Ilion High School - Class of 1993

Source is here Herkimer Evening Telegram - Page 1 - June 26, 1993

Ilion - Graduation begins at ll a.m. on the Diss Memorial Athletic Field

Photo Caption on Page 1

SHARING LIKE EXPERIENCES - Chris Bullis, left, and Jason Bullis, though they are identical twins, have shared different experiences in being each other's friend and brother through school. - photo/John McGraw

Twin acts leave Ilion - Chris and Jason Bullis

ILION - Although Chris and Jason Bullis are about 15 minutes apart in age, it has not prevented them from trying to make up the difference. They are just percentage points apart in cumulative grade point average as they graduate from Ilion High School today. They like the same television programs, play the same sports, but that is about where the whimsical comparisons end, and their differences begin.

"I am older," quips Chris Bullis, adding that the difference is a mere quarter of an hour. They were born in Ilion on Feb. 22, 1975, the sons of Peter and Maureen Bullis. Today, the easiest way to tell the Bullis twins apart is by their hair, according to one classmate, Peter Conover, who is part of two sets of twins, including the Bullis boys, that will graduate from Ilion this morning. Jason Bullis' hair is longer, but not by some striking design for individuality.

He and his brother Chris are like best friends - always there for each other. The fact that they look alike is a reason to look for humor in life, and sustaining an undercurrent of lightheartedness, and fostering this common ground in increasing their relationship.

"If we play a basketball game, we don't play again to see if the other one can beat the other," said Chris Bullis. "We don't fight over stuff. "We have fun competing. We make a game out of it," said Chris Bullis. "It's made us a lot more competitive in sports, grades," he said.

Even in school, we take some of the same classes. We will take tests and wonder what the other one got for a grade. We are pretty close in grades. Chris Bullis has an average of 88.7 and Jason's average is 88.2. "Its kind of like a fork in the road. We are like friends splitting up and going to college," said Chris Bullis. The slightly older Bullis plans to attend Herkimer County Community College in the fall, studying architecture and engineering. Jason Bullis plans to attend Roberts Wesleyan College near Rochester and study computer science. Their parents do not discourage them from competing. It is a healthy competition.

Admitting that they don't study as much as they should, Jason Bullis shrugs that they seem to absorb material in class. "Our grades would be better if we tried," he said. However, the mere nature of being the same age has created sets of recurring experiences for the two. Their rites of passage are sometimes a tradeoff of each other's insights that make their brotherhood that much closer. The brothers swap notes about choosing the right classes classes and the courses of life, like filling out forms, and looking for a college for next fall. "If we have a problem in a certain class, we try to get together and figure out the problem," said Chris Bullis.

Unavoidably, being the same age, and twins to boot, their view sometimes sharpens as one. But, Chris and Jason Bullis point that they that this double vision is common with any friendship or brotherhood. "We are always together. It's like having a friend there 24 hours a day," said Chris Bullis. Another facet that is about as constant in their lives is the ever-present questions that twins encounter and their mistaken identities. They sound alike, too. "I listened to a tape of Jason's voice, and we sound alike," said Chris Bullis. "People who have known us for a long time and who have not seen us for awhile, still have a hard time telling us apart," said Chris Bullis. "I think it lightens the day up. I try to get a little humor into everything," said Chris.

While people may have difficulty treating them as separate and knowing exactly who is who, they obviously have no difficulty seeing their differences. "We don't consider ourselves alike," said Chris Bullis. They agree that being a twin has its disadvantages. People tend to treat them as one and two people. Nevertheless, today marks an end to an era which they will be attending the same school, same classes, and having to fret about mistaken identity. "Last year, we had a chemistry teacher who couldn't tell us apart," said Jason Bullis.

Mike and Peter Conover Treated as separates

ILION - Mike and Peter Conover do not look exactly alike, but they are sometimes treated as one. Such is the first and most frequent pratfall that twins encounter. Encouraged to become their own person by their parents, James and Judy Conover, the fraternal Conover twins, are about to embark on their own separate ways, but they have plenty of recollections about their pre-

Michael and Peter Conover are set to graduate from Ilion High School today. They have traversed different paths while learning from each other. as twin A and twin B, said Mrs. Conover.

Nonetheless, Mr. and Mrs. Conover have been deliberate about allowing each to achieve their own identity. "We have always treated them as individuals," said their mother, Judy Conover. "I never liked people to treat them as twins or just say the twins. They have names. I have always encouraged them to do their own thing," she said.

The Conover brothers playfully state that they tolerate each other and point out that they are markedly different. They don't like the same television shows. They excel in different areas and turn to the other for friendship usually when their set of friends is not around. Says Peter Conover, who is planning to study art at Munson-Williams Proctor Institute in the fall: "I like to draw and he can't draw worth beans."

As a testament to their differences, Michael Conover likes to water ski. He also likes to skeet shoot He works at the Lennox Brothers Pharmacy in Ilion. He plans to attend Herkimer County Community College in the fall.

His brother, Peter likes basketball, "They don't have much in common," said their father, James Conover, "other than they trap together," he said. sumed commonality. They are part of the class of 1993 at Ilion High School. They were also born seven minutes apart on Aug. 23, 1974, in Ilion.

They also will be celebrating with two graduation cakes and not one as a statement of their individuality. Also, two different sets of invitations were sent out for each of the twins. The family didn't try to save on mailing costs by using one set of invitations even though their parties are at the same residence. Having two cakes is likely to lead to an overabundance of cake which in turn may prompt the family to hand out cake to passersby in order to get of rid it, quips their father, James Conover. "Two different parties at the same address," he says.

That is much of the way it has always been in the Conover household. Though born as fraternal twins, it doesn't mean that one forfeits or loses their identity in the midst of tempting smugness. Because their parents had little knowledge that they would welcome two not one child into the world, the twins were listed initially as 'twin A and twin B'. Mrs. Conover said it was discovered that she would give birth to twins about seven hours before delivery. Their records first listed them ...