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Wednesday, October 01, 2008

The Larkin Building ~




















As of today, Sep 30, 2008 the Larkin Building is no more. . . . . Photos Color: Pat Gallagher
Photos B/W: Barbara Bloom





Larkin & Company

A renowned Butler company that serviced the early oil wells in our area.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Hutchinson's Dry Cleaning ~

During W.W. II Hutchinson's Dry Cleaner used horse and buggy to deliver our dry-cleaned clothes to our doorsteps.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Thomas Rutkoski ~ BHS '62 ~ Evangelist

+June 7, 2011 
Butler Evangelist who founded Gospa Missions. Thomas Rutkoski is a speaker in demand in churches throughout the world. His Mission has grown to include worldwide retreats, conferences, prison ministry, healing ministry, speaking engagements, publishing and humanitarian efforts. His books have had inspired many to conversion.


Thursday, August 07, 2008

Viaduct Market ~

Everything we needed for a good Italian meal.
Photo: Pat Gallagher

With famous misspelling on the side.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Friday, June 06, 2008

Normandy ~ 6 June 1944

Butler Mother

Normandy
June 6, 1944

She was standing
on the porch
that day in June
watching her youngest
come running up the steps
and across the lawn
when it happened
on the beach
at Omaha
where her eldest lay,
face down, no longer
clawing at wet sand.

She stood there, quiet,
holding him close,
fingering his hair.


from: The Butler Pennsylvania Poems


Thursday, June 05, 2008

Soap Box Derby ~

An annual affair.
Photo: Thanks DeWayne Johnston
[click on photo to enlarge.]

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Butler's YMCA Swimming Coach ~

John. F. "Pump" McLaughlin
† March 28, 2004
Swimming teacher, coach, mentor, friend.
Left: Eric Namesnik, right: Alice Ann McLaughlin, Pump's niece.

[photographed in front of the YMCA]

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Monday, January 07, 2008

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Thursday, December 13, 2007

YMCA ~ Today

At the corner of Penn and Washington Streets.
Eric Namesnik learned to swim here.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Msgr. Wm. J. Spiegel ~ A Good Shepherd

Msgr. William J. Spiegel
Pastor St. Paul's Church [1944-1964], builder of St. Paul's School, friend and helper for many.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

BHS Football 2007 ~ 0 Wins ~ 9 Losses


Sophomore Cole Harvey was 8 - 15 for 102 yards and 2 TDs

BHS 0 [L] – Kiski 31
BHS 7 [L] – Norwin 35
BHS 17 [L] - Fox Chapel 19
BHS 13 [L] - Bethel Park
BHS 14 [L] - Erie 28
BHS 14 [L] - Shaler 35
BHS 0 [L] - North Hills 20
BHS 0 [L] - North Allegheny 34
BHS 13 [L] - Seneca Valley 27




Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Bill Saul ~ Football Great ~ BHS '58

+ September 16, 2006

Bill was a '58 graduate of BHS. At Penn State he played basketball and football. In the NFL he played for the Baltimore Colts and the Pittsburgh Steelers, then one year for the New Orleans Saints and one year for the Detroit Lions. Bill was inducted into the Butler Sports Hall of Fame in 1968. We all looked up to Bill.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Ed Vargo ~ Major League Umpire

Ed Vargo of Butler, National League umpire from 1960-1983, is the only Major League umpire to call one no hitter and one perfect game for the same pitcher. Vargo was behind home plate for Sandy Koufax's no hitter on June 4, 1964 and his perfect game on September 9, 1965.
+ February 2, 2008

Monday, September 10, 2007

Robert McClung, Author ~ BHS '34

† June, 2006
Robert M. McClung was born in Butler, he was a graduate of Butler High School. His first book, "Wings in the Woods," a fictionalized version of his summers on this grandfather's farm, was published in 1948. He received a master's degree at Cornell University and began his dream job by working at the Bronx Zoo in New York. In 1955, he left the zoo, where he was curator of mammals and birds, to devote to his writing. In 1958, he moved to Washington, D.C., as a natural history writer and editor for the National Geographic. In 1962, he moved to Amherst to devote his time to the writing of his own books. He published 66 books, including "Green Darner," "The Story of a Dragonfly;" and "Bufo, the Story of a Toad."



Friday, September 07, 2007

Inseeing ~ Some Strange Photos of Butler

On a recent visit home I walked around and made these rather strange photos.
Greetings to fellow Butlerites,

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Harvey Trader ~ Butler's Music Store

As it was back in the 40s and 50s. Located on East North Street. A delightful store.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Friday, May 04, 2007

Institute Hill School ~

Built 1901 at the corner of Eau Claire and First Streets. Today it is a professional medical building.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Our Old Main Street Viaduct ~ Gone

We fancied the straight thrust of Main Street from the northern hill to the southern, right through the center of town.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Main Street Clock

1947

... It was in our very center
in those days
when uptown was where
all our paths crossed.

From:
The Butler Pennsylvania Poems

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Butler Woman ~

She would come every day
to visit her son, thirty-seven now,
who had been sent
to the County Prison
for murder.

I am only doing
what a mother does, she said.

At night she would dream
she had seen him
coming home from school
with books under his arm,
smiling, waving to her
standing at her kitchen window,
waiting.


from: The Butler Pennsylvania Poems 

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Institute Hill Mustangs ~ 1950

The Mustangs won the championship in 1950 defeating the Penn Street Cardinals.
Ed Eicholtz, Wayne Anthony, Nick Newcaster, Dan Murphy, Dick Smith, Diantonio, Dom Monteleone, Mike Newcaster, Ken Mills, Dan Coyle, Lanny Pride, Jack Lokhaiser, Bill Saul, Dale Stetzer, Dick Haron, Charles Leitem, Ray Natili, John Houston and Coach Ed Pickett.
[Photo thanks to Michael Newcaster]

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Butler Area Senior High School

The new High School was built in the early 1960s.
This area was known as Fairground Hill.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Deshon VA Hospital ~

During W.W.II soldiers who had suffered hearing loss were treated here. Butler is proud of its service to the military.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

J.F.K in Butler, 1960

J.F.Kennedy [podium] and Lyndon Johnson [right] campaigning in Butler in 1960 in front of the Court House.
Butler Police Officer Eugene Heath
is standing to the left just above the Pa. State Trooper [center]
in charge of controlling the crowd.
JFK stayed at the Willard Hotel while campaining in Butler. He walked, escorted to the this location.
[Picture thanks Mary (Heath) Gordon]