Butler County may be considered a small particle on the face of America, but its people made some big-time accomplishments in 2012.

With the year coming to a close, this is the time to look back on what some local folks have been up to.

And Butler’s had its hand in some rather lofty things on the national scale.

For example:

Butler graduate Nate Hartung is a starting guard for an undefeated Winston-Salem State football team playing in the NCAA Division II national championship game this weekend in Alabama.

Butler graduate Scott Milanovich was head coach of the Toronto Argonauts, who went on to win the Grey Cup as champions of the Canadian Football League.

Travis Geisler, a Cranberry Township native, was director of competition for the Penske racing team which captured NASCAR’s Sprint Cup championship.

Center Township resident Dave Shively qualified for next year’s Forrest Wood Cup, one of the top two bass fishing tournaments in America.

Former Butler County Community College basketball player and Butler High School coach Joe Lewandowski was named head coach of the USA’s men’s and women’s 3-on-3 basketball teams.

Butler graduate Sean Lowry was a captain on the Stonehill (Mass.) College basketball team that reached the NCAA Division II Final Four.

Cabot resident Tom Henschel attended his 46th consecutive Super Bowl, one of only three people to do so.

Butler graduate Jim Glatch coached the United States men’s wheelchair basketball team to yet another medal in international competition.

Seneca Valley graduates Brandon Fusco and Don Barclay started on the offensive lines for the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers, respectively, on a day their teams faced each other at Lambeau Field.

All of these people have one thing in common — undying passion for their respective sports.

Hartung went on a multi-year religious mission after graduating from high school and could easily have forgotten about football as a result. He incurred ankle and back injuries upon returning to the sport later, but still refused to give it up.

Now that dedication is being rewarded.

Lowry and Milanovich can tell similar stories of personal perseverance.

Fusco wasn’t even considered a Division I scholarship caliber athlete coming out of high school. He was almost too small to play at Slippery Rock University.

Through weight room work and a constant drive to improve on the practice field, he’s completed the unlikely road of being a starting guard in the NFL.

Believe it, you can achieve it.

These guys turned those words into reality.

The Christmas season is all about miracles.

The human spirit has a lot to do with making them happen.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle