Still Fallin For The Falls Happy Hour a Big Success
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.
