As one of the town of Boston’s first insurance companies, Alfred W. Dye Insurance boasts 92 years of continuous operation and three generations of ownership.In 1920, Perry H. Dye began offering fire insurance in Boston with an affiliation with the Erie and Niagara Insurance Association. His son, Alfred Dye, and daughter-in-law Marilyn took over the business in 1956, working out of the family home on Boston State Road. When that couple was ready to retire, the growing company was sold to the Dyes’ son and daughter-in-law, Jewel and Jeffrey Dye.“We’ve always been in Boston,” Jewel Dye said. “It’s... more

The 50th anniversary of the Springville Pageant of Bands will take place on May 18 and 19. To help commemorate the event, the Springville-Griffith Institute High School business of music class is hosting the Springville Jazz Orchestra on Friday, May 18 at 7 p.m. in the Lyle G. Palmer Auditorium at the high school.The Springville Jazz Orchestra, which was formed in 2009, has performed at the Springville Oktoberfest and the Erie County Fair and has been featured at fundraisers for local and regional civic organizations, including the Springville Relay for Life, Springville Community Foundation and... more

Eric and Denise Lawton announce the wedding engagement of their son, Dennis Paul, to Kristin Elizabeth Hobson, daughter of Susan Kendall Hobson. The wedding is planned for July 7 at Avon Gardens in Indiana.Dennis is a 2006 graduate of Springville-Griffith Institute. He received his bachelor’s degree from Wittenberg University and is currently an eighth grade science teacher at Beech Grove Middle School in Indiana.The bride-to-be received her bachelor’s degree from Wittenberg University in English and psychology and is currently completing her master’s degree at the University of Indiana in occupational... more

The annual spring concert at Springville-Griffith Institute High School on May 24 will feature the orchestra, chorus and concert band. The Tuesday Night String Ensemble and the jazz band will perform at 6:30 p.m., followed by the concert at 7.An anonymous community member recently donated a piano to S-GI, and the Springville-Griffith Community Education Foundation will be acknowledged for its contributions toward the piano’s repair, tuning and purchase of a moving dolly. There will also be a presentation for this year’s senior class musicians. The concert, which will be held in the High School’s... more

With two losses to open the season, the modified baseball team at Springville-Griffith Institute was on the road against the Pioneer Panthers on Tuesday, May 8 in pursuit of its first victory.The Griffins fell behind 2-0 after three innings of play.Matt Woodarek was the starting pitcher and lasted four innings, striking out seven batters.“From innings four to six, the boys’ bats and base-running skills came alive with timely hitting and aggressive base-running,” said Coach Robert Gainey.From that point on, Springville outscored Pioneer 7-2 to clinch a 7-4 victory, the team’s first of the year.Matt... more

Coming off a 17-1 win that pulled the Springville-Griffith Institute team to 7-7 on the season, the boys varsity baseball team hosted Cheektowaga on Friday, May 4. After that initial victory, the boys lost five games in a row. An 11-6 win on Wednesday, April 18 in Cheektowaga was part of five wins in six games for Springville.Cheektowaga gave the home team a 4-1 loss. The road team built a 4-0 lead, scoring once in the third inning, twice in the fourth and once in the seventh before Springville finally broke the shut out in the bottom of the seventh, the final inning. Tyler Conklin earned a single,... more

Shawn Patterson, a senior at Eden Jr./Sr. High School, will be heading for Germany this summer for an additional year of schooling.Patterson, the son of Adam and Amy Smith of Eden, was recently awarded a full scholarship through the U.S. State Department funded Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program to study a full academic year at a German high school.“This is such an opportunity, to totally immerse oneself in another culture,” Patterson said.Although not of German descent, Patterson decided in sixth grade that he wanted to study German.“I wanted a challenge and I felt studying German would... more

The future may hold a fun way to beat the heat for Blasdell residents, as village officials’ discussions over the implementation of a splash pad at the Silver Street playground have continued in a recent, steady manner. Parameters for the splash pad could include eventually accommodating as many as 60 children and persons who would visit the location, which had up to this spring included a basketball court with hoops. However, following a lengthy process, the decision was made by village board members for the basketball court and hoops to be removed, with Blasdell’s Department of Public Works following... more

Lisa Palma realizes exactly what she has in Bridget Hogan. It was getting the supporting cast to rally around the junior’s elite ability that could potentially separate Hamburg from the pack. The Bulldogs’ head coach has received that type of effort and commitment from this year’s group.While Hogan may be the subject of conversations around Western New York high school softball circles — arguably not even enough of those conversations, it’s her teammates that have helped become the guiding force to an unblemished 14-0 mark heading into the team’s regular season finale at West Seneca West on Thursday... more

When Frontier is going well, Mike Morlock and his Falcons believe they can beat any team in Western New York. But the final few weeks of the regular season did not go exactly as planned.With only one game remaining before the playoffs — they hosted Hamburg on May 16, the Falcons lost four of six games to finish what had been a highly-anticipated ECIC Division I slate at 8-6 and in fourth place.Frontier pulled out one-run wins at Lancaster and Jamestown, but also lost disappointing games to Sweet Home and West Seneca West, two of the teams at the bottom of the division standings, and fell by one... more