Middlebury College

For over half a century, Middlebury College student-athletes helped Varno, who had cerebral palsy, enjoy sporting events and other activities in the community. The tradition began in 1960 when Roger Ralph '63 saw Varno's grandmother struggling to push his wheelchair through snow and mud on the way home from a football game and offered to pick them up. Little did he know that "Picking Up Butch" would become a college ritual that continued for over 60 years. 

Varno's story drew national attention over the years, inspiring a Sports Illustrated column by Rick Reilly in the spring of 2003, an ESPN SportsCenter Feature that fall, and a visit from Steve Hartman of the CBS Evening News in 2007. The ESPN story later won an Emmy Award and a prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award. ESPN later returned to do an E60 Feature on the 50th anniversary of the tradition in 2010. Other features about Butch appeared in the Associated Press and the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine.

Varno passed away on October 14, 2022. For more about Butch's life and legacy, please visit Middlebury's tribute.