HEADLINES, LOCAL INFORMATION PAST & PRESENT, AND OTHER GENERAL
NONSENSE...
July 27, 2010 Winter on Main Street, Niagara
Falls, USA - 1970s
Hey you!
Yeah, you... the one complaining about the heat and humidity! Is
this what you want? Huh? Do ya? Nah, didn't think so! So,
shuttupyaface! Happy Summer 2010.
July 19, 2010 Mike Hudson's (The
Niagara Falls Reporter) Award Acceptance
Mike Hudson (and The Niagara Falls Reporter) receive The 2010 Niagara
Rises Media Award at the 2010 Homecoming Gala. A great event, a
great award and a great acceptance speech. Quick, to the point
and humble. Visit www.niagarafallsreporter.com
for all the scoops.
July 12, 2010 It Isn't Rocket Science
(Episode 2) with
Dan Vecchies
The second of many clips we'll be presenting on StenzTV.com over the
summer and throughout the days ahead. Feel free to comment on
YouTube and let us know if ya like it or don't. Let's start some
discussion - anything to get the roadblocks out of the way en route to
prosperity!
July 5, 2010 It Isn't Rocket Science with Dan
Vecchies
The first of many clips we'll be presenting on StenzTV.com over the
summer and throughout the days ahead. Feel free to comment on
YouTube and let us know if ya like it or don't. Let's start some
discussion - anything to get the roadblocks out of the way en route to
prosperity!
June 28, 2010 Niagara Rises Homecoming 2010 - Carl Paladino's
Speech
Carl Paladino accepts the Nikola Tesla Developer of the Year Award at the Niagara Rises 2010
Homecoming Kick-Off Gala. (Had to break it into two parts for
YouTube)
Part One:
Nikola Tesla Developer
of the Year Award 2010
CARL PALADINO
Part Two:
Coming later this week...
Other highlights of the Niagara Rises 2010 Kickoff...stay tuned!
June 28, 2010 Freakin'
Hilarious! Hangover Cure Review by Curt Pasisz
You’ve probably watched “As Seen on TV” on WGRZ, where Mary Friona
tests consumer products. Well, this ain’t your daddy’s investigative
journalism. I don’t think you’ll ever see Mary getting sh*t-hammered
on a Thursday, playing Xbox on two televisions for the sake of a good
story...
(click
here to read entire story!)
June 21, 2010 Summer 1931 - Hyde Park, Niagara
Falls
Swimmers at Hyde Park - Summer of 1931. Photographer was standing near
where the dam is now located. - Courtesy of
the Niagara Falls Local History Department
June 15, 2010 Niagara Power - A HOME RUN!
Niagara
and Power! Two words that go together. But did you know that there
is another "Niagara Power" in
Niagara Falls? The
Niagara Power is an expansion team in the New York Collegiate Baseball
League (NYCBL) and is an Affiliate of the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes (FCA), a national, faith-based ministry. FCA partnered with
Cal Kern (Grand Island,
NY) and the city of
Niagara Falls to establish
the Niagara Power in 2007.
The
Power provides opportunities for furthering baseball skills and
abilities of collegiate players while also emphasizing the importance
of character, integrity, and excellence in baseball and in the
community.
The New
York Collegiate Baseball League, founded in 1978, is a summer wood bat
development league for professional baseball. Major League Baseball
funds a small portion of the leagues annual budget. The league gives
college players who have not yet signed a professional contract the
opportunity to develop their skills at a higher level of play, gain
experience with wood bats, and be evaluated by scouts. The NYCBL is
located in scenic Upstate New York.
Teams
play a 44 game regular season schedule with games beginning in June
and ending in the last week in July. All games are 9 innings, with
most doubleheaders scheduled on the weekends. The All-Star game is
played in early July, and the League Championship Series concludes in
the first week of August.
Niagara
Power players come from all over the country and are housed in host
family homes around the area. I am currently housing two fine young
men, Danny Hall, from
San Jose,
CA, and Matt Van Slyke, of
Oxford,
MS. What a joy it is to
have the power of youth again in the home!! (and in case you baseball
fans wondered, yes, Matt is related to the famous major leaguer, Andy
Van Slyke, formerly of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who coincidentally, was
one of my favorite major league players).
The
Niagara Power 2010 season began on June 4th at Sal Maglie stadium,
where all their home games are played.
