St. Paul School ~ 1963

They are now the backbone of Butler, 

or of a city of their choice.

For the Sandy Hook Grade School Pupils ~

A Tribute to Sandy Hook

We could be a happy class back in 1963 and today we are all grown up and have children of our own. We want you to know we are mourning for yours. Our hearts share your sadness.

St. Paul School,  Fifth Grade. [See comment 8 for list of pupils.]

A Sandy Hook Remembrance

Keith Vargo ~ BHS '88

Keith Vargo is a writer, researcher, martial arts instructor, and fighter based in Tokyo. He was a columnist and Japan correspondent for Black Belt magazine for nearly 20 years.

    Homepage

Oak Street ~

 

Photo: Jack McGrogan

Sledding on Oak Street

Skyway Drive-in Theater ~

Photo: American Classic Images

In the 1950s this was a hit, especially for teenagers.
Read reminiscences of Bob Osborn BHS '58. 

Back in the 1950's Butler Co. had six Drive-in Theaters, Chicora Drive-in (Rt 268), Geibel's Drive-in (Rt 68 East), Hill Top Drive-in (Rt 68 East), Skyway Drive-in (Rt 68 West), Sunset View Drive-in (Freeport Hill) and the Pioneer Drive-in (Rt 8 North).

Song by Shane Alexander BHS '88 entitled: 

Skyway Drive-in

The Butler Pool ~ 2021

 Photo: Jackie Bullman

A House on Belmont Road ~

 Thanks: James Zambroski

Sisters of Mercy ~ St. Paul's School

 

Other Sisters of Mercy who served at St. Paul's School:

[List composed by Fr. John Dillon] 

Sr. M. Sebastian

Sr. M. Annette

Sr. M. Reginald

Sr. M. Priscilla

Sr. Miriam Rita

Sr. M. Jolitta

Sr. M. Ann Joachim

Sr. M. Stephanie

Sr. M. Dorothea

Sr. Norbert Marie

Sr. M. Avila

Sr. M. Giuseppe

Sr. M. Patrice

Sr. M. Stella Maris

Sr. M. Clotilde

Sr. M. Giles

Sr. M. Annrita

Sr. M. Campion

Sr. M. Wendelin

Sr. M. Cornelia

Sr. Paula Mary

Sr. M. Sophia

Sr. Marisita

Sr. M. Evangelista

Sr. M. Damian

Sr. M. David

Christmas on Main Street~

 Thanks: Fred Vero

Daniel D’Aniello BHS ' 64

Forbes

A successful Butler businessman who is one of three billionaire founders of the private equity firm 

The Carlyle Group.

A Tribute from Butler, Pa. ~ 58 Years Ago

upi

J.F.K.

23 November 1963

Grief came flooding in

over every hill,

down all our streets

right into the heart of town,

the day the President was shot,

insisting that he lie in state

here with us

for three days and nights,

until they came

with a caisson,

behind which

a veiled mourner

with children walked,

taking him as we watched

out across the viaduct

and on up over

our steepest hill

until we lost them

from sight.

Then silence hung long over our town

until the morning the rains ceased

when we woke to sun

breaking through dark clouds,

and looking up we saw gently rippling Vs

against the emblazoned sky

and heard flocks of wild geese

calling down to us

to rise up, to carry on.

With spirits gladdened

we set to removing flowers

and the portraits from off the streets,

candles and lamps were gathered

from curbs and fences

and then we stripped the trees

of those long black ribbons

that during those days of grief

had been fluttering in the breeze.

Source 

Butler Attorneys ~ 1947

Thanks: Jim Schaffner
Click on the photo to enlarge.

Butler Firefighters ~

A tribute to our devoted firefighters.
Our constant thanks. . .

The Hot Dog Shop ~ A Longtime Butler Favorite

Out of business 
as of July 8, 2004

This is what we miss!

BHS Football ~ 2021

 

08/27 BHS 07 [L] - Kiski 21

09/10 BHS 27 [W] - Meadville - 13

09/18 BHS 21 [L] - McDowell - 38

09/24 BHS 42 [W] - Gen. McLane 20

10/01 BHS 56 [W] - Harbor Creek - 06

10/08 BHS 34 [L] - Westinghouse - 44

10/15 BHS 07 [L] - Cathedral Prep - 58

10/22 BHS 60 [W] - Franklin - 08

10/29 BHS 27 [W] - Erie - 23

The Hot Dog Shop ~

The Men who made it.

Photo: The Butler Historical Society

Poems about Butler ~

 Poems about a small town in Western Pennsylvania

Monday Morning in Butler ~

Insight

Phillips Mansion ~

 Phillips Mansion

On Route 8 south of Butler

Anderson´s Restaurant~

 

Opened 1906

Thanks: Alyssa Hilliard 

Bantam Building ~ Home of the Jeep

They're out there getting votes to save this building where the Jeeps were made. 

Write to the Mayor

Main Street Parade ~ 1941

Many a soldier marched this street. Many never returned.

Insight

Capitol Theater ~

Spent our Saturday afternoons here. 10 cents. We loved it.
[Now the Brick House restaurant]

At the turn of the last century, the two properties that The Brick House now occupies, housed vaudeville theaters. The Lyric Theater occupied the space where the main bar and dining areas are today. The Capitol Theater is above the game room / banquet room. In the 1940's the Capitol was converted into one of Butler's five movie houses. Legend has it that Houdini performed and Herbert Hoover campaigned there sometime along it's storied history. Movie house records, found in the rafters, indicate that hundreds came to see movies on a nightly basis.

