[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1] [Senate] [Pages 1118-1119] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]EXTRAORDINARY FAMILY OF VERMONTERS Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, there was an article in one of our Vermont papers in the last few days about an extraordinary family of Vermonters. Marcelle and I have known Dick and Linda Butsch for many, many years and we have been especially pleased to watch their five children as they have grown. We have also watched Jen and Chris, and the triplets, Sarah, Patrick, and Gillian. Sarah, Patrick, and Gillian were recently profiled because of their hockey activities. I will, at the end of my comments submit to the Congressional Record the entire story. Dick and Linda are the best of Vermonters. Not only have they given a great deal of themselves to the community and to their families, but I have always remembered with fondness the many kindnesses they showed to my mother and father, while they were alive. We are a small State, but it is people like the Butschs that make us a great State, and I congratulate all of them and continue to look with admiration as their children grow and develop. Mr. President, I ask that the article entitled ``Family Values'' by Mike Donoghue be printed in the Record. The article follows: [From the Burlington Free Press, Feb. 4, 2000] Family Values hockey has been a constant for the butsch clan, including triplets sarah, patrick and gillian (By Mike Donoghue) In Central Vermont hockey, it's not unusual to see the name Butsch for scoring a goal. From time to time you might have read a scoring summary indicating ``Butsch goal with Butsch assist.'' On a few rare occasions it might have said, ``Butsch goal with Butsch and Butsch assists.'' For years the Butsch family has been synonymous with Central Vermont hockey, especially at U-32 High School in East Montpelier. Now the family is getting more and more attention in all four corners of the state--for both boys and girls teams--and even spreading into colleges in the Northeast. The latest bunch of Butsch stars are triplets--Sarah, Patrick and Gillian--the children of Dr. David ``Dick'' and Linda Butsch. The three were born almost as fast as a wing taking three slap shots. ``They came less then a minute apart,'' said Linda Butsch with a laugh as she recalled the birthday in late February 1984. The triplets have followed each other to the ice rink almost as fast as their births. They were skating by 4 and playing hockey by 6. They worked their way up through Mites, Squirts, Pee-wee, and Bantams. They also are following in the ice skates of two older siblings, Chris, a sophomore at Skidmore, where he is president of the college's club hockey team; and Jen, a freshman for the Providence College women's hockey team. [[Page 1119]] All five made their way through the Central Vermont Skating Association before joining the U-32 varsity. ``They play hockey for all the right reasons,'' said Bill Driscoll, head of the North American Hockey Academy in Stowe. ``They show up. They love every minute of every game and practice. They have a super attitude.'' playing their game Sarah and Patrick are stars with the U-32 boys hockey team, while Gillian, the youngest of the triplets, is the top scorer on the newly formed U-32 girls varsity hockey team. Patrick led U-32 in scoring last year as a freshman with 24 goals and has tallied 23 this year. Patrick admits that he winces a little when his sister, Sarah, who plays the wing, has to take a cheap shot from one of the boys on the opposing team. Otherwise, she holds her own. ``If it's a clean check, I know she can take it,'' said Patrick, who hopes to play hockey in college. Patrick and Sarah normally play on different lines, but from time to time they are on the ice together. ``We don't play together that often. We've played more together in the past,'' Sarah said, Patrick looks forward to those moments when he is skating alongside Sarah. ``It's fun when you are out there and know exactly where she is going to be,'' he said. When U-32 voters approved funds for a girls varsity team this winter, Sarah had the chance to switch from the boys varsity. She declined. If she does switch, she will be locked into that decision. ``I wanted to stay with the boys just because of the level of play. I thought it would be more advantageous,'' said Sarah, who would like to play college hockey like her older sister. Her coach, Jim Segar, agreed. ``It would hurt Sarah to go play with the girls because of her abilities,'' Segar said. Her sister, Gillian Butsch, played in the CVSA's Bantam Division through last year, but jumped at the chance to be a member of the original girls varsity team. ``All the players and all the parents were in favor of a girls team so they could be equal with the boys,'' Sarah said. Sarah, who is the leading scorer on the girls team, said the varsity team has improved substantially since the start of the season. In order to better compete with the boys, Sarah works out with weights in some of her free time. Segar and U-32 girls coach Mike Reardon said the Butsch children have been supportive of each other. Reardon said when no scorekeeper was available for a recent girls varsity game, Patrick jumped in to run the scoreboard. ``Not everybody would do that,'' said Reardon. Hockey isn't the only passion they share. The three sophomores also like to play soccer in the fall and lacrosse in the spring. They also have been known to pick up a tennis racket. the biggest fans Dick and Linda Butsch have not only supported their children in their hockey exploits, but also in their day-to- day lives. ``The parents are really great people,'' Reardon said. ``They have instilled a lot of social values in their kids. They also have provided them with their same humility and sense of humor.'' Driscoll also has followed their careers. ``With five children, you would have thought their parents would have burned out on hockey by now. But they are at every game,'' he said. Butsch's career included a stint on the junior varsity team at Princeton. ``It was all downhill after that,'' he said with a laugh. Others would dispute that, including Segar and Reardon. Butsch has been active with the new hockey rink in Montpelier, the Central Vermont Civic Center, and helped raise the $1.8 million for its construction, Segar said. ``Dick Butsch is making hockey happen in Central Vermont. Not only for U-32 and Montpelier, but the Harwood Association and others.'' He said even Spaulding High has used the Montpelier center when unable to use its home ice because of the farm show. Butsch is trying to raise another $100,000 to put the final touches on the civic center, which opened in December 1998. Butsch, a surgeon, has been known to show up in his hospital scrubs at civic center board meetings, Segar said. Reardon said this winter he had a severe gash to his hand and Gillian pulled out a medical supply kit to help stop the bleeding and urged him to go see her father for stitches. Reardon said a few days later, when it came time to remove the stitches, Butsch accommodated the coach at the rink by taking them out. Linda Butsch admitted she is a limited skater. Her husband said she had a short hockey career. ``We got her to play goalie once. She never came back,'' he said. the first wave The Butsch triplets aren't the only family members making a name for themselves in the world of hockey. Jen Butsch, a freshman on the Providence College woman's hockey team, had two goals and one assist last weekend, including the game-winning score against Cornell on Saturday. Earlier this season, she had a game-winning goal with four seconds remaining in overtime at St. Cloud. The Friars (15-5- 3 overall, 9-4-3 in ECAC play) are ranked eighth in the nation. Butsch has nine goals and seven assists, putting her third in points for Providence, which is undefeated in 13 of its last 14 games. ``She is quite a role model for her sisters,'' U-32 boys varsity coach Jim Segar said. Chris Butsch is a sophomore at Skidmore, where he is president of the first-year club hockey team. He was a Division III all-state center at U-32, where he was the leading scorer and two-year captain. He keeps busy trying to line up games for the team and checking the Internet to see how his sister Jen is stacking up. When he gets home he tries to suit up for an occasional game with a local team, the Bolduc Crushers. ____________________