Painting a new tradition
The Butler YMCA recently picked up the reins of the Butler Road Race.
The facility picked up a bit of the race's history Monday.
Former BRR board president Ron Brandon and his wife of 47 years, Joyce, donated an original Bill Rettig painting to the YMCA. The Brandons now live in Flat Rock, N.C.
Rettig, a Butler graduate and former standout Golden Tornado football player from the 1960s, is a longtime successful artist and was commissioned by Brandon to do a painting of the Butler Road Race during its early years as a 10K race.
“The painting was done around 1986,” Brandon said. “We've had it for more than 30 years. I've had it hanging up in my office.
“With the transition of the race and the YMCA taking over, I thought this (YMCA) would be the perfect place for it.”
Butler YMCA Executive Director Francine Mills gladly accepted the painting.
“We feel blessed to receive this,” she said. “It's a piece of the race's past.”
Mills added that the YMCA is undergoing renovations for expansion of its main lobby. Those renovations are projected to be complete by mid-October. The painting will be displayed in that new lobby at that time.
“Until then, we will have this painting in safe-keeping,” Mills said. “Nothing is going to happen to it.”
Brandon was one of the founders of the Butler Road Race. He was president of the board until the BRR's cross country scholarship program raised $100,000 and produced 200 scholarships.
Brandon departed at that point and Mike Franko became president. The BRR has existed for 52 years with Franko and race director Mike Blessel overseeing the event in recent years.
With Franko, Blessel and others on the board stepping away, the BRR was in danger of folding before the YMCA stepped in to assume the reins.
“We promote healthy living and exercise,” said Sandy Ihlenfeld, the Y's vice president of organizational advancement. “The Butler Road Race fits in perfectly with us.
“This painting connects us to its past. It will always remind us where the race came from. It all works.”
Blessel agreed.
“(The painting) adds to the tradition,” he said. “It glues the old with the new. It shows runners going uphill, people outlining the streets ... It captures the race perfectly.”
The painting also shows a footprint in the pavement.
“That serves as a tribute to (the late) Rick Davanzati Sr.,” Brandon said. “He put his heart and soul into this race.
“Joyce and I are happy to bring this painting here. This is where it belongs.”
