St. Lawrence University has suffered a great loss with the passing of Canton local Rick Cassara, a.k.a. “Coach.” Coach had an unwavering love for the St. Lawrence community, the students, and the alumni. Outside of being a former St. Lawrence Men’s Basketball coach and local legend, Coach was commonly known for running the Tick Tock Inn. After 50 years of owning the Tick Tock, Coach knew it brought character to Canton and a uniqueness to SLU, bonding students past their four years on campus.
For those who knew Coach, there was one particular story that he told countless times about two young alumi traveling back to campus to reflect on their glory days. Little did they know, their visit to the Tick Tock would be their only stop in Canton and turn into a day-long journey down memory lane with Coach. He took pride in knowing that alumi and students’ most cherished memories of their time at St. Lawrence were at the Tick Tock. As he would always say, “If the women’s bathroom walls could talk, oh, the stories we would hear.”
Coach had a huge heart. He once flew out within hours to personally visit an alum battling severe depression. He delivered Sunday morning lectures to students who had fallen short of his incredibly high standards the night before. Coach constantly instilled invaluable life lessons beyond the confines of a classroom. Coach, thank you for your compassion, support, generosity, love, and most importantly, making sure everyone had a place to call home. Your legacy will live on forever.