2 On Your Side’s Pete Gallivan takes a look at the Unknown Stories of WNY.
We are not makers of history. We are made by history. That’s what Doctor Martin Luther King junior once said it’s true. Our past is the foundation upon which we build our future. It’s important to remember the events, the people
And also the places that have made our community, what it is and what it will be. These are the unknown stories of Western New York. Well, we’ve heard a lot in recent months about asylum seekers making their way to Western New York. We begin with a look back to when one of our
Area’s architectural gems became a home to dozens of refugees. A half century ago. Great Cliff. A Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece on the shores of Lake Erie. But this derby landmark also holds another history as a home to refugees. But the property was this cultural hub in
Western New York for the Hungarian community for very long time. It began in 1951. After the passing of the Martins who had built the house, the property sat idle and was ultimately sold for a dollar to a Hungarian sect of priests called the purists who had fled their country after world
War two to escape the persecution of the communists. In 1956 it became a refuge for those who fled following the Hungarian revolution. If likewise, fate has denied you your country. Eugene Haus was one of them. This song is agony. He conveys many of his lasting memories through his poetry.
One of those vivid memories was the day he first set foot on the Great Cliff campus and that building stood right here. So when you, when you came in, you couldn’t see any of the Franklin Wright masterpiece. But unlike the Great Cliff Tourists, today, J’s story was one of courage and resolve.
As a teenager in Hungary, he became a freedom fighter against communists. On October 23rd, 1956 the short lived and ill fated uprising began on November 4th. The Russians came in and uh the brutality that that happened in, in, in those two weeks, then 17 years old,
He saw that brutality firsthand and he knew he would soon become a target. They would have done me in because I broke into the jail. I broke into the K GB headquarters. I pulled out of that star. I pressed out propaganda. I appeared on radio.
So ultimately, he came to the inevitable conclusion that he had to go. I never forget, never forget when, when my mother said that uh I can’t tell you to leave. And I’m not, I’m, I’m not going to ask you to stay because she knew he rode his bike to the border,
Made his way to Austria and finally to the United States, looking over his shoulder the entire time, every time anyone in uniform showed up, I shut out that, you know, that must be the secret police. As all of this was happening,
The purists were expanding their plans for a boarding house here at Great Cliff. I had no home until they took me in, in here. Gene reminisces as he goes through old scrapbooks, recalling the Hungarian history, literature, and folk music that was kept alive here. He also remembers working hard.
One of his first projects was to build this structure. It was uh built as a gymnasium and it’s been used as our visitor welcome pavilion for um nearly 20 years now. But right from the beginning, Gene knew this was his lifeline. No. Imagine how thankful I was. When I arrived here,
He spent six years living here before carving out his own path forward in this new homeland. When I think about what I was able to achieve, I have a good life in here. I have a good life in here.
Now, we look at another type of new start. This one, it’s about an old malt silo that’s found a new future in Buffalo’s Valley neighborhood. It’s been part of the valley landscape since 1894. When William Kriner opened a drying house for the brewing industry here at 50 elk.
It’s about Buffalo coming back and everybody’s happy about that. Over the next few decades, they added a malt house in the silos to the complex, a facility that provided jobs to the neighborhood and malts to breweries from Utica to Erie, including Genesee Kohler cooks Iroquois Simon Pure and Club. It’s the history. It’s,
It’s part of what we were here. The company operated until 1971 but the building stood vacant until 1975 when it was taken over by Buffalo malting. They were in business until 1986 and then it sat vacant until Sean Wright and Jerry Young bought the buildings 32 years later.
So we’re very excited about the rebirth in this area. Also being architect. You know, I enjoy building new buildings but bringing buildings like this back to life. There’s something about a before and after that is so much more powerful. Young and Wright architectural have transformed this historic and abandoned site
Into the silos at Elk Street. A mixed use complex that’s breathing new life into the neighborhood and bridging the gap in development between the old first ward and Larkin. This is what it looked like when we originally visited when they first took ownership four years ago. And here’s what it looks like now.
Young and rights team hard at work on their next projects, two apartments and tenants including Cove Mill barbering. It’s also restoring the original purpose of the site, bringing beer back to Buffalo. Well, from dreams realized to dreams in the making at another former malthouse, this one cross town in Black Rock.
