The Fort La Presentation Association will hold its annual dinner Nov. 17 at The Inn at Gran View, at which time it will present the Persis Yates Boyesen Award to author, novelist, legislator and historian James Reagan. The award is given to individuals or organizations making outstanding contributions to the association and its primary goal of an historically accurate reconstruction of Fort La Presentation.
Reagan is a 1974 graduate of Ogdensburg Free Academy and a 1978 graduate of the University of Virginia. He was editor of the St. Lawrence Plaindealer of Canton from 1983 until 1984, when he was named managing editor of The Journal and Advance News of Ogdensburg, which position he held until 2010. He is director of community relations for New York State Sen. Patty Ritchie, a position he has held since 2011.
In 2020, he and wife Donna purchased the 125-year-old Sherman Elementary School which they now operate as the Sherman Inn. He is the author of North Country Tales Grandpa Never Told You, Fort Oswegatchie, Tales of the Oswegatchie Delta, Warriors of La Presentation, and Wizardry, the League of the Crimson Crescent.
Reagan is a member of the St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators, vice president of the Ogdensburg Museum, a member of the board of the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency, a member of the board of the Ogdensburg Kiwanis Club and a long-time advisor to the Ogdensburg Free Academy Key Club.
The Association will also be honoring Father F. James Shurtleff, pastor emeritus at Notre Dame Church, Ogdensburg, with the Joseph Cosentino Award and Jodi Tosti of B99.3 FM Radio with the David L. Dickinson Award. The Joseph Cosentino Memorial Award is given for special recognition, commitment or self and resources to Association and the the David L. Dickinson Annual volunteer award is given for outstanding commitment of time and effort to the association.
The social hour begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets are $40 pre-sale and $45 at the door. Tickets are also available from fort board members, the Greater Chamber of Commerce, or through Association President Barbara O’Keefe at 315-323-2593 or barbokeefe@gmail.com, and through Marsha Hough at 528-0014, cme@twcny.rr.com.
This year’s dinner also celebrates the 275th Anniversary of Abbe Francoise Picquet’s first visit to what is now Ogdensburg. He chose what’s now Lighthouse Point, also known as Van Rensselaer Point, as the location to build for what would become Fort La Presentation the following year.
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(To order tickets, please click the Donate button below and use Paypal or a credit card to pay for them. Ticket(s) will be mailed to you.)
fort1749.org 