June 30, 2008
Printed by the Review
FIREWORKS ARTIST
Posted By BY JENNIFER PELLEGRINI REVIEW STAFF WRITER
A quick 10-count confirms David Whysall’s very good at his job.
“Got ‘em all,” says Whysall, wiggling his fingers.
He has been in the fireworks business going back to his childhood.
“I’ve been in it since 1965,” he says. “It was a local industry back in England and I was good in chemistry, so the two came together.”
He moved to Canada in 1982 to work for what he now calls “the competition,” Hands Fireworks.
Whysall eventually started his own company, selling fireworks under the brand “Mystical Distributing.” (more…)
Printed by Mlive
Niagara Falls’ Dual Nature
by Mary Quinley | Booth News Service
Sunday June 29, 2008, 2:55 AM
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y — Nearly three decades had passed when my husband yearned to return to Niagara Falls. At first, I resisted: I’m not fond of wax figurines and bizarre collections.
However, I admit the falls themselves never fail to impress.
So, I reconsidered. My partner and I would go back to the falls. This time, our mission was to scour both sides of the U.S.-Canada border in search of elegant and atypical gems.
The New York side
We decided on historic Lewiston as our home base on the American side. Near the fringes of the Niagara River, Lewiston is minutes north of the Falls.
On a sun-drenched morning, after a restful snooze at the Barton Hill Hotel and Spa, we lounged in the lobby of the newly opened inn. Munching scones bursting with blueberries, we chatted with locals who shared tales of rum-running tunnels, the region’s long heritage with France and Britain and the town’s claim as the birthplace of the cocktail. (more…)
June 27, 2008
Printed by the Review
‘Drop the retail sales tax’
PC Leader John Tory challenges premier to help tourism by suspending tax
Posted By BY JOHN ROBBINS REVIEW STAFF WRITER
Removing the provincial sales tax applied to hotel stays and attractions would provide an economic boost for tourist towns like Niagara Falls, says Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory.
Doing so would also benefit families and businesses struggling through challenging economic times made worse by skyrocketing energy costs, he said.
“It might just tip the balance for people who are thinking, in light of gas prices, not to take that weekend in Niagara Falls, whether they be from Toronto or London, or, for that matter, Buffalo,” Tory said during a visit to the Cataract City Thursday. (more…)
Printed by the Review
Classic rock sounds return to Zooz
Posted By BY JOHN LAW REVIEW STAFF WRITER
We can’t see Jimi Hendrix any more. Barring a miracle, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin will never tour again. The Eagles will cost you $200.
Yep, classic rock fans have it rough these days. But for five Fridays this summer, Zooz is their fix.
For the fifth straight year, the Stevensville animal house will bring Toronto-based Classic Albums Live to its outdoor amphitheatre, starting with “Led Zeppelin IV” tonight.
The company’s motto is “note for note, cut for cut.” And they aren’t kidding – composed of professional musicians, every album is faithfully reproduced down to the smallest detail. It has won Classic Albums Live a huge North American fanbase. (more…)
June 26, 2008
Printed by the Review
Track, casinos sharing makes ‘great deal of sense’
But Sadinsky wants government to decide specifics
Posted By BY COREY LAROCQUE REVIEW STAFF WRITER
Niagara’s two commercial casinos could help the Fort Erie Race Track in a lot of different ways if they were under the same financial umbrella, says Stanley Sadinsky, the head of a panel that published a study on reviving Ontario’s horse-racing industry.
When Sadinsky’s report, “It’s All About Leadership,” was released Tuesday it suggested Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, Casino Niagara and Caesars Windsor could “assist” the operation of the racetracks in Fort Erie and Windsor.
But the report lacked specific proposals about how to do that -deliberately so, said Sadinsky, a Queen’s University law professor and former chairman of Ontario Lottery and Gaming. (more…)
Printed by the Review
BUSY BRIDGE GETS BOOST
Feds provide $62 million for plaza overhaul
Posted By BY RAY SPITERI REVIEW STAFF WRITER
A major overhaul of the Canadian plaza at the Queenston- Lewiston Bridge -the first such undertaking in close to half a century -got a big boost from Ottawa Wednesday.
