It's all in the family
BUTLER TWP — The 2009 Butler Football Hometown Heroes ceremony will be a family affair.
For the first time in the six-year history of the program, an entire family will be recognized at Butler's varsity football season opener Sept. 4 vs. New Castle at Art Bernardi Stadium.
The William O'Donnell family, featuring his wife, Corinne, daughter Karen and sons Bill, Kevin, Jimmy and Jeff, will be honored, along with John "Doc" Graham, Don Dombart and Dave Cavalero.
"There are so many families who have done good work in this community," Bill O'Donnell said. "For our family to be selected is quite an honor for all of us."
The late William O'Donnell was one of the original members of the Butler Quarterback Club. Corinne O'Donnell was involved in the Butler Mothers Club.
Karen O'Donnell was a drummer in the Butler band, Jeff was an equipment manager, and Kevin, Bill and Jimmy all played for the Golden Tornado.
"Jeff would have played, too, but he became legally blind around the age of 11," Corinne O'Donnell said. "He played Midget football up until that time.
"He still wanted to be around the game and be part of the team. That was his way of contributing. He loved it."
Kevin and Jimmy were running backs and Bill played defensive back. All played during the 1970s, with Kevin and Billy eventually playing college ball at Thiel and Slippery Rock, respectively.
"We ran back and forth to that high school stadium forever," Corinne O'Donnell said. "I still go to games off and on."
Butler played in the WPIAL championship game during Kevin's junior and senior seasons. The Tornado tied eventual WPIAL champion New Castle 7-7 in front of 12,000 fans in Bill's senior year. The tie cost Butler a playoff berth."We played our hearts out that night," Bill O'Donnell recalled. "To this day, I feel like we should have won that game."Kevin recalled a 3-0 loss to New Castle his sophomore year. He went on to finish third in the nation in kickoff returns at Thiel during one of his years there."We weren't very good," he said of his Thiel years. "I had a lot of chances because teams kicked off to us a lot."The O'Donnell family, which owns two businesses, has given a lot back to Butler football since their days on the gridiron."The businesses put us in a position to help out," Kevin O'Donnell said. "My Dad was heavily involved in the program and we've all been around it since we were little kids."We've all stayed local and Butler football is a part of our lives."Kevin served on the Butler Quarterback Club's board of directors for 10 years. The family contributed to Butler football player of the week and player of the year awards for about 15 years."Sports are big in this community and we've enjoyed being part of that," Kevin O'Donnell said.Graham, Dombart and Cavalero have been a big part of that as well.Graham was inducted into the Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1990, two years after his death. He worked the chains on the sidelines at Butler football games from 1956-85."John used to ride to high school with John Mixer, one of the coaches," recalled Graham's wife, Marian Tritsch. "That's how he first got interested in football."Graham played football and ran track at Butler and Grove City College. A doctor by trade, he became a neighbor of Tornado coach A.G. Cappezutti."John was a Little League coach in baseball and enjoyed being around the kids," Tritsch said. "When Coach Cappezutti asked him to run the sticks for him at the games, he did it without hesitation.
"He bowled in the Hit and Miss League for the Lions Club, golfed for the Elks Club, played softball in the Church League — sports were always a big part of his life," she added.The same could be said for Dombart, who coached baseball at Butler from 1967-84. He taught in the Butler School District for 28 years, retiring in 1986."Tim Nunes helped me out coaching baseball and he was in need of an equipment manager for football," Dombart said. "All he had was students doing it at the time."He asked me if I'd do it and I welcomed the opportunity."Dombart served as equipment manager for coaches Nunes, Bill Bohren, Sam Albert and Mark Farabee, handling the job for 13 years."Any equipment repairs, if something needed replaced, changing spikes, I was in charge of all that," he said.He also in charge of the laundry. Dombart collected all the practice gear each Wednesday at 6 p.m. and " I stayed until 10 p.m. washing and drying the stuff.""We had more than 100 players at one point. That was a lot of work," Dombart said.But he loved it."Just being around the kids, the coaches, the football atmosphere every day, especially Friday nights. ... It was worth it," he said.
Cavalero, inducted into the Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, played quarterback for Butler from 1965-67 and was a two-year starter.The Tornado teams finished 9-0, 8-1 and 7-2 during his three seasons.During the early 1970s, Cavalero helped coach the Institute Hill football team to a couple of Butler Area Midget Football League titles."My fondest memory of playing Butler football is all the friends I had on the team," Cavalero said. "A lot of us are still friends and still get together."We grew up on playgrounds. We'd get together on a playground or ballfield at 9 a.m. and not come home until dark. We played against other neighborhoods. That's how you met other kids."
