BISMARCK, ND — Every spring, Butler Machinery hosts appreciation events at each of their dealership locations across North and South Dakota and Nebraska. To show appreciation for their customers’ business, they cleaned their shops from top to bottom, hauled in grills and the employees served a meal. Not only did customers get to enjoy a spread of free food, but they also had the opportunity to visit with Butler employees, tour the facilities and look at equipment.

Typical attendance at the events ranges from 150 at the smaller stores up to as many as 1,500 people served at the larger stores. Various pieces of equipment were on display to look at, touch and climb into the cab to get a feel for the controls. For the children, there was also a supervised “Kids Corner” with balloons, coloring, puzzles and sometimes the Butler bouncy combine.

At Butler’s Bismarck store event, the West Dakota SWAT team brought their armored police vehicle to display alongside the other equipment. Custom designed and fabricated by Ring Power Corporation, the North and Central Florida Caterpillar Dealer, this six-ton armored critical incident vehicle is built from a Cat chassis. Known as The Rook, it contains rubber tracks, cameras, gun port holes, custom installed bullet-proof glass and armored cab reinforcement.

For more information about Butler Machinery’s equipment, go to butlermachinery.com or stop by a local store.