The Lake Champlain Basin Program is set to kick off their Love the Lake series by hosting Helen Nerska, Director of the Clinton County Historical Association as she presents Clinton County’s Battle for Woman Suffrage on Thursday, February 20, 2020.  Nerska collaborated with several SUNY Plattsburgh students to write and publish the Clinton County Suffrage Story.

Women’s Suffrage is the 2020 theme for the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP) Program which interprets the history and cultural heritage in the region. CVNHP is managed by the Lake Champlain Basin Program. The CVNHP recently awarded seven grants to local organizations in New York and Vermont to commemorate the suffrage movement.

Nerska and her fellow historians, including SUNY students, have worked on Clinton County’s Suffrage since 2016, gathering data and photographs featured in the book.

The program will be the first of four Love the Lake programs featuring both natural and cultural heritage resource topics relevant to the Champlain watershed. This free public program begins at 6:30 pm in the Lake Champlain Basin Program Office and Vermont Fish and Wildlife Training Facility, 54 West Shore Road, Grand Isle, Vermont, located just north of the Grand Isle ferry entrance. Homemade desserts will be served.

The LCBP Love the Lake Speaker Series programs will include:

Thursday, February 20 6:30-7:30 pm
Clinton County’s Battle for Woman Suffrage
Helen Nerska, Clinton County Historical Association

Thursday, February 27 6:30-7:30 pm
Our Best Endeavors: Temperance and Prohibition in the Champlain Valley
Susan Evans McClure, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum

Thursday, March 5 6:30-7:30 pm
Road Salt in Mirror Lake: How Does it Impact Lake Trout Habitat?
Brendan Wiltse, Ausable River Association

Thursday, March 12 6:30-7:30 pm
Gateway to the Lake: 10,000 Years at the Galick Archaeology Site
Matt Moriarty, Southern Champlain Historical Ecology Program

The Lake Champlain Basin Program coordinates and funds efforts that benefit the Lake Champlain Basin’s water quality, fisheries, wetlands, wildlife, recreation, and cultural resources. The program works in partnership with federal agencies, state and provincial agencies from New York, Vermont, and Québec, local communities, businesses, and citizen groups. The New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC) serves as the primary program administrator of LCBP at the request of the Lake Champlain Steering Committee, and administers the program’s personnel and finances. For further information, contact the Lake Champlain Basin Program at the LCBP at (802) 372-3213 or (800) 468-5227 or visit their website.