David Crosby, Steve Stills, Phil Everly had all thrown in support for the Dolphin Project

David Crosby, Steve Stills, Phil Everly and bumch of other rock n rollers had all thrown in support for the Dolphin Project

excerpt “History of the Groove, drummer’s story” Russell Buddy Helm

© 2013 all rights reserved

David Crosby, Steve Stills, Phil Everly had all thrown in support for Ric’s vision of the Dolphin Project.

1972. Ric O’Berry had a different name when Barbara Bananas introduced us. He had a can of Japanese cat food sitting on a shelf over his narrow stairway entrance.

“I look at it everyday.” he said with quiet conviction. It contained dolphin meat.

He was very happy in his intense, subdued way. The Dolphin Project was getting it’s legal status as a tax deductible organization. People would be able to donate; money and dolphins…

Bobby asked me to help by driving the Asylum’s eighteen foot GMC truck with a 3 ton lift gate out to a lumber yard in South Miami and load up a donation of wood for the pier in the lagoon that old man Ryder had donated to the cause.

“You will have great good karma from this act.” Bobby said to me as we drove the huge truck out through the weekend traffic onto the bridge connecting to Key Biscayne.

Barbara and the other grove girls had worked on the owner of Ryder truck rental company for months at the restaurant and bar where they all worked atop the only high rise in the grove. The old gentleman finally agreed to donate the use of a deserted piece of property at the end of Key Biscayne that had a man made sailboat lagoon, perfect for rehabilitating dolphins.

We could sit in the port-o-let set up among the pine trees, next to the broken coral rock ruins of the old Belcher Oil Mansion and look into President Nixon’s sliding glass doors over on the next finger of developed land owned by B B Rebozo, a businessman of dubious connections.

Hugh Downs donated the first dolphin. Ric worked with him until the dolphin could hunt for himself, then he opened the chain link sea fence and let him go free. If you want inspiration in your life, look to someone like Ric O’Berry. Over forty years later, Ric is still carrying the good fight. This week in Taiji, Japan, September 2013, he is in the water with local demonstrators enlightening the Japanese fisherman about the useless slaughter of dolphins every year as part of their cultural compulsions.

excerpt “History of the Groove, drummer’s story” Russell Buddy Helm

© 2013 all rights reserved

www.buddyhelm.com

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