indian falls

Dan Mault was named Firefighter of the Year at the annual Pembroke and Indian Falls Fire Department banquet on Saturday. 

Mault was recognized for his dedication to training, leadership in planning district training, and his role in rescuing three dogs in Alabama. 

“The firefighter of the Year Award goes to the guy who has the best Monday night attendance in 2024. He was instrumental in planning the district training in 2024 and just so happened to be my nozzle man and assisted in the rescue of three dogs in Alabama,” said Chief Jamie Waff.

Dave Olsen was honored for 50 years of service to the Pembroke Fire District. State Senator George M. Borrello presented Olsen with a proclamation and a special service plaque. Near the end of the evening, he also received an honorary axe as framed wall art as a special service recognition. 

Other awards included EMS Provider of the Year, presented to Ed Mileham, and the Training Award, presented to Ron Tyx, who logged the most state training hours and now serves as district training officer for 2025.

LuAnne Mileham, Ed's wife and an EMS officer, presented Ed with the award and shared stories highlighting his decades of service. 

She recalled a call more than 30 years ago when Ed delivered a baby across the street from their home. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much in my whole life delivering this child,” she remembered him saying.

LuAnne also described a moment at church years later when a young girl recognized Ed as the man who helped bring her into the world. 

More recently, she recounted a winter call where Ed assisted another woman in labor. 

“He was thinking of throwing her in his truck and taking her to the hospital, but the ambulance said they were only five minutes out, so he waited,” she said.

The baby boy was later delivered in the ambulance in front of Antique World, and Ed carried him into the hospital emergency room.

LuAnne presented Ed with two stork pins to commemorate his role in those deliveries.

Members recognized for more than 50 years of service included:

    •    George Klotzbach: 58 years
    •    Norm Waff: 52 years
    •    Ed Mileham: 52 years
    •    Mike Warren: 50 years
    •    Dave Olsen: 50 years

“All right, now that everyone has their stuff, you guys have an aide and a nurse waiting outside with your bus," joked Waff. "In all honesty, I do sincerely appreciate all of you guys. More people need to look up to you and pay attention to some of the advice that you give.”

Top responders for 2024 were:

    •    Ed Mileham: 191 calls
    •    Kevin Ross: 185 calls
    •    George Klotzbach: 183 calls
    •    Dave Olsen: 172 calls
    •    Dan Mault: 146 calls
    •    Jimmy Garrett: 128 calls
    •    Ron Tyx: 114 calls
    •    LuAnne Mileham: 113 calls
    •    Dave Linneborn: 111 calls
    •    Roger Mault: 104 calls

Waff reported that the department answered 260 calls in 2024, including 133 EMS calls, six fire calls, 39 motor vehicle accidents, and 27 mutual aid requests. The departments also achieved 1,800 hours of training.

The night also featured a special guest.

On Christmas Eve, during Winter Storm Elliott, Andy Garcia arrived in the hamlet of Pembroke after 24 hours on the road, determined to visit his children for the holiday. Hoping to outrun the blizzard, he instead crashed into a snow bank in front of the Pembroke Fire Hall.

Garcia became known as “Survivor #1,” the first stranded motorist to take shelter at the fire hall, quickly forming friendships with several members of the department.

“I thought I was going straight onto the highway, but instead, I drove right into a snow bank,” Garcia said.

Despite wearing a Kansas City Chiefs baseball cap, he was welcomed inside.

“I was red-eyed, probably because I had been driving for 24 hours or crying because I thought I was gonna die,” he said.

Now a resident of Lockport, Garcia spent three days at the fire hall with 35 other stranded motorists during the blizzard.

“You guys were amazing. I only met you for three days, but you made us breakfast, dinner, and made sure that we were happy,” he said. “They let me win in Uno a couple of times. That was fun. Got to watch some football. Got to teach them how the Super Bowl champions play.”

