There’s nowhere Pete Guelli would rather be than right here, right now.Right here is a dorm room at St. John Fisher University. Right now is Buffalo Bills training camp.Guelli is the Bills’ president of business operations, overseeing the franchise as it prepares to move into new Highmark Stadium. But one of the first major projects of his career was helping bring training camp to Rochester.Twenty-five Bills training camps later, Guelli is back where it started.And on Sunday, the Rochester native received an honor that made the homecoming even more meaningful.Guelli was inducted into the Rochester Red Wings Walk of Fame before their game against the Syracuse Mets. He’ll join his late father, Frank, a decorated amateur boxer and longtime Rochester restaurateur, who already has a commemorative brick. “To go in as father and son is a pretty cool situation,” Guelli said. “It was exciting to hear about it and that made it more meaningful.”Pete Guelli joins his father in Rochester Red Wings Walk of FameGuelli grew up in Walworth, graduated from Aquinas Institute in 1983 and later attended SUNY Brockport. He remembers going to Red Wings games at Silver Stadium.His father was considerably more famous around town.”He was pretty well-known for boxing,” Guelli said. “I couldn’t turn the corner without anyone knowing his name. He was also a restaurateur. People absolutely knew him better than they knew me.”Frank Guelli was a four-time Aquinas Mission Bouts champion, received a full athletic scholarship to Syracuse University and became an All-Marine Corps boxing champion and Golden Gloves champion. He’s a member of the Rochester Boxing Hall of Fame, Aquinas Institute Hall of Fame and Red Wings Walk of Fame.The Red Wings created their Walk of Fame in 1997 to recognize people who have made a significant impact on Rochester-area sports. Honorees are commemorated with bricks near the Plymouth Avenue entrance to the ballpark.Pete attended his father’s Red Wings induction with his wife and son in 2020. Frank died in December 2023.Guelli’s father also provided his earliest business education.Frank owned the Red Lion Restaurant in downtown Rochester for decades. Pete grew up busing tables. The real education often came afterward.”I probably learned more around the family dinner table than anywhere else,” Guelli said. “He was a great businessman. There are not many better ways to learn how to interact with people.”Then after lunch or dinner was over we sat around as a family talking about the day. That stuff still carries over for me.”How Pete Guelli helped bring Bills training camp to RochesterGuelli was working in marketing and consulting when the Bills hired him in 1998 to help grow the franchise’s presence in Rochester.One of his first assignments was helping move training camp from Fredonia to St. John Fisher.The Bills arrived in 2000.”I had no idea,” Guelli said when asked if he envisioned what camp would become. “All I knew was Rochester was a very important
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