North Country This Week

OGDDENSBURG – Veteran sports reporter for the Ogdensburg Journal, Dave “Doctor” Shea, has launched a website to keep his sports and community reporting going, despite the paper’s closure.

Shea launched the Old School Sports Journal, a website that will allow him to carry on the paper’s long history of sports and community coverage.

Shea’s site includes sports and event coverage for Ogdensburg and the surrounding towns. Shea said the closure of the Journal hit him hard and left a hole in the community.

“Losing the paper was catastrophic. I feel like what I did for the Journal was important to a lot of people and kids in the community. When the paper folded, all of the sudden I thought about all these things that had always been in newspaper and I didn’t want that to just disappear,” he said.

So with help from his sister-in-law Laura Shea he created a website as way keep the tradition going.

“It’s a continuation of what I’ve always done,” he said. “I’ve always put my heart into every story I did. I’m just one of those guys who loves what he does and I’m going to keep working at it as long as I can,” he said.

Shea worked for the Ogdensburg Journal as a reporter and editor for 47 years. He said he dedicated his website to Charles W. Kelly, late publisher of the Ogdensburg Journal.

“I dedicated it to Chuck just to continue the legacy of the Journal. What he did for the community, I thought, should be continued,” he said.

Shea said not long after he launched the website a fellow churchgoer caught him after the service and pulled him aside.

“He said, I just want to thank you for what you are doing,” Shea recalled.

“I felt real good about that,” Shea said. “I knew I was doing something that the community wanted,” he said. “It really helped keep me in a good headspace.”

Shea said he’s still refining the website and is preparing for the upcoming busy high school sports season. He encouraged those interested in sports and community coverage to reach out to him.

“My contact information is on the website. Anybody that wants to call me with game results or story ideas should. I’m always interested in story ideas.”

To see Shea’s work visit www.oldschoolsportsnny.com. Many of Shea’s stories will also be linked on NorthCountryNow.com’s homepage.