Niagara Falls MP Rob Nicholson announced the federal government will kick in $62 million to assist the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission with the final half of a $130-million project aimed at making one of Canada’s busiest border crossings more efficient.
Bridge commission general manager Tom Garlock said the changes are geared toward improving bridge operations in an ever-changing tourism and trade industry.
“This crossing represents thousands of jobs for people in eastern Canada. It’s billions of dollars of trade,” he said. (more…)
Printed by the Review
Main and Ferry’s unwelcome neighbour
Steve Tokos says his bar will help revive area. Council, merchants don’t agree
Posted By BY COREY LAROCQUE REVIEW STAFF WRITER
A new bar at the corner of Main and Ferry streets will appeal to “the lowest common denominator” and isn’t in the public’s best interest, according to city councillors who voted Monday to formally oppose the liquor licence application for Prey Night Club.
But the owner said he plans an upscale bar that could be part of the area’s commercial revival.
“This is not a ‘kiddie’ bar. This is definitely a higher market,” said Steve Tokos, a 42-year-old Burlington man who previously worked for a company that developed bars, pubs and restaurants in western Canada, including Vancouver and Calgary. (more…)
June 25, 2008
Printed by the Review
Will province gamble on new gaming plan?
CASINOS, SLOTS MIGHT WORK TOGETHER
Posted By BY COREY LAROCQUE REVIEW STAFF WRITER
Casino Niagara and Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort could “assist” the Fort Erie Race Track, according to a government study on how to prop up Ontario’s horse-racing industry, though the report doesn’t specify how to do that.
It has left government officials and gambling-industry representatives at a loss for words about what kind of assistance the casinos might offer the struggling racetrack industry.
“I don’t have an answer. I saw it. I guess you’re looking at every opportunity there might be,” Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor said after reading the report by Stanley Sadinsky, a Queen’s University professor and former chairman of Ontario Lottery and Gaming.
The provincial government commissioned Sadinsky last year to write a strategic plan aimed at helping Ontario’s horse-racing and horse-breeding industries. (more…)
June 24, 2008
Printed by Newswire.ca
Minister of Tourism, Peter Fonseca, joins the Boys and Girls Club of Canada to officially open The Niagara Parks Commission’s Niagara’s Fury(TM)
One of the most dramatic and immersive attractions arrives in Niagara Falls
NIAGARA FALLS, ON, June 22 /CNW/ – After years in the making, months of
speculation and interest from around the globe, The Niagara Parks Commission
(NPC) today officially celebrated the opening of its newest attraction
Niagara’s Fury. Ontario Minister of Tourism, Peter Fonseca, was joined by NPC
Chairman Jim Williams, Niagara MPP Kim Craitor, Niagara Falls Mayor Ted Salci
and children from the Boys and Girls Club of Canada to help mark the grand
opening of this spectacular, new attraction that allows you to experience the
extreme, violent and beautiful birth of Niagara Falls in a way you’ve never
dreamed possible.
According to NPC Chairman Jim Williams “We’re confident Niagara’s Fury
will provide that exciting, educational and interactive experience our
visitors have been looking for when they visit Niagara today. And who better
to tell the dramatic story of Niagara than NPC, an agency dedicated to the
preservation and enhancement of the Falls and the entire Niagara River
Corridor for future generations.” (more…)
June 23, 2008
Printed by the Review
Official opening of Fury a hit with crowd
Posted By BY COREY LAROCQUE REVIEW STAFF WRITER
When his two-year-old twin sons and a crowd from the Boys and Girls Club of Niagara “survived” Niagara’s Fury, Peter Fonseca declared the new attraction a winner.
“You get the thumbs up from kids, you know you’re right,” said Fonseca, Ontario’s minister of tourism, himself the parent of young children.
Fonseca, his wife, Christina, and their sons Alexander and Sebastian were among the first visitors to test out the Niagara Parks Commission’s $7-million moving-theatre attraction, built over the past year as part of an overhaul of Table Rock House. It began operating in the spring, but officially opened Sunday.
The moving theatre attraction takes visitors on a ride through history, explaining the formation of Niagara Falls from the Ice Age, geological changes and the erosive effect of water over thousands of years. (more…)
