News stories tagged with "culture"

(04/23/12) This morning, we begin on an on-going series, looking at the problem of young people in the North Country. Across the US, rural towns and villages face a dangerous drain of young people who are moving away, choosing a different way of life in cities and suburbs.

The exodus of twenty- and thirty-somethings has huge implications for community life, reshaping the economy, shrinking schools, making it harder to sustain volunteer fire departments and other basic services.

In the days and weeks ahead, we'll be looking at this challenge from many different angles, hearing many different voices.

But we begin with Brian Mann's story of one young woman who grew up in Rossie, in the St. Lawrence Valley, but chose to live and raise her family far away from the North Country. more

(04/11/12) Last spring downtown Plattsburgh got a new restaurant: a Himalayan restaurant. It's owned and operated by Tenzin and Yangchen Dorjee, a Tibetan couple who moved to northern New York with their two kids in 2007.

This month they're putting on a Tibetan arts festival where visiting monks will make a mandala out of sand, and offer lectures on topics ranging from Tibetan medicine to religious ethics. Sarah Harris visited the restaurant and talked to Tenzin Dorjee about the family's journey to Plattsburgh and how they're keeping their culture alive in the North Country. more

(04/04/12) Plattsburgh is a city in transition. There's a lot of effort to attract new families and businesses and rebrand the lakeside city as a destination. As Sarah Harris reports, a key part of that revitalization means bringing the downtown back to life and building the arts scene. more

(02/07/12) We continue our series, the Adirondack Attic, with Andy Flynn. You may know Andy from his series of Adirondack Attic books on local history. He uses the objects people make, use and leave behind to tell stories about the life and times of the region.

NCPR is collaborating with Andy and his sources at the Adirondack Museum and other historical associations and museums in the region to bring these stories to air. Today, we'll get the history and the back-story of Saranac Lake's Winter Carnival, and its famous Ice Palace.

(01/20/12) New York State now includes more than 10,000 Amish people in 25 settlements, many of them in the North Country. In her book New York Amish, Karen Johnson-Weiner explains some of the history and customs of the Plain people. Betsy Kepes has this review. more

(01/13/12) This weekend in Blue Mountain Lake, the Adirondack Museum will host a lecture on the Chester Gillette murder trial. The 1906 murder of Grace Brown on Big Moose Lake was one of the biggest national scandals of its day. The case inspired "American Tragedy," one of the great novels of the 20th century. In the decades since, the story of Grace Brown and Chester Gillette has sparked more novels, operas, folk songs, Hollywood films and documentaries. In 2005, Brian Mann set out to travel from the Adirondacks to New York City, to trace why this particular murder case continues to hold such a grip on our imagination.

(11/16/11) SUNY Plattsburgh is celebrating International Education Week with a series of workshops, lectures, debates and the "Night of Nations" cultural showcase on Saturday. Todd Moe talks with Student Association president, PJ Shah, an international student from Nepal, about the lure of attending college in Plattsburgh.

(09/15/11) This Saturday you're invited back inside Traditional Arts in Upstate New York's newly renovated space on Main Street in Canton. The work trucks and dumpsters are out of the back parking lot and the brown paper is coming off the front windows by Saturday morning. TAUNY showcases the folk culture and living traditions of the North Country. The first phase of renovations includes an elevator, improved lighting and fresh paint. Todd Moe stopped by TAUNY earlier this week for a sneak preview with Executive Director Jill Breit.

(06/17/11) This week, it's been all about same sex marriage in Albany. Supporters, led by Governor Cuomo, have been lobbying hard for a vote in the State Senate. Now they're one vote shy of passage.

According to a Siena College poll this week, 55% of New Yorkers support legalizing same sex marriage. Sarah Harris chatted with shoppers in Ogdensburg to get their opinions.

(06/06/11) It was a perfect sunny day Saturday, and Canton was out in force for the annual tradition of the Dairy Princess parade. There was dairy royalty, lots of tractors and floats, and plenty to satisfy the sweet tooth. David Sommerstein was there and sent this audio postcard... more