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Podcast No. 183: Joe Gilboy
Joe Gilboy could probably be making a lot more money doing something else.
Thankfully, he is not.
Instead, Joe Gilboy is the director of the Southwest Montana Aging and Disability Services in Butte. The agency is committed to seniors and adults with disabilities throughout Southwest Montana.
The agency provides an array of services for the disabled and elderly, helping make their lives just a little bit easier.
On May 3, the organization will hold a Free Fun Fair at the Star Lanes Family Sports Center. The event is held in conjunction with Older Americans Month, a tradition that dates back to 1963.
The event will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will include a free sack lunch, music, entertainment and activities.
Listen into this podcast as Joe talks about his career working with seniors and disabled adults. Listen to the challenges and rewards of the job. Listen in as he talks about the Free Fun Fair, which is an event you do not want to miss.
Today’s podcast is presented by Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warnatee.
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Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Jaxon Williamson, Ashlinn Mullaney
Butte High sophomore Jaxon Williamson and Butte High junior Ashlinn Mullaney are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
Williamson takes home the boys’ honor after mowing down the Columbus Cougars in a non-conference game Saturday at 3 Legends Stadium. Butte High won 11-1, walking off the game by the 10-run rule in the sixth.
Williamson pitched the distance, scattering three hits, giving up one earned run, walking none and fanning six batters. He threw 51 of his 77 pitches for strikes. On the season, Williamson is 2-1 with a 2.23 ERA. He has 16 punch outs in 15.2 innings of work.
Mullaney is the girls’ honoree after a big day at the plate Saturday as the Bulldogs dropped both ends of a doubleheader to Kalispell Glacier at Stodden Park. In the twin bill, she went 4 for 6 with a double and a run scored.
Mullaney raised her batting average to .444, which is second on the team. She has four doubles and the team’s lone home run through eight games.
The shortstop/pitcher is back on the diamond for the Bulldogs after missing her sophomore season while recovering from a major shoulder surgery.
For the second year, Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warranty, is teaming up with the ButteCast to honor the finest student-athletes from the Mining City in an effort to encourage more children to get up, get out and try all kinds of sports and activities.
Photo of Williamson and Mullaney courtesy Alycia Holland Photography.
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KC basketball schedule
Following is the Knights of Columbus Athletic Club’s four-man basketball schedule for the Week of April 22.
Monday
6 p.m. — Butte Sports vs. Shaft Shooters
7 p.m. — Showtime vs. Jellyfam
8 p.m. — Hollow vs. Parish
9 p.m. — Washington Generals vs. Someday StartersTuesday
7 p.m. — Poi Time vs. Butte Sports
8 p.m. — City Bois vs. Someday Starters
9 p.m. — City Bois vs. ParishWednesday
7 p.m. — Hollow vs. Rosary Rattlers
8 p.m. — Washington Generals vs. Showtime
9 p.m. — Maroons vs. Poi TimeThursday
6 p.m. — Crib Crew vs. Shaft Shooters
7 p.m. — Showtime vs. Rosary Rattlers
8 p.m. — Cook vs. Jellyfam
9 p.m. — Cook vs. Maroons
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Podcast No. 182: Mick Ringsak
For decades, Elton “Mick” Ringsak Jr. was an owner an operator at Miller’s Boots and Shoes in Butte. He and his partner Dan McElroy ran the business decades, and Miller’s was known its high-quality footwear — as well as its cats roaming the store.
There is a whole lot more than boots and shoes about Mick, though. For one thing, did you know he was once knighted? Yes, we should be calling him “Sir Mick Ringsak.”
Mick, who grew up in North Dakota, is a decorated Army veteran who served during the Vietnam War. He has also been a mover and a shaker in the political world. He calls himself an Eisenhower Republican, and he is strong in his conviction that he doesn’t like either major party presidential candidate again in 2024.
He was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as the Small Business Administration’s Region 8 administrator, and he has been a member of the Upper Clark Fork River Advisory Council.
Mick, whose friendship with staunch Democrat Evan Barrett led Montana Standard writer Mike Smith to call the two the “Political Odd Couple,” is heavily involved in local politics as well. The two are known as “watchdogs,” when it comes to the Superfund cleanup in Butte.
Mick is very smart, and he is very funny. If you check out this podcast, you will see that.
Listen into this conversation to hear Mick explain why he was knighted. Listen to hear how he ended up moving to Butte after his service in the military. Listen to where the name “Mick” came from. Listen to how he advised his friend H. Ross Perot to not run for president again in 1996.
