Memories- Part 4 Steve Brown

I’m Steve Brown former “roadie” for Steamboat Springs Band and yes; I’m Bucky and Joel’s brother.
To speak of the present, I’m always inclined to include some of the past. How much detail depends upon the audience! I first met Joel Ferguson in 1968 or 1969 when I helped him prepare for his Life Guard Exam. He passed and spent the summers flexing for the girls poolside. Joel, I’m not sure you ever thanked me properly.
I may have misinterpreted Leary’s phrase to Turn on, Tune in and Drop out when I left Presbyterian College after two, less than stellar years to do my thing in Macon, Georgia. After all, there was a war to protest, an historic music scene to enjoy and a counterculture to explore. 
A couple of years later, someone from SSB contacted me (Bucky, Joel?) looking for a place to shower. They had just move to Macon and the utilities had not been turned on at their place.  They ultimately moved to the Big House and I moved into the “Brown” house located on the same property. What fun . . .
SSB soon began traveling enough to warrant additional road crew. Bucky promised that I would meet more women than Frank Sinatra . . . I joined. He lied.
The band returned to Myrtle Beach for the second of the Pikin’ Parlor stands. That’s when and where I met Jeff. – Giant Jeff, soft spoken with a big grin. For years, if I were in MB, I would stop by his record shop to say hello. Eventually I stopped: a lesson to be learned.
I left the band in 1977 or 1978 and moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We had passed through this area on the way to a gig in Blacksburg, Virginia (Steve Mc Broom at 117 South Main). It was Mid-October and the trees were on fire with the most vivid colors. Living in Georgia and Texas the seasons went from green to brown to green – I was hooked on this new palate. I still enjoy those beautiful trees every year and reminisce about the first time I saw them.
I cobbled my two years worth of college credits with three more into an engineering degree and worked in a development group for one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electrical connecters. After four years, I left for a better fit to a small upstart company. An acquaintance that recruited me promised I would meet more women than Frank . . . not really, but I joined anyway, leaving a company of 25,000 employees worldwide to become employee number-7. More school ensued and I was soon directing the marketing and advertising activities. That was almost 25 years ago. Today, we’re employee-owned with about 70 employees.
My wife Judy and I have a ten-year-old daughter, Hannah and a four-year-old Schipperke, Olive. Judy loves to garden and I love watching her. Olive loves to dig in Judy’s garden and I love watching Judy chase Olive. Hannah’s our gift. She shows us the wonder in the ordinary as well as how to walk on stilts, ride a unicycle, play soccer and field hockey. In turn, I show her how to divide fractions . . .
We live in a Historic District of Winston-Salem in an eighty-year-old Craftsman bungalow that we’ve spent the last couple of years renovating. Any spare time is spent cycling, fly-fishing or back packing, activities unique to this area. Our life is elegantly simple filled with family, a few close friends, good food (wine), laughter and those same beautiful trees.
To speak of the present, I’m always inclined to include some of the past. The time I spent with the guys, the people I met along the way, including Jeff Roberts, are special pieces in the mosaic that’s forming my picture.