If you drive through Black Rock, you’ve probably seen this building or maybe even skated in it. But what you may not know is it’s a building with a lot of history. The building is very unique in that. It was, it was built as a machine
And the components in the structure itself is like I said, very unique, not a traditional building with floors and windows and things of that nature. It was meant to operate um as a malt house back in the 19th and early 20th centuries,
The John Cam Malting Company was one of the largest malt producers in the country. In fact, John Cam was considered a pioneer of the industry. This is truly an antique and it’s a massive antique, nearly 125,000 square feet on about three acres. The seven story building was opened in 1901
Cam occupied the site until 1916. It was used for animal feed production until 1950. Then other industrial purposes until at least 1986. Most recently, it housed an indoor skate park and then it was like they locked the door and walked away. So it was pretty much intact. But now developer Fred
Lofaso sees a bright new future. His plans call for 80 apartments and a variety of retail including one that would resurrect its past. So we’re talking with a brewery right now. We’d like to have some sort of beer component in here because it was a malt house.
Another piece of this neighborhood’s continued development with a foundation rooted in the unknown stories of Western New York. Up next on the unknown stories of Western New York. Looking back at Buffalo’s last Blacksmith. Welcome back to the unknown stories. Well, the future of 110 and 118 South Park Avenue in
Buffalo’s cobblestone district is very much up in the air. The owner is pushing for demolition so we can build a new high rise while the city is pushing to take it over under eminent domain. So as the litigation continues, we’re taking a look back at its place in history,
Which includes being the home to the city’s last blacksmith beneath the scaffolding and crumbling bricks lies a story. It had a dirt floor. It was anything but beautiful even in its best days, a story of not only the Queen City’s last operating blacksmith shop, but more importantly, the blacksmith himself, Edmund Roy,
He was just a, a terrifically hard worker. Ed’s son. Paul holds the memories and images of his father close to his heart. The elder Rudnicki passed away in 2001 at the age of 82 and Paul says he lived a life doing what he loved. He was an industrial blacksmith
And his specialty was uh sharpening tools, making tools, a perfectionist from day one he had started um in the early fifties doing a lot of work on the Lakes freighters. In fact, in the early seventies, a freighter came up the Buffalo river with a rush order to repair some chains,
A ship that would soon become famous or rather infamous, the Edmund Fitzgerald. Yeah, that’s right. That very same ship sunk a short time later on Lake Superior as the Gales of November came early as the song goes. He did some work on the Chains for the Edmund Fitzgerald and he was always worried
That one of the chains gave way and he had done something wrong to his relief. His repairs had nothing to do with the disaster. But Rod Nicki’s skills were also put to work on some other famous projects. According to historian and preservationist, Tim Thielman, he did belt buckles
For uh the Gemini and Apollo programs for astronauts which all plays into his passion for these buildings which are now at the center of controversy. But he says they once sat at the center of commerce. This set of buildings right here that we’re looking at
That are the subject of this eminent domain hearing. There are the sole remaining buildings from the Erie Canal era on the Buffalo Waterfall and that is something that both Thielman and Paul Rudnicky say needs to be preserved. They’re the reason we created the Cobblestone historic district.
That’s a part of Buffalo that we really shouldn’t let go of. So as the fight continues to preserve that piece of history, we switched to another historic building, which is actually in the collection of the Buffalo History Museum. It’s quite a collection.
But what you may not realize is that at any given time, there is less than 10% of the History Museum’s overall collection on display, the figurative tip of the iceberg. So where is the bulk of the burg? It’s here on Forest Avenue, the Buffalo History Museums Resource Center from
Muskets to memorabilia and everything in between. There’s even an entire building in the collection. You know, outside of our responsibility to share the collection and provide access to it. We also have to preserve it. This little building has lived many lives from garden shed to playhouse,
But those lives were secondary to its place in Buffalo History, Ann Werner from West Seneca, which was Gardenville at the time of the Pan Am. Reached out and said, look, you know, I have, I think I have a building from the Pan American Exposition.
That phone call came into the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society in the spring of 1998 current President, Melissa Brown had just been hired by the museum to work on the Pan Am Exposition commemoration. So she was eager to find out the hidden history behind this potential donation.
She first looked into the property with a building. It spent the better part of a century she found that there was a connection to one of the biggest Pan Am sponsors, the Simon brewery. They knew that the Simon family lived in that home. It was their summer home.
So I knew the Simons had a display at the Exposition. I knew they were really involved. So that held water. Um The building was not sitting on like a, a set foundation. Um So it did like it had been moved, maybe that, that also seemed plausible. So
I went back to the archives and I was able to find an image of it, this image of it sitting inside the West Amherst Street Gate. So they had a sighting. The next question was, what was it? And Werner thought it might have been a ticket booth.
