A friendship that has stood the test of time

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“It’s funny that two local kids who grew up in Johnston have followed the same political paths,” Robert V. Russo, the long-serving Johnston Town Council member and current president, was saying the other night. “We’ve maintained a fantastic friendship that dates back to our days at JHS!”

Russo, who is seeking another term in office, was speaking about Chris Voccio, whose father Peter Voccio was once a member of the Johnston School Committee where he served for 16 years.

Unlike Russo, who graduated from JHS with the class of 1983 and has worked in politics and law, fellow alum Chris Voccio has moved around the country and worked as a publisher for several prominent newspaper companies before locating in his current home of Niagara Falls.

Moreover, the Johnston natives are both graduates of what was then Bryant College, with Russo receiving his diploma in 1987 and Voccio completing his degree work with the class of 1989.

Perhaps even more impressive, as Russo related, “We’ve been friends for almost 40 years and ironically have taken the same political paths.”

“Well, almost,” as Russo mused with a wide smile on his face. “I’m a Democrat and Chris is a Republican and is president of the Niagara Falls City Council.”

And that all adds up to special success stories of two hometown kids who once walked the halls of JHS as well as the same college and have become nothing less than political pals plus while maintaining a special and inseparable bond for four decades and counting. 

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