A Harmony of Helping
Area rockers and fans aid 2 teens
October 8, 1987
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Author: Thomas Hartmann
In the chilly, predawn darkness last Sunday, 15 young people gathered on a grassy lawn at a Blue Bell swim club and began setting up a large sound stage. Just a few hours before, they had been at area cinemas, passing out fliers among the crowds.
Long before that, dozens of other volunteers had spent hours organizing a concert featuring some of the area’s best-known musicians, all of whom also volunteered their time.
By mid-day Sunday, a crowd of 3,000 had gathered for the six-hour concert at the Mermaid Swim Club. Most weren’t there solely for the music, however. They came because of their friendship and support for Jimmy Brown and George Butera, two 18-year-olds severely injured in separate accidents last year.
Brown, of Narberth, was a star athlete at Lower Merion High School who sustained permanent damage to his brain and spinal cord in a car crash. Unable to speak, he remains hospitalized, but he attended the concert in a wheelchair. Butera, of Whitpain Township, was paralyzed from the neck down after a wave toppled him at the beach last year. Dressed in a denim jacket and sporting sunglasses replete with stars on the frames, he also observed the concert from a wheelchair.
“I never expected anything like this,” he said. “It feels beautiful.”
The families of both young men have incurred huge medical expenses. Brown faces a lifetime of nursing care.
News of their misfortune quickly spread through their respective communities, prompting an outpouring of sympathy and support. And, long after the accidents, that support continues and shows no signs of letting up. Organizers of Sunday’s concert are talking about making it a regular event.
What inspires such commitment from people, some of whom didn’t even know either young man before his accident?
Karen Sallen of Merion read about Jimmy Brown’s injury in the newspaper. “I read it and couldn’t get it out of my head,” she explained during the concert. She busied herself soliciting contributions for Brown from local businesses. Their generosity helped her see the accident as the beginning of something good, rather than only as something bad, she said. “All I saw before was the pain. Now all I see is the love and the charity we have as a society.”
Ed Campbell of Lansdale offered his reasons: “George Butera is one of my oldest son’s best friends,” he said, taking a break from cooking hamburgers at the concert. “It could have been one of my kids,” he added.
“I can’t tell you what motivated other people to get involved. For us, it was just that George was hurt, and he is our friend. It is absolutely the most rewarding thing to see these people come together.”
The good feelings even spread to the performers. Andy King of the rock band the Hooters, Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers, the Flamin’ Caucasians, Bricklin, and Dynagroove, donated their time to the event.
King said he often is approached about benefit events and he tries to do them as often as he can.
“I’m an ex-egotistical selfish person,” he explained Sunday before running off into the crowd with a box to solicit extra contributions. “I decided a little while ago that giving is the best thing you can do.”
King said that donating his time is a way to pay back how well life has treated him. “However my hand got dealt to me, it was a pretty good one,” he explained. “It makes me feel good to help.”
Chip French, a Paoli restaurateur, chaired the group that organized the Narberth-area community to assist Jimmy Brown. What motivated him to get involved?
“Business is often very cut-throat. But get involved with something like this, and you see another side,” he said.
French read about Brown’s accident and then met Jennifer Anchel, Brown’s girlfriend, when she asked him about a summer job. “I was amazed at how loyal and devoted to this kid she was. That continued my interest in the situation,” he said.
Last month, French approached Steve Mountain, manager for Tommy Conwell, and asked about a benefit concert. Mountain suggested combining the event with a benefit for Butera, also in the works.
Wit Hammond helped organize the Butera benefit. “When you see an individual like this, you feel you want to help,” he said referring to Butera. “I’ve been very fortunate all my life.”
Butera’s girlfriend, Debbie O’Brien of Worcester, spoke quietly Sunday about her contribution to the concert and to George. “We’re trying to do all we can,” she said. “It’s not hard to do. George is a really special person.”