Recipient of Butte Exchange’s Book of Golden Deeds

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The Butte Exchange Club presented Mike Kujawa with the Club’s Book of Golden Deeds Award, the highest honor presented by the Club, at their October 17th meeting.

The Book of Golden Deeds Award recognizes dedicated community members who contribute countless hours of their time and talents toward improving the lives of people they touch, making their communities better places to live. “Volunteer efforts are very important to our Club and should not go unnoticed,” Butte Exchange Club official said at the meeting.


Mike has been a key contributor to the success of the Empty Bowls fundraiser for the Butte Emergency Food Bank for the last ten years.  Under his leadership, Butte High School students and other volunteers have produced over 8,000 bowls for the event, including over 1,300 last year.  Proceeds from the event are the major source of funds for the Food Bank’s Backpack program. Without Mike’s leadership the success and growth of this program would not have been possible. 
In 2022, Mike established Hungry Hill, a community art center.  He aims to support the less fortunate through art. They will also partner with local non-profits to support their fund-raising efforts.  This includes the Food Bank, where Mike and his group will continue to produce bowls.
Mike is a Butte native and a graduate of Montana State.

Butte Wings and Wheels

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On Saturday June 11th the Butte Exchange Club will be helping out the Butte Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol hold a fundraiser pancake breakfast during the Butte Wings and Wheels fly-in and car show at the Bert Mooney Airport. The Butte Exchange Club has agreed to help cook and serve the breakfast. The Civil Air Patrol will provide all supplies. We have agreed to staff two shifts, from 6:00 to 8:30 am and 8:15 am to 10:45 am. Sign-up by contacting club member John Chioutsis.

Garbage Gang

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This winter, the Garbage Gang continued its work at the World Museum of Mining. The hardworking group, including Jim Stilwell, Pat Cooney, Ernie Richards, Dave Daugherty and volunteer Jay Cornish, painted the floor of the Museum Headquarters building.

In late March, the Garbage Gang completed its work on the Mining Museum’s Knights of Pythias Building and the Richards Funeral Home which Club members painted last summer. Jim Stilwell, Dave Daugherty and Ernie Richards installed a newly painted period sign on the Richards Funeral Home.

Spring is here and the Garbage Gang is starting to pick up litter, now that the snow is mostly melted. On Thursday March 31 the group held its first litter pickup of the season. Jim Stilwell, Ernie Richards, Dave Daugherty, Lee Walsh, John McBride and volunteer Jay Cornish removed a pickup truck full of litter from only a block or so along Howard Street.

Youth of the Year and ACE Award

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This year’s Youth of the Year and ACE Award Luncheon was held on March 22nd in the lobby of the Burt Mooney Airport in Butte. The Butte Exchange Club has had a long-standing association with the airport including installing the first landing lights at the airport in the 1920’s. Keith Miller, Principal of East Middle School and a former Butte Exchange Club Youth of the Month was the Keynote Speaker for the luncheon attended by approximately 50 Club members and guests.

The theme for this year’s National Exchange Club Youth of the Year Program is:
“The COVID-19 Pandemic drastically changed every aspect of our lives, in every imaginable way. Reflecting on what you learned during this time about yourself, your community and the world, explain how your perspectives on success, empathy, prioritizing, social inequities, and leadership have been reshaped.”

Seven Butte students submitted essays in response to this theme and filled out detailed applications which documented their student activities and community service. Sydnie Byrnes, a senior at Butte High School and a 4.0 student, was selected as the Butte Exchange Club Youth of the Year and the recipient of a $2,000 scholarship.

The other scholarship award presented was the ACE Award which stands for Accepting the Challenge of Excellence and is awarded to Butte’s turn-around student of the year. Our three candidates made their presentations to the Club on February 22nd. Evan Pentacost described the impact of losing both of his parents in an automobile crash with a drunk driver when he was 6 years old. McKinsie Mason talked about the unexpected loss of her father from a fall when she was a young teenager. The final candidate, Max Demaris, talked about losing an eye due to a tumor.

Evan Pentacost was selected as the ACE Award winner. He received a $1,500 scholarship sponsored by the Butte Exchange Club and New Horizon Technologies. Evan also received the Rosa Family Scholarship in the amount of $1,500 and the Susan Welsch Memorial Scholarship sponsored by the Resodyn Corporation in the amount of $1,000 for an overall scholarship totaling $4,000.

McKensie Mason and Max DeMaris each received General Exchange Club scholarships in the amount of $1,250 sponsored through the generosity of Exchange Club members Andy Durkin, Lee Walsh, Todd Johnson, Tom Daniel and Doug Rotundi.

Evan Pentacost, ACE Award winner(far right). McKinsie Mason and Max Demaris, General Exchange Club Scholarship winners with Chris Rosa, Chair of ACE Award Committee
President Chris Rosa, Youth of the Year Sydnie Byrnes, and Committee Chair Julie Crnich

Butte Exchange Club FunRaiser

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Please Join Us!

Butte Country Club

Friday, April 1, 2022

6:00 pm – No Host Cocktails

7:00 pm – Buffet Dinner

8:00 pm – Silent and Live Auction

$85/person

$650 Table for 8; $800 Table for 10

Reservations: Call Tom at 406-498-4472

or email info@ButteExchangeClub.org

Please make reservations by March 22nd