The Ogdensburg International Seaway Festival wrapped up this weekend and featured one of the best fireworks displays I’ve seen in St. Lawrence County.

To all those who helped out, I appreciate your hard work and dedication.

Although not officially part of the Seaway Festival, a small but magic thing happened on Ford Street recently, and while most St. Lawrence County residents probably missed it, for those in attendance it was quite the reunion.

In the 90s and early 2000s the local music scene here was thriving. Nearly every weekend teenagers played live music at community centers and American Legions, garages and Hurleys in Potsdam.

It was no small task to convince venues to allow for the mayhem that ensued, but somehow dedicated musicians worked to make it happen. The music scene created something rare, it brought kids across the county together on a near weekly basis.

Many of the life-long friendships I formed were created by this atmosphere. As the years went on many of us left and would return from time to time. New bands would form and Sully’s Tavern in Ogdensburg had become the venue of choice for the old bands, when they reunited from time to time.

When COVID-19 hit, bars took a major blow. Live music sort of dried up for a bit and people fell out of touch.

Greg Bresett, an Ogdensburg Free Academy graduate, artist musician who was at the forefront of the old music scene and who has probably set up more live shows than some professional managers, decided it was time to bring everyone back together during the Seaway Festival.

He currently plays in a successful surf rock band in the Syracuse area called Underwater Bosses, but you may recognize him from other bands including Milwaukee Talkee, Snake Blood Drinker or The Oswegatchie River Boys. I’m probably leaving out a half-dozen other bands he was in, including his short stint with my old cover band The Smugglers.

Bresett has helped set up dozens of jamborees to benefit various families and people in need over the years.

He worked with young musicians and promoted newly formed bands in the area for years.

This year, as sort of a pseudo-Seaway festival event, he decided it was time to get everyone back together.

He reached out to members of some of the old-area musicians and got Flood to join the Underwater Bosses and Milwaukee Talkee to perform once again at Sully’s.

The event drew well over a hundred people to the small bar. It brought friends back together, many of whom hadn’t been reunited in close to a decade.

It was like a class reunion for a group of people who didn’t attend school together, but were united through a love for music.

Recently, I wrote about the local events around the county that are worth attending and as an adult I have to say this little zap of lightning in a bottle was a great experience.

Everyday while we go to work there are people out there working to create such events for us. Sometimes it’s organized groups and sometimes it’s just people with a vision.

So thanks to Greg and the hundreds of others out in the community that put in the time and effort for the rest of us to enjoy these little pieces of magic. It’s appreciated.

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