BUTLER TWP — Their names may not ring a bell to the casual Butler High School football follower.

But in their own ways, Gary Archer, Paul Frenchak, Tom and Jim Menchyk, Merril Moses and John Prokopchak have helped the Golden Tornado for decades.

Those six have combined for 184 years of service to the Butler football program through working the chains on the sidelines, doing game films, keeping statistics or running the clock. They were honored last Friday as the ninth Butler Football Hometown Hero induction class prior to the Tornado's home game with Pine-Richland.

Following a pre-game gathering and awards presentation, the Menchyk brothers went back to work as the film crew that night while Archer and Frenchak returned to the sidelines to work the chains.

“It's a front row seat and I enjoy staying involved,” Archer said. “John “Doc” Graham did the chains for years. He needed someone to help him, so he asked me.”

That was in 1983. When Graham died three years later, Archer asked good friend Paul Frenchak to help him on the sidelines.

Frenchak played for Butler from 1959 to 1961. He volunteered for 12 years as an assistant coach in the Butler Area Midget Football League.

Archer helped out for 10 years in the Midget League himself, running sticks, collecting money, helping with equipment and weigh-ins.

“I like running the chains ... I mean, you're right there,” Frenchak said. “There's a lot of history there with all of the visiting coaches we've stood beside down there. We could tell a lot of stories.

“It's the best seat in the house and I enjoy being around football.”

Moses, who operated the scoreboard clock at Butler for 30 years before surrendering those duties in 2011, has always been around sports.

“I played basketball in high school, played in the city league for 20 years, played football with the Butler Cubs ... I'm 89 now and still consider sports to be a big part of my life,” Moses said.

Prokopchak served as statistician for six Butler head coaches — from Tim Nunes to Jeff McAnallen — covering 23 years. He also set up film nights at the Quarterback Club meetings and volunteered with the Butler Football Boosters for a number of years.

“The coaches asked me to do it and I wanted to do my part,” Prokopchak said of keeping statistics. “It was a service to the kids, helping them to get their names in the paper.”

Prokopchak never used a computer to crunch his numbers — always a pad and paper.

“I had my own system,” he said. “I wanted to be accurate. I'd come in Mondays to watch the game film so I could double-check everything.”

Tom Menchyk recalled how he got started taking pictures at Butler football games.

“My wife was secretary at the high school and her brother was playing football for Butler in 1975,” he said. “I thought it'd be neat if I could get on the sidelines to take some pictures of him and she helped arrange that.

“I took a bunch of pictures of a lot of players, put them on the wall in the office the next Monday and the kids loved it. Everything just took off from there.”

Menchyk said that “all of these inductees are part of the club that is Butler football. We're all part of it. ... It's nice to be with people who have so much intensity, dedication and motivation.

“Doing the films has been an adventure for me, a fun ride. A door was opened years ago and I walked through it. It's a long hallway.”

And he brought his brother along for that ride. While Tom was an elementary teacher in Butler for 35 years, Jim Menchyk played on Butler's first high school hockey team and has been filming football for 35 years.

“This gathering shows how many people it takes to make this whole thing go,” Jim said of volunteers and Butler football. “Whether it's a good season or bad season, Butler football is a tremendous organization.

“I'm 60 years old. I won't be putting this stuff on my resume. I'm just proud to be a part of this group.”