Students go bar hopping, Spring Weekend style

"You wanna go to the bars?"This statement has probably been uttered numerous times each weekend this school year. Students and bar owners alike say that during Spring Weekend, the phrase just gets uttered a lot earlier.

"During the day it's much more prevalent," Neil Harrington, 28, employee at Mangia's Pizza on Main Street in Allegany, said. "(It's busy) from 2 p.m. on."

"It's the last party of the year," Lou Ruby, owner of the Hickey Tavern at 96 W. Main Street, Allegany, said. He said while St. Bonaventure's biggest party weekend may officially start with the first games of the annual Rick Farina softball tournament at 4 p.m. Thursday, students, in true Bonaventure tradition, like to start the party a day earlier.

Danny Gleason, owner of Allegany's The Other Place at 91 W. Main Street, said the combination of nice weather, subsequent dehydration from the sun, looming final exams and the end of many senior years causes Bona's students to party more during Spring Weekend.

"This time of year, they drink a little more," Gleason said.

He said The Other Place, commonly known as "The OP," is popular with upperclassmen because of its strict carding policy at the door.

Still, Gleason said he is forced to turn away more students at the door during Spring Weekend for being too intoxicated.

"We turn down a lot more kids," Gleason said. "If they're stumbling at the door, I don't want them in here. (They're) trouble waiting to happen."

Gleason said his bar attracts most of its customers because of "Club OP" nights: Thursday or Saturday nights featuring student disc jockeys where the main floor of the bar turns into a dance floor.

"Music is a big deal when you're young," Gleason said. "I'm trying to communicate with the kids. Everybody wants to dance."

Gleason said current students have a different relationship with him than those in past years. He said because of Club OP's loud music, his bar fills up quickly and he sometimes has little time to chat with students.

"I get to know them now,but not their names," he said.

Patsy Collins, owner of The Burton Hotel, agreed. He said he cherishes his relationship with Bonaventure students.

"Through the years, I've had a great camaraderie with them," Collins said. "These kids come back every year . It's just a good feeling. An awful lot of them you remember their names, but I never forget a face."

Collins said he has had few problems during past Spring Weekends. He also said people enjoy coming to The Burton because of the clean environment and safe atmosphere.

"(It's) because we don't put up with fighting," Collins said. "We try to keep minors out. (The bouncer) knows most of the kids. They feel comfortable coming here."

Collins credited a mutual respect between his staff and Bona's students as a reason for the safe environment.

"I've always gotten along with most of them," he said. "(They've) treated me with respect. Most of them knew we weren't going to put up with any fighting or problems here."

Collins said although he has had few problems, he has been swift in dealing with people engaging in fights or other incidents.

"They could apologize to me forever, but as far as drinking here, it's a lifetime sentence," he said.

Collins' son, Chuck, said a popular attraction at The Burton, especially during Spring Weekend, are the bar's monstrous hamburgers sold to students and alumni during the afternoons.

Patsy Collins said the hamburgers started after World War II when St. Bonaventure had army barracks across from the main campus. He said The Burton was "an old time Bona hangout."

Collins said The Burton is a stop at the annual St. Bonaventure Rugby undergraduate-alumni pub crawl, which starts at The OP, moves to the Hickey Tavern and ends at The Burton.

The event is just one of the festivities dedicated to Rob Peraza, a former Bona rugger who died in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Peraza's picture hangs in The Burton.

"Most all the rugby guys tend to hang out here," Collins said.

Ruby agreed, saying the pub crawl is "a lot like another reunion, per se." He said the pub crawl is just one way in which alumni and undergraduates can mingle at The Hickey.

"I like introducing people a lot," Ruby said.

He said most of the townspeople and students who meet each other end up finding a common bond, whether it be Bonaventure basketball, local sports teams like the Buffalo Bills or Sabres or old Bonaventure memories.

He said the relationship mirrors that of most Bonaventure students who enter his bar.

"One thing I like about Bona students . they pretty much all know each other or are familiar with each other," he said. "(That) cuts down on a lot of tension and arguments."

Graduate student Mike Gallagher said that is the very essence of Spring Weekend.

"Everybody starts a little earlier," he said. "Everybody feels like they come together.