The evening also featured the installation of officers for the coming year and a memorial honoring members who have passed.

William Joyce, a Pembroke volunteer and Genesee County's Veterans Services Officer, presented a certificate of appreciation to the departments from the Western New York National Cemetery for supporting ceremonies and events.

The evening's emcee, Dan Curtis, had encouraging words for the volunteers, calling on them to persevere in service to their communities.

“Keep at it. Keep your head down. Serve the community," he said. "Do your job the best you possibly can. If you need training, get more training.”

Friends since childhood and now business partners, Donald Dylag Jr. and Curtis Gallagher say they see nothing but potential at the Indian Falls Log Cabin Restaurant, the landmark eatery perched above Tonawanda Creek in Indian Falls. 

“This is the nicest piece of real estate in Genesee County, with the waterfall,” Dylag told The Batavian. “He’s got an eye for food. I’ve got an eye for buildings. We want to make the building and the food match the view and the property.”

The business's ownership is split between the partners in a unique way. Both Gallagher and Dylag purchased the property at 1227 Gilmore Road. Dylag owns the bar and grill, and Gallagher serves as general manager.

Dylag grew up just around the corner in Indian Falls and still lives in the house where he was raised. 

“I’ve been coming here my whole life,” he said. “It was always the first stop and the last stop on a motorcycle. We always came here for lunch after work.”

Gallagher, who’s lived in Genesee County most of his life, brings experience from his own property services business and a long history in construction, maintenance, and real estate. He also loves food, loves to cook, and will supervise the kitchen and the menu.

“We’ve both thought this place was special for years,” Gallagher said. “It’s already a landmark. People come just to take pictures of the falls.”

The partners say their goal is to elevate every aspect of the business, starting with the menu. 

“We’re going to bring better quality food,” Gallagher said. “We want to cover everything from a roast beef sandwich or burger to seafood pasta and steaks.

We want it to be a destination for a Sunday drive or a special occasion.

Recent specials have included surf and turf, mussels bucatini, and chicken Florentine. 

“We’ve hired two new chefs who have worked at top places,” Gallagher said. “We’re aiming for country club-worthy food, but in a casual, comfortable setting.”

Upgrades to the building are also in the works. 

“We want to clear out the brush and expand the view of the creek, put in new floors, bathrooms, and bars, and build a deck that wraps around for outdoor seating,” Dylag said. “In the winter, maybe even snow globes outside.”

The partners say many of the improvements will be behind the scenes at first, updating systems and infrastructure. 

“A lot of the upgrades are things people won’t see, but they’re important,” Gallagher said. “We’re putting the money back into the business.”

They’ve kept the restaurant open since taking over about two months ago, maintaining a staff of about 20 with plans to grow to 30. 

“Most of our employees are local, and they really care about this place,” Gallagher said. “Business is good, a lot of new faces, and a lot of people we know personally.”

For Dylag, owning the Log Cabin is about honoring its legacy and realizing its promise. 

“I wanted to see it go to its fullest potential,” he said. “Watching it not do that was one of the motivating factors. I could see the potential this place had.”

Built in 1946, the Indian Falls Log Cabin Restaurant has served generations of locals and travelers, offering classic American fare, live music, and a view of the 20-foot waterfall on Tonawanda Creek -- a view that remains a draw for visitors from across Western New York.

The partners say they’re just getting started. 

“Sky’s the limit,” Gallagher said.

The restaurant will celebrate its new ownership with a party on Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m., featuring liquor, seltzer, cider, and dispensary tastings from local businesses. At 9 p.m., the Dave Viterna Band will take the stage.

The Indian Falls Global Methodist Church hosted its 80th Annual Strawberry Social on Wednesday, serving up not just strawberry shortcake, but also ice cream, brownies, hot dogs, and chicken dinners.

The fundraiser also included an auction and bake sale.

Photos by Howard Owens

A two-vehicle accident is reported at Route 77 and Indian Falls Road, Pembroke.

