I met Kelly during a time when the world had shut down due to a virus. It was through Facebook Live for the Quarantine Happy Hour and One Dolla Holla events that we became friends. Eventually meeting for the first time during one of the events called The Cabin Fever Tour. Since then we have gone to many multiple music functions that involve her husband Peter Vincent and friends as well as concerts and trips.

I first met Jenn at the Wagon Wheel when Rob introduced me to her. In the past 2 years now we have become close friends, hanging out in and outside of the bar; whether it be playing darts, going to concerts and on vacations. She has helped organize all fundraisers for our wedding and we can’t thank her enough.

I met Angela the first 2 weeks of dating Rob. She has a strong, fun and colorful personality that brightens up the whole room. From hanging out at the Wagon Wheel for Buffalo Bills football Sundays, boozy bingo and dinner date adventures to hanging out in Florida she is one of a kind. I could not ask for a more compassionate, caring person to stand up with me than her.

I first got to meet Susan when Rob and I were invited to hers and Cliff’s wedding May of 2021. She welcomed me with open arms to her family and their group of friends. She along with her husband opened their home to Rob and myself to stay December of 2021, knowing that there was a very big surprise in store for me. We went on the Jolly Trolley, dolphin cruise and dinners. Not to mention the awesome time in the Dominican Republic. Not only did they give Rob permission to propose on their special wedding spot on the beach but to give it again for our wedding. I could not be more blessed and honored for her to be a part of my special day; all I can say is thank you Susan.

PeteDude is the longest tenured of my friends in the party. He started dating Dana, and we quickly started a friendship that has lasted many years. When I purchased the Wheel, he was leaving his job and looking for a new career, so he was my first bar manager, and I still use many of his accounting programs from 17+ years ago. Our love of hockey & the Buffalo Sabres runs deep, we manage and co-manage each other’s fantasy hockey leagues, and well, he’s probably been my “date” to more Sabres games than anyone else.

Don was sitting in the Wheel one afternoon after work, and I was talking to Barb about finding an electrician. Don says “Hey, I’m an electrician!” We’ve played darts & pool together, his bands play my bar often, we’ve made it to several concerts together (Sammy Hagar multiple times), and we’ve admired many “sweater puppies” back in the day. I’ve (only comically) attempted to kill Don once at Denny’s with my humor, but luckily, he survived the ordeal.

TINNEY! Mr. 16-1 himself!!! John’s been hanging out at my bar almost as long as I have owned it. He’s played pool for us for about 15 years, and we all love that. One time John posted on Facebook that he had a new cell phone and lost all of his contacts. He asked that everyone text him, so he can save their number. I, of course, sent a message that said nothing but “Dirk Diggler”. From that point on, I was Sherman in his cell phone. I was in Georgia working, and I was Sherman, long distance, for over 4 weeks. That was extremely challenging, as Sherman and John played pool on 2 teams, and met out often to practice (Also, Sherman is one funny guy, so I had to step up my game somewhat). John didn’t believe me until I showed him the texts, but damn, that was comical. John’s also the inventor of his own language, called “Tinnese”. If you hang out with him long enough, you will get a sample of it. John and I spent a couple of nights in Vegas hanging out at bars, and even though I offered up $150 CASH, he refused to ride the mechanical bull at Gilley’s (smart call by him). Tinney however, has survived comical TWO attempts on his life, when I made him laugh so hard that he passed out twice.

One of the nicest and most awesome people I know. Always willing to play darts, but when you have a height advantage like he does, why wouldn’t you? Cliff has worked the door at the Wheel on occasion (if asked), and shockingly enough, everyone behaved on those nights. Cliff and Susan were amazingly helpful to me when I decided to propose to Jasmine, as my gameplan wasn’t fully fleshed out, but they graciously allowed me to use the exact same spot that they got married at. And again, when I asked if we could use the same place for our wedding. They let us stay at their place for a few days and drove us around and hung out with us. Cliff and Susan also invited us to their family vacation to the Dominican Republic when my plans for a trip to England and Europe became too cumbersome due to Covid protocols between the numerous countries I wanted to visit. Cliff, however, was smart enough to move to Florida before I could make any kind of comical attempt on his life.

Dana is a longtime friend of Rob’s through good times and bad times. When Rob introduced me to his best friend she instantly became my friend. She has gone to concerts, Sabres games, dinner dates and a couple of Florida trips. We can’t thank her enough for standing up and performing our wedding ceremony. We are honored and there are no words that can describe how grateful we are for her; well maybe just a few… “It’s only a 7 minute walk.”