Today’s podcast is presented by Thriftway Super Stops. Sign up for the TLC app and start saving today.
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Silver B’s honor Verlanic, Demarais
The 2023-24 Butte High Silver B’s Memorial Scholarship will go to Butte High seniors Luke Verlanic and Bo Demarais, Butte High Silver B’s Historian Scott Paffhausen announced today.
The honors comes with their name on a plaque and a $1,500 scholarship. Verlanic and Demarais will also be recognized at a dinner.
Verlanic, a 5-foot-7, 160-pound safety, racked up 93 total tackles, 69 of which were solo, in 11 games for the Bulldogs in 2023. He picked off one pass and broke up four more.
In three varsity seasons with Butte High, Verlanic registered 134 total tackles.
Demarais, a 6-5, 170-pound quarterback, passed for 2,227 yards and 16 touchdowns last fall. He averaged 202.5 yards per game through the air. He also 244 yards and nine touchdowns.
Demarais recently signed to play football at Montana Tech.
In its third year, the Butte High Silver B Memorial Scholarship has now been awarded to five student-athletes. Cole Stewart was the first winner in 2021-22. Last year, Alex Watson and Jonas Sherman took home the honors.
Photos Verlanic, left, and Demarais courtesy of Alycia Holland Photography.
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Pulling out a smart phone could have stopped this nuclear conflict
Since last week’s Council of Commissioners meeting, the spirited people of Butte engaged in some spirited debate about nuclear power.
We trusted our leaders’ words at the commission meeting when we heard our Chief Executive vouch for this idea as “real” and talk about how he’s been working with the Governor and Christian Barlow for a couple of months. He went on to name individual staff members of the Governor after Barlow spun unbelievable tales of regulatory approval at the federal level and no regulation at the state level.
I was in the meeting, and I pulled out my phone to Google the reactor Mr. Barlow claims he’s purchasing, the Westinghouse eVinci. I saw releases from the company saying it was developing the technology with hopes of a pilot in 2029. I read the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s docket on pre-application for a conceptual design that is clearly very early in the process.
I realize I don’t have all the answers and I’m not always right, so I texted a couple friends who have background to ask questions. One pointed out the technology is in development, competing with others like the proposal in Wyoming led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.
All are early in development. Another pointed out the State of Montana can’t enter into non-disclosure agreements, as claimed by Mr. Barlow.
Maybe we’re all wrong, but as the night went on, I tried to read up on Mr. Barlow further. I was alarmed to see Barlow and his wife organizing a protest in Helena to protect children. They believe they are protecting children from public education and the hidden agenda of the teacher’s union, which their group claims is the legalization of pedophilia.
As Barlow’s wife posts videos of face painting for her protest against what she called “the Anti-Christ,” I thought of my mom (a substitute teacher) and the many public school teachers who are union members. I heard her describe her decision to homeschool their children on the mountain as inadequate to protect them.
I didn’t need a lot more convincing that we don’t need this person getting the red carpet from local government to bring that ideology to Butte, but I couldn’t help but search for more information on the many companies Barlow claims to be affiliated with or factories he claimed to be relocating. There’s little more than sales pitch websites that don’t actually sell anything, but gather contact information.
I don’t begrudge anyone for their faith, and I’m not going to judge people for how they raise their children. However, when I find people associated with attacking unions and public education talking in tongues at their church, I don’t have a high degree of comfort associating them with the word “nuclear.”
It didn’t take much to get this far to learn a little about Mr. Barlow. Anyone could have pulled out a phone and did what I did in one night. What we got was glowing endorsements and even a claim this proposal was vetted by experts affiliated with the Idaho National Lab, home of the first nuclear reactor. We got claims of working closely with the Governor and his staff, by name.
Our Chief Executive was very upset over an ABC News story on Butte where I was interviewed, and I stand by every word I said. We do deserve a science-based cleanup and we will never get that with secret meetings driving things as they still are to this day.
He said that story didn’t make Butte look very good. Well, we have to deal in facts and reality, not fake appearances. Our local leaders singing praises about a guy and his nuclear proposal — without even picking up their cell phones to do some research — makes Butte look worse than anything.
Our local government has a long-documented history of attacking people who raise scientific questions that challenge optics, and they repeat corporate narratives to create illusions to the detriment of people. Just like the revelation last week dumping toxic waste in Centerville is still on the table at the urging of our local government, Butte does not look good when the courthouse isolates itself from the best interests of the people of Butte and Silver Bow County.