The exact purpose remained a mystery until about 10 years ago when another picture was found revealing the secret. It was a souvenir um concession. They sold um commemorative pan AM coins out of this little building. So now the site and the purpose of the building was found next came restoring it.
Luckily, Mrs Werner’s daughter was an experienced preservation architect. So she did the legwork and the research on what needed to be done and even sourced the proper materials such as the roof tiles and the paint colors. It was important to her and her daughter’s story of growing up,
They wanted to see, you know, the building preserved. And so it’s a great little piece of the Pan Am that we still have. And now time for an age old holiday tradition and an unknown story that falls on the sweet side that Queen City Delicacy Sponge Candy science has discovered many answers.
But there are still a number of mysteries that remain unsolved. Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, how the pyramids were built and of course, who invented sponge candy? Some say the British with their Cinder Toffee. Others might say Cadbury’s Crunchie bar was the first. But here in western New York, we know better.
That’s what they say. But I’ve never seen a piece of sponge candy out of Europe that looks like ours. Joe Urban is the owner of platters chocolate in North Tonawanda. Some people in New England have this thing called sea foam.
They say it’s like sponge but it really isn’t. It’s Buffalo sponge is very unique. Urban says since it started popping up in candy shops across Buffalo in the 19 forties. Sponge candy has been as much a buffalo staple as chicken wings and beef on.
Whack the crispness and the tightness of the, of the, the bubbles inside of the sponge candy as opposed to big and crusty and crumbles in your mouth. It just kind of, it’s crisp and then it melts and, and he took me into the candy lab to show me how the magic happens.
It’s £26 of corn syrup, £30 of sugar and a gallon of water. And we give it a little heat and a little love here for about 40 minutes and then it’s ready to take off and mix in the special ingredients that turn into sponge candy. It’s like a science lesson, isn’t it?
It is, it is what, what turns it from corn syrup to sponge candy. Other than heat and love the, the biggest thing is baking soda without baking soda. It doesn’t happen. It then rises and these huge bins is cut up and down the line. It goes for not one
But two showers of chocolate. And along with Christmas, this is their busiest time of year. Platters puts out about 150,000 to £200,000 a year. All of it processed by hand by these dedicated chocolatiers. Hundreds thousands, hundreds of thousands probably. Yeah. So how many pieces do you eat before they go in the bag?
It depends what kind of sponge it is. So while the unknown story of the birth of sponge candy will remain unknown. This Queen City confection is no doubt a Western New York tradition. Sometimes it gets a little emotional.
I’ve been in this business since I was four years old, grew up in the business and to see where we’re at now and how many people are brand advocates around the country that love platters, that love sponge candy. It’s emotional. We’re not just a candy company. We’re a part of a tradition
Up next on the unknown stories. We head to Orleans County and celebrate one of Walt Disney’s greatest artists and the father of all Santas. Welcome back to the unknown stories. Now to a Western New Yorker who played a big role in Disney’s early success,
An Albion native whose artistic talents made him Walt Disney’s go to guy. This is the unknown story of Hank Porter. The strokes of genius started to emerge early for this prodigy from Albion. When Hank was in school, he was part of the Chevron,
Which is our year book and he was an illustrator there. He was showing um artistic ability way back when he was younger. As he grew up, Hank Porter lived in several homes, including this one in East State Street
And his artistic abilities grew with him. He did this self portrait at the age of 21. After graduating from what’s now the Rochester Institute of Technology, ultimately opened up his own graphic art studio here in the Queen City for about eight years in Buffalo. He ran his own business.
But then things changed about 1936 is when he decided to try out for Disney productions. Porter had found his calling, he tried out for and was hired by Disney when he went to California. That’s when they were right in the midst of doing snow white and the seven dwarfs.
And he immediately made an impact. He was really for creating some of major scenes that we’ve known. And loved scenes like this legendary sequence of dopey swallowing a bar of soap and grumpy being forced to take a bath. He developed into one of Walt Disney’s main men working
On Fantasia redesigning Donald Duck into what we know today. And he’s even credited with creating the iconic looping d of Disney. He was only one of a handful of illustrators that was able to sign Walt Disney’s signature. Then came World War I
I and Porter and his pen did what they do best to support the troops. When the war broke out, there were so many different battalions and platoons and things that were being formed so quickly, they really wanted to build morale and they wanted to build this sense of belonging.
And so they reached out to Disney and they asked him if they would come up with some insignias for the different battalions and troops and stuff. And so really, Hank Porter was that guy that Disney would go to. And then some, he created more than 1000 insignias and emblems for various military branches.
