NY.  Based in Plattsburgh, NY the Adirondack Coast Visitors  Bureau contributes to the county’s economic development and quality of life by promoting the region as a top destination for tourism, meetings and other special events. For more information on Clinton County tourism, please contact the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau at 518.563.1000 or check us out on: