February 2018 Bulletin

The Butte Exchange Club meets every Tuesday at noon.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Speakers

3/13/18 Science Magazine – Tigerland – Kathleen McLaughlin
3/20/18 Hungry Bowls
3/27/18 Trout Unlimited – Roy Morris

National Convention:

This year, the National Convention will be held in Reno, Nevada, at the Nugget Casino Resort on July 12 through the 14th. This is the 100th National Convention. It is not too early to make your reservations.

June 9th Annual Fundraiser

Stay tuned for information on our exciting new fundraiser! Music, food, games, fun at the Original Mine.

Committee Meetings

The Fundraiser Committee holds meetings at Quarry Brewery. Check the weekly email for dates and times.

“This winter the Garbage Guys and Gals put down their trash bags and picked up hammers and paintbrushes to assist with the completion of the Spirit of Columbia Gardens Carousel. The Garbage Guys and Gals are Exchange Club members who gather almost weekly to collect trash along miles of Butte streets and highways. In the winter that job becomes impossible so this winter these volunteers have been working steadily to help with the dozens of tasks that must be done to complete the Carousel building. For more information contact Exchange Club members: Jim Stilwell, Pat Cooney, or Barry Kippen” (Article from the Butte Exchange Club website)

For those members who want to help with the Carousel Project, please meet every Thursday morning at Perkins at 8:30 a.m. and then head over to the Carousel.

Exchange Club members who want to help with the Field of Honor. Check the weekly email for dates and times.

PAST EVENTS

February 20, 2018

Dr. Bill Whitsitt, chairman of the USS Montana Committee, spoke to our local Exchange Club about a statewide group of Montanans who have come together to support the commissioning and crew of SSN 794 — a nuclear fast attack submarine that will bear our state’s name when she joins the U.S. Navy fleet.

According to the web page at: https://www.ussmontanacommittee.us/the-ship/  “The USS Montana will be among the most advanced submarines in the world as she carries out a range of missions in defense of our nation.

A Virginia Class nuclear fast attack submarine, the USS Montana will have the most advanced stealth capability. This will enable critical surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations. She’ll be lethal, able to protect carrier and expeditionary strike groups, as well as hunt and destroy enemy attack and missile submarines and surface ships.

The USS Montana will have the ability to precisely navigate in shallower waters to come close to adversaries. She’ll be multi-mission, able to deploy and detect mines, launch Tomahawk cruise missiles against large land targets, and insert entire platoon-size Navy SEAL special operations teams into dangerous areas, all while submerged.

Officially called PCU (for Pre-Commissioning Unit) MONTANA SSN 794, the USS Montana is under construction at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. Contract completion date is May of 2020.

Keel-laying for SSN 794 will take place in the near future. This is an important milestone and ceremonial event officially marking the start of construction. However, since a submarine is basically a cylindrical-shaped vessel without a keel, scheduling is flexible as is evidenced by our ships’ already being under construction.

Christening, or officially naming Montana, will be scheduled when she is nearly ready for launch. By that time her sponsor, typically a female, and a captain, will have been named. The captain will have a crew selected and in training.

Commissioning, or the official transfer of SSN 794 from Newport News Shipbuilding to the U.S. Navy Fleet, will come after sea trials and completion of the USS Montana is certified by the Navy.

Following commissioning, the USS Montana is expected to serve our nation with a range of missions around the world for more than three decades.”

March 6, 2018

The Annual Butte Exchange Club Awards Program was held at noon at the NorthWestern Energy Auditorium. Guests were welcomed by Master of Ceremonies and Exchange Club President, Doug Rotondi. Julie Crnich, Program Chairman for the Youth of the Year Program, congratulated the 2017 – 2018 Youth of the Month Students from both Butte Central and Butte High School.

The theme for this year’s Youth of the Year was “Strengthening America through Socially Responsible Communities”.

Butte Central Youth of the Month Students are:

Olivia Bolton
Noah McGee
Brian McGeehan
Chelsey McGree
Zoe Sullivan
Kloie Thatcher

Butte High School Youth of the Month Students are:

Elsie Dickerson
Madison Joseph
Jackson Maloney
Cade O’Neil
Isaiah Weldon
Niklaus Zora

This year’s Butte Exchange Club’s Youth of the Year winner is Jackson Maloney, a senior at Butte High school. Jackson was awarded a $2000.00 scholarship from the Butte Exchange Club and a $500.00 scholarship from Montana Tech Foundation, presented by Shannon Panisko.

Chris Rosa is the Program Chair for the A.C.E. Award. Three students competed for the award this year. They are:

• Brittney Long – Butte High School
• Zayne Miller – Butte High School and
• Taysha Reed – Butte Central High School

The A.C.E. Award stands for Accepting the Challenge of Excellence. The scholarships are provided by the Exchange Club and New Horizon Technologies and they are awarded to a student who has overcome difficult challenges. This year’s winner is Brittney Long. Brittney was also awarded the:
• Rosemary Rawls Scholarship – sponsored by Roger Rawls
• The Susan Welsch Memorial Scholarship – sponsored by Resodyn Corporation and
• The James Dorr Johnson Memorial Scholarship – sponsored by Dianne Kimball
Brittney received a total of $4,000.00 in scholarships.

Both Jackson Maloney and Brittney Long will now be eligible to compete at the regional level for additional scholarships.

Zayne Miller was awarded the $1,500 Frank Rosa Memorial Scholarship, sponsored by the Roza family. This scholarship is given to a student planning on continuing their education at a local college or university. Miller plans to attend Montana Tech. He also received a $500 scholarship from the Montana Tech Foundation.

The Excel Club is a student run service club at Butte High School. Lyza Schnable is the Program Chair and advises the student group. Senior members of the Excel Club in good standing are eligible to compete for an annual Leadership Award. The recipient is chosen based on strong leadership and must reflect the values of the Exchange Club. This year’s winner is Niklaus Zora. He received a $1,000 scholarship from the Exchange Club.

A total of $9,500 in scholarships was presented at this year’s award banquet. Congratulations to the students and parents and best of luck to you all.

This ceremony concludes one of our primary activities of the Exchange Club for the year. Again, thank you so much to all of the Club members who made this event such a success.

Thank you to our Program Chairpersons, Julie Crnich, Chris Rosa and Lyza Schnable for your hard work all year long. Also a special thank you to all of the Club members who assisted with the award program, and selecting the scholarship winners for the 2017-2018 ceremony.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• Thank you to Elyse Lewis, Linda Corr-Mahugh and Brad Cederberg for providing articles and photos for the February bulletin.

• Speakers Wanted – If you have an idea for an interesting luncheon speaker, please contact Noah Thatcher (nthatcher@marcomllc.net) or Corey Dennehy (Cdennehy@marcomllc.net).

• Reminder to Club members that there are many opportunities to serve on Exchange Club Committees.

COMMUNICATIONS

Update and Reminder:

The Communications Committee would like to remind you that we rely on committee chairmen and all club members to send us meeting announcements, stories and photos since we cannot be present at all Club events. Please use your cell phones and capture some fun photos to send us.

Please send all details on upcoming events & speakers to: info@butteexchangeclub.org.

If you have taken photos at Club events that you want to share, please send them to:info@butteexchangeclub.org (cell phone shots are OK).

Need help? Call: Elyse Lewis –Public Relations Chairman – 565-0801

Bulletin Editor – Penny McElroy
Mobile: (406) 490-1946 Home: (406) 494-2731
E-mail: pamcelroy7@gmail.com