Although I never lived in Ogdensburg, I spent my school years in Lisbon. Due to proximity and interests many of my friends attended Ogdensburg Free Academy and I spent a fair amount of time enjoying the usual high school leisure activities in the small city.

My friends and I would roam the city winning free pizzas from what was then Little Caesars, as we’d mastered the memory game there, and engage in general Tomfoolery.

We’d skateboard around the city, launch each other off the steel wheel of death at Morrisette Park and jump off the old steel structures down on the waterfront.

However, there were two times a year where things really ramped up as a kid in the city. There was of course the Seaway Festival which used to include carnival rides and games and was full of teenage angst, fights and fun in those days and then there was the Ogdensburg Expo.

The expo was one of the few events where you were guaranteed to run into everyone you knew. You’d meet up with friends  and act like a fool in attempts to impress crushes.

Looking back we were essentially loitering while enjoying hotdogs, some live entertainment and getting a bag full vendor swag.

There was a lot of goofing off and general fun. It was a supervised event, but with enough people that you could get lost in the crowd.

When I was probably about 16 I’d been having fun throwing pieces of American cheese at things. I don’t really know why, but I thought it was hilarious because it stuck very well to surfaces.

It was at that time at the Ogdensburg Expo I achieved what remains one of my greatest teenage accomplishments. 

I launched a piece of American Cheese in the stairwell leading to the dome where it stuck to the ceiling. The cheese was in a near impossible place to reach and there it stayed to my surprise for literal years. Each year at expo I’d check to see if it was still holding, and while I know some of you might doubt this legend I assure you it is true.

Now I suppose it’s possible that it fell and was replaced by another amazing shot, by another ambitious and talented youth, but knowing what I know about an American Cheese slice and just how hard it was to stick it to the ceiling, I like to think it was mine.

Although I graduated high school in 2001 and moved to Buffalo, I returned to the expo each March when visiting home, that of course is one of the things that makes expo an Ogdensburg event so great, it's that everyone goes. To my surprise the cheese remained throughout my college career but did eventually disappear and sadly so did the expo.

Post Covid the Ogdensburg Expo was shuttered due to complications associated with hosting what was the Ogdensburg Boys and Girls Club’s largest fundraiser. Fortunately the club has managed to keep a steady flow of support through its raffles and generous supporters.

The Ogdensburg Boys and Girls Club does amazing work by offering youth in an impoversihed area a place where they can be safe, learn and grow. It is an essential componet to the city.

I recently spoke with Ogdensburg Boys and Girls Club Director Tom Luckie who said support for the organizations has remained strong in recent years despite the challenges and said the club has never been busier.

But with that growth, staffing needs have also grown and so have expenses.

And now after a four-year hiatus, the expo is returning to the city. I’m glad to hear it. I hope that friends far and wide answer the call and attend the event and show their support for the club.

The world, the country, the county and the city have been through a lot in the last four years and I can’t help but feel like the expo’s return is a sign that things are moving in the right direction. So make sure you go out and make some memories there, I know I cherish mine still.

Kudos to those who are putting in the work to bring it back the expo; let’s make sure we make it worth their while with our support.

Jimmy Lawton is the news editor of North Country This Week and NorthCountryNow.com