EDITOR’S NOTE: The following column on the Italian-American Charity Golf Tournament first appeared in The Post-Journal in 2018. With the 54th annual event scheduled to begin this morning at Holiday Valley Resort in Ellicottville, it was deemed appropriate to re-run the story — which centers on the value of friendship.

My Jamestown High School graduating class loves reunions. I believe we’ve had them every five years since we walked across the stage at the Amphitheater at Chautauqua Institution to receive our diplomas nearly four decades ago.

For some members of the Class of 1979, however, the reunions are more frequent.

And, if you ask them, they’ll tell you the gatherings usually involve a little bit of golf, a boatload of laughs and an affirmation that true friendship isn’t measured by the quantity of time spent together, but rather by the quality of it.

“Friendship,” Muhammad Ali once said, “is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.”

By that measure, Steve Johnson, Matt Hoff, Tony Triscari, Joe Paterniti, Randy Nelson, Bob Marchiando and Barry Minsker — among the core group of friends from the Class of ’79 who gathered Wednesday night at the Italian-American Charity Golf Tournament Stag — aced that exam a long, long time ago.

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Day Two of the 47th annual IA began early this morning when 42 two-man teams teed off at Holiday Valley Resort in Ellicottville. The winners will be determined by Saturday evening. But the event is more than just chasing a little white ball, receiving a pretty impressive-looking trophy or securing bragging rights for 365 days.

“If we happen to play great golf and stay in contention … priceless,” Nelson said. “If not, we know that we only have a year to wait to do this again, until we can’t physically do it again. … We hope that is a long time from now.”

A businessman, a speaker, a coach and a former U.S. Navy submarine officer, the Raleigh, North Carolina resident has built a reservoir of friends and associates since he last walked the hallways at JHS. But Nelson said nothing compares to when his high school buddies from near and far can get together, especially at the IA.

“With all of the friends I have met over the years — in Jamestown, in college, in the Navy, and in the companies I have worked with — no bond has been more lasting than my close friends from the class of 1979 in Jamestown,” Nelson said.

He added: “When we get together at the IA, we have a lot of fun. We catch up on each other’s lives, and would most assuredly do anything to help each other in time of need. We look forward to checking in and looking at the beautiful view Holiday Valley offers. We look forward to the first day because we always are paired with our friends, and that round is special for that reason alone.”

Last night as many as 10 were expected to have “class reunion” dinner together followed on the weekend by what Nelson calls “more of the same, spending quality time with people that we can be ourselves with, that make 1979 seem like yesterday, even though we most definitely look like we graduated almost 40 years ago.”

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Paterniti has played in the IA for 27 years, served on its committee that long and is the current chairman. During that time, the Jamestown resident has paired with seven different partners, including Nelson, Triscari, Minsker, Wyberanec, Hoff and Ron Madden.

“I am one who feels the tradition of Italian heritage and goodwill should be experienced by my close friends,” the Jamestown resident said.

A few laughs thrown into the mix don’t hurt either.

“There has been some good golf and bad golf,” said Triscari, but one thing is for certain: there is always a lot of fun.”

One story that Minsker loves to remind people of involved Kevin Kaiser, yet another member of the Class of ’79, who one year at the IA dropped a marshmallow on a green at Holiday Valley, right next to the flagstick. The unsuspecting player who had taken the blind shot up the hill, thought he had nearly holed out — until he reached his “ball.”

“We laughed for years on that one,” Triscari said.

Minsker, who now lives in Minnesota, also recalled the time years ago when the group traveled to North Carolina for Nelson’s wedding.

“We all were happy to get south and play (golf) in March,” he said. “However, the morning after the bachelor party, it was 39 degrees with wind and rain. We were all dressed for sun, so we were all miserable, including Kaiser who played in his winter business trench coat.”

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Some people in the JHS Class of ’79 will drop just about anything to play.

Ted Wyberanec did.

“Barry Minsker called me out of the blue a couple days prior to the event and told me that Busty Triscari was a late addition to the tournament and needed a partner fast,” said Wyberanec, who makes the trip from his home in Florida. “I was working in Greenville, South Carolina at the time and had my golf clubs packed with me. I was able to get released from my deployment as a State Farm catastrophe adjuster early, rented a car and drove up for my first IA.

“We did not win anything, but it was the first time I played Holiday Valley. The fun I had was just too much to describe.”

Amidst the fun, the group is also very much aware of a larger battle — the fight against cancer. Proceeds from the tournament benefit the UPMC Chautauqua WCA cancer treatment program.

“Last year, my wife Maryann traveled with me for the event,” Wyberanec said. “It was especially meaningful because she had just concluded her final cancer treatment earlier that year, and the IA is a charity that gives so much to the fight against this awful disease, that it made last year special for both of us.”

“Special” seems to be the operative word for this tournament on so many levels, especially for the crew whose friendships were forged decades ago at JHS.

Nelson may have summed up that bond the best with one of his favorite quotations.

“It is a great idea to maintain some of your oldest friendships,” Nelson said. “These friends will remind you of who and where you came from. Your oldest friends don’t care about your business. You are just you and that is worth a lot.”