Jun
03
2009
Author Archive
NIAGARA FALLS: Niagara Homecoming brings ’em home New Web site, postcards will invite former residents back
With only two months left before the first ever Niagara Homecoming event, organizers are expanding their attempts to spread the word to all invitees. After all, there’s about 50,000 of them out there. The four-day event beginning June 25 will offer numerous activities in hopes of luring former residents to not only visit Niagara Falls but reconsider it as their permanent home. From a job fair and entrepreneurial opportunities to wine tastings and sporting events to a festival on Main Street, Niagara Homecoming will highlight the area’s best and serve as a citywide reunion. It’s also coinciding with the annual Buffalo Homecoming which attracts upwards of 10,000 visitors. (Click Below For Full Story) http://www.niagara-gazette.com/local/local_story_103234727.html Tags: Niagara Gazette, Niagara HomecomingThe 50/50 split at last night’s Happy Hour collected $270 - making the winning number worth $135.
The number drawn was 670986 The winner was not present. If you have this ticket please redeem it with two weeks by calling 990-1910 or sending an email to niagararises@yahoo.com Tags: Niagara Rises
Our good friends at the NACC are having an event that combines two of many WNYers favorite things - Art and Beer.
Check out their website at www.thenacc.org to get more details and to pre-purchase tickets. Tags: NACC, Niagara Falls, Niagara RisesTitle: Niagara Rises Meeting Title: Still Fallin For The Falls Happy Hour Roughly 50 people attended the meeting held in the Rainbow Room of the Day’s Inn. Frank opened things by recapping the meeting that he, Colleen, Deb and Marti had with Mayor Dyster concerning Positively Main Street and Niagara Homecoming. It was concluded that a national musical act might be too ambitious for this year, but that the city is open to providing funding to Niagara Rises to benefit both events. Geri recapped the great developments surrounding the “Arise and Shine Worship Event” on Goat Island. The group is putting together a great web site and will be holding a meeting on March 3rd at the Summit Events Center to bring together all participating churches. Geri also talked about a fundraising opportunity available through Niagara Candy. Her group has purchased candy bars and they will be sold at the: Community Medical Pharmacy Please be sure to stop there for your next chocolate fix. Robert Emerson from Old Fort Niagara addressed the group concerning a very special event happening this summer. On May 30th re enactors will celebrate the burning of Fort du Portage. It is the 250th anniversary of the burning of Little Niagara above Niagara Falls. The vent promises to be one to remember and volunteers are needed. Visit https://oldfortniagara.org/events/ for more information. Roger Spurback electrified the crowd with energy and enthusiasm that only he can bring. He detailed some of the great ideas espoused in his “Community Action Template,” which will be posted on this site soon. Roger offered his expertise to Niagara Rises in broadening our media presence. He also had some great ideas as to how agencies like the NTCC and the Niagara County Legislature should best be involved with Niagara Homecoming. Marge Gillies wanted everyone to know (and your humble correspondent forgot to mention) that the Historical Tours group is going to put on a walking tour during Homecoming. Actors and re enactors are needed. Please send an email to niagararises@yahoo.com if you are interested. I had a great pre meeting chat with Chris from www.stenztv.com Chris brings much to the table and has a wonderful site and we are going to figure out the best way to partner up our site with his. Colleen talked to the group about nominating someone for Niagara Falls for the “Extreme Home Makeover” Show. There is a posting below this one with details. The nominating period closes this Friday, so let’s thing of who is most deserving and get them nominated. The 50/50 split was won by Chris from StenzTV and he graciously donated his share back to Niagara Rises (I told you he was good people). The next happy hour is on March 5th from 5-7 PM at the Como. Please RSVP back to this address and tell us how many will be in your party. We had 85 at the last one, can we get 150 to this one? Yes, we can. Spread the word and bring a new friend. Niagara Falls is on the rise people - can you feel it? Cheers, Frank Tags: Niagara Falls, Niagara RisesHere is a GREAT Valentine
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Looking for that special something for your special someone? Tired of flowers and
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On February 13th, 14th, and 15th, treat your Valentine to a sweet Sea Lion Encounter.
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Minimum age to participate is 8 years old, and a $25 deposit is required. Make this Valentines Day a memorable one !
