This is the first edition of “Inside NCNow,” a weekly look at what is going on “behind the scenes” at NorthCountryNow.com.

By BILL SHUMWAY

The staff of NorthCountryNow.com got in the holiday spirit last week while setting up our new Santa display at Lights on the River in Lisbon.

About 75 lighted exhibits are expected at the third annual event at the Lisbon Beach and Campground. The display opened Saturday and runs daily from 5 to 9 p.m. through Dec. 23.

Last year, about 3,000 cars passed through to view the seasonal displays.

Among the entries this year is “Even Santa Visits NorthCountryNow.com,” designed by our Assistant General Manager Debbie Morgan of Norwood. Debbie, whose artistic talents are also behind many of the ads that appear on our website, constructed the display with the help of her husband, Rick.

NorthCountryNow.com staff members Julie Spadaccini of DeKalb Junction and Jimmy Lawton of Lisbon helped Debbie and Rick set up the display at the beach last Thursday.

Why not plan a trek to Lights on the River on Route 37 this week? It’s fun, different and raises money and food for a good cause.

There’s no entry fee, but don’t forget to bring food or cash to donate to local food pantries. In the past three years, more than $16,000 was raised, according to Scott Wilhelm, one of six founders of the project.

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Winter is almost here in St. Lawrence County, and that means school delays and cancellations when ice and snow create slippery conditions on area roadways.

We try to make it easy for public schools students, educators and parents to find out what’s happening at their school district with the NorthCountryNow.com Cancellations & Delays Page at http://northcountrynow.com/cancellations-delays

The page features links to area radio and TV station websites that list the latest school schedule changes.

Last Monday, the page was visited more than 7,100 times in the early morning hours when most county schools delayed the beginning of classes by one or two hours. Massena cancelled school for the entire day.

You can find the link in two places on the home page – on the left in the tool bar in green lettering and in the third column below the temperature in the rainbow icon.

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Thank you, viewers, for making NorthCountryNow.com the most-viewed site for news in St. Lawrence County.

According to Quantcast.com, which measures viewer traffic by code embedded in websites, NorthCountryNow.com was visited 545,482 times in the past month.

North Country Public Radio’s site received 137,542 visits, the Daily Courier-Observer website had 114,943 visits and the Ogdensburg Journal site received 65,362.

The Watertown Daily Times website, based in Jefferson County, had 357,079 visits in the past month. WWNY-tv, also based in Watertown, received 305,282 visits.

For more, visit http://northcountrynow.com/four-times