I will hold a town meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday (April 18) at the Big Butte Firehall (900 Lexington Ave.) to discuss issues with the people. It will be the first of several discussions I plan to hold around town, and everyone from every neighborhood is invited.
I hope you will join me as we talk about ways to make life better for the people of Butte and Silver Bow County.
— Bill Foley is running for Chief Executive of Butte-Silver Bow. For more on his campaign, visit FoleyForButte.com. Contact him at foles74@gmail.com.
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We can’t all be like Scottie Scheffler
For the record, I would have left the game. At least I think I would have.
It was Saturday, Sept. 6, 2003, and my soon-to-be wife was very pregnant. Like ready to pop pregnant.
We had an appointment for Wednesday, Sept. 10 for her to be induced into giving birth, and we were getting ready to finally meet our daughter.
But Montana Tech and Carroll College opened the football season at Alumni Coliseum in Butte that Saturday night. It was a game I had been looking forward to all summer.
I was a sportswriter at The Montana Standard, and I had the Tech football beat. That meant I got to be on the sideline as defending NAIA national champion Carroll beat Tech 19-16 in a double-overtime thriller.
Zach Titus booted a 25-yard field goal in the second overtime to give the Saints the win in what was truly one of the best games in the history of one of the best rivalries in the NAIA.
As the game was going into that second overtime, though, my phone rang. I opened the old flip phone to see that it was the pregnant Kim calling. I figured she knew I was busy, so there was only one reason to call.
The baby was coming, and I had to take her to the hospital.
Created with GIMP I answered the phone and said, “I’m not leaving this game.” Or maybe I said, “I can’t leave this game.”
Either way, that is not what you are supposed to say when the mother of your soon-to-be born child calls you. I couldn’t help it, though. I was caught up in the moment.
I mean, we’re talking about Tech-Carroll here.
The timing couldn’t be worse. It was after 9 p.m., and I had to get the story written on deadline. I kept my own stats because the team-kept stats were not reliable back then.
Also, I had my own way of keeping notes. Had I handed them to one of my coworkers, there was no way they could have used them to write a story.
Plus, they were busy covering their games. So, my coworkers were counting on me to write a story that was probably going to be the most-read story in the paper that Sunday. The readers were also counting on me to write that story.
I was part of a team, and I was going to need Kim to wait a few hours because to have the baby. The baby was going to have to hold on and take one for the team.
Luckily, she didn’t have to do that. Kim wasn’t calling about the baby. She was probably just bored at home watching television and wanted to talk to someone.
“Oh,” she replied to my ridiculously insensitive comment. “I forgot you had the game tonight.”
While I have lots of examples that point to the contrary over the years, that night my soon-to-be wife had to be the most understanding and forgiving woman in the world.
She wasn’t even mad at me for answering the phone like a boob.
Our daughter was born, as scheduled, on Sept. 10, and Kim Mulcahy married me the next April. Last week we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. We have three kids and two dogs, and life is good.
I wouldn’t trade lives with any man — not even Scottie Scheffler. I would trade pocketbooks with him, but not lives.
My wife, on the other hand, probably could have done better with a guy like Scottie. At least she could have in September of 2003.
This weekend Scheffler won his second Masters title. Like with me in September of 2003, Scheffler is about to be a father. His wife, Meredith, is due to give birth to the couple’s first child this week.
Like with our first baby, the Scheffler’s bundle of joy waited until after the big sporting event to be born. Unlike me, though, Scheffler was more than ready to walk away from his big-time sporting event.
Scheffler was the favorite to win the tournament, and he said he would leave Augusta National “at a moment’s notice” if Meredith went into labor.
I would like to have seen what he had done had he gotten the call going into the back nine on Sunday, though. Maybe he would have left. Or maybe he would have said, “Hey, babe, hold on for a few more hours and then I’ll jump on a plane.”
Or, if he was like me, he would yell, “I am not leaving this golf course.”
Of course, Scheffler had a couple of things going for him that I did not.
For one, he is a multi-millionaire. Counting his winnings from the Masters, Scheffler has made $15.1 million in official PGA Tour earnings in 2024 alone. That doesn’t count his endorsement money.
If he would have left the course in the middle of the tournament, he wasn’t going to have to eat Top Ramen for the rest of the month.
I was making about $25,000 a year at the time.
