BUTTE — The Shrine Game made its triumphant return to Butte over the weekend, and it pitted a gridiron matchup between the best of the East and the West, but some would say the true winner of that game was Butte’s Uptown businesses.
“It was amazing, it was a record-breaking Saturday and Sunday for us both, so, yeah, really good business,” said M&M owner Selina Pankovich.
Saturday evening’s football game brought players and their families from all over the state.
“It was a great weekend, we had a lot of people roaming Uptown and stopping in, having the Hoop Fest on one end and the Shrine Game on the other end and then Farmer’s Market, it was a good, a really good weekend,” said Butte Original Owner Janice Hogan.
Restaurants in Uptown were packed with diners throughout the day.
“This year we were really well prepared, we did almost 100 bloody Mary’s and Caesar’s, made a lot of sweet cream pancake fans and garbage omelet fans,” said Pankovich.
Metals Bar and Grill owner Dave Andrews added, “Really drives in all the business we need to get us through the slow months, you know, as of late there hasn’t been an awful lot slowdown time, so this really just helps get us through the year.”
Events like the Shrine Game gives Butte the opportunity to make a good impression on visitors.
“I think they’re impressed with Butte, a lot of people maybe shy away from Butte a little, but when they get here they realized were nice people and it’s kind of fun to stroll around,” said Hogan.
