Twenty years ago – 1999

Paul E. Van Den Vouver has announced his candidacy for re-election this November as 3rd Ward councilman for the city of Dunkirk. He is endorsed by the Democratic and Independence parties. A lifelong resident of the city, Paul’s extensive duties as councilman include chairing the following committees: personnel, judicial and general welfare, recreation, library, regional planning, public safety, fire, police and emergency action. He also has served on the board of directors for the Dunkirk Local Development Corp. for the past four years.

Thirty years ago — 1989

Ground-breaking ceremonies for a new office building were held recently at Alumax Extrusions in Dunkirk’s Progress Park. The single-story building will provide office space for the company’s administrative operations, including management, sales, purchasing, accounting, human resources and scheduling. The new structure will cost about $300,000 and is expected to be completed by the first of the year.

Forty years ago – 1979

James N. Griffin of Angell Road, Silver Creek has been named the 1979 Festival of Grapes Grower of the Year. In 1964, Mr. and Mrs. Griffin bought the family farm from Mr. Griffin’s father. They now have 70 acres of juice and wine grapes. There are some Concord vines that are more than 100 years old and still producing good grapes. At the present time, in the three houses on the farm, there are four generations of the family residing on Angell Road.

Fifty years ago — 1969

Seventy units marched in the second annual Festival of Grapes parade as more than 15,000 spectators lined the village streets. Janice Patterson of Silver Creek, a freshman at the State University of New York at Geneseo, was crowned Festival of Grapes queen by the outgoing queen, DePasquale Shomper. The theme of the parade was “Grape is King.”