After the Advertiser: A Year Without Alden's Weekly Paper
The Alden Advertiser paused publication on Feb. 1, 2025. A look at its century in print, the Weisbeck family run, and the gap neighbors still feel.
For more than a century, the Alden Advertiser was the paper people reached for when they wanted to know what happened at a board meeting, who won Friday night, whose store was hiring, or whose relative had enlisted. Founded in 1914 by J.G. Childs & Son as a monthly serving Alden and nearby towns, it grew into a fixture of Erie County's eastern suburbs.
On Feb. 1, 2025, publication paused. Neighboring outlets later reported that the publisher was dealing with health issues and that the paper was for sale. As months passed without a regular Alden monthly returning to porches and counters, the gap became part of daily life.