Canceled — The Chase: Lake Champlain’s Rum Runners and Boat Patrol

By Lucille Campbell, Grand Isle Historical Society

GRAND ISLE – One hundred years ago, these headlines in Vermont newspapers told some of the stories of Prohibition in Grand Isle County during the 1920s.

“Rum Runner Runs into Lake Champlain”

“Seized Carload of Booze on Grand Isle”

“Undersea Craft With 4,800 Bottles of Ale Seized on Lake”

Learn more about this era of rum runners, bootleggers, speed boats and the Boat Patrol when Scott McLaughlin presents his program, “The Chase: Lake Champlain’s Rum Runners and Boat Patrol,” on Wednesday, July 15, at 6:30 p.m. in the meeting room of the Grand Isle County Sheriff’s Office, 10 Island Circle, Grand Isle.

The Grand Isle Historical Society’s annual meeting will begin at 6 p.m. with a short business meeting to elect officers. McLaughlin’s program will follow at 6:30 p.m. He is an archaeologist and historian who has worked with the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and is currently executive director of the Vermont Granite Museum in Barre. The program is free, open to the public and accessible.

On Sunday, July 19, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., the Historical Society will host an open house at the Hyde Log Cabin site, 228/230 US 2, Grand Isle. The Hyde Cabin, Corners School and Worthen Barn will be open with free admission. Stop by to see the three styles of architecture and many bits and pieces from the first 200 years of Grand Isle history.