July 11th, 2015, at 1 PM Dr. Alan Yale will give a talk on “Glacial Lake Memphremagog ” at the Goodrich Memorial Library, Newport.

As part of the summer-long “Lake Memphremagog Exhibit” at the Goodrich, Dr. Yale will give us the time line and history of the glacial process that produced our “Beautiful Waters” of today.

Alan Yale has been a resident of Derby, Vermont for the past forty-eight years. After teaching social studies at North Country Union High School for eighteen year, he returned to graduate school to earn a Ph.D. in history from the University of Connecticut in 1996. He taught history at Lyndon State College for ten years, attaining the rank of associate professor before he retired in 2005. Most of his research has focused on topics in Vermont history. He holds a B.A. in anthropology from Yale University, M.A., in history from UVM, and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Connecticut.

About 21,000 years ago the Laurentide ice sheet reached its maximum at Long Island. Shortly after that the ice began to melt. By 13,000 BC , the southern edge of the ice sheet had melted to Sheffield Heights in the Northeast Kingdom. As the ice sheet continued to recede north of the watershed divide, the melt water was trapped between the ridge line and the wall of ice, forming a glacial lake. This glacial lake, Glacial Lake Memphremagog, continued to grow until it reached as far north as Richmond PQ and Asbestos, PQ. At its maximum it reached a level of over 1000 feet above sea level. Eventually the lake was finally able to drain to the north and the lake fell to about its current level of 681 feet above sea level.

Come to the Goodrich for a fascinating look into the past history of our environment. The library is handicapped accessible.