From the Niagara Falls Review:
Two vandals caused almost $300,000 in damage after fires were deliberately set at several Niagara Falls landmarks early Tuesday.
Ironically, the fires erupted on the second day of National Fire Prevention Week, a week set aside to raise awareness of fire safety issues.
Fire crews were first called to the Brock Plaza Hotel around 2:20 a.m. in response to a small fire in the administration area of the hotel.
Police say a fire had been deliberately set in a washroom on the fourth floor of the historic Falls Avenue hotel.
While the hotel’s sprinkler system was activated and quickly extinguished the blaze, the suspects then turned on a fire hose with the intent of flooding the building, said Det. Const. Eric Pierce.
The suspects fled the scene, but were captured on surveillance video.
Last Thursday I received the latest issue of the Clifton Hill Resorts Update newsletter. There is a new look to the newsletter that is quite nice. Also, now the newsletter seems to be entirely marketing-focused. There is no more “personal” touch with the trivia question or the feature of the month. That’s unfortunate because now its strictly a marketing newsletter just like all the rest.
As always, you can subscribe to the Clifton Hill Resorts Update newsletter by visiting the Clifton Hill Newsletter page.
From the Niagara Falls Review:
New Brunswick’s Bernie Houle was cold, tired and a little bit wet. He should have been miserable.
Instead, eyes to the sky, he couldn’t stop grinning.
“Seventeen hours of driving to come fly a kite,” he said, yanking the string to his gnarly, nylon creation called Shady. Standing next to him, friend Don Brownridge of Toronto tried getting Petunia off the ground. Once airborne, the two circular kites - “we call them the Spiky Balls,” said Houle - look like weather balloons with attitude.
“It becomes a canvas. It’s just another way of expressing your heart.”
Kites of all shapes and colours will dot the skyline this weekend for the second annual Niagara International Kite Festival. Fliers from as far away as Japan descended on Table Rock Friday to get things started, battling the mist and swirling winds.
From the Niagara Falls Review:
George Stathakis was one strange individual. Born in Greece, he arrived in the United States in 1910 at the age of 26. Working as a short-order cook, he lived in St. Louis for a time before moving to Niagara Falls, N.Y., then Buffalo.
Stathakis was much more than a cook - he was also a self-styled mystic and philosopher, whose writings stated he had actually been born “1,000 years ago on the banks of a river in central Africa called Abraham.” He also maintained he was the first person to stand at the North Pole. While there, he proclaimed himself as “king and master of the Earth and from this summit I am going to rule and direct it.”
Stathakis’s version of his life and his philosophy were detailed in a book he authored entitled “The Mysterious Veil of Humanity Through the Ages.” Much of the book, which was available in both Greek and English, has Stathakis interviewing ancient Greek philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle.
Another of his writings described how, in a previous life, he visited the future site of Niagara Falls: “Walking to the southeast, I arrived where the falls now (stand). They were not formed at that time.”
By the spring of 1930, George Stathakis decided on a bold move - he would go over the Horseshoe Falls in a barrel. He explained his decision by stating such an experience would help him in his search for truth. As he bounced through the rapids and over the falls, he could analyze his emotions and detach his mind philosophically for future meditation. What all this meant was a mystery to most people. Following his plunge, Stathakis was sure plenty of money would flow his way from lectures and newsreels. These funds would finance a new book he was writing. It was to be titled “From the Bosom of Niagara.”
The Buffalo News had a nice write-up about Wayne Newton’s performance at the Fallsview Casino:
You can thank Wayne Newton for Cirque du Soleil. You can thank him for the Celine Dion extravaganza and the Elton John blockbuster. For the Blue Man Group, the theme park explosion and the nightclub and restaurant boom in the City of Sin. You can thank Wayne Newton for all that Las Vegas and its star-studded strip has become.
But I don’t see why you’d want to.
With due respect to the pizzazz of Mr. John’s and Ms. Dion’s shows, there’s a brand of Las Vegas that’s today far removed from the utter showmanship entertainers like Mr. Newton bestowed upon the Nevada oasis in the days of lounge acts and comedy-filled variety shows. It hasn’t been the same since.
On Tuesday I received the latest email promotion from the Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls. There is a Thanksgiving promotion along with a Halloween promotion:
You can sign up for the mailings by visiting the Email Signup page on the Great Wolf Lodge Niagara Falls web site.
The Little Caesars that will be opening on Victoria Avenue is coming along well. All the signs are up on the building and most of the interior work looks complete. I suspect it will be opening very soon.
Up until recently the Victoria Avenue Beer Gareden sign was still on the window, but I’m not sure how that fits into the plans.
From the Niagara Falls Review:
A memorable summer comes to a close for Cirque Niagara this weekend.
After five months, the high-flying tourist attraction will pack up and head home to Russia Sunday. But not before making a hefty deposit … and a promise to return.
At 1 p.m. in the Main Tent today, the company will make a $50,000 donation to the Niagara Health System Foundation and the Juravinski Cancer Centre Foundation. After that, it’s four more packed houses to end a spectacular first season.
“We started out with sold-out crowds and we’re finishing with sold-out crowds,” said co-owner Gabe Macaluse, who helped convince Russia’s famed Kantemirov circus family to spend the summer in Niagara Falls.
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