Needham Broughton High School
Class Of 1967
Larry Butterton
Larry's Latest Interactions
Posted on: Dec 17, 2023 at 6:09 PM
Big Day for the music man !! (although a little rainy) Keep making the muisic.
Well......Bob Brooks. Sigh....our family moved to Raleigh in '63 and I started the 9th grade at Daniels Jr. High. I was a new kid & didn't know anyone. Bob was one of the very first guys I met; he was immediately friendly but not overbearing; 'just a nice 9th grader who was a good dude. We stayed friends through the Broughton years but were not always close; Bob managed "The Sands" for a while but it didn't work out. Still, I ALWAYS considered Bob a friend, and I believe he had a good heart ??.
Bon Voyage, Friend??
I knew Kevin during the last few years...we were never friends before 2020. I barely remember him from high school. But...he was a quiet guy that stood off by himself in a crowd & it seemed like he wanted to be a part of some kind of friendship. He never started a conversation...so I started one with him at a Broughton Men's luncheon. He was stand-off-ish at first - he probably wondered what I wanted from him - but (slowly) we became acquaintances...then friends. I was REALLY surprised when he actually showed up to hear the PEAK CITY BAND the first time...but he kept coming back, whether we played in Raleigh or Cary or Apex or wherever. He would never dance & would always sit by himself...but he enjoyed himself! He wanted a band t-shirt, but he was a big guy & we didn't have one his size. Finally, I had a 4X size made for him...he LOVED ?? IT??He wore it to every gig after that. I started sending him a birthday card or thank you notes (for coming to the gigs) - and he responded by sending me little (incomprehensible) emails (sometimes several at a time), but I could read between the lines to see that he enjoyed having a friend. Kevin wasn't much of a talker, but he & I started having conversations, and he seemed SO HAPPY to talk about his life & his travels; I would ask him questions & his motor started running...it was like he had stored up years of things to say! Pat & I invited Kevin to sit with us at the Broughton mini-reunion last December. We all had a blast...we talked & laughed (??) & told stories & the guy really came out of his shell.
It shook me when I learned he had passed. He wasn't my best Bud or a guy I confided in or anything like that...I just learned to enjoy his company and see what a unique guy he was.
I wish ?? you the best on your new journey, my friend...it really was a pleasure to know you.
FRIEND KEVIN - ‘HOPE YOU LAUGH AND DANCE ALL DAY ON YOUR BIRTHDAY!
Posted on: Dec 17, 2021 at 4:33 AM
Posted on: Sep 24, 2021 at 11:18 AM
HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS TO YOU KEVIN - ‘HOPE YOU DANCE & LAUGH & SING ALL DAY!!
Clarkie - ‘hope your 72nd birthday is full of quiet laughs and that you are surrounded by those you love!
Marilyn - you are a lovely person...‘Hope you THOROUGHLY enjoy your 72nd birthday!
Posted on: Dec 17, 2020 at 4:33 AM
I was really sorry to hear of Steve's passing. We were best friends at Broughton and started "The Sands" together. Steve turned me on to the blues, which I still play in my band today (2021). Of course, we loved the early Rolling Stones, especially when they were a blues band; the early Rolling Stones made us go back into musical history and listen to the orginal Mississippi/Chicago blues players. Steve had a Volkswagen that we rode in so much it is a wonder the wheels didn't fall off! We also had 1,000,001 laughs at Broughton about anything and everything.
Steve and I roomed together during our freshman year at college - it is a wonder we did not get drafted, since school work was 3rd rate next to playing music! We learned a lot about life in those days...some of it shaking us out of our middle class sleep.
We drifted apart in later years and found life apart from each other, as friends often do. The last time we played music together was 2010 at my house, and I cried...why did we wait 42 years to do this again, my old friend?!
RIP, old buddy...se ya down the road...
keep on rocking in your 72nd year. Glad the music's still in you, bro!
Donnell