Hello from Niagara Falls, Ontario –
A City of Lights and Magic
It had been an
exciting day already: my helicopter ride with Niagara Helicopter
had given me a close-up aerial view over Niagara Falls and my visit
to the Niagara Falls Butterfly Conservatory had made for a perfect
winter escape to a tropical sanctuary. But more adventure was yet
to come.
View through the glass dome at the Fallsview Casino Resort
Appropriately strengthened from my very late lunch at “The
Famous”, a 24-hour upscale diner at the Niagara Fallsview
Casino Resort, I was ready for my evening explorations. First on
the menu was the Niagara
Falls Winter Festival of Lights. Every year from early November
to early January, more than 125 animated lighting displays decorate
the city. In total more than three million lights illuminate the
Niagara Parks Winter Wonderland.
Sculpture in the grand concourse of the Fallsview Casino Resort
Just driving out of the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort I was greeted
by lighting displays in the form of white and blue snowflakes that
were mounted on the light poles. On my left hand side at the end
of Murray Street I drove by an entire collection of illuminated
characters called the “Enchantment of Disney” displays.
I turned right onto the Niagara Parkway and shortly behind the Horseshoe
Falls I was greeted by the Canada/US Illuminated Flag.
The Canada/US Illuminated Flag
I continued my drive southwards along the Niagara River and reached
an area referred to as Dufferin Islands whose circular roadway featured
an extensive collection of illuminated displays called “The
Great Canadian Outdoors”. Trees were decorated in thousands
of colourful lights and a whole menagerie of brightly illuminated
Canadian animals, including wolves, bears, fish, squirrels, beavers,
deer, moose, buffalo and many more flanked the road. The highlight
of this area was Noah’s Ark, whose orange, red and green lights
were reflecting in the water.
Illuminated animal displays at Dufferin Islands
All the lighting displays of the Niagara Falls Festival of Lights
can be viewed free of charge, but a group of volunteers was available
at the end of the Dufferin Islands displays to accept donations
which go to enhance the lights and displays. The Winter Wonderland
along the Niagara Parkway includes other lighted displays such as
a horse & carriage, an arrangement of grapes and wine, a menorah
and a nativity scene. Even a display of Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Officers stood on guard.
Disney characters come to life
The Enchantment of Disney displays at the foot of Murray Street
include such popular Disney characters as Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, the Little Mermaid,
Sleeping Beauty, Mickey Mouse and Disney’s Pixar Cars. In
addition to the lighting displays, the Niagara Falls Festival of
Lights also features frequent fireworks which are scheduled to run
daily between December 26, 2007 and January 6, 2008.
An illuminated presentation of Cinderella
Together with the colourfully illuminated waterfalls these displays
made for a truly enchanted environment. The mighty Niagara
Falls themselves are illuminated throughout the entire year,
a tradition that has been institutionalized since 1925 when the
Niagara Falls Illumination Board was put in charge of illumination.
But special lighting displays of the Falls were undertaken much
earlier, for example in 1860 when a spectacular light display of
the Falls celebrated a visit by the Prince of Wales. In 1901 special
lighting was installed as part of the Pan American Exposition that
was being held in Buffalo. Six year later, the General Electric
Company illuminated the Falls for several weeks with 36 powerful
projectors.
Driving down Murray Street
In 1925, 24 carbon searchlights were installed that created a total
of 1,320,000,000 candlepower. Since then the Falls have been illuminated
most nights other than during WWII when power was turned off and
during the next few years after the war when there was a power shortage
due to a construction boom. Nowadays the Falls are illuminated daily
at least until 10 pm at night, and from May to December until midnight.
Noah's Ark at Dufferin Islands
Now I would have a chance to see the illumination process first-hand
through a visit to the “Illumination Tower”, which is
really a former surge tank for one of the now closed power plants
that surround the Niagara River. I parked my vehicle at the Fallsview
Casino again, walked by the restaurant and retail complex at Queen
Victoria Place and right to the heavy set circular illumination
tower that reminded me of an early medieval Norman-style castle
tower. I found a little bell in the back of the building and rang
a couple of times before the door was answered by 76-year old Pete
Gordon, star of the show and a lighting operator for the Niagara
Parks Commission for 47 years. Pete had not expected any visitors,
but graciously let me into the office area of the Illumination Tower.
This special visit had been arranged for me by the Niagara Parks
Commission.
