Young Boy Boogie

Can Am Jammin

It was spring circa 1978 and I was employed by Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, NC. My job was as assistant PR Director working for legendary promoter H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler. I will always view him as a modern day P.T. Barnum.

This particular spring we were hosting an SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) racing weekend with the feature race a stop on the Canadian American Challenge Cup. These exotic race cares were reverently referred to as Can Am's.  At best this event was considered minor league for a facility that would in a few short weeks be hosting the World 600- a part of NASCAR's figurative triple crown- where 125 thousand folks would show up to take part.

Being the "assistant" I was in charge of promoting the minor league events. We promote to attract the paying spectator and in this part of the south where love of stock car racing flows in the veins, exotic sports cars were a tough sell, so to speak. With "Humpy's" nudge we decided to couple a headline music act with the race and bill the spectacle as "Can Am Jam!"  It just so happened that an aging music legend was touring through the area and we were able to book the legendary Chuck Berry at a bargain. 

As I look back from the perspective of forty years, I remember Mr. Berry a humble gracious man who in his early fifties and past his prime was having the time of his life.  Parents had brought their children. There were lots of dads with their boys. When Mr. Berry performed his classic "Johnny B. Goode", he invited the boys to come on stage and boogie with him.  It was a grace filled scene.  One of our Speedway photographers captured the image in black and white.  It has been hanging in my home(s) forever since.  Every time I look at the smiles on those boys faces I know our Creator smiles just as wide and those boys- probably now fathers- have told their children the day they boogied on stage with the great Chuck Berry!

A few years later I went to see "Back to the  Future", a movie that ranks in my all time top 10. There is a great scene in which Chuck Berry makes an implied appearance in conjunction with Marty McFly's performance of "Johnny B. Goode."  For more on that: Back to the Future

Amen Brother Chuck RIP

Bradford Bosworth

March, 2017 

Leprechaun Promise

Break the Cycle

 There once was lonely leprechaun named Roe. He was born into a typical Irish family tucked away in the craggy hillside of the north mountains. In the years of his youth the times were difficult for his father who was struggling to make it to the level all Leprechauns of his family had striven for. It was a lofty place of fame and fortune. But Roe's father struggled with the grog which soured the disposition and many times the boy leprechaun would race to the outside to greet his father only to be cursed and rejected and sometimes beaten.

The young Leprechaun soon left home and began following the pattern of his household. Soon he had a family of his own.  The hurt he had held inside for years turned into resentment and he took to the same grog to ease the pain and followed the lead of his father.

Soon the older Roe was in demand as the Lonely Leprechaun at the big people's grog parties with fame but not much fortune. He found no pot of gold at the end of the rainbows and then the rainbows disappeared completely and he realized he was losing the love of his little boy.

One day he stumbled on a group of men meeting together to share their experience, strength and hope.  These men shared a common purpose and lived by a set of instructions and promises that they had all found in a book.  They were all living comfortably in their own skin for the first time in their lives. They did not carry their resentments any longer and brought the best of themselves to the world they lived in.

One day Roe's boy,  Loe, asked him if he could come to the school on St. Patrick's Day as a happy joyous and free Leprechaun so all the kids could see what a real Leprechaun was like.  And on this day Roe succeeded in breaking the cycle.

"As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we discovered we could face life successfully, as we became conscious of His presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter. We were reborn."

"The Big Book" How it Works pg: 63

'Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." '

"The Good Book" John 3:3

Amen Brother

Bradford Bosworth

St. Patrick's Day 2017