St. Lawrence University

(02/24/12) The sweet sounds of the St. Lawrence University Community Gospel Choir will fill Gulick Theatre in Canton again tomorrow evening. Eleven members of the ensemble, including co-directors Rev. Shaun Whitehead and Barry Torres, joined Todd Moe in the studio during the Eight O'clock Hour this morning.

William Hamilton, of the Chicago Mass Choir, joined the group on keyboards. He's been leading a gospel music workshop at St. Lawrence University this week, and you're invited to move, swing and sing along Saturday 7:30 pm at the 9th annual "Got Spirit?" gospel concert in Canton.

An earlier version of this story reported the concert start time as 7 pm. NCPR regrets the error. more

(02/21/12) Planets are "zooming" across the night sky, according to St. Lawrence University astronomer and physic professor Aileen O'Donoghue. She sketched out how to follow the waxing crescent moon to find what's moving in the west, Venus and Jupiter, over the next week--and lots more--in a conversation with Martha Foley.

(02/08/12) The Grasse River Players' winter production of The New York Idea opens in Canton Thursday night as part of the annual Winterfest. Todd Moe talks with Libby Brandt and Carole Berard, two long-time members of Canton's community theater group, about the show.

The drawing room comedy was a Broadway hit back in 1906. It's been updated for modern ears by David Auburn. The play offers a slice of Manhattan's upper crust and tackles social change and those who can and cannot adapt. Carole and Libby talk with Todd about the joys of community theater and this latest production, starting with the play's opening scene.

(02/01/12) Our guest is Jaimy Gordon. Her fourth novel, Lord of Misrule, won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2011. Her other work includes the novels Shamp of the City-Solo, She Drove Without Stopping, and Bogeywoman. Pedro Ponce and Ellen Rocco host.

Thursday, February 2, Gordon will give a reading at 7:30 pm in Sykes Common Room on the St. Lawrence University campus in Canton NY, as part of the SLU Writers Series. This event is free and open to the public.

(12/22/11) If the early evening gloom is getting to you, take comfort that the days are about to start getting longer. The winter solstice began at 12:30 this morning, marking the shortest day of the year and the start of winter.

Most of the customs, symbols, and rituals associated with Christmas -- holly, mistletoe and pine boughs -- actually are linked to Winter Solstice celebrations of ancient Pagan cultures. Winter Solstice has been celebrated in many cultures for thousands of years.

A Solstice family celebration will be held tonight (7 pm) at St. Lawrence University's Herring-Cole Hall with music, merriment, science and revelry.

A few years ago, a group gathered at St. Lawrence to celebrate the Solstice with songs, poems and candles.

(11/30/11) Our guest, Kevin Young, is one a new generation of poets who find inspiration in the bittersweet history of Black America. Among his many books of poetry: Ardency: A Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels, Dear Darkness and For the Confederate Dead. Dale Hobson and Jackie Sauter host, along with guest Sarah Barber.

Kevin Young appears as part of the St. Lawrence University Writers Series. He will give a reading on the St. Lawrence University campus in Canton, NY, Thursday, December 1 at 8 pm in the Sykes Common Room.

(11/22/11) Back in September, faculty and staff at St. Lawrence University got an e-mail from English Professor Peter Bailey - "adopt a Bentley" it said.
Bentley - a big friendly puppy -- needed a home.

In October, Peter Bailey repeated his request, and a couple weeks ago, he emailed again.
Attached to the third note were a couple pictures...soon Bentley's cause spread. Word about the Boxer-St. Bernard mix reached into the Adirondacks and south to Syracuse.
There's no happy ending, yet, but Bentley has attracted friends and visitors to the St. Lawrence Valley SPCA in Ogdensburg.

Nora Flaherty spoke with Peter Bailey about Bentley's cause: more

(10/27/11) The American Shakespeare Center on Tour troupe is at St. Lawrence University this week. The group, based in Virginia, performs Shakespeare with the house lights on, shattering the "fourth wall" between actors and audience.

Their "Almost Blasphemy Tour" continues this weekend in Canton. Two cast members, Bridget Rue and Patrick Earl, along with tour manager Glenn Schudel, brought their brand of the Bard into the NCPR studio this morning.

(10/25/11) The great-grandnephew of Dracula author Bram Stoker has written a sequel, Dracula - the Un-Dead. Dacre Stoker, a St. Lawrence University graduate, has returned for a presentation tonight in Canton. Todd Moe talks with him about his famous relative and the first authorized sequel to the original Dracula.

(10/06/11) Hundreds of university students throughout New York are walking out of classes, in a show of solidarity with the Wall Street protests. About sixty students gathered at the quad of St. Lawrence University in Canton. They wrote messages on pieces of white paper, and strung them together between the trees. One read, "We are the future, when is my voice going to be heard."

Protestors on Wall Street seem to have a variety of reasons for being there, mostly to do with economic justice. St. Lawrence is a relatively expensive, private college. But when Julie Grant attended the protest there, she found the students also have many concerns for the future. She spoke with organizers Emily Penna and Jordan Pescrillo for today's Heard Up North.