NCPR morning man Todd Moe saying goodbye to listeners

May 25—CANTON — On June 7, a significant chapter in Northern New York's mornings will come to a close. Todd A. Moe, the familiar voice that has accompanied thousands of listeners for the past four decades, is retiring from his role as the North County Public Radio morning host.

For the better part of this century, Moe has been the voice welcoming Northern New York to each new day, first as the host of NCPR's Eight O'Clock Hour and more recently as the guiding light of Northern Light.

Moe, a native of Minnesota, has deep public radio roots.

"I grew up in a little town north of Minneapolis, not too far from Lake Wobegon," Moe said, referencing the fictional town made famous by Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion."

Moe attended St. Olaf College, a private liberal arts school in Northfield, Minnesota, with a public radio station, WCAL.

Moe had a double major in speech theater and Norwegian. At the end of his sophomore year, a panic set in and he went to see his adviser.

"What am I going to do? What do I do with a theater major?" he said.

During his conversation with his adviser, she told him about the college radio station.

He arranged an interview, read some audition copy, and soon began working as a paid announcer at the station.

"I read AP copy and did the station IDs at the top of the hour and the weather," he said.

Following graduation, a college connection helped him move on to St. Paul Public Radio, where he started part-time and eventually became the weekday morning newscaster.

In the late 1990s, Moe's partner, Paul A. Siskind, got a job at the Crane School of Music, and the pair began to plan a move to New York.

As part of that plan, Moe emailed former Minnesota Public Radio reporter Mitch Teich, whom he knew was somewhere in New York.

As it turns out, Teich, now NCPR's station manager, was getting ready to leave New York and his job as a general assignment reporter at NCPR would soon be open.

Moe said he wrote a cover letter and resume, and put together an audition tape and came in for an interview with legendary NCPR station manager Ellen Rocco.

As the new general assignment reporter, Moe's reporting beat was everything.

"It was only Martha Foley and me in the news department. That was before Brian Mann was hired. So my beat was the north country. I guess," he said.

The station staff began to grow by hiring Mann as the Adirondack reporter.

Moe eventually became a morning show host, and David Sommerstein, now the news director, took over Moe's St. Lawrence Valley reporting job.

A standout part of Moe's work at the station is the thousands of interviews he has conducted with all sorts of people in the region.

He remembers an early interview, partly conducted in a canoe, at Paul Smith's College with a group of Italian forest rangers who were learning about the Adirondack Park.

"I tell people I have a license to ask questions," he said.

A more recent interview was of a young man studying northern peatlands.

"I didn't really know much about bogs and swamps and peatlands and I didn't even realize that we had them in the Adirondacks," he said.

Sommerstein said Moe's love of the arts sets him apart.

"An unsung part of Todd's work has been his love and support for the arts across the north country," Sommerstein said. "Arts organizations have relied on him to get the word out about their concerts, exhibits, and workshops. It's totally normal for Todd to finish a full morning shift that started before dawn, then drive hours to Crown Point or Clayton or Lowville or Blue Mountain Lake to interview an artist, and THEN produce and mix that interview to air the next morning. His dedication and proficiency are truly legendary."

Teich said Moe's authenticity makes him a special part of so many people's mornings.

"I think if you weren't hearing the genuine article on the air every day for almost 25 years, people wouldn't miss him," Teich said. "But the sense of attachment people have to Todd in the morning comes from the way he brought his real self to the radio every day for almost a quarter century."

Northern Light co-host Monica Sandreczki started working with Moe just before the coronavirus pandemic and remembers being together in the station but working in different studios for social distancing purposes.

"Working with Todd was such a bright spot during the pandemic for me," Sandreczki said. "I'm a real people person. I'm extroverted. I love being with people, talking to them, listening to them, and getting to know them. That was one of the difficulties for me during the pandemic. So getting to be with Todd each morning, it was something that carried me through."

Sandreczki said that even after so many years on the job, Moe still has a sense of discovery about him.

"He's so able to be delighted by new ideas, and by art, and by the practice of making things," she said."You can hear it in his interviews."

Moe said he has made his home in New York and won't be leaving after his retirement.

He will have more time to spend on his passion for making paper.

He began making paper after interviewing some people who were in Gouverneur as part of the Peace Paper project. This international community arts initiative uses traditional papermaking as a form of trauma therapy, social engagement and community activism.

After his interview, he was asked if he would like to make some paper, and his fascination with it never left him.

He said he was amazed by the idea that you could take a piece of rag beaten to a pulp and make something out of it.

A few years later, he took a class at the Adirondack Folk School.

"And then I got interested in making paper from cattail reeds and meadow grasses, stinging nettle, and all these fibrous plants, like milkweed," he said. "I find it fascinating that you can take something that grows in the wild; it's not wood, it's not a tree, and you can make paper out of it. "

After his last show on June 7, Sandreczki will take over the early morning duties. NCPR has launched a search for a co-host and arts reporter to fill her position.

Sandreczki said she held the morning shift at a previous station and is ready.

"There's a relationship you can develop with listeners when you have a full four-hour on-air shift," she said. "Listeners are inviting you into their homes and that's an honor."

Sommerstein said he is confident they will find the right person to fill the co-host position.

"We're confident we have the talent at NCPR to transition to a new era. We couldn't be more excited that Monica Sandreczki will slide into the morning host duties while continuing her sensitive, innovative reporting," he said. "We've launched a national search to find a new co-host for Northern Light, who will also specialize in arts and culture reporting. We believe that person will 'drink the Kool-Aid' and adopt our passion for and commitment to all things North Country, as has happened for many of us already at NCPR."