Remembering a dear friend, a colorful ‘downtown guy’

Published 4:24 pm Wednesday, July 10, 2013

I feel compelled to say that Brian Love was a unique individual who was a colorful, grass roots fixture in downtown Auburn.

Brian loved Main Street and to lose him there would be just too contradictory. He had a restaurant at Auburn Avenue and Main. He lived on Main and walked to and from his local stops downtown daily. He attended any event that was happening up and down Main Street for most of his life, and the Rainbow Café was his favorite spot.

Brian presided as announcer at the Auburn Days main stage and the grand parade for almost two decades. He started back when it was called Good Ol’ Days. His deep, velvety toned voice would resonate over the crowd like a big smile was being sent your way. He was the embodiment of the “downtown” guy that knew the news on Main. He was like a portable “pickle barrel” when people used to meet at a general store to share tidbits.

When he began driving a cab his goal was to keep drunken drivers off the road. He would pop in and out to visit the festival and just enjoy it. But he couldn’t resist being the announcer when he saw me. He would do a full blown introduction just like he did on stage because he knew it would make me blush. He was a character.

Brian’s history goes back to being a DJ for KASY Radio (located on West Main) that brought the local news and sports to our Auburn radios to keep us informed at a community. He was a quirky, gentle, sauntering kind of guy that would show up at Auburn City Council meetings on a regular basis, just to keep things lively. You always knew that things would get interesting when Brian showed up.

We would like to invite anyone who loved Brian to bring a banner and have a “Don’t drink and drive” entry in the parade in his memory Aug. 10.

Contact office@eventheadquartersinc.com if you want to register and have his memory walk Main Street one more time.

– Connie Henke