The picturesque campus of St. Bonaventure University, located in rural southwest New York, is where Chris DeBack earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism. (submitted photo)
Bonnies endure fray of March Madness
By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com
I like to think that I have adapted to life in Iowa pretty well since I moved to Vinton over five years ago.
However, as my wife, Megan, likes to say, “You can take the man out of New York, but you can’t take the New Yorker out of the man.”
While I may have “an Empire State of mind,” having been born and raised in Webster, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester. With an allegiance to a number of New York-based sports teams including the Buffalo Bills, New York Yankees, and Buffalo Sabres, I have grown fond of the Iowa Hawkeyes over time and adopted the Iowa State Cyclones when I initially moved to the Corn Belt.
None of them can compare to my affection for my alma mater, St. Bonaventure University in Olean, N.Y., though
It’s located on New York’s southern border approximately 1½ hours south of Buffalo, two hours south of Rochester, and 30 minutes north of the Pennsylvania border in western New York (yes, there’s more to New York than just the Big Apple). It’s nestled between the small towns (or at least what is considered small in New York State) of Allegany (8,000) and Olean (13,500), along the Allegheny River, which was my first glimpse of small-town life.
