Western New York Family, in both print and digital form, is the place for Buffalo Niagara moms, dads, grandparents — anyone who has a child in their life — to find out what's going on in regard to young, growing families in our our region, covering the newborn to teen years. We pride ourselves on quality content. And thanks to our loyal advertisers, our publication is FREE to all, whether in print or online!
Our events calendar is overflowing with places to go and things to do with kids and as a family as a whole. It can be searched by category for quick and easy access to exactly the type of event you are looking for. And you can even submit an item to our calendar yourself for consideration — upload an image with your event info draw added attention!
Our print edition is known for the quality of its content each and every month, featuring articles on every topic imaginable of interest to local parents. If you can't pick up a print edition at one of our more than 350 distribution locations, you'll find the magazine in digital format online through a link on our homepage.
Award-winning special focus editions include Exploring Education (December), The Special Needs Child (April), Healthy Child Healthy Family (July), and our ElderCare Guide: Caring for Our Aging Parents (March). Our newest special section is our June issue "GO! Guide."
In its 40-year history, WNY Family has become a trusted community resource and has "raised" almost two generations of children whose parents relied on us for great information. Today's tech-savvy parents continue to rely on WNY Family through our web site, our print and digital editions, and our presence on social media.
A BIT OF HISTORY
Western New York Family first came to life on Michele Miller's dining room table in March of 1984 as a "little blue newsletter" of 8 pages, 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.
Little did Michele know that in 1990, her husband, John, would be diagnosed with a terminal illness. He passed away in 1993, when her children were 10 and 13. Now widowed, she had to make a decision between returning to teaching or continuing to grow the magazine in order to support her family. Michele sought help from professional advisors and mentors at the University at Buffalo's Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and as a result chose to continue what she had started — and she’s never regretted her decision!
Over the ensuing years, the magazine has grown to 64-80 page issues monthly with a press run of 20,000 copies. As of January 2009, our issues "went digital" with "3D" page-flipping technology — the very first in publication in our region to do so. The latest generation of tech-savvy parents can 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 -- or entire issues -- to their friends. Our FREE digital issue has almost 7,000 monthly subscribers (2020). The launch of our newest web site in July of 2020 brought many more interactive changes with it, making it much more user-friendly for those who read on tablets and mobile phones.
Today, a small, dedicated staff, plus freelancers, produce the magazine. In January of 2023, Michele began planning her retirement and Paul Kline, WNY Family's General Manager of 12 years took over the reins as owner. As of January 1, 2024, Michele became 99% retired, remaining as Online Event Calendar Editor. Western New York Family will always be “her baby” and she is proud to have been able to make a difference in her little corner of the world by making it available FREE of charge to our entire community with the help of our loyal advertisers. Western New York Family has "raised" two generations of children and our hope is that it will go on to raise many future generations. Paul Kline is a an experienced and trusted professional who is ready to carry on Michele's legacy and continue serving the families of our area!
When a business or organization “joins the family” by becoming an advertiser, it not only grows its clientele and markets its brand, it supports and enriches the lives of the young, growing families of the Buffalo Niagara Region.