One vehicle rolled over but the occupant is reportedly out of that vehicle.

Unknown injuries.

Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments dispatched along with Mercy EMS.

UPDATE 8:31 a.m.: Minor injuries. All occupants out of the vehicles.

Yesterday's sunset in Indian Falls.

Photo by JoAnne Meiser.

Genesee County's smallest volunteer fire department shouldered a big burden during the pre-Christmas blizzard that blew through Genesee County a week ago, providing rest, warmth and food to about 60 people stranded in the area by the storm.

The Indian Falls Volunteer Fire Department has 12 members, but only six could muster the storm response because the rest were trapped in their homes by heavy snow.

For Chief Ed Mileham, the department's response began Friday morning, Dec. 23, when the dispatchers informed him that deputies had rescued two people and wanted to bring them to the Indian Falls Fire Hall to provide them shelter.

Sure, Mileham said, he would be to the hall in 20 minutes.

But getting there wasn't that easy. The storm was already blowing through the area and the passage from his home on Indian Falls Road to the fire hall on Route 77 was already covered in snow drifts.  It took close to half an hour for him to make the trip.

At 2 p.m., a couple more people arrived, then a few more, then a few more. 

"After a couple more people arrived, I called Lu (Lu Anne Mileham) and said, 'hey, can you put out a message to anyone available?'" Mileham said.

Dave Olsen said he couldn't get out of his yard, but Mileham spoke with another resident who had a snowplow, and he went and cleared a path for Olsen and his son Max.

With Max Olsen on board, the department could start participating in some rescues. 

"I started to get actual phone calls here at the Fire Hall," Mileham said. "'Hey, we're stuck here. We're stuck there.' Max went out, picked them up and brought them in. By five o'clock, I think we had 12 people here. By six o'clock, I called Lu and I said, 'Hey, can you do some sloppy joes up?' I said. 'I got 12 people down here,' but the time she got done making sloppy joes and I sent Max down to pick them up, and it was seven o'clock, and we had 20 people."

By midnight, the count was up to 40 people, and by Saturday morning, it was 60.

And it was quite a mix of people -- a group of young Asians, a couple from Munich, a couple from Poland, folks from California going to Niagara Falls, an ER doctor returning from work in Rochester to his home in Williamsville.  There were people from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Canada, and Maryland.

"It was a large number of people that were either coming from or going to Canada," Max said. "I think that might have been like a GPS thing. It wasn't the whole crowd by any means, but there was a definite consistency that they were all using their GPS, and it kept closing roads and redirecting them, so like, it seemed they kind of almost got funneled into this area."

The Indian Falls response to this influx of people was handled by Ed Mileham, Lu Anne Mileham, Dave Olsen, Max Olsen, Matt Delre, and Randy Filter.

The leadership came from Mileham, and Dave Olsen gives him all the credit for keeping things in order.

"We got a lot of comments that (the situation) was handled, probably, as best as it possibly could be," Olsen said. "With some of the people, they complimented the chief quite a bit for his professionalism and the way he kept everything in order and had a plan and kept things written down. You know, he had an organization. He thought ahead. He thought about getting the food and things that, Most of us were just thinking about, 'Oh, what's the next fresh hell is that this storm is going to bring?'"

No serious issues
In Oakfield, volunteers were called upon to deal with a couple of hypothermia cases that were very serious. Indian Falls was spared any dire medical cases but there was a woman who arrived at the hall from Oakfield. She has epilepsy and had left home without her medication. It had been more than eight years since she'd had a seizure.  After several hours, she informed Mileham that she was getting a headache, so he arranged for one of the convoys that were sweeping the area to pick up stranded motorists to transport her back to Oakfield.

Then there was the guy who showed up in a kevlar vest packing a sidearm.

It turns out he is private security for a company in Rochester.

