Nitpick: It’s just Champ, not Champie. 
At the time I went on a pub crawl back in 1987 with some UV students I was told Champie was the name of the monster in the lake. And that she was female, too.
I believe them, since who’s more truthful than college students on a pub crawl?
Thanks for stealing my thunder, congodwarf. You were supposed to take offense.
lucky so-and-sos getting to run around cool places I’ve never been to and why don’t we have giant water-monsters mumble mutter
Lol, I’m sorry. I’ll try harder next time. I will admit that I did feel offended for about 5/8 of a second. 
I learned that the lake monster’s name was Champie also. I wonder if it was an 80’s thing. The first time I came up here must have been '87 or '88. Whenever I hear Champ, instead of Champie, I think, “What a stupid name for a sea monster!”.
I would very much like to feed all my nieces and nephews to Champ(ie). Well, not Victoria. She lives in Virginia. I don’t see her enough to be annoyed.
Huh…weird. I’ve only ever heard it called Champ. Wikipedia doesn’t mention it being called Champie either.
Wikipedia may not mention her being called Champie, but a Google search for “Champie” brings up this page, as well as the Wikipedia page you linked.
I’d always thought that she was called Champie specifically to evoke a similarity with Nessie. I suspect that congodwarf has the right of it, and we’re familiar with an older fashion. Considering that I figure the odds of a contact, tomorrow, by space-faring aliens are infinitely greater than that there are any actual monsters in the lake, I’m not about to change my name for her. 
ETA: congodwarf, remembering some of the things you’ve posted about living with your niephlings I did choose that suggestion with malice aforethought to try to make you grin.
You don’t call Nessie just Ness do you? She will all ways be Champie to me.
The monster’s name is Champ, but Champie (or Champy if you prefer) is an affectionate local nickname. It was a sad day when the hand-painted “Champy Xing” sign was removed from the side of Route 9 near Ausable Point. Always did bring a smile to my face. I’m pretty sure it was gone by the time you got there, congodwarf, but I can probably dig up some pictures. (Nice pics of the dock, by the way…your threads lately have been great for my hometown nostalgia!)
Also, since we’ve got at least a few upstate NY/VT Dopers in this thread, would any of you be interested in an early-summer Dopefest in Plattsburgh? I’ll open an official thread with details and such once I confirm dates, but I’d like to gauge interest beforehand.
I seem to remember that sign from when I visited Plattsburgh when I was a kid. We used to come up here ever summer for a few weeks to visit my grandfather. He always took us to Ausable. I also loved to sit at the end of the AFB runway and watch the planes land. It was a sad day for me when the base closed.
I am definitely interested in a Dopefest. I’ve always wanted to go to one but I could never work out the timing when I still lived in MA. I’ll be in MA the weekend of June 15th and the following weekend is also out for me because my mom will be up here visiting. But, other than those two weekends the whole summer is good for me.
Talking about flooding makes me a little nervous since the town I live in is the southern most point of the lakes region, and it floods whenever there’s an opportunity to do so. NH had significant flooding the fall of 2005. And the spring of 2006. And the spring of 2007. Right about now people are eyeing the sky and wondering if this trend will continue for the 4th year in a row… News trailers called things like “Are NH dams prepared for more flooding?” shown a few times a week lend a lot to the feeling of inevitability.
Oh and how you did. I didn’t just grin. I guffawed. I haven’t guffawed in a long time. I even start giggling every time my nephew asks if we can go back to the lake and try to find Champie. I want to see if I can trick him the way my grandfather’s friend did, many years ago. She took us to a small secluded beach below a cliff (which we climbed down), at Point au Roche. While we were there, she found a small flatish, round hunk of some aquatic plant life. It was all dried and brown. She told us it was a Champie turd. Of course we believed her. We took it back to Grandpa’s house and made him put it in his curio cabinet. It was there for a good 15 years. I don’t think he brought it with him after he sold his house. I actually believed it was a genuine Champie turd until I was about 10, when common sense took hold and I realized that a sea creature the size of Champie would not leave a turd as small as the palm of my hand.
BTW, I love the word niephlings. It makes them sound like little aliens. I sometimes think they are. Believe it or not, I actually do like the little dorks. I’m just not a kid person and I spend way to much time with them.