Pete Gordon, illuminating the Falls for 47 years
Pete used to work as a painter for the Niagara Parks Commission,
but together with another colleague he has been operating the lights
illuminating the Falls for almost half a century. On work days he
is usually there from 5 to 12 pm, creating a colourful light display
on the majestic Niagara Falls. Pete mentioned that in the early
part of the past century the general public was able to go up on
top of the Illumination Tower, but due to insurance issues, the
tower is closed today to the general public.
Pete, hard at work
After this brief introduction Pete then took me onto the outside
viewing platform that houses 18 very large searchlights, each equipped
with coloured screens to produce different lighting effects on the
huge waterfalls. From here we had a great view of the entire Niagara
River, including the American Falls and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls.
Pete then took me into the control room and showed me some rather
ancient-looking control panels which reminded me of an outdated
fuse panel, with each colour identified by white, red, green, blue,
and yellow knobs. Pete even let me operate the controls and made
me create my very own lighting combination of the Falls. After I
had done all my colour mixing on the panel inside Pete took me outside
to the viewing platform and we actually checked out the colour mix
that I had just created.
Me turning the knobs on the ancient switch panel
When the lights overlap they create additional colour combinations
and the final product of my attempts was a mix of light blue, yellow,
pink and purple. I admit I was rather tickled pink at the realization
that I had just changed the colours on the Canadian Horseshoe Falls.
Back inside the building Pete explained that the huge lights creating
this symphony of colour were actually searchlights used during WWII
in London during the Battle of Britain. He even pulled out one of
the light bulbs used in the search lights, which, incidentally,
is made by Osram Sylvania, a German company, and carries a price
tag of up to $2000. Today the Falls are illuminated with 500 million
candle power. I tought it was rather ironic that these historic
searchlights which were meant to protect the city of London from
German air attacks during WWII nowadays actually relied on German
technology for their illumination power.
Pete shows me the German-made high tech bulbs
Pete, having lived in Niagara Falls all his life, is a great fan
of his home town and also has indepth knowledge of this city. He
told me the story of the Honeymoon Bridge, which collapsed in 1938
due to an ice jam in the gorge which pushed this steel arch road
bridge off its foundation. He even showed me some old photographs
of this bridge, before and after its collapse and added that he
still remembers seeing the collapsed bridge. He must have been just
about six years old at the time.
Here is my creation - the colour mix that I created
Niagara Fall’s colourful history is evidenced by another
disastrous event that Pete remembers first-hand. A hydro power station
with the name of Schoellkopf Power Plant, built in 1895, had been
located on the American side of the Niagara River. On June 7, 1956
water had been seeping through a wall and cracks were widening rapidly,
despite the workers’ best efforts to stem the flow of water
with sandbags. All of a sudden a loud rumble could be heard and
the power plant’s wall started to collapse. Moments later
the entire southern part of the power station fell into the river
below. Debris was thrown as far as the Canadian side of the gorge
and one power station worker lost his life. This is just one of
the many colourful historic events in Niagara Falls that Pete Gordon
remembers first-hand.
The Niagara SkyWheel - beautifully lit at night
I was curious what Pete actually does during his seven hour shift.
He said he changes the colour combinations manually every two minutes
or so. In between he reads or does crossword puzzles and added that
he never feels lonely. Occasionally he gets a special visit from
Australian, Japanese, Dutch or Chinese tour groups, and he mentioned
that particularly the Japanese travel groups really enjoy the experience
of the Illumination Tower. I was admiring the dozens of international,
mostly Japanese business cards on the wall. Even celebrities such
as Danny DeVito, Rita Perlman and Robert Urich have visited the
Illumination Tower.
The Fallsview Casino Resort also puts on a big show
Before I left, Pete extended a special invitation to me: whenever
I planned to return to Niagara Falls he would take me on a personal
tour of his home town and show me all the special spots. I am definitely
planning to take him up on that and thought to myself that the City
of Niagara Falls could not wish for a better ambassador than Pete
Gordon who has so much pride and affection for his home town.
Inspired from this almost magical experience in the Illumination
Tower I was ready for my last adventure of the day: my first
live Magic Show. I drove five minutes into the Clifton Hill area
and arrived at the Greg
Frewin Theatre. As I entered, a large tour group was just enjoying
a dinner buffet and started to file into the theatre and take their
spots. I had a chance to sit down with Greg Frewin, the Grandmaster
of Magic himself, shortly before the show and get to know this master
illusionist a little bit.