The Capitol Theater is still intact today on the second floor. In the early 1970's the Capitol side of the building was purchased and renovated into a restaurant by The Eat 'n Park Corp. where it remained until it's late 70's move to New Castle Road. Their renovation carefully protected the key elements of the Capitol Theater thus preserving this Historic site.

from: brickhousebutler.com 

Bridge to the South Side ~

 Photo: Robert Emigh

Made in Butler ~

Bantam Station Wagon 1938

Photo: Bantam Club

Alameda Park ~ Pavillion and Lake

Postcard dated 1912

Thanks: Dennis Moffitt

First English Lutheran Church ~

Linda Randig ~ Butler Author

Hello, Charles, Thank you for posting about my new poetry book. I lived in Connoquenessing until I was twelve in the 1950s and that is what the book is about. I did make it general enough that people from any small town should find things to relate to. Those who did not grow up in a small town might enjoy reading what that experience was like. The price of the book is $10 but there is also a $1 per book postage charge if anyone would like me to mail it to them. 

Linda Randig    joeswife803@gmail.com

Made in Butler ~

Coupe 1940

Photo: Bantam Club

Domenick Fratto ~

44 years ago this morning, we lost an amazing man... my father. I remember the day well . . .

Bruce Fratto

Worsley's

Photo: Gerald Bundy

BHS Golden Tornado Band !

Photo: Butler Eagle

BHS Football ~ 2020

 

09/11 BHS 21 [L] - Cathedral Prep - 55

09/18 BHS 07 [L] - McDowell -  45

09/26 BHS 25 [L] - Erie - 35

10/02 BHS 06 [L] - Cathedral Prep - 56

10/16 BHS 55 [W] - Erie - 14

10/23 BHS 28 [W] - Slippery Rock - 03

10/31 BHS 33 [W] - Erie - 0

Butler Memorial Hospital ~ Original Edifice

How many mothers
walked down
the sandstone steps
from our hospital
overlooking town
with babies in their arms
singing silent songs of joy?

Jr. High School Gym ~

Where memories of great games linger . . .

Photo: Barbara Bloom

Catholic Daughters of America - Marching Band

Parade 1958

Photo: Pat Gallagher

J.F.K. in Butler ~

Thanks: Joe Cammisa

Happy Butlerites ~ Before Coronna

Photo: Butler Eagle

Home of the Jeep ~ Doing Our Part

Poem about the Jeep

Brian Minto ~ A Butler Fighter

Latest update.

Jack Bowman ~ Butler Musician

Photo: Paul D. Johnston Jr.

Jack Bowman

played drums in the BHS band then went on to play in the U.S. Air Force Band. Upon returning home he did union jobs with various groups and started his own big band style group which played all over Western PA and Ohio for many years. Jack played drums in several Butler Musical Theater Guild productions. He was also well known as a barber at the Point Barber Shop. He retired from playing recently and donated all the charts from his many band years to the Butler High School Music Program.

Our Courthouse ~

Photo: Butler Eagle

Grateful Marianne Cornetti ~

Coming Home Concert
Photo: Rome Sentinel

Opera singer Marianne Cornetti performed on February 9, 2020 at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Herman.

It was her way to give back to the church and community that helped her career get a start, she  performed “Then Sings My Soul: Celebrating 30 Years of an Operatic Career and a Lifetime of Music”.

Class Reunion ~ Class of 1953

June 12, 2020

Miss USA ~ 1971

Michele McDonald

Our Butler Beauty

Photo: Miss Universe Organization

†23 January 2020
Obituary

Winter in the 60's ~

Keeping Main Street clear . . .

Thanks: Brian Crouch

Made in Butler ~

Pick Up 1938

Photo: Bantam Club

Fr. Simon Conrad O.F.M. Cap.~

† 2013

Before entering the St. Fidelis Seminary in nearby Herman, Fr. Conrad lived on Polk Street in Butler. He was ordained a priest in 1946. Fr. Simon is widely remembered as a teacher, communicator and confessor. And till the end he was best known as a consummate gentleman and professional. Through all of his years of ministry, Father was known for his well-crafted and thoughtful preaching. On two occasions his audience was a national one. In 1954, he and fellow Capuchin Fr. Bertin Roll conducted the nation’s first televised youth mission, which was broadcast live for eight weeks on CBS network television’s “Look Up and Live.” In 1958, he also preached on CBS network radio’s “Church of the Air.” Father wrote two books: Master and Model, a life of Christ, and Brothers of the Sun, a brief history of the Capuchins, which had press runs totaling 40,000.

Glenn Crytzer ~ BHS '99 ~ Butler Musician

Glenn is a prominent guitarist, bandleader, arranger and composer. His music features in several films and documentaries. 
Some of his recordings:
Chasin' The Blues (2009)
Harlem Mad (2011)
Skinny Minne (2012)
Focus Pocus (2013)
A Little Love This Christmas (2013)
Uptown Jump (2015)
Aint' It Grand? (2018)

BHS Golden Tornado Band ~ 2019

Photo: Butler Eagle

BHS Football Scores ~ 2019

                             
                        23/08 BHS 21 [L] - North Hills - 46
                        30/08 BHS 21 [L] - Baldwin - 42
                        06/09 BHS 07 [L] - Mount Lebanon - 63
                        13/09 BHS 07 [L] - Pine-Richland - 56
                        20/09 BHS 00 [L] - Seneca Valley - 55
                        27/09 BHS 21 [L] - Norwin - 49
                        04/10 BHS 14 [L] - North Allegheny - 49
                        11/10 BHS 06 [L] - Pgh. Central Catholic - 55
                        28/10 BHS 28 [L] - Hempfield Area - 55
                        25/10 BHS 07 [L] - Canon-McMillan - 35