Alfred Sun

The Alfred Sun is a weekly newspaper serving the residents of Alfred, New York, USA and the neighboring communities in Allegany County. It is a quaint, informative publication that declares itself "A pretty darn good newspaper serving Alfred since 1883". It is printed in a tabloid format.

Editor and Publisher David L. Snyder provides a mixture of local news, "goings on", births and deaths, original poetry and commentary. His most notable achievement is his newspaper's winning the 1997 "Blooper of the Year" in the New York Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest. The winning entry was a summary of the local civic group's laying of sidewalk pavers in "three, three-hour shifts" in which Snyder omitted the "f" in "shift." Gives new meaning to that old phrase, "Shi'ting Bricks." Another claim to fame was the newspaper's publishing an Amy Award-winning article that yielded a $10,000 first prize for the author (and nothing for the editor)...that entry won over entries from the Washington Post and some other well-known publications.

The editor also appeared on NBC's Today Show with Katie Couric, with some friends holding the Alfred Sun sign in front of a crowd barrier. The editor can also lay claim to having befriended Tiny Tim of "Tiptoe through the Tulips" fame on a 19-passenger commuter flight from Providence, RI to Newark NJ. Tiny Tim's obituary, as written by the Daily Telegraph in London, was read at a 2004 conference session of the International Association of Obituary Writers in Las Vegas, NM that, quite remarkably, the Alfred Sun editor attended, thereby missing his town's infamous "Traffic Light Festival" that celebrated the 30th anniversary of the installation of Alfred's one-and-only traffic light. In June 2007, Snyder played host to the 9th Great Conference of the International Association of Obituary Writers, but that's another story. http://www.alfred.edu/pressreleases/viewrelease.cfm?ID=4063

Frank Arlington Crumb, who was a co-founder of the newspaper in 1883, was involved with the paper spanning eight decades, retiring in 1951. In an early 1884 issue, he wrote a small news item that simply stated, "WANTED: one thousand subscribers to the Alfred Sun." Snyder had a similar dream during his first year with the paper in 1976. In 1999, that dream was fulfilled as the Alfred Sun acquired a total of 1,000 subscribers during its "Frank Crumb's Dream Campaign." The newspaper is now conducting a campaign to "Keep the Dream Alive" with a goal of 125 new subscriptions sold during the newspaper's 125th year.

A constant in each issue is a page one top left photo submitted by a reader showing The Sun being "read" in some distant place--Paraguay, Greece, the Grand Canyon, Alfred (the one in Maine) and many, many other locations have been represented over the years. Locals taking a vacation or visiting distant family seem to often remember to take a copy of The Sun so they can capture an image for this page one feature. Another constant is "In The Alfred Sun Years Ago" which quotes or summarizes the contents of The Sun 50, 25 and 10 years ago each week. Another special feature is "The Dugout", sports commentary written by Doug Lorow, while bird watchers enjoy reading Betsy Brooks' "For the Birds" column and winter travelogue. There's also a weekly "Sunny Side Up" food column by Ellen Shultz and an occasional gardening column, "The Upland Gardener," offered by Mary Lu Wells. Sherry Volk contributes a weekly "Scene About Alfred" taken from her digital camera at a sight around Alfred. The paper is truly a "community" newspaper as it relies heavily on community volunteers as sources of news and columns.

The Alfred Sun will soon introduce an online product, AlfredSun.com, that will offer online subscriptions. Watch for further information. Meantime, The Alfred Sun weekly print edition is mailed nationwide. For a subscription, send your mailing address together with a check or money order for $30 to: Frank Crumb's Dream, Alfred Sun, PO Box 811, Alfred, NY 14802. Make check payable to: "Alfred Sun."

The Alfred Sun is the official newspaper of the Village of Alfred, New York, the Town of Alfred, New York and Alfred-Almond Central School District. Sharing the love for the unique little Upstate New York college town that it serves, The Alfred Sun also pushes bumper stickers that have been spotted from coast to coast. They simply state, "I <3 Alfred, NY...Where the SUN comes out once a week!"