http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12007/1202009-361.stm

At half-time of the Buitler versus North Allegheny boys game on January 31, the Butler Basketball Boosters recognized long time board member and treasure Dennis Tyra. Jack Baccanti presented the placque to Dennis. John Houston presided at the presentation.

COMMENTS  READ AT PRESENTATION OF PLACQUE

THE BOOSTERS ARE COMPLETING OUR 31^ST YEAR OF PROVIDING RESOURCES AND SUPPORT TO BUTLER BOYS AND GIRLS BASKETBALL. DENNIS TYRA HAS BEEN INVOLVED WITH THE BOOSTERS FOR 24 OF THOSE 31 YEARS.

DENNIS BECAME A BOOSTER IN 1988 WHEN HIS SON, BRIAN, STARTED PLAYING. BRIAN HAD AN OUTSTANDING RUN PLAYING FOR COACH MARK JULA DURING A VERY SUCCESSFUL PERIOD FOR BUTLER BOYS BASKETBALL. DENNIS TOOK OVER THE BOOSTER TREASURER JOB IN  1993 AND BECAME A LEADER WE ALL LOOKED TO FOR ADVICE AND DIRECTION.

DENNIS WAS ALSO ABLE TO PROCURE SIGNIFICANT FUNDS FROM HIS EMPLOYER OVER THOSE YEARS.

WHEN DENNIS’S SON BRIAN GRADUATED FROM BUTLER HIGH SCHOOL, DENNIS CHOSE TO STAY INVOLVED WITH THE BOOSTERS AND STILL CONTINUES AS A CONSULTANT ON OUR BOARD.

AFTER THE PASSING OF HIS WIFE SEVERAL YEARS AGO, DENNIS GOT REMARRIED AND IS IN THE PROCESS OF MOVING FROM BUTLER INTO THE NORTH ALLEGHENY SCHOOL DISTRICT. HIS NEW WIFE, DIANE, IS A NORTH ALLEGHENY FAN SO THEY WILL BE REGULAR ATTENDORS TO BUTLER VERSUS NORTH ALLEGHENY CONTESTS WITH PROBABLY A SMALL SIDE BET ON THE GAME.

THIS PLACQUE READS:

BUTLER BASKETBALL BOOSTERS

RECOGNIZE

DENNIS TYRA

 FOR 24 YEARS OF LEADERSHIP AND FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION TO BUTLER SCHOOL DISTRICT BASKETBALL WHICH INCLUDE 15 YEARS AS TREASURER.

PRESENTED BY THE BOOSTER BOARD ON JANUARY 31, 2012 AT BUTLER VS NORTH ALLEGHENY BASKETBALL GAME

THANK YOU DENNIS

N.A. TRYS TO STOP NATE

Facing a must win situation, Nate Snodgrass exploded for 42 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals to lead his team to an 81-60 win against North Allegheny. The win vaulted Butler back into the race for a playoff spot.

With the 42 points, Nate “blew by” the 1000 career points goal and is now at 1013. The 42 points is the 4th highest on the all-time single game list.

Nate “wowed” the fans with a series of “athletic” drives to the hoop. N.A. had no answer to stopping him. NATE-THE- GREAT  is worth the price of admission. Feel free to leave your comment about Nate’s performance.

Caitlyn is also an outstanding shortstop and leadoff hitter on the softball team. She hopes to be able participate in some way with softball this spring.

We wish Caitlyn the best in her surgery and subsequent rehab.

In Shawn Bellis’ senior season(1993-94), he scored 614 points in 21 games, an average of
29.2 per game. Notice we only played 21 games that year. When I questioned Chris
about the number of games, I received the following response(with editorial changes).

That’s right John, 1994 was the year that Seneca beat Butler on its last
regular season game. It was the only year from 1988 to 2000 that Butler did not
make the playoffs.

A lot of people forget: that team started the season out 8-1. Then lost to
North Allegheny (coached by Jula).  Jula basically
intimidated the  Butler team. In hindsight it was a huge turning
point in the season. Some people quit the team shortly after that, &
they only went 7-6 in their final 13 games. The game that stands out the most
though, was the Seneca game. The coach was suspended, the players overlooked Seneca
& just assumed they would win (including Shawn who played pretty bad), and
we allowed Seneca to cut the nets down in the Butler
High Gymnasium… a sad night in Butler High Basketball all around. That season
had some memorable games in it though. If I remember correctly, they battled
with a Shaler team who had 3 Division 1 players on it, and took them to the
wire, but lost 81-77 or something like that. Danny Fortson had 40 & Shawn
had 39.

Its fun to reminisce about the glory days of Butler Basketball. I hope Matt
is able to bring it back.

Good luck this season and Thank You.

Chris Bellis

If you have any comments about this year or any other reminiscing about the
glory days, please submit a comment to this entry.

Does anybody remember Tony Grenek sitting on top of the bank-board  as we
celebrated our 1st section 3 championship while Boosters were selling t-shirts
out of a box at $5 a piece. Somebody else was on the same bank board – who was it?
Any other thoughts about “glory days”.

The Booster board recognized Dennis Tyra at the September 14th board meeting, his last meeting as Treasurer. Dennis will stay on as a board member to provide ongoing expertise to the board.

This summer Dennis married Diane Antonette and will be relocating to the North Allegheny area. You can bet he will get to all Butler/N.A. basketball games.

Dennis became involved with the Boosters in 1984 when his son Brian, was on the 7th grade team. After Brian completed a very successful Butler basketball career, Dennis stayed involved with the Boosters, the last 15 years as Treasurer.
Dennis has been “our rock” the last few years as our booster numbers have dwindled. He has been instrumental in providing additional funding through his employer, Sams Club.

“Thanks for everything Dennis”.