All are welcome, including all Alumni, retired and current faculty and staff, past and present members of the BOE, anyone who lives in the district, friends of the district, and anyone who loves to have fun singing
The first rehearsal is Monday, September 14th from 7 pm to 830 pm with an optional get to know each other Dutch treat happy hour at Snyder Bar and Grill afterward
Place: Amherst High School, Room 188; enter via the music wing. Use the Berryman parking lot
Who: Anyone 18 and older and anyone who loves to sing, and please bring a friend or 2 or more.
For more information or any questions, please contact the Alumni Office at 716-362-8259 or email alumni@amherstschools.org
From the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame Website:
Duke McGuire was a three-sport star at Amherst High School, earning ten varsity letters and seven first team all-star selections. While he excelled in soccer and basketball, his true legacy has been built in and around the sport of baseball.
McGuire continued his baseball career at Cornell University. He was drafted three times and turned pro when he was selected in the first round by the Detroit Tigers. He played three seasons professionally, including one year for Hall of Fame manager Jim Leyland, before injuring his back in spring training.
In 1978, he was a player-manager and team MVP in the New York Penn League for the Niagara Falls Pirates. He joined the legendary Voyageurs MUNY AAA team that won 14 straight league titles. That team, with ex-big leaguers Joe Charboneau and Joe Hesketh, barnstormed the country in the ’70s and ’80s and won the National Baseball Federation Championship in 1979.
When professional baseball returned to Buffalo in 1979, McGuire became a fixture with the Bisons organization. He joined the broadcast team, served as the director of Public Relations and Marketing, and then as the team’s public address announcer from 1981-95. In 1996, he became the team’s broadcast color commentator, a role he has held for more than 30 seasons. He also served as the Bisons youth baseball coordinator, and ran the team’s camps and clinics at Sahlen Field, and in local parks.
McGuire also played a key role securing “The Natural” in Buffalo by providing the first tour of War Memorial Stadium to the individuals scouting for a location to shoot the film. He made his silver screen debut, playing alongside Robert Redford in the classic film.
McGuire served as an assistant to the Dean of Students at Amherst High School for 40 years. He has also been a fixture in high school sports and has coached baseball, girls basketball, and football at Amherst and Williamsville South high schools. He remains involved in high school athletics as an announcer, timekeeper, and supervisor at a variety of athletic contests.
Each year Amherst High School presents The Duke McGuire Award to a student athlete who displays compassion and acceptance to those less fortunate. He is an inductee of the Western New York Amateur Baseball Hall (1988) and the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame (2010). In 2025 the Bisons marked his service to the organization by naming the “Duke McGuire Home Broadcast Booth” in his honor.
Just to give you a little background on the Alumni Foundation, In the wake of celebration and sentiment that followed the close of World War II, returning veterans conceived the idea of a homecoming event to renew friendships. A dance was held downtown at Christmas time and another at a country club the following spring. To keep the idea going, officers were elected and a newsletter was published. Philip A. Schweickhard, principal of Amherst Central High School from its founding in 1930, laid the groundwork “to keep the Amherst family together” when, in 1954, he appointed Arthur E. (“Doc”) Pankow to co-ordinate Alumni Relations. By 1983, it was evident that we needed an expanded structure to perpetuate the spirit and quality unique to Amherst. In June of that year, the Amherst Alumni Foundation was conceived and incorporated. This year marks the 96th anniversary of the high school! For those of you graduating this year, we’d like to welcome you to the alumni family with the other 25,000 graduates that came before you, where we cherish the past and enhance the future.
We are proud to present the 2nd annual Amherst Alumni Foundation Dimp Wagner Scholarship in honor of Donald Dimp Wagner – class of 1948.
The late Anne Harding Joyce, class of 1970, was instrumental in connecting us with Dimp and establishing this gift. This $5,000 scholarship reflects Dimp’s lasting legacy at Amherst and beyond. It is awarded to a student who embodies the same passion for Amherst, dedication to fellow students, and commitment to school and community involvement that Dimp so clearly demonstrated. As a student, Dimp served as President of the National Honor Society, played in the Marching Band and Amherst Symphony, sang in the choir and was an accomplished athlete. His involvement and leadership left a lasting impact on the Amherst community.
Dimp was a generous supporter of the Amherst Alumni Association. You may recognize his name on the track out back, named in his honor following a generous donation. Through his trust in us and his support in establishing a fund within the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, Dimp enabled the Alumni Foundation to carry on his legacy for generations to come—by which this scholarship has been established.
This year’s recipient reflects many of Dimp’s qualities, he has shown his desire to serve our local community and give back to a community who has given him a place to feel at home, with access to a great education and encouraging teachers. He plans to attend Dartmouth University in the fall where he hopes to study engineering with dreams of a career designing high-performance vehicles and pushing the limits of automotive engineering.
It is our distinct honor to present the 2nd annual Alumni Foundation Dimp Wagner Scholarship to Maif Biswas.
Join fellow Amherst Alumni, Families, and Friends for our 2026 Meat Raffle. 🎟️🥩
The Amherst Central Alumni Foundation, Inc., is hosting our second Meat Raffle on Saturday, May 2nd, 2026, at the Marygold Manor, 770 Maryvale Drive, Cheektowaga, NY 14225
The doors open at 6:00 PM, and the first spin is at 7:00 PM.
Tiger Tracks 