Masterblaster aka Butch Ballowe III

[lumberjack]

Born 5-22-56
Died 3-9-20


Let's fill this thread with the memories of Butch's journey.

 

[flushcut]

"no stubs"

 

[Jonny]

“ What do you expect, egg in your beer?”


Guess it means you want something for nothing, or some sort of bonus not previously agreed on.
Only ever heard it from him.

Someone post the infamous burger please?
Literally decades later and still laugh over that one.

 

[cory]

Well there was the famous 'caulk soccer' at TB. And I remember he pretty much liked all things science and many things about the English language And the taut line appreciation thread. And when he got out of tree work and into McDonalds, the tree work vibe here didn't miss a beat. And his posts in the Random Pictures Thread were routinely utterly amazing. And, this is old, but the thread where he talked about the Oscar fish he had and how it died was truly unusual and memorable.

Great thread, Carl.

 

[vharrison]

I miss my friend.

The yellow shirt up there...it is one from my company, given to him many many moons ago.

I look forward to reading the memories that everyone shares.

Cory, he loved those Oscars, eh?

 

[cory]

Yes. I never heard of that kind of fish so it was very interesting to me

 

[ruel]

The random pics threads was a blast! Truly random mix. Little landscape, some memes, science stuff, pretty ladies, cool machines, woodworking... a man of varied interests

 

[Raj]

Butch was the man. The world is shittier without him.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Yup.

 

[gf beranek]

Good ol' Boy: Papa Bear, Mother Hen, old schooler, Euc man, testy, ornery, prickly at times, but despite any character flaws one my point out Butch was an up front honest human being. All Treeman.

 

[pantheraba]

Jerry said it....many faceted hombre...a diamond, rough, smooth and shiny.

 

[Bermy]

No Stubs!...I think that was the first comment I got when I posted my very first crane removal...never forget that.

 

[Bodean]

Butch Buddy.... I miss you already.... many will try to emulate you but few will match caliber. Work, Fight or Walk. Cheers Boss!

 

[vharrison]

This can not go without saying, Post count don't mean squat.

 

[Jonny]

This can not go without saying, Post count don't mean squat.

And “ No need to quote the previous post!”

 

[Ryan]

You knew he liked your post if you got one of these.

 

[Jonny]

Did everyone notice he’d randomly select a person and inflate their post count? I know damn well I don’t actually have over 1200 posts yet. Happened on my first account too in 05. Just a funny quirk I noticed. I think at one time he reset his to zero.

 

[squisher]

Butch ran a damn fine bar and lounge. And don't forget the buffet.

I always enjoyed his stories. Like the sinking of the ship he worked on or his bartending at the strip club.

I miss the guy a lot. The treehouse was my first real dive into the internet and what a journey it's been. Amazing place he built which brought together an amazing bunch of people.

 

[cory]

+10

 

[biggun]

+10 +1

 

[Benjo75]

No matter what my post was about or what time of day or night I could always expect to see a response from Mr. Butch in just a few minutes. A lot of times it was a thumbs up or the smiley face with the mohawk as mentioned above, but there would always be something from him. Even though I look at the Treehouse almost daily I guess I hadn't been logged in for a couple weeks. When I found out about his passing I logged in and found I had a missed message from him from a couple weeks earlier. That's kinda weighed on my mind the last few days. He sure had a way of cutting through the crap with as few words as possible. He possessed a lot of qualities that the world sure could use more of.

 

[BeerGeek]

In my short time in the TH, I only got to see a sampling of what many of you posted about him here, but he definitely got my attention and appreciation early on, especially commenting on my truck & chipper. I was up in a nasty, gigantic black oak the other day, and needed to leave a few stubs as foot holds to make maneuvering easier, and found myself muttering "Sorry MB" after each one....

 

[pantheraba]

I have left a few stubs since he told me, "NO stubs". Maybe just a few inches of stub.....And they usually hang something up when I leave them.

Butch's Revenge every time.... I have gotten real good about no stubs overall.

 

[lxskllr]

Now that's a legacy! As little as I do, I'll be in a tree cutting, and thinking "No Stubs!" :^D I'll think of Butch every time I'm in a tree :^)

I haven't posted til now, cause I didn't really know Butch that well, but Butch is literally the reason I signed up here. I liked the group, I liked the feel of the forum, and I particularly liked Butch as the boss, which made me persevere through a bumpy signup process. Without the Butch variable. I'd have likely said "Whatever..." , and given up.

 

[NickfromWI]

I have left a few stubs since he told me, "NO stubs". Maybe just a few inches of stub.....And they usually hang something up when I leave them.

Butch's Revenge every time.... I have gotten real good about no stubs overall.

I shall forever call it that now. Whenever a rope gets snagged on a stub. Butch’s Revenge.

RIP Butch. You were and will always be, the man.

LOVE
nick