Dennis and Bobbi Buttice receive the Volunteer of the Year award from Vale Chamber of Commerce President Jessica Kulm in June. (The Enterprise/Yadira Lopez)
VALE – Bobbi and Dennis Buttice didn’t expect to win an award, but the tireless effort they put in for their community earned them one anyway.
The Vale Chamber of Commerce recently cited the couple as the 2019 Volunteers of the Year Award for their service to several boards and nonprofits.
“It was quite an honor because we both feel that there are many more people in the community that are probably more deserving than we are,” Bobbi Buttice said as she sat on the couch at Perk Beverage Company in Vale.
Dennis Buttice, her husband, nodded affirmatively.
Bobbi Buttice came to Vale from Montana in 1964 after her father bought a business in town.
Her family owned the livestock auction yard for many years, and she graduated high school as a Viking.
Dennis Buttice, a lifelong resident of Vale, also graduated from Vale High School.
His dad moved to Vale from Portland after graduating from pharmacy school in the 1940s and after many years working in town as a pharmacist, Dennis Buttice’s father eventually came to own Malheur Drug.
Dennis Buttice has served as a board member for the Pioneer Place Assisted Living, and along with his wife, he serves on the Vale High School Alumni Association, a non-profit that provides scholarships to graduating seniors from Vale High School.
The couple met in Vale and got married in 1975.
Bobbi Buttice is president of the Country View Women’s Golf Association, she helped raise money for the Shriners Hospital and was elected to serve on the Valley View Cemetery Board.
She also served 20 years as treasurer on the Vale Rodeo Board, recalling that, “people that are involved in the rodeo are pretty tied up… pretty hardcore.
“Some nights we were up pretty much all night,” she said.
At the same time she was pulling all-nighters with the rodeo crew, she worked as the secretary at the high school, where she worked for 28 years, also serving as the cheerleader advisor.
She retired from her job at the high school about 11 years ago, and also spent time working as the bookkeeper for the Malheur Enterprise.
This year is the third year that the couple will manage a banquet and auction to raise money for the scholarship program run by the alumni association.
“The scholarships go towards a higher education for select students, and the students are able to use the money to go to trade school or continuing education.”
The first year of the program, 280 people attended the fundraising dinner.
Last year they drew 340 people, and this year they hope for about 500.
News tip? Contact Joe Siess at [email protected]
SUBSCRIBE TO HELP PRODUCE VITAL REPORTING — For $5 a month, you get breaking news alerts, emailed newsletters and around-the-clock access to our stories. We depend on subscribers to pay for in-depth, accurate news produced by a professional and highly trained staff. Help us grow and get better with your subscription. Sign up HERE.