History Under The Waves
(HOST) The General Butler was a sailing canal boat, a cargo vessel built in eighteen sixty two in Essex, New York. Eighty-eight feet long, fourteen and a half feet wide, she was designed to both sail on the lake, and travel through the Champlain Canal system. She was the tractor trailer of the nineteenth century. On December ninth, eighteenseventy six, Captain William Montgomery had loaded her up with approximately thirtytons of marble form Fisk Quarry in Isle LaMotte.
(HOST) All this week VPR is looking at five of the many shipwrecks that lie at the bottom of Lake Champlain in our series "History Under the Waves." Today we hear about The Champlain II. It was nearly a football field in length and entirely made of wood. Built in 1868 and originally named the Oakes Ames, it was designed to carry railroad cars across Lake Champlain.
(HOST) In the Post-Revolutionary War period on Lake Champlain, sloops and canal schooners were among the first means of transporting people and goods in the area. The Sarah Ellen was a single deck, two-masted lake schooner. She was seventy-three feet long and fifteen and a half feet wide. On December 19th, 1860 she and her companion schooner, The Daniel Webster left Willsboro, New York with a load of stone bound for Burlington.
(Host) All this week in our series "History Under the Waves" VPR is looking at five historic wrecks that lie at the bottom of Lake Champlain. Today, we look at the Phoenix. Built in 1815, it was the second commercial steamboat launched on Lake Champlain. At a length of 147 feet it was one of the largest boats operating on the lake.
(HOST INTRO) Three hundred historic shipwrecks have been documented at the bottom of Lake Champlain. All this week VPR is taking a look at what sent five of them to the bottom and into the history books in our series, "History Under the Waves". Today we start off with the gunboat Spitfire. Click here for the History Under the Waves photo gallery Built in 1776, it was part of Benedict Arnold's first American naval fleet on the lake.
Music From Champlain 400
Tom Bodett of Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! hosts this hour of live music and comedy taped at Burlington's Flynn Theatre on July 2nd. We'll peek behind the scenes at speed dating in South Burlington, take you on a turkey drive to Boston, and tell a tall tale of Samuel de Champlain's misadventures along our shores. Plus, some first-hand Champ sightings on the waters and in the parking lots of Chittenden County.
Left: Robert Resnik; Right: Robert Resnik & Deb Flanders Left: Lisa's Fiddle; Right: Andre Marchand & Lisa Ornstein Left: Alan Greenleaf; Right: Marty Morrisey & Robert Resnik All Photos by Cheryl Willoughby From reels and lovesongs, to 'rock snot' and historical ballads - the music of the Lake Champlain region is as complex and diverse as the people who play it.
06/23/09
Music From Champlain 400
All the Traditions: Looking Forward to the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial
Music from France, Brazil, the Adirondacks, and Minnesota, some great new arrivals, and many many local artists, looking forward to local live performances this week, and the huge and impressive lineup for the Burlington Quad Celebration beginning next week!
Celebrate the 400-year wealth of music from the Lake Champlain region with guest including Vermont folksong collector Deb Flanders, French-Canadian fiddler Lisa Ornstein and guitarist Andre Marchand, and Vermont singer/songwriter and farmer Alan Greenleaf. It's a very special afternoon of music for the holiday weekend and the Quadricentennial year.
Stories From The Lake
(Charnoff) It's All Things Considered on Vermont Public Radio, I'm Neal Charnoff. Next week, our region will observe the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain's arrival on the lake that bears his name. All this month, VPR news has been exploring the influence of the lake on the history and culture of the Champlain Valley. This afternoon, we wrap up our series "Stories from the Lake" with a look at the role Lake Champlain plays in our lives today.
(Mitch) The body of water we know today as Lake Champlain carries stories thousands of years old. On Mondays this month VPR has been tracing the lake's origins and exploration by Samuel de Champlain 400 years ago to bring you "Stories from the Lake". Today, the final chapters in our series examine the lake as it transitioned from a water super-highway to a tourist destination and invaluable environmental resource.
(Charnoff) It's All Things Considered on Vermont Public Radio, I'm Neal Charnoff. Next month marks the quadricentennial of Samuel de Champlain's arrival on the lake that bears his name. Today, our series "Stories From the Lake" looks at how the growth of transportation at the turn of the 20th century connected the people of Vermont, New York and Canada.
(Host) Contact with native peoples, conflict with European superpowers, and the birth of a new nation...since Samuel de Champlain's arrival in 1609 the lake he named for himself tells a 400-year tale of world-changing events. On Mondays this month we're exploring Lake Champlain's history and lasting influence on our region. Today, VPR's Mitch Wertlieb continues our series as the lake enters its golden age of trade and economic growth.
(Host) On Mondays this month, we're probing the depths of change that occurred upon Samuel de Champlain's arrival 400 years ago...to the lake he named after himself. Today, VPR's Mitch Wertlieb continues our series with a look at the role of the Lake Champlain region during the American Revolution. (Mitch) By 1775, hostilities between Britain and rebel colonists in New England were ramping up, culminating in the famous battle at Lexington and Concord in April.
(Charnoff) It's All Things Considered on Vermont Public Radio, I'm Neal Charnoff. Next month marks the quadricentennial of Samuel de Champlain's arrival on the lake that bears his name. Today, our series "Stories From the Lake" looks at how Lake Champlain contributed to Vermont's rapid growth in the late 1700's. (lake sounds.
(Host) It's All Things Considered on Vermont Public Radio, I'm Dave McGown. Next month marks the quadricentennial of Samuel de Champlain's arrival on the lake that bears his name. Today, VPR's Neal Charnoff continues our series "Stories from the Lake" with a look at some of the earliest European settlements made possible by the French explorer. (Sound of wind and waves) (Charnoff) It's a windy day in Addison, along the southern shores of Lake Champlain.
