Cheers to Helen Meaders and the rest of the congregation of St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church, 105 Kohler Ave.

The church is celebrating its centennial this week. Meaders, 93 and a lifelong member, knows its history well.

Meaders explained recently how the Carpatho-Rusyns, a Slavic ethnic minority from the Carpathian Mountains in central Europe, came to Butler to work in the steel and railcar industries. They formed the parish in 1912 and completed its first church the following year.

“The original church was built by our parents, but the whole community helped,” said Meaders. “Armco donated the steel used, and Pullman-Standard lent its cafeteria to be used for church services.”

The present church, which was built in 1955, this weekend hosts the Metropolitan Archbishop William C. Skurla of the Byzantine Catholic Archeprarchy of Pittsburgh. The archbishop will bless and dedicate recently completed renovations including new icons on the walls of the church's interior.

Congratulations to the St. John congregation on its centennial.

Toss a jeer of bewilderment to Robert K. Brophy.Police found the 34-year-old Butler man Saturday morning in the city's Island neighborhood, wearing soaking wet camouflage, intoxicated, shivering — and with two vials of testosterone.Police said the injectable steroid they found on Brophy had been reported stolen.Authorities responded after a caller reported seeing a man in the Connoquenessing Creek near the General Richard Butler Bridge.Brophy was hospitalized with hypothermia. He faces several charges including receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia, and public drunkenness.Such Rambo-like behavior would indicate, if anything, an overabundance of testosterone, which is known to increase aggressiveness, libido and other male characteristics. Camo-clad Saturday-morning creek swimmers probably do not need a testosterone supplement.

Like many adults who cannot read, Vince Miller was motivated to learn when his child was small and as a dad he wanted to spend those early childhood years reading together with his son.Many adults in Miller’s position might have been paralyzed by embarrassment or found ways to lie to avoid admitting they couild not read. But Miller took a different route. He sought help from the Adult Literacy Program at Butler County Community College where free tutoring is provided by volunteers. The BC3 site is one of four in the county.The program is funded with tax dollars through the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Participants can get face-to-face help with reading as well as utilize on-line support material.Miller worked his way through the program and learned to read, allowing him to experience the joy of reading with his young son. But he didn’t stop there. Miller took another step to help others appreciate the importance of reading — he wrote a book aimed at elementary school children that encourages them to work through frustrations they might have in learning to read, such as sounding out words or figuring out a new word’s meaning by looking at the whole sentence.Miller, who works as a custodian at Moraine Elementary School, recently read to children at the Prospect Library, sharing his own story, offering tips for getting through rough spots when learning to read — and using his own book and his own story as inpiration.Miller is an example to young and old alike that reading is a critical life skill and can also be a source of joy. His determination and willingness to encourage others to learn is a lesson for all of us.