Lake George 2025 brought festivals, groundbreaking ceremonies, ribbon cuttings, and historical reenactments as the nation approaches its 250th birthday. It was a year of celebrations and commemorations, of loss and renewal. The Lake George Examiner Editorial Staff selected these photos from our files to illustrate the year gone by.
The year began with 950 people participating in the Annual New Year’s Day Polar Plunge. The 2025 plunge was dedicated to Chief Warrant Officer 2 Casey Frankoski of Rensselaer. Frankoski, age 28, was killed in a helicopter crash on March 8, 2024, while serving with the New York Army National Guard at the U.S.-Mexican border. The event raised $9,500 for the Springfield Shriners Hospitals for Children.
Lake George Winter Carnival 2025 kicked off February 1 with opening ceremonies, a chili cookoff and outhouse races. For the first time since 2022, the lake froze. A half-foot of new snow fell on the eve of opening day, creating a winter wonderland throughout the village.
The Galloway Gaelic Pipe Band of Glens Falls marched in the Village of Lake George’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. The parade was part of a weekend of Irish festivities with Sham ‘Rock’ the Block at Duffy’s Tavern hosting Irish music, step dancers, games and competitions.
The Christian Churches of Lake George observed Good Friday, April 18, by walking the Way of the Cross, a tradition they began in 2008. Participants traveled on foot from Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church on Mohican Street to the Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches on Montcalm Street, stopping at each of the four churches to reflect on the 14 Stations.
The Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance commemorated the 250th Anniversary of the capture of Fort George from the British on May 11. The capture, which came a day after Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys took Fort Ticonderoga, drew the Lake George area into the American Revolution.
Lake George American Legion Post 374 held its annual Memorial Day parade and ceremony in Shepard Park to honor American soldiers who gave their lives for the country.
Skidmore College Associate Professor Siobhan Hart, with Skidmore students Lia Donahue and Lauren Attwell, conducted an archeological survey in Battlefield Park over three weeks in June. They focused on an open area of the park west of Fort George Road, continuing the work conducted by Dr. David Starbuck in the 2000s. Hart conducted a Battlefield Park study in 2024 that focused on the 1776 smallpox hospital and the 1755 Battle of Lake George battle lines.
More than 60 fire companies and their auxiliaries marched in the Hudson Valley Volunteer Firefighters’ Association dress parade on June 14. The parade, which lasted more than two hours, traveled down Canada Street and included fire trucks, marching and pipe bands, fife and drum corps and a xylophone band. The HVVFA was in Lake George for its annual convention.
The monuments in Lake George Battlefield Park were refurbished and rededicated with a June 27 ceremony hosted by the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance. Sculptor Dan George, a Lake George native, initiated the project. Andrew Pharmer of Workshop Art Fabrication in Kingston and his team completed the restoration work of repairing and washing the three sculptures.
The Lake George Land Conservancy held its 13th Annual Hike-A-Thon on July 5. Approximately 750 people joined more than two dozen simultaneously held hikes. An after-party at the Festival Commons in Charles R. Wood Park followed the hikes.
Seagle Festival performed “Monkey and Francine in the City of Tigers” for children at the Lake George High School auditorium on July 30. The Caldwell-Lake George Library presented the performance with funding from the Stewarts Shops Holiday Match grant program.
Bolton Free Library held its second annual Children’s Book Festival on August 2. The event featured more than a dozen local authors. Children and their families had the opportunity to chat with the authors and purchase signed books on the library lawn.
Sly Fox and the Hustlers perform at the Adirondack Independence Music Festival, which took over the Festival Commons in Charles R. Wood Park Labor Day Weekend. This was the 10th anniversary of the festival that features top touring bands.
The Adirondack Nationals Car Show returned to Lake George for its 36th year, September 4 to 7. The popular event features more than 1,500 pre-1980 hot rods, classics and customized vehicles. The annual event is sponsored by Albany Rods & Kustoms.
420 runners entered the Adirondack 5k road race on September 13. The run, hosted by the Adirondack Pub & Brewery, is part of the Great American Brewery Runs series. A portion of the proceeds benefited the Lake George Land Conservancy.
On September 18, the Courtland Street Reinterment Committee broke ground on the Repose of the Fallen project, which will provide a final resting place for the remains of Revolutionary War soldiers whose graves were disturbed during a 2019 construction project on Courtland Street in Lake George Village. The plaza with columbaria is expected to be completed in early May 2026, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for Friday, May 22, 2026.
The Vietnam Moving Wall came to Bolton with an opening ceremony and parade on September 19. The traveling memorial was open through September 22.
The Village of Lake George held its annual Oktoberfest on Canada Street over Columbus Day Weekend. The street festival featured Bavarian food, beer, polka music, dancing and craft vendors.
Local and state officials broke ground on the Shepard Park Amphitheater project. The new stage will replace the bandshell that was lost to fire on June 30, 2024, and will include upgrades to the structure and park. The project is projected to be completed in spring 2026.
The Lake George Youth Commission held a Trunk or Treat Halloween Block Party with a costume parade, games, entertainment, and trick-or-treating.
Fort William Henry held its annual Veterans Day commemoration before a field of nearly 11,000 flags. Each flag represented an individual who has served in the American military.
Kringle Kottage, a new sensory-friendly holiday experience, opened on the grounds of Fort William Henry with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 19. Adirondack Santa, Roger Allan, recognized the need for a Santa visit venue that catered to the needs of neurodivergent individuals, and the community rallied around his idea to make it a reality.
Approximately 2,000 people were Freezin’ for a Reason on November 22 to support Special Olympics New York athletes. The 2025 polar plunge from Shepard Park Beach raised more than $300,000.
The 27th Annual Lite up the Village celebration, held on November 29, drew thousands to Lake George for music, fireworks, a Parade of Holiday Lights, and the illumination of light displays throughout the village. The event is traditionally held in Shepard Park, but construction of the new bandstand has closed the park, and all festivities were moved to Blais Park on Beach Road.
On December 8, the Lake George Volunteer Fire Department was called to an early morning fire aboard the Lake George Waterfront Marina’s tour boat, Adirondac. Inspectors did not find the fire suspicious, and no injuries were reported. The boat sustained heavy damage, but the owners pledged to rebuild with hopes the vessel will be back in service next summer.
December 12, 18th-century reenactors rowed a replica bateau loaded with cannon up Lake George to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Henry Knox’s Noble Train of Artillery. The bateau landed on “Dog Beach” on Beach Road, and the cannon was transported to Fort George in Battlefield Park by a team of draft horses pulling an artillery sled. The event was one of a series of events in New York and Massachusetts commemorating the 250th anniversary of Knox’s expedition to deliver artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to George Washington outside of Boston. Christopher Ruckert, a reenactor with Fort William Henry, portrayed Knox.
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