The best thing for area baseball
fans is the reasonable cost to attend a game. Adult ticket prices run
$3 or $4, with a dollar off for senior citizens, and youth
(6-12)tickets are only $1 or $2. Concessions are available at very
reasonable cost and there are many promotion nights during the
season. You can check out the team rosters as well as the schedule
and other interesting facts at the team's website:
http://www.niagarapower.org.
If you
are a baseball fan be sure to take in a game or 10 during the next two
months and if you have a spare room available next year, please
consider hosting a couple of these fine young athletes. I have just
made two new, wonderful friends and look forward to a winning season.
Jim
Brunn
May 30, 2010 Drink Johnnie Ryan!
In 1935, the Janik brothers
(Stephen, Walter and John) founded the Johnnie Ryan Bottling Company
in Niagara Falls, New York. Taking pride in their soft drinks and only
using the finest ingredients available, quickly made Johnnie Ryan
beverages a hometown "family favorite."
http://johnnieryan.com/index.html
May 25, 2010 Do You Remember?
May 25, 2010 Getting "Pinned"
Do you
remember back in the "good old days" when a guy would purchase a pin
from his high school and give that pin to a steady girlfriend as a
sign of their "bond?"
A co-ed wearing a pin was then
known to "be taken" by the other guys in school. Here is a pin from
the 1957 year at Niagara Falls High School in the school colors of red
and gray. Does anyone remember?
[Submitted by Jim Brunn]
May 25, 2010 Ground Observer Corps.
During
the period following WWII, we were in what was called "The Cold War."
Many of us can recall the drills while in school when we were
instructed to get under our desks and "duck and cover." The
overriding fear was that the Soviet Union was going to send planes
over here and drop an atomic bomb on the U.S. During this time we had
a strong Civil Defense Corps, which was headquartered in the basement
bomb shelter of the Bollier Ave. Firehall (Engine 9). Many of our
public buildings had bomb shelters that were stocked with emergency
supplies and some people had well-stocked facilities in their own
homes.
One of
the interesting and more unknown divisions of the Civil Defense Corps
was the Ground Observer Corps (G.O.C.). It was critical to the U.S.
Air Force Defense Command to know at the earliest if a foreign power's
airplanes were encroaching upon our fair land. All across the U.S.,
Ground Observer Corps observation stations were set up to observe and
report all air traffic to the U.S. Air Force through a radio/telephone
link. Volunteers in the Corps would sit in their stations and if an
airplane were heard, attempt to spot it, identify the type of
aircraft, and report its location and direction of travel. One might
hear over the link that air traffic was reported over one city and
that plane could be followed as other stations reported on it. If it
was headed in our direction we kept our eyes and ears on alert.
Most
folks in Niagara Falls were not aware that on top of our city hall
there was a glass-enclosed building, equipped with a very sensitive
microphone and the necessary communications equipment with which to
report any aircraft. The microphone was so sensitive that on a quiet
evening one could hear the conversations of pedestrians down on the
sidewalks around city hall.
I was an
active member of the G.O.C. from 1955 to 1959 and spent many hours in
the little glass house on top of city hall. In order to facilitate the
manning of the station by volunteers, NF Police Dept. cars could be
asked to transport us to and from our homes and city hall. I know that
the police felt they had better things to do than drive civilians
around but the manning of the station was considered that important.
Looking back on it today it almost seems ridiculous, but taken in the
context of the absence of today's technology and what with the fear of
annihilation it was community service of which to be proud. In
appreciation for our service, we were issued our "wings" and a
certificate of service. In the center of the wings (see photo) was
G.O.C. indicating the division. I wonder if that glass building is
still on the roof of city hall?
April 10, 2010 Great Office Space Available June
1st
Coming soon - Office suites and
individual spaces available. Class 'A' office space professionally
appointed, furnished.Common use of kitchen, conference room, Internet, phones, secretarial service. Great location, corner Park Place and Main across from Main Street Post Office.
Future home of StenzTV.com - need I say more? Check it out here
- 640 Park Place.
Pricing to be set May 1st, space
available June 1st. Call Jim at Waterbourne Real Estate
Advisors 716-564-3944
March 26, 2010
Trusello's Bakery... revival?
Check out Trusello's on Facebook... sounds like something might be
baking in the oven? Oh Dear God, pleeeeeze!!!
March 1, 2010
Vintage Photos: The Great Gorge
Route