"He walked in, and there were like five deputies, and one was Joe Graff (the chief deputy of investigations)," Mileham said. "He comes walking in. He's got his bulletproof vest on. He's got his pistol on. It's like two o'clock in the morning. 'Whoa, wait, who are you? Let's see your permit.' Had no ID. No wallet. Nothing."

He had left his wallet in his car.

The deputies took his vest and gun and secured it, and told him he could pick it up Monday at the Sheriff's Office.

"The guy said, 'Hey, I've got no problem with it. I'll see you Monday or Tuesday.'"

That level of cooperation was apparent throughout the two days folks were stranded at the Indian Falls Fire Hall, Mileham said.  People just got along and cooperated.  

The first night's sleeping arrangements weren't ideal. Since the number of travelers coming through the area was unexpected, Indian Falls wasn't quite prepared to host 60 people.  There were no cots or blankets on hand.

Fortunately, the hall's floor is heated.

"Everybody said that, once they got laid on the floor, they were pretty warm and comfortable," Mileham said.

The Red Cross delivered cots and blankets on Saturday so the second night at the shelter was a bit more comfortable.

Feeding sixty unexpected guests
The hard part was food.

Lu Anne Mileham hadn't exactly prepared to feed 60 travelers, but with the storm coming, she had stocked up in case she needed to feed department members.

"On Wednesday or Thursday, I happened to be at BJs and I thought, you know what, I'll pick up a couple of loaves of bread, some chips, some lunch meat and stuff," Lu Anne said. "I'm thinking if our guys get caught here, at least we'll have that, and we've got water and soda in the fridge, so but at least they'll have something to eat a little bit."

She also had some supplies at home, and with some kids in the hall, a couple of boxes of mac and cheese came in handy.

On Saturday morning, Mileham contacted Crosby's in Corfu and ordered six sheets of breakfast pizza.

Later that day, he ordered pizza from a new pizza shop in Corfu, and by then, he was aware that some of the Indians in the group were vegans, so he had to get some meatless options.  One guy wanted a white sauce pizza, too, so Mileham ordered a pizza with white sauce.

The one difficulty Mileham couldn't solve for one of his department's guests was getting the Buffalo Bills game on the TV.  Spectrum was out of service during the storm.

"He goes, 'really?' I go, 'Hey, I'm with you. If you can get it on your phone, great."

When The Batavian told Tim Yaeger, Genesee County's emergency management coordinator, that we were doing a story about the storm response of the Indian Falls Volunteer Fire Department, he texted back immediately, "Ed and Lu Anne Mileham specifically are truly amazing people.  From working the COVID vaccination site at GCC to covering calls in the West Battalion on a daily basis, we would be lost and in trouble without them."

It turns out, so would have been a bunch of people from throughout North America and Europe on Dec. 23 and 24 when Winter Storm Elliott hit Western New York.

See previously: 'Fast Eddy' hangs up badge after 32 years of police work

Top photo: By Howard Owens, of Max Oslen, Dave Olsen, Lu Anne Mileham, and Ed Mileham.

Photos below, courtesy of Ed Mileham.

A chimney fire is reported at 1279 Indian Falls Road, Pembroke.

No flames show but there is smoke in the residence.

Pembroke Fire, Indian Falls Fire, and Corfu Fire dispatched.

UPDATE 3:12 p.m.: Crittenden asked to standby in Corfu's hall to standby for anything in Corfu, Pembroke, or Indian Falls.

UPDATE 3:16 p.m.: National Grid requested to the scene to cut power.

UPDATE 3:19 p.m. Tankers from Darien and Alabama requested to the scene.

UPDATE 3:26 p.m.: "It looks like we're getting a knock on the fire."  Crews are pulling exterior walls to check for extension.

UPDATE 3:38 p.m.: Red Cross shelter requested for two adults.

UPDATE 3:49 p.m.: Fire is out. Starting overhaul.

Photo by Joanne Meiser.