How many people do you need to start a movement? It’s a question that has no definitive answer, but for the sake of argument let’s go with the number 85. That’s the number of people who braved single-digit temperatures on Thursday to convene at the Old Falls Sports Bar and Grill inside the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Third Street. They came out to partake of the inaugural “Still Fallin’ For The Falls” happy hour. At first blush, the event was designed to be an introduction, for some, to the grassroots group Niagara Rises and the upcoming Niagara Homecoming extravaganza. It was also meant to be a good excuse for people to get out of the winter cold and enjoy drinks, food and company in honor of the city’s past and in anticipation of its future. In retrospect, it was all of those things, but it was also something much more. Without stooping to hyperbole, I think that what transpired Thursday night was the moment that arises after what Victorian poet Matthew Arnold described as “waiting for the spark from heaven to fall.” It wasn’t so much about the great food put out by Rich Crogan and his crew at the Crowne, spectacular as it was. It wasn’t so much about the refined decadencehe refurbished Crowne Plaza, although it truly is a jewel of downtown. And it wasn’t about the assortment of adult beverages folks imbibed, both from the bar and from the free sample of offerings from the Niagara Wine Trail. The night will be remembered for who was there and what transpired. Before we get into that, a quick history lesson is in order. Just over two years ago, I wrote a column on these pages and asked aloud if there was anyone else fed up with the decline of our city who would like to do something to make a difference. The result of that query led to the formation of a grassroots think tank with a mission to improve the future of Niagara Falls. At the same time, a Smart Growth series was taking place at the public library, where people were asking the same question. It was quickly decided to merge the two entities, and Niagara Rises was formed. The group began working on a number of projects with both short- and long-term completion dates. In those early days, Vince Anello was still mayor and despite repeated hospitable offers, he never saw fit to attend a meeting. Despite a lack of involvement from City Hall, the group marched forward toward its goals undeterred. About a year ago, Marti Gorman and Colleen Kulikowski of Buffalo Homecoming proposed expanding their wildly successful event to Niagara Falls. It took me all of a fraction of a nanosecond to say yes. The chance to participate in true regionalism for all the right reasons was one too delicious to pass up. The subsequent months have seemed to blur by as we’ve immersed ourselves in the planning of what we hope will be the biggest thing to hit the Falls since the Blizzard of ‘77. The other piece of history that needs a quick recapping is that of the city over the past five decades. It’s a bleak story of population loss, plant closings, economic downturns and urban development gone awry. The result is a populace distrustful of hope and unacquainted with the concept of prosperity. Many people who are left turn a collar to the cold and damp while warning anyone that will listen that the bloom is off the rose and no amount of advanced botany is ever going to bring it back. Such was the state of things as late as Thursday afternoon. Then the spark from heaven fell. When I approached the Crowne Plaza about hosting the happy hour, I told them to expect about 20 people. It seemed liked a reasonable number, considering the elements and the newness of the venture. Then the RSVPs started rolling in. Nearly 50 people wrote to say they’d be there. I called Sales and Marketing Manager Geoffrey Reeds to give him a heads up on the increased number. By Thursday morning, RSVPs were still pouring in, so it was apparent that the crowd was going to be a big one, cold weather notwithstanding. Attending the shindig were such local luminaries as Mayor Paul Dyster, City Administrator Donna Owens, NTCC head John Percy, City Council Chairman Chris Robins, Cable Television diva Candra Thomason and Niagara Falls Bridge Commission Chairwoman Norma Higgs. Working my way around the room, I had the opportunity to talk with Leslie Tarczynski of the Main Street Business Association, Mary Jo Zacher of the Pine Avenue Business Association and famed community activist Roger Spurback. LP Ciminelli Project Administrator Claudia Miller was there, as was Independent Living of Niagara County Director Bill Kane. Across the room I spotted Claudia Folsom from Niagara Area Habitat for Humanity, as well as Niagara Falls Block Club Council and Echota West Block Club President Robert Miller. Now, I didn’t name names just for the sake of publicity. It was what these folks were doing that made the night special. They were buzzing with the possibility of a revived Niagara. Everywhere I stepped, I ran into an outstretched hand from someone thanking me for putting the night together. “It’s about time this happened in Niagara Falls,” was a common refrain. “We really needed this,” was another. Along with the platitudes came the real magic of the evening. All around the room, people were networking, planning and plotting. Much of the discussion centered on Niagara Homecoming. Roger Spurback pledged to get the word out to every block and crime watch club in the city. Robert Miller grabbed me and let me know that an Echota reunion is Homecoming. Chris Robins huddled with the mayor, and both pledged their support of the event. Chris Stoianoff of Niagara Falls media site StenzTV offered full promotion of Homecoming on his burgeoning site. Thomas Gardner of FOX 29 said he felt his station would be interested in helping to promote both Buffalo and Niagara Homecoming. The best news of the night came from John Percy. John told me that the NTCC wants to do whatever they can to help make Homecoming a rousing success. He graciously offered to sit down and help figure out the best way to market the citywide reunion wrapped into four days of events. There was even a magical twist to the 50/50 split. Mayor Dyster purchased some tickets and had to leave just before the drawing. He gave his tickets to Robert Miller and said that the block club could have the money if he won. He did, and the block club is $133 richer as a result. The happy hour was supposed to run from 5-7 p.m. I left around 8 p.m., and nearly half of the attendees were still there. Many folks were already pledging to bring their friends to the next “Still Fallin’ For The Falls” happening, scheduled for the Como Restaurant on Thursday, March 5 from 5-7 p.m.. The following morning, my e-mail box was full of letters from folks raving about the night before. I couldn’t tell you the last time that’s happened in Niagara Falls — maybe never. How many people do you need to start a movement? Eighty-five sounds about right. I don’t know if it came from heaven, but the spark has surely fallen.
Frank Thomas Croisdale is a contributing editor at the Niagara Falls Reporter and author of “Buffalo Soul Lifters.” He has worked in the local tourism industry for many years. You can write him at nfreporter@roadrunner.com. Tags: Crown Plaza Hotel, Niagara Rises, Still Fallin' For The Falls Happy Hour |
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