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Some 51 years after deejaying his first disco at Rabbit’s Place, Mr. K was back blasting the tunes this weekend.

Lunenburg County native and regional celebrity Calvin King brought the music Saturday night for the Old School Party Reunion at the Dogwood. King was the first Black deejay in this region and the first to broadcast from South Hill.

As part of the evening, King was honored by his fellow alumni from East End High School for his career entertaining radio listeners across the region.

Class President Col. Thomas Minor, U.S. Marine Corps retired, said he remembers when King’s family moved from Lunenburg County to Mecklenburg County in 1967 and Calvin joined the East End High School family.

“Calvin’s passion for radio and music was well-known, throughout the Wolf Pack community from the very beginning,” Minor said.

He presented King with a plague reading: “To the hardest working man in radio. The one and only, the original Mr. K. From your classmates, Class of 1970 at East End and Park View Senior High.”

The wording on the plaque was derived from a saying used about the legendary James Brown, who was called the hardest working man in entertainment, King said.

King also used the reunion event as a way to honor and remember Frankie Beverly of Maze, who died in September.

The nearly 100 people who attended were encouraged to wear white in honor of Beverly, who was known for performing in white.

Beverly was lead singer of Frankie Beverly and the Maze, which King said only recorded eight albums but performed for packed houses for more than 60 years.

“They still continued to sell out concerts, even after they stopped recording new albums because people love them and their music,” he explained. “Their music was about love and joy and happiness.”

King said Beverly’s group also played for a lot of reunions, wedding receptions and other types of gatherings through the years.

CHALLENGE EMBRACED

The crowd embraced King’s challenge to wear white Saturday night, with many folks decked out in all white as a tribute to Beverly.

“It’s been a long time since they had really had an event in South Hill where people could come out and get together, pay an admission to see one another and interact,” he said, noting that COVID-19 led many to stop doing these types of events.

“This was the first opportunity in about 12 years to actually just do something for the public,” King said, noting they had good representation from both Lunenburg and Mecklenburg counties. “Mr. K was back at it again.”

He said the folks in Lunenburg and around South Hill have had a thirst for entertainment, which he hopes to help provide moving forward.King said they are discussing holding events like this every other month or so when the Dogwood venue is not booked.

Calls and texts came in throughout the day Sunday from many who attended Saturday night to thank King for his role in helping to put the reunion event together and providing the music.

“I’m looking forward to some other gatherings, and that is the nicest venue in all of Southside Virginia,” he noted. It also makes it nice using the Dogwood, which was the former South Hill Elementary School.

“It was converted to a restaurant and the banquet hall,” King said, noting there also are apartments there.

Mr. K made his radio debut on WJWS 105.5 FM in South Hill on June 1, 1971. Through the years, he moved to the larger market stations in Richmond, but continued to entertain folks through the airwaves across Southside Virginia.

The beat goes on and it all feels good,” King said.