A scale model of the Radeau Land Tortoise and a radeau gun port cover retrieved from the depths of Lake George will be housed in new display cases at the Battlefield Park Visitors Interpretive Center thanks to a grant from the Stewart’s/Dake Family Foundation. The Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance announced Monday that the Foundation awarded them $2,500 to purchase display cases for these components of the VIC’s planned naval exhibit. Construction of the Lake George Park Commission building, which will house the new VIC, is near completion. The Alliance expects to open the VIC in late May or early June.
The Radeau model was built by Dale Henry, a renowned model builder with the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, and sponsored by Russell Bellico, a local historian and writer.
The planned naval exhibit will also include two films, The Lost Radeau and Wooden Bones, which will be run sequentially. The films, and permission to use them, were donated by Joseph Zarzynski and Pepe Productions. A grant from Victoria Garlanda funded the purchase of VCR equipment for this purpose.
The Alliance, which is the NYS DEC friends group for the park, continues to seek community support for the VIC for the purchase of additional display cases and interior signage. Donations in any amount may be sent to LGBP Alliance, PO Box 26, Lake George, NY 12845 or donated through the organization’s website, lakegeorgebattlefield.org. The Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance is a 501(c)(3) educational organization and contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Photo courtesy Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance