Celebrating Lori Fisher’s 40 Years with LCC

The day after a heat wave swept through the Champlain Valley, the clouds lifted to reveal a brilliant sunset over Lake Champlain. As LCC staff, board members, volunteers, colleagues, and friends gathered at the St. John’s Club in Burlington, the setting sun served as a fitting metaphor for the occasion: the retirement celebration of former LCC Executive Director Lori Fisher.

Much like the sun, Lori supplied life-force energy to LCC for over 40 years. During the celebration, past and present LCC staff, board members, colleagues, and members of Lori’s family shared stories spanning her decades of leadership and advocacy.

Around 80 people gathered over drinks, tapas, and desserts to honor the depth and breadth of Lori’s contributions to Lake Champlain. Attendees recalled her tireless efforts to advance clean water policies—from reducing nutrient pollution and banning harmful toxins, to protecting wetlands and securing long-term funding for water quality. Laughter filled the room as guests recounted Lori’s ability to make stewardship engaging—rallying family and friends to spend birthdays pulling invasive plants and launching quirky, impactful outreach campaigns like April Stools’ Day, which used humor to spotlight the issue of pet waste and water quality.

Her work helped bring LCC’s vision of a clean, accessible lake to life—through many initiatives, including the creation of the Lake Champlain Paddlers’ Trail. The project expanded opportunities for human-powered recreation while deepening public connection to the lake. It remains a lasting example of how creativity, inclusiveness, and environmental values can come together in service of stewardship.

Speakers mentioned Lori’s determination, her late nights writing and editing publications, and the enduring programs she established—including an award-winning community science initiative that became a national model for public engagement in water monitoring. They recalled how she successfully advocated for policy reforms, like phosphorus reduction laws, and mobilized community support for the cleanup of toxic waste sites. Her leadership of LCC was defined not only by persistence and tenacity, but by her belief that effective lake protection is rooted in both science and community action—and by her ability to unite people, often across differences, in pursuit of shared goals for the lake and its future.

The event closed on a joyful note, with a sea shanty penned by LCC Board Member Michaela Stickney and sung by a chorus of partygoers. Set to the tune of What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor?, the song celebrated milestones from Lori’s remarkable tenure.

In her own remarks, Lori reflected on her nearly four decades at LCC with a mix of gratitude, humility, and hope. She spoke of the privilege of working on behalf of the lake, the progress made through shared effort, and the joy of building something bigger than oneself. She expressed deep appreciation for the many people who contributed to LCC’s work—volunteers, donors, staff, partners, family, and friends—and spent time honoring those who helped to shape the organization’s journey.

Lori also reminded the crowd that the work is far from over. In a stirring call to action, she underscored the urgency of protecting hard-won environmental gains in a time of rollbacks, funding cuts, and rising ecological threats. “Stewardship isn’t a chapter that ends,” she said. “It’s a story that continues, shaped by each generation.”

LCC’s current Executive Director, Jenny Patterson, now carries that story forward, while Lori continues her lake advocacy as a dedicated volunteer and a passionate voice for clean water and public access.

Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate, to the St. John’s Club for hosting, and most of all to Lori—for her decades of visionary leadership, her tireless commitment to collaboration, and the legacy she leaves in every ripple across Lake Champlain. Bon voyage into retirement!