Talked with former Ben L. Smith athlete Ray Linney today and he was visiting former Smith Golden Eagle football player, Big Wayne Butler…
Ray found Wayne in his search of the Friends Home, and Wayne is at Friends Home West, in Room 35….
Guy Wayne Butler, or Big Wayne, or “The Butler”, as Wayne was known back in the days when he played football, as a BIG offensive lineman for the Smith Golden Eagles and the then Fighting Christians from Elon College, now Wayne is laid up in a bed at Friends Home West….
Got the chance to speak/talk with Wayne for minute over the phone today and we was sounding weak, so you need to keep him in your prayers…..
Good gesture on the part of Ray Linney to go by and see his former teammate today, and Ray is still working on the BIG night for Smith Golden Eagles football, and that comes up on Friday August 30, when Ben L. Smith plays host to the Northeast Guilford Rams…..
On that night they will honor the first football team from Ben L. Smith High School and Ray Linney, was at the head of that class and Wayne Butler, was part of that first-ever Smith Golden Eagles football team/unit….
Wayne will probably have to miss the Friday night August 30 event, but let’s hope he begins to see better days at Friends Home West, before that BIG night gets here…
Along with playing football at Smith and at Elon, Guy Wayne Butler was with the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department for over 30 years, and he taught and coached girls basketball, as an assistant to Phil Weaver, at Grimsley High School….Wayne was also a baseball umpire and football referee on the high school and college levels for many seasons and he was basketball player back in his day, so Wayne Butler had all of the sports and bases covered…..
(Wayne was also the official scorer for the Greensboro Grasshoppers and he worked numerous events from the scorer’s table, at the Greensboro Coliseum for many years.)
He is covered up in that bed over Friends Home West these days and we need to keep Wayne Butler in our thoughts and prayers….He covered a lot of ground around Greensboro over the years, and he could sure use an energy boost to keep it going these days….
The Butler came to a job, The Butler got his job done, but the Butler has not gone home yet…..He is still with us, and let’s hope we can keep him around for a while longer….