Rich Bunche:
CLASS OF 1988
West Seneca West High SchoolClass of 1988
West seneca, NY
Rich's Story
I may have more to say than room to write so grab yourself a drink and a big bowl of popcorn and get comfy. After graduation It was off to the sleepy town of Cobleskill NY. were I attended college.It was a blast but I might not have been as ready for college as I thought. I wasn't great at math in High School and that "demon" haunted me all through college and accounted for most of my stress and frustration (and all my bad grades).So I retook two (math) classes I bombed and got A's in both but they (the college) told me to wait a semester (or two) to re register anyways ( and I almost told them where they could stick their college..but..instead listened to my better half, voted with my feet, and applied to other colleges).I wound up at ECC and went there for around two years. Unsure that Forestry was what I wanted to major in,I decided to just get a job and earn some money. Then,thanks to my cousin,I decided to go back to college...but not at ECC. He talked me into going with him out of state to SJC. That was the best thing to happen to me. It was a beautiful location, 90 seconds from the ocean (including a pit stop for coffee first),tall mountains, eagles everywhere, a salmon stream on the back side of the campus,hiking trails,abundant wildlife (deer,bear,mountain goats,sea otters,sea lions, porpoises, dolphins, whales(mainly Humpback,Siei, Minky, and Orcas), a lake down the road (w/wild and stocked cutthrout,dolly varden,and a few steelhead),a salmon hatchery,a wilderness center on campus where you could sign out camping supplies and kayaks,a few hundred acres of land,and that's pretty much it.
Never a dull moment there. I hiked countless miles of trails, kayaked through remote passages and hidden inlets, fished saltwater for rock fish,snapper,dolly varden,salmon (4 species) flounder, ling cod,and 100+ other species of fish, fished remote lakes for rainbow trout, arctic char,cutthrout trout, dolly varden, occasioal brook trout, and arctic greyling,climbed/hiked 3 mountains(two of them frequently,..highest peak..3200 feet, spent many nights deep in the wilderness,had bears visit my camp, came within ounces of breaking a state record for ling cod (just over 52 pounds), and went on whale watching trips almost every weekend. The school had a sweetheart deal with a tour boat company so as long as we had 52 people willing to go out they would take us on an excursion to see whales and other marine life and no charge for students. The most whales I ever saw in one day was an unbelievable 480 (during a migration) from the shore at park overlooking the bay and sound. Most important, I settled on Aquatic Resources as a major and earned an Associates degree. They needed someone to represent the Associates so I volunteered to do a speech for the graduation ceremony . With only a few days to prepare, I did a mostly ad-libbed spe...Expand for more
ech using just 5 short notes on a 3x5 card. I knew I would be too nervous to stand at the podium and read so I wrote down the main things I wanted to say and just memorized and/or elaborated on the rest. Boy was I glad I took 2 semesters of public speaking or that speech might have been really short.
Anyway..I came back to Buffalo because the cost of living was outrageous there. You could probably buy a great home here for the price of a beat up trailer up there. I would've had to live in a tent, down by the river,in bear country,with no gun, till further notice if I would've stayed. Not my cup of tea. So I wound up in the Lan-Dep
area which I'm okay with since it's close to the creek.
Moving on down the line...on my off time I like to play PC games that usually involve building or designing things like cities,theme parks,golf courses,ect. I also have a few Hunting/fishing games (in case I can't actually go) and a lone action game which I like to create my own scenarios for. I don't have a Wii system for lack of a big enough TV but I do like a lot of those games as well.
Don't get me wrong, I don't sit in the house and game all the time, I prefer to go to the park or the waterfront and drop a line. Most of the time it's a great excuse to get out and have fun. I don't get too fussy about what I catch but that's not to say I don't catch a lot of nice fish( like the 4 1/2 pound Brown Trout at a stocker stream on opening day or 3 pound Largemouth Bass I got at the creek the other day or the 17 white perch I caught at an undisclosed nearby inland lake..all around a pound in weight) There are those times when I'm a bit more serious and I do set off in search of certain fish. I took a trip a few years back to a remote camp on French River near Dokis (Canada). It was an awesome trip. I can't remember any other time that I was catching big Walleye ,Pike, and Smallmouth Bass as easily as locals here catch sunfish at the pond. Did I mention that I was never hungry?
In the winter, I don't just sit and watch the snow pile up. It's Buffalo. It snows here. That's no reason for me to hibernate and wait for late spring. I fish all winter too. X country skiing is a good way to cure cabin fever ( X = the fowled up position my skis and ski poles are usually in as I attempt to ski,??????= the equally fowled up language spewing from my mouth like hot gas from a volcanic eruption).O.K, I'm not quite that bad..just not too much better. Long walks in the woods in search of sheds (not the ones you store tools in) can also be fun but finding them is even better. I have a set (right and left) from an eight point buck and a small motley collection of other sheds from various other bucks.
There is more, but you just might have to email me get the rest 'cause my fingers are starting to blister. That's my story...and for now...I'm stickin to it.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Photos