I can still remember making my first friend in Clarence.

The first few days in a new school system are always a little intimidating. In my case, they came in the fall of 1970 when I started as a sophomore at Clarence Central � a place that had did not have the dress code that was part of school life in Elmira (Jeans in a school? Shocking!). I remember quietly stumbling around the school in the first few days, telling teachers that asked that I had just moved to town and no, I was not related to someone named Chris Bailey. Come to think of it, I spent the next three years answering that question.

Thanks to an administrative mix-up, I was placed in a gym class with about 40 other boys under the �supervision� of Mr. Guarino. The class was filled with characters, but the guy who captured my attention was an impossibly tall blond kid. Jeez, I knew there were farms in Clarence, but I didn�t know they grew kids that were that big. Gym class was moved inside by rain one day early in the school year, and I can still see the big guy�s look of good-natured surprise and laughter at me when I made a long shot. I think we talked a little in the locker room afterwards. Well, I thought, maybe this school might work out O.K. after all

Almost 33 years later, Don Smith and I, along with our wives, watched the Labor Day fireworks together in Clarence Center. So I guess everything did turn out well. Reunions are ultimately about friendships, a chance to talk about the intense relationships in high school and plan more good times down the road. I know my Christmas card list has grown after this summer�s activities � and it�s nice to have Don back on it � and I�ll bet yours might have expanded as well. With that in mind, I asked several people at our Labor Day picnic about their best friends from high school. It didn�t take long for people to answer:

Phil Schaeffer (by phone in New York): �Tim Cashmore probably was my best friend. I think my most vivid memory of Tim was the night before senior day, when a bunch of people went up to the school. Tim was one of them, and he almost got caught inside the school building.
�He came back to my house, and I remember him saying that he was still nervous about getting caught by a state trooper. �I want to be a lawyer; I can�t be arrested for a felony,� he said. Tim is now a successful lawyer, of course.
�Oh, be sure to say hello to everyone. I�m sorry I couldn�t make it (the reunion).�

Steve Kick: �My best friend from high school was probably Lee Johnston. We still keep in touch. He�s just a good, down-to-earth guy. He�d do anything and everything for anybody.�

John Fassel: �Dave Campbell was my best friend from high school. I met Dave in eighth grade. I was the new kid in town. We were on the same bus. We were the country kids, and of course we rode in the back of the bus because that was the cool thing to do. We got to be real chummy when one day we were all in the back, and we were chewing gum, popping bubbles and really ticking off the bus driver. She gets up and says, �One more bubble and I�m going to make you sit in the front of the bus for the rest of the week.� So we�re going along, and finally I had to pop another bubble. She stopped the bus, and Dave got blamed for it. He never said it was me that blew the bubble. From that day forward we�ve been best friends, because he took the heat for it.
�I still see Dave once or twice a month, and we remain very good friends. He was the best man at my wedding. If he ever decides to get married, maybe I�ll be his best man.�

Kevin Moshier: �I probably had a number of best friends as grades shifted and classes changed. I ended up hanging out with Bob Schoenthal a lot. I�ve been talking to him here at the reunion for the last 20 minutes, and everything is still there. The sense of humor is there. He�s saying what I expect him to say, which is kind of reassuring. I remember skipping classes and going to McDonald�s with him senior year � stuff like that.�

Cheryl Suess: �My best friend was Debbie Milbrand. She made my high school experience so much fun. I think I met her in eighth grade. Even now, when we get together it�s like we�ve never been apart. It�s just amazing. We shared a lot of laughs. We still keep in contact. When I heard the reunion was coming up, I gave her a call, which was really fun because we had a great conversation.�

Marsha Metz: �It would have to be Gretchen Preve. I knew Gretchen for a long time, but we didn�t become friends until ninth grade, I think. I really don�t remember how we got together, but we were kindred spirits. She lives in Orlando now. She has a whole bunch of children � three stepchildren and three of her own. We�ve kept in touch for all these years.�

Tim McNally: �I had a few best friends: Scott Korff, Curt Lipke, Rob Fiske, Mark Libby. Those aren�t the guys I hang around with now. I started playing soccer with guys like Scott Roth and Tom Herberger. I keep in touch with guys like Scott Korff, but not all of them.�

Bob Schoenthal: �I don�t think I had one best friend, it was Dave Beyer, Kim Merrihew and Tim Porter. I don�t remember how Tim came in, but basically Dave and Kim and I started in elementary school. I don�t remember them not being part of my life. Tim came along at some point. Dave Beyer and I are still good friends and see each other quite a bit. I think Dave was going to the demolition derby at the Labor Day Fair, so if you want to see him he�ll probably be at the beer tent by 6:30.�

Kent Moshier: "I would probably say the best friend I had from third grade on was Howard Cowan. He lived across the street from us when we lived on Goodrich Road. Actually my brother and I were friendly with Howard and his brothers, Dale and Roger. We used to do typical guy things, and talk about the things guys talk about: girls and music. What else was there? And as a matter of fact, what else is there now? Howard moved to Texas to join the Air Force, and I've only seen him a couple of times since then. We went to a Rolling Stones concert down in Cleveland in '75, and I saw him once after that."

Bill Irr: �My best friend in high school was Frank Nappo. He and I were transfers from Catholic high schools. Frank came from Bishop Fallon and I came from Bishop Newmann and we blessed the school together. I arrived in 1971, in the middle of my sophomore year. I still see Frank. His son Francis just graduated from the Air Force Academy. He�ll be protecting our country as a fighter pilot. That�s not a scary thought. He�s a lot smarter than his father, which is a good thing. Frank and I used to go out on dates with his girl friend a lot � just the three of us. Marion finally got used to it. They wound up getting married.�

Kim Merrihew: �My best friend from high school, today, is Scott Roth. The people I hung around in high school are not the same ones I see today. I think in high school you get pushed into groups, and you aren�t really allowed to spread out and meet people.
�My very first friend in the school district was Gary Graber. He moved to Darien, became the justice of the peace. He�s a big-wig in Darien, if you can be a big-wig in Darien.�

Debbie Hormell: �Marcia McKissick, Chris Desmond, Barb Yeskoot and Colleen Modaffara come to mind. I met Chris first. We became friends in high school. I got to know Marty and Barb through Chris. I got to know Colleen through drama club.
�I never really knew anyone from Day One. I was one of those unlucky people who never moved but got redistricted three times. We went to Sheridan Hill, Ledgeview and Parker. That was kind of lousy, to get yanked out of school. I was friends with Pam Shankland and Diane Hengerer, who moved. Kathy Ernst and I were friends at Parker.�

Dave Hormell: �There�s so many of them � let me think. I guess it was Joe Kody. We met in seventh grade Latin class. And I go way back, kindergarten, with Scott Roth.�

Sally Murto: �Melanie Collins, definitely. We probably first met in junior high. Jane Hoppe had been my very best friend in seventh and eighth grade. We were always sleeping over at each other�s houses. As freshmen, Melanie and I really got together. I would ride my bike all the way to County Road, when that wasn�t such a major thoroughfare. That was way out in the sticks then. Now I live out in the sticks, on Tonawanda Creek Road. I don�t see Melanie now, and I�m disappointed she didn�t make the reunion. I was hoping she�d be here.