News stories tagged with "audio-diary"

(01/23/07) Last weekend, winter finally arrived in the Adirondack Mountains. In the High Peaks, snow covered the trails and temperatures plunged to double-digits below zero. Brian Mann snuck away for a day with his friend Bob Martin, from Saranac Lake, to ski the trail to Avalanche Pass. They sent this audio postcard.

(02/06/06) Naj Wikoff from Keene Valley is spending a year in Ulan Udea, in Russia's Lake Baikal region, developing arts programs at a government hospital. He's has been keeping an on-line journal on NCPR's website and sending occasional audio diaries. This week, Naj describes a village's effort to rebuild a sacred Buddhist shrine, called a stupa, in a small village on the edge of Siberia. Buddhists were persecuted during by the communist regime, especially during the Stalin era in the 1950s. But over the last decade, the religion has experienced a renaissance. The new stupa will serve as a place of worship and pilgrimage to honor the 12th reincarnation of the Khambo Lama.

(12/30/05) On January 2nd, 2005, six hundred and seventy soldiers with the 2nd of the 108th National Guard battalion celebrated their return from the war in Iraq with a ceremony at Fort Drum. They also remembered three of the unit's reservists who didn't make it home. Lt. Colonel Eric Olsen served as a chaplain at a base north of Bagdad and also volunteered for North Country Public Radio, keeping a series of audio diaries. Olsen has been home in Saranac Lake for a full year now, with his wife Susan and his sons Garth and Evan. Olsen sat down this week with Brian Mann to talk about returning to civilian life, a hard transition for many reservists.

(12/29/05) This week we're hearing audio diaries. Today's is a part of our year-long series Disability Matters, looking at the issues facing people with disabilities in the North Country. Ann Bennett and her husband, Brian, are organic farmers in Heuvelton. They sell chickens and eggs, vegetables and herbs under the name Bittersweet Farm. They have two children, 11-year-old Katherine and 8-year-old Carl. Ann has a form of muscular dystrophy and arthritis. Her condition has gotten worse in recent years. Before, she walked through the fields and gardens. Now she uses an electric wheelchair with big sturdy wheels to get around the farm. Ann prepared this audio diary about the transition.

(12/27/05) This week on the 8 O'Clock Hour we're featuring audio diaries - first hand glimpses of our world. This morning, a first experience of the Adirondack Mountains. The Adirondacks have introduced millions of Americans to real wilderness. Often that first taste comes at summer camp or during a family outing. Marcus Pavon, a 17-year-old senior from the Bronx, first came to the north woods last summer as an Adirondack Nature Conservancy intern. Teenagers from New York City helped to fight invasive species in ponds and along roadsides throughout the park. Marcus joined the group and kept an audio diary of his experience. (Brian Mann produced Marcus' diary.)

(12/26/05) Naj Wikoff, from Keene Valley, is spending eight months in Ulan Ade, in the Lake Baikal region of eastern Russia. Since August, Naj has been keeping a web-diary of his journey here at NCPR.org. He's described his travels and his work as a Fulbright scholar, a teacher and artist at the East Siberian Academy of Culture. This morning, Naj sends this audio diary of his journey across Russia and his first encounter with Lake Baikal and its people.

Naj's audio diary was produced by Brian Mann with web production by Dale Hobson.

(11/30/05) The situation is Iraq continues to be very dangerous for foreigners. Yesterday the Associated Press reported 11 foreigners were abducted. Earlier this month, two car bombs targeted the Al-Hamra Hotel in Baghdad, where many foreign journalists stay. 8 Iraqis died in the blast. Freelance photojournalist Bill Putnam was staying near the hotel, at Time Magazine's house. He was in his room when the first bomb went off. He sent us this audio diary.

(10/10/05) Thousands of families in the North Country have school-age kids who live with disabilities, everything from dyslexia to muscular dystrophy to attention deficit. Public schools are a front-line resource, providing a remarkable range of services, therapies, and specialized education. Good programs can make all the difference, helping a child to reach a productive, engaged life. But navigating the bureaucracy and finding the best strategies for each child can be a daily struggle. Kathy Hannon is a special education teacher who lives in Saranac Lake and works in Lake Placid. Her daughter Michaela lives with spastic cerebral palsy. Michaela, who is twelve years old, uses a wheelchair and a voice machine that helps her to communicate. In this morning's installment of the Hannon's audio diary, they offer a glimpse of the ups and downs of the education system as seen from the inside.

(07/22/05) Summer is the time for family vacations and getting outdoors. This month, Tracy Santagate from the Adirondack town of Gabriels headed north to the maritime provinces of Canada. Tracy traveled with her son Levi and with friends, going by train and bicycle for eleven days. She took along a recorder, capturing the sounds of the open road. Here's her audio postcard.

You heard from Tracy Santagate. Also her son, Levi, who's fifteen years old and Levi's friend Kellen Waickman who's sixteen.

(06/06/05) We begin a new project for North Country Public Radio. It's called Raise Your Voice: Stories from North Country Teens. We gave three young women recorders and asked them to document their daily lives. The resulting stories will air Monday mornings in June on The 8 O'Clock Hour. The project is a collaboration with North Country Adolescent Outreach, a peer education program based at SUNY Potsdam. Today we hear from Brittany Chase. Brittany is 16 years old. She lives in a foster home in Potsdam. Strife in her biological family landed her in the foster care system. Brittany says it saved her life.