(Mitch) Samuel de Champlain's arrival 400 years ago set forces in motion that would shape the fate of nations. I'm Mitch Wertlieb. On Mondays this month, we're exploring "Stories from the Lake" to see how the lake and its people have shaped the history and culture of our region. Today we look at the struggle between European nations for control of the Champlain Valley.
(Host) It's All Things Considered on Vermont Public Radio, I'm Neal Charnoff. This summer marks the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain's arrival on the lake that bears his name. As the region gets ready to observe the date, VPR is reflecting on how the French explorer has shaped our shared history and culture. This afternoon, in our series ‘Stories from the Lake' we look at life in the area when Champlain arrived in 1609.
(Mitch Wertlieb) For centuries, Lake Champlain has been a place of discovery, and one that's convinced many visitors to stay. We'll look deeply into the lake on Mondays this month in our series "Stories from the Lake," examining the lake and its role in shaping the history and culture of the region. I'm Mitch Wertlieb. Samuel de Champlain will get most of the attention during this summer's Quadricentennial celebrations, but we can't begin to understand his historic exploration of the lake that bears his name without a realization that thousands of years before his arrival the lake was a very different place.
Through The Eyes Of Champlain
(HOST) All this week, as part of VPR's special Champlain 400 programming, commentator Mike Martin has been looking at the New World through the "Eyes of Champlain." Today, he offers a brief glimpse of the man himself. (MARTIN) You've probably seen the familiar portrait of Samuel de Champlain, the great French explorer and founder of New France. He has long dark hair resting on a broad white collar and a jaunty goatee with a pointy musketeer’s mustache.
(HOST) This week, as part of VPR's special Champlain 400 programming, commentator Mike Martin is looking through the "Eyes of Champlain." Today, he considers Champlain's attitudes about torture and the humane treatment of prisoners. (MARTIN) On the way home from his first battle with the Iroquois nation, along the banks of a beautiful lake to which he’d just given his name, Samuel de Champlain should have been savoring his victory and basking in success.
(HOST) This week, as part of VPR's special Champlain 400 programming, commentator Mike Martin is looking through the "Eyes of Champlain." On Wedneasday he considers Champlain's views about the various cultures he encountered in the New World. (MARTIN) Modern readers of Samuel de Champlain might be shocked by the fact he calls Native Americans "sauvages" or savages.
07/07/09
Through The Eyes Of Champlain
Through the Eyes of Champlain: Champlain and Religion
By Mike Martin (HOST) This week, as part of VPR's special Champlain 400 programming, commentator Mike Martin is looking through the "Eyes of Champlain." Today, he considers the importance of religion in Champlain's life and work. (MARTIN) Before coming to the New World, Samuel de Champlain survived France’s long, bloody religious wars. Just a few years before he was born, Catholic mobs slaughtered thousands of Protestants during the Saint Bartholomew’s Eve Massacre.
07/06/09
Through The Eyes Of Champlain
Through the eyes of Champlain: The French connection
By Mike Martin (HOST) As part of VPR's special Champlain 400 programming, commentator Mike Martin is looking through the "Eyes of Champlain" all this week. Today, he considers Champlain and The French Connection. (MARTIN) In most of the United States, places are named for Washington or Lincoln, but in this region it's all about Champlain. And not just the lake. There’s Champlain College, Champlain Transmission, Champlain Leather, and even Champlain Hypnosis - just to mention a few.
Thrufters And Throughstones
This week Vermont Edition has been exploring more than 400 years of music in our region. Vermont Folklife Center archivist Andy Kolovos helped research Thrufters and Throughstones, a new CD set that chronicles our region's musical history. Today, we look at punk music's influence in Vermont and hear the song "Weapon Factory" by The Wards.
Andy Kolovos of the Vermont Folklife Center talks with VPR's Jane Lindholm about Franco-American and Abenaki music. First up is "La Bergére" from Michéle Choiniére, an arrangement of the traditional French folk song, "Il etait une bergere," made popular around 1765. He also looks at "Hegonay/Gwanuday" by Hand in Hand (Marge Bruchac and Justin Kennick) combining an Abenaki greeting song with a feast song.
07/21/09
Thrufters And Throughstones
VT Edition: "Growling Old Man and Grumbling Old Woman"
By Jane Lindholm This week we're exploring more than 400 years of music in our region with Vermont Folklife Center archivist Andy Kolovos. He helped research Thrufters and Throughstones, a new CD set that chronicles our region's musical history. Today, we explore the tradition of fiddling in Vermont and hear the song "Growling Old Man and Grumbling Old Woman" performed by the youth ensemble, The Fiddleheads.
(Host) From Abenaki songs to traditional folk ballads to the modern sounds of bands like Phish, the music of our region can both tell stories and connect us with history and culture. To celebrate Lake Champlain's Quadricentennial, the Vermont music collective Big Heavy World, the Vermont Folklife Center, and the Vermont Historical Society have produced a two-CD set that chronicles our region's musical history.
Chapters
- History Under The Waves
- Music From Champlain 400
- Stories From The Lake
- Through The Eyes Of Champlain
- Thrufters And Throughstones
- Full Archive
Champlain 400
VPR marks the quadricentennial of Samuel de Champlain's voyage with a summer-long exploration of the lake that bears his name. You'll hear the stories of shipwrecks, early settlers and war heroes, and learn how industry and tourism have changed the lake. We'll also trace our region's musical traditions from Native American songs to Vermont's own punk rock.