2018 PFRA Convention in Buffalo

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George Bozeka
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2018 PFRA Convention in Buffalo

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The 2018 PFRA Convention (formerly Biennial Meeting) will be held in Buffalo, New York at the Buffalo History Museum during the weekend of July 12-15, 2018. As we have done in the past, the actual meeting will take place during the evening of Friday July 13 and all day Saturday July 14 with possible add on activities on Thursday July 12 and Sunday July 15. The Museum will be hosting two sports related exhibits during our Convention weekend, one featuring selected items from PFRA member Greg Tranter’s massive Buffalo Bills memorabilia collection, recently donated to the Museum by Greg, and another called Icons, featuring items from all Buffalo pro sports teams. The Museum is acting as a co-sponsor of our Convention. The cost for the Convention is $40 for PFRA members and member spouses and $90 for non PFRA members. The cost includes admission to the Museum and the exhibits and catered meals on both Friday and Saturday.
If you plan to attend the Convention, please make your reservations by using the Convention link on the PFRA website homepage.
Note: We cannot guarantee access to the Convention without a reservation.
The host hotel for the Convention is the Downtown Buffalo Hampton Inn & Suites. Rooms with one king bed or two queen beds are now available under the group code PFR at a special group discount rate of $129 per night. To book reservations simply call the hotel at 716-855-2223 and tell the front desk the dates and the group name (2018 PFRA Conference/Convention) to book with the special group discount rate. The special group discount rate is a flat rate whether one person or four people stay in a room. Rooms with two beds can only accommodate up to four as there is no room for a cot due to fire code restrictions. As for cots, the hotel has a total of eight. They do not reserve cots ahead of time; they are first come first serve upon arrival. There is no additional charge for children age 17 and under when staying in the same room as their family. The room rate includes a complimentary breakfast each morning and complimentary parking for one car per room. There is a 72 hour cancellation policy. June 12, 2018 is the cut-off date for the special group discount rate.
Each convention attendee will receive a free Convention t-shirt. Shirts are available in small, medium, large, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL, 5XL and 6XL. When you make your Convention reservations please indicate your shirt size in the space provided on the checkout page. Please place your t-shirt order no later than June 27.
The Convention itinerary will include our usual mix of speakers and tours, plus the scheduled release of the second book in PFRA’s series on Great Teams in Professional Football History which will cover the 1958 Baltimore Colts. A number of speakers have confirmed for the meeting including former Bills offensive linemen Bob Schmidt (health permitting), former Bills athletic trainer Ed Abramoski (health permitting), former Bills Director of Public and Community Relations Denny Lynch, and former Bills player Joe Bock.
Bob Schmidt played college football at the University of Minnesota and pro football with the NFL’s New York Giants(1959-1960), the AFL's Houston Oilers (1961-1963), the AFL’s Boston Patriots (1964), and the AFL's Buffalo Bills (1966-1967). He was a member of the Oilers' AFL Championship team in 1961, and was an AFL All Star in 1961, 1962, and 1963.
Ed Abramoski served as the Athletic Trainer for the Buffalo Bills for a total of 37 years from 1960-1997. He also served as a part time trainer with the Detroit Lions prior to coming to Buffalo. Abramoski was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 and he was selected to the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame in 1999.
Denny Lynch has spent over 37 years in the Sports Administration field. He has worked in 5 different states at both the collegiate and professional level, and worked with the Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots before coming to Buffalo to serve as the Director of Public and Community Relations for the Bills.

He continues to be a consultant for the Bills as the liaison person for the Monday QB Club, Buffalo Bills Booster Cub, Buffalo Bills Alumni Association, and the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.

Joe Bock had an eight-team pro football career including time with the Buffalo Bills in 1981, brief stints in 1982 with the New York Jets and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, replacement games with the St Louis Cardinals and Buffalo Bills in 1987, time with the Birmingham Stallions (1983 and 1985) and Houston Gamblers (1984) of the defunct United States Football League, and a season with the Chicago Bruisers of the Arena League in 1988. Joe appeared in Arena Bowl II with the Bruisers. In 2006, at the age of 46, he played briefly with the Rochester Raiders and New York/New Jersey Revolution in the old Great Lakes Indoor Football League, making him one of the few players to play in five professional leagues.
PFRA members Joe Ziemba and Brian Marshall have also confirmed for the Convention. Joe is the author of When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL, winner of the PFRA’s Nelson Ross Award in 1999. Joe will speak on "The "Buffalo" Cardinals: The Forgotten History of the NFL's Oldest Team," highlighting the Cardinals' connection to Buffalo and stories about the formative years of pro football with the Cardinals.

Brian is the chair of PFRA’s Canadian Football League committee and the author of a number of articles that have appeared in the Coffin Corner. In 2013, he won the PFRA’s Bob Carroll Memorial Writing Award for his article “Rushing to Judgment: Recovering Jim Brown’s Lost Yardage in 1962” Brian will speak on “Cookie Gilchrist and How He Got to Buffalo,” outlining Cookie’s career before and after his time with the Bills.

Please stay tuned to The Coffin Corner and PFRA Forum for additional details and announcements. If you have any questions regarding the Convention, hotel reservations, or t-shirts please contact Convention Organizer George Bozeka at 330-867-1950 or sundaygolfer48@aol.com.
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