More than 250 graduate and undergraduate students are in for what will be impressive messages today and Saturday during Commencement Weekend at Methodist University.
“I am honored to share this special moment with Methodist University graduate program candidates,” says Mike Nagowski, chief executive officer of Cape Fear Valley Health, as today’s commencement keynote speaker scheduled for 2 p.m. at Huff Concert Hall on campus.
“These are the future leaders, and I’m getting a chance and an opportunity to say thank you for all of their hard work and the hard work they will embark on,” says Nagowski, 57. “It is remarkable what they have been able to accomplish. They have had to overcome the health pandemic, and they did it in real time. I am honored to speak to all of them.”
The Rev. Clay L. Barrow will deliver a baccalaureate address called “A Charge to Keep I Have,” which is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. today at Matthews Chapel on campus. And coming behind Nagowski and Barrow will be Mary Lynn Bryan, keynote speaker for undergraduates who will turn their respective tassels at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Crown Coliseum.
Nagowski and Bryan are powerful orators, and they can offer inspiring words. Nagowski was pivotal in establishing the coming Methodist University Medical School that will be housed at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. Bryan served as chairwoman for the university’s board of trustees from 2012 to 2017 and has been a trustee since 1997.
Other weekend speakers include Valeria Matute from Valencia, Venezuela, who was selected as this year’s “Distinguished Graduate,” and nursing major Karma Choki, a Bhutan native who is the first from her country to graduate from the school. Eloquent and wise as every graduate may learn from the speakers, no one may say it better than the Rev. Kelli Taylor, the school chaplain. “No student,” Taylor says, “arrives at graduation alone.”
• • •
Fayetteville police detectives find themselves investigating what is the 14th homicide in the city of 2023, this one occurring in the early-morning hours of May 2 in the 1200 block of Kienast Drive in west Fayetteville, according to a news release. Police say a 30-year-old man was found inside a vehicle with a gunshot wound and died on the scene.
• • •
The shooting deaths of a Fayetteville police officer and his wife on April 28 are not double homicides as first reported by Police Chief Kem Braden, and the investigation has been turned over to the State Bureau of Investigation. “While the SBI investigation continues, the preliminary investigation shows the couple died as the result of a murder-suicide,” according to a Wednesday news release from the SBI. Officer Domingo Tavarez-Rodriguez, 53, and his wife, Yenitza Arroyo Torres, 44, were discovered deceased at the couple’s River Glen subdivision home in east Fayetteville after the policeman failed to report for his 6 p.m. April 28 shift.
A preliminary autopsy report, according to the SBI, says Arroyo-Tavarez died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds, while the police officer died from a single gunshot wound. Based on the preliminary investigation and the medical examiner’s preliminary findings, the SBI release says, there is no reason to believe anyone else was involved and there is no reason to believe there is a threat to the community or to law enforcement. The investigation, the release says, is ongoing.
• • •
Safety micro-grant applications, if you are concerned about crime in your Fayetteville neighborhood, are being accepted by the city’s Economic and Community Development Department. The grants are aimed at reducing criminal activities, according to a news release. The deadline to apply is May 31. Applications are available at www.FayettevilleNC.gov/Microgrant.
• • •
Fred G. LaChance says on the nextdoor app that he will be running again in the next election for the District 5 seat on the Fayetteville City Council currently occupied by Johnny Dawkins, the mayor pro tem. Peter Pappas told CityView on April 10 after a City Council meeting that he is considering a run for the seat, too, after Pappas failed in his 2022 bid for a District 7 seat against eventual winner Derrick Thompson. LaChance and Pappas, who now resides in District 5, will have their work cut out, as Dawkins tells CityView he plans to continue representing his district. This is a good example of just why the council should have a number of at-large seats, because Pappas is one of prudence and sound judgment.
• • •
The Rev. Chip Stapleton still is pinching himself in disbelief. “I have to be honest and say that when I started as your senior pastor five years ago, I dreamed of writing this note, but couldn’t have imagined that I would be doing so already,” Stapleton writes to Highland Presbyterian Church members to say the once financially struggling worship house on Haymount Hill has paid off its mortgage and is debt-free. “How amazing is our faithful God? There is no doubt that God’s providence and grace have been all over this process — and our church — but we also wouldn’t be here without the faithful contributions and generosity from so many members, past and present. We are so excited to see what God has in store for us next, with new possibilities in mission and ministry, while we continue to be good stewards of what God has entrusted to us.” Good news for the old church on the hill with the towering steeple.
• • •
Brothers Aiden Stillman and Jackson Stillman were winners of the Soap Box Derby competition held May 29 at the parking lot of the Charlie Rose Expo on East Mountain Drive. “They are brothers, and they are Gold Star family children,” says Warren Hahn, an event organizer with the sponsoring Kiwanis of Cape Fear Foundation. “Their father, Sgt. Jack Stillman, died while serving our country in the U.S. Army.” Aiden Stillman won the Super Stock division. Jackson Stillman won the Stock Division. Landon McCaskill, 12, great-grandson of Bobby Spears, this city’s first Soap Box Derby champion in 1947, was second in the Super Stock division.
• • •
Mother’s Day horse and buggy carriage rides will be offered from 1 to 9 p.m. May 13 downtown, according to the Cool Spring Downtown District. A $75 ride can seat as many as four adults and two children. The cost seems a bit salty. After all, it’s a horse and a buggy. But a mother is worth the price.
• • •
Joan Nicholson can conjure up one tasty lemon pound cake, topped with white icing.
• • •
Apparently, the Step Up 4 Health and Wellness Expo held recently at Methodist University came up just shy of its $60,000 goal, and Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation is reaching out to those in the community to reach the $60,000 figure to support patient care for Cape Fear Valley Health. For a donation of just $10, you will receive a free Step Up 4 Health T-shirt. Contact kcarpenter@capefearvalley.com or call 910-615-1514.
• • •
Sarahgrace Mitchell is taking her leave as executive director of the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival. She is going out on a high note as the festival last week drew what Mitchell says was 150,000 attendees for the three-day event at Festival Park and the downtown streets. “It’s always a tough decision to leave something you care so deeply about,” says Mitchell, 24, who is heading into a private business venture with plans for a cafe-style downtown restaurant. “Because of the festival, I have found a community I love, but I am looking forward to using my knowledge and abilities in a different way. I am excited for this opportunity and sad to leave the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival.” The festival’s board of directors, according to Chairwoman Tara Long, will begin a search for Mitchell’s successor in the coming months.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