Disney actually called him a one man art department, an art department that was taken too soon. Hank Porter died of cancer at the age of 50 but he lives on in the characters he created and within the unknown stories of Western New York. And now we stay in Albion
And get into the Holiday Spirit with another artist of sorts. But this one taught the art of being Santa Claus, Jane Holland’s home movies tell the story of an American classic. His character really, his inside character is what um you know, really has stayed with us as a family,
A piece of Americana created by the mind and goodness of her grandfather, Charles Howard. He said that Santa doesn’t enter through the chimney. He enters through the heart. Charlie Howard was an amazing man here in Albion. His legacy lives on in many ways and across the nation. It does as well.
His first job as the Santa Claus was with mccurdy’s. He didn’t like what he saw with the other Santas. He thought they were unprofessional. Santa Claus was more than just a Rochester department store marketing ploy to Charlie. He truly believed that a
Santa Claus should be perfect for Children because he is the expression of love and giving. Think about it. He started a Santa Claus school. Yes, Charlie started the Santa school in 1937 here at his home in Albion. A historic marker stands out front today. Soon after he converted the farm into Christmas Park.
A bit of Christmas magic in the heart of Orleans County that attracted as many as 80,000 visitors a year. In 1948 he became Santa and the Macy’s parade in New York. Even served as a technical advisor on the movie Miracle on 34th Street.
The year I graduated from high school, my aunt gave me the tuition money to go. Charlie passed away in 1966 and the park closed, but the school continues today in Michigan. Ken mcpherson has attended several times
Even though he’s known for starting a Santa school in a lot of ways he was Santa Claus, wasn’t he? Oh, you know what? And that’s true. That’s very true. And he cherishes the role of Santa.
It is such an honor and privilege to be in that position and fun. I’ve got to tell you it’s a blast as well as carrying on the legacy Charlie always said to be Santa Claus is a privilege, not a job. Charles Howard, still bringing the holiday spirit to Albion
And the unknown stories of Western New York. And now we wrap things up with another holiday classic and its local connections wouldn’t be Christmas for many people without it’s a wonderful life. And now we take you to the small community just down the throughway
That may have been the real life inspiration for the movie 23 years ago, Tom Belisa told me about the time Frank Capra sat in the same chair and it was that memory that got others thinking that just maybe this old mill town inspired Capra’s vision for Bedford Falls.
Since then, the story of Seneca Falls connection to. It’s a wonderful life has taken on a wonderful life of its own. What has changed since the first time we met. Wow. Um a lot um discovered Seneca Falls. Carolyn Grimes, the actress who played Little Zuzu Bailey came here to see for herself.
To me, it’s Bedford Falls without a doubt. And thanks to her, now we get Tommy, Little Jimmy Hawkins and Carol Coombs. Little Janie Young violet, Janine Roose Fran Caras Solo is one of the founders of a museum and festival which celebrates the film. What turned out to be a once a year celebration
Has now grown into once a year celebration, plus a year round museum, a museum that’s loaded with memorabilia and pictures. In fact, these were donated by Frank Capra’s son himself. So why all the attention? Well, mentions of nearby towns in the film? Oh, well, my father owns a glass factory in Buffalo Rochester.
I want to spend Christmas in Elmira with my family. A striking resemblance to Seneca Falls and something that happened here in 1917. We’ve never claimed to be the only inspiration for Bedford Falls. Frank Capra himself said Bedford Falls was little slices of towns all across the country that he had visited.
We do not want to dispute that we just think we’re a bigger slice than everybody else. Primarily because of what happened on our bridge street bridge. Fran is talking about the heroics of a young Italian immigrant named Antonio Veral who jumped from this bridge to save a
Despondent woman who was trying to commit suicide in the first drafts of the uh of the screenplay. There is a bridge. No one jumps after his visit to Seneca Falls, Capra added the jumping scene. This plaque would have been on the bridge around the time of Capra’s visit.
Probably the most moving part of the message on that plaque is it says he honored the community. The community honors him. The community came together to raise money to bring Varicel S family from Italy. And Fran believes that community support may have also inspired the last scene in the movie
When the people of Bedford Falls come together to raise money to save George. Today, the signs in the village have been changed to celebrate. And here on the bridge, a lot of angels are getting their wings courtesy of these bells being sold to raise money for the museum bells by the way,
Made by the same Vermont company that made the very bell that hung on the Bailey’s tree in the movie. That’s right. That’s right. And a boy cl and now that Clarence has his wings, we will say goodbye till next time. Thanks for being with us for this special presentation
Of the unknown stories of Western New York. I’m Pete Gallivan.