Second, Scheffler isn’t part of a team. He plays an individual sport. While modern society has now somehow deemed it socially acceptable for professional athletes to take a paternity leave — even during a pennant race — the quarterback of a football team isn’t going to miss a playoff game because his wife goes into labor.
Not if he wants to keep being the quarterback.
That is because he is a part of a team. He owes it to his teammates, the organization that pays him handsomely and the fanbase that buys his jersey to be on the field.
Plus, there’s really not a lot the father does in the delivery room. If there are complications, he is the first one getting booted into the hallway.
The doctor isn’t saying, “Uh oh, this one is breech. We’re going to have to do an emergency C-section. Dad, scrub up and grab a scalpel.”
All I did in that room for three deliveries is get yelled at.
As if trying to listen to Rex Grossman come off the bench and lead the Bears to a come-from-behind victory over the Raiders in Oakland in 2007 (while my son was born) is such a bad thing.
But I was there during the births of all three children, and I got to be the first one to hold each of those babies — as if that is fair.
In the old days, the dads would hang out in the waiting room while the mom delivered the baby. That is, if he wasn’t at the bar handing out cigars.
Did I mention my wife is very understanding? At least 99 percent of the time I end up in the dog house, it is because of my initial reaction to things.
It is like I am Michael Scott on the office. He always does better with his second chance to answer the phone. If only I had a Pam Beesly to filter my marital conversations.
This time, though, Kim got it. She knew the Tech-Carroll game was a big one, and she knew that I couldn’t help myself when I get caught up in big football games.
She is, after all, the girl I knew I wanted to marry the second I saw her buying a “Yankees suck” T-shirt outside a Red Sox-Mariners game in Seattle 16 months earlier.
She has been there with me through good times and through hard times. She is funny, smart and beautiful, and she always has my back. She is the best teammate in the world. She gave me three children who turned out to be pretty incredible.
She is why I wouldn’t even consider trading places with any man. Not even Scottie Scheffler.
His pocketbook and short game, though, are another story.
— Bill Foley, who is now craving Top Ramen, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74. Listen to him on the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
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Josh Panasuk runs in 2:37
BOSTON — Josh Panasuk, a former Butte High and MSU-Billings runner finished the Boston Marathon in 2 hours, 37 minutes, 11 seconds Monday.
He finished the first half of the 26.2-mile course in 1:19:10. He placed 293rd overall and 270th among men runners.
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Keli Dennehy runs Boston in 3:09
BOSTON — Former Butte High and University of Montana standout runner Keli Dennehy posted a fast time Monday at the 128th running of the Boston Marathon.
Dennehy completed the 26.2-mile course from Framingham to Copley Square in 3 hours, 9 minutes, 15 seconds. She finished the first half in 1:22:28. She finished with an average pace of 7:13 per mile.
Hellen Obiri of Kenya won the women’s overall title with a time of 2:22:37. She beat second-place Sharon Lokedi, also of Kenya, by 8 seconds.
Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia won the men’s title in 2:06:17. Countryman Mohamed Esa placed second in 2:06:58.
Overall, more than 30,000 runners entered the world’s oldest marathon. Click here for complete results.
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Podcast No. 181: Irish Johnny
Today’s podcast guest is the “Director of Blarney” of the brand-new Shawn O’Donnell’s American Grill and Irish Pub in Uptown Butte.
He is “Irish Johnny,” and that is a name almost everyone in town knows. Johnny might have set a record for the most friends made in the Mining City in the shortest amount of time.
He is off the charts polite, but not in an Eddie Haskell sort of way. No, Johnny is as genuine as they come. He grew up in County Armagh in Northern Ireland, and he dreamed of coming to Butte.
As a boy, he learned of the miracle that is the “Our Lady of the Rockies” statue, which was put in place in 1985 high on a mountain top in what Johnny calls the “Ireland of the Rockies.”
Johnny got his first taste of Butte in 2020, and he fell in love.
Last summer, Johnny and the O’Donnell family purchased Mac’s Tavern and got to work on bringing an authentic Irish pub to Butte. They opened the doors on the beautiful new pub on March 8, nine days before St. Patrick’s Day.
Listen in to this podcast as Johnny talks about growing up in troubling times in Northern Ireland. Listen to how he always dreamed of coming to Butte. Listen to hear what his full name is, and why Shawn O’Donnell’s is a pub where you will not find a television.
Today’s podcast is brought to you by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.
