Since 2005, Bill Melvin has worked as the manager of the Butte Civic Center, which is by far the best sports arena in the state.

Melvin is currently in the middle of a busy stretch of three straight weekends of high school basketball tournaments. This Thursday through Saturday, the Civic Center will host the Class A State boys’ and girls’ tournaments. The tournaments include 16 teams, and games from 9 a.m. until late in the night.

That comes after the Civic Center played host to the Western A and Western AA Divisional boys’ and girls’ tournaments on back-to-back weekends.

Of course, being busy is just part of the job at the Civic Center, which will have about 75 employees working this weekend — along with a ton of volunteers.

Before he took over the top job at the Civic Center, Melvin was a boxing coach, a bowling alley employee and owner and a member of the Butte-Silver Bow Council of Commissioners. He was an instrumental voice in the development of the Copper Mountain Park as part of the Superfund cleanup.

Bill is also a past Knights of Columbus Athletic Club Athlete of the Year, an honor he suspects just might have been Bernie Boyle making fun of him after he ordered too much paint. 

Listen in to hear how much work actually goes into putting on a high school basketball tournament. Listen to hear all the cool events he has helped put on and some of the famous people has crossed paths at our storied arena.

Listen to hear why Bill became a Packers fan. I always chalked it up to a character flaw, but it turns out he has a good reason to be a Cheesehead.

Today’s podcast is presented by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. If you’re in town for the tournament, make sure to eat where the locals eat.