College student recognized for making dream come true

By Fred Petrucelli

A tradition of sorts is being perpetuated by a Hendrix College student and a client of Independent Living Services Inc.

How enduring the association will remain is anybody's guess, but while the contact remains viable, the association between the collegians and people with developmental disabilities will positive outcomes.

The principals in the current linkage are Lawrence Wilson, a 22-year-old Hendrix College student, and Benny Shew, a middle-aged ILS resident with cerebral palsy, who have bonded because of their love of music.

Their relationship reaches a peak every Sunday afternoon from 3 to 4 when Shew accompanies his student friend to Hendrix radio station KHDX-FM. There Shew finds himself in an atmosphere he loves, sitting at the controls spinning recordings while his friend delivers banter of many kinds.

Shew lives for this day and for this time. He has always wanted to have a role in radio broadcasting and this activity, despite its limitations, offers the ILS client a happy time to fulfill a dream.

Because of his connection with Shew and his obvious compassionate attitude for another who is less fortunate, Wilson has been dubbed the Volunteer of the Month for May by the United Way of Faulkner County.

His actions caught the attention of the United Way, which is constantly on the lookout for volunteers who are involved in performing in special ways.

"Benny is a great guy and I simply happen to be there to be with him," said Wilson, shrugging off any kudos for his work.

He points out that he is following in the footsteps of a former college student disc jockey at Hendrix who arranged for Shew to join him at the station. Together they inaugurated Shew's show called "Country Express."

With graduation eminent and his leaving the city a certainty, the Hendrix intern introduced Shew to Wilson, who was happy to take over and befriend the ILS man.

Today there is a close bond between Shew and Wilson. Together they have developed a rapport that has resulted in producing a show that is listenable.

Shew works at his craft, spending countless hours in his apartment at ILS making tapes and practicing segues (immediate transitions from one piece of music to another without a break) to eliminate "dead air."

"I do most of the talking," says Wilson, while explaining that Shew is in control of the technical broadcasting elements of the show.

It's been that way every Sunday afternoon. Wilson drops by Shew's apartment on Independence Street and together they select the music for the day's show from an extraordinary collection Shew has amassed over the years.

They head for the Hendrix campus, Shew in virtual seventh heaven anticipating his role as a radio DJ. This is something he has cherished from early on when he visited DJs in the Little Rock area just to be close to the people he most admired.

"Benny's interest is genuine," his Hendrix friend says. "And he's pretty good at it."

The pals converse several times a week by telephone. Wilson and some of his Hendrix friends stop by the ILS apartment often to visit and spin records. And even though Shew's calls may intrude on his friend's time, Wilson always treats him with patience and respect.

In the words of Sarah King, an ILS staffer, "Lawrence has done no less than to enable Benny to make a dream come true."

She voiced the opinion that "often college students in Conway are characterized as anything but neighborly. But Lawrence Wilson is both a good neighbor and a good friend. He is an excellent Volunteer of the Month."

ILS authorities say its organization offers people with developmental disabilities a chance to become more independent. Many residents learn skills that allow them to become self-supporting with a job and an apartment of their own.