Linda Franiewski, left, of West Sunbury, a 1986 graduate of Butler County Community College, and John Reddick, center, of Butler, a 1984 graduate of BC3, talk Saturday with Ruth Purcell, executive director of the BC3 Education Foundation, before the Oak Hills Dinner on BC3's main campus in Butler Township. Franiewski and Reddick were honored at the dinner as BC3's 2019 distinguished alumni.

Both of the Butler County Community College alumni honored Saturday night had their careers begin in college field houses.

Linda Franiewski, executive director of the Ellen O'Brien Gaiser Center in Butler Township, and John Reddick, an architect at Stantec in downtown Butler, were honored as 2019 Butler County Community College distinguished alumni at the college's Oak Hills Dinner.

For Franiewski, the honor capped a 35-year journey that began in BC3's field house, where 35 years ago she played basketball and lifted weights as a visitor and inpatient at the drug and alcohol treatment facility she now leads.

Reddick's journey also started in an athletic complex, the Community College of Beaver County's Golden Dome, whose architecture left the BC3 baseball center fielder speechless during a visit between games of a 1979 doubleheader in Monaca.

Distinguished Alumni Awards honor those who have utilized their education and experience from BC3 to achieve significant levels of success and who have a commitment to community service.

This is an excerpt from a story that appears in Monday's Butler Eagle.