February 8, 2010
Vintage Photos - Maxam Department Store circa 1966

A fondly remembered discount department store once located where the Prime Outlets now stand.  Depicted here after heavy rains in the spring of 1966 flooded the parking lot. 

February 4, 2010
AMP TOUR - 97Rock Presents:

Thursday, February 18th 5pm-7pm
Meet a professional monster truck driver and see the truck at Justin Tyme on the River Family Restaurant!  Enter to win! A pair of tickets to see the show on Saturday, February 20th or Sunday February 21st - KIDS EAT FREE!

Justin Tyme on the River Family Restaurant
7611 Buffalo Ave. Phone: (716) 283-1339 Fax: (716) 283-1377
Serving Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

See the StenzTV review of Justin Tyme by clicking here!


 

February 4, 2010
Great Gift Ideas for Valentine's Day! (Stenz Recommendz!)

February 4, 2010
Community Lenten Luncheons
@ First Presbyterian Church of Niagara Falls

For over 185 years, First Presbyterian Church of Niagara Falls has been part of Niagara's Heritage.  And, for over 50 of those years we have been hosting the Community Lenten Luncheons.   

Designed to bring together the members of our community in fellowship over lunch, with an inspiring message from a local clergy member of various denominations, these ecumenical meetings have been a way to begin that most important period in the Christian calendar:  Lent, the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.

The lunches are served every Thursday promptly at 12:00 Noon and with the speaker and the singing of a couple hymns, we strive to get you back to work or home by 12:50 PM.  The church dining hall at First Presbyterian Church is the location and we request you enter through the glass doors set back from the street.  Parking is available in the city parking lot or ramp and if you bring your parking ticket we can validate it for free parking.  Donation of $6.00 per person, which includes entree, sides, dessert, and beverage.  To reserve a table for 8, call the church office at 285-3555

See ya there - Think Spring!

 

January 22, 2010
Restaurant Review: THE POLISH NOOK

January 21, 2010
The Original Plan and the (Supposed) Final Product of Urban Renewal - Niagara Falls late 1960/early 1970s

Unfreeeeakinbelievable isn't it?  Click here to see the image in larger detail (with caption also) from the Niagara Gazette... at the time when knocking down the historic buildings, taverns, theatres, businesses, etc. and wiping out entire blocks to make room for these pipedreams seemed like a good idea.  I'm guessing that the plan didn't pan out exactly as they imagined.  Nice dream though, wasn't it?
 

January 21, 2010
Vintage Photos - Main Street Winter, circa 1970s

Photos of Main Street, Niagara Falls - to view larger images in more detail, click here to visit the iWitnessNiagara Blog.  Once you've made the photos larger, you can see the shops and stores in the background!

January 14, 2010
Daredevils of Niagara Falls: Robert Overacker

Robert Overacker, a 39 year old man from Camarillo, California challenged the Niagara River and the mighty Horseshoe Falls at 12:35 p.m. on October 1st 1995. Riding on a single jet ski, Overacker launched himself into the Niagara River upstream of the Falls from the area of the Canadian Niagara Power Plant . Robert Overacker rode his jet ski directly at the brink of the Horseshoe Falls.

At the brink of the Falls, Overacker ignited a rocket propelled parachute that was strapped to his back. His plan was that the rocket would quickly deploy the parachute allowing him to safely land in to river below the Horseshoe Falls where he could be rescued. Overacker did ignite the rocket which deployed the parachute as planned. Unfortunately as the parachute deployed it fell away from Overacker to the ground below. Unknown to Overacker the parachute was not tethered to his body. The parachute was not packed by Overacker prior to the stunt and he was unaware of this fatal error. His step-brother and a friend witnessed this unfolding tragedy as Overacker fell to his death to the water below the Falls.

Robert Overacker was married and had no children. Overacker became the fifteenth person since 1901 to challenge the Falls. Robert Overacker challenged the Niagara River and paid with his life. His body was recovered by staff at the Maid of the Mist.    (Source: http://www.niagarafrontier.com/devil_frame.html )

I chose this particular daredevil to start this blog category because of this great photo.  I am blowing it up larger and putting it behind my desk - a great photo of the Mighty Niagara with a little surprise in the bottom left corner!

January 13, 2010
Their Ads vs. Our Reality
(from the StenzTV archive - originally posted July 2008)

Visited Establishments:
Burger King on Military Road
Kentucky Fried Chicken on Niagara Falls Boulevard

Its Summer and the grills in Niagara Falls are alive, with the smells of sirloin. So why on Earth would anyone visit Burger King when they have the option to slap a heavenly patty of red meat on the backyard barbeque? Because I ran out of propane. Minutes later I find myself at the Military Road Burger King ordering one of those Steakhouse Burgers... ya know the ones that are advertised every five minutes on network television? Well, if you haven't seen it, here is how the King presents it:

After seeing how awesome it looked on TV and in print ads, it had to be mine! Unfortunately, what I got instead was this:

If I really could "have it my way," I would go with the one I thought I was buying, the big fluffy, juicy burger with fresh lettuce and crisp bacon like they show in the ads... not the sloppy mess that I received. Ah well, teaches me the value of my backyard grill. This posting was inspired by the Ads vs. Reality site, where you can find a bunch of these types of comparisons.

PART II - THE LYING COLONEL
(original post date August 2008)

After seeing the non-stop commercials for the latest KFC offering, I stopped for a little bucket of 'dem southern fried chicken parts. To my dismay, the headless voice on the ordering menu stated in a crackled tone, "SORRY - WE ARE OUT OF CHICKEN." Hmmm... 8pm on a Sunday night, and they are out chicken? Kentucky Fried Chicken... is out of chicken? Wow. My cholesterol thanks you Colonel Sanders, but my taste buds are flipping you the bird (pun INTENDED). After being denied some of that grease dunked fowl, I remembered a couple photos I had on file of my last KFC order several months ago (intending on posting it then!).

This is the bucket of chicken they advertise you'll be getting with the big 'ole crispy, juicy pieces:
 

Here is one of the actual pieces that was nestled in the bucket of artery clogging doom:



The Colonel's two and half inches:

Does this skanky little parakeet wing look anything like the giant crispy pieces offered in the bucket above? Not even close. After cracking past the crispy coating, nothing was inside but a small puff of day-old air... just like in the cartoons. So basically, my 4 piece dinner was only a 3.25 piece. First that, now the fact that they "ran out of chicken" on a weekend...DAMN YOU COLONEL!

This posting was inspired by the Ads vs. Reality site, where you can find a bunch of these types of comparisons.