Potsdam, NY, Apr 21, 2010 — SUNY Potsdam's Department of Theatre and Dance revives a drama centered around the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway, as part of the College's 2010 Campus Festival. It opens Thursday night in the College Theater in Satterlee Hall. The 'Lunge Campaign was written by SUNY Potsdam alumnus Mason Smith. It follows an old man who wants to catch one more muskellunge, a large, elusive game fish native to the St. Lawrence River, before his island home is razed for the creation of Lake St. Lawrence as part of the Moses Saunders Dam project. The family is in turmoil over how, or even if, they should fight to prevent its destruction. Smith wrote the play in 1966. Richard Rice directed the first production. Todd Moe spoke with Smith and Don Mandigo, who is directing the current show. Mandigo, a lecturer in the theatre and dance department, was struck by the play when he saw it as a SUNY Potsdam student. They talk with Todd about the play's themes including family, turmoil, hope and local history.  Go to full article

Lunenburg, ON, Mar 23, 2010 — In the 1950's, the Seaway power project created jobs for thousands of Americans and Canadians. It also flooded one hamlet on the south side of the river and six villages in Canada. Canadian writer, Maggie Wheeler, incorporates the history of this changed area in her new mystery, On a Darkling Plain. Betsy Kepes has this review.  Go to full article

Upper Canada Village, ON, Jul 09, 2009 — Upper Canada Village is a living history museum on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence -- popular with families and school groups from both sides of the river. It was born out of the flooding required to build the St Lawrence Seaway. Nearly 20 buildings rescued from the "Lost Villages" were relocated to form the nucleus of this heritage park at Morrisburg, Ontario. Visitors come to experience St. Lawrence village life, as it would have been in 1866, just prior to Canada's confederation. This past spring, top management announced changes to boost attendance, along with job cuts among the interpretive staff. That produced a critical backlash, and charges that a treasured resource Is being commercialized. Lucy Martin visited to learn more.  Go to full article

Massena, NY, Jul 07, 2009 — 50 years ago this summer, the first freighters slipped through the locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Seaway realized a decades-old plan to open Great Lakes ports to vessels in the Atlantic Ocean. It brought some economic development to the North Country, but also pollution and invasive species. And the waters that rose up behind the huge Moses-Saunders power dam flooded whole villages, forcing families to leave everything they'd ever known. Tomorrow we'll hear the story of the Lost Villages in Ontario. But today we get a sense of the vastness of the project from an oral historian who interviewed the people who built it. Claire Puccia-Parham is a history professor at Siena College in Albany and a Watertown native. She's published a book about the Seaway workers entitled The St. Lawrence Power Seaway and Power Project: An Oral History of the Greatest Construction Show on Earth. She and some of the workers she interviewed will be speaking Thursday night in Massena. Puccia-Parham told David Sommerstein many Seaway workers still live in or around St. Lawrence County.  Go to full article

Aug 22, 2007 — A federal judge has upheld the constitutionality of a state law restricting ballast water on ships entering the Great Lakes. As Rachel Lippmann reports, the ruling clears the way for other states to take similar action to control the spread of invasive species.  Go to full article

Aug 02, 2007 — New research supports the practice of "swish and spit" for ocean-going ships that ply the St. Lawrence Seaway. As Mark Brush reports, the practice of rinsing ballast tanks with ocean salt water will help stop aquatic pests from getting into U.S. waters.  Go to full article

Apr 17, 2007 — The fight over foreign invasive pests in cargo ships is heating up. Mark Brush reports environmental and conservation groups are going to court to defend one of the toughest ballast water laws in the country.  Go to full article

Jan 17, 2007 — A new invasive species has joined zebra and quagga mussels, the brown gobie and other species that have hitchhiked to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River in ballast water. Rebecca Williams' report shows just how easily an even worse invader could make its way into the waterway.  Go to full article

Jan 08, 2007 — Invasive species continue to be one of the biggest problems facing the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes. One state has a new law in effect to stop ocean-going ships from bringing in foreign pests when they enter the St. Lawrence Seaway. Rebecca Williams reports neighboring states are watching to see what happens next.  Go to full article

Oct 13, 2006 — A close friend and college roommate of President Bush was sworn in as the new head of the St. Lawrence Seaway yesterday. David Sommerstein reports.  Go to full article