In the fall of 1976 I was living in Clement Hall on the South campus of UB.
My roommate from the year before (a Theatre major) and two friends (one from his hometown and another Theatre major) rented half a house a few blocks from campus on Minnesota Avenue.
One day in the fall I went to visit them and it is best to always assume that it was a cold and snowy day during that year, but more about the Blizzard of ’77 later.
When I was about to leave another friend of one of the house mates was leaving also so we walked together.
She was a black woman who happened to be a lesbian, why both facts are important to know coming up below.
I will call her Vivian for this story.
We walked the mile or so back to the campus and chose to cut through the Student Union to warm up.
As we came to the Ballroom we saw that there was a party going on inside and two black men were “working” the door.
Back then there always was a party somewhere on campus and always lots to drink.
One of the men was my RA and the other was the president of the Black Student Government who happened to be a Theatre major.
They were happy to see me and happy that I was with a black woman , but I was not going to try to explain our relationship to them.
The party was for minority Freshman and the first drink was free.
I was neither but they gave us both a handful of drink tickets and invited us in.
Well we both went in and enjoyed a few drinks.
I do not know how long Vivian and I stayed and I do not remember how much we drank, but I am sure we had a good time.
I did not see much more of Vivian’s as her friend moved out of the Minnesota house a few weeks later and I moved in the middle of January just in time for the Blizzard of ’77.
We had a great time in that house the rest of the year.
Blizzard of ’77
By the End of 1976 Buffalo had set a new season record for snow fall.
All of the snow that came after the first of the New Year was “Bonus” snow.
Classes began in the middle of January and before the end of the first week there was a snow storm that closed the college for a few days.
We went back to school the next week but a few days later the Blizzard of ’77 hit, just in time for my 21st birthday.
We had plenty of food and beer at our house and did not suffer.
We listened to music, drank and had a good time staying in as there was no place open to go if we wanted to anyway.
We listened to music, drank and had a good time staying in as there was no place open to go if we wanted to anyway.
A few days after the storm my Grandfather passed away but there was no way I was going to get down to Long Island from Buffalo at that time.
It was fitting that he died during the Blizzard of ’77 as he was born during the Blizzard of ’88 (that is 1888 of course).
Slowly the town dug out and things got back to normal.
One of the first places we ventured out to was the corner bar just a block or two away.
I was in the bar with one of my housemates when my old roommate from the dorm from which I had just moved out of came in.
He was already very drunk, something that he did too often.
No more then five minutes later the bouncer violently threw him out the front door.
I jumped up to see if I could save him from a beating.
My new house mate found his coat and we walked him back to the dorm.
I never found out why he was thrown out, I assumed he must have vomited or stumbled into the ladies room or a bit of both.
So through three feet of snow we walked him back over a mile to his dorm and then walked all the way back to our house.
I am not sure I could do it all today, but when you are 21 years old it is all just a great adventure and lots of fun.
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