Doug introduced this week’s guest speaker, Michael J. Billoni. Since 1999, Mike has served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Billoni Associates, specializing in Communications, Rainmaking and Publishing. Mike is also deeply connected to the Western New York Community, as a long-time Rotary Club member, a Recovery Options Made Easy and Boss BeCause Foundation board member, and a volunteer at several organizations and churches, including his primary philanthropic entity, St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy on the far East Side of Buffalo.
A graduate of the State University of New York at Morrisville with a degree in journalism, Mike spent 12 years toiling in the newspaper business as an award-winning sports reporter and editor for the Tonawanda News, Buffalo Courier-Express and the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. He currently practices his storytelling craft as a free-lance writer for several publications and as an author and book publisher.
Most recently, Mike was associate editor, writer and publisher of "The Seasons of Buffalo Baseball 1857-2020." In 2000, he wrote and published "Robert E. Rich: Memoirs of an Innovator", the biography of the Rich Products Corp. and in 2017, he managed and published "All In," the biography of local businessman Ronald Zoeller, who helped keep the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo in the late 1990s.
Mike resides on Grand Island and is a devout Christian. His wife was called by The Lord on August 22, 2024, and upon her death, he began the “Deb Billoni Food Fund” to support St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy’s free daily meals to those in need.
Mike may be best known in Western New York for his connection to the sport of baseball. In 1983, he began a 13-year career with the Buffalo Bisons, working with the Rich family in developing and constructing a downtown ballpark and helping promote the team to the elevated status of the only franchise in minor league baseball history to sell more than one million tickets in six straight seasons. Upon retirement from the Bisons in 1996, Mike was inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame. He also is a member of the Cardinal O’Hara High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. In the mid 90s, Mike also helped in the effort to relocate the Single A Niagara Falls professional baseball team to Jamestown after it was announced that the Jamestown Expos were leaving for Vermont. That effort resulted in a new professional team, the Jamestown Jammers, playing in the city for the next two decades.
The effort also led to Mike meeting and developing lasting friendships with many local individuals, including Russ Diethrick. Mike came to Jamestown last fall to celebrate Russ's 90th birthday, but was unable to present him with a gift due to a production delay. However, during Monday's meeting, Mike was finally able to present the belated birthday gift - a customized baseball bat with Russ's name inscribed on it. As part of presenting the gift, he thanked Russ for his years of community service and dedication to keeping baseball alive in Jamestown, including making it a regular location for the annual Babe Ruth World Series tournament.
Most recently, Mike was associate editor, writer and publisher of "The Seasons of Buffalo Baseball 1857-2020." In 2000, he wrote and published "Robert E. Rich: Memoirs of an Innovator", the biography of the Rich Products Corp. and in 2017, he managed and published "All In," the biography of local businessman Ronald Zoeller, who helped keep the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo in the late 1990s.
Mike resides on Grand Island and is a devout Christian. His wife was called by The Lord on August 22, 2024, and upon her death, he began the “Deb Billoni Food Fund” to support St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy’s free daily meals to those in need.
Mike may be best known in Western New York for his connection to the sport of baseball. In 1983, he began a 13-year career with the Buffalo Bisons, working with the Rich family in developing and constructing a downtown ballpark and helping promote the team to the elevated status of the only franchise in minor league baseball history to sell more than one million tickets in six straight seasons. Upon retirement from the Bisons in 1996, Mike was inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame. He also is a member of the Cardinal O’Hara High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. In the mid 90s, Mike also helped in the effort to relocate the Single A Niagara Falls professional baseball team to Jamestown after it was announced that the Jamestown Expos were leaving for Vermont. That effort resulted in a new professional team, the Jamestown Jammers, playing in the city for the next two decades.
The effort also led to Mike meeting and developing lasting friendships with many local individuals, including Russ Diethrick. Mike came to Jamestown last fall to celebrate Russ's 90th birthday, but was unable to present him with a gift due to a production delay. However, during Monday's meeting, Mike was finally able to present the belated birthday gift - a customized baseball bat with Russ's name inscribed on it. As part of presenting the gift, he thanked Russ for his years of community service and dedication to keeping baseball alive in Jamestown, including making it a regular location for the annual Babe Ruth World Series tournament.
Much of Mike's presentation focused on an incident that happened to him over 30 years ago, but which has stayed with him ever since. On September 17, 1992, a drunk driver, traveling at 60 mph on the back roads of Pt. Abino, Canada, struck Mike from behind while he was riding his 10-speed bicycle. By the grace of God, he was wearing a bicycle helmet - given to him only earlier that year - which saved his life. He noted that at one point during the ordeal, his family was told that he wasn't expected to survive. He credits Prayer and God’s intervention for transporting him from the side of Pt. Abino Road and surviving this near-fatal accident because of the amazing medical professionals across the Peace Bridge in the ECMC Trauma Unit.
While the accident has left him with a traumatic brain injury, Mike has made it his life’s mission to use his God-given talents in working tirelessly to eradicate all stigmas associated with mental illness through a book he is currently writing, "My Miracle: How the Power of Prayer Saved My Life.” He noted that while one in four people some sort of Mental Illness, only 40% will actually seek help to deal with it, due to the stigma associated with it. His hope is that his book will result in helping to lift the stigma and encouraging more people to seek the help they need. He is working to get the book finished by September of this year.
