City celebrated at annual Butler Downtown event
The actor and rapper Ice-T gave a special shout out to the city of Butler on Wednesday evening, acknowledging it as the birthplace of the modern Jeep design.
Ice-T also encouraged the leaders of Butler Downtown to continue doing what they do, and even said he knew the area is cool.
“This is a hip town,” Ice-T said in a Cameo video to Butler Downtown. “You know why I know Butler is a hip town? Because you’ve got Ice-T shouting you all out.”
The annual Butler Downtown Celebration took place Wednesday in Butler’s Grand Ballroom downtown, and local residents, business owners and community leaders joined in the night of networking and community updates.
Jeff Geibel, president of Butler Downtown, said the celebration is a good opportunity each year to recognize not only the people working within the nonprofit organization to improve the quality of life in the city, but everyone locally who is doing their part.
“It’s just a bunch of good-hearted folks who live in this town,” Geibel said. “Instead of saying what somebody else should do, they are rolling up their sleeves and doing it themselves. My mission as president was try to get people excited and try to get folks involved.”
As part of the celebration each year, Butler Downtown chooses a few individuals and businesses to recognize with special awards. This year, it honored Mikayla Moretti as volunteer of the year and Oliver Outdoor as the small business of the year. The Center for Community Resources got the economic impact award. Butler Downtown also gave special recognition to Brian McCafferty of Kenmac Rentals and Vicki Hinterberger of Butler Radio Network. Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy praised each of them at the event.
Moretti, who works as director of special events with the BC3 Education Foundation, was unable to attend the event. However, her co-worker and Butler Downtown board member Lisa Campbell said Moretti enjoys doing volunteer work in the city.
“She expresses very often how much she loves volunteering, how much she loves downtown,” Campbell said.
Beth Gillan, executive director of the Butler County Center for Community Resources, accepted the economic impact award, saying the nonprofit employs nearly 150 people, who all add to the downtown culture.
“They support the local economy, everything from purchasing coffee, meals, comic books, plants, groceries, the bank, anything going on on Main Street,” she said. “The city has so much to offer.”
In addition to the awards, leaders of the different Butler Downtown committees talked about the work they have done over the past year, which included talk about the Fairy Door Trail, snowflake light replacement, website redesign and the revolving loan fund.
Dandoy also spoke about the potential sale of the Penn Theater and the sale of the Butler Area Sewer Authority and the planned revamping of Butler Middle School, which he said are all projects that will change the economic landscape of downtown Butler.
Audrianna Bly, vice president of Butler Downtown and chairwoman of its organization committee, said the nonprofit was emphasizing an outward community presence over the year, and the annual celebration represents that mission.
“It’s a night to hear positive things and be proud of the work being done in Butler,” Bly said.
