Butte Depot

This Saturday, the Butte Depot at 818 S. Arizona will be the site of a benefit to help Jake and his young family. Activities will get underway at 3pm and will include both a live auction and a silent auction as well as a dart tournament and a 50/50 drawing. Food will also be available as chicken and spaghetti have been generously donated by Mike Thatcher and Community, Counseling and Corrections, Inc. All are invited and encouraged to attend.

Butte has always had a special relationship with the annual Cat/Griz Football Game. Geographically, we're right between the two universities and in addition to sending several players to both teams' rosters, Butte even hosted the big game from 1926 to 1951. Couldn't get tickets and are going to be watching the game here in town? Here are a few places worth checking out.

The Butte Family YMCA has set a new date for their annual Country Hoedown fundraiser and this could be one worth kicking up your heels over. The legendary and newly-renovated Butte Depot will be the site of the event on the evening of Thursday, October 24th. You will not want to miss this event.

Friday, October 25th, the LIFE Foundation will be holding a fundraiser at the Butte Depot, 818 S. Arizona. Festivities are planned from 6pm to 2am and will feature live music, a 50/50 drawing, a silent auction and delicious catered food. Items are needed for the silent auction and interested individuals or businesses are encouraged to contact Kim Leathers at (406) 565-8406 for details and information.

Friday, September 27th has been set as the date for the 2nd annual "Breakaway Bash" fundraiser for the Butte Amateur Hockey Association and Copper City Kings youth hockey program. The event will take place at the Butte Depot at 818 S. Arizona with the doors opening at 5:30pm with cocktail hour and the start of the silent auction. Dinner is served at 6:30pm and cocktail attire is suggested.

It looks like they're expecting a party Tuesday evening at the Depot. As we previously announced last week nationally renowned Americana artist Eric Dowdle will be in town for the official unveiling of his "Butte, America" puzzle, the image of which has yet to be revealed. Judging from some of his past work, we are in for a pleasant surprise at tomorrow's unveiling which will begin at 5pm at the Butte Depot with Stephanie Sorini and members of the Butte Chamber of Commerce. Organizers have just announced that local multi-instrumentalist/vocalist John Montoya will be providing music.

The Butte Depot is going to be a busy place. Aside from bringing in country star Rodney Atkins for the big pre-fireworks concert at the Original Mineyard on Wednesday, the Depot will be the place where Eric Dowdle will unveil his new Butte, America-themed puzzle, whose image has been top-secret up until now.

It's hard to hear about Adam Para's story and not feel compassion. After all, Adam is a really nice guy. A lot of you may know him from his job at Northwest Pawn on Front Street and previous job at Autozone where he worked for a decade and later at Good Vibrations. Chances are Adam helped you if you were a customer, most likely with a big smile. And Adam is asking for your help.

Thirty years ago, Butte was still learning how to deal with the economic and social fallout that came with the fall of the Anaconda Company. A once bustling mining boomtown whose population had been well over 100,000 early in the twentieth century, by the 1990s it had fallen to just over 30,000. With the decline in population came urban blight. Many Uptown buildings, which once housed stores, offices and apartments were abandoned and lay dormant. The warehouse district was no exception. Right in the heart of the district is the once-bustling Great Northern Depot which was a hub of railway travel in Montana. For years it sat abandoned, although many would talk about the building's potential. But nobody took action. Until the Fisher Family came into the picture.

What does tourism mean to Butte? Well, just walk through the Uptown on any given Summer weekend and chances are pretty good that you're going to find some sort of festival or celebration going on and you'll definitely see a lot of out-of-state license plates. Head to a fishing access point or boat launch and chances are you'll be waiting your turn, as well. The winter brings a myriad of skiing and snowmobiling adventurers from across the globe to our neck of the woods and our area's natural splendor and inviting demeanor more often than not leads to repeat visitors. Tourism is a huge part of not only Butte's economy but of the entire state's as well, and it is with that in mind the Montana Chamber of Commerce is hosting their 2nd Annual Convergence Festival on May 21st and 22nd here in the Mining City.