The Greg Frewin Theatre
Despite his impressive international credentials, Greg Frewin is
actually a local boy who hails from Stoney Creek, Ontario, just
up the street from Niagara Falls. It became clear very early on
that he was fascinated by magic when his grandfather showed him
some magic tricks. In grade 9 he met a gentleman who had taken a
basic magic course and Greg wanted to learn from him, but this man
would not take any students. But Greg insisted, and a week later
he got a call back and became this magician’s only student.
His teacher became a full-time magician, and Greg shared the same
goal, but his parents did not take his career decision seriously.
Greg Frewin with one of his Siberian Tigers
So he finished high school and worked as a waiter at a local Keg
Restaurant for five years. But he continued with his studies of
magic, started to enter competitions and perform at small corporate
parties. He finally won a National Competition in the United States
and came in first among 600 magicians. After this big breakthrough
the industry took notice, and international agents from Europe and
Japan started approaching Greg. He ended up working in places like
Yokohama, Osaka, Tokyo, Taiwan and China, and toured Europe for
several months on a cruise boat. He also worked on full-time assignments
in France and Germany.
A successful career in Las Vegas followed with appearances on top
stages such as The Flamingo Hilton, Caesar’s Palace and the
Tropicana. Greg’s skills as an illusionist have received many
great international awards: he won first place in numerous international
magic convention competitions, winning out over hundreds of other
talented magicians, and won the first ever Magician of the Year
award bestowed by the Canadian Association of Magicians. More than
35 TV specials have featured the skilled magic act of Greg
Frewin. For the first two years at his own theatre, all the
Friday and Saturday night performances have been sold out and during
the summer tickets are always in high demand.
Many different animals are part of the act
Two years ago Greg’s life took a different turn with the
creation of the Greg Frewin Theatre in Niagara Falls, Ontario. With
a young family he now has a more settled lifestyle although he still
works extremely long hours. For example, he personally looks after
the animals that participate in his show: five tigers, a mountain
lion, a cougar, various pigeons and parrots as well as Chuck the
Duck. Even after finishing a magic show at 11 pm Greg still drives
his animals home and feeds them. One of his Siberian tigers, Boomer,
was rejected by his mother as a baby and Greg adopted him. He has
been looking after Boomer since he was eight days old. Greg added
that his animal training techniques are based on positive reinforcement
and that big cats are just as affectionate as house cats. Yet he
still realizes that he is dealing with wild animals and is extremely
safety-conscious.
Greg Frewin, the International Grand Champion of Magic
Greg added that in addition to his magic shows, the theatre has
recently branched out and added other genres, for example Elvis
Tribute Artists. This more diverse programming is particularly important
during the winter in order to offer a broader variety of entertainment
at the theatre.
After giving me this great introduction to his background and the
world of magic, Greg excused himself since he had to get ready for
the show. I took my place in the audience and started chatting to
the woman sitting next to me, a convention traveller from Australia.
Both she and I were extremely excited about attending our first
magic show.
A world-class magic show
The show began shortly after, and Greg
Frewin and his two female assistants appeared on the stage.
The music was pumping and Greg was in full control of his act. Greg’s
movement and that of his two assistants were crisply choreographed.
Two of his tigers made an appearance, pigeons appeared out of nowhere,
and even Chuck the Duck mysteriously popped out of a bucket without
any possible explanation. Throughout the act Greg’s two assistants
Darlene and Jamie-Lynn vanished and reappeared inexplicably right
in front of everyone’s eyes.
With the help of a willing audience member Greg even turned a $50
bill into a $1 bill, in plain vision of an incredulous audience,
and to the heart-felt chagrin of the person who had donated the
$50. One of the big acts of the night was a mind-boggling levitation
illusion that seemed to defy any sense of logic or science. I was
sitting right in the front row and watched Greg’s every move
like a hawk, but after the whole thing was done I was still completely
unable to figure out how Greg had pulled off some of his grand illusions.
Judging by the large crowd that gathered around Greg after the show
to ask for autographs I realized that he is truly an international
talent of the highest caliber, a real celebrity magician.
Glamour, skill and suspense
Images of this action-packed day were flashing through my mind
as I drove back to my home for the night. Once I arrived at the
Best Western Cairn Croft I stretched out on my king-size bed and
mentally savoured the day’s experiences once again, yet already
looking forward to another exciting day tomorrow that would give
me a chance to experience a close-up
encounter of the majestic waterfalls.
