Superman, witches and a shark among best buddies

Dressed in a blue body suit displaying six-pack abs, and with red underwear and a cape as… Dressed in a blue body suit displaying six-pack abs, and with red underwear and a cape as accessories, Superman got up in front of a crowd Saturday and sang the lyrics to the Temptations’ “My Girl.”

Accompanying him was 21-year-old Aubry Sifford and an unidentified Pirates baseball fan. The diverse crowd of about 40, which boogied down to the music, included cowboys and girls, witches, devils, Michael Myers, a shark and a soldier.

This Halloween party, taking place exactly one week after Halloween because of room-scheduling difficulties, was thrown by Pitt’s Best Buddies organization.

The organization, begun in 1987 by John F. Kennedy’s nephew Anthony Shriver, matches an intellectually disabled person with a Pitt student who has similar interests. The intellectually disabled can hear about Best Buddies through their caseworkers, or through Best Buddies’ community partnerships with organizations like Family Links.

The goal of the program is as simple as offering friendship to those who have a hard time finding it on their own.

“The problem is a lot of [the intellectually disabled] get ridiculed because of their disabilities,” said Aaron Probst, co-president of Best Buddies.

Matched “buddies” can form lasting friendships by getting together to go bowling, eat lunch or do other fun things, said Probst, dressed in army fatigues and combat boots.

Mike Long, a.k.a. Superman, met his buddy, Aubry Sifford, for the first time at the party. Long joined the program in his first semester here at Pitt because he had done similar things with Special Olympics and “really enjoyed it.”

Best Buddies seemed like a great way to become involved and gain friendships, he said. “You get to meet people … pretty much the same at heart.”

As for Aubry Sifford, he seemed to take to Long immediately, putting his arm around him and proclaiming that he already liked spending time with him.

Later, in an icebreaker game, the partygoers formed a circle. One person, standing in the middle, had to choose a person from the circle, ask their name and get them to smile. Instead of introducing themselves with a handshake, many opted for a hug.

Once it was Aubry Sifford’s turn in the middle, he walked up to Long and asked him to smile. Unable to contain his smile, it was Long’s turn to go into the middle.

“Aubry, good job,” he said, high-fiving Sifford. “You got me.”

Aubry Sifford’s mom, Frankie Sifford, said she hopes that the Best Buddies program will be good for her son.

“He’s always had problems with kids,” she said. The children in her housing complex are younger and don’t know how to have a friendship with him, she said. “It’s so hard for him to interact with the kids.”

With the Best Buddies program, he can “have somebody that he can talk to … [and] do things with,” Frankie Sifford said.

Joy Braun, 44, knows something about this. “I feel like I’ve finally got a friend,” said Braun, who has been buddies with Best Buddies co-President Ranit Lieberman for three and a half years.

They go bowling and “get together for lunch now and then,” said Braun, wearing a pointed witch hat and a black wig with orange streaks.

Braun was even inspired to make a speech at a conference once about her friendship with Lieberman. “[The speech] really got to everyone,” Braun said.

In between conversations and making new friends, the buddies could munch on food donated by Panera Bread and Vera Cruz restaurants, play games like Twister or sing and dance to karaoke.

Probst helped to bring people out of their shells by trying to get them to join him in dancing.

“Come on,” he shouted, grabbing the hands of a woman dressed in blue scrubs and starting to dance with her. It only took a few seconds for most of the others to join in, leaving only a few wallflowers, who decided they would rather talk to each other than dance.

Probst, along with Lieberman, the Michael Myers look-a-like, a shark and a few others, also got the crowd cheering as they performed their off-key renditions of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” doing the Thriller dance from the music video with a few other signature Jackson moves thrown in.

For more information on joining Best Buddies, students can e-mail Lieberman or Probst at ral53@pitt.edu or amp21@pitt.edu, respectively.