November 11, Veterans Day, will cap this year’s first-ever flag-raising Memorial Day ceremony, as the Avenue of Flags will be taken down at Western New York National Cemetery, William Joyce says.

Filled with interment flags that had either draped a veteran’s casket or accompanied a veteran’s urn to a final resting place, the Avenue is a traditional honor each year from Memorial to Veterans Day. It was installed in 2021 and inducted with a ceremony on May 29 of this year.

As director of Genesee County’s Veterans Services, Joyce gave his annual report Tuesday to the Human Services Committee, including how the inaugural flag ceremony went.

“It was well attended by the public and so well received. I know there wasn't much advertisement, but without the advertisement, there were still a lot of people present for in-ground burials. For cremation section 10 is now closed. It's due to its capacity. Now they're moving to Section nine. It's right next to it,” Joyce said. “And to this date, there have been 1,207 burials, that's as of today. And of those, I can proudly say I assisted 18 families with arrangements for burials at the National Cemetery.”

He is the only Memorial Council member in this area with authorization to arrange burials at the National Cemetery, he said. That just “broadens my scope on what I can do for the veterans and families,” he said.

A prior budget approval to purchase uniforms for the Honor Guard was well used, he said — “they spent every bit of that” — and Guardsmen now have a cohesive, professional appearance.

“They’re all looking the way they're supposed to out there, in the same uniform,” he said.

Two weeks ago he learned that the Department of the Army will pay volunteers $50 for every service they perform on behalf of fallen veterans. They will have to go through training first to become certified to perform services at the WNY National Cemetery, he said.

His office had 1,452 contacts and provided 5,321 client services during the past year, including help to file 106 veterans’ property tax exemptions. The first veteran burial at the new cemetery was on Oct. 18, 2020, and there has been an average of four to six per weekday ever since at the site at 1254 Indian Falls Road, Corfu, he said.

Construction has been ongoing to expand the original site due to a lack of capacity. Click here to see the latest drone flyover taken in August.

The Cemetery was approved in 2021 to display the Avenue of Flags from Armed Forces Day to the Saturday after Veterans Day. Joyce said that there will be an official ceremony on Nov. 12 to dispose of any flags that aren’t “serviceable,” he said.

Each flag had been presented to the next of kin of the veteran on behalf of the President of the United States and the branch of service the veteran served. Families donate their veterans’ interment flags to fly along the Avenue to represent their service and sacrifice to the country.     

The Memorial Council is responsible for the maintenance of the flags as well as collecting the donated flags.

For more information about the cemetery and related services, click HERE.

2021 File Photo of the Avenue of Flags at WNY National Cemetery in Corfu. Photo by Howard Owens.

A motor vehicle accident with injuries is reported at Route 77 and Indian Falls Road.

Indian Falls Fire, Pembroke Fire, and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 10:32 a.m.: Minor injuries.

UPDATE 10:35 a.m.: T-bone accident, one vehicle off the road.  At least one patient will be a sign-off.

Photo submitted by Joanne Meiser.

Photo by Joanne Meiser.

Joanne Meiser submitted the photo of storm clouds rolling in near McAlpine Road in Indian Falls.

There is a strong thunderstorm alert for parts of Genesee County through 8:30 p.m.

Winds could exceed 35 mph and there may be pea-sized hail.

Areas affected could be Batavia, Darien Lakes State Park, Le Roy, Pembroke, Pavilion, Byron, Oakfield, Stafford, Alabama, Corfu, Elba, and Alexander.

This evening's sunset in Indian Falls.

Photo by Joanne Meiser.

I should have posted these photos earlier today but got sidetracked or something.  I took the top photo on the drive home from Rochester yesterday on Route 33.  The bottom photo is from Indian Falls by Joanne Meiser.

This is a photo I took on Route 262 approaching Bryon yesterday evening.  Below, a shot from Frank Capuano in Batavia and one from Joanne Meiser in Indian Falls.