About Western New York Family Magazine

Western New York Family first came to life on Michele Miller's dining room table in March of 1984 as a "little blue newsletter" called Mother's Lifeline. Created with a typewriter and rub-on transfer letters for headlines, while her then 4-year-old daughter and 18-month-old son napped, it captured the hearts of local women who, up until that time, had no central source of information for places to go and things to do to enrich their families' lives — especially during Buffalo, New York's famous winters!

Michele was a math teacher who became a stay-at-home mom. She had no background in journalism or advertising, except for working on her high school newspaper and yearbook. Her volunteer experience with a local parents' support group showed her there was a need for information targeted to the region's young growing families — and she set out to fill it.

As Michele's children grew, so did the time she was able to devote to the little blue newsletter. In 1987, when a divorced dad wrote in to say that although he loved getting the newsletter, with all the great ideas it provided for things he could do with his son, he was embarrassed to get something called Mother's Lifeline in his mailbox, it served as a catalyst to re-think the publication's name and Western New York Family became a reality.

Today, what began as an 8-page newsletter has grown, with the advent of desktop publishing, to 64-80 page issues monthly with a press run of 25,000 copies. As of January 2009, our issues "went digital" with "3D" page-flipping technology. The latest generation of tech-savvy parents will be able to access entire issues from their desktop, turning pages with their mouse, searching content by keyword, linking directly to advertisers' web sites and e-mailing favorite articles to their friends.

A dedicated staff of five, plus freelancers, produce the magazine, which is given away free to the community and is 93% supported by advertising revenues. We have loyal paid subscribers who enjoy receiving the print editions in their mailbox at home each month rather than having to pick up a copy at one of our more than 450 distribution locations. And now, with our digital editions, our distribution becomes limitless!

We now also have a Facebook fan page where we can disseminate useful information about events and activities to our fans in real-time, in between our regular monthly issues. Click here to check out our Facebook page. We'd love to have you as a fan!

Western New York Family is the place for moms, dads, grandparents, aunts and uncles — anyone with a child in their life — to find out what's going on in regard to kids and family life in our area. Our centerfold events calendar highlights kids' activities and fun for the whole family! Throughout the year, special sections showcase child care centers, dance schools, gymnastics, fitness and martial arts. Informative pull-out sections focus on the special needs child, exploring education, as well as child health. Columns feature book reviews, fathering, parenting tweens and teens, single parenting, dealing with food allergic children, restaurant reviews as well as travel articles. Our "Let's Party" section is THE PLACE to find that special entertainer, ponies, bounce house and tent rentals, musicians, jugglers — and lots of other unique services to make a party special. Throughout the year, feature articles focus on every topic imaginable of interest to local parents. In 25 years of publishing, WNY Family has "raised" a generation of children whose parents relied on us for great information. Today's tech-savvy generation of parents continue to do so, through our print and digital editions.

As it turns out, Western New York Family was the 12th regional parenting publication started in the nation. There are now more than 150 such publications targeted to young, growing families across the United States, in every major city. Visit www.parentingpublications.org to find one in your area or in a city that you may be relocating to or visiting.

Watch Western New York

Family Magazine on

WKBW - Channel 7's
Business First Report.

Read the 25th anniversary profile of

Michele Miller & WNY Family done by

Doug Carpenter of After 50 NEWS

http://www.after50news.com/arch/may09.htm